Chapter 239

In Qu Yang Commandery of Qianzhou, there is a mountain called Yinghui Mountain, and on the mountain, there is a pure place called Cizhao Temple.

This Cizhao Temple was originally named Yinghui Temple, but after hundreds of years of changes, the new abbot made a decision that went against the master's ancestor, changing Yinghui Temple to Cizhao Temple.

And this abbot was the very famous Great Mercy Monk of Cizhao Temple, Abbot Cizhou.

Abbot Cizhou had profound Buddhist knowledge and understood Zen principles, never losing a debate on scriptures with others. But this high monk in the eyes of the people had secretly stolen fish and given birth to two sons.

These two illegitimate sons, one is the current abbot of Cizhao Temple, Abbot Dinguang; the other is the Bai Yun Daoist, who divided the family property, took half of Cizhao Temple's incense money, and ran to Yunmeng Mountain to be the temple master.

Xu Qing had eaten a huge melon, but this was just the beginning.

When the Bai Yun Daoist first came to Yunmeng Mountain, this place already had a master. The person managing Ruyi Temple was an old Daoist who truly cultivated in purity and did not ask about worldly affairs.

At that time, Ruyi Temple was far from as magnificent as it is now, and the incense was not as prosperous, but the location of Ruyi Temple was excellent. This place was not far from Cizhao Temple, and the two could just happen to form a pincer attack and watch over each other.

The Bai Yun Daoist took a fancy to this treasure land, so he pestered and pestered until he finally worshipped under the old temple master.

The old temple master only thought he was sincere, but he didn't discover the wolfish ambition hidden under that human skin!

Daoists in the temple also need to eat, so they couldn't do without someone to cook. The Bai Yun Daoist understood human nature. He found those senior brothers who originally had to take turns cooking and said: "Junior brother is new here and hasn't made any contribution to the temple, so my heart is never at ease. I think it's better this way: in the future, let me do the cooking..."

When the Daoists heard this, it was a good thing! Everyone was eager to be idle, and now that an honest person like the Bai Yun Daoist was stepping up, how could they not agree?

Just like that, the Bai Yun Daoist took on the cooking chores for the temple.

By the middle of the next month, when the temple was holding a ritual, the Bai Yun Daoist made a lot of vegetarian offerings. On this day, the old temple master and the senior brothers gathered together, everyone chanted scriptures and prayed for blessings, ate at the same table, and rode the crane to the west together...

The Bai Yun Daoist only used two months to complete the goal of "providing for the old and sending off" the old temple master.

Even if you provide for one day, it counts as providing, right?

That night, a fire broke out in the dilapidated Ruyi Temple.

When the next day dawned and the nearby commoners and the commandery's soldiers came to ask, the Bai Yun Daoist said that the temple had caught fire, his words filled with grief.

The government asked again, since it was a fire at night, why were you the only one who was fine?

The Bai Yun Daoist was prepared and said: "Yesterday, the little Daoist followed the master's order to go to Cizhao Temple to send a message to Abbot Dinguang, inviting Abbot Dinguang to come to the temple to debate scriptures and discuss the Dao on a chosen day, so I was not in the temple..."

The government went to Cizhao Temple to ask, and Abbot Dinguang replied: "That is indeed the case. Daoist friend Bai Yun lived in my Zen room that day and never left."

Just like that, the Bai Yun Daoist, who had an alibi, escaped the government's questioning, and the Daoists of Ruyi Temple were determined to have died in the fire.

When holding the funeral for the old temple master and the senior brothers, the Bai Yun Daoist specifically invited the abbot of Cizhao Temple to preside over the ritual.

Others didn't know the inside story and thought that Abbot Dinguang of Cizhao Temple was compassionate, and even though there was a difference between Buddhism and Daoism, he was still willing to lend a helping hand.

He even donated the temple's wood and stone materials to Ruyi Temple to help the Bai Yun Daoist, the only survivor, rebuild the temple.

What is this? A living Buddha reborn!

However, is the fact really so?

In a place where no one was around, Abbot Dinguang, who usually had a compassionate face, looked gloomy and said: "Look at the great thing you've done! If you wanted this temple, you could have planned it over the long term. How could you be so reckless and barbaric?"

The Bai Yun Daoist didn't care and said: "My good brother, you are high and mighty, having become the abbot of the temple. But I have to start a new stove and start from scratch."

"How many autumns are there in a person's life? How can you ask me to wait?"

"Besides, this matter didn't have any leaks. Why did you have to come specifically to lecture me?"

Abbot Dinguang's face changed drastically, and he said sternly: "Who is your brother!"

As if afraid of others hearing, Abbot Dinguang forcibly lowered his voice and said: "If it weren't for my old friendship with the Supervisor Liao, letting him block it from the middle and not letting the coroner examine those bones, do you think you could really have done it seamlessly?"

