Chapter 640: All Parties Gathering

The anomaly at Mangshan was clearly visible all around Luoyang.

Ten miles away from the Longmen Inn was the famous Longmen Grottoes.

This grotto was excavated before Emperor Xiaowendi of Northern Wei moved the capital to Luoyang, and it was continuously built through dynasties such as Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, Tang, and the Five Dynasties, especially during the period of Wu Zetian, who gave strong support.

For example, the most famous Lushena Great Buddha was modeled after Wu Zetian.

There was a story about this.

One morning, Wu Zetian was putting on makeup, and Gao Zong praised from the side: "Zitong's appearance is upright, graceful and luxurious, with the demeanor of a Bodhisattva." After hearing this, Wu Zetian immediately wiped away her tears and said: "Even if there are thousands of good things in front of me, after a hundred years, it will still be a pile of withered bones. Who will know what I looked like?"

Gao Zong said: "What's difficult about that? I will order a painter to make a beautiful portrait for Zitong."

Wu Zetian: "Although a portrait is good, it is only a thin piece of paper and cannot be passed down for a thousand years."

"Your Majesty said that I have the appearance of a Bodhisattva. Why not excavate a cave and build a statue on Longmen Mountain."

So Gao Zong ordered people to excavate an open-air Buddha niche the size of nine rooms on the cliff halfway up the west mountain of Longmen, naming it the Great Lushena Statue Niche.

Wu Zetian named herself "Zhao," implying light shining on the universe.

And the translation of Lushena happened to be "Light Shining Everywhere."

The two could be considered to complement each other, and even the appearance of the Buddha statue was carved according to Wu Zetian's appearance.

To let this statue be passed down for generations, Tang Gao Zong invited the best craftsmen, and Wu Zetian donated twenty thousand guan of powder money, taking three years and nine months to complete. To this day, the commoners near Longmen still call it the Wu Zetian Statue.

When the statue was completed, it was radiant and became a grand scene of the Great Tang.

Unfortunately, no matter how brilliant things are, they cannot withstand the erosion of time.

Today, the raw materials on the surface of the Buddha statue have long faded and become mottled. Because of year-round weathering, coupled with several wars, it is even more damaged in many places, appearing dilapidated.

Standing in front of the Buddha statue were two old monks looking on.

These two were the abbot and the supervisor of Xiangshan Temple.

The Buddhist sect near Luoyang was relatively powerful.

Besides the Bai Masi, there were the Ten Temples of Longmen.

These ten temples had a long history, and the leader was Xiangshan Temple.

Back then, Bai Juyi donated six or seven hundred thousand guan to renovate Xiangshan Temple and wrote "Record of Renovating Xiangshan Temple," praising: Among the Ten Temples of Longmen, the victory of sightseeing, Xiangshan is the first.

Like Shangqing Palace, Xiangshan Temple also had no small ambitions.

But their goal was not to please the emperor, but to continue building the Longmen Grottoes, building more Buddha statues, letting this Buddhist holy land be passed down for thousands of years, and letting their names be engraved in history.

And even, relying on merit to step into the Western Pure Land.

And such a large project, one could imagine the funds consumed.

For this reason, Xiangshan Temple tried every possible way to get money and was often criticized by the local Confucian scholars in Luoyang.

But in the face of these obsessions, what did a little bit of bad reputation count for?

At this moment, the two were focusing all their attention on the Buddha statue above.

Renovating the Longmen Grottoes, the first to bear the brunt was the Lushena Great Buddha.

After the ravages of time and war, this world-famous Buddha statue had been damaged in many places. The restoration work had begun several years ago, and because funds were intermittent, the construction period was also dragged out for a long time.

The scaffolding built with wood was already covered with dust.

Other workers had already left, only an old man was sitting cross-legged beside the Buddha statue's palm.

He was tall, his clothes were messy, his white hair was disheveled, his face was spirited, and his image seemed unrestrained, but a pair of eyes were as calm as lake water, and he was holding a stone hammer and chisel, tapping carefully on the Buddha statue's palm.

Accompanied by the crisp sound of ding, ding, ding, lime powder splashed everywhere.

And the Buddha statue's palm gradually appeared with palm prints.

