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In the early morning, the sky is bright.

The area around Donglin Temple's Morning Dinner Hall began to heat up, filling the stomachs of monks and laypeople doing morning service.

Except for the Zaozhaiyuan, most of the other palaces and courtyards in the temple are dimly lit and there are only a few shadows of people.

This is the case in Beitian Alms Home, where most people have not yet woken up.

What's more, he didn't know that in front of the dry well in the backyard, a beautiful figure in red clothes appeared, covered with dust.

"There are signs of new use on the well rope..."

At the mouth of the well, Xie Lingjiang took a breath, bent down and took a look, and his tiredness was instantly gone.

Without saying a word, she turned over into the well and jumped into the underground palace.

Xie Lingjiang landed lightly on the ground, his tiptoes touched the ground first, and landed on the lotus pedestal.

"Big Brother!"

She called and looked around.

Wait for him to scan around the underground palace called "Pure Land".

The words were swallowed back.

Xie Lingjiang took a deep breath and ignored Monk Xiuzhen who got up and walked towards him in the darkness.

Her figure swept across like the wind, quickly walking around the entire underground palace twice, and finally returned to the lotus pedestal.

"Not here..." Xie Lingjiang murmured.

The light in his eyes gradually dimmed.

There was only a strange and haggard monk in the underground palace who seemed to be sleeping.

"Wait this is it?"

Xie Lingjiang suddenly spotted something with his peripheral vision and lowered his head to look.

On the half-meter-high lotus pedestal beside him, an empty gray monk's robe lay quietly.

Xie Lingjiang slowly stretched out his hand, picked up the monk's robe, lowered his head and slightly shrugged his nose.

"It's the senior brother, it's unmistakable... He also likes sleeves, and the daily wrinkles on these sleeves are something he often carries on his clothes.

"He...he wore this monk's robe and sat on this lotus platform? Man...man, where has he been...where has senior brother gone..."

Her eyes suddenly brightened and then dimmed, and she fell down on the stone seat, holding tightly the clothes Ouyang Rong left on the stone seat with her hands.

At this moment, there was a "thump" sound on the ground at Xie Lingjiang's feet, several times in succession, which seemed to be the combined sound of some kind of marbles falling to the ground and bouncing.

She stumbled over, picked up the beads, and looked down at them.

This is a round bead, crystal clear, faintly emitting some moonlight.

It looks like a luminous pearl.

I don't know whether it fell from the lotus pedestal or slipped from the monk's robe in Xie Lingjiang's hand.

"This is... the luminous pearl that senior brother gave me. This thing is precious, how could it be left here? Senior brother is not someone who throws away things carelessly."

Xie Lingjiang stared at the monk's robes and luminous pearls left on the lotus pedestal, and said slowly to himself:

"Why are there only clothes and night pearls left...

"Sister Li said before that he was coming to the underground palace to ascend to the Pure Land. Ascend to the Pure Land?

"How...how is it possible to ascend? There is no pure land in this world. He has not even practiced yet. It must be a fake. How is it possible..."

Xie Lingjiang's words gradually got stuck.

She looked up at the beam of skylight falling from the well above her head.

The light just shone on Xie Lingjiang, whose face gradually revealed a look of disbelief.

It also fell where Ouyang Rong sat last night.

The underground palace is dark, and there is only this beam of light, which seems to fall on the chosen person.

Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her red lips were a little pale:

"Is there really a Pure Land? Is there really a secret behind Master Zhongma's physical attainment of Buddhahood?

"Is the senior brother also ascending physically? Is there really a pure land in this world where a man like him would have expectations..."

At this time, Xiuzhen came out of the darkness with a sad face:

"Amitabha, female Bodhisattva, this place is the Lotus Pure Land, and above it is the Infinite Hell! Come here quickly, don't stand there..."

Xie Lingjiang suddenly turned his head, interrupted the haggard monk's words and asked:

"Where is my senior brother? Have you been here all this time...Have you seen my senior brother?"

