amaotonovel Chapter 270 Watching the Water Flow Eastward
Chapter 270 Watching the Water Flow Eastward
Chapter 270 Watching the Water Flow Eastward
Thousands of pine and peach trees shade the mountain gate, and the towering pavilions can be vaguely seen, but the sound of springs in the secluded areas cannot be seen. The three gates built in the woods are quietly hidden among the mountains and valleys. The texture of the stones is dyed by the misty green of the morning, making them look even more grey.
After passing the Fangmen Gate, you can immediately see an old and exquisite gate in the shape of a tower. On it is inscribed "Knocking on the Zen door, stirring the heartstrings, the myriad dharmas and immortals open the path to enlightenment; the shadow of the ice pot, the quiet and clear mind, the moment the sacred mountain reflects Ruiyan". It is a quiet mountain temple called "Ruiyan" -
However, this originally peaceful and tranquil place is now a bit noisy.
"Donor, you may not know that there have been drought demons haunting our temple recently. Sometimes they appear in the shape of a monkey with long hair and one foot, which is a beast demon; sometimes they appear in the shape of a strangled corpse with a stiff body and a charming appearance, which is a ghost demon. The monks in the temple also mistook you for a ghost demon, which is why they offended you..."
In the quiet Zen room, the lame abbot offered Hong Wendi a bowl of fragrant pine moss tea and took the initiative to talk about the strange stories in the temple with a very respectful attitude.
On the open space outside the meditation room, there were still many monks lying on the ground, screaming in pain, unable to get up. Seeing that Hong Wending looked calm, the lame abbot couldn't help but look embarrassed.
It turned out that at dawn, Hong Wendi suddenly saw that the gate of the mountain temple was open, so he stepped into the temple path on his own. However, before he had taken three or five steps, he ran into a group of seven or eight aggressive monks who were guarding the temple. This group of people suddenly rushed over with whistle sticks in their hands and attacked Hong Wendi without saying a word.
Seeing this, Hong Wendi smiled coldly, stretched out his hand and grabbed a whistle stick, blocking it in front of himself, then rushed forward and hit the opponent's palm like lightning, and took the whistle stick in his hand.
Seeing that Hong Wending was still approaching, the others still surrounded him with their sticks, showing vigilance and alertness, and moved forward step by step to force him out of the temple. So after holding the stick with both hands, Hong Wending wielded it very fast, knocking away the remaining weapons in a few strokes, and even the aggressive monk Qu Ran who surrounded him was knocked to the ground by him with just a few punches and two kicks, and could only scream in pain repeatedly -
This one-sided fight was not stopped until a lame monk came out with the help of a novice monk.
"Amitabha, little donor, please stop."
The lame monk broke free from the support and came to Hong Wendi on his own. He said sincerely, "My name is Hengmin, and I am the abbot of Ruiyan Zen Temple. I wonder what important matter you have for visiting me?"
Hong Wending said solemnly, "I came here early this morning to pay my respects to the Buddha. I did not intend to be rude, but I don't know why you masters want to make things difficult for me."
Master Hengmin looked around with a little surprise, but saw that the monks all lowered their heads, not daring to look at each other. This led to the previous scene. After a long sigh, he quickly invited Hong Wendi into the temple and told him everything about his current experience.
Although the Ruiyan Zen Temple is not well-structured, it is an ancient temple built in the first year of Guangming in the Tang Dynasty. The founding monk, Zaoguang, was praised by people of his time as the reincarnation of a Pratyekabuddha. He was so knowledgeable in Buddhism that he even served as a teacher to emperors.
With such a glorious origin, the Ruiyan Zen Temple was naturally magnificent in scale and prosperous in incense. It was considered a famous temple in the area, and was said to be on par with Tiantai and Caoxi. However, as the times changed, it inevitably fell into decline after the Northern Song Dynasty. However, it has continued to this day, and this temple deep in the mountains has a history of nearly 800 years.
There was a story in Chong'an County a long time ago. It is said that Wuyi Mountain had suffered from severe drought for years, and there was almost no grass growing. There were starving people everywhere. The King of Fujian had no choice but to ask for help from Zen Master Zaoguang. Zen Master Zaoguang happily went there and came to Kaishan Temple in Wufuli, Chong'an County alone. He performed a miracle and prayed for rain for the people for three days and three nights, thus saving the people of the city.
However, Master Hengmin told Hong Wendi that although the legend was true, the details contained in it were far beyond common sense.