Looking closely at these palm prints, they were actually composed of the Sanskrit "Diamond Sutra."

As the old man blew, the characters appeared clearly.

"Wonderful."

Master Kuzhu, the abbot of Xiangshan Temple, saw this and sighed in praise: "Master Lu's fine-brush carving can be called the first person in Luoyang. This light one point won't work, heavy one point won't work either, the control of strength is only between the subtle."

"The patterns on the Buddha's body are all carved with Buddhist scriptures. After success, we will invite Mystic Sect craftsmen to install the hidden treasures and open the light. If the commoners worship, their hearts will hear the Buddha's voice, and the entire Buddhist sect will be shaken."

"Handing it to him, he will definitely be able to complete this grand feat!"

"The abbot is right."

The old monk, the supervisor beside him, also showed a smile on his face: "The key is that Master Lu is obsessed with craftsmanship and does not covet those worldly goods, which can also let us catch our breath."

After hearing this, Master Kuzhu, the abbot of Xiangshan Temple, couldn't suppress the smile on his face, nodded and said: "This is cause and effect. If it weren't for Master Lu's noble character, it would be impossible to temper his skills to such a state."

"Remember, after the matter is done, offer a longevity lamp for the master in the Mahavira Hall."

"The abbot is right."

The two were talking when their expressions suddenly stiffened.

Seeing the wild wind suddenly rise all around, water vapor condensed on the Lushena Great Buddha, gathered in its eyes and flowed down, as if it were crying, and the originally faded lacquer on the body and around the Buddha niche actually peeled off in pieces.

Rumbling!

The ground around trembled, and rubble and soil fell from above the grotto.

"Not good, earth vein vibration!"

"What happened?"

The two old monks were also people of the Mystic Sect and immediately felt the anomaly of the earth Qi.

And "Master Lu," who was carving above, also stiffened, and the strength of his arm changed.

Ding! A crisp sound.

A crack actually appeared on the Buddha statue's wrist, and then it rolled down with a rumble.

Seeing this, the two old monks' faces turned red.

This Buddha statue had not been short of years, even if repaired, it could not be as good as new, and I don't know how much manpower and material resources it would consume.

How could it not be praised at all?

The two just wanted to speak when they saw the blood color filling the sky in the distance.

"That is... the direction of Mangshan?"

"Celestial phenomena appear, I'm afraid something happened."

"After all, it's Shangqing Palace's territory, we..."

"Go and see, Bai Masi is Bai Masi, too close to Xiangshan Temple, always need to know what happened?"

The two discussed and left quickly, not caring about the renovation of the Buddha statue behind them.

And after they left, the old man also turned around slowly.

His eyes instantly turned pure black.

Looking at the blood-colored sky in the distance, he frowned and said: "Why did it come out ahead of time?"

After saying that, he calculated with his fingers again and muttered:

"The time is not yet up, the underground palace is destroyed, it will inevitably summon the Mystic Sect orthodoxy."

"Forget it, let's find something for them to do first..."

…………

The anomaly at Mangshan alarmed all parties.

Li Yan and the others at the center felt it even more clearly.

In a short time, the blood light became even more enchanting, undulating like flames, reflecting the clouds in the sky, making the entire mountains and plains covered with a layer of blood color, like a mountain fire burning, blocking the sky and the sun.

Near Mangshan, there were many imperial mausoleums.

In the forests around the mausoleums, birds and beasts flew in panic, and crows blocked the sun.

The cries were shrill, like the chanting of Nuo opera spells.

Because of the collapse of the underground palace, dust rose everywhere, and Li Yan and the others were covered in gray, very embarrassed.

Especially the soil from deep underground also surged out.

The air was filled with a fishy smell mixed with decay and rust, which was nauseating.

However, even Long Yan'er, who loved cleanliness the most, couldn't care about this matter.

"This blood light..."

Long Yan'er looked up at the sky, full of shock, "Could it be... we caused trouble?"

"Not our fault." Elder Yin Jiuge took over the conversation.

The eyes of this hunchbacked old man flashed with brilliance. He squatted down, first rubbed a handful of soil, tasted it in his mouth, then grabbed a handful of five-colored soil from the leather pouch at his waist, piled it into a small pile on the ground, inserted three sticks of incense, and observed its changes.

