A Tale of Encounters with Immortals: A Peach Blossom Temple in the Martial World

The temple was crowded, and people with different expressions were walking around.

The joys and sorrows of human life are all different.

A woman had just bowed to the statue of Guanyin, then knelt on a prayer cushion and whispered something. Zhang Zhengdao heard it all clearly.

"Guanyin Bodhisattva, please bless me so that I may give birth to a healthy baby boy this year to continue the family line..."

It's August now, and the weather is still a bit hot; the lingering heat of late summer hasn't arrived yet.

It's going to be a bit difficult to have a healthy baby boy this year.

Unless the Goddess of Mercy grants you a child, it won't be as urgent as you think.

Then came the offering of incense, and I also threw a silver ingot into the donation box next to me. I could hear the silver ingot falling and make a soft "plop" sound.

When silver coins collide, they don't make the clinking sound of copper coins, but rather a dull, muffled sound.

The sound wasn't loud, indicating that the distance it fell was very short, and also that the silver in the donation box was almost touching the large, round slot on top of the box.

No wonder the saying goes, "Repairing bridges and roads leaves no corpses, while murder and arson bring wealth." This monk's business is much more lucrative than murder and arson.

Zhang Zhengdao was deeply moved.

In this world, his obsession with money wasn't as strong as it was in Peach Blossom Mountain.

Otherwise, they would have run off with all that silver in one night.

The monk's money is free money, so why not take it?

After that woman finished her nagging and left, it was Bai Mudan's turn.

As Bai Mudan took the incense and knelt down, the Guanyin statue seemed to twitch its eyes. It looked at Bai Mudan and appeared to be a demon.

Whether it's a demon or not doesn't matter; both humans and demons sometimes worship Guanyin statues. But what this demon exudes is not just demonic, but also the essence of Taoism.

I originally intended to make things difficult for them, but now I've given up on that idea.

As for the Taoist priest next to him, he seemed somewhat familiar.

No, it looks very familiar.

Although this was merely an avatar of Guanyin Bodhisattva, or even just a wisp of divine consciousness, the moment this consciousness connected with her true form, Guanyin Bodhisattva, who was preaching to the Buddha at the Great Thunderclap Temple, was stunned.

They remained silent, as if they were clay or wooden sculptures.

Back when he was in the Purple Bamboo Forest in the South China Sea, this Taoist priest used the Great Dao Mantra "Suppression" to trap himself in the Purple Bamboo Forest and prevent him from moving.

Guanyin Bodhisattva could not sense any fluctuations of magical power emanating from Zhang Zhengdao; he seemed like an ordinary mortal, which gave many unrecognizable immortals and Buddhas the wrong impression.

It wasn't exactly an illusion, because their magical power wasn't profound enough to sense Zhang Zhengdao's cultivation level.

So this wisp of divine consciousness shifted its gaze.

Then, after hearing Bai Mudan kneel down, she began to mutter to herself.

The sound of the prayer, like the clear tolling of a bell, struck again and again, reaching the ears.

"Bodhisattva Guanyin, I, Bai Mudan, prayed today that the Taoist priest beside me could grant me a son. If my prayer is answered, I will surely have your body gilded..."

Guanyin Bodhisattva's divine consciousness transmitted these words to the Great Thunderclap Temple.

The true form of Guanyin Bodhisattva had a strange expression, and even seemed distracted when debating scriptures with the Tathagata Buddha.

Seeing this, the Buddha quickly figured out what was going on. Although he couldn't figure out Zhang Zhengdao's origins, he knew exactly what the peony flower demon was up to.

Then the Buddha asked, "Venerable Guanyin, do you have any connection with this flower demon?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva shook her head and said, "No."

The Buddha then asked, "How did this flower demon manage to distract you, Venerable One?"

Guanyin Bodhisattva smiled wryly and said, "It's not about the flower demon, but about the people around her. A wisp of divine consciousness in my statue has already identified the person beside her as the Great Daoist."

The Buddha was taken aback and said, "Would you like to go and take a look?"

Just as Guanyin Bodhisattva was about to speak, she suddenly cried out, "Oh no!"

Things are indeed getting worse.

After Bai Mudan bowed to Guanyin Bodhisattva, she pulled Zhang Zhengdao aside and said, "You should bow too. Sincerity is key; it might work."

Zhang Zhengdao laughed and said, "I won't bow."

Bai Mudan said, "Let's pay our respects—" with a coquettish tone at the end.

Zhang Zhengdao said, "I don't even worship Heaven and Earth. If I were to worship her, I'm afraid she wouldn't be able to accept it."

Bai Mudan clearly didn't believe her; her eyes conveyed the same message—you're bragging.

Zhang Zhengdao knew she wouldn't believe him, so he said, "Alright, once I bow down, all the wishes you made before will definitely be null and void."

White Peony: "I don't believe it!"