When Zen Master Zaoguang climbed up the Kaishan Temple in Wufuli, he actually dug up a bottomless ancient tomb of an unknown dynasty in the middle of the night, and glimpsed a lifelike ancient corpse from the gap in the tomb.
The moon was waning and dim at that time, and the tomb was dug up. At the moment the ancient corpse saw the light of day again, this incorruptible corpse suddenly changed drastically. It became swollen, smelly, and rotten. Worms began to wriggle, and its internal organs shattered. Suddenly, its flesh and blood were all over the place, and it showed all kinds of ugly colors. In just half a minute, its face had changed color and became as terrifying as a Rakshasa ghost.
Zen Master Zaoguang was a great monk who had attained enlightenment and finally achieved the state of Pratyekabuddha. Naturally, he would not be disturbed by such heretics. Just as he was about to use a magic method to dispel the resentment of the zombies, he saw a black shadow suddenly rise up and fly straight to the eaves of the water pavilion at the foot of the mountain. It seemed to have transformed into a corpse monster with scales all over its body, mottled like an ancient pine tree, and hair as fluffy as feathers. It disappeared from then on!
After descending the mountain, Zen Master Zaoguang privately reported to the King of Fujian that there had been an aura of the unchanging heaven in Wuyi Mountain since the beginning of the universe. Therefore, the corpses of the dead but not immortal, the decayed but not transformed, were scattered all over the mountain, numbering in the thousands, and eventually gave rise to the drought demon that was wreaking havoc here.
Although the drought has ended, his carelessness caused the drought demon to escape, and one day it will cause disaster again. Finally, Zen Master Zaoguang left behind the Zen saying "The King of Man and the King of Dharma each shine", and returned to the depths of the mountains and forests to practice again.
"Little donor, a few days ago, I was practicing in the Dharma Hall, and I heard a ghostly sound coming from the Ruiying Relic Pagoda behind the hall in the middle of the night. In the morning, there were traces of digging. I vaguely guessed that it was the corpse of the drought demon coming to take revenge, so I ordered the monks in the temple to be on high alert..."
Hong Wendi did not drink tea from beginning to end, but instead asked questions carefully.
"Master, as you said, it was Zen Master Zaoguang who broke into the tomb of Hanba. That was during the Five Dynasties period. Why did the corpse monster only become rampant now, even running into the city to harm people?"
Monk Hengmin smiled bitterly and said, "When Zen Master Zaoguang got rid of the evil, he expected that this beast would make a comeback. He saw a mysterious aura of gods left on the ancient tomb, so he told the villagers that if any villagers wished to be buried there after their death, their descendants would have the blessing of Doushu, which would not only help them to rise to prominence, but also suppress the Feng Shui of Hanba, so that it would not dare to move rashly."
Hong Wending asked: "Does anyone really do this?"
Master Hengmin simply nodded.
"Since then, the mountain people have repeatedly buried their ancestors on the mountain, so that there are tombs all over the area around Kaishan Temple, with almost no place to rest. However, in the early Song Dynasty, there were still frequent incidents of drought demons causing trouble, and they could only rely on high-level masters to come and punish them. It was not until the tombs of Liu Qian, Zhu Song and others were built that the drought demon incidents were completely eliminated, until recently when it caused another wave..."
Then Master Hengmin smiled self-deprecatingly.
"Don't force it if it's not destined. In fact, my ancestral grave is also on that mountain. But you see, young donor, I am now a monk. I had my legs broken in my early years. After all, my fate is not strong."
Hong Wendi understood the hidden meaning of Monk Hengmin's words and continued to ask.
"Master Host, do you know what happened here?"
Great Monk Hengmin looked around and when he saw that there was no one around he lowered his voice and spoke.
"Of course. In his early years, Zen Master Zaoguang had great blessings and virtues. The Ruiyan Temple he built here was very effective in praying for rain, driving away locusts and plague, and repelling thieves and bandits, and exorcising evil spirits and disasters. However, at some point, a group of refugees suddenly came to Chong'an City and secretly taught the Jingqi Sect."
"This group of refugees often do weird things. The leader of the Jingqiu Sect is a man named Zhang. It is said that when they were mining robbers in their early years, they learned magic from an old ghost in a tomb. Since then, they have been rampant and monopolized many businesses in the city. They also wrote to the government to open and build two more water gates in addition to the original water gate. It was this move that destroyed the original mountain shape and water flow of Chong'an County, allowing the drought corpse monster to run rampant and difficult to control..."
