Journey to the West: Starting with the True Lord of the Pure Land

Hengyang Yanqu's masterpiece, "Journey to the West: Starting with the True Lord Jingfa," is available to read now!

Just then.

The guest monk, Abbot Yuanhui, swept his gaze across the crowd and landed on the conspicuous yet obtrusive young couple under the willow tree.

He frowned, gestured to a young novice monk beside him, and whispered a few instructions.

The young novice monk understood, trotted over, and, with pity and disdain in his eyes, said to the man:

"Esteemed benefactors, have you come seeking a child?"

"There is a major Buddhist ceremony at the temple today, so we cannot receive you. However... if you sincerely wish to receive blessings, after the ceremony, we can lead you to a quiet room in the back courtyard, where a fellow monk will pray for you."

The couple froze, then hesitated for a moment.

Seeing this, the young novice monk put his hands together and smiled:

"Excellent, excellent, sincerity moves mountains. Please follow me."

Having said that, he led the woman Xing'er around the grand procession in front and towards a secluded path on the side of the temple.

The man tried to follow, but was stopped by the young monk who said, "The meditation room is a place for women to cultivate themselves; male guests are not allowed to enter."

As the young novice led Xing'er further inside, the incense smoke grew fainter, replaced by a scent of aged sandalwood mixed with faint medicinal herbs.

The surrounding corridors are deep and secluded, with ancient trees reaching for the sky, filtering the blazing sun into dappled shadows, making it appear exceptionally quiet and serene.

The young novice monk walked briskly, clearly very familiar with the road.

He occasionally glanced back at the young woman behind him, who was staggering and pale, and a smile that seemed out of place for her age appeared on his lips.

Not long after.

Xing'er was led into a simply furnished but exceptionally clean meditation room. The young novice monk served her some tea and then left, closing the door behind him.

She felt uneasy, holding the slightly hot teacup, at a loss for what to do.

The solemn sounds of bells and drums and chanting coming from the front yard outside the window now sounded like a death knell, each sound striking the taut strings of her heart.

As Xing'er listened to the commotion of the Queen's arrival, she imagined the grand scene inside the Great Buddha Hall and then compared it to the meditation room she was in.

A profound sense of absurdity and despair gripped her.

Tears streamed down her face silently as she bit her lip hard to keep herself from crying out loud.

However, before half a cup of tea had been brewed, the door to the meditation room was silently pushed open.

The person who entered was not a young novice monk, but a slightly plump, smiling middle-aged monk.

It was none other than the monk Yuanhui.

"Madam, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Yuanhui closed the door behind her, her voice deliberately soft, yet she couldn't hide her impatience:

"Hearing that you sincerely wish for a child, I am deeply moved. This prayer should be offered sooner rather than later."

As he spoke, he moved closer, and there were already indecent movements under the hem of his monk's robe.

Xing'er trembled with fright, her teacup shattered on the ground, and she shrank back to the corner, tears streaming down her face.

"Master! No...no..."

Yuanhui chuckled and approached step by step:

"Such a beautiful day, how can we waste it? Let your husband wait outside for a while."

"Only by having this humble monk cleanse you of your worldly attachments can you receive the compassion of Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion who grants children."

He reached out and tried to grab Xing'er's arm.

But the young novice monk had already cleverly closed the door and hung a copper lock on it from the outside.

The cold, snapping sound of the lock springs seemed to shatter the last glimmer of hope.

Inside the main hall, the Mahavira Hall, however, the scene was quite different.

The statue is solemn and dignified, and the sound of chanting fills the air.

The queen, adorned in a phoenix coronet and embroidered robes, knelt devoutly on a golden prayer cushion, while Zen Master Baojing, holding a willow branch and pure water, conducted a blessing ceremony for her.

Eight monks in red robes entered the hall and were reciting the "Sutra of the Fundamental Vows and Merits of the Medicine Buddha" in a loud and clear voice. Their voices were like a great bell, and each word contained a peaceful power that cleansed the hall.

The other monks also chanted sutras in unison, creating a solemn and dignified atmosphere.

The incense was burning brightly, as if it could truly reach the ears of the heavens.

