Yu Mei suddenly sighed, thought for a moment, and said, "My dear brother just said that he brought some treasures down the mountain from the Yuhuangding main altar; my senior brother also brought something down the mountain. But it was not gold or silver treasures, but a few books."
"How many books?" Qiu Yizhi thought to himself, "I also attach great importance to the classics of Tianzun Sect. I once studied them in detail under the guidance of my master Zhong Likuang, and learned from them how to use explosives to blow up city walls. I used them several times in the campaign against rebellion..."
"Wait a minute!" Qiu Yizi reminded herself in a voice so low that she couldn't hear it clearly. "I remember that the Yuhuangding library seemed to have been rummaged through, and a few books were taken away. It was speculated that what was taken out was the list of believers in the Tianzun Sect. Could it be..."
"Brother, do you know which books I took out?" Yu Mei asked.
Qiu Yizi pretended not to know and said, "Could it be a few top-secret books in the sect?"
"Humph! Death is imminent, who has the time to take these things out?" Yu Mei sneered, "What I took out was the list of the core members of the church!"
Qiu Yizhi knew what was going on, so she didn't find it strange. She asked, "What's the use of these things?"
Yu Mei suddenly laughed smugly: "My dear brother, you don't know this. Wait for me to explain it to you in detail..."
It turned out that although Yu Mei was not very smart, he was shrewd in some ways. At that time, relying on his position on Yuhuang Peak to organize the Tianzun Sect's collection of books, he took advantage of the chaos to walk around the Sutra Library and selected several books of the Tianzun Sect's catalogues.
After obtaining the classics, he escaped from Funiu Mountain amidst the chaos of the army and went to Jiangnan Road where the Tianzun Sect was not very powerful. He claimed to be sent by the sect leader to rebuild the Tianzun Sect's organization in Jiangnan. He contacted the backbone members of the sect one by one according to the names recorded in the roster, and gradually built a network of relationships.
However, the Tianzun Sect was weak in Jiangnan. A rebellion occurred years ago, and many of its core members died or fled in the war. Yu Mei tried his best but failed to win over many people. So he took a risk and tried to recruit those who were interested in joining the sect but had not yet been accepted according to the list. The lay Buddhist Miaozhen was one of them.
Qiu Yizhi frowned as he listened to Yu Mei's words, and asked in confusion, "I don't know this. Brother, you have secretly contacted people in the sect and recruited so many people to join the sect, making such a big scene. Aren't you afraid that the leader will find out? You know, the leader has great magical powers. If he finds out, it will be bad."
Yu Mei sneered again: "Master, Master, I hear people talking about the Master every day, but who has ever seen the Master in person? If he is said to have great magical powers, why was he defeated by the King of Youyan when he rose up last year? In my opinion, he is just a person who seeks fame and reputation. He knows that his virtue and talent cannot convince the people, so he stays at home!"
Qiu Yizhi glanced at Wen Lingjiao out of the corner of her eye, and seeing that she looked calm and was not angered by Yu Mei, she looked at Yu Mei again: "What about the Saint? I heard that she looks like a fairy from heaven, and there are many martial arts masters around her. Many brothers in the sect have seen her. If she finds out, it will be difficult to deal with her."
Yu Mei smiled disdainfully again: "What's so great about a woman? My dear brother, look at my two maids just now, which one of them is not outstanding? I have also recruited many martial arts masters around me these days, and compared to the saint, I am afraid they are almost the same."
Qiu Yizhi was silent again after hearing this, and then said after a long while: "I'm afraid this is not a long-term solution!"
Yu Mei waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "What you have thought of, I have also thought of. The world is peaceful now, and it is good enough for the Tianzun Sect to be able to protect itself. If you want to go against the trend, I am afraid you will destroy yourself."
Qiu Yizi didn't expect Yu Mei to say something that was a big taboo in Tianzun Sect. He quickly glanced at Wen Lingjiao who was sitting next to him. Seeing that she still had a gentle and elegant expression and was not angry, he felt a little relieved and said tentatively: "Brother, what you said is extremely rebellious. Aren't you afraid that others will hear it?"
Yu Mei smiled and said, "As the saying goes, the emperor is far away, and it's the same here. What's more, the emperor is actually sitting in the Golden Throne Room of the Forbidden City. As for the leader... Come to think of it, if it weren't for the life-saving friendship between Brother Xu and me, I wouldn't have said it!"
"So what are Senior Brother Yu's plans for the future?" Qiu Yizi asked again.
"Okay, since you asked this, I won't hide it anymore." Yu Mei's expression suddenly changed, "To be honest, I have saved more than one million taels of silver in Jiangnan this year. If I raise some more at today's Dharma Assembly, I can get two million. I am thinking of leaving Tianzun Sect and running away! I wonder if you are willing to share this wealth with me?"
"But the whole world belongs to the king!" Qiu Yizi frowned and said, "I'm not afraid that you will find my words harsh. You are now the enemy of both the court and the leader. I'm afraid that if you want to flee, you won't have a place to stay in the world!"
Upon hearing this, Yu Mei suddenly flashed an elusive smile on his face: "My dear brother, you are indeed a smart man. However, I have already thought about this juncture. My dear brother, you might as well broaden your horizons - I ask you: Is the Han Dynasty the only country in the world?"
Qiu Yizhi was stunned for a moment, and then said after a while: "Brother, do you mean... Brother, do you mean you want to live abroad?"
"Hahaha! Junior Brother Xu is really smart!" Yu Mei laughed, "I have the same idea. I have deposited one million taels of silver in Japan before. After raising some more money today, I will go to Japan. What do you think? How about Junior Brother go with me?"
