Chapter 155: Old Turtle
On both sides of Tongtian River.
The crowd of men, women, young and old thought that it was Guanyin who had cast a spell to dispel the wind, snow and ice. They ignored the mud and water, knelt on the ground, kowtowed and worshiped: "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, who saves the suffering and the distressed!"
Above the clouds.
The three monkey brothers were silent as they looked at the tragic scene of all the living creatures dying in Tongtian River. Their faces changed drastically and they could not hide the horror in their hearts.
Li Anran is no exception.
Even though he had seen in books the cruel methods Guanyin used to treat the aquatic creatures in Tongtian River, describing it in words and seeing it with one's own eyes were two completely different things.
The 800-li Tongtian River was filled with corpses of various fish, shrimps, turtles and snakes. There was no life underwater. A strong fishy smell filled the air, and the smell of death was everywhere.
That is to say, when Guanyin was silencing the witness, she used the method of salvation.
Otherwise, Tongtian River would be filled with resentment, and who knows how many resentful water ghosts would be born!
"Bodhisattva, what are you doing? The King of Inspiration is guilty, but what about the creatures in the river?"
Li Anran frowned slightly and asked in a deep voice the question that best suited his identity.
The Monkey King, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Seng also realized that there was something wrong with Guanyin's attitude towards Tongtian River and the King of Inspiration, but they did not dare to ask.
Guanyin said calmly: "When this evil creature escaped from my Luojia Mountain in the South China Sea, it took away a lot of water from the lotus pond. The water in the lotus pond has been influenced by Buddhism and has become magical. After it flows into the Tongtian River, I don't know how many evil spirits will be bred."
"I will send these aquatic creatures into reincarnation. This will not only prevent the demons in Tongtian River from running rampant and harming the creatures on both sides, but also save them from the suffering of the animal realm in this life. It's a two-pronged approach."
Guanyin is obviously lying with open eyes.
However, Li Anran had no way to refute it in person, so he could only say, "I see."
Zhu Bajie flattered him: "The Bodhisattva is so compassionate! It's really admirable!"
However, there was a hint of sarcasm in his words.
I don’t know whether it was intentional or unintentional.
Guanyin ignored him and said to Li Anran, "Prison God, this evil creature escaped from my lotus pond. I am responsible for not disciplining him properly. I will go with you to the Lingxiao Palace to apologize to the Jade Emperor."
After silencing the witnesses, you are unwilling to hand over the King of Inspiration?
Li Anran snorted in his heart and said, "This is even better. However, according to the rules of heaven, demons captured from the mortal world cannot be brought into the Lingxiao Palace without a decree. They must be locked up in the Heavenly Prison first, reported to the Jade Emperor, and wait for the Jade Emperor's decision. Please ask the Bodhisattva to hand over this King of Inspiration to me first."
Guanyin frowned and said, "This evil creature is a goldfish in my lotus pond, not a monster from the mortal world!"
Li Anran insisted, "Any monster captured from the mortal world must obey this heavenly rule, no matter where they came from. It was the same when I captured Zhu Ganglie and brought him back to heaven. Bodhisattva, please don't make things difficult for me."
Zhu Bajie: “…” You guys just talk about your own things, why involve me in this!
Guanyin looked at Li Anran deeply.
The Xianming Conference had just ended, and the news of Li Anran becoming Taiyi Zhenren's apprentice had not yet spread in the Three Realms.
The monkey, Zhu Bajie and Sha Seng didn't know.
But Guanyin already knew it, and she suspected that Li Anran was deliberately causing trouble for her and humiliating her!
Li Anran had a calm and serious look on his face, with an expression that showed "enforcing the law impartially and with integrity".
He has been practicing the Hehuan technique for so many years that controlling his emotions is a piece of cake for him, and Guanyin could not see any flaws.
That’s all!
This Li Anran should not know what’s going on here!
Otherwise, he wouldn't have come here alone today, and he wouldn't have stood idly by and let me take him in!
Guanyin thought about going to the Lingxiao Palace to apologize to the Jade Emperor, and it took a while before she finally decided to hand over the King of Inspiration.
