I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 233 May Buddha have mercy, Amitabha!

"Xiaoci Temple?"

Xu Qing looked at the temple in front of him with a deep and thoughtful gaze.

Memories flashed back to the day before my visit to Xiaoci Temple.

On the outskirts of Quyang County, a man and a cat travel together.

There are countless fertile fields on both sides of the country road. In late autumn, the newly sprouted wheat seedlings form a green expanse. If the wind blows, the tender green ripples will spread out along the fertile fields in layers.

At this moment, Xuan Yu turned back into a cat, but when it turned back into a cat, it also returned to its lively and active nature.

For example, it can run into the wheat field, hide its body, and get ahead of Xu Qing. When Xu Qing leads the horse over, it twists its waist, gathers its strength, and suddenly leaps out of the wheat field, scaring the tall horse so much that it jumps and dodges to the side.

In addition, the cat would occasionally use its paws to scoop up pebbles from the roadside or chase after flying insects in the wheat field.

Who would have thought that such a lively cat would be a monster?

After traversing fields stretching for more than ten miles, Xu Qing finally arrived in the village.

The town in front of us has a nice name: Shuiyue Township.

Shuiyue Township is a fertile land with numerous streams and rivers. Even in drought years, Shuiyue Township can rely on its geographical advantages to ensure a bumper harvest.

Based on the evaluation of Shuiyue Township on the map, Xu Qing subconsciously felt that this township must be a prosperous place.

However, when Xu Qing actually stepped into the countryside, he found that the entire village was in a state of utter poverty and devastation.

The dilapidated houses, the poorly clothed villagers, and even the children in their prime had dull, lifeless eyes.
Xu Qing lowered his head and looked at the description of the land, which was full of splendid words, and described it as fertile and prosperous.

Then he looked up at the poor villagers in front of him, but all he saw was hunger and cold.

Xu Qing found it unbelievable. He had traveled more than 300 miles from Qianzhou City to Quyang County. During this time, he had encountered and heard many things, but he had never heard of a poor harvest this year. So why were so many people starving?

And in a place like Shuiyue Township?

Xu Qing asked the villagers, but no one was willing to answer, or perhaps they were numb and unwilling to waste their energy on him, an outsider.

"This village is quite strange."

Xu Qing was not discouraged. He walked along the country road, asking villagers for information from time to time.

When Xu Qing arrived at the door of a villager's house, he stopped in his tracks.

Outside the wooden gate, white mourning cloths were hanging, and if you listened carefully, you could hear mournful weeping.

Xu Qing pushed the wooden gate open, but it wasn't bolted.

Upon entering the courtyard, one can see an old man and a young boy cleaning the body of a male corpse in the old main house.

When they saw Xu Qing walk into the dilapidated courtyard, the two of them were clearly taken aback.

The old man stopped wiping his hands, walked shakily to the threshold, and asked Xu Qing if there was anything wrong.

Xu Qing spoke frankly, admitting that he was a funeral director, specializing in feng shui consultations, embalming, and funeral arrangements.

The old man suddenly realized that it was a traveling man who wanted to do business with his family!
"My old man's house is bare, with nothing of value, and we may not even have a decent meal. I won't trouble you, sir."

Xu Qing shook his head and said, "The saying goes, 'Do one good deed every day.' Today, I happened to come here and saw your family setting up a mourning hall. This is fate between us. I won't accept money or ask you to provide meals. I'll just consider it as a connection between me and the deceased."

As he spoke, Xu Qing stepped into the mourning hall. It was called a mourning hall, but it was really just a straw mat and a few wild vegetable cakes that were barely enough to make up an offering. Apart from that, there wasn't even a candle or a coffin.

The old man stopped trying to stop them. When Xu Qing looked closely, he realized that the person who had died was actually a pillar of the family in his prime.

The remaining two were both old, weak, sick, or disabled. The youngest one looked no more than ten years old, and his thin shoulders were too frail to bear the burden of the family.

