Knife splashing

Chapter 640: All parties are in action
The strange phenomenon of Mangshan can be clearly seen around Luoyang.

Ten miles away from Longmen Inn is the famous Longmen Grottoes.

This grotto was excavated before Emperor Xiaowen of Wei moved the capital to Luoyang. It was continuously constructed through the Eastern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Qi, Sui, Tang, and Five Dynasties, especially during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, who provided strong support.

For example, the most famous Vairocana Buddha was modeled after the image of Wu Zetian.

There is a story behind this.

One morning, Wu Zetian was dressing up when Emperor Gaozong praised her, saying, "Zi Tong has a handsome appearance, is elegant and graceful, and has the demeanor of a bodhisattva." Wu Zetian wiped away her tears and said, "Even if I have a thousand good looks now, I will still be a pile of dry bones a hundred years later. Who knows what I look like?"

Emperor Gaozong said: "It's not difficult. I will order the painter to draw a beautiful portrait for Zi Tong."

Wu Zetian said: "Although the portrait is beautiful, it is just a thin piece of paper and cannot be passed down for a thousand years."

"Your Majesty said that I have the appearance of a bodhisattva, why don't you build a cave and a statue on Mount Longmen?"

So Emperor Gaozong ordered people to carve an open-air Buddhist shrine as big as nine rooms on the cliff halfway up the west mountain of Longmen, and named it the Great Vairocana Shrine.

Wu Zetian named herself "Zhao", which means illuminating the universe.

The translation of Vairocana means "light shines everywhere".

The two complement each other, and even the appearance of the Buddha statue is carved according to the image of Wu Zetian.

In order to make this statue immortal, Emperor Gaozong of Tang invited the best craftsmen, and Empress Wu Zetian donated 20,000 strings of cash for cosmetics. It took three years and nine months to complete. To this day, people living near Longmen still call it the Statue of Wu Zetian.

When the statue was completed, it was radiant and became a magnificent sight in the Tang Dynasty.

Unfortunately, no matter how brilliant something is, it cannot withstand the erosion of time.

The raw materials on the surface of the Buddha statue have long faded and become mottled. Due to years of weathering and several wars, it has been damaged in many places and looks dilapidated.

In front of the Buddha statue, two old monks were standing and watching.

These two people are the abbot and founder of Xiangshan Temple.

The Buddhist sects near Luoyang are relatively powerful.

In addition to the White Horse Temple, there are also the Ten Temples of Longmen.

These ten temples have a long history, and the chief one is Xiangshan Temple.

At that time, Bai Juyi donated 600,000 to 700,000 strings of cash to rebuild Xiangshan Temple, and wrote "Record of Renovation of Xiangshan Temple", praising it: Among the ten temples in Longmen, Xiangshan is the best for sightseeing.

Like Shangqing Palace, Xiangshan Temple also has great ambitions.

But their goal was not to please the emperor, but to continue building the Longmen Grottoes and construct more Buddha statues, so that this Buddhist holy place would be passed down through the ages and their names would be engraved in history.

One can even enter the Western Paradise based on one's merits.

For such a large project, the amount of money spent can be imagined.

To this end, Xiangshan Temple tried every possible way to make money and was often framed by local Confucian scholars in Luoyang.

But in the face of these obsessions, what does a little bit of infamy matter?
At this moment, the two of them were concentrating on looking at the Buddha statue above.

When renovating the Longmen Grottoes, the first thing to be repaired was the Vairocana Buddha.

After years of destruction and war, this world-famous Buddha statue has been damaged in many places. The restoration work began several years ago, but due to intermittent funding, the construction period was delayed for a long time.

The wooden scaffolding was already covered with dust.

The other workers had left, leaving only an old man sitting cross-legged next to the Buddha's palm.

He is tall, with dishevelled clothes, loose white hair, and a vigorous face. He looks unruly, but his eyes are as calm as a lake. He is holding a stone hammer and a chisel, carefully tapping on the palm of the Buddha statue.

With the crisp sound of ding ding ding, lime powder splashed everywhere.

And palm lines gradually appeared on the Buddha's palms.

