Rustle…
The lake was filled with breeze, and the surrounding woods were swaying in the wind as the sunlight broke through the gaps in the clouds.
Fahai, who was sitting cross-legged on a fallen leaf, slowly opened his eyes, raised his head, looked at Lu Liangsheng walking in front of him with his hands behind his back on the fallen leaves, and frowned.
"Traveling westward, spreading Buddhism in the Central Plains?"
Now that the words were out, there was no reason to take them back. Lu Liangsheng's mind flashed back to what he had seen and heard on the journey to the West, and he listed out possible sentences. After all, it was not easy to convince a smart monk to embark on the journey to the West.
After thinking for a moment, the scholar walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, stood beside Fahai, and looked at the star-like spots of light shining through the gaps between the swaying branches.
"Yes, it is westward."
Lu Liangsheng lowered his head and met the monk's gaze. His handsome face showed a smile. "Back then, Buddhism traveled eastward to China to preach. It was a great deed. That's why Buddhism is flourishing today. Twenty years ago, I had the honor to go to the Western world. I experienced a lot. I passed by Tianzhu, where Buddhism flourished at that time. Unfortunately, I didn't see the splendor of the past. There were pagodas covered with vines, Buddhist temples hidden in the mountains and forests, and broken walls. The monks in the temples don't believe in Buddhism anymore."
Over there, Fahai remained silent, constantly fiddling with the Buddhist beads in his hand.
When everything was quiet, Lu Liangsheng walked up to him with his hands behind his back, and looked at the Buddhist beads turning in his hands, his smile still lingering.
"I met your master Master Zhenhai a few times. He took it upon himself to subdue demons and monsters, but I knew that the old monk had always had selfish motives in his heart. He wanted to be more capable and more Buddhist than his senior brother Zhenkong. Your senior brother, Master Fajing, and I became good friends in the northwest. He was a free and easy-going person, but because of his stuttering, he could not use Buddhist principles to save people or monsters. He had no choice but to use Buddhist power to fight monsters. He passed on all his Buddhist teachings to you. Can you imagine the high hopes he had? Think about it carefully. Is it true or not?"
Fahai closed his eyes, frowned even more, then opened them again, stood up from the ground, and shook his head: "You instigated this poor monk!"
I'm in a trap!
"No!"
Lu Liangsheng stood in front of him, stretched out his hand to brush away a fallen leaf from Fahai's shoulder, raised his hand and pointed out, "I have no hatred or grudge against you in the past, how could I harm you? Secondly, I am familiar with your master and senior brother, and I can be regarded as your elder brother, so I have no reason to harm you. If you don't believe me, you can take some time to go back to Wanfo Temple in the future and ask your senior brother to know who Lu Liangsheng is."
Buddhists have renounced worldly affairs and rarely talk about worldly matters. Fahai was unfamiliar with this name, but if he went back to ask, Fajing would most likely tell him everything. Now that he heard Lu Liangsheng mention the name, he naturally believed it a little more.
Here, Lu Liangsheng observed his expression, took back his hands, put them behind his back, turned around and walked while continuing to speak:
"The journey to the west is extremely difficult, but it is also a way to prove your Buddha's heart and sharpen your Buddha nature. When the Indian monks came from the west, they were probably as confused as you. If they can do it, why can't you? We scholars also study hard for years or even decades before we have the opportunity to be on the list. Buddhist monks travel thousands of miles to seek enlightenment. It's the same. Or do you cherish this life? Do you cherish the abbot of Jinshan Temple?"
"I, Fahai, am devoted to worshipping Buddha, how could I be so incompetent?! I am obsessed with the position of abbot!" The monk frowned and looked at the scholar walking around, "What Mr. Lu said just now is not without reason, but the Western Tianzhu is my Buddha Tathagata..."
"Seeing through everything is Buddha, and you are also Tathagata!"
Lu Liangsheng's sudden words made Fahai fall silent again. His mind was a little confused for a moment. He apologized and turned to leave. The scholar looked at his back with his hands behind his back, with a slight smile on his face.
"The road to the west is wide and open, but there are also demons and monsters. There is a monkey king at the foot of the Five Elements Mountain. Pick up Jie Di for him and go west together. If you figure it out, I will leave a map for you, brother. Go back to the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple and ask him for it!"
Fahai paused, glanced at the figure in the forest and said, "I will figure it out myself." After saying that, he disappeared into the sunlight at the end of the forest.
hehe…
The scholar chuckled twice, flicked his sleeves and walked back to Old Donkey. On the bookshelf, Toad Taoist stroked his flat chin, looked at his returning disciple, thought about the scene just now, and muttered to himself.
"Why does this scene look so familiar? It's exactly the same as when I persuaded the good man to leave the village and go to the city..."
Beside her, Hong Lian fiddled with her red nails and glanced at Toad.
"It turns out that Master Toad had bad intentions back then."
The Taoist Toad who was sitting cross-legged on the bookshelf was immediately choked by these words and wiggled his flippers repeatedly, "Little girl, please don't say nonsense. Do you want to ruin our master-disciple relationship?!"
The woman was too lazy to pay attention to him. She went to greet the returning scholar and followed him, leading the old donkey out of the woods.
"Sir, that monk seems very smart. Will he go to the West?"
Walking out of the edge of the woods, the sunlight fell on his face again. Lu Liangsheng looked at the rippling waves in the lake and said softly, "Yes." He pulled the old donkey and walked towards Leifeng Pagoda.
Hong Lian was a little surprised by the young master's answer, but then she thought that the young master must be smarter than the monk, and she had already predicted the other party's every word and action.
As for whether the monk would go and when he would go, the woman tilted her head and quickly put the question behind her. She followed Lu Liangsheng with brisk steps to tour the beautiful scenery of West Lake and explore the Leifeng Pagoda.
After that, the monk never showed up again. For several days, there was no clue about the statue in the shrine. Instead, the master came out less and less, and even if he came out, he would just take a few laps to digest his food. Occasionally, he would find a deserted place and lie on a rock to bask in the sun.
However, there was another thing that made Lu Liangsheng laugh and cry. After the little green snake left, it would occasionally come over and accompany Lu Liangsheng to observe the murals in Leifeng Pagoda, saying that it wanted to repay its gratitude like its sister. As a result, the weather in West Lake became gloomy and windy for two or three days in March, and tourists were so scared that they dared not come. It was only when the monks of Jingci Temple held a large ceremony that the weather became quiet.
Fortunately, when Lu Liangsheng looked at the pagoda from behind, he suddenly understood why the pagoda was built on the altar below. Since the statue in the shrine was unclear, he simply used the pagoda as the statue.
Once he figured this out, the rest of the process became simple. He used his magical power to make a painting out of the outline of the pagoda, and carved out an identical one using stones near the pagoda. He then placed it inside the shrine and used his magic power to activate the center of the formation.
Hong Lian watched the magic circle being activated, and knew it was time to leave. The enthusiasm she had for touring the West Lake had faded, and she was thinking about Qixia Mountain, which she had left for a long time, and the village at the foot of the mountain...
"Sir, will we come back in the future?"
"I think so."
Lu Liangsheng comforted her casually, but he himself didn't actually know it. Looking at the sunlight dappled between the trees, he took Hong Lian's hand, called his master who was still dozing on the stone, left here, went to the Hangzhou wharf, boarded a ship heading north, and took a good look at the Grand Canal.
"Let's sail!!"
The boatman stood at the bow and shouted. The white sails rose in the sunlight and the big ship pushed through the waves and slowly sailed out of the dock.