Chapter 1318

"Has the Prince of Huai returned?" Qian Binyi set down his brush.

"No." Sinan replied.

"When did he leave?"

"He set out for the East Sea on the sixteenth of last month, arrived in Pingyang on the first of this month, then entered the capital to report for duty, and requested fifteen days' leave from His Majesty to return to Huangsha."

In the main government office of the Heposuo, desks faced each other diagonally, stacks of registers piled extremely high.

Qian Binyi sat high behind the desk; Sinan propped a small table at his side. One asked, one answered; officials came and went from time to time, ascending the steps, descending the steps; familiar faces from the Huaidong Heposuo could occasionally be seen.

Qian Binyi picked up the Seal of the Governor-General of the Waterways from the desk, pressed it heavily onto the register, blew it dry, closed it, moved it from left to right, then counted on his fingers, his face lighting up: "That works out to today, doesn't it? Then let's hurry the progress; there shouldn't be any major problem."

"Perhaps."

"Perhaps?"

Sinan flipped through the calendar, finding several red circles: "He left in mid-December; mid-January would be on time for his return, then another ten or twenty days until the New Year festival, ten days of rest. For the Prince of Huai to formally begin work, it would likely be late February.

Moreover, the Prince of Huai often has unexpected delays; arriving a few days late is the norm. Perhaps he'll return on the seventeenth or eighteenth. I hear the East Sea harvest was considerable; he might have to enter seclusion upon return. If so, this whole year is as good as gone. The set schedule most likely cannot be met. The Governor-General had best think about how to deal with the Imperial Censors."

"Is there such a thing?"

"There is." Sinan spoke with certainty.

Qian Binyi sucked in a sharp breath.

Not hearing, one doesn't know; hearing, one is shocked.

The Northern Court ceased war, the Southern Frontier lowered banners and silenced drums; the Great Hunt is three years away — a prime opportunity to sort out internal affairs. One moment of carelessness, and the Prince of Huai was actually allowed to rest for so long?

"No, I must think of a way, submit a memorial to the imperial court; cannot let the Prince of Huai rest ten days for the New Year! Three days, three days is about right————"

"Governor-General, Governor-General my lord!"

A horse galloped straight into the government office.

The newcomer couldn't even rein in at the rear courtyard; he burst straight in, reining to a halt on the bluestone forecourt at the gate.

Qian Binyi looked up: "What's the panic?"

"The Prince of Huai! The Prince of Huai has returned. The Prince of Huai has returned!"

Sinan's face showed surprise.

Qian Binyi was overjoyed: "Quick! Bring the engineering registers to the Prince of Huai; absolutely do not let him enter seclusion! Progress is already behind; we must meet the target before the New Year! Anything else can wait until next year! Ah, forget it, I'll go myself! Sinan!"

Rumble—

Midnight.

Qian Binyi and Sinan rushed to the banks of the Huangsha River.

The Huangsha River's Yellow Dragon raised its head, swayed left and right, charged, rolled once; silt piled up on both banks; a couple of small fish leapt now and then; then the Yellow Dragon turned and rushed eastward. Liang Qu had just returned, yet was already sinking into the riverbed.

Working in the middle of the night?

Qian Binyi felt delighted, and lectured Sinan: "Look at that, the Prince of Huai still knows what's important, not nearly as exaggerated as you said, making this official run all this way for nothing."

"

, the roof covered in a thick layer of white snow, all sounds in the world turned faint.

A monkey climbed across the roof; withered yellow bamboo branches scraped against blue bricks, leaving bits of snow in the cracks. Scarface, draped in a yellow robe, hugged a grass broom, sweeping the accumulated snow in the courtyard.

Suddenly.

It stopped moving; the small ears hidden under its fur twitched.

Immediately after, river otters poked their heads out one by one; the roof-crawling monkeys squatted down, shaking their heads, shaking off the snow atop them.

They heard a certain sound, a sound coming from far to near, from faint to light————

"Ding-ling-dang——————Ding-ling-dang————"

Copper rings collided, ringing crisp and clear; the long Nine-Ringed Monk's Staff rose and fell; the copper rings at its top resounded across the thirty thousand floating steps, slowly fading into the sky.

