Chapter 8: Trial of the Hungry Ghost

Tom entered the fifth trial; however, his situation wasn't that good after all; the fatigue from the previous trials started to build up, and the thoughts of giving up started to grow more and more. Yet, Tom didn't let those thoughts dominate his mind, especially with the fact that the voice played yet again, not giving him a chance to think about his fatigue.

"In this world, to reach the truth, one must face the inner and outer demons that roam around. To be able to change when one must and to change others when you want. Samsara itself speaks to thou to heal the hungry ghosts from their past, and you shall pass its trial."

Tom didn't notice it in the previous trials, but he noticed it now this ancient voice started to speak more normally.

Anyway, Tom didn't want to give it too much thought and miss the objective of his mission, so he looked at the fog to see what color it had, only to see that this time the colors looked all mixed up without any apparent single color being prominent leading Tom to wonder if that was because this trial had something to do with samsara.

Even now, in the fifth trial, the meaning of those colors was not evident, as if they had a deeper connection yet too profound for him to understand, or maybe ... he just imagined it all up because of all the new things that he encountered here.

Tom again told himself to focus on his objective, the mission, and to not get distracted; thus, he took a step towards the fog.

[Pov Change]

The sounds of screaming and suffering were all around. Tom looked around to assess his surroundings, only to see that there were those hideous human-like beings with small mouths and large bellies. The weird thing was that even tho they had those large bellies, their bodies seemed to lack nutrition; even their rib cage was visible.

Tom wondered, "So those are the so-called Hungry Ghosts that I need to help heal from their shackles. Interesting, it seems that this trial also got a hint of the seven sins, the sin of gluttony represented by the Hungry Ghosts here."

After looking at the Hungry Ghosts, Tom looked at himself only to see that he had the body of a monk, which made him laugh inside. "I walk the path of a demon, yet here I am trying to help those ghosts. Will it matter not as long as this helps me take a step toward immortality"

Now that he was done with assessing the surrounding, he wondered how to help those ghosts. After all, they don't look like they want to help themselves.

According to what he remembered from hearing about the hungry ghosts, they needed to follow the eightfold path if they wanted to leave their current form and ascend to a higher state. The eightfold was represented by a wheel with eight handles, each having a special meaning.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Tom thought to himself, "If I remember correctly, then those eight handles were Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Concentration, and lastly, Right Mindfulness."

"First, I will try the Right View approach."

Thinking about a plan for a while, Tom thought of the following if I want to change their view to the Right View, I need to make them see the world as it's without the filter and delusion that they built for themselves."

Tom looked around, trying to find something to help spread the message because if he wanted to deliver it to one hungry ghost at a time, he would stay here for his whole life.

Tom didn't have to look for long because once he thought about it, he noticed a jade talisman with an engraving on it that he weirdly understood had a "Divine Speech Talisman" text on it. Not only did he understand the meaning of the text, but he also somehow understood how to use it.

He only needed to hold the Talisman to his forehead, and whatever message he wanted to send will be sent to the minds of the ghosts.

Tom thought that the trial maker didn't want to make it impossible for the trial taker to pass it. However, he also didn't make it easy he only gave him the essential thing he needed, and the rest will be up to him.

Tom held the Talisman to his forehead, speaking to the ghosts, part of a scripture that he had heard long ago

"There is no sickness like the hunger of the soul.

There is No joy like freedom from all.

A path of gluttony leads to the imprisonment of your soul."

After speaking through the Talisman, the speech worked quite well, too well, actually. The hungry ghosts got liberated directly without him touching on any of the other seven handles. Tom thought there was something wrong with the trial. Although some of his previous trials were easier than others and some were harder, this trial was too easy.

Tom was expelled from the fog like usual, although he wasn't happy this time because he knew that there was a high chance that something happened with or in the trial that wasn't supposed to happen, especially with the fact that the door to the subsequent trial didn't open.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a fire spawned the changed into a boy with red hair. This boy was, of course, Yang Yang.

"Mister, you made a huge big large problem for me. It seems that you, a mortal broke the trial. Let me think, what am I supposed to do? Does this mean you failed? Am I supposed to kill you?"

Hearing what Yang Yang said, Tom was afraid after all; even though Yang Yang had a child's body, you can't judge a book by its cover because under that cute child's body was a phoenix that lived for centuries. Tom didn't doubt that Yang Yang could destroy him with one finger.

Even though Tom wanted to run away, he kept his composure, or at least he kept his facade that he was calm.

After a while of thinking, Yang Yang's face changed as if he was receiving instructions from high above.

Yang Yang looked at Tom and said, "Will, Mister, you can count your lucky stars because the one above said that you didn't cheat after all. So I am actually quite happy that I don't have to kill you."

Tom replied with a cheerful voice that hid his fear, "Thanks for not killing me."

Yang Yang smiled and said again, "Mister, I am actually surprised it seems that the teaching of a higher-rank world somehow got to your world, giving you the ability to clear the floor so easily. Of course, if you were in a rank two world, such teaching would be restricted to only the higher people of said world."

Yang Yang Said, "Will mister, I don't know what is so special about you that makes me talk so much. Will I need to go. I will let you continue with your trials. Oh, and by the way, congrats on reaching this floor. Many others died here."

Tom thought that Yang Yang coming here gave him more questions than answers, but what is important for now is that he survived.