Qiu Yizi was bewildered after hearing this: he had pretended to be a Tianzun believer to sneak into Baoqing Temple this time, and had thought of countless possibilities and prepared countless countermeasures. However, ever since he set foot on the mudflat where Baoqing Temple was located, unexpected things kept appearing before him - first, the mysterious altar master turned out to be Yu Mei, whom he had almost forgotten, and he did not expect that he had no sincerity in promoting Tianzunism and was even ready to flee overseas.
After such a shock, even a man who had seen the world like Qiu Yizi was shocked. When he heard Yu Mei's proposal, he sat at the table in a daze for a long time, unable to speak.
At this moment, a voice came from outside the window: "Master, the auspicious time has arrived. Please open the altar and teach the Dharma!"
Yu Mei immediately agreed loudly: "Got it, I'll be right over."
He then said to "Xu Jia" pretending to be Qiu Yizi: "What I just said is indeed unreasonable. You are now a family man, so it is inevitable that you will hesitate. You can give me a reply after careful consideration. If you don't want to go with me, I will never force you. You might as well tell me that there are indeed people who are ready to go with me!"
Qiu Yizi didn't expect that Yu Mei could be so considerate and empathetic. He was touched and bowed, saying, "Brother, you are so kind. I am really ashamed. I will discuss this with my wife and then give you an answer. Oh, the outside is urging us. Brother, you should hurry up and go to the altar to perform the ritual."
Yu Mei nodded: "Alright. Then please come with me, brother, and see how powerful I am now!"
Qiu Yizi's eyes turned, and he turned his head to whisper in Wen Lingjiao's ear in a voice so low that it was difficult to distinguish: "This Yu Mei is quite creative! Why don't we go and see what's going on? Maybe we can seize the opportunity to expose him in public..."
Wen Lingjiao nodded slightly and was about to speak when Yu Mei asked, "What are you talking about with your sister-in-law?"
Qiu Yi was stunned, and quickly agreed: "Nothing, I am discussing with my wife what kind of etiquette to use to participate in the ceremony..."
"Hahaha!" Yu Mei laughed out loud. "I didn't expect that my sister-in-law was so thoughtful. With our friendship, how could I kneel on the ground and pay my respects like those ordinary believers? How about you wait behind the curtain and watch the ceremony?"
After saying this, Yu Mei saw Qiu Yizi nodded in agreement, so she stood up and opened the door, called the two maids who were waiting outside the room, rinsed her mouth with the tea in their hands, and then called Qiu Yizi and Wen Lingjiao to go to the main hall of "Baoqing Temple".
Qiu Yizhi and the others entered from the back door. When they opened the door curtain, they saw that the main hall was already full of people kneeling. At a glance, there were about 200 people, many of whom were wealthy people dressed in brocade. The original Three Buddhas on the stage had long been smashed and pushed down, and replaced by a large porcelain jar filled with kerosene, which was burning fiercely, radiating huge light and heat, making it almost impossible for Qiu Yizhi to open his eyes.
But Yu Mei said, "My dear brother, just wait behind this curtain with the word '痴' on it. I will come later."
Qiu Yi was under the low eaves and did not dare to disobey. She nodded and stood side by side with Wen Lingjiao behind the scenes. When Yu Mei calmly walked up to the altar, she relaxed her expression and said to Wen Lingjiao with a smile, "This Yu Mei, who pretends to be a ghost, actually looks pretty good. This scene must be not much different from the Tianzun Sect altar in Guangyang City."
Wen Lingjiao shook her head and said quietly, "Young Master, you are not from the sect, so it's no wonder you don't understand. This altar looks solemn, but the details are ambiguous. If you don't believe me, please look - these four banners are hung incorrectly."
Qiu Yizi looked up and saw four cloth banners facing the believers, hung on the wall in the order of "Benevolence", "Anger", "Fool" and "Resentment", so he asked: "These four banners are hung neatly, I can't see what's wrong..."
Wen Lingjiao replied softly: "This banner with the character 'Ren' should be hung last..."
"Hey!" Qiu Yizi was a little disapproving, "What's the big deal?"
Wen Lingjiao said seriously, "This involves a case in the Holy Religion. When the teachings were first spread, the banner with the character 'benevolence' was indeed hung in the front, because the Heavenly Venerable is the most benevolent and great, so it should be hung in the front. However, putting 'benevolence' first inevitably makes the followers lazy, thinking that as long as they abide by the teachings, they can achieve the right result, so they are unwilling to spread the Holy Religion widely."
When Qiu Yizhi heard Wen Lingjiao say this, he thought to himself, "Isn't this similar to Theravada Buddhism? Keeping to oneself like this can avoid many disputes and killings."
"Later, a wise man saw that this was too depressing, so he re-established the law, strictly ordering that the banner with the word 'benevolence' must be hung last, warning the believers that they must overcome 'anger', 'ignorance', and 'resentment' before they can achieve benevolence. Because of this, there was a great turmoil in the church, and when the Holy Church was just beginning to flourish, three-quarters of the believers left the church..."
Qiu Yizhi thought again: "Since your Tianzun Sect is so murderous, it's not surprising that you have disputes among yourselves due to different doctrines."
While he was daydreaming, he suddenly saw the flame in the porcelain jar on the altar burst into flames, emitting fierce light and heat. In the heat, he heard someone shouting, "Altar Master Yu has arrived, all believers are here to pay their respects!" (To be continued)