He glanced nostalgically at Master’s room. Carrying the box, Ethan Foster walked out, but instead of returning to the courtyard, he turned into the room on the left. What he had just packed up were Master’s belongings; now, what Ethan Foster was about to take were things that truly belonged to himself.

“These things should probably all stay here…”

After entering his own room, Ethan Foster took a small box from under the bed. Looking at the many small wooden pistols, little wooden horses, and other items carved from wood inside, his gaze softened. All these things had been hand-carved for him by Master back in the day, accompanying Ethan Foster throughout his entire childhood.

“Hey? I say, you actually kept all this stuff?”

Chad, who had burst into the room, couldn’t help but exclaim when he saw the things in the small box. Back when Ethan Foster was a child, he used to trade those little wooden guns and such for quite a bit of snacks from Chad. But Chad was never consistent—after playing with them for a few days, he usually gave them back to Ethan Foster.

“Huh, what’s this? How come I’ve never seen it before?”

As Chad rummaged through the box, he suddenly found a small pendant tied with a string. Just as he was about to pick it up, Ethan Foster snatched it away and said irritably, “Don’t mess around. There’s plenty you haven’t seen…”

Feeling the warmth of the bone pendant in his palm, Ethan Foster’s expression changed from before, a trace of indescribable emotion flashing in his eyes. This pendant meant a great deal to him—it was the only item he had on him when the old priest found Ethan Foster.

Chapter 5: The Taoist Descends the Mountain (Part 2)

According to the old priest, when he found Ethan Foster at the entrance of the temple all those years ago, Ethan Foster was completely naked, not even wrapped in a swaddling cloth.

At that time, the only thing on Ethan Foster was this pendant hanging around his neck. He was actually sucking on it, trying to swallow it, his little face turning bright red from holding his breath. If the old priest had found him any later, who knows if Ethan Foster would even be alive now.

However, the old priest didn’t seem to care much for this bone pendant. Although he told Ethan Foster that the pendant was found on him, he never allowed Ethan Foster to wear it. This made the young Ethan Foster very curious, and he tried to find out the origin of the pendant in a roundabout way.

One time, after drinking, the old priest told Ethan Foster that this pendant, just a bit larger than a thumbnail and carved with seemingly simple lines, was actually a Buddhist ritual object—a special instrument of Esoteric Buddhism, known in Tibetan as a “Gabara.”

A so-called Gabara refers to prayer beads or ritual implements made from human bone. Among all religions, only the Esoteric School of Buddhism uses such items.

Esoteric Buddhism, also called the Mantra School, is a branch of Buddhism that spread in places like Tibet and Qinghai. It is characterized by highly organized rituals, mantras, and the worship of tutelary deities, giving it a persistent air of mysticism.

Most Esoteric Buddhist ritual implements are made from human bone. Of course, not just any bone can be used for prayer beads; they must be made from the remains of high-ranking lamas or monks. For example, after death, Tibetans often practice sky burial, feeding their bodies to eagles to achieve the Buddhist ideal of self-sacrifice. The flesh becomes food for living beings, and the bones are donated to make ritual implements.

The most commonly used bones for prayer beads are finger bones and brow bones. In Buddhism, fate and affinity are important; monks use their fingers most in rituals, and the eyes are for reading sutras and understanding the world. These two parts are considered to have the greatest spiritual affinity and are thought to be the most enlightened bones, making them ideal for ritual implements that open wisdom for future generations.

Prayer beads made from finger bones are relatively easy to make—one set can be crafted from the ten finger bones of a single person. Brow bones are much harder, so a set of beads might require the brow bones of more than a dozen high monks.

Just imagine—a small set of prayer beads containing the spiritual affinity of over a dozen eminent monks. For a Buddhist, that would be incredibly precious.

Moreover, making prayer beads or ritual implements from human bone is extremely complex, as they are all handmade. The monks must possess very high craftsmanship, polishing them daily to achieve a shine—a process that can take more than ten years. To gather enough brow bones for a set of beads, one must wait for over a dozen high monks to pass away, so a single set might take fifty or sixty years, or even a hundred years, to complete.

Only prayer beads made from finger bones and brow bones can be called Gabara. Beads made from other bones, like shin bones, are simply called human bone beads and cannot be called Gabara. Gabara made from the bones of eminent monks are extremely rare.

Due to geographical limitations, before the 1970s and 80s, there was little contact between Tibet and inland China, and Tibetan Buddhism always seemed mysterious to outsiders. If not for the old priest’s extensive travels and broad knowledge, he might not have recognized that this was a Gabara made from a brow bone.

According to Ethan Foster’s Master, this Gabara contains pure spiritual power and was likely made from the brow bone of an accomplished high monk or even a living Buddha. However, since Buddhism and Taoism follow different paths, the old priest, though open-minded, was unwilling for his Taoist disciple to wear a Buddhist ritual object.