Without saying a word, Zhang Zhengdao didn't take incense or candles, but bowed down to the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Seeing that Zhang Zhengdao was about to kneel down, a wisp of Guanyin Bodhisattva's divine consciousness, disregarding the fact that they were in public, hurriedly spoke up.

"Fellow Daoist, do not bow! Fellow Daoist, do not bow!"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Zhengdao had already bowed down.

Finished!

Whether it was this wisp of divine consciousness or the true form of Guanyin in the Great Thunder Temple, there was only one feeling in their minds, which was—it was all over.

The believers in the side hall were suddenly thrilled to hear the Guanyin statue speak, and some even shouted, "Guanyin Bodhisattva has manifested!"

The crowd erupted in commotion, and people from other places rushed over to see if the spirit had truly appeared and spoken.

Who knew that as soon as I shouted it out, I heard a very faint "click" sound.

But this sound was drowned out by the boisterous voices of the crowd.

However, the believers who were staring at the Guanyin statue exclaimed in surprise, "The Guanyin statue is cracked!"

It's cracked?

That's utter nonsense!

It was clearly Guanyin Bodhisattva who spoke just now, so why did it crack again?

The thought had barely formed when another "click" was heard, this time even clearer, reaching the ears of the nearby believers.

Then, to everyone's horror, they discovered that the Guanyin statue had indeed cracked in the middle, and the crack was getting bigger and bigger.

"Oh no! Run!"

The believers shouted that they were as happy as they had been running just now, just as crazy they had been just moments before.

They rushed to turn and run, bumping into worshippers who were coming this way. Hearing someone shout that the statue had fallen, they immediately turned and ran again with the fleeing crowd.

Zhang Zhengdao performed a magic incantation to prevent the believers from stampeding and causing unnecessary loss of life while they were running.

In no time, everyone in the side hall had fled.

Only Zhang Zhengdao and Bai Mudan remained.

Then the statue collapsed with a crash.

Zhang Zhengdao didn't bother with it. He pulled Bai Mudan back a few steps, which conveniently avoided the collapsed area and also kept the dust and smoke out of the way.

"Is this the result you wanted?" Zhang Zhengdao said irritably.

Bai Mudan's mouth gaped open, her eyes wide. She stared in disbelief at Zhang Zhengdao, then at the collapsed Guanyin statue, speechless for a moment.

Great Leiyin Temple.

Suddenly, Guanyin felt a tightness in her chest, dizziness, and a sensation as if something was rising up from her throat. Unable to hold it in, she vomited it out.

He spat a mouthful of blood into his hand.

The Buddha couldn't help but sigh and said, "I've had some dealings with that Taoist priest. He's a man of strong emotions, following his own whims. Have you provoked him?"

The Venerable Guanyin shook her head and smiled bitterly: "It was nothing more than being bewitched by that peony flower demon."

The Buddha said, "In that case, the cause and effect have been sown. Very well, you and he were never really compatible to begin with, so I will go with you."

The Bodhisattva Guanyin said, "Thank you, Buddha."

The Buddha waved his hand and remained silent.

The Guanyin statue in the temple collapsed. The huge sound of the collapse and the dust it kicked up caused the believers to scatter and flee the temple in a panic.

All the monks in the temple rushed over here.

The first to arrive was the old monk in the yellow robe. As soon as he came over, he saw Zhang Zhengdao and the white peony, and he couldn't help but stop and smile bitterly.

This loss was completely wasted.

"Amitabha, greetings, benefactor!" The old monk waved his hand, dismissing all the monks who had followed him, and faced Zhang Zhengdao alone.

He thought Zhang Zhengdao was there to cause trouble and was worried the monks would get hurt. He figured it was better for him to suffer a loss than for everyone to suffer. Nevertheless, he maintained a very humble attitude.

Zhang Zhengdao said, "Greetings."

Then Bai Mudan said apologetically, "Master, this... we accidentally knocked it down. How much would it cost to repair it? We can afford it!"

What a fine line: "I can afford to lose it."

Zhang Zhengdao gave her a thumbs up.

For women in the sex industry, making money is much easier. The idea that women can make money by becoming corrupt seems to have remained unchanged throughout history!

The old monk shook his head and said, "Everything has its own destiny."

Zhang Zhengdao laughed and said, "Old monk, you said it's all predestined, but what exactly is this predestined fate that makes this statue have to be toppled today?"

The old monk smiled and said, “These past few days, because of the earthquakes and tremors, people of all faiths have come to worship Buddha and pray for peace. As a result, the amount of money donated to the temple has increased considerably. This is wrong; profiting from natural disasters and man-made calamities is not the way of Buddhism. Today, this sculpture collapsed, so we used the extra money to rebuild a golden statue, which is just enough to even things out. Every act of kindness is preordained.”

That old monk is quite good at making excuses!

Zhang Zhengdao was somewhat impressed.

Indeed, to become a great monk, being able to justify one's own words is an essential skill!