Chapter 358: My fellow disciples will die, but I will not die
"My Lords, I wonder what we should do about this matter?"
An old monk with white eyebrows and drooping shoulders stood in the Buddhist temple, looking at the venerables who were standing or lying on the platform, and asked in a sad tone. Although logically speaking, he could not be blamed, after all, the accident happened in the place he was guarding, so it was his dereliction of duty.
"Jian, before that young man walked out of the Sutra Hall, did you not notice his presence?"
A venerable who was sitting on a high platform, like an ancient Buddha, holding a peacock feather in his hand, spoke and asked.
"It was only when that young man who looked very similar to the Buddha appeared at the entrance of the Sutra Library that I realized someone had broken into the Sutra Library."
The old monk with white eyebrows told the truth.
“How many scriptures did he read?”
"According to him, he has read... the Lotus Sutra, the Mahavairocana Sutra, etc. These are only a small part of the scriptures he has read. The number of scriptures he has read is beyond our imagination. The time he has spent in the Sutra Hall must have been counted in years."
In the Buddhist temple, many venerables looked at each other. One of them, who was holding a precious lotus with a wish-fulfilling jewel on it, spoke:
"Everyone, how should we deal with this kid?"
"Kill him?"
As soon as these words were spoken, all the venerables in the Buddhist temple fell silent. The next moment, the eyes of these venerables all fell on the white-browed old monk.
The old monk's eyebrows twitched suddenly, and the miserable expression on his face almost collapsed, becoming even more miserable. This time, he really felt miserable.
These venerables are not worthy of being human beings. How can he, a small old monk guarding the temple, bear such cause and effect? What a joke! It would be better to send him directly into the reincarnation.
"I know that I have failed in my duty in this matter, so I would like to resign and go to the Demon Subduing Cave to look after it. I will stay there for five hundred years without leaving."
No matter how the young man who had a close relationship with the Buddha would be treated, the old monk felt that it was not appropriate for him to interfere in the matter. It was enough to tell these venerables about it.
He now just wanted to find an excuse. Even if he had to go to the most barren and cold place in the temple, it was much better than offending the Buddhists, dying and dying, and having his soul scattered, and never being able to be reborn.
"No need to do that. This matter was arranged by the Buddha. Just stand aside and listen attentively."
A venerable monk holding the Precious Wisdom Sword spoke up, not letting the burden of the sky falling fall on him.
When it comes to that Buddhist disciple, it is not something that an old monk can bear. Not to mention the old monk, even they cannot bear it.
"yes."
The white-browed old monk secretly breathed a sigh of relief, maintained a sad and ashamed expression on his face, and retreated to a place, ready to listen quietly to the results of the discussion of these venerables.
"Where is that kid now?"
"I have not arrested him. I just told him not to leave the temple and to walk around in the temple."
“…”
After hearing what the white-browed old monk said, the venerables fell silent again. This could be said to be another great humiliating moment for the Tianlong Temple. They knew clearly that it was someone who had nothing to do with Buddhism who had spied on their fundamental heritage, but they did not dare to do anything to the other party.
The fundamental reason lies in the Buddhist disciple Fayuan, this monk who is beyond common sense. No venerable present can understand his existence. If there is no Fayuan, the contemporary Buddhist disciple of their Tianlong Zen Temple should be the Tianlong monk Yinghai.
But after the emergence of a real, yet completely unpredictable source of Dharma, Ying Hai, who originally had the opportunity to attain enlightenment, had to give up his cultivation in this world and go through reincarnation. This is extremely sad.
"Let me see where this boy is now?"
A venerable monk wearing a crown and lying on his side on the Buddhist altar had bright light in his eyes. Then a ray of light was projected into the air, and a shocking scene appeared in the Buddhist temple.
In the lotus pond, precious light rippled, and the spirit soared to the sky. There were countless white jade lotus flowers of different sizes, and in the middle of the refining pool, there was a young man with black hair hanging down to his shoulders, who was picking lotus seeds in the middle of the lake with a group of shouting young monks.
The young boy put lotus seeds into his mouth as if he was chewing beans. The little monk next to him, who was shouting and yelling, also had a lotus seed stuffed into his mouth. It could be said that everyone benefited from it.
Seeing this scene, even though the venerables were extremely well-mannered and had high skills in cultivating their Qi, their faces couldn't help but twitch.
"You bastard!"
"My Jade Pure Lotus!"
Seeing Feng Qing'an leading a group of young monks to destroy such a beautiful lotus pond into such a horrible state, even a venerable monk with good self-cultivation could not help but feel angry.
"Just be patient, it's just the loss of some lotus seeds, that's nothing!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the young man in white stretched out his hand and pulled out from the lake several pieces of lotus roots that looked like they were carved from the finest white jade. They were pure white, flawless, and not stained by any dust. He opened his mouth and took a bite.
"The child should be executed!"
