Chapter 7

VII. Smiling is also Merit!

"My dear nephew, be good, ah, open your mouth." Mrs. Zhen twisted the medicine spoon lightly and handed it forward.

"Aunt, I can drink it myself." Ouyang Rong took a mouthful helplessly and muttered.

Mrs. Zhen didn't seem to hear, continued to scoop medicine, and turned a deaf ear.

Early this morning, Mrs. Zhen brought maids over to take care of Ouyang Rong's meals and medicine, and also made an appointment with the abbot of Donglin Temple to take his pulse and check him.

Ouyang Rong originally planned to propose leaving the temple and going down the mountain today, but seeing Mrs. Zhen like this, she wouldn't let him go until he was full of energy.

Ouyang Rong frowned silently.

At this time, the pretty maid beside Mrs. Zhen, who seemed to be called 'Half-Stream', invited the master and disciple who were seeing the doctor from the front hall.

"Abbot, Tanlang doesn't seem to have much appetite today. Hurry up and see if the condition has recurred." Mrs. Zhen frowned with worry.

Ouyang Rong stopped speaking. Being fed like a child, how could he have an appetite?

"Benefactor, don't worry, the nephew's complexion is not bad, the old monk will take his pulse and see."

"Trouble the abbot."

Mrs. Zhen turned her head and said to someone: "The abbot's medical skills are famous in several surrounding counties. The medical officials in the state medical office may not be better than him. This time it was also thanks to the abbot's help that you were saved. You don't like to listen to Aunt's words, but you should always listen to the abbot who saved you, right?"

The old monk abbot smiled and sat down, his white eyebrows drooping, taking the pulse of Ouyang Rong, who was leaning against the bed.

Ouyang Rong turned his head to look. This abbot of Donglin Temple truly had the demeanor of a high monk with immortal bones.

"May I ask how to address the abbot?"

"The old monk is Venerable Shan Dao..."

Ouyang Rong tilted his head and waited, but after waiting for a long time, there was no follow-up. He was stunned, "Ah?"

Xiufa, who was holding the medical box on the side, interjected: "Venerable Shan Dao, that is the master's Dharma name."

Ouyang Rong suddenly realized, coughed, "So it's Master Venerable Shan Dao, long admired, long admired."

But in his heart, he was frantically complaining, what kind of names are you monks of Donglin Temple taking? Do you dare to be more unprofessional?

Master Venerable Shan Dao smiled and added: "However, the old monk is indeed good at guiding others. If the Magistrate has any life confusion, or doesn't understand Buddhist principles, you can come to find the old monk, always welcome."

"Okay, Master." Ouyang Rong nodded, glanced out the window, and suddenly said: "The pagodas in your temple are built quite high."

Master Venerable Shan Dao's heart skipped a beat, observing the complexion of this weak County Magistrate without moving.

The old monk sighed helplessly and compassionately:

"Good to let the Magistrate know, these pagodas are all spontaneously donated by pilgrims and laypeople. Building pagodas is one of the three dependencies of the Buddhist sect, which can accumulate merit. Pilgrims are quite enthusiastic and sincere about this. Our temple didn't force it at all, but it's not easy to refuse. But it is indeed a bit of a waste of money and manpower... but every time a pagoda is built, the temple reports it to the county government and pays taxes... and this year's flood, it will absolutely not be built again. Magistrate, please rest assured."

Ouyang Rong didn't expect that a casual remark would make people misunderstand that he wanted to ask for money.

He didn't express his opinion, just continued: "Does your Donglin Temple have a pagoda... called Merit Tower?"

Master Venerable Shan Dao gathered his two white eyebrows, was silent for a while, first shook his head slightly, then nodded.

"There used to be, but not anymore."

"Why not anymore?"

"Caught fire. And it was twice."

"Can you explain in detail."

"Initially, it was before the founding of the Great Qian Dynasty... even earlier than the previous Sui Dynasty, that is, during the Southern Dynasties. There was support from the Southern Royal Family to build a magnificent Lotus Pagoda in the temple, and an underground palace was also built below. It's just that later, during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, it caught fire and the pagoda collapsed.

"And later, during the reign of Taizong of the Great Qian Dynasty, that is, when the old monk's master was the abbot, the temple set up a new pagoda on the original site of the Lotus Pagoda and named it 'Merit', enshrining Buddha bones and sarira. But it was a coincidence that in the year the old monk took over as the abbot of the temple, this Merit Tower accidentally caught fire again..."

The white-haired old monk shook his head and sighed: "Since then, the temple has never built a pagoda on the original site of the 'Merit Tower' again, it's just a pity for the underground palace below that cost a lot of money."