"In that case, then we will follow the instructions of the Prison God!"
But before that, she said to the King of Inspiration in the basket, "Evil creature, follow the prison god to the prison, remember to be obedient and don't cause any more trouble! I will punish you after I see the Jade Emperor!"
The goldfish in the bamboo basket floated up and down in the water, and nodded its head vigorously several times to show that it understood.
Then, Guanyin handed the bamboo basket to Li Anran.
"Thank you for your understanding, Bodhisattva." Li Anran looked respectful, but couldn't help but sneer in his heart.
What Guanyin just said translates to "Don't talk nonsense. I'm going to see the Jade Emperor and will get you out soon."
But she didn't know that Li Anran didn't need to interrogate the King of Inspiration at all!
As long as the King of Inspiration enters the Heavenly Prison, everything about him will be exposed in front of Li Anran!
"Prison God, let's go."
Guanyin was anxious to resolve the matter of the King of Inspiration, so she immediately flew to heaven with Li Anran.
After arriving in heaven, Guanyin went directly to the Lingxiao Palace to ask for an audience with the Jade Emperor .
Li Anran took the King of Inspiration back to the Heavenly Prison first.
[Prisoner: Tongtian River Inspiration King]
[Sin value: four stars]
[Cultivation: Golden Immortal Eighth Level]
[Status: Escorted]
[Capture participation: 5%]
[Benefit: 90,000 experience points/day]
The sin value is four stars!
This King of Inspiration really did something else shameful!
Li Anran's eyes lit up.
Because of the existence of reincarnation, the Book of Punishment has a very low sin value for killing.
The sin value of the King of Inspiration can reach four stars, which is definitely not as simple as just eating a few people and cheating some incense.
Li Anran knew that time was running out and Guanyin could come with the Jade Emperor's decree at any time to take away the King of Inspiration.
As he escorted the King of Inspiration into the Heavenly Prison, he browsed through the King of Inspiration's life.
Xiniu Hezhou.
In a clear pond.
A confused goldfish was swimming leisurely and overheard someone mumbling.
"As one of the Twelve Golden Immortals, Guangchengzi, Chijingzi, Yuding Zhenren, and Daoxing Tianzun have all killed Shanshi. Why do I still have no clue?"
"Is it really as Master Randeng said, that the master is biased, and only the person who takes down the Four Swords of Immortal Executioner can have great merit and great luck, and can successfully kill the corpse?"
"The merits, incense, and golden body will be useful to me in beheading the corpse! But, I am a member of the Xuanmen Sect, how can I join the Western Sect? In this case, how is I different from the disciples of the Jie Sect like Chang'er Dingguangxian?"
…
The goldfish had not yet developed intelligence and did not know the meaning of the words, but it was attracted by the voice and swam over unconsciously, looking up outside the pond.
He was meeting that person's eyes.
The man wore a Taoist robe and straw sandals, a Haoran scarf on his head, and a jade bottle in his hand. He had a confused and conflicted look on his face. He was none other than the Taoist Cihang among the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect!
When Taoist Cihang saw the goldfish, he was shocked.
He had clearly used his magical powers to isolate this place from the three realms. Not to mention a goldfish, even a Daluo Jinxian could not come in, let alone get to his side.
Taoist Cihang reached out and picked up the goldfish, looked at it carefully for a moment, and found that it was just an ordinary goldfish.
Even the spiritual intelligence has not been opened!
Just as Taoist Cihang was puzzled, the goldfish leaped lightly out of his palm, fell into the water, and swam freely.
Taoist Cihang was shocked all over, and suddenly he understood something. A smile appeared on his face, and it kept getting bigger.
"A fish swimming in the water is not affected by worldly principles and has the appearance of liberation. I am a poor monk... I am a poor monk, no, what about the monkhood? What I seek is nothing more than the great way and liberation. Why should I be so obsessed with this?"
"From today on, there will be no more Cihang Taoist in the world, only Guanshi Zizai from the West!"
Taoist Cihang clasped his hands together and sat cross-legged on a lotus. The clear light on his body gradually dissipated, and was replaced by rays of Buddha's light.