The Venerable, holding the Lotus Pearl in his hand, suddenly stood up, and the orange-red karma fire suddenly erupted and burned fiercely. The jade lotus root at the bottom of the lotus pond is not like the lotus seeds on the lake. It takes a hundred years to grow a section. The child took a casual bite and decades of accumulation were gone.
"How dare he?!"
“…”
The white-browed old monk at the side looked at his nose with his eyes, and his heart with his nose, without saying a word. He clearly remembered that he had allowed the boy to eat anything as long as he did not eat meat. But he never expected that the boy would be so bold as to eat everything.
He would not take the blame no matter what. To him, offending a venerable monk was not much better than offending a Buddhist disciple, because this Venerable Jinglian could also make him suffer a fate worse than death, and might even be even more cruel.
"Calm down. I'm afraid all of this is within Buddha's expectations. If this is Buddha's arrangement, then Jinglian, the lotus seeds and lotus roots you lost should be compensated to you from other sources."
"Buddha's son!"
Hearing this, the venerable holding the lotus in his hand suddenly calmed down. Indeed, this matter was full of wrongness from every angle.
If the Buddhist had been willing, with his supernatural powers, the young man with a face similar to his would not have been discovered by them from beginning to end. But he was discovered, and they all knew about it, and now they gathered together to discuss it.
What is the Buddha's intention?
What exactly does this Buddhist want them to do?
This is a problem that would never arise in any Buddhist temple in the world. The venerables gathered together to try to figure out the intentions and thoughts of a Buddhist.
Such a scene was extremely absurd, but no monk present thought there was anything wrong with it. Everyone was trying to guess the Buddha's intention.
"Since this boy has read the scriptures of our temple, I think we can introduce him to our temple. We may have another true disciple."
A venerable man spoke up, and then he paused.
“Perhaps this is what the Buddha intended.”
"Introduce him into Buddhism?"
Many venerables looked at the light curtain that was still visible in the Buddhist temple. They could see that the young man who had destroyed most of the Jade Pure Lotus Pond was not only leading a group of young monks, but also had a black wolf, a white elephant, a unicorn, a black phoenix and other rare and exotic animals around him.
Half of these rare and exotic beasts are not good creatures, and no matter what they look like, they have all turned into gluttons at this moment, eating and drinking to their heart's content and devouring without restraint.
Seeing this scene, the venerable who had originally proposed to introduce Feng Qing'an to Buddhism suddenly fell silent, but a few other venerables had their eyes shining with wonder, staring at the rare and exotic animals that suddenly appeared around Feng Qing'an.
"As expected, he is the one that the Buddha wants to convert into our Buddhist sect. He is truly extraordinary."
The venerable holding the peacock feather exclaimed in admiration, with strange lights in his eyes. Although he was praising Feng Qing'an, his gaze was fixed on the strange beasts beside Feng Qing'an.
Those venerables with strange looks in their eyes all saw the problem. Except for the white elephant that was there to make up the number, the others around this young man who looked very much like their Buddhist disciple all had the potential to be immortals.
"Yes, yes, this boy should join my Buddhist sect."
"Amitabha, this makes sense!"
"In that case, then we should respect the Buddha's will and bring this boy into our Tianlong Zen Temple!"
"Who will go to extradite him?"
"Venerable Ci'en has mastered telepathy, so he can help us to cross over."
As soon as the words fell, the eyes of many venerables immediately fell on an old monk with a miserable face. Compared with those venerables in the Buddhist hall who were holding many rare treasures, this old monk could be described as plain and unpretentious. In terms of appearance, he was not even as good as the old monk who guarded the temple and also had a pair of white eyebrows.
However, most of the venerables looked at the old monk with a bit of awe, because he was the only monk in their Buddhist temple who had mastered two of the six supernatural powers of Buddhism.
Divine feet, telepathy
However, after hearing the proposal, the looks of many venerables became strange. Although some things are not known to everyone, they are also open secrets.
For example, this venerable monk was supposed to have a disciple who served as a Buddhist son. Another example is that after the reincarnation of his most proud disciple, this venerable monk suddenly had an epiphany and realized his telepathy, which was a rapid achievement.
However, Venerable Ci'en, who mastered two great supernatural powers, did not expand his influence in the Buddhist temple, but lived in seclusion and rarely showed up in public on weekdays. If it were not for special circumstances, he would probably not be seen today.
"Venerable Ci'en, what do you think?"
"Venerable Ci'en has the ability to read other people's minds, so he is the best choice for this mission!"
"Yes, Your Excellency lost a disciple the night before, and you may gain another one ."
The strange atmosphere only lasted for a moment before it was broken by many venerables working together in tacit agreement. The vast majority of venerables agreed with this arrangement.
If someone must be sent to capture this young man who is closely related to the Buddha, then it must be Venerable Ci'en. After all, he has already formed a cause and effect relationship with the Buddha because of his own disciple, and now he doesn't care about adding another layer of cause and effect. Too many debts will not be a burden.
"Since you have reached a conclusion, I will leave this matter to you."
Venerable Ci'en spoke with an indifferent expression, neither sad nor happy.
