Chapter 175: One hundred eighty-two, Alliance of the Lotus Tower

One hundred eighty-two, Alliance of the Lotus Tower

The night wind howls outside the hall.

The hall is solemn and majestic.

"Is the female Bodhisattva unable to speak?

Master Venerable Shan Dao makes way and asks curiously.

Sister Xiuniang walks silently to the table for interpreting marriage fortune slips, picks up the brush prepared on the table, and writes on a red paper: "Is the Master the abbot of Donglin Temple."

Master Venerable Shan Dao is stunned, realizing something, and cannot help but look at this mute female benefactor twice more, twisting his beads and putting his palms together: "Exactly, the old monk is. If the female Bodhisattva is unable to speak, you can write it down in detail..."

Before Master Venerable Shan Dao could finish his repetitive words, Sister Xiuniang had already lowered her brows and put pen to paper: "Does the Master remember the Lotus Tower."

"What Lotus Tower?" Master Venerable Shan Dao's first reaction was to be stunned and ask back. Sister Xiuniang's gaze did not move, silently observing the puzzled expression on the old monk's face.

The latter frowned and looked at Sister Xiuniang, then looked at the pitch-black night sky outside the main hall.

"Lotus Tower? Among the Buddhist pagodas and stupas preserved in the temple, I haven't heard of any with this name..." Under Sister Xiuniang's gaze, Master Venerable Shan Dao's words suddenly paused, and he turned his head, looking dazed:

"The Lotus Tower the female Bodhisattva mentioned, could it be the one from the Sui Dynasty before this dynasty? At that time, there was indeed a Buddhist pagoda named Lotus Tower, because the pagoda was nine stories high and shaped like a lotus..."

Master Venerable Shan Dao recalls and ponders:

"But this was all a matter of the previous Sui Dynasty. I remember this pagoda was built with the support of the Southern Kingdom royal family before the Sui Dynasty unified the north and south. It is said that the construction of this pagoda consumed a lot of resources, and it was majestic, even known as the number one stupa in the Jiang Nan region.

"It's just a pity that during the Sui Dynasty, it caught fire and collapsed. Is the Lotus Tower the female Bodhisattva mentioned this one? I didn't expect the female Bodhisattva to remember this pagoda at such a young age. Could it be that you saw it in some rare Buddhist scripture? It's a pity that it's no longer there."

Master Venerable Shan Dao's white eyebrows furrowed, and he sighed:

"Eh, the female Bodhisattva asked if I remember, the old monk wasn't even born then, so naturally I didn't see this pagoda, how could I remember? I only heard about it from my master.

"And later, my master built a merit pagoda on the site of the Lotus Tower, but it also caught fire. However, these are all later stories, not worth mentioning.

"Does the female Bodhisattva want to find the Lotus Tower? Could it be that you heard about it somewhere and want to admire it? It's a pity that only a ruin remains. It's over by the Beitian Tian Jiyang Yuan behind the mountain. The female Bodhisattva can only go to observe the remaining underground palace now."

Master Venerable Shan Dao suggests thoughtfully.

Except for writing, Sister Xiuniang's gaze never left the old black-robed monk's face.

The face full of age spots is full of sincerity and kindness, and the words spoken have no pauses, and the expression does not look fake. Sister Xiuniang lowers her brows, her slender hands pinching the brush:

"Beitian Tian Jiyang Yuan? Underground palace?"

Master Venerable Shan Dao shakes his head and regrets: "Is the female Bodhisattva really here to admire the ancient pagoda? If you traveled far, it's a pity.

Donglin Temple's incense and Buddhist pagodas are famous in the Jiang Nan Circuit, and even spread to the north. Every day, there are all kinds of distant pilgrims going up the mountain and entering the temple, and the wishes or reasons are also strange.

So for a young female pilgrim who likes to admire Buddhist pagodas, Master Venerable Shan Dao is not too surprised. The old monk smiles:

"That's right, there is still an underground palace, called the Pure Land Underground Palace. Although the Lotus Tower collapsed due to fire, it was lucky. The underground palace was buried under the pagoda. Except for some smoke pollution on the murals, the fire didn't burn into the underground palace, so it escaped disaster.

"Later, when the previous abbot rebuilt the merit pagoda on the original site, it was just a simple decoration, and no major changes were made. Later, the second fire of the merit pagoda was also like this. It is a misfortune among misfortunes."

Master Venerable Shan Dao sighs with emotion, turns his face and strokes his beard, kindly saying:

"It's getting late. If the female Bodhisattva is really curious about this former number one pagoda in Jiang Nan, you can stay in the temple for the night. Tomorrow morning, the old monk will let my disciple Xiufa take you to observe it.

"The Pure Land Underground Palace is over by the Beitian Tian Jiyang Yuan behind the temple, and it is also a scene of our Donglin Temple. However, you have to use some ropes to go down. Female Bodhisattva, please rest assured, Xiufa will arrange these things by then.

