Xuanxia

Chapter 408: Scriptures and the Little Monk
"Who?"

Yue Heng was startled and turned back suddenly.

Many people in the cave were looking at him, but he didn't see anyone who matched the description of the old, low voice.

Most of those who looked at him had doubts and hostility in their eyes - after all, they were reading the scriptures intently, and you suddenly stood up, blocking them completely, and even seemed to want to touch them, which was obviously disrespectful.

Only a young monk who looked only seven or eight years old in the crowd looked at him with a friendly smile in his eyes.

Yue Heng suddenly felt a strange feeling in his heart.

No, it’s this little monk, right?

At this moment, the old voice sounded in his ears again: "Don't look at me, it's me."

When the voice sounded, the little monk was still smiling without moving his mouth.

Yue Heng was startled. A dark cave, a little monk, and an old man's voice suddenly ringing in his ears... If he hadn't learned magic, he would even think it was haunted!
At this moment, the little monk stood up and turned to walk out of the cave.

At the same time, Yue Heng heard the old voice again: "Donor, if you have any questions, why don't you come and talk to me?"

"..."

After hesitating for a moment, Yue Heng gritted his teeth and followed.

Fu Qingzhou asked him to come to Jinchan Temple, and naturally told him some things.

He knew that Jinchan Temple was ostensibly the largest sect in the world, but in reality it secretly supported evil cultivators like Fanyin Temple. He also knew that Li Qing, a younger brother that Fu Qingzhou had recognized in Fanyin Temple, had been abducted.

Therefore, faced with this situation, it is impossible for him to not be nervous.

But Yue Heng has an advantage.

He...is carefree.

Even though he had experienced his recent imprisonment and his character had been tempered, he was still the carefree scholar.

But now, the adjective "carefree" should be adjusted and upgraded to "daring"!
As he followed the little monk out, Yue Heng's mood calmed down.

There are so many pilgrims and tourists in this Buddhist cave. Even if this weird little monk wants to do something to me, he can't do it in front of so many people!

Never mind, just follow and see!

Just like that, Yue Heng followed the little monk out of the Huigen Grotto.

Seeing him following, the young monk turned his head, smiled at him, and said, "Donor, have you practiced magic?"

This time, the voice was not that of an old and low person, but that of a normal child.

Yue Heng took a deep breath and whispered, "Yes, I have practiced some magic... I wonder if you are?"

"It doesn't matter who I am."

The young monk looked up at him and smiled, "Donor, why are you here?"

Yue Heng began to act out, and sighed: "I just experienced a prison disaster. Although I managed to escape safely, it was still a disaster after all. In the spring of next year, I will have to take the imperial examination again... But after going through so much, I no longer have any confidence in my heart, so..."

He was halfway through his words when the young monk interrupted him: "Donor, this is a sacred place for Buddhism, it's not good to talk nonsense when you open your mouth."

Yue Heng's eyes widened, and all the words that followed were blocked at once.

Then he heard the young monk say with a smile: "It is true that you have been imprisoned, but in your heart you no longer regard it as a disaster; you will indeed take part in the minor imperial examination next year, but in your heart you are extremely determined and have no doubts."

After saying this, he stopped, looked up at Yue Heng, tilted his head and said: "That's why I'm confused... Donor, you are not confused in your heart, you have the courage to move forward, why do you have to come to the temple to ask for Buddha's advice?"

Yue Heng opened his mouth and then smiled bitterly: "Master, are you able to read other people's minds? You have seen through my thoughts, so why do you need to ask again?"

The little monk shook his head.

"How can there be such a thing as telepathy in this world?"

He smiled and said, "People's minds are ever-changing, and they can have a thousand thoughts in a moment. Even if a god descends to earth, it is impossible for him to understand people's minds... I am only a rough expert in observing qi and physiognomy."

Yue Heng didn't have as many thoughts as Fu Qingzhou, so he believed it immediately after hearing it. He said, "Oh," and scratched his head, "In that case, Master, please assume that I am here to pray for good luck in the imperial examination next year."

"Row."

