Knife splashing

Chapter 286 Buddha's Warning
Thick fog rolled in, and there was nothingness all around.

Li Yan looked around and frowned slightly.

I didn't expect that just coming here to sound the alarm would lead to a warrant. Could it be that there are "resurrected people" hiding in this holy place of Buddhism?
Of course, even if there is, it is not uncommon.

The world is unpredictable and life and death are hard to predict.

What about the orthodoxy of the three religions and the will of heaven? They are nothing but human sayings. When it comes to yin and yang, life and death, everyone is the same.

Of course, Li Yan didn’t have time to think about it now.

There is a big monk outside, so we can't stay here too long.

He quickened his pace and pushed through the thick fog.

Soon, the thick fog around dissipated, and a huge Buddha statue appeared before his eyes. It was about three stories high, with a solemn appearance, a fleshy bun on the top of the head, ears hanging down to the shoulders, and blue glazed hair. It was sitting upright on a lotus platform.

The whole body was radiating golden light, illuminating the surrounding darkness.

At the same time, a magnificent Buddhist voice sounded in my ears, as loud as a bell, "Thus I have heard, once the Buddha was in the Jetavana Grove in the country of Savatthi, with a great assembly of bhikkhus..."

Diamond Sutra?
Li Yan was stunned for a moment. He knew this scripture.

But what surprised him even more was that
Why are there Buddha statues?

This should be a communication with the gods, but this is the first time that a building has appeared.

Just as he was wondering, the Buddha statue began to emit golden light, which quickly grew stronger along with Buddhist chants and illuminated the surrounding darkness.

In the darkness, some things appeared.

A giant turtle with its head held high, a giant snake coiling, a white tiger lying on the ground, and a giant bird flapping its flaming wings...

Four images?

Li Yan's mind was full of questions.

The Buddha statue before us should be considered as the earth deity that has been worshipped in Baotong Zen Temple for many years. Like other earth deities, it cannot communicate with words.

These things are all hints...

But what do these four symbols represent?
Before he could see clearly, the four sacred beasts around him quickly turned pitch black, their eyes glowed red, and they looked evil.

And the towering Buddha statue suddenly started to shed tears of blood...

What happened?

Li Yan's eyes were filled with shock, but before he could react, the illusions around him quickly disappeared.

All this happened in just a moment.

The big monk guarding the mountain clasped his hands together and stared at Li Yan, still waiting for his reply, his eyes full of vigilance.

Li Yan calmed himself down and said, "Excuse me, is Master Chengjue, the monk on duty in the temple, available? I have something important to report, so I am here to pay my respects to the mountain late at night."

Without waiting for the old monk to ask more, he continued, "This is a secret. Master, just tell me my name, and Master Chengjue will know it."

The old monk nodded slightly, and without turning his head, he said, "Hui Qing, go into the temple and tell them about this."

"Yes, master."

In the darkness, a monk holding a long stick appeared, raised the stick with his backhand, saluted with one hand, and then left quickly.

The old monk then spoke: "The temple has been in turmoil recently, and the abbot asked us to guard it carefully. I hope you will forgive me."

"It should."

Li Yan nodded slightly, his expression normal.

He was already certain that something big must have happened in Baotong Temple, otherwise the monks in the Law Enforcement Hall would not be so cautious.

After a while, the monk came hurriedly, followed by a huge figure like an iron tower. It was Chengjue.

When he saw Li Yan, he looked a little surprised, "Young Master Li, I wonder what you want to talk to me about so late at night?"

Li Yan frowned, "This is a confidential matter, don't talk about it."

How come these monks don’t even know basic etiquette? They block the door and ask people questions, as if they are afraid that he will go in.

As if sensing his dissatisfaction, Cheng Jue pondered for a moment, clasped his hands together and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Li, please follow me."

After saying that, he took Li Yan into the mountain gate.

The monks guarding the mountain behind him disappeared into the darkness again.

