The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 197: The Supreme Lord of the Universe, the Lord of Cause and Effect
At the beginning of the fourth year of Zhenghe, Tokyo, Bianliang.

The sun was high in the sky and the city of Tokyo was bustling with people.

The peddlers carrying loads on their shoulders, the young ladies traveling together, the naughty children running around... the wide streets in the capital were so crowded that even with horses, they could not move fast.

On both sides of the long street, there are mostly two- or three-story buildings, most of which are used for business. Teahouses and restaurants are always crowded with people, and business is booming.

On top of the tall buildings, the sounds of gongs, drums and orchestras come into the ears with the wind, melodious and lingering. The singing is crisp and soft, faintly audible, making people feel itchy in their hearts.

Among those coming in and out, there were blue-robed scholars and brocade-robed officials, and there were also quite a few ordinary people from the market. Even ordinary people would carry a few valuable items on their bodies, and even the servants would wear embroidered clothes and silk shoes.

What a prosperous scene!
Near the Bianhe Street, there is an endless stretch of temples with towering mountain gates, quiet Buddhist temples, numerous bell towers, majestic scripture pavilions, wooden fish hanging horizontally, cloud boards suspended high, flagpoles soaring into the blue sky, and pagodas vaguely visible in the blue sky. This is the famous Daxiangguo Temple.

The Daxiangguo Temple is actually not a temple, but a temple complex. Dozens or even hundreds of temples are merged here, covering an area of ​​more than 500 acres. The halls are solemn and magnificent, the monks' rooms are lined up, and the courtyard is full of flowers. It is praised as "golden and green, and the clouds and mist are disfigured."

There are at least dozens of halls here, enshrining countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

Each hall has carved beams and painted pillars in rich colors, and each statue is sculpted in gold. Under the reflection of the sun, it shines with golden light, which is awe-inspiring.

In front of the main hall, there are several small halls on both sides, which seem to be places for praying. People come and go, and there are countless pilgrims.

The huge incense burner in front of the hall was densely packed with standing incense sticks, some thick and some thin, some as thin as toothpicks and some as thick as a child's arm.

The smoke curled up for a long time. Even if there was wind, it only made it sway a few times, but it could not be blown away at all.

From a distance, it really looks like a fairyland.

Zen Master Zhiqing was sitting upright on the cloud platform, speaking eloquently to the donors below.

"In this world, good is rewarded with good, evil is rewarded with evil, cause and effect go hand in hand, retribution will come inevitably."

"The reason why you donors are so rich and prosperous in this life is purely because you accumulated virtue and did good deeds in your previous life and were devout to Buddha, so you have the reward in this life."

"All you need to do is to continue to do good deeds and sow good seeds, and you will naturally reap good fruits in your next life."

"In this life, you are just ordinary wealthy businessmen, but if you accumulate more merits, you may become high-ranking officials in the next life."

The old-fashioned people were stunned by the monk's deception, and then they suddenly realized the truth. They then donated money generously to make another golden body of the Buddha and express their piety to the Buddha with gold and silver.

Zen Master Zhiqing pretended to be polite while constantly saying words of blessing.

When everything was getting lively, they suddenly heard the monks outside exclaiming in surprise. Everyone turned around subconsciously and saw a ball of white light roaring and falling from the distant sky, heading towards this side.

In just three or two breaths, the white light quickly became larger and clearer, and in the vague shadows, it seemed that something like a garden could be seen.

"Master, what is that thing that fell? Could it be that the Buddha has appeared and bestowed a treasure?" asked a fat man in a trembling voice.

Zen Master Zhiqing was speechless. He wanted to pretend to be this person and take the opportunity to make some money, but he was also worried that the things that fell down were really related to immortals and Buddhas. He was so anxious that he offended them. So he stopped talking and just shook his head.
"Don't say it, don't say it!"

But in the time it took them to speak a few simple words, the garden actually grew bigger and bigger, and came closer and closer, heading straight towards them.

Now everyone was suddenly panicked, and no longer cared whether it was a manifestation of the Buddha or not. They hurriedly dodged and fled, with screams coming one after another.

But before they could run far, the garden collapsed and hit the center of Daxiangguo Temple.

The violent impact flattened buildings such as the Great Hall of the Buddha, and the people inside must have been turned into meat paste.

