The so-called chat, of course, cannot be done by going to someone's home openly. All clues will be covered up behind the scenes, and nothing can be seen.
Zhao Changhe found the joy he once had while wandering around the world. He passed behind the temple like a wisp of smoke and hid in the shadow of the back hall.
The temple fair outside was coming to an end.
Although Da Zhou said that there were often some gatherings during this period, they were obviously relatively small. This large-scale temple fair held during the Laba Festival was obviously the first and largest event after the revival of Buddhism in this world. The temple was also as if it was facing a great enemy and sent enough monks to maintain order and ensure safety, fearing that any trouble would be a devastating blow to the revival of Buddhism.
The abbot, Master Yuancheng, was also sitting in the hall, chanting scriptures with his eyes closed. In fact, he was using a secret method to control his five senses and observe any unusual movements within a few miles around him.
It was a pity that his cultivation in the middle of the Earth Ranking had now been crushed by Zhao Changhe, and he had no idea that someone was lurking behind the palace.
Sitting next to him was another old monk, who was also an acquaintance of Zhao Changhe, Master Yuanxing. He once helped Zhao Changhe block the Wang family's assassination and passed on the map of Zhao Changhe's Xuanwu Secret Realm. Although that was a reward for Zhao Changhe's rescue from the Maitreya believers first, the favor was not shallow, and Zhao Changhe had a very good impression of this old monk.
He also had a good impression of Yuancheng. When they worked together to deal with Maitreya, the old monk didn't say much, but played a significant role, and he was also sensible in dividing the spoils.
These two masters should be the few remaining representatives of orthodox Buddhism in this world. Their appearance here together proves the importance of this place to them.
Generally speaking, the character of orthodox Buddhism in this world should not be bad, but some things are a matter of stance - such as faith and luck, which are definite. If you have one more, I will have one less. For example, issues such as land annexation, taxes and corvee, population associations, brainwashing and education, etc., secular royal power is often in conflict with this kind of sect. From the perspective of royal power, the Great Zhou would feel that there is not much essential difference between this and Maitreya Buddhism.
In fact, it is not that exaggerated. Zhao Changhe has seen the Buddhist and Taoist sects with broken legs in the world. He knows that they can become a husky without any threat, but they may not be Huang Tiandangli and Maitreya incarnate.
This time, Zhao Changhe instinctively felt something strange. They emerged too quickly, and they had already clashed with the Blood God Cult's branch. Something was wrong. It felt like Buddhism had been suppressed for too long, and now it had a chance to breathe. They were too eager, and might be used to push others. Even Da Zhou felt that there was a "pusher," which confirmed their speculation. What purpose the pusher behind the scenes wanted to achieve needed further observation.
At this time, a monk came in to report: "The temple fair has ended, and the lay Buddhists have gradually dispersed. There are no problems."
Yuan Cheng said: "Don't take it lightly. Send monks to guard along the way and make sure everyone enters the city safely. If we are robbed or killed outside, or if there is any problem, our reputation will be bad."
The monk who reported said: "It has been arranged. Along the way... we also found people from the Blood God Cult sneaking around, I don't know..."
Yuan Xing said, "Don't be nervous. The Blood God Cult is now directly under the command of Mr. Zhao. They dare not discredit their Saint Son and kill people at will. Logically speaking, they are now under the jurisdiction of the City Defense Department, and they should be protecting the people in secret, fearing that something bad will happen. I'm afraid they are cursing us thieves in their hearts for looking for trouble and adding more work to their work in such a cold weather."
There were some laughter in the hall. This was so vivid that it might really be the inner drama of the Blood God followers.
But there were also many monks who didn't think so. One said, "The Blood God Cult believes in blood demons and killing, and has no intention of guiding people to be good. I don't believe that these demon followers can become knights overnight. If King Zhao were here, he could control them, I believe... But the emperor is far away, and King Zhao doesn't know what sinister things they will do. If something goes wrong, they might bite us back. Given their closeness to King Zhao, we are powerless to tell."
Many people were indeed worried about this, even Yuan Cheng was worried, and whispered: "Right now, there is no better place to start than Jingxiang. We can't just retreat because of a few people from the Blood God Cult. We just need to be careful. In short, try not to conflict with the Blood God Cult members if possible."