——

Those who didn't know might think some wandering monk had come to Xuankong Temple to seek instruction; but the one carrying the monk's staff was neither human, nor monk, nor nun, but an otter covered in brown fur. The monks passing on the floating steps saw this and were not surprised.

"Hahaha, Xuankong Temple truly possesses profound Dharma, the crown of all Buddhist pagodas, the foremost of Buddhist temples! Long have I heard of the Six-Tusked White Elephant, the Star Ape, the White Tiger and other strange beasts; never imagined even a fierce creature like the river otter could convert."

The faithful exhaled hot mist, their eyes widened; behind them, children forced to come along with their masters and ladies took interest at the sight.

Praying to gods and worshipping Buddha is most boring; Xuankong Temple is far more interesting than other places.

"Amitabha, the benefactor may be mistaken." The guiding monk pressed his palms together. "My Xuankong Temple does indeed have a group of river otters who converted to my Buddha; this was done by the Vajra Wisdom King when he went to the Jianghuai region. Yet it is not this otter on the steps; this otter has never cultivated Buddhist Dharma in its life."

"Ah, then why is it carrying a Nine-Ringed Monk's Staff, and that's a———— spirit weapon?"

The monk turned his head to look, wanted to speak but couldn't find the words, finally bowed once more: "This matter is truly a long story; the benefactor may witness it with your own eyes. They should be arriving soon; no, they have already arrived.

"Arriving? What's arriving?" The faithful was puzzled, but he soon understood.

At the end of the floating steps, a brown-furred head slowly rose into view.

There, another river otter stepped out onto the accumulated snow, followed by a second, a third————

Among the otters were also two monkeys, one in front, one behind, shouldering a massive white bone rod, like a monkey-flesh weapon rack holding a weapon.

The lead otter wore a yellow robe, held a grass broom woven of bamboo strips in its claws, a slanting scar on its face; alongside bared teeth, its features were squeezed, the scar writhing like a centipede, staring dead at the staff-carrying otter below the steps.

The staff-carrying otter halted; it saw Scarface, its throat bobbed, it forcefully spat a mouthful of saliva, like a death-sealing blowdart, spit and the otter would die; then its arm swung, shaking off the diagonally slung small yellow bundle, letting it fall to the ground, turning back to wave a claw at the guiding monk, backhand gripping the monk's staff behind it.

"Crack."

Scarface raised its knees, pressed its claws down, snapped the yellow bamboo grass broom in one go, tossed it aside, then unfastened the lower half of its yellow robe, revealing a body crisscrossed with scars. The monkey beside it advanced shouldering the bone rod; it spread its claws, lowered its body, and embraced it.

Astonishing killing intent permeated the air, flooding mouth and nose like a tide, suffocating.

The faithful were shocked.

Even at the Tiger-Hunting Grand Martial Master gathering he had never felt such intense momentum!

"Hey-ya!" *2

Accompanied by a sharp cry, Scarface stepped forward and dove; otter after otter leapt and climbed; in the instant they neared, Scarface lowered its body, stepped on the step's edge and slid down, hugged the bone rod, forced its upper body down, otter and rod as one, rolling together with the weapon, turning into a spinning top.

Sweeping away a thousand armies!

Ta Ta Kai leapt up, dodging this Sweeping Away a Thousand Armies, drew his monk's staff backhand, and cleaved with the force of splitting Mount Hua!

Clang!

The crowd of believers covered their ears, ringing.

Scarface just kipped up, shook his head and swayed his tail, actually leaping from the ground, changing the rotation direction of the bone club and himself, borrowing the momentum, blocking this move, and smoothly knocking the monk's staff away!

Ta Ta Kai's arms went numb, the monk's staff suspended in midair, the bone club across from him drew a circle in the air, then backhanded another smash.

Ta Ta Kai was greatly alarmed, stiffened his tail and shook out three hairs, seeing he couldn't block in time, simply grasped the monk's staff's center of gravity, reversed direction, shook both arms, and used the staff handle to jab.

Bone club and monk's staff intertwined in a frenzied dance.