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Outside the Chenghuang Temple in the north of Chong'an City, there is a solid old house with blue tiles, in which lives a family named Zhao. The Zhao couple often travel outside to transport goods and do business for profit, so the only people living at home are the elder sister who has reached the age of marriage and the younger brother who has not yet awakened.
After returning home, Zhao Erguan was naturally severely scolded by his sister, but he still generously took Xiao Shitou in and took the initiative to ask if there was anyone else at home so that she could deliver letters or messages on their behalf. However, Xiao Shitou never answered and only said that he had to wait for someone to come back.
The next morning, Zhao Erguan sat by the canal in the city again, his eyes looking towards the other side of the canal from time to time, his feet soaked in the cool water. He tossed the fishing rod in his hand slightly, and it floated lightly onto the surface of the river. He quickly turned his eyes back, staring at the feather floating on the water.
The little stone beside him naturally maintained the same posture and appearance, imitating Zhao Erguan's fishing by the river, but there was a chattering girl in a white robe beside them, which disturbed them so much that they didn't catch a single fish for most of the day.
"Your name is Little Stone, right? Where is your senior brother?"
"Why don't you reply? I'm asking about your senior brother! The one who is very good at martial arts and handsome?"
"Um...did you get lost by yourself? Do you want me to take you back?"
"Your master is a talkative person, so why are you and your brother so quiet?"
"Please say a few words to me. I have worked so hard to come to Chong'an County. I finally met someone I know. I can't pretend not to know you. I am your "junior sister"! "
The girl squatting next to Xiao Shitou is named Tian Qingwen, nicknamed "Golden-haired Mink". She is the daughter of Tian Guinong, the leader of the Tianlong Sect. Therefore, no matter her family background or martial arts, she can be regarded as a well-known figure in the martial arts world.
However, ever since Tian Qingwen met Jiang Wen and his party in Fuzhou City, she became disheartened with her father who gave his daughter away, and became infatuated with Hong Wendi, who had once saved her life. She even broke away from the escort team sent by Lin Zhennan of the Fuwei Escort Agency and chose to come to Chong'an County alone.
She had already inquired before coming here. She found out that Lin Xiu, the young leader of the Fuwei Escort Agency, had arrived in Wuyi Mountain before her to learn martial arts from his master.
Tian Qingwen was not interested in Lin Xiu, whose martial arts were mediocre, but she was very interested in the place he was going to. So she asked along the way, but she could not find out where the Wuyi Sect, which Jiang Wen mentioned as the best in the martial arts world, was located. It was as if there had never been a Wuyi Sect in the world.
Feeling discouraged, she could only stay in Chong'an County, waiting for news to spread.
There are all kinds of religions in Chong'an County, among which the Jingqi Sect is the most powerful. However, after Tian Qingwen's investigation, he found that the so-called Jingqi Sect is just a secular religion formed by a group of vegetarians. They preach to each other, eat vegetarian food, form alliances and visit each other. On the first and fifteenth day of every month, they light candles to recite scriptures, collect money for meetings, and the scriptures they teach are just old tunes such as "Liang Emperor's Precious Repentance" that encourage people to be good.
However, God helps those who work hard. Just after Tian Qingwen chose to infiltrate the Jingqi Sect to inquire about the news, he finally took advantage of the Jingqi Sect's support and ran into Xiao Shitou, whom he had met once. He suddenly felt that he was only a stone's throw away from seeing Hong Wendi again.
But all his enthusiasm was choked by Xiao Shitou's sullen words.
"Oh, the second apprentice brother was captured by a monster."
Tian Qingwen felt like a bolt from the blue.
The news she heard yesterday was that a shop in Shuimen was attacked by a drought demon. Among the two brothers, the elder brother was killed, while the younger brother survived. But she had never thought that Hong Wendi and Xiao Shitou, who looked very different, were brothers, so she did not think that Wendi was the one who was taken away.
But after hearing this, Tian Qingwen suddenly didn't know what to do. Could it be that he and Hong Wendi were just like the surging Eastward Canal in front of him, ultimately just a chance encounter that would soon dissipate like smoke and clouds, and when the day came when the snow melted and the water rose, they would eventually be far apart from each other?
"No, I will go find the senior brother of the Jingqi Sect right now and rescue your brother!"
(End of this chapter)