Journey to the West: The roadblock!

Chapter 136 The Battle of Wits in Chechi Kingdom (Part 6)
Meanwhile, in Chechi Kingdom, a cinnabar chamber was being built.

The site was chosen in the northwest of the palace, above the Qian position.

Ao Tu specifically instructed that there should be no extravagance, so the alchemy room was built simply, with only three palaces arranged in a three-dimensional layout: a main hall, a residence, and an alchemy room.

Skilled craftsmen began work, using mainly wood and stone, with little bricks and tiles, and it was completed in just over a month.

In the alchemy room, Ao Tu used fire to fuse together a thousand catties of copper, a hundred catties of silver, and ten catties of gold, shaping them into the form of an alchemy furnace.

Ao Tu then inscribed several magic seals on the inner wall of the alchemy furnace, including the basic eight trigrams: Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui; as well as the four methods of gathering, combining, separating, and dispersing to control the heat and solidify the medicine into elixir.

Ao Tu doesn't know how to forge weapons, but he has profound magical power and a high realm, so he can forcibly mold a pill furnace using only his magical power.

Soon, the alchemy furnace was completed. It was three feet three inches tall, with flowing golden patterns, and looked quite appealing. However, due to the limited materials and Ao Tu's own skill level, this alchemy furnace could only be considered a magic weapon at best.

Once the alchemy furnace is ready, it's time to start refining the elixir.

Ao Tu announced that he would recruit eight disciples to assist in alchemy.

In an instant, countless people flocked to the scene.

There were Taoist priests, commoners, sons of wealthy merchants, grandsons of dukes and marquises, relatives of the emperor, princes and princesses, and even monks.

Why are there monks here?
This all started earlier.

Before this, while Ao Tu was still building the alchemy room, the three immortals, Tiger Power, followed Ao Tu's advice and released all the monks employed by the temple. The banners and posters depicting the arrest of monks were also removed from various prefectures, counties, villages, and markets.

The monks who were employed originally numbered over two thousand. The king captured them and made them work for the three national teachers to build the Sanqing Hall.

Monks are supposed to eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures in temples. Their bodies are not very strong. They can endure the solitude of the temple and the ancient Buddha, but they cannot bear the burden of moving stones and carrying wood.

Such work is something that ordinary people who are used to hardship can endure, but how could monks who eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist prayers possibly bear it?
Those who could not endure hardship, suffering, cold, or change in environment died from exhaustion or illness. There were six or seven hundred of them.

There were also seven or eight hundred people who, unable to bear the humiliation, threw themselves into the river and hanged themselves to their deaths.

Over the course of more than twenty years, about 1,500 monks died, leaving only more than 500 monks. It was only because the Dharma protectors secretly protected them and preserved their lives that they survived.

The Dharma protector appeared in their dream and advised them not to seek death, but to be patient. He said they should wait for a holy monk from the Tang Dynasty in the East, who would have a powerful and righteous monk as his subordinate, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who was always ready to right wrongs. Once this monk arrived, he would surely be able to rescue them.

Therefore, these monks endured their suffering, waiting for the arrival of the Monkey King.

However, one year, two years, three years, four years passed, and the Monkey King was nowhere to be seen.

The Sanqing Hall was completed, the houses inside were finished, the ground was paved, the tiles were laid, and even the ornamental flowers and trees were planted, but the Great Sage Equaling Heaven was still nowhere to be seen.

After the remaining five hundred or so monks finished their hard labor, their lives improved. They moved into the huge Sanqing Taoist Temple, where they were responsible for tasks such as tending the fire, guarding the doors, and serving tea and water. Although they were still employed by the Taoist priests, at least they had enough to eat and wear and lived a worry-free life.

Some stubborn old monks, unable to bear the humiliation of being enslaved by Taoist priests, still hoped every day for the arrival of the Monkey King to rescue them.

Some of the younger monks were only teenagers when they were arrested, and they didn't have a strong sense of belonging to the temple, so they gradually got used to their current lives.

Just then, Tiger Power Immortal and others announced that they would release the group of monks and return them to the temple, and would also give each of them ten taels of silver as compensation.

The monks couldn't quite describe their feelings, and so they took the money and returned to their temple, Zhiyuan Temple, in a daze.

In the blink of an eye, more than twenty years have passed.

The monks looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar temple. Some stood there speechless for a long time, while others knelt on the ground and wept bitterly.

The temple had been neglected for twenty years and was in a state of disrepair.

The former abbot died, and the monks elected the oldest and most respected monk to become the new abbot, followed by others in order of seniority, such as supervisor. Because the monks had been forced into labor for more than twenty-four years, even the youngest and least senior monk was now thirty-eight or thirty-nine years old.

After taking office, the new abbot was determined to revitalize the temple.

The most urgent task is to recruit some young monks as soon as possible to continue the lineage of the Dharma.

Otherwise, in another ten or twenty years, the monks of Zhiyuan Temple will die of old age.

The new abbot is over sixty years old. He was a disciple of the former abbot and often followed him around, so he is quite familiar with the affairs of the temple.

After assuming the throne, he first led his men to the rear hall. In this hall, which was opposite the Buddha, there was not a Buddha statue, but a statue of the founding emperor of the Chechi Kingdom.

This temple was built by imperial decree of the founding emperor, hence the presence of a statue of him.

The new abbot walked to the statue, bowed, got up and went to the area under the portrait. After rummaging around for a while, he pushed out a hidden compartment. Inside the compartment was a roll of something wrapped in oil paper, kraft paper, and cloth in that order.

The new abbot opened them one by one, revealing land deeds owned by Zhiyuan Temple and some loan receipts.

These are not shameful items; they are all legitimate temple property.

The land deeds are the temple property bestowed upon Zhiyuan Temple by emperors throughout history.

The IOU is proof that the monks of Zhiyuan Temple, out of their generosity, lent the temple's surplus funds to the poor to help them overcome difficulties.

With these resources, it wouldn't be difficult for Zhiyuan Temple to prosper again.

At that moment, the new abbot, holding the land deed and IOU, gave instructions to the monks.

He first ordered the monks to collect all the silver given to him by Tiger Power Immortal, totaling more than five thousand taels.

Zhiyuan Temple has been in disrepair for many years. If it wants to recruit disciples and attract devout men and women to worship Buddha, the first thing to do is to repair the temple.

Even if we don't talk about major repairs, at the very least the temple's facade should be repaired and tidy, the halls should not be left to break down, the ever-burning lamps should be lit, and the Buddha statues should be gilded.

This amount of five thousand taels of silver is still somewhat insufficient.

However, we should start construction first, and the shortfall in silver can be made up later.

The new abbot instructed some people to find craftsmen.

The monk agreed and went outside the temple to search.

After arranging the repairs, the new abbot took out more than 150 IOUs and distributed them to the monks, instructing them to search for and collect the money.

The new abbot was quite magnanimous. He knew that more than 20 years had passed and many creditors could no longer be found. He would let go of those who were dead or could not be found, and only take back those whose whereabouts could be traced.

The monks took the IOUs and went to the addresses written on them.

The new abbot then produced the land deeds and arranged for monks to go to the fields to inspect them.

Look at who is cultivating the fields now, and whether they are wealthy.

If one is wealthy, it is only natural to demand the rent owed from previous years.

If one is not wealthy, Buddha, with a compassionate heart, will only ask for this year's rent.

(End of this chapter)