Before leaving, Abbot Dinguang warned the Bai Yun Daoist again that he must never mention that the two were brothers in the future.

Later, the newly built Ruyi Temple was completed, and Cizhao Temple spared no effort to build momentum for the Bai Yun Daoist.

Those incense pilgrims who went to Cizhao Temple all heard a piece of news—as long as you went to the temple to observe the ceremony on the day Ruyi Temple was completed, you would get rice, flour, grain, and oil.

A month later, Ruyi Temple held a grand ceremony to set up the statue of Yuan Gong. On the day of the statue's consecration, "good men and faithful women" from all villages and paths came to offer incense and worship.

The Bai Yun Daoist knew this was the result of Cizhao Temple building momentum for him. Once the consecration ceremony was over, wanting these people to come and burn incense again would be harder than ascending to heaven!

However, this matter could stump others, but it couldn't stump him...

That day, when consecrating the statue, a rascal stood in front of the statue in the main hall and pointed at the Yuan Gong statue, cursing loudly.

"What Yuan Gong? He's just a white-haired monkey, a thief who stole the Heavenly Book! You have the face to become a god and ancestor? Bah!"

The story of Yuan Gong stealing the Nine-Heaven Secret Art, being punished and sent to the mortal world, and guarding the Heavenly Book in Bai Yun Cave of Yunmeng Mountain was widely circulated in the secular world, but no one had ever dared to curse and expose his shortcomings in front of the Yuan Gong statue.

Just as everyone was standing on tiptoe to watch the excitement, Temple Master Bai Yun stepped forward and said loudly: "No need to pay attention to him. You must know that gods cannot be insulted lightly. Listen to what he does; there will surely be retribution!"

Not long after the temple master's words fell, the rascal who was still cursing suddenly fell to the ground, crying out in pain.

In a moment, the rascal, who was shouting for help due to abdominal pain, stopped moving. Everyone focused their eyes and saw that he had already bled from his seven orifices and died!

The pilgrims who came to observe the ceremony were all horrified, thinking that Yuan Gong had manifested his spirit and specifically exerted his divine power to punish the disrespectful person.

After this incident, the incense of Ruyi Temple became very prosperous, and everyone spread the word of Yuan Gong's divine power, and the Bai Yun Daoist also accumulated a huge foundation because of this!

However, the rascal's death was not Yuan Gong's divine power, but the Bai Yun Daoist spending money to bribe the rascal, letting him come out to perform that drama. As for why he died, it was because the Bai Yun Daoist had poisoned the rascal's food and drink in advance. The rascal didn't know it was poisonous before eating, so he died suddenly when cursing the god.

Xu Qing saw this and finally knew that some people are born bad seeds!

He continued to look down.

On this day, the County Magistrate of Ningxian came to the temple to worship Yuan Gong. During this time, the Bai Yun Daoist personally accompanied him, and the two talked about scriptures and the Dao, getting along very well.

When leaving, the County Magistrate left an old map and said: "This map was something gifted to my ancestor by Elder Ciyun of the former Yinghui Temple. My ancestor yearned for Bai Yun Cave, which hides the Heavenly Book, but it is a pity that the terrain of Yunmeng Mountain is steep and there are many poisonous miasmas and snakes and insects. My ancestor spent his whole life without success. Now that this is Yuan Gong's Daoist arena, it should be returned to its original owner and kept by your temple."

After obtaining the map of Bai Yun Cave, the Bai Yun Daoist was very tempted. This person's heart was not calm; he couldn't sit in Zen, couldn't cultivate the techniques of Cizhao Temple, but if he could get the Heavenly Book in Bai Yun Cave...

The Bai Yun Daoist, who had earned enough secular money, suddenly had the idea of seeking immortality and longevity again.

Gold and silver wealth cannot be brought at birth or taken at death. Only immortality can keep these things in one's hands and enjoy them forever.

The Bai Yun Daoist made up his mind, went to Cizhao Temple to find Abbot Dinguang again, and asked him for Buddhist talismans and magic tools for protection.

Abbot Dinguang asked him: "What do you want these things for?"

"Don't worry about it. If you don't lend them, I will call you brother!"

"..."

Abbot Dinguang was helpless and had to agree.

On this side, the Bai Yun Daoist obtained the protective magic tools and Buddhist talismans, took his big disciple, and according to the markings on the map, explored all the way into the depths of Yunmeng Mountain.

Bypassing chaotic mountains and deep marshes, passing through thousand-year-old grass and trees, the two wandered around, traveled for most of the day, and finally found a stone bridge closest to Bai Yun Cave on the map.

That stone bridge was more than three zhang long and a foot wide. Under the bridge were surging waves and strange rock forests as sharp as knife blades and axe tips.