Under the guidance of a young Taoist boy, I followed my senior brother and Zamao Xiaodao from the side hall and along the corridor to the main hall. Flags and flags were fluttering all the way, and long yellow paper symbols hung from the railings, drifting in the wind.
The sky was flying, and the people on the road were all in a hurry, running towards the front. It was obvious that the ceremony was coming soon. The side hall was only a few yards away from the main hall, so soon we arrived at the square in front of the main hall.
There are many third- and fourth-generation disciples in the square. Most of them are sitting neatly on futons on the ground. They are wearing formal robes and chanting words, as if they are reciting the first half of "Dengyin Zhenjue". This sound is strange.
They are connected one after another, which makes people awe-inspiring.
The senior brother kept walking forward, passing the disciples sitting cross-legged on the ground, and walked towards the main hall.
Guarding the gate of the hall were four Taoists wearing green shirts with black trim. They must be disciples of Yang Zhixiu, but they looked unfamiliar to me. They were not Chen Zhaohong or other disciples who had caused trouble in Zhenling Hall before.
From this point of view, Chen Zhaohong's status in Yang Zhixiu's eyes is not very high, otherwise he would not be allowed to be the pawn crossing the river, and he came here specifically to test the use of the water - if something goes wrong, think about it.
This Chen Zhaohong is also a little guy who can be abandoned whenever he wants. He is just useless.
Walking in front of us was Fu Jun and his two disciples, Li Zefeng was one of them. In front of the main hall, they couldn't express anything to us. They just nodded and walked inside. We walked there
At the door, the leading Taoist priest in blue bowed his hand to Senior Brother and said that Senior Brother Chen would come inside.
Senior Brother returned the salute with his hand, and then walked towards the inner room without saying anything. Zamao Xiaodao and I followed behind, and no one stopped us.
Entering the main hall, I found that the hall was spacious. Although there was light from everywhere, the scenery became a little lighter when the eyes were dark.
I looked up and saw that the gods in this main hall were divided into three levels. The top level was dedicated to the Three Pure Ones. The Three Pure Ones meant the Three Pure Realms of Nothingness, Nature, the Great Luo, the Three Pure Realms, and the Three Treasures. They were Taiqing, the Moral Supreme Being, and Taishang Laojun.
The statues of Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun and Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun Tongtian, the leader of the three patriarchs, are more than four meters high. They are made of clay and have golden bodies. Their expressions are serene and extraordinary. The colors are as bright as before, rich and simple yet simple. The middle floor is the Four Imperial Palaces.
That is, the Haotian Golden Tower, the Supreme Jade Emperor, the Gouchen Shanggong Emperor, the Zhongtian Ziwei Arctic Emperor, and the Chengtian Imitation Queen Earth Emperor. The materials are the same as above, but they are all 2.56 meters tall.
Next, there are the San Mao Zhenren Mao Ying, Mao Gu, Mao Zhong and Tao Hongjing, the most famous leader in the history of Maoshan Sect, especially the last one. Maoshan is listed as the "First Blessed Land and the Eighth Cave Heaven" of Taoism.
"He was the one who led the creation of the Cave Heaven Blessed Land in this magic circle. The statue is naturally big, and it is only a few points lower than the Sanqing statue.
In front of the statue, there are three gilt-copper cauldrons. The incense burner has a thick shape and is carved with exquisite cloud and dragon patterns. There are 43 golden dragons in total, which suppress the weather in the cave. And level with the incense burner is a two-meter-high platform with a height of two meters.
Nine Taoist boys stood there, respectfully holding the nine Taoist instruments of Ruyi, the imperial flag, the flag banner, the Gui slip, the moon axe, the canopy ruler, the Dharma knife, the hand burner and the Dharma seal, and paid homage to the statue. The atmosphere was solemn.
solemn.
The hall was already filled with disciples from various peaks according to their origins. I saw Fu Jun standing first from the left.
Different from the rules in the middle of the row for watching football, the left is respected here. Obviously, in this generation, as the lamp-bearing disciple, he is the leader. Of course, as the outer sect brother among the second generation disciples, the Black Hand Shuangcheng
Chen Zhicheng also had a high status and was placed on a platform further to the left. There was a curtain hanging in front of him, which gave him a somewhat isolated feeling.
When we sat cross-legged on the futon in front of the platform, after a while, we heard a crisp sound of a chime, a buzzing sound, and I saw seven people wearing silk clothes, wearing three-inch embroidered court shoes, and hanging around their necks.
Chaozhu, old men holding wat tablets came from the side door one after another, and filed in. These seven old men, five men and two women, all looked hale and hearty, and their eyes were shining. Their sash clothes were luxurious, with tattoos on their backs and sleeves.
It has exquisite graphics of the Three Pure Ones, Bagua and pagodas, and on the chest are embroidered seven different Taoist auspicious symbols: the Eight Immortals, the Phoenix, the White Crane, the Kirin, the Six Beasts, the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars.
Among these seven people, I saw Liu Xuedao, the elder of the execution hall, Luo Yang, the elder of the ceremony, and Mei Lang, the elder. As for the others, I haven’t seen their faces, so I don’t know.
There are ten elders in Maoshan. Xu Xiumei, the elder of Shuizhen, was beaten to death by a thousand-year-old flying corpse. Mao Tongzhen, the master of Lieyang, is guarding the gate in front of the formation. So who is there who is not present?
