The light of the sword is like the moon reflecting on Kyushu

Chapter 2066 The True Purpose of Venerable White Lotus
We passed through the market and headed west to the outskirts.

Venerable Bailian sat side by side with Feng Jiuxiao.

"Venerable One, where is your branch academy located?"

"At Prince Mountain."

"Taizi Mountain?"

"Yes! Taizi Mountain is located north of Dingqiang City. There are wooden walkways and viewing platforms on the mountain that offer panoramic views of Sanquan City and the magnificent confluence of the Guangtong River and the Tao River. It is an excellent place for hiking and morning exercise!"

Why is this place called Dingqiang City?

"Actually, Dingqiang City is a name given by the Han people. The Tibetans actually called it Heno City. During the Tang Dynasty, this place belonged to the Qiang people. Later, it was annexed by the Tibetans, so the Han people called this place Dingqiang City."

Beishan is not high, and there is a temple on the mountain.

Venerable White Lotus said, "That is our separate courtyard, now called Prince's Temple."

"Oh, interesting. There's a Prince Temple on Prince Mountain. It seems there's a story behind it?"

"Hehe, yes. In Tibetan, Taizi Mountain is called Ani Nianqing. It is said to be called Taizi Mountain because it is associated with two princes. One is Prince Fusu, and the other is Prince Qifu Chipan of Western Qin."

"tell me the story."

"Let me first tell you the legend of Fusu, which is also the most widely circulated story. It is said that Fusu, the crown prince of Qin, was demoted to Meng Tian's army for opposing the burning of books and burying of scholars alive. He was stationed here and the place was called Anomuzang City at that time. He was deeply loved by the people. Later, he committed suicide because Zhao Gao forged an imperial edict. In order to commemorate him, the locals named the nearby mountain Taizi Mountain and built the Taizi Temple, which still retains the tradition of worship to this day."

Feng Jiuxiao said, "What a pity for Fusu! If he were alive, the Qin Dynasty would never have perished after only two generations!"

Venerable White Lotus said, "Everything is predestined, and nothing is up to us! With his personality, even if he escapes being executed by a forged imperial edict, he can't escape being shot in the dark or poisoned! He can escape Li Si's clutches, but he can't escape Zhao Gao's trap! He will die sooner or later!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "That's right! If he's ruthless enough, he should lead Meng Tian and a large army to defend the emperor, killing anyone who gets in his way and seizing the throne, creating an unparalleled achievement!"

"It's just a pity he was too kind!"

"Yes, mercy is not suitable for an emperor! The emperors of the world are the most ruthless! What about the Crown Prince of Western Qin?"

"Oh, Western Qin refers to the Western Qin during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Crown Prince Qifu Chipan assisted his father Qifu Qian Gui in building the city here, which helped Western Qin gradually become stronger. It is possible that the local people associated this history with the mountain's name, thus forming the name Taizi Mountain. Of course, this is not the mainstream view. After all, Western Qin cannot be compared with the Great Qin, and Qifu Chipan's fame is insignificant compared to that of Prince Fusu."

"Then which prince's statue is enshrined in this Prince's Temple?"

Venerable White Lotus laughed and said, "It used to be called Prince's Temple, now it's called Bright Temple. It's a branch of my Great Bright Temple in this area. There's no statue of the prince in the temple anymore!"

Six horse-drawn carriages entered the mountain gate one after another.

Two young monks were already waiting at the mountain gate, their palms clasped together, to welcome the convoy up the mountain.

The moment he passed through the mountain gate, Pang Shiwu saw two fierce-looking statues of the two generals on either side of him—the left general spewing red flames from his mouth, his muscles bulging like a volcano bursting open, and the vajra in his fist engraved with "Subdue all heretics";
The right general's nostrils emitted blue smoke, his black armor resembled frozen ice in a deep pool, and the Chaos Pearl in his palm was engraved with the words "Shatter all evil!"
He knew that these two statues were made under the supervision of Yuchi Jingde of the Tang Dynasty, with clay bodies wrapped around a steel core, and would serve as defensive fortifications during wartime!

Back then, this place was part of the Tang Dynasty's territory, but now—it's none of his business anyway! Pang Shiwu simply ignored it!

As soon as they passed the mountain gate, everyone got off the car, because the mountain road was rugged and not suitable for driving.

Venerable White Lotus said, "It's still early. The Moon Rooms have been arranged. Why don't you all take a short rest?"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Alright. Fifteen, carry Brother Zeng into the house and take care of your sister-in-law and the others so they can stay for now. The Venerable One and I will take a look around the temple first."