The earth was shaking continuously, as if there was a magnitude 7 earthquake, shaking the people around and making them unable to stand steadily. The livestock fell to the ground, urinating and shitting, and the air was filled with the stench of feces and urine.

A huge amount of dust rose into the sky, several feet high, and whistled in all directions, but after only advancing a few meters, it quickly slowed down and shrank, and finally turned into a puff of green smoke and disappeared, just like an illusion.

The vibration soon disappeared. If it weren't for the huge garden mansion standing before their eyes, everyone would have thought that nothing had happened.

Everyone got up from the ground tremblingly and looked towards the mansion of peculiar style. They saw two large characters "Zhan Mansion" written on the plaque in front of them.

"Amitabha, Buddha bless you."

Zen Master Zhiqing habitually praised the Buddha, and then his mind became excited.

This mansion fell from the sky and must be related to the gods in heaven. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that should not be missed.

He was also lucky. Although he was blown away by the shock wave, he did not suffer any harm because of the fat of many donors serving as a cushion. Apart from being a little embarrassed, nothing serious happened to him.

Compared to him, those who had accumulated virtue and done good deeds in their previous lives and were reborn as wealthy gentry, ended their journey of wealth and honor in this life and rushed to the next life.

I just hope that these gentry and believers do enough good deeds in this life so that they won’t be reincarnated as pigs or dogs in the next life.

Zen Master Zhiqing silently prayed for the many donors, then tidied up his robes and bravely went to the Zhan Mansion.

"Clap clap clap..."

He picked up the door knocker and knocked gently. "Amitabha, I am Zhiqing, the abbot of Daxiangguo Temple. May I ask if anyone is home?"

This mansion and garden are of course Mr. Zhan’s personal paradise.

Previously, Master Zhan had a good idea to use the blessed land to ascend with his whole family. However, after he ascended, he found that the people and things in the blessed land were all a burden!
You can't feel it when you are on flat ground, but after you really fly, you will find that the blessed land brings great resistance to ascension.

The faster you fly, the greater the resistance.

Moreover, he also has to use his magic power to protect the people in the blessed land, which feels very hard.

Just as he was hesitating whether to land back and wait for Qiaojie to grow up in a few years and then eat her before leaving, he found that his blessed land had exceeded a limit and flew out of the world of the Red Mansion and entered a higher dimension.

The densely packed light balls around are clearly each a new world, and the fairyland is higher up, just like a world tree, connecting many worlds together.

As soon as he passed through the boundary membrane, a white light lit up on Baoyu's neck. He suddenly left the blessed land and fell back to the world of the Red Mansion.

Then, under the eyes of Master Zhan, the originally fragmented space was quickly patched together again. In just a moment, the world that was about to fall apart was stabilized.

Master Zhan has the final say over everything in the blessed land. He could certainly stop the spiritual jade from escaping, but when he thought that the price of such a consequence would be the complete destruction of the Red Mansion world, Master Zhan simply gave up.

He had played with the magic jade many times, and he was afraid that it and his own stone were both male, so there was no point in sticking to each other. He had already gotten all the benefits, so there was no need to force himself to keep it.

The spiritual jade might not welcome the male stone in Master Zhan's body, so it pushed the blessed land from behind, making Master Zhan and the others roll further away.

This is embarrassing. With such a heavy blessing, it might not be easy to ascend to heaven, but the world of the Red Mansion behind them clearly doesn't want them to go back.

Master Zhan had no choice but to find a celestial body in the surrounding world that had the greatest gravitational pull on the blessed land, isolate the suction force of ascension, and dive down.

With the protection of the blessed land, the fall did not cause any harm to the people inside, but there were still slight vibrations. However, Master Zhan had already explained the situation to everyone, and no one was panicking.

Anyway, you have already entered the blessed land and have a long life, so another ten or eight years won’t make a difference.

It would be better to arrive in the new world. They haven't seen what other worlds are like yet, so it's a good opportunity to broaden their horizons.

Master Zhan asked Yang Yougong to calm everyone down and let everyone do their job, and then he planned to go out for a walk. However, before he could go out, he heard someone knocking on the door outside.

He pointed at Yang Yougong and said, "Go, see who's here, and ask what's going on in this world."

