Catching Monsters

Chapter 107: Colleagues are enemies

The pub near Changxin Temple is very busy today.

A sixty-year-old man, who was alone, ordered a whole table of food and an extra pot of good wine.

Many people around knew that this old man's wife died early and his son was unfilial. As he got old, he became very financially strapped.

I usually come to this store to meet up with some old friends and have some drinks. How come I got rich today?
"Old man Sun, what fortune have you made?"

Old man Sun chuckled, said nothing, picked up the wine glass and took a sip of the liquor.

This gesture made the people around him even more curious. After everyone asked him one after another, Old Man Sun said with emotion: "You don't know, this Changxin Temple is really amazing."

When the people around heard this, they frowned and asked in confusion: "Changxin Temple? Isn't there a monster?"

The person at another table said, "I passed by the temple gate a few days ago and saw a document from the Royal Guards posted outside the gate, saying that there were no monsters in Changxin Temple and that what happened back then was done by a traitor."

"Hey, old man Zhang, please tell me something."

"Today, we went to worship Buddha, and guess what, a tael of silver fell from the temple."

"One tael of silver? Old man Zhang, you are kidding, right?"

Old man Zhang looked at the shocked expressions of the people around him, feeling happy. He took out a tael of silver, showed it, and said, "Look, did you see that? The Buddha appeared."

There were also some spectators who claimed to know everything and said, "Humph, what Buddha appearing? I think it's just a trick. They asked someone to throw silver down from above."

Old man Zhang shook his head: "No matter if he is playing tricks or not, the silver is real."

"The silver is real, and the Buddha's apparition is real."

These words made the people present feel a slight movement in their hearts.

At the same time, in the brothel in the outer city.

"Give me two girls to drink with me." A poor scholar walked in and shouted loudly.

"Oh, Mr. Li got rich?"

"Humph, you wouldn't believe it even if I told you, the Buddha appeared."

This kind of situation happens constantly in major consumer venues in the outer city at night.

The news spreads from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred.

No one believed that the Buddha's reward of silver was true.

but.

The silver is real.

Jiang Yun and Xu Xiaogang did not leave Changxin Temple at all. They slept in the side room for the whole night.

The next morning, Host Yunwu got up and got busy steaming buns.

Jiang Yun was still meditating when Xu Xiaogang ran over in a panic: "Jiang Yun, Jiang Yun, there are so many people outside, so early in the morning."

Jiang Yun was not surprised by this. He opened his eyes and asked, "Did you get the silver I asked you to get?"

"Of course." Xu Xiaogang secretly took out a bag of silver, one hundred taels of silver in cash: "My father secretly gave it to me."

"He was reluctant to give it to me at first, saying that he was afraid that I would spend money recklessly and pick up the bad habits of those rich and powerful children in the capital."

"Later I said I was going to the Jiaofangsi, Baotou brand."

“That’s why my father gave me the money.”

"Don't worry, I'll remember all this money and return it to you when I make money." Jiang Yun smiled, took the silver and said, "Keep giving me the silver..."

"Also, I will make ten lucky bags today, and you can draw one tael of silver each time."

"Ten lucky bags, put five taels of silver in one, and one tael of silver in the other three."

Hearing this, Xu Xiaogang calculated and frowned, saying, "If we do this, won't we only make two taels of silver?"

Jiang Yun rolled his eyes at him and said, "When there are more people in the future, I'll smoke more times a day."

"If you draw ten times a day, you'll earn twenty taels."

"I can make a net profit of six hundred taels a month!"

"Don't worry, you'll be busy with me and I'll give you 10% of the profit."

Hearing this, Xu Xiaogang shook his head and said slowly: "I am not interested in money, and my family is not short of money."

"That won't work. Let's put it this way." Jiang Yun shook his head. He couldn't always ask Xu Xiaogang for help for free. He said, "I have money, so everything will be much easier."

Hearing this, Xu Xiaogang couldn't help but fantasize about a day in the future.

My father went to the Jiaofangsi to have fun, but all the money was taken away by my mother. In the end, I came out and spent a lot of money: "Give my father ten!"

The father hugged him, and was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes: "My great son!"

"If I had a son, I'd want him to be like Xu Xiaogang!"

"Father is proud of you."

Thinking of this, Xu Xiaogang could no longer suppress the smile on his face, and then nodded in agreement.

Changxin Temple opened its doors. This scene was beyond Jiang Yun's imagination. Forty or fifty people gathered outside the door early in the morning. There would probably be even more people later.

"Don't worry, don't worry, come one by one, the Buddha will bless you!"

Soon, people entered the Buddhist temple of Changxin Temple and lined up in a long queue.

At the same time, in Yinling Temple, in the early morning, the melodious Buddhist bells rang, with a long history.

Just hearing the sound of the bell can make people feel calm and peaceful.

Abbot Hongzhen sat in meditation in the Zen room, tapping the wooden fish gently, keeping his mind calm.

dong dong dong.

There was a knock on the door outside the Zen room.

Abbot Hongzhen slowly opened his eyes and said, "Come in."

A young monk pushed the door open and walked in, carrying a vegetarian meal: "Abbot, breakfast is ready."

"The day before yesterday, the son of Lord Lu, the Minister of Justice, was imprisoned in the imperial prison. Fortunately, he is safe and sound."

"Mr. Lu has always worshipped Buddhism, so he wanted to come and worship Buddha and thank him for his blessing, but..." Abbot Hongzhen frowned slightly and said, "What's wrong?"

"Master Lu heard that the Buddha appeared in the Changxin Temple in the outer city, and everyone said it was very convincing, so Master Lu sent someone to say that he would not come."

"He wants to visit Changxin Temple."

Abbot Hongzhen frowned and said, "The Buddha appeared?"

