The Word of Heaven

Chapter 241: Fate Destroying Mirror

The Immortal Monk chanted the Buddha's name, his expression seemed to be compassionate, and he sighed and said, "Because people will eventually grow up, so changes are inevitable, and..."

"Ok?"

Gu Zhuo asked: "And what?"

The Immortal Monk said honestly, "These are all old stories from a hundred years ago. If you can't talk about them loudly when chatting with friends, then aren't you being too cautious?"

Gu Zhuo smiled and said, "That's true."

As he spoke, he picked up the cucumber and took two bites, then raised his head and squinted at the sun.

The sunlight shines through the branches and leaves entwined around the tea shed and falls into Gu Zhuo's eyes, occasionally swaying in the wind, lulling him to sleep.

Monk Wuque had a unique idea. He brewed a pot of hot tea, cooled it down using spiritual practice, and then chilled it to dispel the dryness brought by the autumn heat.

Outside the tea garden, one could occasionally hear monks talking to patients, their words full of compassion, but more often they were the sounds of negotiations between businessmen and monks, the latter refusing to give in and moving closer step by step.

The tea shed became increasingly quiet.

Gu Zhuo closed his eyes and asked casually, "What will Yuan Gou Temple do this time?"

The Immortal Monk was helpless. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Although you and I are very good friends, I really can't tell you this, right?"

Having said that, Gu Zhuo had already heard the hidden meaning.

Yuangou Temple might stay out of it and watch from the sidelines from beginning to end, but no matter what, it will not let Cihang Temple be implicated in the upcoming upheavals.

"What's more..."

The Wugui monk said honestly, "Although I have done a lot of business since I joined the sect because of my good luck and good looks, and have made indelible and huge contributions to the sect, and I am undoubtedly the future of Yuangui Temple, but no matter what, the future has not come yet, and I can't decide what the elders think."

Gu Zhuo said: "So I should just take what I heard from you as casual listening and not take it to heart?"

Hearing this, the Immortal Monk became unhappy and said sternly, "That won't do. These are all my experiences and conclusions drawn from history!"

Gu Zhuo burst out laughing.

Amidst the laughter, he opened his eyes and subconsciously wanted to say something, such as the only lesson mankind has learned from history is to repeat its mistakes, and other meaningful words that could be passed down through the ages.

However, in the end he said nothing. He just raised his cup and took a sip of the cool cold tea, trying to keep the dryness of the southwest basin brought by the scorching sun away from his body.

"Is it convenient? I want to listen to the master in the temple preaching." Gu Zhuo's voice came without warning.

"what?"

"Yuan Gou Temple is very interesting to me, and I can't really be a tea farmer, right?"

"...It's possible."

"but?"

"Do you have money?"

……

……

Scriptures are valuable, but true teachings are more valuable. But for the sake of the world, both can be thrown away. This saying has been popular in Yuangou Temple for many years, and I think it will continue to be popular for many more years.

For the monks in the temple, as long as the visitors can afford the money, there are very few things that cannot be discussed.

——Many years ago, there was a Taoist who inexplicably came to Yuangou Temple to worship Buddha. The abbot of the temple at that time was reluctant to refuse him for the sake of gold leaves, but he did not expect that the Taoist would end up with his family broken up and nearly die. As a result, the reputation of Yuangou Temple was damaged, and even the price of the first incense stick was cut in half that year. It was indeed a lesson.

However, for things like listening to sutras, Yuangou Temple already had a complete set of sophisticated procedures. The main reason was that the patients who were saved by the monks were very willing to seek spiritual sustenance in this regard.

However, Monk Wuque knew very well that what Gu Zhuo wanted to hear was the true scriptures in the lecture hall, and the price was truly extraordinary.

So when he saw his friend calmly and nonchalantly take out a huge amount of money that stunned him, he couldn't calm down for a long time and kept thinking about one question.

But no matter how many times he thought about it, there was only one answer - this amount of money was ten times the total amount he had earned from running the tea garden in the past two years.

There was dead silence under the tea shed.

The Immaculate Monk took a deep breath, picked up the teapot and poured water into his lips, forcing himself to calm down, and then asked, "I didn't intend to ask before, but now I really can't help it."

Gu Zhuo was a little curious and said, "Then ask."

The Immortal Monk looked into his eyes with an extremely serious expression, and lowered his voice and said, "You haven't really done anything shameful and treasonous that will be punished by heaven and earth, have you?"

Gu Zhuo was stunned for a moment, then he understood the specific meaning of the words, that Bai Nanming was bullied and his master and ancestors were destroyed by him.

"No."

"Then where did you get the money?"

"is it a lot?"

"Let me give you a simple example. I have good fortune, right? But even with my great fortune, I would have to go out to the streets to pick up money day and night since I was seven years old, and I would have to wait until I was seventy to get the money you are giving me now."

“That does sound like a lot.”

Seeing that he was still calm, the Immortal Monk couldn't help but feel a little annoyed and asked, "So where did this money come from?"

Gu Zhuo thought, I can’t tell you that this was left by Yingxu, right?
After thinking for a moment, he said honestly: "Inheritance."

The Immaculate Monk hesitated for a long time, and after repeated contemplation, he still could not hear the falsehood, and said helplessly: "Okay, but you really don't need so much money, unless you want to be slaughtered like a golden pig by my elders."

Gu Zhuo thought for a moment and said, "How about using it to support your business?"