Pang Shiwu said, "Alright!" He knew that when his elder brother said "take a walk around," he actually meant that he wanted to have a private talk with Venerable Bailian!
Guided by the monk in charge of receiving guests, everyone entered the rooms that had been arranged in advance.

The Guangming Temple in Anqiang City was surprisingly large, with many guest rooms. There were enough rooms for one person, but everyone still stayed in groups, as they all shared a room, so five or six people could sleep in each room without any problem. So Yuan Zishan and Chang Zijin exchanged a glance and decided that the four women would share a room.

Big Wolf and Pang Shiwu helped Zeng Yongyi into the same room, naturally leaving room for Feng Jiuxiao.

Wang Sheng and Duanmu Yan shared a room, while Xiong Mengyan, Shiyin, and Diewu shared a room.
Ouyang Zhong and Zhang Deyi and their two subordinates shared a room. Although Helian Rongguang, relying on his status, originally wanted to have a room to himself, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and share a room with Ouyang Zhong and the others when he saw that none of his companions were given special treatment.

Feng Jiuxiao and Venerable Bailian walked side by side, as if taking a leisurely stroll.

Feng Jiuxiao asked, "Why are the guest rooms here called Moon Rooms?"

Venerable Bailian said, "The main reason is that the local Bon religion has an extreme worship of the moon goddess. The source of Bon religion's divine power—the Moon Princess—married into the snowy region!"

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Oh? Tell me about it, I'm most interested in these stories and legends!"

"Legend has it that the first Tibetan king, Nyatri Tsenpo, was the incarnation of the Moon Prince of India. At that time, there was a princess named Memo Lhatso in the Moon Palace of the heavens. Holding a silver mirror, she saw the bitter cold of the snowy land and was moved to tears. Her tears turned into ice crystals and descended to earth, becoming Qinghai Lake. The Moon Goddess then sent three women with three divine objects to marry into the human world!"

Feng Jiuxiao thought to himself: The first Tibetan king was actually a prince from India? After all, it's just a legend, and there's no way to verify it.

"The eldest sister, wielding a silver pestle, built the Demon-Suppressing Temple, and in the end, she transformed into the golden roof and the moon-shaped banner of the temple! The second sister, holding a jade rabbit, guided the lost, and eventually transformed into a wooden moon rabbit carving on the window lattice of the guest room! The youngest sister, wearing an ice crystal necklace to illuminate the path at night, finally transformed into a moonstone inlaid on the door knocker of the guest room! The guest room was named 'Dakang' because of this miracle, meaning a station for the bloodline of the moon goddess on earth. Although Guangming Temple is a Han Chinese temple, this place is, after all, the border of the Tibetan Kingdom, and most of the pilgrims are locals, so the name and architectural structure are adapted to local customs."

"I understand. What's so special about the structure of the Moon Room?"

“Different architectural components have different religious metaphors. For example, the arched window symbolizes the full moon and perfect wisdom; the bronze door ring symbolizes the double rings like the waxing and waning of the moon during an eclipse; and the painted ceiling is usually an eight-petaled lotus supporting a moon disc; the underground fire dragon passage and the flue are in the shape of a crescent moon encircling the room. Almost every component is related to the moon.”

"I never imagined their worship of the moon goddess would reach such an extent." The two arrived at the Heavenly King's Palace.

The Maitreya Buddha, with his belly exposed and smiling, is facing you, and the nanmu wood-carved bib is decorated with eighty-eight children performing various acrobatics.

Look closely at the shadows—the Four Heavenly Kings stand atop the Eight Legions of Demons, their brows furrowed and eyes fierce, looking down upon all living beings! The Heavenly King of Growth, wielding a sword, points his blade northward; the Heavenly King of Holding a pipa, holding a seven-inch string; the Heavenly King of Abundant Hearing, holding an umbrella, wears a necklace adorned with 108 prayer beads; and the Heavenly King of Wide Vision, capturing a dragon, has dragon eyes inlaid with Persian glass—each displaying their divine might!
Feng Jiuxiao said, "The fact that this place is so well preserved shows that the Radiant Dharma King has considerable influence in Tibet."

Venerable White Lotus replied, "Yes!"

Feng Jiuxiao had a question he wanted to ask, but he held it in at the end!

What he wanted to ask was—was it true that the Tibetan National Preceptor was deeply in love with the Radiant Dharma King?

