The Word of Heaven

Chapter 280 This is what the history books record
Changle Temple is located in the East China Sea, but not in the deep sea, but close to the land.

When the weather is fine, even ordinary people standing on the coastline and looking into the distance can find the golden body of the Bodhisattva between the sea and the sky, shining brightly under the sunlight.

Because it is far away, it seems small. However, when people see with their own eyes the Bodhisattva who seems to be present on earth, they still have a feeling that the entire world before their eyes is occupied by tiny light dust, and they have a strong sense of yearning and worship.

The island where the golden statue of Bodhisattva is located is Changle Temple.

The name of the nunnery is Changle, so it is immune to sea rain, wind and storm, and is no different from the wonderful place described in Buddhist scriptures.

In the eyes of ordinary fishermen who go out to sea in search of a living, Changle Temple is the brightest lighthouse in the dark night, leading every lost person on the road to safe return home.

What was different from the past was that the golden statue of the Bodhisattva showed signs of damage and burning, which even the sunlight could not completely cover.

That was the indelible and heavy scars caused by the White Emperor who used the Heavenly Dao Seal to summon countless pillars of light to descend upon countless Buddhist temples on earth and killed countless chanting monks who were trying to create the Buddha for Dao Xiu on earth.

Whenever people in the temple passed by the golden statue of the Bodhisattva, their pace would involuntarily slow down. It had nothing to do with awe and respect, but had a lot to do with fear.

Not far from the largest island where the incomplete golden statue of the Bodhisattva is located, there is an ordinary small island that few people pay attention to. The trees on the island have not withered due to the arrival of the cold winter, and they are still lush and green today.

The island has a gently undulating terrain and is dotted with several Buddhist temples, but the abbot is not among them.

The nun faced the sea, watching the waves hitting the rocks and splashing into countless snow-like waves.

There was still a lively look in the abbot's eyes, without any trace of the loneliness of a dying person; giving people a feeling of joy hidden in the calm.

"If no one can stop him, the demon lord will come to the nunnery in seven days at the latest."

A voice sounded in the ears of the abbot.

The person who spoke was not only a nun from Changle Temple, but also the nominal imperial teacher of the Qin Empire.

Although she was wearing ordinary grey clothes, it did not detract from her beauty at all, but instead added a unique allure to her.

The abbot said softly, "Don't you want to see the Demon Lord?"

After a moment of silence, the Imperial Master shook his head and said, "I just don't want Changle Temple to become history."

"The whole world knows that the Secretary is working on besieging and killing the Demon Lord. For this purpose, he has mobilized all the resources that can be mobilized, including the noble families and sects, the most elite black armor heavy cavalry of the Qin Dynasty, and even tacitly allowed such an incident to happen in Ji Luo City, just to increase the possibility of killing the Demon Lord, but..."

She said with a very serious expression: "But the headmaster has never said a single word to the nunnery."

The abbot smiled, a very gentle smile, and said, "This makes you feel uneasy."

The Imperial Master did not deny it, but asked, "What do you think? If the Demon Lord really comes to visit us, will the nunnery let its disciples die to repay the favor of the King?"

The abbess heard the word "Wang Ji" and looked at her profile without saying anything.

The Imperial Master did not avoid the question, thinking that the silence was a hesitation, and continued, "I think the favor owed by the nunnery belongs to Yishui."

The abbot's smile never disappeared, but he remained speechless.

The Imperial Master looked at her and said seriously, "No one knows what happened before Wang Ji died, so who can be sure that Qie Man is really in the hands of the Demon Lord?"

The abbot stopped smiling, seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "Maybe."

"Thank you for your hard work."

The Imperial Master stood up, took a few steps back, and bowed solemnly.

The abbot never looked back.

Listening to the footsteps fading away, she did not feel tired or disgusted, but just sighed.

When a person is about to die, before she has the chance to leave behind a few kind words, the world has already changed prematurely, ignoring her life and death.

How could the abbot not see what the imperial teacher was thinking?
Zen Buddhism was completely defeated.

With the death of Daoxiu, Cihang Temple was no longer qualified to be the head of Zen Buddhism, and Changle Temple was qualified to take its place.

The national teacher can also be the abbess in the future. After becoming the abbess, she can use her status as the national teacher to make Zen Buddhism and Daqin make peace again. Even if that means dependence, what's wrong with that?
The premise of all this is that Changle An must stand on the right side in this siege of the Demon Lord.

For this reason, it was only natural for the national teacher to come to her, a dying person, and seemingly tactfully but directly ask her to give up repaying the favor she owed to the king.

The abbot no longer thought about these things.

She slowly closed her eyes, letting the sound of the waves enter her ears and drowning out the hustle and bustle of the world.

