Chapter 176: Paper Temple, Blind Monk

Several major events had occurred in Jinmen recently.

One was that two new Magistrates had arrived in Wanshou and Linjiang counties.

Another was that the Jinmen grain granary had caught fire. It was said that besides the relief granary, which had been emptied by a rat infestation and burned down, grain in other granaries had also been affected.

Burning a grain granary was a serious crime, and the Prefect of Jinmen would inevitably be held jointly responsible. But the strange thing was that after the granary was burned, except for the grain official who was dismissed and investigated for dereliction of duty, Prefect Wang of Jinmen was completely unaffected!

In the mortician's shop, Xu Qing was stunned for a long while after hearing Huang Xiaoliu's report.

He and Gu Zixu had gone to the grain granary to set the fire, but they hadn't burned the other granaries. The relief granary and the other granaries were separated by fire lanes, so there was no way it could have spread.

Losing a thousand and reporting ten thousand—this was clearly someone falsely reporting losses!

Xu Qing slapped his thigh hard. If he had known, he would have burned all the grain granaries!

But he was just thinking about it. The reserves in those granaries were more than a million shi; he could barely handle the relief granary alone. If he had really stolen that much grain, he would have had to expand the rat den several streets beyond Jingxia Street.

Huang Xiaoliu saw the Sect Master's expression change and didn't know what had happened.

Xu Qing's grain theft was done secretly. Except for Xuanyu and the Gray Immortal of the Fengshui Hall, no one else had even heard a whisper of it.

No matter how Huang Xiaoliu thought about it, he couldn't imagine that there were hundreds of thousands of shi of grain stored right beneath his feet.

"Sect Master, there is one more thing. Many refugees, hearing that Wanshou County was going to increase its population, have run over."

"Our county doesn't lack population, so not that many refugees have flocked here."

Xu Qing's heart stirred, and he asked, "About how many refugees?"

"I heard from the patrolling bailiffs that Wanshou Township already has nearly 100,000 refugees, and our county has about 20,000."

"..."

Xu Qing was silent for a moment and said, "Continue to let the immortals of the Hall of Transmission inquire. If there are not enough people, you go back to Huangtiao Mountain and bring your brothers and sisters into the hall."

"Remember, the people in the Hall of Transmission must be of upright character. Do not recruit those with perverse temperaments or sticky fingers."

After saying this, Xu Qing withdrew 5,000 incense sticks from the cat immortal hall's dharma realm and threw them in front of Huang Xiaoliu.

Huang Xiaoliu had never seen so much incense. His great-grandfather, Old Huang, would probably have to save for a year to get this much.

Although running back to Huangtiao Mountain to dig his own great-grandfather's wall was somewhat unfilial, Huang Xiaoliu felt that rather than letting his brothers and sisters suffer with his great-grandfather, it was better to jump ship and follow the Sect Master to eat and drink well.

Later that evening, two old men and a tall woman wearing a veil appeared on Jingxia Street.

"Old Gu, the number of refugees in Jinmen is still not enough. I need you to spread the word along the road to Yaozhou, saying that Wanshou Township has been promoted to a county seat and is planning to open the granaries to distribute grain, absorb refugees into the county, and increase the population..."

Xu Qing, with an Elder Pill pressed under his tongue, spoke vaguely, as if he were chewing sticky rice cake.

Gu Zixu didn't understand Xu Qing's intention, but he agreed anyway.

Refugees were unmanaged, so spreading rumors wasn't difficult.

On this side, after sending Gu Zixu away, Xu Qing took Xuanyu, who was possessing Sun Erzhuang, and went all the way to Wanshou Township.

A zombie and a cat disguised as a grandfather and granddaughter walked slowly on the official road, meeting many refugees carrying pots and pans, looking withered.

Besides those refugees who had escaped death, there were also those who had starved or died of illness on the side of the road.

Xu Qing had an occupational disease; he couldn't bear to see those corpses exposed in the wilderness or eaten by animals and wild dogs, so he picked up his old trade along the way, starting to transcend and bury those miserable people.

Gradually, the legend of the "White-Browed Good Man" spread among the disaster victims near Wanshou County.

Xu Qing had many thoughts along the way.

In the face of hunger, the dark human nature hidden beneath the skin was all released.

He had seen truly good people, but they were very rare.

Perhaps there had been many, but after experiencing thousands of miles of hardship, even the kindest people would build their own survival barriers.

Digging pits to bury people, chanting scriptures to transcend them.

Clearly, they were all sallow and thin disaster victims, but when Xu Qing transcended those who died of hunger, the rewards he received were mostly Grain Grain Bigu Pills, Nourishing Powder, and Qi-Boosting Pills.

Those corpses that died of illness or epidemics mostly provided medical prescriptions and good medicines for dispelling diseases and epidemics, such as Hundred Herb Pills, Cooling Powder, and Epidemic-Dispelling Talismans.