The young monk did not pursue the matter any further, with a look of understanding as if he had seen through everything, and asked again: "Then, benefactor, why were you attracted by the scripture on the wall of the cave just now?" Yue Heng knew that it would be meaningless to lie in front of this mysterious little monk, so he simply made up his mind.

"I noticed that the traces of magic left on the scripture are different in style from all other magic in the Jinchan Temple."

He whispered: "The spells left in Jinchan Temple are almost all of two different styles..."

After he expressed his observations and understandings one by one, he explained: "It was because I saw the strange style of that verse that I became curious and couldn't help wanting to touch it..."

Yue Heng learned his lesson this time and told almost no lies. He just concealed the thing that Fu Qingzhou asked him to do. The rest could be said to be all true.

But this time, the little monk didn't seem to care whether what he said was true or not.

He looked at Yue Heng with great curiosity, and asked, "Can you tell the style of the spell?"

"A feeling?"

Yue Heng smiled awkwardly: "After all, I am only at the third level of spiritual enlightenment, and I have only been learning magic for a month. I don't know much about it, but I think that magic is like calligraphy and painting, and each style and school has its own merits. I can see some clues."

The little monk smiled and did not comment.

He simply glanced in the direction of Huigen Cave and said, "The scripture you saw is not the original."

Yue Heng was stunned.

"You should also know that the Jinchan Temple was moved to the capital only about a hundred years ago. Before that, the temple was located in Mangdang Mountain in the south of the Yangtze River. This Buddhist cave was also copied from the original site of the temple."

The young monk said slowly, "When reproducing the many scriptures of the predecessors in the Huigen Grotto, only the sentence that the donor saw was extremely difficult to reproduce... Moreover, moving the entire temple is a big deal, and a single scripture is not worth the efforts of many elders and masters in the temple at that time."

Yue Heng suddenly realized: "So, the magic style in the scripture is not correct enough?"

"good."

The young monk smiled and said, "Of course, the first person who left the words didn't have a good reputation. He was still a senior monk in our temple when he left the words for printing the sutras, but his state of mind had changed by then, which led to the strange style that the donor saw... Afterwards, he even rebelled against our temple and got the notoriety of the Sea Monster Monk."

Yue Heng nodded slightly: "So, Master, you don't want me to touch it?"

"That's right." The little monk said, "If it was an authentic scripture, it would be fine if the donor touched it. If the donor was injured, our temple would always have a way to heal it. But now the scripture in the cave is neither evil nor righteous, neither demon nor Buddha. If the donor is really injured, our temple will still have some headaches."

Yue Heng understood a little.

But soon, he realized something strange.

If, as the master monk said, the magic style reflected in this scripture is due to the unclear reproduction of later generations...

What about the spell on the big iron box?
Yue Heng was very sure that these two spell styles were exactly the same!
He lowered his head to think, and when he looked up, the little monk was gone.

"Eh? Master?"

Yue Heng was stunned and scratched his head... Forget it, if it’s gone, it’s gone. Who cares?

With this clue, should that be enough? Let's go back and ask Brother Fu?

He scratched his head and turned away.

But he didn't know that on the top of the mountain where the Buddhist cave was located, there were two figures, one tall and one short, looking at him.

The short figure was none other than the young monk, and the person standing next to him was none other than Yuan Zhen.

"master."

Yuan Zhen asked softly, "You have been in seclusion for many years, why did you suddenly show up and instruct a passerby?"

The little novice monk... is also Yuanzhen's master, the best master in Jinchan Temple, and the chief monk of precepts, Huikong.

He smiled slightly and said calmly: "That Fu Qingzhou doesn't trust us, so he sent people to investigate. If I don't give you some advice, is he waiting for you to meet him by chance?"

"Fu Qingzhou?" Yuan Zhen was a little confused: "Is that passerby related to Master Fu?"

"..."

The little monk shook his head helplessly: "It seems that you haven't learned much from the trip to Luoyi... Go back and learn more from Fu Qingzhou. The matter of the Blood Sea Robe is more complicated than I thought. Yuanzhen, you... must grow up quickly."

After saying that, he turned around and left. His walking posture was actually like a little child skipping and jumping, with an innocent look on his face, as if he was really a child.

(End of this chapter)