Chapter 99

The monk was slightly chubby, with a round face, looking about twenty or thirty years old, but his face was a bit dark, seemingly very haggard, wearing a very simple monk's robe.

There were some monks in the courtyard behind him, and also some incense guests.

"Eh? What are the few Daoist masters doing..."

The monk looked them up and down, and then looked behind them.

"Oh, Dharma Master, greetings," Third Third Third Shixiong said. "We are Daoists practicing on Mount Yishan, passing through here, and want to stay overnight. I wonder if it is convenient."

"Why would the few Daoist masters come to our temple to stay?" The monk withdrew his gaze, clearly puzzled.

Third Third Third Shixiong just wanted to speak, when he heard his junior brother beside him say:

"It is really late, and we are not familiar with the road, so we didn't find any other place to stay for a while. It is cold in the mountains in late autumn. Hearing from an old farmer by the road that there is a temple here, very efficacious, and the monks living and practicing are also kind-hearted, we had no choice but to beg at the door, hoping to make it convenient."

Third Third Third Shixiong was happy and turned to look at Lin Jue.

"This..."

The monk showed a look of embarrassment.

Behind him, an incense guest heard Lin Jue's words and couldn't help but laugh: "It seems the good name of Songyin Temple has spread from Buddhism to Daoism."

When the monk heard this, he was even more embarrassed. He looked at them carefully, especially the fox behind them that looked unusual, and then looked back at the courtyard behind him, saying: "But Buddhism and Daoism are two families, and there are always inconveniences."

"We are all practitioners, why distinguish so clearly?"

"Yeah!" The incense guest behind him was kind-hearted. He was originally pacing around bored, and hearing this, he also said, "It's so late, and it's about to get dark. Even if you go to the mountain village below to stay, it's a bit too late. Knowing that the masters in the temple are all kind-hearted, why create these gaps because of the difference between Buddhism and Daoism? What's wrong with letting them stay for a night and eat a bowl of hot rice?"

Lin Jue and the three of them heard the voice and looked at him.

That incense guest was a pot-bellied middle-aged man, wearing high-quality silk, looking very wealthy, with a woman and a young girl beside him, seemingly his family.

Obviously, this incense guest was also a big customer.

The monk looked back at him, even more embarrassed. After thinking about it, he said: "But there are many incense guests coming to stay in our temple recently. Now there is only one room left, and there are three Daoist masters, with both men and women..."

"Oh my!"

Third Third Third Shixiong was in trouble now.

Indeed, whether a temple allows incense guests to stay overnight, and whether it allows female relatives to stay, depends on the temple's regulations, but almost all temples do not allow men and women to live together, even if they are husband and wife.

"No problem..."

A voice came from behind again, it was the female relative beside the middle-aged incense guest: "Let this female Daoist master sleep with us."

The monk could not refuse.

"The three of you, please come in."

"Many thanks."

The three of them first thanked the monk, and then thanked the middle-aged incense guest and his family: "Many thanks, benefactor."

"No need to thank, just a small effort," the middle-aged incense guest said with a smile. "Wang goes to both Buddhist temples and Daoist temples. To put it plainly, it's just believing in kindness."

"Great kindness."

Third Third Third Shixiong said with a smile.

He then followed the monk inside.

The middle-aged incense guest also followed them boredly.

The temple is not small, but it is a bit old, and the Buddha statues are also very simple. Inside is a large courtyard, and almost both sides of the courtyard are guest rooms—even though it is far from the official road and hidden in the pine and cypress forest, many incense guests come here to stay, it seems it is really very famous.

And these incense guests are mostly wealthy, looking like they are either rich or noble. At this time, they should have just finished dinner, and it wasn't dark yet, so they were walking around leisurely in the courtyard, chatting in twos and threes. Most of them were chatting about Buddhism, and some were lowering their voices to chat about the general trend of the world and the dealings of the government.

The monk took them to the very back, pushed open the second to last room, and said to them:

"The two Daoist masters should live here. Remember it is the second to last room from the inside. All the rooms outside are occupied, don't go to the wrong one."

"Just right, my wife and daughter live next door," the middle-aged incense guest pointed to a room further out and said, "Wang lives in a room further out."