Looking at the deceased, he was in his thirties, his face was covered in bruises, his nose was broken, his whole body was covered in contusions, and even several of his ribs were broken.

He was beaten to death!

Xu Qing had already figured out the cause of death before even performing the ritual to send the body to the afterlife.

The deceased suffered severe head trauma before death, caused by a blunt object, and it was clearly intended to kill him instantly.

As Xu Qing recited scriptures to help the deceased pass on, he glanced at the other person's scrolling lantern.

The deceased's early life was mediocre and dull; he spent his time farming for landlords, earning commissions or taking a cut of grain to make a living.

Until five years ago, a three-month-long rainstorm caused the Qianjiang River to breach its banks, flooding most of the counties and prefectures in Qianzhou, including Shuiyue Township in Quyang County!
Shuiyue Township has tens of thousands of acres of farmland, more than half of which are under the jurisdiction of Cizhao Temple.

Cizhao Temple is several dozen miles away from Shuiyue Township. In order to make it easier to manage this fertile land, Cizhao Temple assigned its monks to build a small temple outside the township, which was called Xiaoci Temple.

Since its establishment twenty years ago, Xiaoci Temple has seized far more than ten thousand hectares of fertile land.
Not to mention Shuiyue Township, most of the farmland in the surrounding townships has also been seized by Xiaoci Temple through various means.

In order to have enough to eat and survive, the villagers had no choice but to become tenant farmers, begging for food under the tutelage of these monks.

Five years ago, the Qianjiang River flooded, causing widespread damage and crop failure. In a fit of anger, the monk in charge of the temple raised the rent from 30% to 50% on the lease, claiming that the yield had been halved this year and the temple was suffering huge losses. He said it must be because the villagers hadn't been farming properly and that they had to pay compensation!

The tenants swallowed their anger, thinking that things might get better next year.

As a result, it rained for four consecutive months the following year.

That year, tenancy rents rose by 70%.

The tenants thought to themselves, "Once is never enough. We've had two years of floods already. Maybe our good days will come next year!"

However, in the third year, the entire prefecture suffered a severe drought!

Shuiyue Township, which has always been known for its fertile land and has never lacked water resources, now only has one water source outside the township.

That year, Xiaoci Temple invited a Zen master from Cizhao Temple to perform a ritual. The Zen master said that the tenants were lacking in virtue and had incurred karmic debts in their previous lives, which was why they were being punished by Heaven. Now, he was reciting scriptures to save them and was using his great spiritual power to accumulate virtue for the tenants. In the future, the village would surely have good weather and abundant harvests.

The tenants believed it to be true and sold everything they owned to raise enough rent, hoping that one day Buddha would forgive them and they would no longer have to worry about food.

But will things really go as these tenants wish?

This year, Qianzhou enjoys a year of peaceful weather and abundant rice harvests, but the monks have taken all the grain that the tenants have threshed. In addition, the rent for the tenancy contracts has increased to 120%!
In other words, the tenants not only did not receive a single grain of food, but they also had to pay to cultivate the land and pay money to the temple.

There's no such logic in this world.

Some tenants complained to the government, but after checking the accounts, the government declared that the temple was not responsible, and that the temple's land had indeed had outstanding debts over the years.

To appease these tenants, the officials said that the monks in the temple had been kind and had given them land to cultivate, but they had not managed it properly, resulting in a poor harvest. This was not the temple's fault, but rather a matter of their own moral failings.

The incense at Cizhao Temple is so thriving. It belongs to the largest landlord in Quyang County. The government depends on him for their livelihood. The prefect keeps seven or eight concubines and eats delicacies. The silver collected by the county officials every year comes from his daily incense burning and worship. And look at what you tenants have.
The prefect appealed to their emotions and reasoned with them. He also used the tenants' complaint as an excuse to visit the Cizhao Temple and pray to Buddha. When he returned, his sedan chair gleamed with gold, as if coated with a layer of Buddha's light. After this incident, the monks became even more compassionate, frequently providing the tenants with old grain mixed with chaff and bran, ensuring they maintained a balanced diet and didn't starve.

