This is what an immortal should be like

Chapter 124 Righteousness versus "Buddha's Light"

At about the same time, Mu Hongwen, Li Hui, Gao Ran and Wang Min'er were strolling in Xiangyang City, while Zhao Chenyu's servant followed them to take care of them.

It was a rare opportunity to visit a big city like Xiangyang, so the four of them were full of curiosity and of course wanted to take a good tour of the city. Otherwise, they would not be able to describe the style of this ancient city in front of their classmates and fellow villagers when they returned.

When I came here yesterday, it was almost dusk. Looking at it again today, Xiangyang City is bustling in a different way, and every place is filled with a sense of bustle and vitality.

The four of them were just wandering around the street looking around but not buying anything. They wanted to see many things for their own convenience but did not necessarily want to own them.

Acai followed the four people with a bulging purse in his arms. Before going out today, he tried his best to bring a lot of money. The young master's instructions were to take good care of the four teenagers, let them eat and drink well, and also to protect the two girls with outstanding looks, and report Zhao Chenyu's official name if anything happened.

Of course, in Acai's impression, although Li Hui and Wang Min'er were both very well-mannered girls, he really didn't notice that they were outstanding in appearance, but he still remembered the young master's instructions very clearly.

When they passed by two adjacent calligraphy and painting and rouge and powder stalls, the stall owners on both sides were greeting them enthusiastically.

These three young men and one child were all dressed in the simple and elegant style of scholars, even the girl was dressed like that. They also had an attentive servant that anyone could see, so they must be from an extraordinary family.

"Come, come, come, ladies and gentlemen, take a look at these calligraphy and paintings. They are all works of famous artists!"

"Look everyone, this is the word 'king'!"

"King?"

Xiaowen asked curiously, but before he could ask for details, the stall owner had already answered enthusiastically.

"Yes, it is a masterpiece of calligraphy by the calligrapher Wang Xizhi. Of course, it is a copy."

The stall owner was halfway through his words when he saw the contemptuous looks on Xiaowen and the others' faces, and he added the second half of his sentence with a smile.

"If it were truly the work of a calligrapher, would I be the one hawking it here? But these pieces of calligraphy are incredibly rare, a popular style, and the price is reasonable, only three hundred coins!"

Gao Ran and Xiao Wen looked at each other, and the latter muttered.

"Copying like this is a complete disgrace to the name of the Calligraphy Saint."

The owner of the rouge and powder stall on the side was shouting just as hard, trying to get a few orders from Li Hui and Wang Min'er.

"Look here, ladies! These are the finest rouge and powder, with a rich, long-lasting fragrance. And these pearl hairpins are new arrivals, and they're the favorites of some of the ladies in the city. That young man over there might want to take a look; they'd be perfect gifts for the woman he admires!"

Except for Xiaowen, judging from the figures of the other three people, they could easily be regarded as people of marriageable age by ordinary people in this era.

After all, it is common here to get married at the age of sixteen or seventeen, and the three of them are either tall or slender, much more outstanding than their peers here.

Seeing that the four people were just looking and not buying, Acai on the side finally couldn't help it. He was originally worried that he didn't have enough money, but now he saw that these four young masters were so sensible and polite.

"Young Master and Young Lady, please feel free to buy whatever you want, such as pearl hairpins, writing brushes, rouge and powder. It's a rare trip to Xiangyang, and the craftsmanship here is not available elsewhere!"

Although Acai has only been in Xiangyang for more than two years, he is still clear about this aspect and has a hint of inexplicable superiority.

Xiaowen and others looked at Acai and refused with a smile.

"Oh, no need!" "I don't need it either!"

Li Hui on the side said with a smile.

"As for this skill, it's far inferior to the craftsmen back home!"

"Yes, not even a little bit!"

Wang Miner agreed. She had been in Yinxian Valley for three years and her horizons had broadened. The prosperity of the big city of Xiangyang was indeed dazzling, but when it came to these technical skills.

Sorry, it's far inferior to the ones in the valley.

Wang Min'er herself has several beautiful hair accessories, but she feels that she is still young and embarrassed to wear them. She only wears them to show off when she is dressing up alone. The exquisite craftsmanship is like a pearl compared to the rough stones on the stall.

Li Hui and Wang Min'er smiled at each other as they spoke. The smile was understandable but not expressible in words. It was obvious that they had a similar mentality. They were obviously two ordinary girls, but their smiles made Ah Cai and the stall owner over there stunned for a moment.

At this moment, a figure walked up to the calligraphy and painting stall, picked up a piece of calligraphy, looked at it carefully, and then said.

"Shopkeeper, three hundred coins is too expensive. How about selling it to me for fifty coins? If not, I'll leave!"

The shopkeeper looked up and saw a scholar with a calm face. He met his gaze and it seemed that he really had no intention of saying anything more under the circumstances. He quickly moved closer to him and responded with a smile.