Baotong Temple is very old. It was first built during the Liu Song period of the Southern Dynasties. It was later destroyed in war and rebuilt by the King of Wuchang.

This is a royal temple, so the temple walls are bright yellow, and the vermilion temple door inlaid with copper nails is tightly closed.

The two entered through the small door on the left.

As soon as you enter, you can hear the sound of chanting and wooden fish deep in the temple. It seems that a ritual is being performed, and the rich smell of incense fills the air.

Li Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, "Is your temple holding a ritual?"

Cheng Jue shook his head decisively, "I can't say that, please forgive me, young man."

After saying that, he took Li Yan across a stone bridge, avoiding the main hall, and came to a meditation room.

A little monk had already poured the tea inside.

After the young monk left, Chengjue spoke up, "There have been a lot of things going on in the temple recently. If I have been negligent, I hope that Young Master Li will forgive me. What do you want to talk to me about?"

"The Tian family's affairs have begun to take shape..."

Li Yan didn't waste any words and directly explained the situation.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Jue didn't seem surprised after hearing this. "I already know about this matter. Thank you, Mr. Li, for coming to warn me."

Good guy!
Li Yan understood immediately and said in a cold voice: "It seems that the master has already found out about this matter, but he pretended to be deaf and dumb and let the Tian family suffer... Doesn't Buddhism emphasize compassion?"

Chengjue said calmly, "Great compassion without any cause, great compassion for all beings. But if the great calamity comes, we can only make choices. I will bear all the consequences myself."

This means that even if Mr. Tian's family died, they would not act rashly because there would be a greater disaster.

But Li Yan came here late at night, how could he be scare away by just a few words?

He pondered for a moment and said, "Since Master has found out my information, he should know that I have another identity."

Cheng Jue nodded and said, "The living Yin Messenger protects the Yin and Yang six realms, and his merits are immeasurable. I admire you very much."

"There's no need to admire it."

Li Yan drank a sip of tea slowly, "The living ghost messenger has the ability to communicate with gods. Just now outside the temple, I saw something..."

"What did you see, young man?"

"The Buddha statue is weeping blood!"

"what?!"

Cheng Jue's expression suddenly changed, and he stood up suddenly, "What else did you see, young man?"

Li Yan did not answer, but asked: "Who did it? What happened to Tian Han, the son of the Tian family?"

Cheng Jue's eyes twitched, but he still spoke: "The perpetrators are a group of bee-door scammers from Xiangyang. The 'An Zuo Zi' is called Lu Shangyuan. They roam around Ezhou and do evil, gathering and dispersing from time to time."

"We have secretly sent people to infiltrate them, and we have learned that they were also entrusted by others to set up a trap to harm Mr. Tian's family."

"Including the Xu family, they were also instructed by those people to perform the magic of annihilation to harm others, but why they were silenced has not been found out yet?"

"In addition, there is a group of Miao people who claim to be descendants of Jiangxia barbarians. They are bewitched by someone, and the person behind the scenes has not yet appeared."

"As for the son of the Tian family, I have sent someone to inquire about him. When he was ordained at Qingliang Temple on Mulan Mountain, there was nothing abnormal with the Buddha statue. It was not possessed by a demon or ghost."

"The three Tian brothers were all set up. The person behind the scenes is probably looking for someone who is related to all three of them..."

The monk was straightforward and didn't bother to argue with Li Yan. After talking for a while, he said, "This is what we found. What else did Li see?"

"This is a matter of great importance, please let me know!"

Li Yan naturally would not hide anything after hearing what he said. He shook his head and said, "I saw the four sacred beasts. They seemed to be infected by something and turned into evil creatures. Then the Buddha statues wept blood."

"The four sacred beasts?"

Chengjue frowned, "This is a warning from the Buddha. What does it mean?"

Li Yan shook his head and said, "That's not clear." Cheng Jue hesitated for a moment and said, "Young Master Li has the ability to communicate with gods. If I take you to the Great Hall, I wonder if you can get more clues?"