Xiu Zhen looked confused:

"Who is the female Bodhisattva Senior Brother? Has he also ascended to this pure land?"

Xie Lingjiang's tone was trembling, and he raised the gray monk's robe in his hand to indicate:

"He wore this monk's robe not long ago and may have sat here, and this bead is also his;

"He is eight feet tall, has a faint scar on his right forehead that has not yet healed, has thin cheeks, and is handsome. In addition, he is gentle to others, like a spring breeze, and occasionally loves to torment, which is surprising..."

Xie Lingjiang spoke very quickly and tried hard to describe it.

Xiu Zhen suddenly realized, clasping her hands together:

"The female Bodhisattva is talking about the donor with purple eyes last night? The poor monk remembers that this monk's robe was the one he was wearing at that time."

"My eyes were filled with purple energy... He, where did he go?" Xie Lingjiang asked in confusion.

Xiuzhen nodded: "The female Bodhisattva originally wanted to find him. If I hadn't told you earlier, female Bodhisattva, please come with the poor monk. He is here!"

Xiuzhen brought Xie Lingjiang to the mural of "Prince Satao Sacrificing His Life to Feed a Tiger" on the east side of the underground palace.

He looked happy and pointed at the compassionate Buddha on the mural who sacrificed his life to feed tigers and became a Buddha immediately: "Female Bodhisattva, look, he is inside."

Xie Lingjiang sighed slightly.

Xiuzhen pointed her index finger at three other murals in succession and said with a smile:

"Female donor, he will go here, here, and here again in the future! If you stay in the Pure Land, you can observe it with the poor monk."

"He went to the mural? Is there really a pure land... Is the senior brother the reincarnation of the immortal in mythology? No wonder he is so different. He just descended to earth to accumulate merit and ascended to perfection..."

Xie Lingjiang stared blankly at the underground palace buildings on the left and right.

Holding the monk's robe and night-light pearl in his hands, he slowly lowered them to both sides of his body.

For a moment, I looked around a little confused.

The underground palace fell into silence.

I don’t know how much time passed.

"Hey, female Bodhisattva, how did you leave? Goodbye, don't go up there. It's the Infinite Hell up there. Female Bodhisattva, come down quickly and stay in the Lotus Pure Land with the poor monks..."

Xie Lingjiang couldn't remember how she left the Kujing Underground Palace.

I don’t even remember how I got rid of the monks from the almshouse who came to ask and walked out of the Beitian almshouse.

Xie Lingjiang lowered his head and stared at the gray monk's robe and luminous pearl in his hand.

Walking slowly along the unfamiliar corridor inside the temple, there are towering green tiles and yellow walls on both sides.

She walked blankly through the Buddhist temples and sutra pagodas.

It turned out that the bright red dress seemed dim.

It seems that after a day and night of hard work, it was wetted by the morning dew and dyed this lively bright red into a deep gray color.

Even so, her red dress is still the most colorful and beautiful scenery in the temple of Qingdeng Ancient Buddha.

It's just that this scenery is a little withered, like a withered red rose on a cloudy day.

At this moment, the sky is completely bright, and the morning is slightly bright.

Xie Lingjiang seemed to be sleepwalking along the way, passing by a Buddhist pagoda and a sutra copying hall, and gradually stopped in front of a yellow wall.

She smelled the smell of hot porridge and steamed buns.

Xie Lingjiang's face was dazed, and he regained his composure. After realizing it, he raised his hand and touched his abdomen.

She turned around and took a closer look. Behind the wall should be the breakfast hall in the temple.

There were vague sounds of noise and the smell of food.

Xie Lingjiang remained silent for a while, then walked around the yellow wall and walked into the breakfast courtyard.

He was quite familiar with the road and found a corner, and sat down with a calm face to wait for his meal.

She is quite familiar with this Zaozhaiyuan.
To be continued...