Northern Dynasties

Chapter 355
In the evening, the temple slaves and peasants returned to the village one after another after a day's work, but before they had time to go home to rest for a while, they were shouted and driven by the monks who had been waiting here, and gathered in groups. Came to the simple shanty outside the temple.

At this time, there were as many as 2000 people gathered inside and outside these shacks, all of whom belonged to the temple slaves of Guangming Temple. They worked in the fields during the day and were responsible for guarding outside the temple at night.

There were nearly 2000 monks and soldiers in the temple, plus these summoned slaves, it was more than enough to protect the safety of the temple.

Therefore, although the people in the county know that there is a large amount of property stored in the Guangming Temple today, no one dares to invade.Not only is he afraid of the mighty force in the temple, but also because he is in awe of this important place of Buddhism and dare not be presumptuous.

Today was nothing special compared to usual. After the slaves were gathered here, they each received some food provided by the temple to fill their stomachs, and then lay down inside and outside the huts.Although the environment here is noisy and simple, but after a day's work, he was already exhausted, and soon the shanty was already snoring like thunder.

"Why is there a fire there? Where is it?"

Suddenly, a person on duty at night found that there seemed to be a fire looming in the distance under the night. The fire grew extremely fast. At first it was only a halo, but soon a clear flame could be seen. It was indeed a raging fire!
More and more people were awakened, and soon someone recognized the location of the fire: "No, it's the barn! Go and put out the fire, put out the fire!"

What the granary stores is not grain, but various sundries such as agricultural tools, grain seeds, and livestock feed, which are related to a whole season of spring plowing.The slaves panicked when they saw the fire in the barn, and no longer cared about guarding the temple, they rushed to the field where the barn was located, trying to put out the fire and rescue the farm tools and seeds.

The monks in the temple were also disturbed. While sending several deacon monks to direct the fire fighting and check if there were any other accidents, they also raised their vigilance in the temple.

Armors were distributed to every monk and soldier, and they respectively guarded the residence of the temple master and elder and the warehouse where important supplies were stored, so as to ensure the safety of important personnel in the temple.

Master Tan Jing, who had just finished the evening class, did not fall asleep at the moment, summoned a few monks to inquire about the situation, and then said calmly: "Don't panic, it should be just an accident. If there are really bad guys who intend to do evil , it will definitely be chosen in the dead of night when people are sleeping, and the people are still vigilant, even if there are thieves, they will not dare to act presumptuously!"

After everyone heard this, they all nodded in agreement and felt relieved, and followed Master Tan Jing's arrangement to carry out vigilance step by step, and they were no longer panicked like before.

Although he felt that it was not the haunt of thieves, but based on the principle of being cautious, Master Tan Jing inspected some important places in the temple, and he did not forget to tell the monks and soldiers not to ignore the goods sent by Li Tai's staff.If he didn't guess wrong, those should be goods that were directly moved out of the treasury. If any accident happened, he would not be able to explain it.

Thanks to the efforts of the masses, the fire in the barn was gradually brought under control and did not continue to spread to the surrounding area.It's just that the night is covering up, and the scene is in a mess again, so it's hard to trace the cause of the fire.

After running to put out the fire, the farmers who had been exhausted all day became even more tired. Although some deacon monks urged them to go back to defend outside the temple, they were too lazy to respond. Few of them were willing to go back, and most of them went home to rest nearby. .

Among those who still returned to the temple honestly, there was a group that seemed to be staggering and unsteady when walking, but they were extremely fast, and they were ahead of everyone in a short time.

When the other temple slaves saw this, they only thought that these people were planning to grab a comfortable place in the shanty, cursing secretly in their hearts, while dragging their tired bodies to speed up their pace.The temperature difference between day and night in Longyou is huge, so naturally no one wants to spend the night outside with a cold wind.

Seeing these temple slaves return, there was no accident outside the temple, and the monks and soldiers who were on guard on the wall also retreated into the temple one after another.With the eyes and ears of the outside world in charge of guarding the perimeter, the monks and soldiers naturally didn't bother to keep watch at night.

When the monks who went out to inspect also returned to the temple, the novice who guarded the gate was about to close the gate of the temple again.However, at this moment, a sharp piercing sound sounded, and there was a muffled sound of "Du". The monk felt the door panel shake violently, and when he looked up, he saw an arrow had been deeply inserted into the door panel, and he suddenly panicked. Slumped on the ground.

Many vigorous figures emerged from the huts, each with a long knife and sharp blade, rushing straight towards the half-covered temple gate. The monks were caught off guard and forced by these strong men to retreat back into the temple in embarrassment, and handed over the control of the temple gate.

