The Word of Heaven

Chapter 334 It's all happened in the past
"but……"

After taking a deep breath, the monk Wuque did not look at Gu Zhuo, and said in an extremely hoarse voice: "To betray my teacher and ancestors... This is not what I want to do."

Before saying this, he was silent for a long time because he was at a loss.

The four words "disrespecting teachers and destroying ancestors" are not difficult to write, but they have always been extremely difficult to do.

It is related to the state of mind. After all, cultivation is ultimately a game of time. How can it be so easy for the back wave to defeat the front wave?

But ultimately, the most important thing was that he couldn't accept that he had made such a decision.

Gu Zhuo said nothing.

Pei Jinge's eyes were calm.

She was not at all surprised by this answer, she just thought it was natural.

Most Zen disciples have faith, and faith is something like this, which can make people willingly believe in it and do something about self-sacrifice in order to gain spiritual satisfaction.

She neither despises nor dislikes it, her only attitude is respect, respect for all the choices made by believers for their faith.

Gu Zhuo and Pei Jinge have similar views.

"I never thought of forcing you to do anything that would betray your teacher and ancestors. The reason I told you about this matter is very simple." He said, "Because you are my friend."

The Wuque monk looked at Gu Zhuo and wanted to say something, but the air in his throat seemed to disappear completely in that instant, making him unable to make a sound.

This suffocating feeling was not pain, but an indescribable strong sense of detachment, which was about to drain away his tears and strength, leaving only an empty shell.

He wanted to ask, if you are my friend, why did you tell me this cruel fact so directly? Then he remembered that the truth came from Pei Jinge's mouth, and Gu Zhuo was actually the one who wanted to give him a tactful answer, and even thought of a solution for him... What else could he do?

If there is a high ground in morality, then his friend has never come down and always looks down on others.

This really sounds like hypocrisy, but it's not.

After an unknown amount of time, the Immortal Monk lowered his head again and asked, "Anything else?"

Pei Jinge listened to this and looked at the tea in the cup with regret.

"I'll be here in the next few days."

Gu Zhuo looked at the Immortal Monk and said, "Whatever decision you make, I hope you can tell me."

After he finished speaking, he picked up the remaining tea, took a sip, then stood up and walked out of the Zen room.

Pei Jinge followed him.

Tianlian Temple is a famous temple in the Southern Qi Dynasty. It ranks among the 480 temples in the south and has a great reputation.

This meditation room is an important place in the temple, and there are naturally many powerful people around it, but those two people can only be blind if they don't want to be seen.

"how?"

"Ok?"

Pei Jinge glanced at him and said, "I'm talking about how well I play the white face."

Gu Zhuo was very surprised and said, "Actually, I didn't mean that."

Pei Jinge frowned, obviously not liking this sentence.

After nearly half a quarter of an hour of silence, she stopped in front of the pear tree and said seriously, "I still can't understand why you would consider such a junior as a friend."

Gu Zhuo was slightly startled. He didn't expect that she was entangled in this matter. After thinking about it, he said uncertainly: "Maybe it's because I don't care about seniority?"

Pei Jinge laughed and said mockingly: "Anyway, my seniority is not as high as yours."

Gu Zhuo was speechless because this was the fact.

When one's seniority reaches the highest point, it is difficult to care about such things anymore. The same goes for money, power and even strength.

"But I don't think so."

Pei Jinge smiled even more and said, "I believe that you realized something was wrong with the Immortal Monk the first time you saw him."

Gu Zhuo recalled their meeting by the Wei River and shook his head, saying, "You overestimated me."

Pei Jinge said lazily, "Maybe it's an overestimate, but there is one thing I am more and more sure of now."

As she spoke, she reached out and plucked the pear blossom from the branch, as if to lure the cat slave to climb over the wall.

"What's the matter?" Gu Zhuo was a little confused.

"You are worthy of being mentioned on par with His Majesty the Emperor."

Pei Jinge held the flower between his fingertips and raised his hand high, but still failed to attract the temple cat. He said with some regret: "When it comes to manipulating people's hearts, as long as you are willing to do it, you are unique in the world."

Without waiting for Gu Zhuo to speak, the woman lowered her head and sniffed the pear blossoms, then added a sentence with emotion.

"When you and I left earlier, the little monk was clearly very upset. He wanted to curse but didn't know who to curse. You came with good intentions and told him earnestly that you regarded him as a friend and I was a stranger. As for the Buddha? Buddha is his belief and he can't curse at all. If he must curse, then only those who are blinded by profit can be cursed. But he thinks he can understand their so-called difficulties. Tsk, the result is that in the end he can't curse anyone and has nowhere to vent."

Pei Jinge has never been a person who likes long speeches.

The reason for this passage, of course, is because she finds it ironic, and... the fact that no cat in the temple is willing to pay attention to her is a little embarrassing.

She ended by casually adding: "Don't get me wrong, I really admire you."

Gu Zhuo said calmly: "I didn't misunderstand."