"Okay, okay, fifty cents is fifty cents. I think you are a connoisseur of goods. I will pack it for you."

However, when Xiaowen and others heard the voice, they were all stunned for a moment, and then they all looked over there, even Wang Min'er. She would never forget that voice in her life.

Who else could the Confucian scholar who was buying calligraphy be but Zhuang Lin?

"Master!" "Yes, Master!"

"Master, it's really you!"

"Master, you are out."

The four people's voices were more excited than each other. They wondered whether the Master would come out of seclusion after they returned, but they didn't expect to meet the Master directly on the streets of Xiangyang, Gujin!

Acai next to him was also surprised. Mr. Zhuang Zian?
Zhuang Lin looked at the four people, nodded slightly to Ah Cai who was a little dazed, and then said something with a smile.

"Okay, you're already this big!"

These four children have changed greatly compared to before Zhuang Lin went into seclusion, and Wang Min'er is even more like a reborn person.

In particular, the four of them were extremely spiritual and had already begun practicing, which made Zhuang Lin feel gratified.

Zhuang Lin was still a little worried about the situation of the few people. After leaving the valley, he went straight to the direction he sensed. He went from Wuling to Xiangyang at an extremely fast speed. He wanted to give them a surprise, but Hongyu didn't seem to be there.

"Where's Hongyu?"

Zhuang Lin asked this question, and Xiao Wen quickly came up to Zhuang Lin and whispered a few words.
-
On the other side, in the Wanzhang Foguang Temple, just when Zhao Chenyu took Liu Hongyu to burn incense, an old monk who was originally meditating and chanting in the backyard suddenly saw a bright Buddha light in front of him.

In a trance, it seemed that a virtual figure of a Bodhisattva descended with the Buddha's light, which surprised the old monk.
A moment later, the old monk came out of the separate meditation room, hurriedly found the nearest monk, and sent a message to the temple.

Wanzhang Foguang Temple is very large, and there are naturally many monks inside. This news alarmed most of the monks, and they quickly took action.

In less than half a quarter of an hour, monks arrived at the entrances and exits of several temples.

Some pilgrims were entering or leaving the temple when they saw a monk run up to the gate. Two monks joined forces to close the gate. "Hey, Master, what's going on?"

"Master, why are you guys closing the door?" "Yes, we still need to go out!"

"Hey, why is the door closed? We still need to go in and burn incense—"

The pilgrims inside and outside the temple were all puzzled, and some naturally asked questions in the commotion, but no one rushed forward to stop the monks' actions.

Someone among the monks explained with a smile.

"Don't panic, benefactors! This is a sign of good fortune. The abbot of our temple, while in meditation, heard the Bodhisattva's instructions and knew that a person with extraordinary spirituality and a connection with the Buddha is currently in the temple. However, we don't know who this person is, so we have closed the door and are searching for him."

A person with extraordinary spirituality and affinity with Buddhism?

Are you going to close the temple specifically to find that person?
The monks who closed the front and back temple gates all said this, and there were also monks who had already left before closing time and gave this explanation to the pilgrims outside.

As for whether this person is male or female, old or young, fat or thin, tall or short, no one knows.

Even the person who has a connection with Buddhism may not be aware of his or her extraordinary connection with Buddhism.

The news quickly spread to every corner of the temple, and many pilgrims who were still in the temple also knew that Foguang Temple was now closed to seek connections.

For a moment, all the pilgrims were talking about it with curiosity, but there was no panic. Instead, everyone was excited, and many people hoped that they were the ones with a connection to Buddha, and that they would be protected by the Bodhisattva.

In the courtyard outside one of the main halls of Foguang Temple, Liu Hongyu and Zhao Chenyu naturally knew about this matter, and many pilgrims nearby were also discussing it.

The pilgrims were not only temporarily kept in the temple, but were also separated by the monks in the temple and separated into various palaces and courtyards.

Liu Hongyu was calm and waited quietly among the pilgrims. He probably knew that the so-called person with Buddhist affinity was probably looking for him, but he didn't know how the other party could confirm that it was him?

Moreover, Liu Hongyu was not very worried. Even if something happened, even if he might not be able to defeat the enemy, it would not be a big problem to escape with Zhao Chenyu.

However, the monks did not seem to have any special methods for the time being. Some old monks who looked to have some cultivation walked around the temple, checking the pilgrims who were staying in the temple. They mostly ignored those with big bellies, but carefully checked those with handsome looks.

Liu Hongyu and Zhao Chenyu were of course among the people who were carefully examined by the old monks. However, since Liu Hongyu concealed his energy within his body and did not reveal his spiritual light, it was impossible for these old monks to see anything.

In just over a quarter of an hour, almost all the pilgrims in Foguang Temple had been checked.

