Chapter 23: The Voice of Passersby
"Permanence and impermanence, two trees wither and flourish, north and south, east and west, neither false nor empty..."
When Chu Lu Ren finished his enlightenment and arrived in front of the Buddha Hall, Jiumozhi had already met and confronted the six monks of Tianlong, and revealed the origin of the Zen practiced by Zen Master Kurong in one sentence.
Two trees, withering and flourishing, refers to the scene where Sakyamuni attained enlightenment under two trees. "Twin trees" does not refer to two trees, but two trees in each of the four directions, east, west, south, and north, one withering and the other flourishing.
Zen Master Ku Rong's appearance was also half dry and half healthy at this time - half of his face was covered with wrinkles, like dry tree bark, while the other half was smooth, shiny, and white, like a baby's butt with talcum powder...
After listening to Jiumozhi talking about this Buddhist verse, Chu Luren had some understanding in his heart, but it was a pity... after all, he was not a real genius of understanding. He was just feeling some lingering inspiration after his sudden enlightenment, which touched him. However, the inspiration was fleeting.
Although Jiumozhi came from Tibetan Tantric Buddhism, he was well versed in all schools of Buddhism and had considerable fame in the Central Plains Zen Buddhism. His current Dharma name is Mahakala Vajra King, and he is one of the two most famous Tantric Dharma Kings along with Golden Wheel Dharma King.
Fortunately, King Jinlun was summoned by the Mongols and went north alone to preach. Otherwise, if Jiumozhi and King Jinlun had come together, Tianlong Temple would have been in much greater trouble.
"Amitabha, the National Master has come from afar, and I am sorry for not welcoming you in person. I hope you can forgive me." Zen Master Kurong said slowly.
Although his Zen practice was exposed, Kurong was a little surprised in his heart, but he did not show it on his face.
"Master, you are too polite. I believe you all know the purpose of my visit. Could you please help me pay tribute to my old friend?" Jiumozhi said something very inappropriate with an innocent look on his face.
Jiumozhi evaded the question by saying that he had promised Murong Bo that he would use the sword manual of Six Meridians Divine Sword and burn it in front of Murong Bo's grave as a sacrifice.
Using this excuse to ask for the secret manual of another sect is quite arrogant...
"Meeting is fate, separation is also fate. The national master is obsessed with appearances." Ku Rong's Zen skills are so advanced that he remains calm.
“I was reckless. The Six-Meridian Divine Sword is the most precious treasure of your temple and I should not have asked for it. However, I still cannot let go of the promise I made that year... I did not come here empty-handed either. Here are the essentials of the Shaolin Temple's 72 unique skills and the methods to break them. I will give them as an exchange, which shows my sincerity. I wonder what Master Kurong and Master Yideng think about it?” Jiumozhi said confidently.
Yideng and Kurong were not given for nothing, and although Jiumozhi had not learned the compassion of Buddha at all and his head was full of greed for martial arts and the desire to help Tubo rule the Central Plains, he was not a foolish and reckless person.
In his opinion, it would be perfect if he could exchange the seventy-two unique skills for the Six Meridians Divine Sword.
Not only did he obtain the Six-Meridian Divine Sword, but...when Shaolin finds out in the future that the Seventy-Two Unique Skills were obtained by the Tianlong Temple, how could they let it go?
If this could affect the relationship between Song and Dali, it would be great!
When Chu Lu Ren saw the secret book of the seventy-two unique skills, although he knew it was a trick, his eyes lit up and he swallowed his saliva, thinking that if these were given to him, he would be rich.
Not to mention what kind of martial arts can be integrated, just the "enlightenment" for three days and three nights. After coming out of the mountain, even if it is Jiumozhi, I will dare to fight him!
Duan Yu beside him was puzzled, thinking, is Brother Chu in love? He followed Chu Lu Ren's gaze and saw Jiumozhi's big bald head. He couldn't help but shudder and secretly moved away from Old Chu a few steps...
