Techniques and Dao

Chapter 101 Daqian Zen Temple (2)

Hua Sheng didn't understand and was about to ask again when the door was pushed open.

A young novice monk walked in, looking only six or seven years old, steadily carrying a bowl of medicine in his hands.

The old monk said to the young novice, "Buxu, finish giving this benefactor his medicine. Let him rest well."

“Yes, Master,” the young novice monk named Buxu bowed.

The old monk then went out and quietly closed the door behind him.

The young novice monk came to the bedside with a porcelain bowl in his hands.

"Please use it, benefactor."

Hua Sheng inwardly groaned, wondering what was going on at Daqian Temple. But at least he wasn't in the old hospital, which meant his gamble had paid off. However, the absence of Taishang Xiaojun made him worry about his current situation.

The thought of drinking Chinese medicine made him frown involuntarily.

"Please drink it while it's hot, benefactor." The young novice placed the porcelain bowl in front of Hua Sheng.

Hua Sheng reached out to take the porcelain bowl, and was taken aback when he saw it.

Since the porcelain bowl contained herbs, the broth should have been pitch black. But the bowl in front of me was crystal clear; it was just plain water.

Hua Sheng then asked, "Is this hot water?"

"No, it's herbal medicine that I brewed."

What kind of medicine, when brewed, tastes like clear water?

The young novice said in his childish voice, "It is a herb grown in the backyard of the Zen temple. Therefore, it has no color or form."

Hua Sheng took the porcelain bowl with some skepticism, then brought it to his lips and immediately smelled the fragrant aroma of the clear medicinal soup.

A small sip revealed an unparalleled sweetness, quite unlike any other Chinese medicine I had ever seen before.

Hua Sheng immediately drank the magical herbal soup in one gulp.

The young novice monk took the bowl and said, "Please rest well, benefactor. It will be mealtime soon. I will go and prepare your meal."

Hua Sheng felt embarrassed that he had to serve a young novice monk who looked like a preschooler, so he said, "You are too young. It's very simple to prepare some food, so there's no need to trouble you, little master."

The young novice immediately replied, "No, no, the abbot has informed us that we should take good care of you. You should just rest and recuperate."

Hua Sheng asked, "Is the abbot you're talking about the one from earlier?"

The young novice monk shook his head and said, "No, that was the guest master of this temple. The abbot of Daqian Temple is called Master Ruokong. When you fell, Master Ruokong happened to see it, and he personally carried you here."

Hua Sheng said, "Can I meet this Master Ruokong? I know I'm injured, but this injury is nothing in Shengping Ning. I don't need to recuperate here; I can be healed in no time once I return to the Academy of Arts and Sciences."

The young novice monk tilted his head and said, "Benefactor, in my humble opinion, even if Abbot Ruokong were willing to see you, you would not be able to leave."

"why is that?"

"Because the temple gates are usually locked. Not to mention you, even we monks can't get out."

"Huh?" Hua Sheng exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you locked up? Are you all imprisoned here?"

"Your entire monastery is locked up and can't get out?"

The young novice monk laughed and said, "It's not that I'm locked up here, but because Daqian Temple has a rule that the temple gates are only opened for three days every hundred days."

“I understand, you are all monks living in the temple… no, monks, so of course you have to obey the temple rules. But I am an outsider. Even if the temple gates are closed, I can just go and say hello to the abbot. He won’t have to bother opening the gates for me. I can just leave and fly away with a shout of ‘Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!’”

As Hua Sheng spoke, he opened his left palm and made a gesture of one finger of his right hand flying out of his palm.

The young novice monk shook his head again and said, "Sigh. I've long heard that you disciples of the Magic Academy think you're so great just because you know a few magic spells. Do you think Daqian Temple is a place you can come and go as you please?"

Hua Sheng was a little confused and asked, "Little Master, what do you mean by that?"

"What I mean by the temple gates being closed is that you can't leave. Not only are the main gates of the Zen temple closed, but you can't get out of the Zen temple from anywhere else."

"Does this temple have a roof on top, making it impossible to fly?"

"Ah, benefactor. Even if Sun Wukong somersaults for 108,000 li, he can't escape from the Buddha's palm. Is it because there's a lid on the Buddha's palm?"

Upon hearing the young novice's words, Hua Sheng was suddenly taken aback, yet he also seemed to understand.

"Little Master, do you mean there's a magical barrier surrounding this Daqian Temple?"

The young novice monk clasped his hands together and said, "This is not a magic academy, so there are no magical arts here. But the Buddha's teachings are boundless, the Buddha's teachings are boundless!"

“That’s not right!” Hua Sheng suddenly thought of a problem. “If there is a barrier, how did I get in? I clearly fell from the sky to Daqian Temple. Little Master, according to you, this path is blocked.”

The young novice replied, "Because you have an affinity with Buddhism."

"What kind of explanation is this?!"

The young novice blinked mischievously and continued, "This humble monk says that you have an affinity with Buddhism because the temple gates were open yesterday when you fell."

"Huh?" Hua Sheng rubbed his forehead. "What a coincidence!"

“Benefactor, it is often said that all things arise from causes and conditions. There are no coincidences in this world, only causes and conditions.” The young novice said solemnly, then put his hands together in prayer.

After hearing this, Hua Sheng was speechless for a moment.

The young novice monk put away the porcelain bowl and left the room.

Although the room was not large, it felt especially empty when Hana was lying alone.

Although the soup I just drank was delicious, it was different from the Nine-Turn Rejuvenating Pill I had taken before. The Nine-Turn Rejuvenating Pill was like a shot of adrenaline; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it instantly restored me to full health.

But this herbal soup only warms the stomach at best. The places that should hurt still hurt, and the dizziness still comes when it should.