If you look closely at these palm lines, you will find that they are composed of the Sanskrit version of the Diamond Sutra.

As the old man blew, the words appeared clearly.

"Wonderful."

When Master Kuzhu, the abbot of Xiangshan Temple, saw it, he exclaimed in admiration, "Master Lu's meticulous carving is the best in Luoyang. It can't be one point lighter, and it can't be one point heavier. The control of strength is only between subtlety."

"The patterns on the Buddha's body are all carved with Buddhist scriptures. After it is successful, we will ask the Xuanmen craftsmen to install and consecrate it. When the people worship, they will hear the Buddha's voice in their hearts, and the whole Buddhist sect will be shaken."

"Leave it to him, he will definitely accomplish this feat!"

"The host is right."

The abbot monk next to him also smiled and said, "The key is that Master Lu is obsessed with his skills and doesn't covet those things. This also allows us to take a break."

After hearing this, Master Kuzhu, the abbot of Xiangshan Temple, couldn't help but smile and nodded, "This is karma. If Master Lu wasn't of such a noble character, he wouldn't have been able to hone his skills to such a level."

"Remember, after the matter is accomplished, offer a longevity lamp to the master in the main hall."

"The host is right."

As the two were talking, their faces suddenly froze.

But suddenly, a strong wind blew around. Water vapor condensed on the body of the Vairocana Buddha, gathered in his eyes and flowed down, as if he was crying. The paint on his body and around the shrine, which had already faded, began to peel off piece by piece.

Rumble!
The surrounding ground shook, and rubble and soil fell from above the cave.

"Oh no, the ground is vibrating!"

"What happened?"

The two old monks were also from the Xuanmen sect, and they immediately felt the unusual movement of the earth's energy.

The "Master Lu" who was carving above also stiffened and the strength of his arms changed.

Ding! There was a crisp sound.

A crack suddenly appeared on the wrist of the Buddha, and then he rolled down with a loud bang.

When the two old monks saw this, their faces turned red.

This giant Buddha is already quite old, and even if it is restored, it is impossible for it to be in perfect condition again. It is also unknown how much manpower and resources it will take.

How come you don’t stand being praised at all?
Just as the two were about to speak, they saw a bloody sky in the distance.

"Is that... the direction of Mount Mang?"

"There is a strange phenomenon in the sky, I'm afraid something has happened."

"After all, this is the territory of Shangqing Palace, we are waiting..."

"Let's go and have a look. The White Horse Temple is the White Horse Temple. It's too close to the Xiangshan Temple. We must know what happened."

After a discussion, the two of them left quickly, not even caring about the repairs of the Buddha behind them.

After they left, the old man slowly turned around.

His eyes instantly turned pure black.

Looking at the bloody sky in the distance, he frowned and asked, "Why did you come out so early?"

After saying this, he counted with his fingers and murmured:
"The time is not yet right. Once the underground palace is destroyed, the Xuanmen righteous path will be summoned."

"Forget it, let's find something for them to do first..."

…………

The unusual movements in Mangshan alarmed all forces.

Li Yan and others who were at the center felt it even more clearly.

In a short period of time, the blood light became even more enchanting, rising and falling like a flame, reflecting the clouds in the sky, making the entire mountain and field covered with a layer of blood, like a burning mountain fire, covering the sky and the sun.

There are many imperial tombs near Mangshan.

In the forests surrounding the mausoleum, birds and beasts flew away in fright, and flocks of crows blocked out the sun.

The crying sounded shrill, like the incantation in Nuo opera.

Because the underground palace collapsed, dust flew everywhere, and Li Yan and others were covered in dust and looked very embarrassed.

Especially the soil deep underground was also surging out.

The air was filled with a nauseating smell of decay and rust.

However, even Long Yan'er, who loved cleanliness the most, didn't care about this matter.

“This blood light.”

Long Yaner looked up at the sky, her face full of shock, "Could it be... that we are in trouble?" "It's not our fault." Yin Jiuge took over the conversation.

