Book 4: Chapter 78: Bat Sutra


    I took the satellite phone and listened to the soundsing from it while looking at the hole in the hot spring. Amid the white noise, I began to hear the very faint sound of someone talking.


    I knew deep down in my heart that the calm of these past few weeks was about to be broken.


    It was hard to understand what was being said even though I strained my ears, but I knew that it was a recording of someone talking.


    I was very familiar with this voice and probably knew this person, but it must have been a long time ago because the voice was stirring up some of my old memories. What I was most definitely certain of, however, was that this was the voice of an elderly woman.


    But the voice was so faint that I couldn''t understand it. I handed the satellite phone back to Xiuxiu, who recorded the voice with an app on her cell phone and then amplified it in the app.


    The old woman''s voice was now much clearer. She seemed to be talking to herself, saying some short sentences that were iprehensible.


    Xiuxiu suddenly nced at me, a surprised look shing through her eyes. She listened for a while and then said to me, "Isnt this my grandmother''s voice?"


    I froze for a moment as my memories came back like a flood.


    After listening carefully, I found that this was indeed Granny Huo''s voice, which I hadn''t heard for a long time.


    Fatty moved closer to us, but I pointed to the hot spring hole and told him to manage the situation. We couldnt let anybody die by any means.


    Huo Xiangu''s death had been absolute and I had witnessed it myself, so how could her voice appear here?


    Xiuxiu''s expression was very calm, so I also restrained my mood and joined her in listening to the vague words yed on the app.


    After listening for a few minutes, I came to the conclusion that it was a ritual.


    But it wasnt a Taoist ritual, because I had studied the tone of Buddhist scripture incantations before. Although she was speaking Chinese, I had never heard of what she was reading. It almost sounded like a very primitive scripture, which was the kind of scripture that would deviate from philosophical and abstract concepts and be very specific.


    Xiuxiu beckoned Wen Binghui over, and once he squatted down to listen with us, Xiuxiu asked him, "Youve done so much research on religious systems, can you tell me what this is?"


    "This is the Bon religions Bat Sutra," Wen Binghui said. He only listened for a moment before his face suddenly turned pale, "Where did thise from?"


    "Whats so special about it?" Xiuxiu asked him.


    "In the Bon religion, bats act as messengers between the people and the gods, Wen Binghui said. This scripture represents the connection, which means that she wants something that needs to bemunicated to the bats first."


    Xiuxiu had a very confused look on her face, so I said, "Youll see all kinds of hallucinations here; don''t worry about it too much. This may be some sentient being trying to torture you."


    Xiuxiu looked at me. "No, when I was a child, I heard my grandmother recite this scripture. She was in apletely dark room. The Huo family had many diseases, and my family said that Grandma was reciting that scripture to alleviate their pain."


    I froze for a moment as Xiuxiu continued, "I never wouldve thought that my grandmother believed in the Bon religion."


    But why were we hearing Huo Xiangu chanting here? Xiuxiu used the app to record the rest of the soundsing from the satellite phone.


    As we listened quietly, the sounds of chanting suddenly stopped and Huo Xiangu''s painful shrieks starteding from the satellite phone.


    It was very painful to hear. Even if we didn''t amplify the sound with the app, I knew that she was screaming.


    Then, the voice on the satellite phone disappeared. I looked at Xiuxiu and found that she wasnt shaken by this at all. She opened the app and listened to the scripture that had just been recorded.


    Wen Binghui listened as the Bat Sutra was recited at least six or seven times and was then followed by another passage. With his ear practically pressed up against the cell phone, he said, "My God, its the Luozeng Sutra."


    When I gave him a questioning look, he said, "It''s a scripture in the Bon religion thats meant to be recited silently. Its a secret scripture that only a few people can listen to several times in a lifetime. It''s my first time hearing it, but based on the pronunciation of the key words, this scripture isnt from Tibet but from Baozuo."


    <em>Baozuo in Sichuan?</em> I asked myself.


    "What does the Luozeng Sutra do?" Xiuxiu asked him.


    Wen Binghui was silent for a moment before saying, "This kind of scripture has many functions. I don''t know which version shes reading, but the meaning of this kind of scripture is basically the same. Its simr to praying for the Bon god to appear immediately and eat you."