Volume 1: Wild Beasts, Changes Begin Chapter 37: The Sick in Honganji Temple
The Changluo Marquis Mansion is located in Qingyu County, Donghai County.
The southeastern part of Qingyu County is Qingyu Port, the largest port in the entire Donghai County. It is crowded with commercial businesses and is even one of the most prosperous places in Daqi, and a transportation hub.
In the northwest part of Qingyu County, there is a relatively quiet forest. The Honganji Temple, which is famous in the 18 counties of Tokai County, is located in this forest.
The main deity enshrined in Honganji is Medicine Buddha. Naturally, most of the people who come here to burn incense are people with some health problems.
The abbot of Honganji Temple, Master Lingmiao, can be called a miracle doctor. Over the past 30 years, countless difficult and complicated diseases have been solved by him. Therefore, the saying that worshiping Buddha in Honganji Temple is effective has spread more and more widely, and his reputation has become more and more famous.
The place where Fang Pingbo said he would fulfill his vow was this temple.
In those days, he asked Master Lingmiao to diagnose Fang Yunhan. Although Master Lingmiao could not cure the terminal blood deficiency disease, the two of them had an intersection and became friends after a few visits.
Fang Pingbo's visit today was mentioned in the letter to Master Lingmiao a month ago.
Today was different from previous visits by friends. He came to fulfill his vow as Chorahou, so all the monks, big and small, in Honganji started to clean the temple carefully early in the morning. The two monks guarding the temple gate were also particularly energetic.
When the morning light first shone, the sound of a carriage was heard on the road in front of the temple.
The two gatekeeper monks quickly turned their heads to look, but it was not the carriage from Changluo Marquis Mansion as they expected.
Instead, it was a carriage that looked extremely plain, with blue cloth curtains, no wood carvings or jade pendants on the carriage, and it was driven by a young man in tight clothes.
There was only one car, and no entourage.
The carriage stopped in front of the temple gate. The boy got off, glanced at the plaque of Honganji Temple, and shouted, "Grandpa, sister, we are here."
The green cloth curtain was lifted, and a young girl in a light green slim-fitting martial arts uniform came down, supporting an old man.
The person being supported was definitely an old man. After all, his beard and hair were very long and completely gray.
But it is difficult to tell roughly what age he is.
At first glance, with his long, messy beard and hair and slightly thin figure, some people might say he is in his seventies or eighties.
But even though he was coughing slightly, he still had a tall and heavy temperament, and his steps were steady. Judging from his behavior, he seemed to be in his fifties or sixties with more energy.
However, when you see him from the front, you will find that there is not a single age spot on his face. Although he has wrinkles, his skin is in good condition. He blinks less frequently, and his eyes are big and bright, without almost any of the dullness and turbidity of old age. If he is in his forties and just entering old age, it seems that it is not a bad idea.
Such an old fellow, just as he got off the carriage and walked up the stairs, the two monks guarding the gate seemed to look younger and younger.
It's really strange and bizarre.
The girl followed the old man up the stairs and was able to pass through the gate. She saw the monks busy sweeping the yard and wondered, "Hey, did these monks know we were coming today? They were preparing to welcome us so early in the morning?"
The old man smiled and said, "They may not be prepared to welcome us."
"Old donor is indeed insightful." A gatekeeper monk stepped forward, clasped his hands together and bowed, saying, "Today a distinguished person is coming to our temple to fulfill a vow. If you are here to burn incense, I'm afraid I may not be able to greet you well. Would you please come with me to the guest room and sit for a while?"
"No problem." The old man said kindly, "You guys come later, let the little monk Lingmiao come to see me."
The two monks guarding the gate today had experienced a lot. After hearing these seemingly offensive words, they did not get angry. They just said, "So the old donor is an old acquaintance of our abbot. Could you please tell me your name first? I..."
"Is that Mr. Yue Tianen?"
Suddenly a loud shout was heard from a distance.
Several people in front of the temple looked in the direction of the sound and saw more than ten people riding horses. There was also a carriage in the team, but the leader was not sitting in the carriage. Instead, he was riding a horse in the front.
It was this leader who shouted just now.
Yue Tianen turned around and said, "It turned out to be Chang Luo Hou."
"Mr. Yue, it is indeed you. I looked a bit like you from a distance."
Fang Pingbo rode his horse closer, dismounted, and walked over with a laugh, "Mr. Yue, I haven't seen you for a few years, but with your temperament, I'd recognize you no matter where I am."
"Your Majesty, you are too kind." Yue Tianen said.
The two monks guarding the gate were a little surprised. The old man and the two children in front of them looked like commoners and did not look like they had ever been high-ranking officials. Yet they were so calm and composed towards Chang Luo Hou, neither humble nor arrogant.
In all the people of Honganji, there is probably only one Master Lingmiao who has such a magnanimous demeanor.
No matter what the gatekeeper monks thought in their hearts, since these people had started chatting, there was no reason just turned around, made a gesture of invitation, and led the way.
Fang Pingbo, Yue Tianen and the other two walked into the temple together, while Ma Youfu directed a group of riders to carefully move the things off the carriage.
