Convergence

Part 3 : Chapter 8

......

The inside of the temple was in even worse condition than its exterior.

Built against the edge of a cliff, the structure looked as though it had been abandoned for decades. Its cracked walls were covered in layers of graffiti intertwined with ancient Buddhist murals whose vivid colors had somehow withstood the passage of time. The contrast gave the place an almost unreal appearance, as if several eras had been superimposed upon one another without ever fully erasing what came before.

At the center of the main hall stood a colossal statue of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Or rather, what remained of it.

Its head lay several meters away from the body, shattered into countless fragments. There was something profoundly unsettling about the sight, as though the deity itself had been unable to protect this place from whatever calamity had befallen it.

Its half-closed eyes remained frozen in eternal serenity beneath thick arched brows. Its left hand rested upon its lap in the dhyāna mudrā, while its right hand touched the ground in the bhūmisparśa mudrā - the gesture known as "calling the Earth to witness."

A cruel irony.

For the earth beneath its hand was stained with blood.

Large dark patches covered the stone floor. It was impossible to tell whether the blood was human or animal. Equally impossible was determining how long it had been there. In a place where time itself seemed to have ceased to exist, the stains could have been from the previous day - or from decades ago.

A lingering scent of incense still hung in the air, as though the very stones had absorbed its fragrance over the years.

Utahime and Satoru methodically searched the temple's various chambers.

Nothing.

No sign of life.

No trace of a curse either.

And yet...

Turning a corner, Utahime noticed a thin sheet of incense paper lying on the floor.

She crouched down and touched it with her fingertips.

Warm.

Her brow furrowed immediately.

- "Someone was here recently."

Satoru glanced in her direction.

- "I thought so too."

- "Maybe there's a hidden room somewhere?"

- "There definitely is."

He answered with such certainty that she rolled her eyes.

- "And what makes you so sure of that?"

- "What ancient temple doesn't have a secret passage? Come on, Utahime. Use some common sense."

Before she could respond, Satoru had already wandered over to one of the enormous wall frescoes.

- "Look at this."

- "What now?"

- "That figure."

He pointed toward a bodhisattva painted on the wall.

- "Don't you think it's strange? All the others have circular halos, but this one has a lotus-shaped halo."

Utahime stared at him incredulously.

- "Seriously? Is this really the time for an art history lecture?"

- "I'm serious."

- "Maybe we should focus on finding a hidden mechanism instead."