In everyone's vision, the incense burned abnormally, soon the one on the left was long, and the two on the right were short.

"It's earth vein vibration, Gang evil Qi colliding!"

Elder Yin Jiuge frowned, somewhat puzzled: "The Qi of demonic disasters of the Six States' demonic army is suppressed inside, it seems like something is preventing them from coming out, which is why it caused such a disturbance."

Li Yan also formed a seal, his ears twitched slightly, and then he looked at the ground in shock.

"I... heard the sound of dragon roars and killing."

"Dragon roar?"

Elder Yin Jiuge was thoughtful, immediately took out a compass, wandered around for a few laps, checked it, and then said: "Hiss—bad, this underground palace has other arrangements, the old man didn't see it, it can actually involve the Mangshan Earth Vein, and even trigger the Central Dragon Vein!"

"It should be the 'Marquis Sui Yang Baozhu.' Does this treasure actually have such power?"

While speaking, his eyes were full of disbelief.

Li Yan's heart moved, and he took out a bamboo slip from his bosom.

It was precisely the one he snatched from the "Old Yin Person" possessed by "demonic Qi."

"Senior, please look at this."

After Li Yan explained its origin, he said in a deep voice: "The demonic creature carried it with him, there must be something tricky!"

Everyone looked down, only to see the surface of the bamboo slip glowing with blue-black luster, looking particularly eerie under the reflection of the blood light.

Elder Yin Jiuge took it, only feeling it was cold to the touch, obviously not an ordinary object.

"This is a Qin slip."

While flipping through it, he frowned and said: "The Sutra Pavilion of the Nether Sect still retains many, the size, shape, and material are exactly the same, it should be from the Qin Palace, but these characters... the old man really doesn't recognize them."

It was no wonder he was worried; the characters on it were truly too ancient.

They looked a bit like small seal script, but were more rugged and complex, and even a bit similar to oracle bone script.

After hearing this, Li Yan also felt a bit of a headache.

He had already seen it at the time and didn't recognize it at all. He didn't expect that this knowledgeable senior of the Nether Sect would be the same.

"Can you let me see it?"

Just then, "Golden Jin Jin Yanfeng" beside him suddenly spoke.

After he took the bamboo slip and flipped through it twice, he nodded and said: "This is 'Golden Magpie Script'."

"'Mo Sou' says: Ancient coin inscriptions, Zhou's imperial treasury, Han's weight, made by knife and cloth. The coins of the Zhou era were often only recognized by a few, but the old man obtained an ancient book and learned this script."

"Senior is worthy of being a Golden Eye!"

Li Yan was overjoyed and hurriedly said: "Quick, see what is written on it?"

Golden Jin Jin Yanfeng nodded, identified it carefully, and his face was immediately full of shock.

"This is... Xu Fu's own handwriting!"

Sweat broke out on his forehead. While flipping through it, he said: "Above is Xu Fu's narrative. When he left the Shenzhou back then and went overseas to seek immortality, he didn't intend to return, and left three volumes of bamboo slips. They recorded the path to seeking immortality, the secret of the fake False False Yin Si, and the Luoyang prohibition respectively."

Saying this, he began to chant the original text:

"Shi (Fu) received the order of the Qin Shi Huang Huang to suppress the Six States' demonic army at Mangshan. However, the demonic army was transformed by the Qi of demonic disasters, and ordinary methods are difficult to destroy. Therefore, imitating the Fengdu system, a fake False False Yin Si was set up to trap them..."

"The fake False False Yin Si is based on the three talents: Heaven position Marquis Sui Pearl, Man position Three Sovereigns Wood, Earth position..."

Golden Jin Jin Yanfeng's voice suddenly stopped, his brows locked tightly, "This part was deliberately worn away."

Saying this, he continued to read: "The Six States' sorcerers used the Qi of demonic disasters to refine demonic soldiers. If suppressed by force, the backlash will be even greater."

"There is no medicine in Penglai, no immortals in Yingzhou, it is difficult to return after crossing the east, but the Qin laws are cruel. I fear the Qin Shi Huang Huang will send people to hunt me down, so I left a flaw in the 'Man position' spirit wood, breaking the Qin Shi Huang Huang's Nine Cauldrons Shenzhou formation. Although my heart is uneasy, I seek self-preservation..."

