Chapter 498: Now that we have seen the future, why not worship?
Luoyang City, White Horse Temple.
It is a dark and windy night, and the White Horse Temple is serene except for the patrolling monks who are still awake. They hold water-milled Zen sticks weighing dozens of kilograms and patrol the temple continuously.
These are the martial monks in the White Horse Temple, also known as monk soldiers. They have been honing their bodies and practicing martial arts since childhood. Each of them can fight ten people at once. With them around, the thieves in Luoyang City dare not attack the White Horse Temple.
A mosquito flew by quietly, easily avoiding the inspection of the monks, and flew towards the White Horse Temple.
"Strange, why didn't I hear the voices of Junior Brother Mingjing and the others today?"
"Brother Mingjing and his friends went crazy after seeing the pregnant woman. These past few days, when I passed by the east wing, I could always hear them shouting, saying things like kowtow to the Buddha and want to become a Buddha. But tonight it was surprisingly quiet."
"Maybe the abbot took action. With the abbot here, Junior Brother Mingjing and the others will be fine!"
"That's right. Abbot Huichan has boundless magical powers. He is an Arhat from heaven who has descended to earth. With his help, I think the monster in that woman's belly will be wiped out!"
"Isn't there a rumor that the child in that woman's belly is the reincarnation of Buddha?"
"Haha, if she is really the reincarnation of Buddha, why did the golden statue of Buddha in the main hall suddenly crack right after she moved into the west wing? And the statue of Bodhisattva in the west wing also cracked for no apparent reason..."
"Hush, be careful with your words. We are not allowed to discuss this matter rashly. Just trust the abbot. He is a powerful person in the Yangshen realm. If it is really a demon, it will not be able to escape his divine eyesight!"
The patrolling monks were talking quietly, but they didn't notice that a small mosquito had been hovering over their heads for a long time, and then flew towards the west wing...
West wing.
This was originally the residence of young monks, but since a pregnant woman moved in, all the monks moved out. There are also martial monks and experienced monks guarding outside all night. Except for the abbot, no one is allowed to enter.
"Amitabha!"
A rich and vast Buddha's light flashed, and then a figure suddenly appeared in front of the door of the west wing, holding a gilded Zen staff, with a fluttering red cassock, a lion's nose and a wide mouth, eyes like lightning, and the skin on his face was faintly copper-colored, giving him an aura of a Vajra descending to the earth, majestic without even being angry.
"Meet the abbot!"
In an instant, all the monks, young and old, stood up and saluted, looking at the tall and majestic figure with eyes full of respect.
The person who came was Master Huichan, the abbot of the White Horse Temple. He was nearly ninety years old, but he was in good health and vigorous spirit. He once lifted a bell weighing thousands of pounds with one hand. His magical powers were unfathomable. He was a Buddhist monk who was feared in the Luoyang area!
Many people say that Master Huichan is an arhat from heaven who has descended to the earth. After completing his practice on earth, he will return to Lingshan to sit on the lotus platform.
"Meet Brother Abbot!"
An old monk with a white beard came over and saluted Huichan. He was Huitong, the abbot of Bodhi Temple. Besides Huichan, he was also the person with the highest cultivation level in White Horse Temple, at the late stage of Yin Shen realm.
"Junior brother, how is the Buddha Mother doing?"
Huichan asked while turning the Buddhist beads in his hand.
There were nine Buddhist beads in total, each one was as big as a goose egg, round and translucent, like jade, emitting a faint golden light in the dark night, and it was obvious at first glance that they were not ordinary objects.
Although Hui Tong was his junior brother, he looked much older than Hui Chan. He said tremblingly, "Brother, the Buddha Mother often cried out for hunger at first, but then she became barely able to breathe, and now she can't even speak. I don't know whether she is dead or alive in there."
After a pause, he hesitated and said, "Brother, is she...really the Buddha Mother?"
Hui Chan said firmly: "Junior brother, the divine eye can't be wrong, she must be the Buddha Mother without a doubt. As long as we wait for the Buddha to be born, our Buddhist sect will flourish in the world!"
Hui Tong said nothing more, but sighed silently in his heart.
In these years, the senior brother seemed to be very powerful in Luoyang and even issued an order to respect Buddha , but he knew that the arrogant senior brother was not satisfied with the current decline of Buddhism.
My senior brother is extremely talented and gifted. In today's powerful Taoist sect, he has been able to carve out a niche for himself in Luoyang and lead the White Horse Temple to prosperity. This is not easy, but that's all he can do.
Looking around the world, there are many talented people in Taoism. In the past, there were Zhang Zhiyan and Ye Fashan, and in the later years, there were Zhang Qianyang and Li Daoxuan. Which one of them is not a stunning talent?
