The sun shines through the temple door, casting spots of light from the carved lattices on the ground. In the quiet temple, the smoke from the incense burner floats past the colorfully decorated shrine.
There was a doorway facing a large Chinese character "Tao". A figure was looking into the distant sky with one hand behind his back and a whisk in the other. Soon, he closed his eyes and lowered his face slightly.
"Fresh breeze."
Under the eaves of one side of the hall, a little boy with two buns on his head turned out from the hall pillar and bowed with his hands clasped.
"The disciple is here."
"Send a message to Yuwen Tuo and the little demon with painted skin. It's time to get ready."
With his long beard trembling slightly, Master Wu Yuan flicked his whisk lightly, put it on his elbow, and walked down the bluestone steps in front of the hall. The sunlight shone on his Qilin Yin-Yang cloak, and the dark scales shimmered. "… In addition, let the old monk out as well. His pure Buddhist teachings cannot be wasted."
"yes!"
The Taoist boy named Qingfeng clasped his hands together and bowed, then stepped back a few steps and turned to walk towards another palace building on the side. When he approached the palace door, he did not stop and the door opened silently inwards, allowing him to go straight in. He set up the seven-star formation of eternal lamps, and all the lights were lit with a bang.
There was an array of seven eternally burning lanterns, with an altar in the middle. On the incense burner were three half-burned incense sticks. Qingfeng walked in with strange steps, took a long pole with a golden color and a flower shape of vines at the top, and gently knocked on a bronze bell three times.
Bang~~
The low sound of the bell echoed throughout the palace. Qingfeng looked solemn and spoke crisply to the bronze bell.
"Brother Yuwen, Master has given you permission to proceed."
The bell was still ringing. The Taoist boy put down the golden hammer in his hand, clasped his hands together and bowed to the incense burner. He took a scroll on the stand, held it to his chest and walked out. The door of the hall closed behind him, and the huge figure that seemed to be holding up the sky and piercing the clouds turned away.
The branches are lush and leafy, and there are bright spots of light between the layers of dense branches and leaves. As the breeze blows, the branches sway, just like dense stars twinkling in the night sky.
The tree cages rustled, and the sound of children's laughter could be heard. The closer you got, the clearer it became.
At this moment, Master Wu Yuan was already standing in the courtyard in front of the giant tree. Hearing the footsteps coming over, he waved his whisk.
"Qingfeng, let that monk out."
"Yes, Master!"
The Taoist boy held the scroll and bowed, then threw it into the air. His lips moved rapidly, and he muttered a spell in a coquettish voice. The scroll that was thrown into the air unfolded from top to bottom to reveal an old monk with a pale beard, angry eyes, and holding a golden bowl.
The Dharma light flashed across the upper screen, and a ray of light yellow instantly shone on the ground. Then a figure wearing a cassock was seen rolling twice on the ground. When he stood up, the cassock was blown away, and the old monk Zhenkong turned around with his beard standing up.
"How dare you, a bastard, tease me? I will use my Daluo spell—"
Over there, a figure in a Qilin Yin-Yang cloak didn't even look at him. He just lightly waved the whisk in his hand, and black shadows emerged from the ground around the old monk. They were all long ropes. The ends of the ropes were carved with snake heads that opened slightly, revealing a human face with delicate features and screaming between the long lips. There were Bagua patterns on the ropes.
In an instant, the ropes wrapped around Monk Zhenkong's ankles, arms, and even his neck. The ropes swayed like long snakes.
The old monk who had shouted out loudly, the rope snake wrapped around his neck shrank his body, and the last four words of "Daluo Fazhu..." in his mouth were abruptly cut off. His waving hands and feet suddenly felt powerless, and were pulled tightly and stretched straight, and lifted into the air.
"Uh... who are you..."
The furious old monk seemed to have lost his anger. He struggled a few times with his limbs hanging in the air, clenched his teeth, and stared at the figure in the other side. The mottled sunlight swayed with the branches and fell on Master Wuyuan. Monk Zhenkong suddenly opened his eyes wide and his struggling movements calmed down.
"... It's you... No... No, you can't be that old... Who are you?!"
“It doesn’t matter who it is.”
Master Wu Yuan flicked his whisk and it fell on his arm. On his bent hand, the spells kept changing, and the ground around the towering tree lit up with red light.
"Buddhism has the power to save people from adversity. Please lend it to me."
It is true that Monk Zhenkong has profound Buddhist skills, but the rope snakes wrapped around his body are also extraordinary creatures. No matter how he uses his Buddhist power, it is like a stone sinking into the sea, and not a single ripple can be created.
Hearing what the other party said, the old face turned red. He didn't care who the other party looked like. His hands and feet struggled violently, and his voice came out through clenched teeth.
"Evil villain, you are wearing that Taoist robe!!"
Master Wu Yuan did not answer, but simply raised his wide sleeves. The old monk who was cursing seemed to have his mouth blocked by someone, and the words that came out of his mouth turned into muffled sounds.
As he waved his wide sleeves, the spell he made with his fingers changed, and the old monk Zhenkong was surrounded by brilliant golden Buddha energy, which sank into the ground along the ropes. The branches and leaves of a giant tree not far away suddenly shook, and the several thick roots exposed outside began to wriggle as if they were being sucked by a person.
Wow!
Wow! Wow!
The tree cage swayed violently, and the connections between the "baby" fruits hanging on the branches snapped, just like a human baby with its umbilical cord severed after being born. They cried loudly and fell from the branches, leaving behind eight blooming red rays of light below, and disappeared without a trace.
Not far away, an old monk whose body was gradually weakening raised his head and looked at the baby who fell from the branch. His Adam's apple rolled and his expression was extremely ugly.
"What on earth are you going to do..."
"You will know soon."
Watching the red light grow stronger, Master Wuyuan looked towards the sky beyond the luxuriant branches and leaves, holding his whisk behind his back, his long beard mixed with gray lightly swaying in the wind.
…and you, Lu Liangsheng.
Above the sky, a red stream of light with a long tail was hanging in the sky like a scroll. On the earth below the floating clouds, in the southeast of the most prosperous city in the world, on the official road in the suburbs, the branches hanging on both sides suddenly waved forward, and in the blink of an eye, a group of people and donkeys passed by like the wind.
The whimpering sound of the wind blew in his ears. Lu Liangsheng's consciousness was still a little confused. A piece of tree stem wrapped around his body continuously sent magical power into his body to stabilize his disordered cultivation. At this moment, he became much more sober.
The wind was howling, and the scholar who was lying on the donkey's back propped himself up.
"Where are we..."
Seeing Lu Liangsheng regain consciousness and start talking, the Taoist priest, who was originally in a hurry to continue on his journey, stopped the magic talisman in his hand, and the old donkey, which had been running wildly, stopped with a "squeak", making a long sound.
At the moment of the sound of a bang from the shaking bookshelf, the Taoist Toad covered his head and pushed open the small door. He climbed up the bookshelf with his short legs, jumped in front of his disciple, and stretched out his webbed feet to support the back of the old donkey's hand.
"Liangsheng, how are you now?"
From the south bank of the river to the current location, it is only a hundred miles away from Chang'an. Now that the scholar wakes up, he doesn't need to be in such a hurry to travel.
The Taoist priest and Zhu Ganglie also stopped and looked at Lu Liangsheng on the donkey with concern.