Li Yan was a little surprised. "Although the ability to communicate with gods is rare, your temple is one of the ancestral temples of Zen Buddhism. You can't find someone there, right?"

A trace of anger appeared in Chengjue's eyes, "To be honest with you, Young Master Li, there are several brothers in the Zen temple who have the ability to see ghosts and spirits, or can hear the words of ghosts and gods, and there are also many who have awakened their supernatural powers."

"But starting from the past few months, they were attacked one after another when they went out to perform rituals. When we performed rituals, we did not get complete information."

"I see."

Li Yan nodded and said, "I can try."

The secret book of the Living Yin Messenger left by Liu Gang describes a method that can be used to actively communicate with the earth gods with the help of the power of Gou Die.

He hasn't used it yet, so now's a good time to try it out.

"Please wait a moment, benefactor. I will go and make the arrangements."

Chengjue was also a decisive person, so he got up and went out immediately.

Li Yan was not surprised and patiently drank tea and waited.

There must be a religious ceremony going on in the main hall. Although Chengjue holds a high position in the Law Enforcement Hall, he is just a monk on duty in Baotong Zen Temple.

The abbot, the chief monk, the hall master, the dean... there are many people with higher status than him, and there is more than one monk on duty.

If one wants to stop the ritual and communicate with the spirit, it is obviously not something that can be decided by just one sentence from Chengjue.

Sure enough, the wait lasted for nearly half an hour.

Li Yan opened his newly bought pocket watch and took a look at it.

The time table on this pocket watch is not Arabic numerals, but the twelve-hour table customary in China, starting from midnight and ending at 11 p.m.

But there are also subdivisions, for example, the midnight is divided into Zichu and Zizheng, and further divided into eight ke, one ke is about fifteen minutes.

All in all, it's about the same as a clock.

For example, right now, it is 1:15 pm, which is about 0:15 pm...

At this moment, hurried footsteps sounded, and Zheng Chengjue came hurriedly with several monks, "Young Master Li, please come in."

Li Yan quickly stood up and followed them away.

Listening carefully in the distance, I found that the chanting had indeed stopped.

After passing through several corridors, they arrived outside the main hall, where they saw Buddhist lamps like stars, many cushions placed on the ground, and a strong, pungent smell of incense, obviously a ritual had just stopped.

Several white-bearded old monks were sitting in the main hall.

Seeing them, Li Yan's heart trembled suddenly.

Among these old monks, half of them had no smell on their bodies, and it was obvious that they were all in the state of Dan Jin.

I have heard that Baotong Zen Temple is one of the ancestral temples of Zen Buddhism. Not only are there people who specialize in Buddhist practices, but there are also masters who practice Vajra martial arts. It is indeed a temple with a profound heritage.

Any one of these old monks can intimidate a group of people.

Not only that, they also have a kind of "momentum", majestic and serene. When they sit there, they look like standing Buddha statues.

No wonder he was able to gain a foothold in Ezhou, where the Zhenwu Palace is located.

And these are probably just the forces on the surface.

These old monks have already cultivated to the limit that mortals can reach. Perhaps they can continue to break through, but they are all old and have no chance to go further.

But there will always be those with extraordinary talent.

For example, the Buddhist deities.

Thinking of this, Li Yan became more cautious.

Chengjue stepped forward, clasped his hands together and said, "Abbot, this is Young Master Li from Guanzhong."

Then he turned around and introduced: "Young Master Li, this is the abbot Mingzhu of Baotong Zen Temple."

Li Yan hurriedly bowed and said, "Greetings to the abbot and all the masters."

Abbot Mingzhu was an old monk who was a little fat. He had a kind face, white eyebrows and beard, and large earlobes that were still trembling slightly.

Li Yan had vaguely heard that the Buddhist and Taoist practices of supernatural powers were somewhat different, but they ultimately led to the same goal.

This is the appearance of a Buddha with supernatural powers. The other party should have awakened the supernatural power of hearing.