Ouyang Rong couldn't help looking sideways, "This abandoned underground palace, could it be the Pure Land underground palace?"

Master Venerable Shan Dao nodded.

Ouyang Rong silently looked at the ancient pagoda hidden in the clouds in his mind. Good heavens, is this a coincidence or...

"Is there any particularity in naming the underground palace Pure Land?"

"The Magistrate truly has Buddha nature. Naming it Pure Land is naturally not without reason. First, 'Rebirth in the Pure Land' is one of our temple's doctrines. Second, in that underground palace, a high monk of our temple once achieved perfect merit there, his physical body became a Buddha, and he ascended to the Pure Land."

"Is there really such a thing?" Ouyang Rong's back left the pillow.

Master Venerable Shan Dao chanted a Buddhist chant with a straight face, and said with extreme seriousness:

"Of course it's true, because this high monk is the old monk's uncle, Master Master Zhong Ma. I remember at that time, the old monk was about the same age as Xiufa now.

"That day, the underground palace gate, which had been blocked by the collapsed pagoda for decades, reopened. The old monk followed the master down and saw with his own eyes that the uncle, who had been missing for many years since the Lotus Pagoda collapsed, was sitting in the center of the underground palace. He had passed away for many years, but his appearance and skin were still lifelike, even the veins on the back of his hands were clearly visible. He had already become a Buddha in the flesh! Beside the uncle, on the ground, there were also the four characters 'Return, come, return' written... It seems he returned to the Pure Land."

"Even after many years, the old monk still can't forget the immortal appearance of the uncle. The Buddha's law is boundless, can save all living beings, rebirth in the Pure Land, light and freedom. Being able to have this Buddha trace is also one of the reasons why this temple is the most prosperous temple in Longcheng County and even the Jiangzhou region. Many laypeople come from thousands of miles away to burn incense on the mountain, and in recent years, there have even been foreign monks from Dongying coming here to learn Buddhism and spread the Buddha's law overseas."

Master Venerable Shan Dao's Xiufa, who was holding the box behind him, listened with a look of longing.

Even Mrs. Zhen and the maid Half-Stream, who were standing behind the curtain when the two were talking, listened with a look of obsession and envy.

Ouyang Rong was moved.

He suddenly felt that in the dark, there really was some kind of heaven's will.

Ouyang Rong said thoughtfully: "No wonder you set up a lotus throne in the center of the underground palace, but didn't erect a Buddha statue on it, leaving it empty."

"The uncle has already ascended, so naturally it is empty." Master Venerable Shan Dao smiled profoundly, and then asked strangely: "But the Magistrate is quite familiar with that underground palace."

Can I not be familiar with it? I woke up on it, and stepped on it countless times, and even requisitioned the lotus golden lamp that might be used to enshrine Master Master Zhong Ma's sarira, and came for a physical 'ascension'...

Ouyang Rong complained in his heart and smiled.

Clang~

Suddenly a dull wooden fish sound echoed in his ears.

Merit added? Could it be the unintentional thing I ordered Xiufa yesterday... Ouyang Rong was stunned, glanced at the people in the room who hadn't heard the sound as usual, and immediately found an excuse of "head dizzy again" to send everyone in the room away.

Ouyang Rong put down the bed curtain, closed his eyes and leaned on the pillow, concentrated his spirit, flew back to the Merit Tower on the clouds, and looked at the blue-gold seal characters above the wooden fish with expectation and curiosity...

However, after seeing clearly, he almost stumbled and fell to death.

【Merit: 100】

"Grass, why is it deducted?"

This... deep breath... Ouyang Rong calmed down.

Sure enough, merit points can not only increase, but also fall without ringing the bell.

"Damn, reason? Excuse? Heaven's logic? I didn't do anything wrong, right? Could it be that it was deducted because of something that happened far away. I didn't do anything but smile... eh."

Ouyang Rong suddenly stopped speaking.

No way, could it be that hell jokes also deduct my merit?

He had a straight face, staring at the small wooden fish in front of him, not knowing whether to be angry or happy.

Now it's good, I really have to be a gentleman at all times outside, otherwise these merit points won't be enough for me to "smile"—the fun-loving person is furious.

In addition, Ouyang Rong also noticed something different, thinking:

"When merit is added, the wooden fish sound heard in the ear seems to be lighter and crisper; while when merit is deducted, the wooden fish sound heard seems to be duller.

"The difference between the two sounds is like one is patting a girlfriend's butt, and the other is patting a male friend's butt... The difference is still quite big, the former is definitely more pleasant..."

Just as Ouyang Rong was savoring some things, a door-opening sound suddenly came from the room, and someone approached cautiously. He hurriedly collected his mind and detached from the Merit Tower.

However, as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw... a big chest.