Suddenly.

"Ugh!"

A sudden, unexpected gust of wind, like the roar of a giant beast, swept across the entire Baoguang Temple.

The wind came in an extremely strange and violent way!

In an instant, all the glazed tiles in Baoguang Temple trembled and hummed, and the ancient trees in the courtyard, which were as thick as two people could hug, were uprooted.

The entire Baoguang Temple shook violently!

With a loud bang, all the windows of the main hall shattered, the incense and candles were extinguished, the prayer flags fluttered wildly, and the chanting came to an abrupt halt!

"What's going on?!"

"Protect the Emperor! Quickly, protect the Emperor!"

The Queen's phoenix crown was blown askew, and the palace maids and eunuchs screamed and fell to the ground!

Even more strangely, the wind seemed to possess a spirit.

All the monks, whether inside or outside the temple, were held firmly in place by an invisible force, unable to move.

All outsiders, including the queen, guards, and pilgrims, were swept out of the temple gates like leaves in the wind, screaming and tumbling.

The queen, who had been "invited" out of the temple, was in the arms of her maid, her phoenix crown askew and her face pale.

The guards drew their swords, but looked around blankly, not knowing where the enemy was.

The accompanying royal palace cultivators, all of whom were at the Foundation Establishment stage, were now deathly pale.

He felt an immense and boundless pressure enveloping the world, and his own magical power dissipated instantly, like a firefly meeting the bright moon. He even had to struggle to stand.

In the meditation room in the side courtyard.

Before Monk Yuanhui's hand could even touch Xing'er's clothes, he was slammed against the wall by an invisible wave of energy, leaving him dizzy and disoriented, his robes torn.

Xing'er, however, felt a sudden lightness in her body as she was swept away by a gust of wind and landed unharmed beside her husband, who was still in shock outside the temple.

The couple trembled as they embraced, feeling as if they had been through another life. They had almost lost each other and only then realized what was truly precious.

In the blink of an eye, all non-monks in Baoguang Temple had been cleared out!

Amidst this chaos and fear.

Everyone who was sent out of the temple, and indeed the entire city, trembled with fear and looked up at the sky in terror.

Birds fell silent, and beasts lay prone.

"What...what is that?!" someone screamed, but their voice was drowned out by the increasingly deafening roar of wind and thunder.

Above the heavens, the winds and clouds suddenly shifted.

Just moments ago, the sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly, but in an instant, boundless black clouds surged in from all directions, like ink splashed across the sky.

In an instant, it swallowed up the light of day, turning day into darkness!

At the center of the thick cloud vortex, two crimson-gold pillars of light suddenly shone, as large as palaces, cold and majestic, indifferently looking down upon all living beings.

It was a pair of enormous eyes!

Before anyone could utter a sound of shock...

The thick, inky clouds were violently torn apart.

A giant claw burst forth from the clouds, as large as a cloud hanging from the sky, its scales and armor deep and dark.

It mercilessly crashed down on the magnificent Baoguang Temple below!

Before the claws even arrived, a vast, ocean-like aura had already descended.

The temples and pavilions wailed, their glazed tiles shattered, and gold dust fell.

The crowds outside the temple looked up, but all their voices were silenced.

Regardless of their level of spiritual cultivation, whether they were the seemingly virtuous monks in the front hall or the wicked villains in the back courtyard, the monks in the temple were all subject to the same laws.

They were all like ants gazing up at the mountains.

His soul trembled, and he could not muster even the slightest thought of resistance.

Under the shadow of the giant claw.

The magnificent halls of Baoguang Temple, the swirling incense smoke, the insincere chanting of sutras...

All colors and sounds in the world were swallowed up by that pure darkness and the crimson of thunder.

Smoke and dust mixed with lightning shot into the sky, obscuring everything.

After the dust has settled slightly.

The former Baoguang Temple, the national temple of Baoxiang Kingdom, along with all its monks, Buddha statues, halls and pavilions, has been completely destroyed.

The streets remain the same, and the people still look up, still stunned.

Only Baoguang Temple, along with all the filth, has been wiped away from this world.