Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

”Rumble rumble rumble...”

Hearing the thunder, the girl who was practicing swordsmanship outside lifted her head and glanced at the sky. By now the sky was already thick with dark clouds; it was obvious that it was about to rain.

”Let’s pack up and get ready for the evening class.”

Her companion saw this as well and hurriedly made the suggestion. The girl nodded, and the two of them quickly left the training ground. However, by the time they returned to their room, with a crackling patter, raindrops the size of beans were already pouring down from the sky.

”Phew...”

Looking at the curtain of rain outside the window, the girl let out a breath of relief. She actually quite liked the rain. Because doing the evening service when it rained made her feel more relaxed and helped her sink more deeply into the Scriptures. Thinking of this, the girl straightened her clothes, then quickly crossed the main hall and came to the Scripture Room where the evening class was held, sitting cross-legged on her own cushion. Soon, many girls around her age arrived one after another and settled in. Then an older woman seated in front of them began to intone the scriptures in a low voice, and the girl closed her eyes, pressed her palms together, and began quietly reciting the Scriptures.

This feeling was wonderful.

The girl greatly enjoyed these hours of evening class. Reciting these scriptures, she felt as if she had cast aside all the troubles of the mortal world; in this world only stillness, calm, and serenity remained. This made her feel happy. Their master had also told them that they would continue to study and comprehend the true meaning of the Buddha, and turn the entire world into Western Paradise Bliss—so that all people would cease to fight, rest in a land of peaceful joy, and live happy lives. To let them understand that only the peace within one’s heart is the most precious treasure in this world.

This excited the girl greatly. She could not wait to join in as well; if she could help make the whole world peaceful and at ease, that would certainly be a wonderful thing.

The clear clack of the wooden fish sounded by her ears, gradually merging with the sound of the rain outside and entering the girl’s hearing. She threw herself into it wholeheartedly, chanting the Scriptures, and then at that moment......

”............”

A nearly indistinct murmur quietly appeared beside the girl’s ear. Amid the uniform chanting, this whisper seemed extremely eerie, as if someone were hiding in the darkness, staring at these girls chanting the Scriptures, muttering something under their breath.

What is that sound?

The peculiar sound made the girl freeze. She instinctively wanted to open her eyes and look around, but sensing the gaze of the woman on the platform, she hastily reined herself in.

Perhaps it was just an illusion; after all, if someone really were whispering here, Master would surely notice.

Thinking this, the girl forced herself to calm down and continued reciting the Scriptures.

Yet even after the evening class ended, that faint, elusive whisper still seemed to linger at her ears.

The girl had originally thought this was only her imagination, but as the days passed, the situation seemed to be getting worse.

Now she could even hear those whispers in her sleep. She could not make out what they were saying, and this made her feel rather irritable. But she did not dare tell anyone about it. For from what she had observed, the others did not seem to show anything similar; she had even tried tentatively asking her friends, and they had only looked utterly baffled.

This made the girl uneasy. She wanted to confide in her teacher, yet did not know how to begin. She feared that because of this she might lose her qualification to go down the mountain and deliver all beings. After all, as the most outstanding among them, Senior Sister Fan Qinghui had already gone into the secular world to fight for the relief of all suffering beings, and the girl also hoped to join that group.

If she were to have a problem at a time like this, then without a doubt that future would no longer be hers.

Although the girl wanted to endure it, unfortunately......she seemed to have overestimated her self-control.

The sound of scripture recitation echoed through the Buddha hall. The girl pressed her palms together, trying to force herself to immerse in it wholeheartedly. But the whispering at her ear did not vanish; instead it grew even louder. What vexed her most was that even so, she still could not make out what that voice was saying.

It was as if someone were holding a loudspeaker and shouting right next to her ear—loud enough, but she simply could not hear clearly what he was saying.

This left the girl increasingly agitated. She forced herself to endure, endure, and endure again, but......that voice seemed to circle mercilessly around her ears, more and more shrill, until finally......

When the girl came back to herself, she was startled to find that she was standing up, while everyone else was staring at her, dumbstruck.

What did I do?

Confronted with this scene, the girl was utterly taken aback. She gathered her wits and carefully recalled what had happened, only to realize that she had actually stood up—and......she had screamed?!

She had actually screamed in such a solemn scripture class?!

”What on earth is going on?”