Speaking of this, he was strange.

He couldn't help but look at the innermost room.

This room is locked.

"Why is there still a room here that no one lives in?" The Wang incense guest asked, "Why is it locked? I remember when I came here last month, it wasn't locked!"

"Oh, this room is haunted," the monk said very calmly, seemingly completely ignoring that this point is actually very scary, which is also different from the monk's idea in the bamboo temple by the road back then.

"Ah? Haunted?"

As expected, the Wang incense guest's family was shocked.

Especially his wife and daughter.

"How can it be haunted?" The Wang incense guest was shocked, "Since this is the case, why don't the masters in the courtyard remove it?"

The two female relatives beside him were also frightened.

"Probably because people nearby have deep obsessions after death, are unwilling to leave, stay in the world, and are attracted by Buddhism, so they came to us," the monk explained with a calm expression. "Benefactor, don't worry, it's just a residual soul that is unwilling to leave. They have never harmed anyone, nor can they harm anyone. Since the obsession is deep and they came to us, naturally it is a predestined relationship. How can it be easily removed?"

"This..."

The Wang incense guest was surprised.

Lin Jue and the three of them couldn't help but look at each other, and then looked at the locked room at the very end.

There is indeed some cold air.

"Naturally, let them live here, chanting scriptures all day, letting Buddhism slowly transform them," the monk said with a smile. "And what we pay is just a room."

"It's actually like this!"

"Speaking of which, aren't these residual soul obsessions the same as you benefactors, guests of our temple?"

"So that's how it is..."

The Wang incense guest's expression tightened, and he was immediately moved by this, putting his hands together and saying: "The masters are really experts!"

"Not at all, we are just ordinary monks," the chubby monk returned the salute.

"Masters, rest assured, I will never tell anyone."

"No problem. If you say it, you say it. If you are afraid, you are afraid. If everyone is afraid, don't come," the chubby monk shook his head. "Our temple is so remote, the incense guests are all nobles in the city, and every time they travel far and work hard to run to our broken temple, and every time they give so many donations, it is really unnecessary, which not only makes us unable to be idle, but also makes us feel guilty."

Lin Jue and the three of them heard this and understood.

No wonder this temple is so remote and can be so famous, attracting so many people to come. It seems that there is really Buddhist cultivation.

Only Fuyao kept staring at the innermost room, and turned its head to look everywhere.

The three of them put Donkey Third Third Shixiong in the stable behind, and the luggage was put in Lin Jue and Third Third Third Shixiong's room. Xiao Xiao Shimei lived in a room with the Wang incense guest's family, so she only brought her beloved long sword.

When they came out of the room again, the temple was already lit, but only the one in the great hall was lit, and the monk had already served the three of them a bowl of porridge.

"Many thanks."

Third Third Third Shixiong and Xiao Xiao Shimei held the porridge, but learned a lesson, looking at Lin Jue first.

Lin Jue also understood, and immediately drank a mouthful first.

Smacking his lips, he drank the second mouthful.

The two of them then lowered their heads and started drinking.

The Wang incense guest stood beside them with his female relatives and asked them: "I heard you say you are Daoists from Mount Yishan. Where is Mount Yishan? Wang has only heard of Yixian."

"It's in Yixian."

"That's not close! Why did you run here?"

"Returning from participating in the Great Offering in Yuanzhou."

"Is it the Mingzhou Mountain Great Offering?"

"Benefactor, you are really a person who loves Buddhism and Daoism," the three of them answered while drinking porridge.

"I just love to believe in these," the middle-aged incense guest said. "I originally wanted to go to Mingzhou Mountain, I went to the Qiyun Mountain Great Offering last year and gained a lot of insight. Unfortunately, Mingzhou Mountain is too far, and the world is not very peaceful now, so I had to give up."

"Just look at this kind of Great Offering once," Third Third Third Shixiong said.

"Oh my..."

"Eh, right! When we were at the foot of the mountain, we heard from farmers working in the fields that this temple has Bodhisattvas manifesting. Is it true?" Third Third Third Shixiong asked him while holding his bowl and looking up.