"Mr. Yue, it's a rare visit to Qingyu. Are you here to burn incense as well?" Fang Pingbo asked.
Yue Tianen coughed twice and said, "I came to ask Lingmiao to help me adjust my body. I will probably have to stay here for a while. I am old and I have to accept my age."
"Mr. Yue can actually get sick?" Fang Pingbo was extremely surprised, then he smiled and said, "It's probably just a minor illness. With Mr. Yue's physique, he will live at least another 70 to 80 years."
"Haha, doesn't that mean I've become an old monster?" Yue Tianen laughed twice, but started coughing again. This time, he coughed for more than ten times and it felt like his heart was being torn apart.
Fang Pingbo's face was filled with worry. He asked, "What's going on, Mr. Yue? You..."
"It's nothing, just take a few days to recuperate." Yue Tianen didn't want to say more at this time, so he waved his hand and said, "Come on, Yiren, Youzhi, meet Lord Changluo."
The girl and the boy saluted together with their fists clasped.
"No need to be polite." Fang Pingbo said to the young girl Gongsun Yiren, "Young Master, we met a few years ago. But this young master, it's our first time meeting, and he is also very handsome and talented."
Gongsun Youzhi nodded silently. He seemed to be an introvert and didn't talk much.
A few years ago, Fang Pingbo went to Yue Tianen's home to visit him, hoping to ask him to go back and teach Fang Yunhan some boxing techniques to see if he could make his body stronger. However, several famous doctors said that Fang Yunhan could not do strenuous exercise, so the matter was left unresolved.
But the friendship between them was preserved.
The fact that Fang Pingbo was able to open up trade routes and be conferred the title of marquis was actually largely due to his character of making friends everywhere.
"Let's not talk about me. Why did Chang Luo Hou come to this temple?" Yue Tianen coughed for a while before asking.
When talking about this matter, Fang Pingbo couldn't help but smile with joy.
"Oh, actually it was my child. He was suffering from a terminal illness, and I was really worried about him. But a month ago, he accidentally swallowed a precious pearl that I brought back from the sea, and his blood deficiency was cured without any medicine."
This was also what Fang Pingbo and Fang Yunhan had discussed, and they would give a unified statement to the outside world in the future.
If the story of an immortal were to be spread, it would be too conspicuous, especially with a terminal illness as evidence. It was hard to say whether it would attract anyone's attention. This kind of trouble should be avoided if possible.
Yue Tianen nodded: "I see."
Gongsun Yiren suddenly asked, "My Lord, I wonder where your precious pearl is?"
"It was given to me by an island owner. It is said that it was found by chance in the sea, and there is only one like this." Fang Pingbo said.
Gongsun Yiren showed a hint of disappointment on her face. Yue Tianen patted his granddaughter's shoulder comfortingly.
They had not been chatting for long when Master Lingmiao came out. They exchanged pleasantries with each other as old friends. Yue Tianen and the other three went to the guest room to rest, while Fang Pingbo began to fulfill his wish.
It was a jade Buddha about half a foot tall that was taken out from the carriage. It was also the gift that Fang Pingbo had made here to fulfill a vow for his son's illness.
After fulfilling his vow, Fang Pingbo did not stay long. He just had a vegetarian lunch, played two games of chess, and then prepared to go back.
But this time, about six or seven miles away from Honganji, they encountered a funeral procession on the street.
Fang Pingbo was not a domineering person. When encountering such a situation, he would dismount and wait aside to let the funeral procession pass first.
There were also many people gathered on both sides of the street, discussing this matter.
"Uncle Ge from Xilianghe was such a nice guy. I didn't know he had any illness. How could he just die like this?"
"Who says it's not?"
"Don't you know?" A woman shrank back and whispered, "I heard that Uncle Ge was bitten to death by a dog."
"A dog can only bite a person to death, at most. How can it bite a person to death?"
"Uncle Ge is also a strong man."
"Don't mention it. I heard that he was not only bitten to death, but there was not much flesh left on his body. He happened near their old house."
At this moment, one of the people carrying the coffin suddenly seemed to have a weak leg, and the coffin actually fell to the ground. The street immediately became chaotic, and several filial sons and grandsons burst into tears.
Fang Pingbo looked at the funeral procession and realized that they couldn't leave for a while. He turned to Ma Youfu and said, "Let's take a detour and go through the street where the goods are stored."
After a dozen people led the horses away, the woman who had just discussed the cause of Uncle Ge's death was still talking.
"Don't disbelieve me, their old house is on the street where the goods are stored. It seems that some people often heard screams in the middle of the night a while ago, and they were vaguely coming from that street."
An idle man said with a tut-tut sound , "According to what you said, that dog must have eaten seven or eight people. It's not a wild dog, but a dog demon, right?"
"In my opinion, it's probably because some family was caught stealing men over there and was beaten up, which is why they made those screams."
A few people laughed quietly, but when they heard crying coming from the middle of the street, they felt that it was inappropriate and gradually stopped talking about it.
