Day and night tour

Chapter 164: Fake Buddha
Zhou Xuan and the other two entered the gate of Qiye Temple.

The central axis of the temple faces south and north, with ancillary facilities on the east and west sides. As the three of them passed through the mountain gate, the two little monks who were welcoming the guests saw Siming.

One of the novice monks went to inform the abbot, Master Dehai,

Another novice monk came up to greet Siming: "Master Si, your visit to our small temple brings honor to our humble temple."

"A friend of mine wants to burn incense. Bring him here to have a look. We can just walk around the temple. You can just greet your guest."

His words and actions indicated that he wanted the young monk not to follow him, so the young monk went back to the front of the mountain gate, chanting the Buddha's name.

Zhou Xuan glanced at the young monk and asked Siming, "Are all the monks in Qiye Temple so polite?"

After meeting the novice monk, Zhou Xuan felt that the monks in Qiye Temple loved to laugh too much. Even from a long distance away, he could see the smiles on their faces, very sincere ones.

Normally, although the monks at the mountain gate are there to welcome guests, they are usually serious in order to maintain the solemn image of the temple.

"Humph, half of the incense money for the Qiye Temple is donated by our hall. How dare he not smile when he sees me?"

Siming said.

"It's not just about money, Master Si, look at that..."

Qiye Temple is very famous in Mingjiang Prefecture, and there are many pilgrims in the temple.
At the foot of the mountain gate, there was an elderly couple. When they walked onto the stone path, the welcoming monk smiled at them - a very warm but fake smile.

"That welcoming monk is quite fond of laughing, as if there's something missing here..." Zhou Xuan poked his temple.

The three of them continued walking towards the mountain gate.

After passing the mountain gate, the Heavenly King Hall is opposite.

Maitreya Buddha is enshrined in the center of the hall, with statues of the Four Heavenly Kings standing on both sides.

To Zhou Xuan, these five Buddha statues always gave him an eerie feeling. Although each of them looked majestic and solemn, he just felt that they were weird.

"Do you think this Buddha statue is strange?"

"It's not strange, it's just a Buddha statue." Siming replied to Zhou Xuan.

“Do we feel so far off?”

Zhou Xuan didn't understand.

If he released his perception, it would be possible for him to sense an aura that was completely different from Siming's, but because Si Yu'er was around him, he tried his best to restrain his perception, so there was not much difference in perception between him and Siming and Si Yu'er.

How was it possible that he felt the eerie and strange feeling, but Si Ming and Si Yuer didn't?

"Oh, the Buddha here doesn't seem very spiritual. It's quite different from the Buddha in our Pingshui Prefecture."

While Zhou Xuan was wondering, an old couple who came to the temple to burn incense also walked into the Hall of Heavenly Kings.

Among them, the old lady also felt that there was something wrong with the Buddha here.

Zhou Xuan turned around and asked the old lady, "Auntie, are you from Pingshui Prefecture too? Me too."

"Hey, fellow, I live on Taiping Road. Where do you live, young man?"

Taiping Road is the economic center of Pingshui Prefecture, and most people living on this road are rich.

The old lady shows off her wealth a little.

"I live on Taiping West Road." Zhou Xuan said casually, "Isn't the Buddha here effective?"

“It feels weird.”

When the old lady heard that Zhou Xuan lived on Taiping West Road, the poorest street in Pingshui Prefecture, she thought that Zhou Xuan must also be a poor boy. When she continued to talk about his residence, she seemed awkward, as if she was deliberately looking down on her. Just as Zhou Xuan changed the subject, the old lady quickly took over.

She pointed at the Maitreya Buddha and said, "We have many Maitreya temples in Pingshui Prefecture. The Maitreya statues in those temples are more righteous than this one."

Most of the Maitreya Temples in Pingshui Prefecture are fake Maitreya Temples built by kidnappers.

Even the Maitreya in the fake Maitreya Temple has a more positive temperament than the Maitreya in the Qiye Temple!
Si Yuer asked the old lady: "Auntie, what do you mean by temperament?"