Yang Yougong went over to open the door, and seeing that it was a monk, he smiled and bowed and asked:

"May I ask this master, whose lineage do you inherit? Are there any Buddhas or Bodhisattvas still alive in your sect?"

When Zen Master Zhiqing saw that he was not bald, he quickly put his hands together and said with a smile:

"In reply to the Immortal, I am a disciple of the Pure Land Sect. Now is the Dharma Ending Age, and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not step into the mortal world. However, there are many enlightened monks in the Daxiangguo Temple, who are quite recognized by the believers."

"Oh……"

Yang Yougong had seen many so-called "eminent monks" in the world of the Red Mansion. He also had a nun at home who was a devout believer in the Laughing Buddha. Of course, he knew that these false reputations were all exaggerated. When he heard that the world was at the end of the Dharma and there were no gods or Buddhas, he felt relieved and did not take those crappy eminent monks seriously at all.

He immediately straightened his back and asked:

"Monk, let me ask you, who is your emperor and what are his hobbies?"

"Uh……"

Buddhism and Taoism have always had a bad relationship. Now, if a fairy from heaven comes to the world and it is not the bald man from their own family, then it can only be the Taoist priest from their rival family.

It just so happened that the Emperor Daojun worshipped Taoism and suppressed Buddhism all day long, and even wanted to change the Shifang Zen Temple into the "Shenxiao Yuqing Wanshou Palace".

If it were not for its profound Buddhist background and its close relationship with various powerful and wealthy families, which could have influenced the will of the government, I am afraid that the Daxiangguo Temple would have long been turned into the Daxiangguo Temple.

If possible, Zen Master Zhiqing didn't want the immortals in the Zhan Mansion to collude with the Daojun Emperor at all, but he couldn't control the will of the immortals, and he didn't even dare to lie to him.

Who this emperor is and what his temper is like can be found out by asking anyone. It is impossible to hide it, so one has to tell the truth.

"The current emperor is... uh, the Emperor Daojun, who loves to practice Taoism the most." Zen Master Zhiqing replied with a grunt.

"Emperor Daojun? Who is he?" Yang Yougong was just a hunter with little education, so he didn't know who he was after hearing it.

But he didn't care about this. He heard that the emperor liked to practice Taoism, so that was perfect. He turned around and went back to report to Master Zhan, leaving Monk Zhiqing waiting at the door.

Without the owner's consent, he wanted to go in but didn't dare, so he had to wait at the door.

But after a while, he regretted it.

He heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Emperor Zhao running towards him with a few people, looking excited. He was panting and didn't care about his appearance at all.

It turned out that Emperor Daojun was performing on the nearby Ma Xing Street. He saw the palace falling from the sky with his own eyes. He was overjoyed and rushed over immediately.

He came to the door panting, and when he saw the plaque on the door, he frowned and turned to ask the person behind him, "Lord Zhou, do you know if there is any immortal named Zhan in the heaven?"

Although Zhou Bangyan was much younger than Zhao Ji, he had long been drained of his body by alcohol and sex. Now he felt his lungs were burning and he was bent over and gasping for breath. When he heard the emperor's question, he racked his brains for a long time before he dug out a piece of information from the depths of his mind.

"According to the note in the Biographies of Immortals written by Liu Xiang of the Western Han Dynasty: 'During the time of Emperor Ku there was a man called Zhan Shanggong who attained the Tao and was the originator of the Zhan surname.'"

"Your Majesty, I am not well versed in matters of immortals and Buddhas. After careful thought, I can only find a deity named Zhan, but I don't know if he is the real one. Perhaps Your Majesty can consult Master Lin."

The Master Lin he was referring to here was Master Lin Lingsu.

This Taoist master Lin Lingsu is the founder of the Taoist Shenxiao School. He is highly respected and trusted by the government. He is also a master who can control the five thunders.

According to records, the capital city once encountered high temperatures and it did not rain for a month.

Zhao Ji issued an edict to Lin Lingsu, asking him to perform a ritual.

Lin Lingsu said to Zhao Ji: "Now that God has stopped the rain, all the water sources in the world have been blocked and imprisoned. No one dares to take water unless there is an order from the Jade Emperor. Only the Yellow River has not been imprisoned, but the water of the Yellow River is turbid and cannot be used."