Especially Li Daoxuan, who achieved the Yang God realm at the young age, shocking the world. After hearing the news, the senior brother did not say a word for ten days.
Taoism is becoming more and more prosperous, while Buddhism is becoming more and more declining. This has become the obsession in the mind of the senior brother.
"But brother, if you want her to give birth to a Buddha child, you need enough elixirs. The stock in our temple has been used up. There are no monsters near Luoyang now, and the Demon Suppression Tower can no longer refine elixirs!"
In order to get the elixir, one needs to capture the demons and take them to the Demon Suppressing Tower to refine them into elixirs. However, Hui Chan is in charge of Luoyang, and the demons within hundreds of miles have either died or escaped, and now have long disappeared.
"It doesn't matter. I have found the elixir."
Huichan said this with confidence, and then walked towards the west wing.
Hui Tong was standing by, and after a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Brother, where did you get the elixir?"
Huichan glanced at him without saying anything. When he was about to reach a meditation room covered with scriptures and mantras, he suddenly stopped and said, "Junior brother, please stop here first. I will go to see the Buddha Mother alone."
"Yes, sir."
Huichan pushed the door open and walked in.
Hui Tong couldn't help but glance inside, and vaguely saw a figure tied up by countless ropes behind the screen painted with the Diamond Sutra, with a bulging belly like a spider about to give birth.
For some reason, the moment he saw that figure, Hui Tong felt that his Zen mind, which he had practiced for decades, was trembling slightly. An indescribable emotion filled his heart, as if a voice was calling him softly in his ear, making him subconsciously take a step forward.
Bang!
The door was slammed shut, which woke Huitong up suddenly. He then realized that he had broken out in a cold sweat on his back without realizing it.
…
A moment later, Huichan walked out of the room with a hint of excitement in his eyes.
"After taking the elixir, the Buddha Mother is in a very good state. Judging from the situation, in another twenty days, on the thirty-third day, the Buddha Mother will give birth to a Buddha child. By then, it will be the day when our Buddhism will flourish!"
"Zhang Zhiyan and Li Daoxuan are nothing but ordinary people in front of my Buddha. The prosperity of Buddhism is inevitable and no one can stop it!"
Looking at his excited senior brother, Hui Tong had a bad premonition in his heart for some reason. He always felt that there was an inexplicable weirdness in this matter, which made him feel a little uneasy.
"Brother, you haven't answered me yet, where did the elixir come from?"
Hui Chan looked at him deeply and said, "Brother, the Buddha's coming to the world is a great event that has not happened in a thousand years. All disciples of the Buddhist sect will do their best to make this happen, even if it means sacrificing their lives!"
Hui Tong's body trembled, as if he had thought of something, and he said angrily, "Brother, you...did you send Ming Jing and the others...to the Demon Suppression Tower?"
Huichan closed his eyes, turned the Buddhist beads in his hand, and said calmly: "It is their luck to be able to sacrifice their lives to help the Buddha come to the world, and they are willing to do this."
Hui Tong just felt cold all over. Mingjing and the others were the best disciples of the White Horse Temple. They went crazy just because they had seen the Mother of Buddha. He thought his senior brother would help them, but he didn't expect that his senior brother actually sent them to the Demon Suppression Tower to make elixirs!
For a moment, Huitong felt that his senior brother had become extremely unfamiliar.
"Brother, are you crazy? Mingjing is your direct disciple. Are you...are you also influenced by that woman?"
Huitong found it unbelievable. Although his former senior brother had a strong personality, he truly cared for Buddhist disciples and would never do such a thing.
Huichan's voice was clear and firm.
"For the prosperity of Buddhism and for the Buddha to come to the world, even I can sacrifice myself. Mingjing, as my disciple, you should have this awareness!"
After a pause, he continued, "Brother, haven't you always wanted to see the Buddha Mother? Go in now, and you will understand when you see the Buddha Mother."
Hui Tong said angrily, "What Buddha Mother? I think she is just a monster. I will kill this monster today. Brother, I can't watch you make the same mistake again and again!"
As he said this, he suddenly rushed into the room where the Buddha Mother was imprisoned. Buddha's light shone all around him and his voice was filled with murderous intent.
"Monster, suffer——"
The voice stopped abruptly, and Huitong seemed to have seen some incredible scene, and his body was shaking continuously.
Huichan turned the Buddhist beads in his hand and chanted softly, "Amitabha!"
After a moment.
Hui Tong walked out of the room, closed the door very respectfully, then knelt down and kowtowed three times and nine times. The sound was crisp and loud, and his forehead was swollen.
"Brother, if the elixir is not enough, please send me to the Demon Suppression Tower!"
Hui Tong's voice was pious and sincere, his expression was calm, and a faint Buddha light emanated from his body, as if he had been enlightened.