River otters kept charging in one after another, joining the battle, Ta Ta Kai fighting many alone, not losing ground, river otters kept joining then flying out, flying out then joining again.

Three Parts Returning to Origin Qi!

Black Tiger Digs Out the Heart!

Monkey Steals the Peach!

Son of Heaven Fist Heart Sword!

"Ding ding dang dang."

The cold wind was biting, the guide monk arrived at where the Monk's Staff Otter stood, bent to pick up the bundle on the ground, brushed off the white snow stuck to the bottom, then called over a passing little novice, turned back and explained: "This otter belongs to the Prince of Huai, this item was brought by the Prince of Huai for the Vajra Wisdom King, everyone————"

"Master, please go ahead————"

Hearing two shocking names in succession, the believers hurriedly said it was no trouble.

"Many thanks, benefactors."

The guide monk passed through the clashing evil winds beside him, took the little yellow bundle, and left in quick steps.

"Several benefactors, let's go." The little novice bowed.

"This———— Little Master, just letting them fight like this, is it really no trouble?"

"No trouble, not the first time, sometimes they fight two or three times a month, the Wisdom King watches over them."

"This———— alright then."

"Little Master, who will win?" A youth in the crowd asked curiously.

"Who will win?" The little novice thought a moment, "Basically Scarface."

"Ah, so strong, why do they still gang up on him?"

"Only by ganging up can they win; in raw strength, the Monk's Staff Otter is quite a bit stronger than the scarred one. Actually at the very beginning the two were evenly matched, hard to tell superior from inferior, the Monk's Staff Otter barely edged a win.

Later Scarface went to the back mountain of Fuldong Temple and found a bone club spirit weapon, the Monk's Staff Otter was beaten black and blue and also went to make a monk's staff.

After that, the bone club spirit weapon wasn't enough, they started piling on river otter numbers, then roped in monkeys, I'm not clear what stage it's developed to now, but there are still quite a few Buddha beasts that haven't moved, so I reckon Scarface won't be utterly crushed."

"Roar!"

The words just fell, an elephant's trumpet came.

Everyone looked down, discovering it was actually a monkey riding a little white elephant charging wildly, in the Monk's Staff Otter's horrified gaze, otter and staff together, blown flying by a single trunk swipe.

The Monk's Staff Otter fell from the heights, squeaking and chattering like cursing, voice fading into the distance.

On the other side, Scarface put his kasaya back on, bowed to the believers.

Hanging Temple back mountain.

The old monk put away the scroll, untied the bundle, originally thought it was a letter, result revealed three thick volumes, then thought it was a lost Buddhist scripture.

This is experience.

When not in Pingyang Prefecture, Liang Qu often sent him letters and Buddhist scriptures, letters were mostly household talk, scriptures were rather special, some even ancient versions lost for hundreds or thousands of years, don't know where he found them, already a small surprise in life, also added quite a few supplements to the Hanging Temple's Scripture Pavilion.

The only strange thing was, the scriptures were mostly transcripts, not originals.

The old monk knew Liang Qu certainly wasn't unwilling to give originals, mostly didn't have them, not that he wouldn't give, had no originals, yet could transcribe, this was very strange.

Could it be they've always been memorized in someone's mind.

Or some strange place where you can only transcribe, not borrow to read?

The old monk took a sip of tea, opened today's new volume, read line by line, quickly he put down the teacup, absorbed by the unique obscurity of this volume's scripture.

Not seeing half a page, the old monk's pupils dilated even more, started from the beginning, a hard-to-believe shock swept over him, immediately pulled out the "Cheng Weishi Lun Jie" from the bookshelf, compared the two.

"This————"

Dawn.

The novice brought tea and rice back the same way, Abbot Di Xian saw and asked: "How come you're back? Is there a problem with today's vegetarian meal?"

The little novice bowed: "Reporting to the Abbot, not a meal problem, the Ancestor had the little monk withdraw, said the Wisdom King had an epiphany, don't go disturb him."

"The Ancestor came out? Which Ancestor." Di Xian was first startled, but immediately noticed another major thing in the words, "The Wisdom King had an epiphany? What happened?"

