Chinese communities across Asia celebrate this year's Taoist 'Nine Emperor Gods' vegetarian festival by using brutal objects like guns, knives and more to pierce their cheeks.
Pain for purification: A follower with swords piercing his face takes part in the annual festival
During the 9th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, devotees of the Chinese Shrine of Nine Emperor Gods, use swords, workshop tools, and even sniper rifles to thrust through their cheeks as the grisly Taoist vegetarian festival rolls on across Southeast Asia.
According to Dailymail, Chinese communities in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia abstain from meat, alcohol, and s*x while showing their religious devotion through ritualistic self-mutilation and pain trials.
Photos from the event show followers pierce their bodies with an astonishing array of objects with butchers knives and firearms in the name of purification, while the Malaysian procession depicts devotees impaling their faces with four-metre spears.
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