Just now Si Yu'er was standing behind Siming. Now that she stood out, the old lady could see her appearance clearly. She couldn't help but praise her, "Wow, this girl has a beautiful face and a good figure." Then she pointed at Zhou Xuan and said, "This boy is also very tall."

Zhou Xuan: “…”

Why is it that others are pretty and have good figures, but I am only short?

"Girl, let me tell you, the Maitreya in our Pingshui Prefecture is very powerful. When I bow to him, I feel my body warm. But when I bow to the Maitreya in your Mingjiang Prefecture, I feel a gust of wind coming from nowhere, and it makes me feel cold."

The old lady shook her head and said, "I feel that the Buddha in this temple is not righteous. I don't dare to worship it. I advise you not to worship it. Some Buddhas cannot be worshipped randomly."

Not only the old lady felt this way, the old man also chimed in, saying, "The temple feels a bit crooked."

"Wai" is the dialect of Pingshui Prefecture, which means "evil".

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the old couple linked arms and walked from the Tianwang Temple to the mountain gate to leave the Qiye Temple.

The old lady was kindhearted. After walking a few steps, she advised Zhou Xuan: "Big tall man, I advise you, praying to Buddha recklessly will ruin your fortune. You are still young, and your other fortunes may be ruined, but your fortune cannot be ruined."

What else could Zhou Xuan say?
"Thank you, Auntie..."

After the old couple left, Zhou Xuan felt that his feeling was right, but it was very strange. Why could even ordinary pilgrims sense what was happening, but Siming and Si Yuer couldn't?
"I see. Is there a possibility that Siming and Si Yu'er have never worshipped the true Buddha and have no idea what the true Buddha's aura looks like?"

Zhou Xuan made a "meditation hand seal" and released some of the Buddha's energy.

This Buddhist aura was completely different from the fake Buddhist aura in the Heavenly King Hall. Si Yuer felt as warm as "a spring breeze".

"Can you feel my Buddha energy?" Zhou Xuan asked.

"Ah, just like what the ancient books say, it feels like being in the sun, and my body feels very comfortable." Si Yu'er was a little surprised: "Brother Zhou, you are from the tattoo lineage, and tattoos are the hall of the Yin people, how can there be Buddha's aura?"

"I had a good opportunity before." Zhou Xuan said with a smile.

His Buddha energy comes from his "Ten Fingers" and the Lotus Goddess. Moreover, the Buddha energy of his Ten Fingers was refined by his sister through sacrifice, and only the essence was taken. His temperament is as positive as it can be.
Naturally, it was consistent with what was said in ancient books. "Is this the Buddha's energy?" Siming was both happy and angry.

The good news is that Zhou Xuan can actually release Buddha's energy, which brings the speculation of "the reincarnation of the great Buddha" a little closer.

What made him angry was that Qiye Temple was his sect's territory.
Every year, the temple spends nearly one million national currency to donate incense to Qiye Temple, donate money to build temples and reclaim land, but they actually raise a fake Buddha!

That’s millions of dollars!
He claimed to be a smart businessman, but over the years, he made a mess of his accounts!

"Damn it, he deceived us thieves for so many years?"

Siming was so angry that he had to make things clear today.

"No wonder the welcoming monk smiles so sweetly. There is no real Buddha atmosphere in the temple, but he receives more incense money than temples with real Buddha atmosphere. If it were me, I would smile too."

Zhou Xuan advised Siming again: "Master Si, to find out the truth, we need to move quickly and slowly, and take big steps, but we must not show off, otherwise people will find out what you have done and won't be on guard against you."

When Siming heard this, he realized that it was indeed the case. He said, "Young master, you are right to remind me," and then he returned to his usual composure.

"Master Si, what lucky wind has blown today to bring your distinguished guest here?" Master Dehai greeted Siming from a distance.

Master Dehai is the abbot of Qiye Temple and is considered an "old friend" of Siming.

