The once stern monk has now become an old monk with a pale beard.
He was thin, holding a Buddhist bead on his arm, and his voice was thunderous: "Fellow Daoist Chen, I have been waiting for you for thirty-five years."
The voice comes.
The doors and windows outside were buzzing and shaking. The fat Taoist hugged the disciple and blocked him in front. He raised his hand and shouted: "Monk, you are crazy, we are on our own."
"snort!"
The broad monk sleeves fluttered, and the old monk from Zhenhai rolled up his sleeves, with Buddhist beads hanging on the vertical seals. With the afterimage, he came to stand outside the Luohan Hall and looked straight at Chen Yuan, who was standing with his hands behind his back, his beard as green as a needle.
, shaking slightly.
"If I didn't treat you as one of my own, I would have driven you out of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple long ago."
Holding the prayer beads in his palm, he walked down the stone steps and met Chen Yuan, "I haven't been here for many years. When I come, I must have something to ask for. Which demon should I kill, or which god and Buddha should I surrender to?"
"There is indeed something."
When Chen Yuan saw his appearance, he realized that his murderous nature was too strong and he was more dedicated to killing than when he was young. At this time, Zhike Monk had already slipped away to someone unknown, and there was no one else around, so there was no harm in speaking out.
"I just returned to this world recently and have been staying at the True Lord's Temple in Luoyang. Recently I heard that there was a big demon in Qishan Mountain in the northwest, killing countless people..."
Hahaha!
Before Chen Yuan could finish speaking, the old monk from Zhenhai burst out laughing, causing the tiles in the rooms on both sides to shake. He turned around and strode towards the Luohan Hall.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier if there was such a monster? I would go and kill it right away!"
When he entered the main hall, a cassock flew around his body. He stretched out his hand to grab the nine-xi Zen staff and the golden bowl. They flew into his hands one by one, and he walked out with them.
"Master, wait a moment."
Chen Yuan hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, and said with a headache: "When I finish speaking, there will be another reason for this matter."
The old monk's white eyebrows frowned slightly, but he said nothing and waited quietly for the next sentence.
"...Master, do you still remember the toad that traveled westward with us?"
"Is that the big demon?" The old monk snorted, staggered his body, and passed Chen Yuan: "So you came to Wanfo Temple not to ask me to subdue the demon, but to ask me to protect the demon.
That toad did walk with you and me for a period of time, and we have some connections, but a demon is always a demon, how can it be equal to human kindness?! How can you not be held responsible for doing harm to others?! Donor Chen,
you've changed."
"It's not a change, but I want to find out the reason why he committed such a crime." Chen Yuan has always been calm, especially when the toad followed him for a long time. Considering his temperament, he shouldn't kill animals indiscriminately.
"It would make sense if the demon had just opened its spiritual wisdom and was ignorant of the world and committed murder. But it has been following me for a long time. Both the bull demon and the snake demon can have some insights and correct the way. Why can't it?
? Along the way to the west, I should have already made a clear distinction between right and wrong in worldly affairs, so how could I do such a thing?"
The Zen staff in Zhenhai's hand made a "bang" sound, and he turned his head, like a angry-eyed King Kong.
"Chen Yuan, are you teaching me how to do things?!"
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
The fat Taoist hurriedly pulled the little Taoist boy back under the eaves of one side of the house, stuffed the apprentice into a side room, and then stepped forward to get between the two of them.
"We are all our own people, our own people, monks! Why are you so angry? The toad demon has been with us for a period of time after all. The master has promised to take him as his disciple, and he can be regarded as half a disciple. It is common sense for people to intercede for him.
If you don’t agree, let’s sit down and have a good chat, and listen to whoever makes sense.”
Chen Yuan pushed aside Lao Sun who was blocking the way and looked at the old monk.
"It does have to be punished for killing. But how to punish it depends on the reason. When I came here, I heard Lao Sun say that you have become more violent over the years. I still didn't believe it. When I saw it today, it turned out to be true.