The little novice touched his bald head, full of difficulty: "I don't know that, the Ancestors are all shining with golden light, all look the same, however, yesterday evening the Wisdom King still ate dinner, later the river otter raised by the Prince of Huai came a trip, now still fighting with Scarface on the back mountain."

River otter?

Words just fell.

Boom!

Golden light soared into the sky.

Hanging Temple upper and lower slightly stirred.

Di Xian looked up, tongue-tied, no longer caring to investigate what Liang Qu brought yesterday, what he showed the Wisdom King: "Quickly go call people to protect the Wisdom King's dharma————"

Boom!

Another golden light soared, but not from where the old monk was, rather the Hanging Temple back mountain, where generations of ancestors are enshrined!

Like this without end.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One path is one path, five pillars of light stood straight, piercing the sky.

The Hanging Temple originally stood at the horizon, five golden pillars soaring into the clouds, as if propping open heaven and earth.

The abbot of the Hanging Temple slightly opened his eyes, stepped back half a pace, unable to believe it.

The Golden Body inheritance of the Hanging Temple is not ordinary; for those who cultivate to profound depths, when they sit in meditation and enter nirvana, they often can preserve themselves in a unique relic form, sleeping in daily life, reviving one or two times at critical moments to exchange Buddhist teachings; although their combat power is not strongly maintained, they are the Hanging Temple's greatest treasure.

In the past, when the Prince of Huai invited the Buddha, the founding ancestor once burned one of his own relics to add to his vow power.

Since they have entered nirvana, they obviously cannot advance further.

This is a symbol of great progress in the Dharma!

A moment of enlightenment, the ancestors made multiple advancements.

No, what exactly did the Prince of Huai bring yesterday?

"Half-close the mountain gate!" The abbot shouted, "Today the Hanging Temple will no longer accept devotees, first settle them at the Fulu Temple!

"

Behind the mountain of the Fulu Temple.

Bai Hu looked at the brilliant golden light in the sky, feeling puzzled, yawned, and lay down; in the valley ahead, two otters wrestled together, fur flying.

The scar-faced otter fiercely scratched the scarred face and buttocks, grabbing handfuls of fur one after another.

Monkey steals peach! Monkey steals peach! Monkey steals peach!

The scar-faced one flew into a rage, the yellow robe covered the otter's head, and he flicked out his claws.

Black Tiger rips out the heart! Black Tiger rips out the heart! Black Tiger rips out the heart!

"What nonsense is this? All messed up."

On the treasure boat, Liang Qu focused on two tasks, one side washing the riverbed, the other side reading the original version of the *Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi* given by Huizhen.

According to Huizhen's explanation, his dream was not complete, merely a deeply remembered, connected part.

There is no time to look in the underworld; now he has been looking for half a day.

Bird language.

I don't understand, better leave it to the old monk.

The *Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi* sutra's meaning is traditionally said to be personally transmitted by Maitreya, profound and difficult to understand, containing ten commentaries, all different; in the world, only Master Huizhen can truly comprehend it.

The simplified *Cheng Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi* he has looked at twice, still cannot understand, only able to study the summarized "technique"

, let alone the original.

Liang Qu feels the old monk is not inferior to Huizhen, not knowing if he can summarize something new.

The "Ear Consciousness Method," "Eye Consciousness Method," "Body Consciousness Method" — each is very useful, not knowing if, upon obtaining the original, the old monk could devise an even more powerful upgraded version, such as the previous "Body Consciousness Method" helping people refine a hundred meridians, and after upgrading, helping people traverse heaven and earth.

If not, next time he can still take the old monk to the Blood River Realm to meet Huizhen in person.

The Fetal Pearl Pill is used less and less, only two chances for rebirth remain; if one wishes to refine it again, then it must be —

"Pa!"

Closed the book, opened the map.

Get to work!

Complete the annual target, go home for the New Year, then refine all the harvest in one go.

"Hn?"

The spiritual link pulsed, Liang Qu's movement paused.

"How is it?" Lixiang Han looked expectantly, "Has the Prince of Huai replied?"

Golden arthropods intertwined and rose and fell, Bai Awei turned in a circle, raised half his body.

The next moment.

A mighty and astonishing power poured straight into Lixiang Han's body!

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