Xu Qing wandered around Wanshou Township for a long time. When he had collected almost all the corpses he encountered on the road, he put on a human skin mask and became an "Old Immortal" who saved the world.

The human skin mask was obtained from Protector Bai Luo of the Heavenly Heart Sect. That protector had once destroyed his own family; although the other party had a human face, hidden beneath it was a face of a hundred changes.

Xu Qing wore the human skin mask, transformed into a kind-eyed healer, and claimed to be an old man with whiskers living on Lingtai Mountain.

In the path of cultivation, Lingtai means state of mind and soul, while in the secular world, it has the meaning of altar and mourning hall.

Xu Qing dressed up as an old man who was about to wither, but he was doing the work of saving the world.

A person with such a contrast in appearance and behavior would be hard for others not to remember!

In mid-October, Xu Qing, who had been traveling in Wanshou Township for half a month, finally stopped.

Before him was an abandoned temple with collapsed walls and only rubble, gradually eroding in the winter wind.

"Immortal Xuanyu, what do you think of this temple as a place for our charity?"

"..."

Looking at the pile of rubble that was so dilapidated it didn't look like a temple at all, the tall woman wearing a veil was completely silent.

"Xuanyu isn't speaking, she must also think this place is good, right?"

A puff of black demonic mist escaped from Sun Erzhuang, and a black cat suddenly appeared on the pile of rubble.

The black cat looked at Xu Qing, who was in the guise of an old man, and spoke in human language: "When I was traveling before, the eaves I lived under could still shelter me from the rain. There isn't even an eave here to shelter from the rain; how can it be used as a place of practice?"

Living under eaves, traveling?

Are you sure you were traveling, and not wandering?

Xu Qing pondered for a moment; this place indeed seemed a bit dilapidated.

But it wasn't a big problem.

Xu Qing took paper from the Mountain and River Map and made a paper cutting. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a paper house three feet wide and two feet high appeared in his hand.

Holding the paper temple in one hand and pinching a spell in the other, Xu Qing chanted the House-Transformation Spell, then spat out a mouthful of yin energy, and the paper temple grew in the wind, floating down before the ruins.

In the blink of an eye, when Xuanyu looked again, she saw that the small paper temple had really become a temple.

"What kind of magic is this?" The cat was shocked.

"Want to learn?" Xu Qing raised his eyebrows and laughed: "I'll teach you later."

The Paper-Cutting-to-Reality technique was a transcendence reward Xu Qing obtained in Wanshou Township. This magic came from a blind monk.

The blind monk's dharma name was Yumu, and everyone in the temple called him Monk Yumu. Although this person had become a monk, he was never without wine or meat. Every time the elders and abbots in the temple advised him, he would say:

"I am blind, I can't see anything, how would I know what's in this gourd is wine, and what's wrapped in this oil paper is meat?"

"To me, it tastes no different from pickled vegetables and overnight tea."

Later, when Yaozhou flooded and the river gates were opened, flooding two prefectures and sixteen counties, Monk Yumu sat in front of the main hall, drinking wine and laughing foolishly.

Before his eyes, those abbots and elders ignored the safety of the disciples and monks, only caring about fighting for gold and silver, escaping alone.

When the abbots and elders rode horses and carriages out of the temple, Monk Yumu took out a piece of paper, folded it into the shape of a small boat, and after he chanted the spell and spat out a mouthful of wine, the three-inch-long small boat grew in the wind and turned into a large boat that could carry twenty people.

In the temple, there were exactly twenty monks and novices who hadn't had time to escape.

The flood rose, the boat floated, and someone urged them to set off quickly. Monk Yumu said: "This boat can only carry twenty people at a time. If one more person gets on, it will sink. Now, including me, there are twenty-one people. With this one extra person, the boat cannot sail!"

Hearing this, everyone pushed and shoved, and no one was willing to get off.

Monk Yumu sighed and waved his hand: "Fine, you take the boat and go. Since you are not willing to stay, let me stay..."

It is said that talented people are often eccentric, and the world is blind.

The monks in the temple usually boasted of their high purity, following the lead of the abbots and elders. Monk Yumu was not on the same path as them. Now that the other party had voluntarily abandoned the boat, not a single monk spoke to keep him.

In "Choubi Station," there is a poem: "Following the crowd is not without skill, bullying the lonely is unreasonable."

This refers to the world's tendency to bully those who are unique. Those with talent and ambition are instead excluded by the world for not following the crowd.

Monk Yumu watched the boat leave, and since then, he had traveled alone from Yaozhou to Jinmen.

Jinmen is a good place, with outstanding people and spirits. The masters of the Baishui Temple in Jinmen Prefecture are famous throughout the prefecture. Every Prefect and official who passed by went to Baishui Temple to offer incense and worship.