Pei Jinge raised his eyebrows, tilted his head and looked at Gu Zhuo sideways, and suddenly changed the subject: "In fact, every word I said just now was malicious, and I had the darkest speculation about you."

The afternoon sun was shining brightly, gently covering her with a layer of golden gauze. Her hair was shining brightly, and there was no trace of the malice that should have been in her tone when she said this.

On the contrary, at this moment Pei Jinge is as bright as a young girl.

"Then?" Gu Zhuo's voice was unclear.

Pei Jinge smiled, threw the pear blossom into the dust, and said, "If you were the kind of person I mean, how could there be so many bizarre corruption cases when the Dao Sect fought against our dynasty?"

Gu Zhuo said: "Why can't you understand that I am using the White Emperor's hand to remove the rotten meat for the Taoist sect?"

Pei Jinge listened to these very true words, raised his hand to push his slightly messy hair behind his ears, frowned and asked: "So what you mean is that this is actually the only way you found to save the Dao Sect?"

From the time he opened his eyes and walked out of that dilapidated Taoist temple several years ago to today, Gu Zhuo has never really talked to anyone about the defeat of the Taoist sect.

The most important reason for avoiding talking about it is of course that he doesn't like it. The second reason is who is qualified to talk to him about these things?

Yu Sheng is certainly qualified to talk to him, but Her Royal Highness the Princess is also unwilling to look back to the past.

"Someone said something in my hometown."

Gu Zhuo suddenly said: "Learning medicine cannot save the world."

Pei Jinge was slightly startled, then realized the true meaning of the words and said, "They can't be saved, so just kill them all?"

Gu Zhuo stopped looking at her and looked at the monks of Tianlian Temple who were busy serving the King of Southern Qi, and nodded calmly.

Pei Jinge's expression became extremely complicated.

"This is the best way, and you probably don't know..." Gu Zhuo smiled and said honestly: "At that time, the pressure I was under was much heavier than you know."

The swarms of blood-sucking insects hovering over the Taoist sect that has existed for thousands of years, the Tiandao Sect that seems to be the mainstay of Taoism but in fact harbors evil intentions, and the Qingjing Temple that is at a loss as to what to do because of the will of heaven... Although his realm was superior to that of ordinary people at that time, what could he do in the face of these objective and real problems?

Yes, the best way to solve these problems is to kill people.

Killing is a very satisfying thing, not because of the blood that spurts out when the head is chopped off, but because of the trouble that is solved along with death.

But the problem was that the Qin Dynasty was eyeing them covetously at that time.

"Looking back now, it was inevitable that I would end up like that."

Gu Zhuo looked towards the Zen room and said softly, "I have decided to give up my only way out."

Just like the young monks today who are unwilling to betray their master and ancestors.

During those years, he still had the passion and the belief that people’s hearts could change and a new world would emerge.

He didn't say any of this out loud, which was partly due to his youthful recklessness, but more importantly... was there any point in this?
Pei Jinge didn't know about the struggles and thoughts behind it, but she probably understood one thing.

"No wonder you like the Immaculate Monk, because he walks your path."

"Ah."

"This little monk is far inferior to you, but the situation he faces is much worse than yours. It's hard to say what the outcome will be."

"Whatever the outcome, one thing is certain."

"It's hard for the little monk to be the little monk you are familiar with." Gu Zhuo remained silent.

Pei Jinge turned her head again, looked at his profile, and suddenly felt pity.

The next moment, she felt very strange. Why did she have such emotions?
How ridiculous.

Thinking of this, Pei Jinge was unable to cheer himself up and said, "You really have very few friends."

"Ah."

Gu Zhuo paused and said, "This is not a pleasant fact, but I've gotten used to it."

After saying this, he stretched out his hand and made the Three Flowers Lady, who had been squatting on the wall for some time, jump onto his palm.

Lady Sanhua opened her eyes wide and looked at him with curiosity.

Gu Zhuo laughed and brought the fat cat in front of him. He let the cat's head rub his nose, and then listened to two or three soft cries before putting the cat down.

Pei Jinge looked at this scene, his brows furrowed, his confusion obvious.

"Why do I feel like you consider this cat a friend?"

"You're not wrong."

“…How strange.”

"Feel sorry."

"Apologize for what?"

"I shouldn't have admitted what I said just now. I really didn't have many friends in my previous life, but that's all in the past life."

Gu Zhuo spoke very seriously.

Pei Jinge was surprised to hear something else. After a moment of silence, he said as if nothing had happened, "Let's go to the city tonight."

"Uh?"

Gu Zhuo looked at her, puzzled by this sudden decision.

Pei Jinge turned around, avoiding his gaze, and looked at the sun with his hands behind his back, saying calmly: "Winter is over. If we don't go eat hot pot before the weather warms up completely, we will have to wait for a whole year."

……

……

That evening, the two men descended the mountain and entered the capital of Southern Qi.

The smoke from the city's cooking fires and the afterglow of the setting sun complement each other beautifully, adding a not-so-rare touch of atmosphere to the world.