In the distance, the national teacher withdrew his gaze from the abbot and gradually felt relieved.

What Zen Buddhists are best at is never chanting sutras, but forbearance.

——Dao Xiu is a unique outlier.

I think after today's conversation, the abbot can close his eyes and feel at ease, ignoring worldly affairs.

……

……

Cangzhou is located on the shore of the East China Sea and sits at the estuary of a mighty river. It had been famous in the world long before the founding of the Qin Dynasty.

The prosperous commercial shipping since ancient times has made this city never stop expanding. The interests of various forces are intertwined here. In addition, the current abbot of Changle Temple is obsessed with Buddhism and is unwilling to interfere too much in worldly affairs. As a result, the situation in the city is like a thick fog, confusing.

However... today the fog has dissipated.

The three thousand heavy cavalry in black armor who had missed Gu Zhuo outside Ji Luo arrived in Cangzhou as ordered, led by General Wang's deputy.

The local forces in Cangzhou City had not had time to prepare themselves, and strong men from the Sky Patrol arrived, but this was still not the real end.

The head of Yishui, Wei Qingci, came with thirty sword masters.

No matter how stupid an idiot is, he knows that a storm is coming to Cangzhou.

Those local strongmen who usually raised thick fog showed an attitude of complete retreat today without hesitation. They did not dare to have any extra thoughts and prepared themselves according to the various requirements received to welcome the arrival of the Demon Lord.

There is a mansion in the east city of Cangzhou. There is no name on the plaque on the door, but its owner is famous all over the world.

The owner's surname was Zhao, his given name was Qi, and his nickname was Jiaoyang.

There is a library deep in the mansion. Its windows are open, but only the biting winter wind blows in.

Zhao Qi looked at the person sitting opposite him and said nothing.

"The court, or rather the Lord's intention, is very clear. The safety of the human world depends on this move. Please consider it carefully."

After saying this, the man from the court stood up and left very quickly.

Wang Mo pushed open the door of the study, came to the master, bowed his head and said: "Senior Nan has agreed."

Zhao Qi said calmly: "I can't think of any reason why Nan Zong would refuse."

Wang Mo was slightly startled, thinking that Senior Nan had been seriously injured in the battle with Qing Xiaoyue and had not recovered yet, so why didn't he refuse? He asked puzzledly: "Why?"

"The Taoist uses a sword." Zhao Qi's explanation was very clear.

Wang Mo understood.

After the death of the senior with the same surname as him, the Southern Sect could see no one around on the steep and rugged peak of the sword path.

Now that things have come to this, how can the Southern Sect bear to watch the Taoist master leave without fighting him?
Wang Mo suddenly thought of a question and asked, "Why... Master, do you call him Dao Master?"

Zhao Qi said indifferently: "I never care about good and evil, not to mention that he doesn't see true evil."

Wang Mo was stunned again when he heard this, and then he recalled the battle with Gu Zhuo on the long dike in Wangjing City. His emotions became very complicated and he was speechless for a long time.

"Master, do you think that if the Taoist Master insists on going his own way, he will eventually die in Cangzhou City?"

"meeting."

Zhao Qi thought about the imperial teacher who came to see him last night with the same intention as the Sky Patrol Officer, and about the young man who walked into the Weiyang Palace covered in dust, and his eyes became more and more calm.

Wang Mo frowned and asked, "The Master has fallen into depravity. The abbot is unable to take action due to human relationships and her own injuries. The Emperor did not take action in the Weiyang Palace, and it is unlikely that he will take action this time. Given the killing power displayed by the Taoist Master now, why do you make such a judgment?" As soon as he finished speaking, he came to his senses belatedly and realized that this judgment must have come from the decision that his master had already made.

Yes, the death of the Taoist master will be an unprecedented feast in the world. The guests will use swords as chopsticks, drink his blood and devour his flesh.

How many people can resist not taking a seat?

Zhao Qi glanced at Wang Mo, without explaining anything, but just said a word.

"His Majesty the Emperor may not just be a bystander."

He spoke softly, recalling the incident that happened in Yunmengze several years ago, and vaguely felt that it was similar to Cangzhou today.

These are all incidents related to the Taoist Master, aren’t they?

Yunmengze ended with Yingxu’s death, what about this time?
……

……

The boat went upstream, leaving waves that spread for more than ten miles on the river surface, as if they were cut by a knife.

Pei Jinge is the most amazing knife in the world.

The black skirt danced in the wind.

Her hair was not messy, but was carefully tied up with a tie, revealing her fair neck.

As we got closer and closer to Cangzhou City, the uncertainty and hesitation we felt when we first headed north seemed to have been thrown away by the waves.