I had many questions in my mind, but the atmosphere at this time was heavy. I watched the seven elders boarding the platform in front of the incense burner and staring down. Many of them did not dare to take a breath, and I did not dare to ask questions. When others stood still,
The elder standing in the middle with the white crane embroidered on his chest coughed slightly, and the huge main hall suddenly became silent, and everyone looked up attentively.
I looked at the "White Crane". He looked the youngest among the seven elders. He was almost forty or fifty years old. He had an elegant appearance, with three flowing green beards. He was thin and full of energy. He had a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, which made people feel like they were taking a breath of spring breeze.
The warmth makes people think that he is an expert professor who came out of the university lecture hall. He is rich in knowledge and has unrivaled economics - could this person be Yang Zhixiu, known as the Smiling Tiger?
Sure enough, the man started to speak, and talked about the reason for holding the grand ceremony today. It was not only to pray to God, but also to pray for the head of the family. Now for the grand ceremony, you must be sincere. Then he took out a large piece of yellow talisman paper from his arms, with cinnabar writing on it.
I just prayed to Tianwen and started to recite it.
It is said that Yang Zhixiu is a man of great literary talent. This antique prayer to astronomy was written with such ecstasy and so full of literary talent that I couldn't understand the rest of it. It was so long that it was almost a thousand words long.
Although I appeared as an opponent, I was impressed by Yang Zhixiu's clear and resonant, news broadcast-style "Luo Jing accent" at this moment.
For a person to be able to occupy a high position, he must be something extraordinary, otherwise he would not be able to live here for so long. If he underestimates him too much, he will only make himself look stupid.
"...The hope of Guangyun is like clouds, and the lights are shining in all directions. In the year of Wansi - Fuwei, Shangxi!"
After reciting the prayer to Tianwen, Yang Zhixiu put the yellow talisman paper into the gilded copper cauldron in the middle. The talisman paper burned, exuding an aura that shocked people, and then this spiritual power rushed straight into the hall.
Go up to the top and communicate with the sky and clouds. Then Yang Zhixiu shouted loudly: "To drive away the formation of Liuding and Liujia, to spread the evil spirits of Tiangang and Earth, set up the altar and worship the sky... oh!"
All the disciples below shouted in unison: "Get up the altar and offer sacrifices to heaven... Wow!"
The disciples from the main peak outside the hall also started chanting, and after chanting three times, the sound was like ocean waves, constantly beating against the wall of the main hall. There seemed to be a setup similar to an echo wall here, causing the sound waves to vibrate repeatedly, and there was a sound all around.
A "buzzing" sound is passed back and forth, making people's body and mind rise to a higher level in an instant.
After shouting the words, all the disciples began to recite in unison the "Shangqing Great Cave True Sutra" and the "Dengyin True Secret". This recitation was magnificent, and all the disciples of Maoshan were very familiar with it. It was the one in front of me.
Senior Brother and Zamao Xiaodao, who were sitting on the ground, also opened their mouths and started chanting, buzzing and singing in my mind like fairy music.
During the time of these scriptures, I felt that the entire hall seemed to come alive. There was a breath spreading from the quiet place and clinging to it. I couldn't tell what the power attribute of this breath was, but when I
When I was distracted and paying attention, I felt as if I had been stripped naked and had nowhere to hide.
Finally, the breath condensed on the main hall, and then began to disappear. Faintly and slowly, someone tapped the bronze chime lightly with Ruyi, and a clear and penetrating sound came. The voices of those chanting sutras began to gradually become deeper.
At first, it was like buzzing in the ears, and then it was buzzing, as if it was ringing in the sky, like mosquitoes squeaking, and then, except for the disciples outside the main hall who were blessing and making offerings, the rest of the people stopped making noises.
, causing silence in this hall.
Several more rituals were performed next, none of which had anything to do with us, which made me drowsy and about to fall asleep. Suddenly I heard Elder Mei's voice coming from above the main hall: "Please invite the outer disciple Chen Zhicheng to enter!"
As soon as these words fell, the Taoist boy rolled up the curtain to reveal the platform here. Senior Brother said softly, then stood up with a smile, and led Zamao Xiaodao and I to the platform under the platform.
In the open space, he bowed to greet the elders on the stage. Yang Zhixiu nodded on behalf of everyone and said, Zhicheng, you represent me, Maoshan, walking in the court, you have done a great job and worked hard, there is no need to be polite, just do as you said before.
The eldest brother said yes, patted my shoulder, and then took a step back with Zamao Xiaodao.
The behavior of Yang Zhixiu and senior brother was very upright and peaceful, neither happy nor sad, and they were quite like everyone. If you didn't know the inside story, you would think that these two were good friends. Then Mei Lang continued: "Last year
In November, my Maoshan disciple Huang Pengfei worked in the Southwest Bureau. He was killed in the Wangui Cave in Fengdu while investigating a case of evil spirits. After verification by the investigation team of the Southwest Bureau of the Religious Affairs Bureau, he was killed by Gu from Miao Xinjiang.
Master Lu Zuo——The evidence is conclusive and irrefutable. A disciple of my Maoshan sect was slaughtered while traveling in the rivers and lakes. The speaker was furious and sent elders to go down the mountain to search for them, but they couldn’t find them. Now, the murderer is in the main hall, and he——
It’s the man standing in the audience now!”
Mei Lang told all about Huang Pengfei's case. After a slight pause, he pointed at me and asked sternly: "Lu Zuo, do you know your guilt?"
I looked back at Senior Brother with some surprise, saw him nodding towards me, turned around, and replied sonorously: "I am not guilty!"