The hunchbacked old man's eyes flashed with brilliance. He squatted down, first rubbed up a handful of soil, put it in his mouth to taste it, then grabbed a handful of five-colored soil from the leather bag at his waist, piled it into a small pile on the ground, inserted three incense sticks, and observed the changes.

In front of everyone's eyes, the incense burned abnormally, and soon the left one became longer, while the two on the right became shorter.

"It's the ground veins that are moving, and the evil spirits are colliding!"

Yin Jiuge frowned and said with some doubt: "The demonic Qi of the six countries' demon army is suppressed inside. It seems that something is preventing them from coming out, which is why there is such a commotion."

Li Yan also made a hand gesture, his ears moved slightly, and then he looked at the ground with a look of shock on his face.

"I...heard the roar of a dragon and shouts of killing."

"The sound of a dragon's roar?"

Yin Jiuge seemed to be thinking about something. He immediately took out the compass, turned around a few times, and said after checking: "Oh no, this underground palace has other arrangements. I didn't realize that it could involve the Mangshan earth vein and even trigger the central dragon vein!"

"It should be the 'Sui Hou Treasure Pearl'. How could this treasure be so powerful?"

As he spoke, his eyes were full of disbelief.

Li Yan's heart moved and he took out a bamboo slip from his arms.

It was just snatched from the hands of the old evil man who was possessed by the "evil spirit".

"Senior, please look at this."

After Li Yan explained the origins, he said in a deep voice: "There must be something strange about that monster carrying it with him!"

Everyone looked down and saw that the surface of the bamboo slips was glowing with a bluish-black luster, which looked particularly strange under the reflection of the blood.

Yin Jiuge took it and felt it was cold to the touch, obviously not an ordinary thing.

"This is Qin Jian."

As he flipped through the books, he frowned and said, "There are still many preserved in the Underworld Sect's Sutra Library. The size, shape, and material are exactly the same. They should have come from the Qin Palace, but this character... I really can't recognize it."

It’s no wonder he was worried; the words on it were too old.

It is a bit like small seal script, but more rugged and complex, and even a bit similar to oracle bone script.

After hearing this, Li Yan also felt a headache.

He had seen it at that time and didn't recognize it at all. He didn't expect that this knowledgeable old senior from the Ming Sect would be the same.

"Can you show it to me?"

At this moment, Golden-eyed Feng next to him suddenly spoke.

After he took the bamboo slips, he just flipped through them twice and nodded, saying, "This is the 'Golden Magpie Book'."

"The Moshu says: The inscriptions on ancient coins were made by the imperial palace of the Zhou Dynasty, the liang and knives of the Han Dynasty, and the knives and cloth of the Zhou Dynasty. Ordinary people can only recognize a few of the inscriptions on the coins during the Zhou Dynasty, but I have obtained an ancient book and have studied this book."

"Senior is indeed worthy of being called the Golden Eyes!"

Li Yan was overjoyed and asked quickly, "Hurry and take a look. What's written on it?"

Golden Eyes Feng nodded, and after careful identification, his face was suddenly filled with surprise.

"This is... written by Xu Fu himself!"

Sweat broke out on his forehead. As he flipped through the pages, he said, "It's Xu Fu's account. He left Shenzhou and went overseas to seek immortality. He never planned to come back, and left behind three bamboo scrolls. They record the path to immortality, the secrets of the fake underworld, and the restrictions in Luoyang."

As he spoke, he began to recite the original text:

"Shi (Fu) was ordered by the First Emperor to suppress the demon army of the six kingdoms in Mangshan. However, the demon army was transformed by the Qi of evil spirits, and it was difficult to destroy them with ordinary methods. Therefore, the system of Fengdu was imitated, and a fake underworld was set up to trap them."

"The fake underworld is based on the three talents: the heavenly position is Suihouzhu, the human position is Sanhuangmu, and the earthly position is the earthly position."

Golden Eye Feng's voice suddenly stopped, his brows furrowed, "This place has been deliberately worn out."

Then he continued to read: "The sorcerers of the six countries used the evil spirits to refine the devil soldiers. If they were to suppress them by force, the backlash would be even worse."