Sure enough, after the abbot Mingzhu's ears trembled, he smiled and nodded, saying: "The young donor has the divine tiger Thunder accompanying him, which is indeed extraordinary."

"Senior is so complimentary."

Li Yan made a polite remark and didn't take it seriously.

To be the abbot of Baotong Zen Temple, it is not just about having good cultivation skills, but also about dealing with various forces and being able to speak.

Abbot Mingzhu nodded and said, "Come in, little donor. No matter what you see, there is no need to panic."

Li Yan nodded and strode into the main hall.

Perhaps because of the rituals being performed, this Great Hall did not use magic to prohibit supernatural powers from detecting like other Xuanmen halls, so he was able to smell the scent of several people.

After entering the hall, he looked up and his heart trembled slightly.

Inside the hall, Sakyamuni Buddha is enshrined, and generally there are three forms of his image: the phase of enlightenment, the phase of preaching, and the phase of reclining.

The most common image of enlightenment is the Buddha sitting cross-legged with his left hand placed horizontally on his left foot, which is called the Dhyana mudra, indicating inner peace and meditation. His right hand is stretched straight down, which is called the “Earth Touching Mudra”, indicating the subjugation of demons and the realization of the truth, with the earth as the witness.

The Dharma-giving posture is also seated in full lotus position, but the fingers of the right hand are bent into a ring shape, called the "Dharma-giving Seal", which represents the Buddha imparting the Dharma.

As for the reclining statue, it represents the Buddha's nirvana.

The Buddha statue before him was a typical image of enlightenment, and was exactly the same as what he had seen in his illusion.

The only difference is that the gold paint on the Buddha's eyes has fallen off, forming holes, and red water droplets have gathered there, as if shedding tears of blood.

Abbot Mingzhu shook his head and sighed, “When Baotong Zen Temple was built, this Buddha statue used a secret method that could predict disasters.”

"Many years ago, the Yangtze River was flooded, and water dripped from the Buddha statue, attracting spirit snakes to linger. Our temple sent out experts to kill a water python that was trying to transform into a dragon..."

"A few years ago, there was an epidemic and mold grew on Buddha statues. We worked with Taoist doctors at Zhenwu Palace to boil medicinal soup and perform rituals to drive away the plague..."

"It was only after two advance arrangements that we were able to avoid disasters and difficulties."

"But this time it was a man-made disaster. The demon planned carefully in advance and put us in a passive position. If you can find the cause, it will be a great merit."

So that's how it is... Li Yan immediately understood.

This method is somewhat similar to divination, except that it uses secret techniques and is integrated into architecture. It can be found in many places in China, leaving behind many prophecies of impending disasters.

For example, if a tower collapses or a well dries up, a disaster will befall.

Thinking of this, Li Yan also said seriously: "This is a matter of great justice, so I will naturally do my best. I also ask the abbot to help me find a soul-guiding lamp and prepare a basin of clean water."

These things were not rare and were found quickly.

Li Yan first lit the soul-guiding lamp, then placed the basin of clear water in front of him, took out the hook, and at the same time made hand gestures to concentrate his mind.

This method comes from folk witchcraft.

Fire is Yang and water is Yin, each representing the separation of Yin and Yang.

Therefore, when people returned from other places or were unlucky, they had to step over the fire basin, which represented stepping over the world of the living and keeping some unclean and evil things behind them.

And his replacement with water naturally represents stepping into the underworld.

Of course, it does not really mean entering the underworld, but it is a bit like walking in the underworld, loosening the soul and body, and using the hook to actively communicate with ghosts and gods and see more things.

Call ~
As he cast the spell, a cold wind blew around him.

The soul-guiding lamp also began to flicker.

After it stabilized, Li Yan immediately stepped over the basin with the hook in his hand.

As his feet landed on the ground, he felt a black screen in front of his eyes, the sound of wind whistling in his ears, and the surrounding scene also changed...

　Second update will be posted at 11:00
　　
　
(End of this chapter)