Chapter 297

Southwest of Southern Continent, Moyie.

The capital of Moyie, Yunze City, was named after the marshland covered by clouds and mist all year round outside the city.

The walls of Yunze City were tall, the blue bricks were mottled, the guards at the city gate wore fine armor, and the long spears in their hands shone in the sunlight.

Su Chen stood above Yunze City, concealing his figure, his gaze sweeping over this small country's capital.

Yunze City covered an area of several tens of miles, and the tallest building in the city was the six-story pavilion of the royal palace.

"Moyie is indeed a small country, but its national strength is not weak, and the people live quite well."

Su Chen's heart moved, and the aura around his body changed drastically.

His Emperor Taiyi Golden Immortal cultivation was suppressed to the Return to Emptiness Realm, and the pressure of his Great Luo physical body was retracted without a trace.

His appearance also changed, from a youth in his early twenties to a middle-aged Daoist priest in his forties.

His Daoist robe was washed white, a gourd hung from his waist, he held a peach wood sword in his hand, and he wore a pair of cloud shoes on his feet.

The whole person looked like a wandering Daoist priest, his cultivation neither high nor low, not attracting attention.

Su Chen walked toward the city gate.

The city gate guards saw someone coming, raised their eyes to scan, and seeing it was a Daoist priest, didn't ask much, waving their hands to let him pass.

Su Chen entered the city.

The streets of Yunze City were not wide, with low wooden buildings on both sides, and vegetable sellers, cloth sellers, and grocery stalls squeezed together, with shouts rising one after another.

Several children were chasing and playing on the street, almost bumping into Su Chen, but were avoided by him stepping aside.

"This Daoist, can you tell fortunes?" An old man setting up a stall beckoned to Su Chen.

Su Chen shook his head and continued walking forward.

His spiritual sense had long swept over the entire city, the distribution of the royal palace, and the courtyard where Qiao Ling was located, all clearly understood.

But he didn't go directly.

With his current cultivation, wanting to sneak into the royal palace without anyone knowing was easy.

But he didn't want to do this; his trip was not to forcefully abduct Qiao Ling, but to make him follow him willingly.

"And I must first confirm whether he is Tathagata's reincarnation." Su Chen secretly thought in his heart.

Su Chen turned around in the city and finally stayed at an inn near the royal palace.

The inn was named "Yunlai Inn," the largest one in Yunze City, a three-story wooden building, and the business was quite good.

Su Chen asked for a room on the second floor facing the street and threw down a piece of broken silver; the innkeeper laughed from ear to ear.

"Daoist, please come in, please come in!"

Su Chen entered the room, closed the door, sat by the window, asked for a pot of tea, drank it slowly, and at the same time, his spiritual sense swept over the royal palace.

The royal palace was not large, with only a few hundred guards, and there were no cultivators in the entire royal palace.

Qiao Ling lived in a courtyard on the east side of the royal palace, which was the Crown Prince's mansion.

At this time, Qiao Ling was sitting in the study, with a book in front of him.

Su Chen's spiritual sense fell on that book, and it was actually the "Diamond Sutra."

Qiao Ling opened the pages, his gaze sweeping over the scriptures, his lips moving slightly, as if he were reciting silently.

His expression was focused, and his brows carried a calmness inconsistent with his age.

Su Chen withdrew his spiritual sense, picked up the teacup, and took a light sip.

"A twelve-year-old child, looking at Buddhist scriptures so intently; if you say he has nothing to do with the Fomen, I don't believe it."

But this point alone was not enough to confirm that he was Tathagata's reincarnation.

Su Chen decided to observe for a few more days.

For the next three days, Su Chen sat by the window of the inn every day, his spiritual sense locked on Qiao Ling.

He discovered that this child's daily routine was extremely regular.

He got up at the Mao hour every day, went to pay respects to his father and mother, then began to exercise, then ate breakfast, and then went to the study to read.

The books he read were varied, including Confucian classics, military strategies, and Buddhist and Daoist scriptures.

At the Wu hour, he would go to the royal palace's council hall to listen to his father Qiao Hui handle government affairs, occasionally offering suggestions.