Not to mention the Chu Lu people, even the people of their own generation, including Abbot Ben Yin, became greedy and showed signs of being tempted. Only Yi Deng and Kurong remained calm.
"Amitabha!" Yideng sang out, and with his profound internal strength, he also calmed the minds of the people of his generation.
"Amitabha, although the seventy-two unique skills are great, monks only seek to worship the ancient Buddha and be at peace in their hearts. The national master is obsessed with appearances, so please go back." Ku Rong was not tempted at all.
Ben Yin and the others thought of how they had just behaved and chanted Buddhist scriptures out of shame.
The Blood Blade Patriarch, who had been silent the whole time, snorted coldly at this moment: "Humph, it seems that Dali doesn't appreciate the National Master's feelings of missing his old friend, nor does he appreciate the 72 Shaolin Kung Fu skills!"
Compared to Jiumozhi, although the Blood Knife Patriarch also followed the Tantric Black Sect, compared to Jiumozhi, Blood Knife's knowledge of Buddhism was not much, and at most he only understood some distorted "Joy Zen".
Moreover, no matter whether Jiumozhi did good or evil, at least he looked dignified and solemn, and he usually maintained his master's demeanor. From the outside, he looked like a highly accomplished monk. However, the Blood Knife Patriarch... everyone in the martial arts world knew that he was a complete rapist!
He also looked like he had a face full of flesh and cold eyes, and he didn't seem like a good person.
However, just after the Blood Knife Patriarch opened his mouth, a series of vague voices rang out in front of the hall.
"Huh? This guy actually has the 72 Shaolin Kung Fu skills?"
"He looks so fierce!"
"The Tibetan monk stole the 72 Shaolin Kung Fu skills. Let's go to Shaolin and report him!"
"That's right, let's report it together, let's report it together..."
"It seems that Tantric Kung Fu is not that good, and they even have to steal Zen martial arts. Tsk tsk."
The sound went up and down, left and right, sometimes hoarse, sometimes sharp, and sometimes overlapped, but Jiumozhi could tell it - there was no one "ambushing" nearby, but someone was using sound power to disturb the surroundings. It should be... the same person!
That’s right, it wasn’t some evil spirits that came to Tianlong Temple again, but the Chu Lu people were using “evil ventriloquism” to pretend to be passers-by.
Before, on the way to Tianlong Temple, Duan Zhengming also taught Chu Luren the trick of "Thousand Mile Sound Transmission" .
It's not some profound martial art, it's just exquisite...
The only function is that it makes it easier to produce sound with internal force, which is equivalent to using internal force to create a virtual sound source in the distance. It is much more clever than simply using internal force to push the sound.
In this regard, one can use 10 points of internal strength to produce 20 to 30 points of effect!
To put it simply and straightforwardly, that is...
Very scary!
Duan Zhengming usually uses this trick to pretend to be "beeping"...
And now the Chulu people have combined it with another kind of sound skill - ventriloquism.
Ventriloquism is not only a way of replacing the vocal cords, but it is also a rather evil sound skill that can confuse people's minds and interfere with other people's inner breath. However, one must have strong internal strength to do this.
In the original novel, Tan Qing, a disciple of Duan Yanqing, used this trick to play tricks in Juxian Manor, but was exposed by Xiao Feng's roar and died on the spot...
Jiumozhi saw that Zen Master Kurong did not take the bait, and that someone was mocking him, and even... threatening to report him to Shaolin Temple?
Although Jiumozhi was a monk full of conspiracy and tyranny, he never expected that someone would be so shameless!
He simply dropped his hypocritical face and said in a cold voice: "When Mr. Murong was alive, he called the Six Meridians Divine Sword the best sword technique in the world. In my opinion, this may not be true. Moreover, if the Six Meridians Divine Sword is really so profound, I am afraid that no one in your temple can practice it. You can only rely on this kind of evil method... Or do you want to go to Shaolin for help?"