Hua Sheng thought to himself, "Everyone says that Zen temples are places for self-cultivation, and it seems that this is true. When you encounter a monk with a slow and deliberate pace, whether in the human world or in the sacred peace, you can't help but admire him."

The thought of the name "Sacred Peace" filled Hua Sheng with renewed doubt. What did the old monk who had greeted them mean when he said this place was both Sacred Peace and not? Why was this temple so strange, only open for three days out of a hundred? And why had he, by some uncanny coincidence, stumbled into it…?

Thinking of this, Hua Sheng stretched and reflexively pulled her back, at the same time feeling a pain running down her spine and through her whole body.

"Ouch! That hurts!"

It seems that, just as the monk said, I have indeed suffered an injury. To remain safe and sound, I must rest and recuperate.

But the question that Hua Sheng had just thought of kept him from calming down. If what that young novice monk named Bu Xu said was true, and he had fallen into this Daqian Zen Temple yesterday, then wouldn't he have to wait a full hundred days before he could leave? No wonder that old monk had said earlier that it takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone; this wasn't a metaphor, he really meant he was going to be locked up in this temple for a hundred days!

That won't do. I finally made it back to Shengpingning, and what exactly happened in the Qiankun Defense War? Although I broke through the Jupiter Veil, I was then affected by a spell and ended up in that imagined "real world" without even realizing it.

What happened to the disciples of the Daoist Academy? Where did Taishang Xiaojun go? What about Immortal Master Yuran, Immortal Master Jueguang, Immortal Master Huolei, Tianjizi, and Mieying?

By the way, how are the two groups, "HOPE" and "BRAVE," with over a hundred people in total?

Not only that, but what if the building collapses after I take the Golden Cudgel? No, my immobilization spell should have already worn off. What if it collapses? I have to get back quickly.

In addition, there is the matter of being prepared for the worst...

How could Wei Yu be Ming You? Everything happened so suddenly, without any time to think.

Hanamori recalled the scene she saw when she pierced the veil of Jupiter.

Were those visions of the future all things she had personally experienced?
Thinking about this, I couldn't help but feel sad. Why did things turn out this way? If only I had realized it sooner. Looking back, it wasn't entirely without warning signs; perhaps I should have guessed that Weiyu was carrying so much burden.

But who could have predicted that this was the truth?

No!

Hua Sheng made up her mind.

I still have to go back to the Academy of Arts and Sciences; I absolutely cannot be trapped here! I need to find a way out. As for the abbot, I'll come back to thank him another time.

Hua Sheng propped himself up on the edge of the bed. He touched his chest and found the iron hoop chain was still there, which filled him with joy. He lifted the chain and saw a crimson flame rolling back and forth in the inverted triangular pendant.

A gleaming golden needle floated in the flames. It was none other than the Ruyi Jingu Bang (the magic staff).

How could this dilapidated temple possibly contain the supreme magic weapon, the Golden Cudgel? What a joke!
Thinking of this, Hua Sheng immediately became extremely alert. Although he was in pain all over, he believed it was just a sprain of the muscles and bones and that no vital organs had been damaged.

He gritted his teeth, stood up, took a few steps, and pulled the door shut.

Outside the door, the long-awaited sunlight shone. Gentle rays streamed down from the sky, and the first thing to touch was the back of Hua Sheng's hand.

Even just a sliver of skin exposed to the light instantly warms the body.

It felt so familiar. Hanamori exclaimed inwardly, "This is Saint Pingning! Not anywhere else, but Saint Pingning!"
Regardless of what the old monk who was in charge of receiving guests said, he could intuitively feel that this was the warmth of the Holy Peaceful Wonderland, irreplaceable.

Saint Pingning.

A fairyland where immortals, spirits, and humans coexist.

By sheer chance, I arrived in this fairyland through a hidden amendment to the "Law on the Protection of Minors." There, I met Tai Shang Xiao Jun, Wei Yu, Mie Ying, Tian Ji Zi, as well as Immortal Master Yu Ran, Immortal Master Qing Miao, Immortal Master Jue Guang, and Immortal Master Huo Lei.

Then he began cultivating immortal techniques, embarking on this "journey" that he could not control.

"I long to return to the Academy of Arts and Sciences and lie on the shore of Lake Drunken Heart."

Hua Sheng couldn't help but sigh softly at the gentle breeze caressing her face, the willow branches drooping and swaying in the wind by the lake, and the disciples in Taoist robes occasionally flying overhead on clouds.

The surface of Zuixin Lake seems almost within reach, its surface shimmering and sparkling. Whether it's Zuixin Lake or the ponds on Xuanwu Mountain, an ethereal atmosphere pervades everywhere, captivating travelers and making them reluctant to leave.

Hua Sheng walked out of the house.

A waft of the temple's distinctive incense wafted over, and even a light sniff was enough to soothe the soul. Hua Sheng couldn't help but take a deep breath. Compared to the herbs he had just taken, this incense instantly swept away his fatigue, and his injuries seemed to have healed considerably.

Only then did I realize that Daqian Temple occupies a vast area. The various halls are arranged in a neat and orderly manner, with light yellow walls, red glazed tiles, and the faint scent of incense floating in the air, making this ancient temple even more solemn and majestic.

In the center of the temple square stood an extremely tall jade incense burner, the tallest incense burner Hua Sheng had ever seen. Its height was comparable to that of the roof of the adjacent temple.

The incense burner is dark green all over and is nine stories high. On the side of the incense burner are four golden characters written in calligraphy: "Incense Burner for a Thousand Generations".

The faint fragrance of incense that wafts through the Zen temple originates from this thousand-year-old incense burner and spreads to every corner of the temple.

(End of this chapter)