Su Chen listened several times and found that this child's suggestions were indeed at a high level; although immature, the thinking was clear and hit the point.

Qiao Hui attached great importance to this son and often discussed national affairs with him.

In the afternoon, Qiao Ling would go to the temple in the city to discuss Buddhism with the old monks in the temple.

When Su Chen saw this scene for the first time, he almost couldn't hold it.

That old monk was the abbot of the only temple in Yunze City, "Yunze Temple," with the Dharma name Kongji, and was the person with the highest Buddhist cultivation in the entire Moyie country.

But in front of Qiao Ling, this old monk was completely crushed.

"Master, you say 'form is emptiness, emptiness is form'; then where is the boundary between this 'form' and 'emptiness'?"

Qiao Ling sat on the cushion and asked seriously.

Kongji stroked his beard, pondered for a moment, and answered: "Form and emptiness are not two; there is no boundary to begin with."

"Then why do the scriptures separate 'form' and 'emptiness'?"

"This..."

Kongji was stumped.

Qiao Ling didn't make things difficult for him, saying to himself: "I think 'form' is what the world sees, and 'emptiness' is what the Buddha realizes. The world is attached to form, so they see form; the Buddha realizes emptiness, so he sees emptiness. Form and emptiness are one body, just that the observers are different."

After listening, Kongji was stunned for a long time, then put his hands together and said respectfully: "The Prince has deep wisdom; this old monk is not as good."

Su Chen watched this scene from afar, and he already had seven or eight points of certainty in his heart.

"This child's understanding of Buddhism has already exceeded the scope of 'talent'."

Even if an ordinary person were smart, it would be impossible to have such profound insights into Buddhism at twelve years old.

Unless he was a member of the Fomen in his past life, and the kind with a very high status in the Fomen.

On the fourth day, Su Chen finally decided to take the initiative to contact Qiao Ling.

This afternoon, Qiao Ling went to Yunze Temple as usual.

Su Chen arrived at the temple one step ahead, sitting on the stone steps outside the main hall, reading a "Daoist Canon."

Not long after, Qiao Ling came from down the mountain under the protection of several guards.

He wore a moon-white long robe, a jade pendant hanging from his waist, and a team of guards followed behind him.

Qiao Ling walked to the entrance of the main hall, saw Su Chen, and his footsteps paused slightly.

Su Chen raised his head, smiled at him, and then continued to lower his head to read.

Qiao Ling stood in place, stared at Su Chen for a few seconds, and then walked over.

"This Daoist, are you also here for the temple?"

Su Chen closed the book, stood up, and cupped his hands.

"This poor Daoist is wandering here, and seeing this temple is quiet, I came in to rest my feet."

Qiao Ling nodded, his gaze falling on the "Daoist Canon" in Su Chen's hand.

"The Daoist cultivates the Dao, why come to a Buddhist temple?"

Su Chen laughed: "The Buddha is originally the Dao; why can't this poor Daoist come to this temple?"

Qiao Ling's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked: "Why does the Daoist say this? Is there any explanation?"

Su Chen looked at him, smiled slightly, and said: "There is no distinction between Buddha and Dao in the world; originally, all cultivation in the world came from the Xuan Sect, later..."

Su Chen told Qiao Ling the theory that the Western Sect established Buddhism in order to complete the Great Vow.

Qiao Ling heard this theory for the first time and was very interested, and the two stood outside the temple and chatted.

From the establishment of the Fomen to the current teachings of the Fomen.

Su Chen's views on the Fomen gave Qiao Ling a fresh perspective.

While chatting, Qiao Ling suddenly asked: "Daoist, do you think where people go after they die?"

Su Chen was stunned; this question was interesting.

He pondered for a moment and answered: "There is a realm in the world called the Netherworld; after people die, if there are no special circumstances, the soul will enter the Netherworld and wait for reincarnation in the Netherworld."

"So, people can really reincarnate; will anyone remember their past life?" Qiao Ling's eyes lit up when he heard Su Chen's answer, and he asked further.