"No hurry. We will still serve the Buddha after he comes to the world. Let the disciples enter the Demon Suppression Tower first."
When Hui Tong heard this, a struggle flashed in his eyes, but he soon regained his composure. He put his hands together and said, "In this case, let's start with my disciples Mingzheng and Mingzhi."
"Great kindness!"
Huichan nodded and was about to say something else, but his brows furrowed and his hands that were turning the Buddhist beads stopped.
"Brother, what's wrong?"
Hui Chan stared at the dark night, then shook his head and said, "Maybe I was wrong. Well, it's getting dark, Junior Brother, let's go back first."
…
Just after Huichan and Huitong left, a small mosquito quietly flew to the front of the room and transformed itself into a Taoist priest in a green robe.
She has a gourd hanging from her waist and her hair is in a Taoist bun. A few strands of hair on her forehead flutter in the wind. She is tall and slender, and looks elegant and refined.
However, he was wearing a fox mask on his face, so his features could not be seen clearly. However, the pair of eyes under the mask were shining with a bright holy light, like the moon shining on a cold river, and his demeanor was lofty and clear.
The person who came was Li Daoxuan. After listening to the story of the Zhou family maid from the land god, he keenly realized that something was wrong. He took the fox mask bought by Changle, entered Luoyang at night, and sneaked into the White Horse Temple using the art of seventy-two transformations, wanting to see the Zhou family maid.
The reason why he did not reveal his identity and entered the White Horse Temple with great fanfare was to avoid alerting the enemy. After all, sometimes you can see more clearly by hiding in the dark.
In addition, the abbot Huichan of the White Horse Temple is a great monk in the late Yangshen period and has considerable prestige in Buddhism. Li Daoxuan, as the imperial teacher of the Tang Dynasty and the leader of the Sleeping Dragons, is nominally in charge of all matters concerning ghosts and gods in the world, and Buddhism is also under his jurisdiction, but in reality this is not the case.
Whether it is the White Horse Temple, Maoshan or Longhu Mountain, these famous sects that have stood for thousands of years have their own heritage, and their attitude towards the court is respectful but not submissive.
Although Li Daoxuan could forcefully suppress Huichan, it might also further intensify the conflict between Buddhism and Taoism, so he did not attack directly, but instead secretly sought the truth.
"Haha, I want to see what the so-called Buddha Mother is. How could she be able to bring about such earth-shaking changes in people?"
Li Daoxuan put his hand on the door, a hint of coldness in his eyes.
He saw Hui Tong's appearance just now. The old monk, who thought that the Buddha Mother was a monster just a moment ago, changed drastically after entering this house. It was as if he had become a fanatical believer who even didn't care about his own life and that of his disciples.
No matter whether the other party is a monster or a real Buddhist, Li Daoxuan will never tolerate such misleading behavior.
The door was slowly pushed open, and a fragrant breeze wafted out from inside, like lotus and sandalwood, which made people feel calm and gave rise to a faint sense of Zen.
Li Daoxuan frowned slightly, the smell seemed a little off.
He walked into the room and the first thing he saw was the screen . Under the candlelight, there was a hazy figure behind the screen, who seemed to be struggling slightly.
Li Daoxuan tried to open his third eye to see through the screen, but he did not expect that the scriptures on it seemed to have noticed his peeping and emitted a dazzling Buddhist light, blocking his sight.
The person who wrote this "Diamond Sutra" has probably already entered the realm of Arhat.
Li Daoxuan thought about it in his mind, then stepped forward and walked behind the screen. He took a closer look and was shocked.
I saw a naked woman tied up tightly. The red ropes that tied her had a strong smell of blood, as if they had been soaked in blood.
What’s even more bizarre is that there are many mysterious scriptures written on the woman’s body.
"After a thousand years, there will be people who have violated the precepts, and then the precepts will be restored. Maitreya Tathagata will live for eighty-four thousand years..."
As Li Daoxuan silently recited the scriptures, an even more bizarre scene appeared. The scriptures seemed to be heating up, emitting a golden-red glow, like a red-hot iron, causing wisps of green smoke to rise from the naked woman's body.
"ah!!!"
The naked woman screamed in pain, and a ghost face suddenly appeared on her bulging belly, as if a baby was trying to break out of her belly, making her belly continue to expand.
A vast and ancient consciousness invaded Li Daoxuan's mind.
“Those who worship me will live for a thousand years, those who kneel before me will live for ten thousand years, and those who knock upon me will attain Bodhi!”
"Maitreya is born, the Vidyaraja descends, the Buddhas, dragons, elephants, and living beings, cows, and horses, all sit on lotus pedestals..."
“Since you have seen the future, why don’t you worship?”