The two arrived at the main hall.

Inside the hall, the towering Buddhas of the Three Worlds, several meters high, gaze down upon all living beings.

Shakyamuni Buddha is in the center, his hair bun inlaid with Hetian jade, and the swastika on his chest is stained with blood; Bhaisajyaguru Buddha is on the left, holding a lapis lazuli pagoda, inside which hang twelve yakshas with golden bells; Amitabha Buddha is on the right, with a lotus platform in his palm.

"There's a hidden mechanism in the lotus hole of the lotus pedestal in Amitabha Buddha's palm—pull the trigger and a thousand small celadon Buddhas will appear!"

"Oh? Using traps to mislead worshippers?"

"There's no other way. Most of the locals are Buddhist, so we have to resort to some tricks if we want to snatch food from the tiger's mouth!"

"Heh, monks actually swindling people out of their money, if word gets out..."

Venerable White Lotus laughed and said, "Young master, please don't laugh at us. We are actually people of the martial world, not true Buddhists! Strictly speaking, we are members of the Demonic Sect!"

Feng Jiuxiao's heart skipped a beat: This guy is finally going to get to the point!

The two walked around to the back of the Buddha statue, only to see—

The Guanyin sculpture on the island is truly a masterpiece! Waves surge beneath the feet of the Sudhana and the Dragon Girl, shark dorsal fins pierce like swords, and the mouths of evil spirits open like crossbow bolts!

We passed through the back door and arrived at the Garan Hall.

The west wing hall enshrines Guan Yu, with his silkworm eyebrows and Green Dragon Crescent Blade. No matter who you are, you will always look at these two features first when you see the image of Guan Yu! Feng Jiuxiao is no exception!
Ascending the winding corridor, the eleven-faced, thousand-armed Guanyin statue before your eyes is awe-inspiring!
The eleven gold sheets are divided into four layers:
The lower level features a three-faced, angry expression to repel demons!
The middle level, with compassionate faces on all sides, guides people!
On the upper level, a three-faced Buddha is preaching!
At the very top, a Vajra statue faces the sky, visible only from the top of the pavilion!

A thousand hands, like lotus flowers, expand and contract, stepping on the tongue of a dragon!

The two continued walking.

Feng Jiuxiao asked, "What exactly do you want from me?"

Venerable White Lotus said, "My master also wishes to have a share of the Heavenly Roc's Rainbow Egg!"

Feng Jiuxiao laughed and said, "The Heavenly Peng Colorful Egg isn't mine, so you can go and take it!"

Venerable White Lotus said awkwardly, "It's not that I don't want to go, but I feel that my strength is insufficient and the possibility of failure is very high!"

Feng Jiuxiao was somewhat puzzled: "Your strength is not enough?"

Venerable Bailian said, “In the past, our Guangming Temple could move freely in Tibet, not because we had great influence there, but because the Tibetan National Preceptor had a past relationship with the Dharma King and offered a lot of help!”

"Hehe, it's easy to do things when you have a powerful backer! No wonder! Since you have the Tibetan National Preceptor as your backer, what do you have to worry about?"

Venerable White Lotus said quietly, "The key point is that the Dharma King and the Holy Venerable recently had a falling out!"

Feng Jiuxiao asked, "What? Because of what?"

Venerable White Lotus sighed and said, "Our Dharma King recently assumed the position of leader of the Demonic Sect! Therefore..."

Feng Jiuxiao said, "Therefore... her desire for power far outweighs her personal feelings for her children!"

The two then went to the Arhat Hall.

The dragon beneath the seat of the Arhat Subduing the Dragon is a real crocodile specimen; the waves beneath the feet of the Arhat Crossing the River are splashing with sandalwood; light shines through the ear piercing of the Arhat Cleaning His Ears; the Lion-Laughing Arhat has a cub holding a ball beneath his knees…

The four walls are adorned with colorful sculptures of the Twenty-Four Deities!

"We have three unique treasures of our temple."

What are the three unique skills?

"The Buddha Tooth Relic Stupa, a gilded Ashoka Stupa enshrining the Buddha's canine tooth; the Sutra Wheel, containing 100,000 palm-leaf scriptures stored in a sandalwood revolving wheel, can be turned once to recite a thousand scriptures; the Wordless Jade Stele, a whole piece of Kunlun jade, is two zhang tall, and can display celestial Sanskrit characters in sunny or rainy weather!"

"real or fake?"

"It's really fake!"

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