"In addition, if you stay for the night, the female Bodhisattva only needs to donate ten coins of incense money, just to show your heart..." As if he had grasped the pilgrim's intention, this Donglin Temple abbot arranged everything in one go.

However, at this moment, his words paused, only to see that the face of this somewhat strange mute female pilgrim was still unusually calm, but her eyes were somewhat dazed, as if she was distracted.

Master Venerable Shan Dao couldn't help but take two more looks, reorganized his words, and looked sideways:

"Does the female Bodhisattva have any concerns or dissatisfaction? Eh, it's not that the old monk is exaggerating, our temple's Pure Land Underground Palace is indeed extraordinary. This was built together with the former number one Buddhist pagoda in Jiang Nan. It has a long history, and it was funded and built by the Southern Kingdom royal temple at that time. It is of royal standard. The female Bodhisattva only needs to donate some incense money, and you can..."

Sister Xiuniang seems to have returned to her senses, moving her gaze from the Buddha statue behind Master Venerable Shan Dao to the old white-bearded monk's face, taking a look, she lowers her eyes gently, and writes on the red paper:

"The Lotus Tower collapsed, besides the underground palace, did anything else remain." Master Venerable Shan Dao's words were interrupted, and he frowned slightly:

"What remains, it was all burned clean, only the underground palace remains, and the flesh-body Buddha of my master's uncle." Sister Xiuniang writes: "Master's uncle, flesh-body Buddha?"

Master Venerable Shan Dao nods, mentioning this, it is as smooth as the recitation of a tour guide Magistrate Ouyang Rong saw in his previous life:

"Forgot to say, this Pure Land Underground Palace is also the place where my master's uncle, Master Master Zhong Ma, ascended. That year, under the auspices of my master, the underground palace under the ruins of the Lotus Tower was reopened. Master Master Zhong Ma, who had been missing for many years, was sitting and passing away in the center of the underground palace, his flesh body was clearly visible, still lifelike, and he had already quietly ascended to the Pure Land..."

Master Venerable Shan Dao talks eloquently, just like two months ago when he told Magistrate Ouyang Rong this secret in the sickbed of Sanhui Academy, the lines were not even changed, it seems he didn't say less to the pilgrims.

And when talking about the flesh-body Buddha of that master's uncle, his voice lowered, with a quite mysterious tone. Sister Xiuniang was silent for a while, her hand holding the brush tightened, "Where is the flesh body of the Master's uncle." Master Venerable Shan Dao sighed:

"It has been cremated by the old monk's master. This is also the Buddhist tradition. Finally, several sarira were obtained, all placed in a golden lotus lamp and kept in the Pure Land Underground Palace... Does the female Bodhisattva want to worship it?"

Sister Xiuniang gently puts down the brush, turns her head to look at the solemn golden Buddha in the main hall, and says nothing.

Master Venerable Shan Dao's eyes are curious, his palms are together, and his gaze follows Sister Xiuniang's line of sight, looking at the golden Buddha behind him, and his mouth says:

"Amitabha, female benefactor, is there anything else..."

Turning his head, the old monk's words were only halfway through, and the hem of his black monk's robe suddenly fluttered. It was a slight breeze in the hall.

Immediately, a "clatter" sound. A heavy object fell from a high place.

The old monk was startled, and regardless of his image, he subconsciously jumped to the side.

He looked at the deformed copper treasure clapper that fell on the ground with a fast heartbeat, and looked up at the top of his head in a daze.

This main hall, as the main hall of Donglin Temple, was luxuriously decorated. Inside the hall, at a high place, it was full of ceiling covers, treasure clappers, and bead banners, and the decorations were colorful.

Among them was a copper product called a treasure clapper, the size of a human head, shaped like a bell, heavy, originally hanging in the middle of the bead banners hanging from the ceiling in the hall.

Master Venerable Shan Dao found that the position where he was just standing was directly below a treasure clapper. He didn't know if it was driven by the wind and couldn't hang steadily.

The treasure clapper fell down. Almost hit someone.

This heavy object, if hit, a bloody disaster is inevitable. "So dangerous, so dangerous, strange how it fell, scared the old monk to death!"

Master Venerable Shan Dao patted his chest, his face frightened.

"Female benefactor, are you okay... eh, where is the person?"

Master Venerable Shan Dao's face was suspicious, looking around the empty main hall.

However, soon, his face turned from surprise to joy, and he walked quickly to the table, calling "Amitabha", bent down and poured the three taels of silver that were quietly placed on the table into his sleeve, his movements were neat and skilled.

As for the suspicion before, looking at the smile in the old white-bearded monk's eyes at this moment, it seems he had long thrown it behind his head.

"This female benefactor is a bit strange, coming and going without a sound in the middle of the night, but she is a devout pilgrim who worships Buddha, and must have great blessings. Eh, if I had known, I would have helped her calculate her marriage..."

Master Venerable Shan Dao nodded solemnly to himself, turned and called the duty novice to clean up the main hall.