That atmosphere comes from an ordinary day in thousands of households, the desires of ordinary people, the back and forth tug of war over prices in the market, and even the teasing voice of a girl leaning on the railing on the riverside building...it is extremely vivid and mixed.

As Gu Zhuo looked at these scenes, he naturally recalled the second question left by the abbot.

——All living beings.

Until this moment, he still hadn't found a way to solve this problem, especially since he knew very well that this question was not left by the abbot, but was a self-questioning evolved from his Taoist heart, and he always felt irritated.

Pei Jinge was treating everyone to dinner tonight. She was used to being extravagant, so naturally she chose the best restaurant in the city. Unfortunately, she encountered the issue of booking the whole place. Fortunately, this did not lead to a conflict that was not in line with their status levels, because there was a private room available.

Just as Yu Sheng once said, Pei Jinge is from Yizhou.

Strangely enough, she hated Yizhou hotpot and preferred other flavors.

This hotpot is a local Chaozhou specialty, with a unique flavor and is very good.

The pot soon began to boil, and the two people sitting opposite each other were just about to start eating when a sudden commotion came from the hall downstairs.

They are not cats, so how could they be so curious? They picked up the chopsticks and put the meat into the pot without any pause until the man rushed into the lobby and shouted that he had brought the latest news.

"Today, today! The White Emperor said he would give up his throne!"

As soon as the words fell, the whole restaurant fell silent for a moment, and then erupted with even more violent noises.

The sounds of tables and chairs being moved and even falling could be heard one after another. Many people were so shocked that they even knocked over their hot pots. The scene was in chaos to the extreme, but no one cared about it. Regardless of their clothes and embarrassment, they surrounded the man who brought the news, shouting and asking questions, trying to find out what was going on in Qin.

In the box, Gu Zhuo and Pei Jinge remained calm.

The beef is cooked in just a few breaths, and when you dip it in a sauce called shacha and put it in your lips, it tastes the best.

Both of them had the utmost respect for food, and after they carefully finished eating the dozen or so pieces of meat, the mood in the hall downstairs was still hot and had not cooled down.

"Many years ago, I was thinking about something."

Pei Jinge took a sip of iced tea and said, "Is His Majesty tired of the world? The incident at Weiyang Palace later dispelled my opinion. He still has unprecedented ambitions."

She was silent for a moment, then said, "But now His Majesty has made this decision."

Gu Zhuo said: "It's a broken promise."

Pei Jinge really didn't want to respond to this, but the fact was undeniable.

"It's going to be chaos."

She looked into Gu Zhuo's eyes and said, "This news is worse than what you have seen in the eyes of the world."

During the Weiyang Palace Rebellion, the power accumulated by the Taoist sect over the past hundred years was almost completely lost with the fall of Qingjing Temple. That's why when Gu Zhuo traveled alone for thousands of miles later, he was so alone and failed to stir up the chaos that the world had imagined.

"It's going to be chaos."

Gu Zhuo said softly, thinking about those very simple truths, such as a new emperor appoints new ministers.

Pei Jinge raised his chopsticks and pushed another plate of meat into the pot. He said coldly, "I don't like this decision."

As she said this, there was cheering in the restaurant hall.

The people of Southern Qi are celebrating this event enthusiastically, and the reason is very simple: the dark cloud that has been hanging over Qi for a hundred years is finally going to disappear.

“But it might be the right decision.”

Gu Zhuo pointed outside and said, "I think not only the people of Qi will like it, but there should be many officials in Qin who are happy about it. You understand the reasoning behind this, so I won't waste my words."

Pei Jinge didn't say anything.

Then Gu Zhuo suddenly had the urge to talk, which he hadn't felt for a long time.

"There are only a handful of special people like you who can live on in this world for hundreds of years and live with the country."

"This is something you should understand after you enter the metamorphosis stage."

“You are one of all living beings, but you are not all living beings. You should never try to put your own will above all living beings.”

"The simplest way to put it is... when the world likes something, you'd better put away the things you don't like."

“This is the reason why Taoism has survived forever.”

Pei Jinge listened quietly and asked seriously: "What about you?"

"me?"

Gu Zhuo laughed in silence and said self-deprecatingly: "As you can see, I am not very good at this."

Pei Jinge said expressionlessly: "What a boring bunch of words."

"The so-called old sayings in the world are always like this."

Gu Zhuo poured out the cup of tea in front of her, replaced it with new wine, and said with emotion: "So let's drink together."

Pei Jinge looked into his eyes and suddenly asked, "Is this the first thing you did after being advised by your elders?"

The restaurant was noisy.

Make this private room more peaceful.

"Yes."

After Gu Zhuo said these two words, he picked up the wine glass and drank it all.

The fine wine spilled like water, slightly wetting my clothes.

Pei Jinge looked at his face without any sadness, and finally understood why he was so relieved in this life and never cared about the general situation of the world.

So he drank the wine in the cup.

(End of this chapter)