At this moment, the nun in front also rose to her feet, staring at her sternly, and the girl, frightened, hurriedly lowered her head.

”I’m sorry, Master, I—I think I had a nightmare...”

”A nightmare?”

Hearing this answer, the nun’s expression grew solemn.

”You fall asleep even while reciting the Scriptures?”

”No, it’s... I...”

The girl wanted to say something, but at this moment she couldn’t get a single word out.

”Whatever the case, you’ve disrupted the evening recitation class, and that is not good.”

The nun shook her head slightly.

”I now order you to go to the Reflective Room and reflect for the night. Do you understand?”

”Yes... Master.”

Hearing the nun’s words, the girl lowered her head, somewhat dejected, and left the Recitation Room. She could feel the astonished and puzzled gazes her companions cast at her, which made her all the more depressed.

What on earth is wrong with me?

In the lonely stone chamber, the girl stared at the solitary candle flame before her, hugging her knees and curling up in the corner by the wall. Outside, it was still raining. Strangely enough, although it did rain often here, it was rare for it to go on for several days without stopping, and besides, for some reason the rain’s originally pleasant sound now grated faintly on her nerves...

The girl gave her head a vigorous shake, then spread open the Scriptures before her once more, slowly beginning to recite. She hoped she could find tranquility here; as long as she got through this night, everything would return to the way it was... at least that was what she hoped.

The girl fixed her gaze on the Scriptures and began softly chanting the text written upon them. Very soon, her mind was immersed in the peaceful sound of the Scripture. Gradually, she seemed to forget the sound of the rain outside entirely; in the girl’s world, only those lines of Scripture remained...

Yet things did not end there.

The girl herself was not aware that although her eyes were at this moment fixed on the Buddhist Scripture before her, what was emerging from her mouth was something utterly unimaginable—a prayer saturated with a certain eerie quality, akin to a Spell Text. At the same time, her eyes grew more and more clouded, more and more dim.

A thread of icy wind quietly arose, brushing past the girl, setting the candle flame to wavering. At the same time, in the shadows cast upon the wall appeared traces of twisted darkness. They were like tentacles, stretching out from behind the girl’s back, slowly drawing near...

By now the girl had fallen completely into a daze. She chanted in a low voice prayers that she herself no longer quite understood, her voice growing louder and louder...

However, to the girl herself, it did not feel that way.

She only felt a perfect clarity inside, as if she had seamlessly merged with the world itself. She could still hear the whispers at her ears, blending with the sound of the rain, but this time those whispers did not irritate her. On the contrary, they felt to her like wisdom bestowed by the Buddha himself, tones like Brahma’s voice that fascinated her. She sensed her body and soul sinking into some unknown bliss, incomparably happy.

Just then, the Reflective Room’s door, which had been tightly shut from the outside, creaked open with a long ”cr-eeeak,” and a bitterly cold wind mixed with raindrops blew into the room.

The girl turned her head. What she saw was a figure wreathed in golden Radiance, standing there, illuminating the entire world.

Ah, it’s the Buddha!

An indescribable surge of emotion rose from the depths of the girl’s heart. She pressed her palms together and fell to her knees.

Her voice grew ever louder, and now these sounds filled the girl with overwhelming agitation and excitement. It felt as if she were truly standing within the Western Paradise her Master had spoken of, feeling a growing happiness and inner peace. At the same time, the girl saw several strange things gradually emerging from that figure suffused with golden Radiance.

Azure tentacles, each one gleaming with a ceaselessly shifting, murky Radiance, crept in from beyond the door. They reached the girl’s side, slowly winding around her face, her neck, her limbs. Yet the girl made no attempt to resist. She was like a puppet being manipulated, letting those tentacles lift her to her feet and guide her forward, step by step.

At the same time, pieces of clothing slipped soundlessly from the girl’s body, drifting down to scatter across the floor.

The cold wind, mixed with raindrops, lashed in and struck the girl’s body, but she made not the slightest response. Her eyes were now shrouded in shifting, unidentifiable colors, while those viscous tentacles, like a Deep Sea Monster, exuding a spectral azure Radiance, slowly unfurled, extending inexorably ahead.

But the girl felt no trace of panic. On the contrary, she simply fixed her gaze on that radiant figure and walked toward him.

And when that radiant figure pulled her into his arms, in that instant the girl felt an unprecedented, utterly complete joy and happiness.