Moreover, on the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month, a life release ceremony would be held to preach Buddhism to these tenant farmers.

As a result, Cizhao Temple became famous throughout the prefecture and county. Those who are compassionate and often do good deeds must be virtuous monks, so it is no wonder that their incense is so prosperous.

Xu Qing continued reading. A year ago, the tenant farmer was short of food and was on the verge of starvation. So he went to Xiaoci Temple to find the manager and asked to buy some food on credit to make ends meet.

He was received by the monk Xuyun from the temple. The monk had visited the tenant's house to collect debts and knew his family's situation. He said to the tenant, "Monks are compassionate and can provide grain on credit. Speaking of which, you have come at just the right time. I have something I need someone to help me with. If you would be willing to go to Cizhao Temple and deliver a message for me, I would gladly give you a bushel of grain."

The tenant was deeply grateful, but the monk said, "The grain will be given to you after you send the message back. This matter is very urgent. There is food in the temple. After you have eaten, you should set off quickly!"

The tenant, unaware of the monk's intentions, believed him and went to Daci Temple on his own with the message.

However, no sooner had the tenant left Xiaoci Temple than the monk Xuyun went to the tenant's home, saying that the temple had provided rice and grain and that the tenant's family should go to the temple to collect it.

The tenant farmer's wife asked where her husband was and why he hadn't returned with the grain. The monk Xuyun replied that the tenant farmer had taken a job repairing the temple's roof tiles and would be working at the temple for five days before returning. He had sent the monk to inform the family because he was worried that they would run out of food.

The tenant farmer's wife, unsuspecting, left her eight- or nine-year-old child and elderly father-in-law at home, while she went alone to Xiaoci Temple.

When the tenant returned from Cizhao Temple, the monks of Xiaoci Temple told him that his wife had accidentally fallen off a cliff and died when she came to look for him.

With no one to corroborate the story, the tenants searched the cliff several times but could not find his wife's body. They believed the monk's words, thinking that she had been carried away by a wild animal, and simply buried a cenotaph and held a hasty memorial service to end the matter.

However, just two days ago, when the tenant went to Xiaoci Temple again, he unexpectedly ran into two monks who were completely drunk.

When the two monks saw him arrive, they immediately became playful and began to shove and push him around. The tenant, in order to get his grain, endured their ridicule and insults.

Seeing that the tenant was a taciturn fellow who wouldn't utter a word, the two bumbling monks grew bored. One of them couldn't help but spit out, "What a spineless coward! Even your wife isn't as strong-willed as him."

Another monk laughed and said, "It's a pity his wife doesn't know what's good for her, otherwise we could have teased her more."

The tenant was furious upon hearing this; by now, how could he not understand the reasoning behind it?
Unfortunately, a poor man who can't even get enough to eat is no match for these monks who indulge in wine and meat.

Two monks beat a tenant farmer half to death, but after they sobered up, they realized their mistake.

However, the two dared not let the tenants leave, so they told the monk Xuyun about it and asked him for advice.

Upon hearing this, the monk Xuyun remained silent. He simply picked up his lotus-shaped iron pestle, his face grim, and with a single blow, ended the tenant's life.

After watching the tenants' revolving lantern, Xu Qing still had some questions in his mind.

For example, how did the tenant's body return home, and why did not a single villager in Shuiyue Township rise up against these hypocritical monks?

He soon got the answer from the old man.

The tenant's body walked to the edge of the field and collapsed on the ridge.

The old man thought the tenant farmer was still alive when he returned to the fields, but only Xu Qing knew that the tenant farmer had already died when he was at Xiaoci Temple.