"Of course it's true. And Bodhisattvas mostly manifest on the third day, which is today," the middle-aged incense guest said. "The few Daoist masters are lucky. I just don't know if you will worship when the Bodhisattva comes. If you worship, will the gods you worship blame you?"

"Haha, we don't worship gods."

"Daoists don't worship gods and immortals?"

"We live in the deep mountains and realize Daoist scriptures and Daoist methods."

"So that's how it is..."

The middle-aged incense guest seemed to understand but didn't understand, and didn't delve into it.

There is no need to talk deeply about shallow acquaintances. The secret to pleasant conversation with unfamiliar people is to grasp the scale, and the middle-aged incense guest is obviously well-versed in this.

"You are really lucky. Songyin Temple usually doesn't allow guests to stay, let alone just happening to catch up with the third day."

"Don't allow guests to stay?"

Lin Jue looked at the middle-aged incense guest in surprise, and then looked at the people gradually returning to their rooms in the courtyard outside: "Then these..."

"They are all people who believe in Buddhism, just sincere," the middle-aged incense guest smiled. "It is to entertain us people, and the masters in the temple are exhausted, all looking haggard."

"Oh!"

Lin Jue looked at these rich or noble people, and probably knew what the so-called "sincere" meant.

However, there was doubt immediately after.

"Since so many prominent and sincere incense guests come, why is the temple still so old, and the Buddha statues not gilded?"

"This is where the masters in the temple have high cultivation," the middle-aged incense guest smiled. "These masters are always frugal, they don't want us to come, and they don't want us to give incense oil money. It's just that monks practice, and it's enough to have food and clothes. Buddha statues don't need gold bodies, just be sincere."

"No wonder the masters are dressed so simply."

"Yeah, I come once a month, and I've been here for several years, and I've never seen them use silver money for food and clothing," the middle-aged incense guest shook his head. "It's really admirable."

"That is indeed true."

What is the silver money used for then?

Why save so much money?

If you don't want money, just refuse it?

Lin Jue didn't understand, shook his head, and felt that his own Fuqiu Temple's concept of money was better—

If you have money, use it for food and clothing.

If you have enough money, don't worry about it anymore.

Carefree, leisurely, and comfortable.

But it may also be that the temple is famous, and these incense guests come here for the name, and they can't stop it. After all, although this place is remote, it is not as remote as Mount Yishan, and the road is difficult.

"Benefactor Wang, what are you saying to the Daoist masters again?" The chubby monk walked over, collected the bowls and chopsticks they had left, and said to them by the way, "Don't listen to Benefactor Wang's nonsense. We are not high monks, nor do we understand any cultivation and high-level Buddhist methods. We are just a group of ordinary monks, chanting scriptures and practicing Zen here."

"Maybe this is high monk and high-level Buddhist method?"

Lin Jue handed the bowl over and complimented him.

Third Third Third Shixiong cast his gaze over, with a smile on his face, that smile seemed to be teasing him for knowing how to speak.

"Overpraised."

The chubby monk smiled immediately.

It was just that when he bent down, with the light from the great hall next door, the monk's facial features were originally shrouded in the dimness of the lamp shadow, but his forehead and eyebrows were still a bit darker, but there was some luster in the dark.

It didn't look like haggardness after exhaustion, but rather like excessive use of pills, gold and stone poisoning.

Lin Jue couldn't help but take a deep breath and smell it—

It seems that I really smelled a bit of medicine.

It's not the smell of medicinal materials in ordinary pharmacies, but more like the smell of cinnabar used by alchemists to refine pills. These metals and stones originally have no smell, and only those who have studied alchemy can smell it. In fact, what they smell is the spiritual rhyme emanating from these pills.

"It's dark, the few Daoist masters should rest early," the chubby monk smiled while holding the bowl. "As for the Bodhisattva manifestation they said, don't take it seriously. Maybe it's just some strange things. Even if the Bodhisattva really descended to our small temple for some reason, there is really nothing to see. The few Daoist masters should rest well, and I will come to call the Daoist masters tomorrow morning."

"Many thanks."

The three of them saluted and thanked him.

Each returned to their room.