The contours of his face gradually became softer, his facial features became more beautiful, his gender changed from male to female, and his straw sandals and Taoist robe turned into a crown and silk skirt.
"Fuck! It's actually like this!"
Li Anran watched all this in amazement.
He had long guessed that the reason why Taoist Cihang betrayed the Chan sect and joined the Western sect was to improve his cultivation and to attain the Great Dao!
It should also be related to Master Ran Deng!
But I never expected that this was actually related to the King of Inspiration!
"No wonder Guanyin didn't just destroy the King of Inspiration and put an end to it all!"
Li Anran was still wondering before. Guanyin was not a kind-hearted person. She had already disregarded her image and openly wiped out the entire aquatic creatures in Tongtian River. Why didn't she just kill the King of Inspiration directly?
Now I finally understand!
This King of Inspiration is not only the key to Guanyin's transformation from a Taoist to a Buddha, but also the origin of "Guanyin's Freedom"!
With such a huge cause and effect, Guanyin dare not and will not easily touch it.
After a brief surprise, Li Anran turned his attention back to the life of the King of Inspiration.
After Taoist Cihang became a Buddha, he brought the goldfish back to Luojia Mountain and raised it in the lotus pond in the purple bamboo forest.
For thousands of years thereafter, Guanyin would choose to practice and preach beside the lotus pond, and the King of Inspiration would float up to listen to the scriptures every day, and gradually his spiritual wisdom was born.
Guanyin took good care of the King of Inspiration, often feeding him elixirs and rare fruits, even including nine thousand year old peaches.
Therefore, although the King of Inspiration was born with very poor foundation, his aptitude continued to improve through acquired training, his cultivation also grew rapidly, and he successfully broke through to the Golden Immortal realm.
Until nine years ago, Guanyin Bodhisattva continued to preach to the gods, Mu Cha and Dragon Girl in the Purple Bamboo Forest.
A monkey suddenly broke in and said that he had bumped into the immortal Zhenyuan of the Wuzhuang Temple on Wanshou Mountain in Xiniu Hezhou, and also damaged the immortal's ginseng fruit tree. He begged Guanyin Bodhisattva to have mercy on him and go to save the ginseng fruit tree.
This matter had nothing to do with the King of Inspiration.
But after Guanyin came back, she secluded herself for half a month, then called it to her side, taught it a spell, and said: "Three days later, the sea tide will rise. You can take this opportunity to go to the mortal world, find a place to build a temple, collect incense, and help me test this method."
"Remember, you must be careful in everything you do. Don't make too much noise and don't let anyone find out."
Afterwards, Guanyin took an unopened lotus from the lotus pond, refined it into a nine-petal red copper hammer, and gave it to the King of Inspiration as a weapon.
When Guanyin was teaching the Dharma, out of caution, she used her spiritual consciousness to teach directly. Li Anran did not know the specific content, but after seeing what happened afterwards, he understood what kind of magic this was!
The King of Inspiration left Luojia Mountain for the first time and didn't know the way. He followed the rise and fall of the tide all the way to Tongtian River, and then followed the estuary to Chenjiazhuang.
At that time, the Tongtian River often flooded, and the people on both sides of the river suffered.
The water god of Tongtian River used this to force the people to build temples for him and offer incense.
After seeing this, the King of Inspiration followed suit and killed the water god of Tongtian River, added its cave, and became the evil god who threatened the people to worship him.
Seeing this, Li Anran was suddenly stunned.
"The water god of Tongtian River is dead? Then who was the old turtle who carried Tang Monk and his companions across Tongtian River and asked Tang Monk to help him find the day of enlightenment?"
Li Anran was filled with doubt and confusion, while the life story of the King of Inspiration continued to move forward.
The King of Inspiration has been floating in the air to listen to sutras every day in recent years. He still has some compassion in his heart. He only asks Chenjiazhuang to offer him a pair of boys and girls every year. He will bless Chenjiazhuang with good weather and good harvests, and even send down auspicious clouds to make the people of Chenjiazhuang immune to all diseases.