Zhao Ji said: "It is too hot now, and people are suffering from the burning sensation. It would be nice to have some water to wash. Isn't the Yellow River water just a little dirty? It doesn't matter. Just do it!"

So Lin Lingsu followed the order and went to Shangqing Palace to perform a ritual. Zhao Ji also ordered Hanlin scholar Yuwen Cuizhong to assist.

Lin Lingsu took a basin of water, held the sword and walked in the Yu step, chanting a spell as he walked, and then said to Yuwen Cuizhong: "Neihan, you can go home now. If you are late, you may be trapped by the heavy rain."

Yuwen Cuizhong hurriedly rode out on his horse and ran home. On the way, he saw a cloud as big as a fan in the sky. Not long after, the cloud became as big as an umbrella cap. At the same time, thunder was heard, but the thunder did not come from the sky, but from the ground.

Yuwen Cuizhong urged his horse to gallop faster, and just as he got home, a heavy rain came.

I heard a loud thunder in the sky and it felt like there were a lot of cows running in the sky.

The heavy rain lasted for two hours before it stopped. The roofs of ordinary people's houses and the gutters in their yards were full of mud and water.

The water on the ground was one foot deep, but it was turbid and yellow, undrinkable and of no practical benefit to crops.

With this magical Taoist skill, Lin Lingsu gained Zhao Ji's appreciation and trust.

It is said that later Lin Lingsu calculated that there would be a disaster in the capital and petitioned to move the capital, but at that time Song and Jin were joining forces to destroy Liao, and not only were they unwilling to move south, they also intended to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, and then... nothing happened.

Zhao Ji himself was a well-educated man and a devout believer in Taoism. He had gone over the matter in his mind but could not find any immortal with the surname Zhan. After hearing what Zhou Bangyan said, he did not ask any more questions. He just kept the matter in mind and waited to go back and ask Lin Lingsu.

Zen Master Zhiqing also came over to pay his respects at this time, "I am Zhiqing, and I am honored to meet Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Ji wore the White Dragon Fish Costume all day long, relying on the protection of the Imperial Dragon Squad to walk around everywhere in Tokyo City. His favorite thing was to visit brothels.

Most of the powerful families in the capital basically know who this Mr. Zhao is, but they have to pretend that they don't know and treat him as just an ordinary Mr. Zhao, but they can't really treat him as such.

The Daxiangguo Temple is also a scenic spot in the capital. Although Zhao Ji was not very devout in Buddhism, he often came here to stroll around, so Zen Master Zhiqing also recognized him.

Zhao Ji casually bowed to Zen Master Zhiqing and asked:
"Master, you came early. Have you ever talked to the immortals in this palace? Do you know what the role of this Immortal Zhan is in heaven?"

Zen Master Zhiqing laughed dryly and said:

"I just arrived, too. I only met the man who looked like the housekeeper of the mansion once. I saw that they were dressed in luxurious clothes, but they were different from the style of our dynasty, and they were not Liaoxia clothes. I don't know if they were clothes from thousands of years ago."

"The butler asked me about my origin and sect, and whether there were any immortals or Buddhas in the world. Finally, he asked about your Majesty's name and hobbies."

"Oh, the immortal also asked about me?" Zhao Ji immediately became interested. Just as he was about to ask in detail, he heard footsteps and Yang Yougong came out again.

He stood at the door with his head raised and asked:

"But Emperor Shenxiao is here in person?"

"My master has an old relationship with the Emperor in heaven. Now that we have the chance to meet in the lower world, I would like to invite you into my house to have a chat."

When Zhao Ji heard this, he was overjoyed and agreed immediately with even his voice trembling.

"That's right, I wonder which Taoist friend in heaven your noble master is. I lost my memory after descending to the mortal world, but my eyesight is poor and I couldn't recognize you, sir."

After receiving Master Zhan's order, Yang Yougong shouted:
"My master is the 'Universal Supreme Lord of the Underworld, the Lord of Cause and Effect'. He has insight into the three realms, controls the heavens, holds the mysteries of heaven and earth, and holds the key to the universe. He has great magical powers and boundless magic power. He can see into the past and the future and predict the cycle of cause and effect."

When you are out, you give yourself an identity, so Mr. Zhan must give himself a domineering enough name. How can the word length be shorter than "The Master of Yuqing Sect, the Wei Miao Daojun Emperor"!