The little monk whispered, "It's spread all over the city. People say that if you worship Buddha, you will get silver..."

"Can you believe such absurd words?" Abbot Hongzhen frowned.

For a great monk like Abbot Hongzhen, who lit lamps and accompanied Buddha all day long, this naturally seemed absurd.

But people’s words are scary. Ordinary people don’t care whether they are true or not, they just treat it as a topic of conversation after dinner.

One pass to ten and one hundred to pass.

Even if only one person out of a hundred believed it, the entire capital city has a population of nearly two million.

That's also 20,000 people.

Abbot Hongzhen frowned: "In order to attract pilgrims, Changxin Temple actually used such a crude method. The Buddha appeared, but why did our five major Buddhist temples and great monks not respond at all?"

After saying that, Abbot Hongzhen slowly stood up and waved his hand: "Using clumsy means to deceive people, I want to go and see what this Changxin Temple is trying to do!"

At this time, Changxin Temple was extremely lively. Outside the Buddhist temple, there was a long queue. Only one or two taels of silver would be dropped for every ten or so people who entered to worship the Buddha.

People were also whispering that adding incense money to the merit box would increase the chance of money dropping.

At the same time, the young monk Wuhui shouted loudly beside the long queue: "The Buddha has blessed the lucky bag, and each draw will give you one tael of silver."

"Inside the lucky bag, there is a grand prize of up to five taels."

"Everyone who passes by, don't miss it."

However, there were still not enough people who came to draw the lucky bags.

Jiang Yun was maintaining order, and frowned when he saw this scene. It seemed that one tael of silver for one round was too expensive?
Yes, most of the people who came here wanted to make a few bucks for free.

After thinking about it for a while, Jiang Yun thought that he might have to wait until many rich young men or dignitaries came and bought them for fun.

How about setting up a Buddhist lottery in the back?
Two copper coins per piece, enter the sinking market.

How often are prizes drawn?

Just as Jiang Yun was daydreaming, suddenly, outside Changxin Temple, Abbot Hongzhen, wearing a Buddhist robe, walked slowly in with his hands behind his back. Looking at the long queue of people preparing to worship Buddha, his face gloomy.

Seeing this, Jiang Yun looked at Abbot Hongzhen's expression and was afraid that the visitor had ill intentions.

He gave Wuhui a look, then quickly walked to the gate of Changxin Temple.

Jiang Yun shouted with a big smile on his face: "Isn't this the abbot of Yinling Temple, a dignified and enlightened monk of the fourth rank of holy monk? Abbot Hongzhen!"

"Have you also heard that the Buddha appeared and come to worship him?"

"What an honor, Choshinji!"

These words were shouted out loud so that the people inside could hear them.

Many people also turned around and looked at Abbot Hongzhen.

The cassock on Abbot Hongzhen was sparkling with colorful light, obviously a Buddhist magic weapon, and he had an extraordinary temperament.

Upon hearing this, Abbot Hongzhen's face turned cold: "Jiang Yun, why are you here?"

"Abbot, can we talk for a moment?" Jiang Yun said, inviting Abbot Hongzhen to go inside.

Abbot Hongzhen frowned and wanted to say something, but Jiang Yun had already walked towards the backyard.

Abbot Hongzhen snorted coldly, waved his hand, and followed.

When they arrived at a courtyard in the back of the temple, Jiang Yun invited Abbot Hongzhen to sit down.

After Abbot Hongzhen sat down, he asked, "Did you come up with this trick of the Buddha appearing? As a member of the Imperial Guard, what do you want to do by interfering in the affairs of Buddhism?"

Hearing this, Jiang Yun coughed and said, "Abbot, you don't know that Changxin Temple has never recovered since that incident. Such a big Buddhist temple has become deserted and no one cares about it."

"If this continues, we will have to close the temple."

Abbot Hongzhen frowned upon hearing this and asked, "If they do this kind of thing, using the Buddha's miraculous presence as a pretext to spread rumors and deceive people, I think Changxin Temple should be closed down."

Jiang Yun asked in return: "Abbot, why do you want to build so many Buddhist temples?"

Abbot Hongzhen smiled faintly: "Of course we should worship Buddha, let people turn their hearts to Buddhism, and spread the Buddha's teachings."

Jiang Yun then asked, "According to what the abbot has seen, are these people who come to Changxin Temple to worship Buddha Buddhists?"

Abbot Hongzhen shook his head slightly: "Such a crude method can be regarded as the Buddha's manifestation, which is enough to prove that they do not worship Buddha and are ignorant."

Jiang Yun nodded and said, "What's wrong with Changxin Temple? Although they did trick them into coming here under the pretext of the Buddha's manifestation."

"But look, Abbot, what are they doing? They are worshipping Buddha."

"A group of people who do not worship Buddha in their hearts are now willing to queue up in long lines and take turns to offer sacrifices and worship Buddha."

"Over time, if even one of them is sincere in devoting himself to Buddhism, Changxin Temple will also have great merit."

Abbot Hongzhen didn't expect that this little Jinyiwei would be so eloquent. It was clearly a scam...

But when he thought about it carefully, he found that what this person said made sense and could not be refuted.

Abbot Hongzhen closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Yun: "You are running the Buddhist temple as a business."

"In that case, I will set a rule for you."

"If you can obey, I can turn a deaf ear to what Changxin Temple does."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun hurriedly asked, "Abbot, please tell me."

"You are not allowed to receive dignitaries from the inner city."

Jiang Yun was stunned when he heard this. Damn, it turned out that the abbot came here and talked for a long time because he was afraid that I would steal his business.

They say that competitors are enemies, and it’s true.

　There is still one chapter after dinner, wait a moment.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)