Even those pilgrims who were previously ignored at first glance were checked by the old monks. Some pilgrims were even inspected closely, but it seemed that nothing was found.

Some people began to express some dissatisfaction, some kept asking the monks in the temple about the outcome, and some hoped that the temple gates would be opened as soon as possible as they were still waiting to go back.

But at this time, the powerful and wealthy are still lucky, as there are monks who patiently and politely explain everything.

When ordinary pilgrims expressed complaints, they would often be glared at by a monk, and their hearts would start pounding so fast that they would be too frightened to say anything more.

Beside Liu Hongyu, Zhao Chenyu couldn't help but whisper to him.

"What are they doing?"

"I do not know."

At the old abbot's office in the center of the temple, some monks kept reporting the situation to him, which made him frown. How could the person with the Buddha's affinity that the Bodhisattva mentioned not be found?
And even if they can't find it, those with outstanding wisdom should come out on their own. Such a great thing should be flocked to by believers in the city!
At this moment, the old monk seemed to hear the sound of Buddha again, which made him stunned for a moment, and then he chanted the Buddha's name in a low voice.

"Buddha is merciful, I understand!"
-
A quarter of an hour and a half after Foguang Temple closed its doors and restricted the entry and exit of pilgrims, it still showed no intention of opening the doors. Even some dignitaries became impatient and began to urge them to open.

However, some monks in the temple took wooden fish in their hands. They held the wooden fish, beat the fish and chanted scriptures, and began to walk around the temple.

The sound of chanting rose and fell, and a faint Buddha light was rising. Gradually, the sound of chanting in the temple drowned out the discussions of some pilgrims.

As many monks struck wooden fish, the monks' chanting began to unify and had a special sense of rhythm. The pilgrims also subconsciously quieted down, and some even joined in the chanting, which seemed to be the Heart Sutra.

Liu Hongyu hid in the crowd, frowned slightly as he listened to the monks chanting, and then was surprised to find that more and more people around him began to chant along.

From the several main halls of Foguang Temple and the seven-story pagoda, patches of Buddha's light began to bloom.

"Namo Amitabha."

"When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva was practicing the profound Prajnaparamita"

The sound of chanting was no longer limited to the crowd and monks, but seemed to come from everywhere in the void. A feeling of oppression rose around Liu Hongyu, and he gently shook Zhao Chenyu.

"Mr. Qiming, Mr. Qiming!"

Zhao Chenyu muttered some incomplete scriptures and suddenly woke up, only to find that it was Liu Hongyu who was shaking him.

"what happened?"

"Something's wrong!"

Liu Hongyu looked serious, and Zhao Chenyu was also shocked to find that the surroundings were unusual. The pilgrims were chanting as if they were possessed. The whole temple was filled with the only sound of chanting.
In Liu Hongyu's sight, the Buddha's light, centered on the seven-story pagoda, began to grow increasingly dense, and "卍" characters appeared above many pilgrims, even above the two of them.

Oh no, this is a bewitching method!

After staying with Senior Xi Miao for half a day, the thing she talked about the most was the art of bewitching souls.

At this moment, when Liu Hongyu looked at the "卍" in the sky, although the Buddha's light was bright, the weird feeling lingered, and he was about to be bewitched at the sight of it.

In order to find the so-called "Buddhist-connected person", they actually have to forcibly bewitch all the pilgrims?
Mobilizing such a large force?

So unscrupulous!

The prosperity of Foguang Temple in Xiangyang is probably related to this. What kind of Buddha is this? It is simply an evil Buddha!
When Liu Hongyu came to his senses, he became nervous. Should he pretend to be bewitched, or lead his men out directly? If he could protect Zhao Chenyu, what about the others?

Others are just bewitched and fanatically believe in the "Buddha" here, so their lives shouldn't be in danger, right?

If I face it, can I do it?
For a moment, Liu Hongyu was torn between two options. If only Senior Xi Miao were here, she was an expert in the art of bewitching souls. If only Master were here, he wouldn't have to fear any evil spirits.
At this moment, a vast white light suddenly rose from the front yard of Foguang Temple.

"The Buddhist temple has lost its light and fallen into the sound of Sanskrit. What a peaceful place for monks to become monks, now it is filled with demons and monsters instead of Bodhi!"

The white light connected the sky and the earth, instantly overwhelming the ten thousand feet of Buddha light in the temple, and invisibly brought a huge pressure, making the monks who were chanting scriptures feel as if they were facing silent rolling thunder, like lightning illuminating the heart and making people shocked!
The chanting of many people also stopped abruptly.

In front of the temple gate, as Zhuang Lin walked step by step towards the gate of Foguang Temple, the majestic and righteous spirit had already been suppressed.

Wherever the radiant light of righteousness passed, the Buddha's light gradually receded, and all the bewildered pilgrims gradually regained consciousness.
(End of this chapter)