Monk Yumu had long admired the name of Baishui Temple. The first thing he did when he came to Jinmen was to seek refuge in Baishui Temple, even if it was just to hang his name; it was better than wandering all the way and not even being able to beg for a connection.

When he arrived at Baishui Temple, the supervisor asked, what can you do, and how much do you understand about Buddhist scriptures and Zen theory?

What? You don't understand Buddhist scriptures, you don't know Zen theory, have you lived all these years in vain?

Monk Yumu was speechless.

The fat supervisor saw that Monk Yumu didn't speak, and his eyes lit up.

"How about this, I see you have good conditions, you look like a high monk. As long as you are willing, I will help you tidy up. You don't need to speak in the future, just sit there. When pilgrims ask you questions, you just nod or shake your head. Then they will naturally put incense money into the merit box and praise you as a high monk with great wisdom and great magic!"

Isn't this a scam!

Monk Yumu shook his head and waved his hands, indicating that he was not that kind of person.

"Then what can you do? Our temple doesn't support idle monks!"

Monk Yumu sighed and simply took out a piece of paper and folded it.

After folding the paper, the monk said: "I can turn this paper carriage into a real carriage."

After speaking, Monk Yumu spat out a breath, and the wooden frame and shafts, looking like a real carriage, really appeared in front of the supervisor.

This skill is good! It's a divine technique for scamming money and showing off Buddhist law!

When the time comes, fold a Buddha statue, blow it with your mouth, and the large amount of incense money will fill the entire hall!

The supervisor's eyes were filled with golden light, as if he were about to become a Buddha.

Monk Yumu received unprecedented respect. If he wanted to drink wine, the supervisor would find imperial wine to honor him; if he wanted to eat meat, he would let the temple's servants buy it.

It was just that Monk Yumu was old and not interested in female pilgrims, otherwise the supervisor would definitely have replaced the other big monks and let Monk Yumu fulfill the wishes of those female pilgrims who wanted children.

After coaxing Monk Yumu for a month, the supervisor of Baishui Temple finally couldn't help but speak, wanting this wine-and-meat monk to teach him the Buddhist magic of paper-cutting-to-reality.

Yumu shook his head and refused, saying that Baishui Temple was boring, and he wanted to leave Jinmen and find another place to become a monk.

When the supervisor heard this, his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot!

I have respected you like an ancestor for so long, and in the end, you want to leave without leaving anything behind? Where in the world is there such a cheap thing!

That night, the supervisor added ingredients to the newly delivered wine. Monk Yumu was addicted to wine, and when he heard it was the "Immortal Drunk" from the Drunk Immortal Building, he forgot everything.

It was just that the taste of this wine was a bit strange, maybe it was the unique flavor of Immortal Drunk, and the strength of this wine was really great!

He only drank a few sips, and his head was dizzy and he couldn't find north.

Clang, the wine pot fell to the ground.

Monk Yumu opened his eyes and woke up, only to find that he was locked in a dungeon. The old monk wanted to move, but found that his chest hurt badly. He reached out to touch it.

It turned out that his shoulder blades had been pierced through by meat hooks!

Seeing Monk Yumu wake up, the supervisor began to force him to reveal the spell for the paper-cutting-to-reality technique.

"Paper cuttings are for whom? Dead people! That's something blown out with yin energy. Where do living people get yin energy? I drink wine and eat meat because yin energy hurts the body, and I need grain essence to suppress it..."

"This technique is a yin-door magic. If you learn it, you will suffer retribution. Look at my eyes; they went blind because I learned this thing!"

The supervisor didn't listen to those things and was determined to seize this technique.

Monk Yumu saw that reasoning didn't work, so he changed his tune.

"If you want to learn, you have to bring paper. Without paper, how can I teach you?"

When the supervisor brought the paper, Monk Yumu picked it up and, in front of several big monks, folded a courtyard.

A mouthful of yin energy blew, and Monk Yumu's eyes spurted black blood. The three-foot-square courtyard grew rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, it filled the entire dungeon.

The supervisor and several monks were pushed away by the courtyard and couldn't find their way for a long time. Monk Yumu took this opportunity to pull out the iron hooks from his shoulder blades, then opened the doors of the courtyard, and by the time the last door opened, Monk Yumu had already appeared outside the prison door.

Ignoring the sound of the supervisor and several monks tearing the paper in the dungeon, Monk Yumu stumbled along the underground passage. During this time, he heard the sounds of men and women having fun in other parts of the dungeon. Although he couldn't see, he could imagine what those monks were doing.

Escaping from Baishui Temple, Monk Yumu's breath grew weaker and weaker. He wanted to take the wine gourd to drink, but found that the wine gourd was gone.

In the evening, the sun set, and the fire-like sunset fell on the dirt road of Wanshou County.

Monk Yumu lay under a big tree, holding a paper bird that was only half-folded, and he had already stopped breathing.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 177 =====