"What a demonic thief!"

Hearing this, Elder Yin Jiuge was full of killing intent, "Sure enough, this guy is making trouble!"

"What self-preservation? If he were really afraid, why would he deliberately leave this thing behind? He is clearly pointing the way in secret. Has it ever been mentioned about the path to seeking immortality and the Nine Cauldrons?"

The matter was of great importance, so he couldn't care about concealment.

Golden Jin Jin Yanfeng knew the severity, looked at it carefully again, and smiled bitterly, shaking his head: "Senior, the things you want to know are probably on another 'Path to Seeking Immortality' bamboo slip. This one only talks about the fake False False Yin Si."

"'Marquis Sui Snake Pearl,' by connecting Mangshan and the Yellow River as well as the Central Dragon Vein, once the Six States' demonic army escapes, the treasure pearl will inevitably trigger the Dragon Vein to suppress the demonic army. As long as the timing is appropriate, the Yuzhou Cauldron can be drawn out!"

"The old man understands!"

Elder Yin Jiuge's mind flashed with inspiration, gritting his teeth: "This Xu Fu really has good methods."

"The Marquis Sui Snake Pearl is the bait, the Mangshan Dragon Vein is the fishing rod, and the Six States' demonic army has all been used by him, becoming the power to pull the Yuzhou Cauldron. As long as someone in later generations covets the treasure cauldron, they can follow the trend."

"Wang Xuanmo captured the descendants of the Six States, not to suppress the demonic army, but to control the time!"

"Qingming is tomorrow!"

Li Yan was thoughtful: "We are ahead of time, did we destroy his plan?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple."

Elder Yin Jiuge frowned: "At the moment, the two are still deadlocked below. If left alone, the Marquis Sui Snake Pearl will constantly pull the Dragon Vein Earth Qi, and the Yuzhou Cauldron will sooner or later be fished out. If the formation is destroyed, the demonic army will escape, and then..."

Before he finished speaking, rapid footsteps suddenly came from afar, accompanied by the crisp sound of metal collision.

"Someone is coming!"

Lu San said in a low voice, and the little white fox leaped from his shoulder, pricking up its ears vigilantly.

Li Yan put away the bamboo slip and pressed his hand on the Dust-Breaking Blade.

Through the permeating blood mist, he saw a team of people in Taoist robes approaching rapidly.

The leader was an old Taoist with white hair and beard, holding a horsetail whisk, his eyes full of killing intent.

"It's the people from Shangqing Palace!"

Golden Jin Jin Yanfeng's expression changed slightly, "Looking at that posture, they don't come with good intentions..."

In the blink of an eye, the group of Taoists had already approached.

Roughly counting, there were at least fifty or sixty people.

Compared to Qingcheng, of course, they were inferior, but so many sorcerers were also a force not to be underestimated.

The Taoists were full of killing intent and soon surrounded everyone in a fan shape.

"What kind of thieves are you, daring to destroy the imperial mausoleum!"

The old Taoist leader gave a sharp shout, his horsetail whisk pointing directly at Li Yan, "Is it you who dug up the Jing Mausoleum and triggered this Red Disaster?"

Li Yan frowned and said in a deep voice: "Senior, you misunderstood, it was done by the demonic people of Mangshan..."

"Shut up!"

The old Taoist didn't listen to the explanation at all, waving his horsetail whisk, "Mangshan is the holy land of my Mystic Sect, guarded by Shangqing Palace. Where did any demonic people come from? You hold the loot from tomb raiding and still dare to quibble!"

"Disciples, take these thieves!"

Before the words fell, more than twenty Taoists drew their swords simultaneously.

Clank!

Lu San and Li Yan directly raised their fire guns.

"Hahaha..."

The old Taoist laughed in anger, "New-style firearms, do you think only you know how to use them?"

After saying this, he waved his hand, and the Taoists behind also raised their fire guns in unison.

But before he finished speaking, his face became stiff.

Seeing Wu Ba shouldering the tiger-crouching cannon aimed at them...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 641 =====