Before going north, Yu Sheng said a few words to her about Gu Zhuo.

"You are right. It may be true that you are deserted by your friends and relatives."

“No one can stand by his side now.”

"But there are always some things in this world that have nothing to do with standing in line."

It was these three sentences that made Pei Jinge finally decide to go north.

She didn't know whether the decision was right or wrong, but she was sure that it was what she wanted to do and she was willing to give a lot for it.

When she thought of this, she suddenly felt that she might be able to meet her old friend again in Cangzhou this time.

……

……

There is no omniscient being in this world.

The so-called destiny is ultimately just empty talk if God does not personally visit the world.

No matter how high the realm is, as high as the Taoist master or the White Emperor, it is impossible to truly calculate everything.

Even if fishing is destined by fate, it is just to use countless tiny factors to promote it, constantly reducing possible accidents, so that the taste of the final fruit will be in line with your own wishes.

Gu Zhuo's current realm is so different from that in his previous life that it is impossible for him to calculate everything.

If the White Emperor had secretly arranged this feast for him with the will of heaven, then at this moment he had undoubtedly fallen into a disadvantageous position where he could not help himself.

However, he still continued on his own path, calmly as if he knew nothing, and as if he could return to the old days at any time and crush all enemies in front of him with the most direct means.

This strong self-confidence and indelible record made the Sky Patrol dare not relax their pursuit of him.

The difference is that the commander did not let anyone go in front of Gu Zhuo and cause blood to splatter everywhere.

Both parties were well aware of each other's existence and maintained a silent calm, waiting for the feast to begin.

Therefore, this also allowed Gu Zhuo to have peace of mind again after many days.

Although the mountain wind was cold, the mountain streams were frozen, and the forests were mostly covered with snow, this was still the warmest time he had experienced in recent days.

Even though he saw fish swimming under the ice and wanted to cook fish soup, he had to give up because he had no pot and no seasoning; he also saw that the wild vegetables in the mountains looked particularly delicious after being frosted, but he could not eat them raw like the savages and gave up; he also saw that an old hunter living in the mountains followed the advice of his enemy and tried to poison him, but he killed him with a sword, and he could only eat the morning dew and drink the morning breeze to fill his stomach... After all these trivial and annoying things, Gu Zhuo still thought that this was a rare happy life.

Cangzhou was getting closer and closer to him, and this was the ninth day after he left Jilou.

The sun, the moon, the stars, and all things have never stopped communicating with Gu Zhuo.

Countless pieces of information and intelligence fell into his sea of ​​consciousness, becoming the basis for him to deduce and calculate the next battle and his chances of winning.

This still cannot be called destiny, but it is no less than fishing by fate.

At dusk, Gu Zhuo walked through the snowy forest and reached the cliff.

In the shade of the evening fire, the city in the distance seemed to be burning, and the glazed tiles reflecting the sky were like scales of the sea, shining brightly.

That is Cangzhou.

There was still smoke from cooking fires in the city, and the flow of people passing by continued, with no sign of weakening because of the upcoming feast.

Just like people only realize that a building has collapsed after it has collapsed.

The evening breeze was so sharp that it made Gu Zhuo's clothes rustle.

Dozens of miles away is the Sizhu.

During these days, his eyes were always on Gu Zhuo.

In a sense, the two have never really separated and are always together.

Being together requires not only courage but also energy.

The peaceful and pleasant time did not allow Gu Zhuo to truly rest completely, and his condition was still bad.

The director was very satisfied with this, even though he also put a lot of effort into it.

Dozens of miles apart, the two looked at each other.

Gu Zhuo remained silent.

The boss smiled.

Gu Zhuo did not return the smile. He calmly withdrew his gaze and walked down the mountain.

The way to go down the mountain is very simple, exactly the same as Yu Sheng's.

Walk to the edge of the cliff and jump off in the evening breeze.

Neither the strange pine trees on the cliff nor the odd rocks that protruded from the cliff could stop his fall.

In just a moment, a lake appeared in front of Gu Zhuo.

His body became extremely light, as if he had lost all weight. His toes lightly touched the surface of the lake, causing ripples, and his figure quickly disappeared into the distance.

The master's gaze followed Gu Zhuo and witnessed him reaching Cangzhou in the twilight.

……

……

On the ninth day, the Taoist master entered Cangzhou alone.

Under the gazes of countless people, this peerless strong man climbed up the tallest building in the city, reaching shoulder to shoulder with the setting sun.

At that time, the whole city was dead silent.

Then, his voice was clearly heard.

——I heard you were coming to kill me?
According to the records in later historical books, the Taoist master only said this one sentence today.

(End of this chapter)