As for why the copper treasure clapper that was lying quietly on the ground fell vertically, but didn't hit the old monk's bald head, it seems it was just good luck.

The wind is strong tonight, and the dark clouds in the sky are moving slowly, occasionally covering the bright moon. At three o'clock in the morning, the bright moon hid behind the black clouds again.

Behind Donglin Temple, in the Beitian Tian Jiyang Yuan, beside a dry well. The light followed the moon's cover and dimmed.

The bamboo forest nearby came with a rustling sound.

The main building in the Tian Jiyang Yuan not far away was extremely quiet. A wind passed.

The bright moon showed its head from behind the clouds.

Under the dry well, beside the lotus pedestal in the center of the underground palace, at some point, there was an extra slender silhouette. The clear-eyed mute girl sighed slightly.

Except for the abbot Master Venerable Shan Dao, she had roughly visited the entire temple, and even ran to the mountain top where the mountain wind was hunting, cooperating with the use of a secret technique of observing Qi.

But in the end, she didn't see any Qi Refining practitioner. Not a single one.

That somewhat nagging Donglin Temple abbot was not, Sister Xiuniang had also tested it.

At the moment when the copper clapper fell, if there was spiritual cultivation, no matter how hidden, the Qi machine would be hard to have no waves, and it would be hard to escape her spiritual sense perception, which was different from ordinary Qi Refining practitioners.

So this can only explain... this Donglin Temple, which is close to Lady Yunmeng Lake and famous in the Jiang Nan Circuit, is indeed just an ordinary ancient temple.

Or, it is an ordinary ancient temple at the moment.

Bathed in the moonlight falling from the wellhead above her head, Sister Xiuniang tilted her head, her small face somewhat dazed. This is completely different from the situation of Donglin Temple recorded by the sect.

This Lotus Sect ancient temple, which has been passed down since the Eastern Jin Dynasty, is not ordinary, and once had a very special inheritance. It is related to the legendary Xin Dingjian.

It even involves a certain mythological extinct vein, that's right, it's an extinct vein, compared to the nine mythological Taoist veins, the path that cannot be walked is naturally an extinct vein.

And because of this, at the time of the great unification of the north and south a hundred years ago, led by the Southern Kingdom royal family living in a corner of the Jiang Nan Circuit, the sect where Sister Xiuniang was located, together with Donglin Temple, and that batch of craftsmen of the craftsman Taoist vein who had lived on the west bank of Butterfly Creek for generations, had once had a sincere cooperation.

Sister Xiuniang also learned this from the eldest senior sister's letter.

It turned out that in those years, the three forces had once met at the Lotus Tower built with the support of the Southern Kingdom royal family and concluded a covenant that was rarely known in the Tiannan Tiannan Jianghu.

It is called the Alliance of the Lotus Tower.

And they made a great blood oath, the descendants of the three forces should remember to fulfill the contract for generations and must not violate it, otherwise the sect will be broken and the path will be destroyed.

Sister Xiuniang didn't know the specifics of the covenant very well, perhaps the eldest senior sister who was acting as the abbot of the sect knew, but she didn't detail it to her in the letter.

However, Sister Xiuniang vaguely knew some possible truths. This was something she guessed based on a certain sect secret she knew.

And Sister Xiuniang didn't doubt at all that if this secret was spread out of the sect, it would definitely cause an earthquake in the Tiannan Tiannan Jianghu and shake the status of the sect.

Because a certain tripod that was regarded as a treasure by the Tiannan Tiannan Jianghu and kept in the sect where Sister Xiuniang was located had long been lost. As if thinking of the recent repeated flooding of Lady Yunmeng Lake.

The mute girl who was bathing in the moonlight raised her head and took a deep breath.

The Lotus Tower matter she was investigating might be related to this lost tripod of the sect.

And in those years, the price paid by the sect for the Alliance of the Lotus Tower was likely this tripod.

However, Sister Xiuniang didn't worry too much, according to the eldest senior sister's temper, since she handed this matter to her to investigate, and didn't rush over in person, it seems... the eldest senior sister didn't seem to hold much hope for her being able to investigate anything.

It is also true.

Everything that could be found had been found, and now letting Sister Xiuniang revisit this place was more like a routine visit.

And I don't know why, the Qi Refining inheritance of Donglin Temple was broken, and the craftsmen had long since died. Who remembers the Alliance of the Lotus Tower?

Just when Sister Xiuniang was dazed, a voice came.

"Amitabha, female benefactor, this is the Pure Land, above is the Avici Hell, come over quickly."

Perhaps seeing the silhouette of Sister Xiuniang arriving silently, Master Xiuzhen, who was called "Great Knowledge Master" by Magistrate Ouyang Rong, climbed up from the ground, one finger pointing to the sky, one finger pointing to the earth.

The mute girl didn't turn her head, smiled lightly, nodded gently, and gave a light "ah" to greet. ===== CHAPTER 176 =====