The clouds turned white and the sun gradually shone down.
In the wet woods, raindrops dripped silently along the tips of leaves, soaking the golden cloth on the shoulders of a man. An old monk with a golden bowl in his hand, wearing a cassock, walked up the wet stone steps, passed a few large trees that provided shade, and a temple stood in front of him.
The large plaque with golden outlines has the words "Hong Lian" written on it. There is a large tripod at the entrance of the temple, with broken incense sticks piled up densely, indicating that the temple is usually very popular. There is only an altar inside, and the clay statue of a woman with long flying sleeves, her face and figure are lifelike, as if she were a living person standing on it.
Because of the rain, there were few pilgrims. Occasionally, a few came out from inside, chatting and laughing as they passed the door. They felt quite strange to see an old monk coming outside.
"Amitabha!"
The old monk holding a golden bowl bowed to the three pilgrims dressed as vendors and said, "Three donors, you should know that you cannot worship casually in rural temples. Most of them are evil spirits that deceive fools to build temples to absorb incense. Worshiping them is not a blessing for humans."
"ill."
The sudden remark made the three of them quite unhappy. They had come to this temple many times before, and it was quite effective.
"Old monk, you are a monk, how can you speak like that? Does that mean you are a fool if you worship in a temple outside?"
"Donor, you have misunderstood. What I was talking about was the statue in the temple, not a deity or a saint. It was just a trick to fool people. If you worship it and it works, it will ask for a reward when you fulfill your wish."
"Well, I spent money to pray in other temples, but got nothing. If praying here works, it's okay to ask for compensation. I'll just treat it as a business."
The other two nodded and urged their talking companion to leave.
"Let's go, it's annoying to talk to this bald ass."
The footsteps faded away. The old monk watched the three people leave. He sighed, turned around, and looked at the Honglian Temple in front of him. His pale beard moved silently. No one else was passing by. He suddenly threw the golden bowl in his hand, and it hung in the air.
"**temple-"
He shook open his cassock and stretched out his skinny big hand. The golden bowl hanging in the air turned, and a golden light shot towards the temple in front. Just as it touched the bowl, the same golden light intercepted the golden bowl and flew back to the old monk's hand.
What we feel is not only the power of incense and vows, but also the kind words left by the people in fulfillment of their vows.
"It seems that you, a little ghost, have some skills."
With his beard and robes drooped down, the old monk turned around and walked towards the stone steps outside the temple, holding the golden bowl, his voice sounding majestic.
"Since you have done a lot of good deeds, I will not kill you. Don't linger in the human world and return to the mountains to practice!"
The monk's aura faded away. Hong Lian appeared at the temple gate, covering her chest and feeling her soul was unstable. It was obvious that the opponent's attack just now was just a random move.
"Who is this monk... So scary."
I drifted to an old pine tree, leaned against the trunk, and looked at the figure of the monk who had walked down the stone path on the mountainside. I felt a little nervous.
'Not good, he is heading towards Lujia Village. With the old monk's temper, Zhu Ganglie and Qiyou over there might run into him. If they find Master Toad...'
Thinking that there was more than one monster in the village, Nie Honglian pursed her red lips, turned around, her skirt flying, and the whole person floated off the ground and flew towards Lujia Village.
Looking down from the air at the roads and fields, the sun broke through the dark clouds and drove away the damp and cold after the rain. Many villagers went out to bask in the sun, or carried hoes to the fields to make up for the delayed farm work.
In a small fenced courtyard located in a corner of the village, raindrops fell drop by drop along the tiles and from the eaves.
Lu Liangsheng sat under the eaves, set up his easel, and moved his pen quickly. In his sight, another strange-looking beast from the mountains and seas gradually took shape under the outline of green ink.
On the stool beside his legs was a painting of a black turtle that he had drawn earlier. After lunch, he placed the black turtle from "Boundless Mountains and Seas" in the painting. Sure enough, the painting began to move, blinking and hissing, but Lu Liangsheng still hadn't found a way to use it.
The scholar's previous stubbornness in exploring knowledge was aroused. He set up his easel and painted another picture of the strange beast to see if it would appear in "Boundless Mountains and Seas".
In the small courtyard, a Taoist priest yawned out of boredom and came down from upstairs. He raised his hand and stretched, then sat down next to the scholar. Without being polite, he took a sip of the tea, glanced at the strange beast with bared fangs and claws in the painting, and shook his head.
"If I were to say, it's better to practice Taoism in a down-to-earth way. Since the past is gone, just start over. I'd rather let you learn from me than ask you to worship me as your master. You can just call me Senior Brother."
Lu Liangsheng drew a line on the painting with the tip of his pen and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, "Want to be my brother-in-law? Take your master's things as a betrothal gift?" He put his hand down, dipped the tip of his pen in the inkstone, and continued to embellish the painting.