That’s true, besides killing, what else will the master do?”
"snort."
The old monk turned his face away, "I have a violent temper, but I am sane. Donor Chen does not need to provoke the general. The demon must be defeated. No matter whether it is a mortal or a practitioner who commits such things as killing innocent people indiscriminately,
, let me encounter them and get rid of them together."
Originally thinking that it would be inconvenient for him to take action, Chen Yuan asked the monk to help, but now Chen Yuan felt that this step was wrong.
Just as he was about to say more, suddenly a sound of Buddha's name came.
"All Buddhas are as at ease as the heavens."
Chen Yuan turned around and saw an old monk with all white hair standing in front of the Crescent Gate leading to the Main Hall. He held a purple gold bowl in his hand, printed a vertical seal and bowed to the Buddha.
Seeing that his appearance looked familiar, Chen Yuan checked it out and recognized that he was Zhenkong monk, whom he had met once before, and was Zhenhai's senior brother.
"It turns out to be the host Zhenkong."
From what Fat Taoist said before, Zhenkong is already the abbot of Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, so he only needs to add his title to his title.
"Donor Chen."
We haven't seen each other for many years, but Zhenkong's temperament has not changed. He is as calm as water. He bows his head slightly in return, and then looks at his junior brother Zhenhai.
"Junior brother, the Buddha has the wrathful eyes of Vajra, but also has compassion. I have practiced hard for many years to see if you have restrained your murderous nature. Donor Chen invites you to go to Qishan Mountain."
"Huh, don't tell me, I'll go too."
Zhenkong nodded and smiled: "Go then, you might as well do something for your senior brother."
"What's the matter?"
"Punish that big monster."
"do not kill?"
Zhenkong shook his head: "No killing!"
"Humph, just like Chen Yuan." Zhenhai picked up the Zen staff and started to leave, but Zhenkong stretched out his hand to stop him. The old monk turned his head and said, "Junior brother, the big demon has a favor with me, please repay it for me."
"What?"
Not only Zhenhai was stunned, but Chen Yuan and Fat Taoist were also stunned. When did the big toad have anything to do with this old monk who never left the temple?
"Senior brother, why do you say this?"
Zhenkong sighed, took back the vertical seal of his hand and bowed to the Luohan Hall, "Do you remember that when your senior brother became a monk, there was a daughter in your hometown?"
Chen Yuan remembered this. When he first came to the town at the foot of Wanfo Temple, he met Zhenkong who refused to fight back or scolded him. During the greetings, he learned that this monk's wife had died. He jumped off a cliff in despair. When he met Wan
The monk from the Buddhist temple brought her back to the temple to become a monk. She also had a daughter from her hometown.
"Remember." Zhenhai nodded.
"She's dead."
Zhenkong closed his eyes, his face showed no emotion, and his voice was calm: "The big demon wanted to avenge her... The toad demon has known her since she was a child... The little girl often talks to the toad demon who has just awakened his wisdom by the pool.
…”
The purple gold bowl in his hand was stretched out in front of everyone, and the monk's sleeve with his other hand brushed off the top. The moment he moved it away, golden light shot out, and a halo of light swirled in the golden bowl.
Chen Yuan, Zhenhai, and the fat Taoist approached, and in the halo of light, they suddenly saw some pictures.
The two children cuddled up against their mother across a cage woven from bamboo strips.
The woman in the cage touched the heads of her two children and burst into tears.
"From now on, when my mother is gone, you must be obedient and listen to the bride, so that you will not go hungry or beaten."
Soon, two men came over, took the two children, and took them away from the woman, leaving the two children struggling and crying.
"mother--"
The woman's husband stood not far away, pointing at the woman in the cage and yelling at her.
"The bitch had an affair with a wild man and drowned her in the river!"
The wind was very strong that day, and the woman huddled in a cage and was carried to the river by several men. People from the town who came to watch the excitement stood around, laughing and asking the men to quickly throw the woman into the river.