"There is no medicine in Penglai, no immortals in Yingzhou, and it is difficult to return from the east. However, the Qin law is cruel. I am afraid that the First Emperor will send people to hunt me down, so I left a flaw in the 'Human Position' spirit wood to break the First Emperor's Nine Cauldrons Divine Continent formation. Although I feel uneasy, I just want to protect myself..."

"What a thief!"

Hearing this, Yin Jiuge's face was immediately filled with murderous intent, "Sure enough, this guy is the one causing trouble!"

"What do you mean by seeking self-protection? If they were really scared, why would they leave this thing behind on purpose? It's clearly a secret instruction. Does it mention the path to immortality and the Nine Cauldrons?"

The matter was of great importance, so he had no time to cover it up.

Feng Zhi, the golden-eyed man, read it carefully again, smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Senior, the thing you want to know is probably on the other bamboo slip of 'The Path to Immortality'. It only talks about the fake underworld."

"The 'Suihou Snake Pearl' connects Mangshan, the Yellow River and the Central Dragon Vein. Once the demon army of the six nations escapes, the pearl will inevitably activate the dragon vein to suppress the demon army. As long as the timing is right, the Yuzhou Ding can be drawn out!"

"I understand!"

Yin Jiuge suddenly had an idea and said through gritted teeth: "This Xu Fu is really a good trick."

"The Suihou Snake Pearl is the bait, the dragon vein of Mangshan has become the fishing rod, and the demon armies of the six countries have all been used by him to become the force that pulls the Yuzhou Ding. As long as there are people in the future who covet the treasured Ding, they can follow the trend."

"Wang Xuanmo captured the descendants of the six nations not to suppress the demon army, but to control time!"

"Qingming Festival is tomorrow!"

Li Yan thought thoughtfully: "We advanced the time. Did it ruin his plan?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple."

Yin Jiuge frowned and said, "Right now the two are still in a stalemate below. If we ignore it, the Suihou Snake Pearl will continue to draw the dragon vein and earth energy, and the Yuzhou Ding will be fished out sooner or later. If we destroy the formation, the demon army will be able to escape, and then..."

Before he could finish his words, hurried footsteps suddenly came from a distance, accompanied by the crisp sound of metal colliding.

"somebody is coming!"

Lu San let out a low shout, and the little white fox jumped off his shoulder, pricking up its ears in alertness.

Li Yan quickly put away the bamboo slips and placed his hand on the Duanchen Knife.

Through the diffuse blood mist, he saw a group of figures in Taoist robes approaching quickly.

The leader was an old Taoist with white hair and beard, holding a whisk and murderous eyes.

"It's someone from Shangqing Palace!"

Golden Eyes Feng's expression changed slightly, "Looking at the posture, the person coming here has bad intentions..."

In a blink of an eye, the group of Taoists were approaching.

A rough count showed that there were at least fifty or sixty people.

Of course, it is not as good as Qingcheng, but with so many warlocks, it is also a considerable force.

The Taoists' faces were filled with murderous intent, and they quickly surrounded everyone in a fan shape.

"Who are you, thief, to dare to destroy the imperial mausoleum?"

The leading Taoist priest shouted, pointing his whisk at Li Yan, "But you dug up Jingling Mausoleum and caused this red disaster?"

Li Yan frowned and said in a deep voice: "Senior, you misunderstood. It was the work of the monster from Mangshan..."

"shut up!"

The old Taoist didn't listen to the explanation at all. He waved his whisk and said, "Mangshan is the holy land of our Xuanmen sect and guarded by Shangqing Palace. Where did these monsters come from? You are holding the proceeds from the tomb robbing and you still dare to quibble!"

"All disciples, listen up and capture these thieves!"

Before he finished speaking, more than twenty Taoists drew their swords at the same time.

Wow!

Lu San and Li Yan raised their guns directly.

"Hahaha…"

The old Taoist laughed angrily, "New firearms, do you think you are the only ones who can use them?"

After saying this, he waved his hand, and the Taoists behind him all raised their guns.

But before he could finish his words, his face turned stiff.

I saw Wu Ba carrying a tiger squat cannon and pointing it at them...

(End of this chapter)