Upon hearing this, the Immaculate Monk was stunned for a moment, then his eyes brightened and his heartbeat was obvious.

The little monk coughed several times, wanting to speak but stopping himself, wanting to speak again.

Just when Gu Zhuo thought he would have to ask and decline three times, he heard something.

"Then you have to wait for a while. I will go to my elders to ask for more business. Otherwise, you will spend all your money on this tea garden, and I will really only be a tea merchant in the future."

The Immortal Monk looked at him, rubbed his hands nervously, and asked, "You understand this, right?"

"clear."

Gu Zhuo was very serious and didn't laugh out loud. He turned around and asked, "What about the lecture?"

Without hesitation, the Immaculate Monk said, "Put it on me."...

……

As one of the ancestral temples of Zen Buddhism today, Yuangou Temple has been passed down for thousands of years and has always been famous.

This is certainly not possible because the monks in the temple are extremely good at making money, and they spend countless amounts of money on poor and miserable patients, thus earning themselves a complicated reputation.

Cultivation is always the most important thing.

Yuangou Temple believes that the key to spiritual practice lies in enlightenment, rather than the unremitting persistence of reading scriptures during the day and meditating at night.

The way to enlightenment is to go through all kinds of things in this mundane world. In Taoist terms, it is called "transforming into a mortal"; in Zen terms, it is called "stepping into the red dust".

Therefore, the former temple of Yuangou Temple has nothing to do with purity, but is mostly about worldly affairs.

The Wuque monk brought Gu Zhuo and passed through the crowd in a low-key manner, but they could still hear many voices.

"Master, what do you think of the current situation?"

"The capital of the gods has been very busy recently. All the officials in the court have been so busy that they can't stop. I heard that the memorials in the imperial study are almost piled up to the roof, and the queen can't read them all."

"To be honest, Master, it's not because I was saved by you that I favor you. I really think the rules of the summer festival need to be changed."

"The reason why the imperial court was able to defeat the Taoist sect was closely related to your support, but what happened later?"

"All the benefits go to Qin!"

"Oh... this matter is really hard to accept."

Voices like these kept appearing from the mouths of pilgrims, and the monks standing in front of them would often just smile reservedly, and their occasional responses were also profound and could be understood in thousands of ways.

The Immortal Monk didn't even look at it and said casually, "Those words were specifically given by the abbot to fool people. Don't take them seriously."

Gu Zhuo said with emotion: "It's really down to earth."

After a few casual chats, the two men passed through the front temple and went deep into Yuangou Temple.

Amid the waves of pine trees, a Zen room appears vaguely before your eyes, so quiet that even the sound of birds can be heard.

For the next period of time, Gu Zhuo will stay here, listening to scriptures, practicing Zen and avoiding the world.

……

……

It’s not long into autumn, and the ginkgo trees in Cihang Temple haven’t turned yellow yet, but there’s already a sense of desolation.

Daoxiu stood under the tree, with a look of sorrow in his eyes, like a poet lamenting the hardships of people's lives.

The bitter monk stepped on a few scattered fallen leaves, bringing new news.

The Tianming Sect was very cooperative, but the new leader disappeared like water in the water and could not be found at all.

The mountain has been closed for many days, but no traces left by the other party have been found. There must be a strong person who is very good at tracking and anti-tracking to clean up the mess. However, the news sent back from Wuyou Mountain is a firm denial.

This was certainly not good news, so the monk Kuzhou said another sentence.

"The public opinion is very good. They all think that Qin was the first to owe the debt. The attitudes of more than ten noble families headed by the Xie family have begun to loosen. The matter can be settled before winter."

Dao Xiu listened quietly and suddenly said, "News has been sent back from Changle Temple."

The bitter boat monk asked solemnly, "Is it about the one in Yishui?"

"Wang Ji did not completely refuse and put forward a condition."

Dao Xiu raised his head, picked up a leaf, and said calmly: "As long as the Morning and Evening Bell appears, he will be willing to stand on our side. Otherwise, he will remain neutral as he was a hundred years ago."

Monk Kuzhou whispered, "There has been no news from Qingjing Monastery yet."

Dao Xiu was silent for a moment and said, "Wait."

After saying this, his eyes fell on the patterns on the ginkgo leaf, and his expression seemed thoughtful.

The bitter boat monk lowered his head and remained silent.

A long silence.

Dao Xiu's fingertips came to his senses, dropped the leaf, and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yes."

The bitter boat monk buried his head even lower.

"Let's go then."

Dao Xiu's voice was very calm. He walked around the ginkgo tree and headed forward.

There lies a piece of Tallinn.

The stone pagoda naturally contains the ashes of the eminent monks of Cihang Temple throughout the ages.

The moment you step into the tower forest, you can hear the sound of scriptures as if born from nothingness, lingering in the autumn wind, unwilling to disperse, fading into the silence.

The closer you get to the center, the clearer the chanting becomes, bringing a sense of tranquility and peace.

Dao Xiu stopped and looked forward.

A mirror hangs quietly in the air over Tallinn.

As the skylight flowed, it reflected the many cracks on the mirror surface, which were barely visible.

This is the most precious treasure of Zen Buddhism, the Mirror of Destiny.

What Daoxiu has to do is very simple.

Destroy the mirror with fate and seek an answer for Cihang Temple.

For example, the whereabouts of the new leader of the Tianming Sect.

(End of this chapter)