When the monks and soldiers in the temple came together after hearing the news, these strong men had already formed an formation in front of the temple gate, and these monks and soldiers who threatened with strong bows and arrows did not dare to bully them.

At the same time, several vacant shanties outside the temple were also set ablaze, and the blazing flames became another signal, and loud and noisy horseshoes sounded in the wilderness outside the temple.

Not long after, hundreds of heavily armed knights rushed to the gate of the temple. Because some companions on the way rushed to snatch the gate, they rushed into the temple without any hindrance, and even drove the monks and soldiers They rushed in all directions.

"This trip is only for money, if you don't die, you will die if you resist!"

These knights chanted slogans and charged back and forth in the temple wielding their spears and long knives. They did not pursue those monks and soldiers who abandoned their weapons and fled, but they also showed no mercy to those who were still waiting to resist. Chop and stab.

The defense in the temple was not completely chaotic. After the initial chaos, an effective defense was quickly organized in front of the main hall. The fences erected made it difficult for the knights who entered the temple to gallop and charge.

"Leave 30 people to prevent these monks from leaving the formation, and the rest will follow me and quickly attack the warehouse!"

A masked strongman shouted to his companions, and these people quickly divided into two parts, one part restrained the monks and soldiers stationed here, and the other part led them straight to the warehouse where the money and food were important in the temple.

At this time, Master Tan Jing had already been alarmed. The sound of fighting that filled the entire temple made him no longer have to guess. Zhong warned the police, organized the monks to defend themselves, and asked for help from outside.

The monks and soldiers did their best to guard the temple, but these invading enemies seemed to know the internal structure of the temple and even the actual situation of the defense line. The army was defeated, and the defense lines everywhere were continuously compressed and repelled.

Unknowingly, most of the monks were driven to a relatively closed area in the temple. The strong men in front of them didn't mean to rush in to cause massacres. They just didn't allow the monks to break through, so the monks felt a little relieved , although the temple master and elders repeatedly shouted orders to break out, the young and strong monks and soldiers on the front line did not have the courage to fight with their lives.

After controlling the guards in the temple, the intruders divided into two groups, all the way straight into the warehouse, and quickly searched for the gold, jade, gemstones and various high-grade pigment minerals accumulated in the temple, or wrapped them in cloth, or They were packed in cages and kept thrown on horseback, and several warehouses were quickly emptied.

"Enough, enough! Any more may hinder the action, get on the horse, and evacuate!"

After each of the men and horses distributed a considerable amount of load, even though there were still materials in several warehouses that had not been cleared in time, the leader also called for a stop in time, and did not continue to load greedily.

All the knights also obeyed the order to stop, quickly evacuated from here, and scattered some of the property along the way, so as to arouse the greed of the monks and not to chase them too closely.

The trumpet of the order sounded, and the powerful people scattered in various areas of the temple quickly gathered at the gate of the temple. The leader who had been waiting here for a long time, after counting the people and confirming that no one was lost or missing, he ordered them to stop. Exit the temple quickly.

At this moment, outside the temple, a group of people waving sticks rushed towards it. Among them, there were also some strong warriors in armor and holding knives. They should have been sent to rescue after hearing the distress bell from the nearby temple.

But this group of people didn't stay here to fight, and they beat several horses full of gold and silver treasures and rushed towards the opposite side. As the bags of treasures on the horses fell down, the rescue team suddenly changed. If they get scattered, it will be difficult to maintain the momentum of pursuit.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the knights didn't stay any longer, and charged into the mountains immersed in the night.

"Hurry up and recover those robbers!"

At this time, Master Tan Jing in the temple no longer had the peaceful Buddha image of the past. Although he was protected by the crowd and was unscathed, his face was full of anger, especially when he saw the looted warehouse. Panting heavily, he stomped his feet and shouted: "Don't lose these bandits, you must find out where they are going!"

The monks and soldiers didn't dare to be negligent at the moment, some of them stayed in the temple to clean up, while the other went to the stables to ride horses and chase the enemy.

But at this moment, the outside of the temple is no longer deserted. Many temple slaves and monks from other temples who lived nearby had heard the news and came to rescue them. Eyes, looting and stampede for a while, the scene was extremely chaotic.

This chaos continued throughout the night, and on the second day, the Morning Bell Buddha, which has always been a major feature of Tianshui, was rarely interrupted after arriving here.

A group of people and horses came from the direction of Zhoucheng in a mighty way. After arriving at the scene, they surrounded and sealed off the temple, and no one else was allowed to enter or leave at will.

(End of this chapter)