As for why he was able to walk back to the fields where he used to work after his death...
It's nothing more than an obsession with this land that I can't let go of!
As for why the tenants refused to resist...
When the funeral procession and burial took place, four or five tenant farmers came to pay their respects. Xu Qing asked the tenant farmers that four or five years ago, the Qianjiang River had breached its banks, causing floods that could not guarantee a harvest. In the following two years, Qianzhou suffered a severe drought, resulting in no harvest at all. Only in the last year or two has the weather been favorable, with the granaries overflowing.

But you live worse than in years of famine.

Have you thought about where the problem lies?
One tenant replied, "A few months ago, Old Chen's child spoke just like you. He gathered more than two thousand people and wanted to burn down the mountain and the dilapidated temple."

“His third uncle said that if they beat those monks, everyone would become bandits and rebels, and would be exterminated by the government. The Chen family boy didn’t want to hear this, but his third uncle said that he had a way to make sure everyone had enough to eat and lived a good life without fighting.”

"Everyone believed him, so they elected him as their advocate to go to Xiaoci Temple and discuss the matter with the monks."

Listening to this familiar process, Xu Qing could roughly guess what was going to happen next.

Sure enough, when Uncle Chen arrived at Xiaoci Temple, he betrayed his nephew. He then took advantage of the situation to gain benefits, not only getting rid of his tenant farmer status, but also moving from Shuiyue Township to Quyang County, where he lived a good life that all the tenant farmers envied.

From then on, no one in the entire village was able to stand up straight.

People like the Chen family boy are, after all, a minority.

After handling the tenant's funeral arrangements, Xu Qing left some dry food and loose silver when he left the old man's house.

As for whether the old man and the young boy would stay in Shuiyue Township or take the food and money elsewhere, Xu Qing didn't care.

In today's Dayong, there are Cizhao Temple and Xiaoci Temple everywhere. Can they completely get rid of this predicament by going to other places?

The answer is obvious.

Xu Qing understood this principle: what illuminates the darkness is not the fields and grains, but the fire in one's heart.

Only fire can bring warmth.

The next day, early in the morning.

In the misty, pre-dawn air, Xu Qing, leading his horse and accompanied by Xuan Yu, arrived outside Xiao Ci Temple.

That morning, Xu Qing made the monks of Xiaoci Temple feel the temperature of the fire.

As the embers of the fire engulfed the temple, and the monks and nuns wailed and howled, the Buddha statues inside remained unchanged, their compassionate eyes lowered, quietly watching everything before them.

At this moment, Xuan Yu transformed into eight black afterimages, pacing back and forth outside the temple. If any monks accidentally ran out, it kindly sent them back to the sea of ​​fire, allowing them to continue to feel the warmth of Xu Xian's home.

Xu Qing, having finished setting the fire, followed the lantern of the monk Xuyun and found the place where Xiaoci Temple stored grain.

Even though most of the grain had already been transported to Cizhao Temple, there were still more than 100,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain remaining.

Using a rice bowl to collect all the grain, Xu Qing glanced back at the temple engulfed in flames, feeling only the warmth of the corpses.

On the mountain path, as the first rays of sunlight rose, the misty fog disappeared. Xu Qing led the horse, with Xuan Yu beside him. The two, one stiff and one cat, embarked on their journey once again.

At this moment, Xuan Yu suddenly asked:
"Has Master Xu forgotten what Monk Xinyuan said?"

“I haven’t forgotten. It was just the sixteen-character prophecy. I remember it clearly.” Xu Qing recalled the mad monk’s words and repeated them a second time: “The monk said that temples should be demolished and temples should be destroyed. Heaven and earth are great, but eating is the most important thing.”

“I’ve always remembered it.”

"."

Is that correct? Did the monk really say that?
Xuan Yu was half-believing and half-doubting.

"May Buddha have mercy, Amitabha Buddha."

Xu Qing chanted a Buddhist prayer, his faith unwavering.

(End of this chapter)