Siming thought about the huge amount of millions of dollars his gang spent every year going down the drain, and he became furious and snorted coldly.

Zhou Xuan reminded again: "Walk fast and breathe slowly."

Siming then said to Dehai as usual: "Master Dehai, a friend of mine wants to come and worship, so I will bring him to the Qiye Temple for a stroll."

"Oh, is this donor from Mingjiang Prefecture?" Dehai asked Zhou Xuan.

"No."

"Have you visited other temples before?"

"I don't really worship." Zhou Xuan said, "I'm not a big fan of Buddhism and I don't like to burn incense. It was only because the head of the temple praised your temple for its spirituality that he asked me to come and burn incense today."

Si Ming, Si Yuer: "..."

Si Yuer thought to herself, "Brother Zhou said he walked fast and breathed slowly, but his breathing was so slow that he was a little dazed."

"It's good that you haven't worshipped before. The Buddha in some temples is fake. The Buddha in our temple is real."

Dehai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Today, Master Dehai accompanied me and explained the murals and statues along the way. Perhaps I can have a better understanding of the great path of Buddhism."

Zhou Xuan started by flattering others.

"I don't deserve this honor, but it is my duty to explain the Buddha statues and paintings to you, my dear guest. May I ask your name?"

"Surname Zhou, Zhou Jun!"

"Donor Zhou, please follow me into the hall."

Dehai was very humble and invited Zhou Xuan and the other two to continue visiting the temple.

"This Master De Hai really looks like a sheep."

Zhou Xuan said to himself.

The first time he met Dehai, he recognized each other's appearance.

Although Dehai has a round face, no beard and a slightly fat body, in Zhou Xuan's eyes, he is just a sheep, with a thin and pointed face and a tuft of beard on his chin. The most important thing is his pupils, which are not the spherical pupils of humans, but the horizontal pupils of sheep.

All of this was discovered by Zhou Xuan's "Observation".

"Could it be a goat monster? Is there a sect of wild immortals called Sheep Sect?" Zhou Xuan had already begun to speculate.

……

Going out from the north gate of Tianwang Temple is the Main Hall.

Many pilgrims are bowing here, and the temple master is sitting at the door, explaining the blessing of having a child to a female pilgrim.

The name of the Hall Master sounds like a very high position, but to put it bluntly, he is just the manager of the Main Hall. He is responsible for collecting incense money, cleaning the hall and the Buddha statues, and occasionally chatting with pilgrims. The position is actually not high.

Zhou Xuan looked at the hall master through "looks", this man did not have "goat appearance", he was just an ordinary monk.

But what's strange is that this monk is actually big and strong, with a sturdy figure but also a bit fat. In ancient times, this would be the body of a general - fat wrapped around muscles, with great strength and endurance.

"The monks of Qiye Temple probably don't eat vegetarian food!"

Ordinary monks are vegetarians and have thin bodies. But everyone in Qiye Temple is Lu Zhishen. How can they become like this by eating vegetarian food?

"He definitely eats meat, and probably eats quite a lot of it."

Zhou Xuan walked to the main hall and felt it. He realized that the Buddhist aura in the hall was not so gloomy, but the temperament was still not too positive.

"Donor Zhou, if we say that the Mahavira Hall in our temple is different from the other Mahavira Halls,

Other temples worship the horizontal three Buddhas and the vertical three Buddhas. In our temple, in addition to these six Buddhas, we also worship the seventh, the monk who cooks wine."

Zhou Xuan had heard Siming talk about the wine-cooking monk, but he thought the talk was too general, so he asked Dehai: "Master, what kind of Buddha is this wine-cooking monk? How can he be on par with the vertical and horizontal Buddhas of the three times?"

Dehai smiled and was about to start speaking when a shout came from the hall.

"Brother, I will just accompany the distinguished guest to explain."

Another burly monk in a cassock came towards Zhou Xuan.

Zhou Xuan turned his head and saw the "goat-like appearance" on the face of the monk in the cassock...

(End of this chapter)