The Taoist smiled awkwardly, wiped his mustache, and moved closer.
"We are so familiar with each other, don't be like this, you know, I have nothing, my pocket is either talisman paper or cinnabar, at most there are a few small snakes and frogs..."
Sun Yingxian's words were not false. He was an orphan and didn't know who his parents were. It was his master who picked him up and raised him. After his master died, he only left behind a Taoist book.
Every time they went out, it was usually Lu Liangsheng who paid, and he rarely took the initiative. Recently, while traveling outside, Lu Liangsheng had fewer concerns about the Taoist staying in Qixia Mountain. As time went by, given the Taoist's shameless temper, it was reasonable for him to develop feelings for his own sister.
"You should talk to my mother about this."
Lu Liangsheng wanted to say something else, but just as he opened his mouth, he heard a voice saying, "Young Master." He stopped writing and looked outside the courtyard wall. Hong Lian was floating down from the air, and as soon as she landed, she hurriedly walked towards the eaves.
Seeing her anxious face, the scholar put down his brush and stood up, and Sun Yingxian beside him also followed her.
"What's wrong?"
Hong Lian, who was standing outside the eaves, also stopped greeting. She looked anxious, pulled the scholar's arm, and looked outside. "Just now, an old monk came to the temple. He is very powerful in Buddhism. He fought with me and then came over here. I was afraid that it would be bad for Master Toad, Zhu Ganglie, and Qiyou, so I came here to report the news."
Old monk
Lu Liangsheng had an impression in his mind, and pulled Hong Lian to sit on the stool: "Don't worry, let me ask you, is that monk holding a golden bowl in his hand?"
"Yes, it's him." Hong Lian nodded.
The Taoist squatted aside and looked at the two of them, then interrupted and asked, "Is that old monk very powerful?"
“Very impressive.”
This time it was Lu Liangsheng's turn to nod. When Sun Yingxian heard the answer, she patted her chest, stood up and ran back upstairs, then came downstairs again with a sleepy Zhu Ganglie following behind her.
"I'll take care of this for you. Just ask my mother-in-law to reduce the betrothal gift for me."
After saying that, he pulled Zhu Ganglie and ran out of the yard excitedly. Lu Liangsheng wanted to dissuade him, but he didn't have the chance to say anything. With the Taoist's cultivation level and Zhu Ganglie, he was probably no match for the monk.
Without hesitation, he turned his head to look at Hong Lian and said, "You go to the mountain and call Qiyou back. I will lead the monk out of the village. If he fights with the Taoist priest, I am afraid that the villagers will be hurt."
Hong Lian also thought of this, and hummed lightly, then floated over the eaves and flew towards the Qixia Mountain in the west. Lu Liangsheng took a look at the Black Turtle Picture, but gave up. He turned back into the house, took the Yuelong Sword covered with cloth and the ball of monkey hair and stuffed them into his sleeve pocket, then hurried out of the courtyard.
On the other side, the Taoist who walked to the drying dam saw from afar eight big men from Lujia Village standing at the entrance of the village, surrounding someone and shouting.
"What on earth do you want from my Liangsheng?"
"Master, it's not that we don't want you to come in. Our village also has rules. As long as you can explain your reasons, you can come and go freely. If you can't explain yourself, then sorry, you have to beat the eight of us!"
Lu Pan shook open his clothes, revealing his chest muscles as hard as iron, and jumped towards an old monk with a pale beard standing opposite him.
The old monk slightly closed his eyes, looked at the burly man in front of him, chanted the Buddha's name in a low voice, and suddenly pressed Lu Pan's chest with his free hand. Before the latter could react, he slid back two or three feet from the sight of Lu Xi and the other seven people, making a gap.
"Buddha have mercy on me!"
The old monk cursed and took a step forward, instantly passing the seven people. As he walked forward, the seven people who had come to their senses, plus Lu Pan who was touching his chest as if nothing had happened, looked at each other, then ran towards the old monk and suddenly shouted.
"ha-"
Hiss~~
Pieces of clothes were torn apart and flew around in pieces. The eight men were naked, with their arms muscular and bulging. They pressed down, and their chest muscles reflected the sunlight, giving off a dark sheen.
"The eight of us from Lujia Village are vegetarians. Old monk, you took action first, so don't blame us!"
Eight people rushed forward!
Then... with a bang, they all flew in all directions and fell to the ground. When the Taoist came, he helped Lu Pan, who had rolled to his feet, up. With his mustache shaking, he stared at the old monk who was waving his cassock and shouted:
"Bald donkey, if you have the guts, fight me. What's the point of bullying them?!"
Many villagers took advantage of the free time after the rain to gather together and chat. When they saw this scene, they immediately ran back home, rushed out with hoes, axes, and iron forks, and surrounded the monk.