Yuan Xing also said, "Last time, when someone was beaten to death, it was indeed our people who acted unreasonably first. It was not the Blood God Cult's fault... On the contrary, they were upholding the law. You need to reflect on this again and again and restrain your disciples."
Zhao Changhe nodded after hearing this. These orthodox Buddhist sects seemed to be indeed possible. Da Zhou also had some prejudices. In addition, they were worried about the Blood God Cult, but Zhao Changhe was not worried about the problems of these Blood God Cult members.
Because these people are not true followers of the Blood God at all, they have never been baptized by the Blood God faith, and have not even learned the Blood Evil Skills... Because these people are his Beimang subordinates, that group of mountain bandits, because they are too weak, they were not taken by Xue Canghai to the north to participate in the war. They stayed in a relatively peaceful place like Jingxiang and occupied a position in the imperial city defense department, lying down and eating the salary, which was considered the benefit of being the first to follow Boss Zhao.
Although this group of people were not good people, they really didn't dare to embarrass him, and they were very different from the Blood God believers imagined by others. True Blood God believers had basically no interest in women, but it was said that at least half of this group of people had married and settled down within this year. With wives and children, they no longer had the style of bandits in the past... At least Da Zhou didn't accuse them of anything bad, but just said that they were like firecrackers, which meant that they had a bad temper and might have contempt for their intelligence, but obviously they didn't do anything evil and had nothing to do with bloodthirstiness.
Then a monk in the temple said, "How could our followers kill people in a rage? I still suspect that it was evil spirits that were directed by bad intentions. The Blood God Cult is good at this. I'm afraid it was the Blood God Cult that secretly instigated them and is now causing trouble for us."
Zhao Changhe's mind moved. This suspicion was quite interesting, but unfortunately the target was wrong. Those people really didn't know the blood killing skill. But from this perspective, was there a third party causing trouble
Yuan Xing frowned and said, "Nonsense, what motive do they have to do this? If they want to blackmail someone, they don't come here to blackmail them!"
"Why do we need a motive... We are Buddhists, and they belong to the Four Symbols Sect. The battle for human destiny and the battle for incense are all here..."
"They are just a bunch of low-level Blood God followers. How can they have such a far-sighted vision? Do you think Suzaku is here?"
"That may not be the case..."
There was actually an argument in the hall... Zhao Changhe frowned tightly, thinking to himself that something was wrong.
In this atmosphere, if a monk killed a Blood God believer, or a Blood God believer killed a monk, hostility and conflict between the two sides would be inevitable. Could it be that the ultimate goal was to break up Buddhism and the New Dynasty, and to cause chaos in Jingxiang again
“Oh no, oh no!” Just as he was thinking this, a monk came running in from outside and said anxiously before he even entered the door: “Outside the forest at the edge of the city, there are Blood God followers looting the people returning to the city. A senior brother tried to stop them, but was hacked to death by the Blood God followers!”
A group of old monks in the hall suddenly stood up, and the atmosphere became extremely solemn.
An old monk angrily said, "Abbot, what are you thinking about? We respect King Zhao, but we cannot allow him to be bullied!"
Yuan Cheng didn't have time to say anything more and went out first: "Don't be impatient, go and stop the war first."
Zhao Changhe raised his head and looked at the air. He always felt that there was an extremely strange chaos lingering in the sky above this place. The incense and the power of faith seemed to have undergone strange changes when they disappeared in the space. They were distorted and enlarged in the shadows of the night sky, like a ghost face.
He thought about it and did not go to the murder scene. Instead, he went back into the forest where he came from. He took out a piece of paper and wrote a few words on it, then stuck it on Wuzhui's back and patted Wuzhui on the head. Wuzhui nodded and flew away.
Zhao Changhe went into the back of the temple again, and taking advantage of the fact that there were almost no strong people in the temple at this time, he unscrupulously released his five senses to search for the entrance to the secret realm.
There must be a secret realm here, and in the secret realm may very well be the "Supreme Buddha" of these monks, but Zhao Changhe is almost certain that there are things in it that these monks don't know at all.
(End of this chapter)