Therefore, when Tang Seng and his disciples arrived at Chenjiazhuang, they saw that just one family in Chenjiazhuang had "40 to 50 hectares of paddy fields, 70 hectares of dry fields, 80 to 90 pastures, 200 to 300 water cattle, 30 to 40 donkeys and horses, and countless pigs, sheep, chickens and geese. There were also old grains that could not be eaten and clothes that could not be worn in the shed."
Even after mistaking the monkeys for demons, they still had the guts to shout, "What kind of demon is it that comes to my Shanmen home in the dark of night?"
The King of Inspiration wanted this boy and girl just to test the magic skills taught to him by Guanyin!
The bodies of the boys and girls were eaten by the King of Inspiration as a feast, while their souls were refined into pills with the help of incense offered by their blood relatives!
However, the pill was not round, but six or seven inches long, with all four limbs and facial features, just like a boy or girl in his or her original state!
Obviously, Guanyin's method of refining elixirs is closely related to Zhen Yuanzi's ginseng fruit tree!
It must be Guanyin who is saving the ginseng fruit tree...
No, the ginseng fruit tree is Zhen Yuanzi’s companion spiritual root. The monkey can’t even break the soil where the ginseng fruit tree is planted, let alone knock down the ginseng fruit tree!
The idea of the immortals and Buddhas of the three realms joining forces to deal with the catastrophe was first proposed by Tathagata at the Ullambana Festival.
Zhen Yuanzi not only participated in the Ullambana Festival, but also accepted the tea offered by Jin Chanzi.
He should also know about the decision that the gods and Buddhas of the three realms should join forces to deal with the catastrophe, and he should also agree with it.
The incident at Wuzhuang Temple must have been a deliberate show he staged, just like the test of Zen hearts by the Four Sages in which the Holy Mother Wu Dang participated.
It not only expressed his support for jointly dealing with the catastrophe, but also showed that he would not participate in the gambling fight between Buddhism and Taoism.
Guanyin's healing of the ginseng fruit tree should have been just a process, but Guanyin somehow realized something from it.
This is why the King of Inspiration came down to earth and used the souls of young boys and girls as well as the incense of blood relatives to refine the elixir.
And this is the reason why the King of Inspiration only wants boys and girls from Chenjiazhuang and does not allow them to buy boys and girls from outside for sacrifice!
For hundreds of households in Chenjiazhuang, having a pair of boys and girls every year is not a big problem.
Logically speaking, nothing would happen!
But this time, he chose a family with two brothers in their fifties or sixties, but only one child.
Tang Seng and his three disciples went around in circles and finally arrived at Chenjiazhuang on the eve of the sacrifice.
This is what happened next.
"Who is plotting against Guanyin?"
Li Anran frowned.
Guanyin unabashedly seized the aquatic creatures of Tongtian River without caring about her image. Not only was the King of Inspiration using human souls to make elixirs, but more importantly, this method was derived from the ginseng fruit!
It can be said that Guanyin committed a big taboo. If it gets out, not only will she offend Zhen Yuanzi, but she and even Lingshan will lose face and their reputation will be destroyed!
——I accepted your proposal and joined forces with you to deal with the catastrophe, but you turned around and poached my people?
If this gets out, who would dare to trust Lingshan? Who would dare to cooperate with Lingshan?
Li Anran had previously guessed that it was Taishang Laojun who led Monkey and the others to Chenjiazhuang, but now it seems that it was definitely not the case!
If Taishang Laojun knew about this, he would probably catch the person red-handed and expose it to the public!
This was a much greater blow to Buddhism than the victory in the gambling fight that caused Lingshan to flourish 500 years later!
If it’s not Taishang Laojun, who else could it be?
Li Anran suddenly thought of the strange old turtle.
This matter must be related to that old turtle!
Li Anran immediately wanted to go to the mortal world to capture the old turtle and see what was going on, but after taking just two steps, he stopped again.
This old turtle or the person behind the old turtle was able to plot against Guanyin. There is no doubt about his strength and courage!
He came to my house so recklessly, isn't that delivering food? !
At the same time, Xiniu Hezhou, Tongtian River.
The monkey and his three disciples were about to cross the river when they suddenly saw an old turtle floating on the water.