Yang Yougong first praised his own master fiercely, saying that Master Zhan was rare in heaven and unique on earth, and was the most important figure in the fairy world. Then he pointed at Zhao Ji and shouted:

"The Emperor made a big mistake that day, so my master sent him into reincarnation. Whether he can ascend to heaven and return to his throne after the calamity is over depends on whether my master is satisfied."

When Zhao Ji heard this, he immediately trembled, his face full of fear, and he bowed hurriedly and said:
"After I came to the mortal world, I have been practicing diligently and have never been lazy. I hope you will repay your kindness and show me mercy."

Yang Yougong snorted coldly, turned around and walked back, "Come in and explain to my master."

Zhao Ji hurriedly followed, and Zhou Bangyan and the imperial guards behind him also followed him into the Zhan Mansion. Zen Master Zhiqing hesitated for a moment, and also tried to go in, but when he saw that no one stopped him, he quickly caught up.

Although this immortal is from Taoism, Buddha is Taoism, and all immortals in the world are one family, so maybe you can get some benefits from it.

When everyone entered the gate, they saw a dark road in the middle of the ground. It was no more than ten feet wide, but it was rolling forward.

Yang Yougong stood on the road, and without moving his legs, he was carried forward by the road.

Everyone was immediately shocked and tried to stand on it. Then they realized that the road was very stable and effortless, and they all praised:

"It is indeed a thing from the immortal family. It is so convenient."

Yang Yougong in front of him didn't even raise his head to answer:

"This is nothing. I don't know how many rarer things there are ahead."

In fact, he felt a little guilty, because these things were just made by Master Zhan to fool Zhao Ji.

This guy came too quickly, there was no time to prepare in advance.

Fortunately, this blessed land was formed on the basis of the mind-image cave, and everything in it is controlled by his mind.

Building an elevator is difficult, but creating one is easy.

Yang Yougong had never seen an elevator before, but he had been stimulated too many times by all kinds of novelties that Master Zhan had made in recent days, and his nerves had become numb, so he could come here to fool Zhao Ji without making any noise.

The group took the elevator through the hall and went straight into the backyard. Zhao Ji and others looked around, marveling at this fairy-like scenery.

Time was too short and Mr. Zhan had no time to do anything else, so he replaced the window papers on all the doors and windows with transparent glass. Under the sunlight, it looked magnificent and luxurious.

In the middle of the courtyard, Master Zhan built another fountain. The water outlets at the bottom were shaped like twelve dragon heads, which were spraying water towards the sky in defiance of gravity. Under Master Zhan's control, a small rainbow was formed.

The earliest reverse fountain in China did not appear until the reign of Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty, a carpenter emperor. Fountains of this era were basically from top to bottom.

Even an emperor like Zhao Ji, who had great power over the world, had never seen such a thing. He was stunned and his eyes did not move.

The rare trees and other things in the back were not valued by Zhao Ji, as there were plenty of them in his palace and imperial gardens.

However, Mr. Zhan got out a lot of dry ice and spread it in the woods, creating a misty atmosphere that made it look like a fairyland.

Isn't this much better than that damn Flower and Stone Gang that Zhao Ji came up with?

Originally, there should be some immortal birds such as cranes and peacocks in this fairyland, but there are only chickens and ducks in Master Zhan's backyard, which are really not good enough to show off. He also couldn't produce any living creatures in the Heart Cave, so he simply kept his skills hidden.

This is only daytime, otherwise Mr. Zhan would have put on a light show for him to let him see what an artificial sun is.

But Zhao Ji was just a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. Just these few things were enough to make him dazzled and full of envy.

After passing a few more courtyards, the elevator reached the end. Everyone got off the elevator and, under the guidance of Yang Yougong, entered the living room.

It was early spring and the weather was still a little cool, but as soon as you entered the room, a warm breeze blew in your face, making you feel refreshed.

Master Zhan had wanted to get air conditioning for a long time. As soon as the Jia Mansion fell into his hands, he modernized many things in the mansion, including air conditioning, sewer system, shower system, etc.

Zhao Ji and others had never seen these things before, and there was no heating in Kaifeng, so they just thought it was another means of the immortals.

Mr. Zhan sat in the main seat, and on his left and right sat Jia Rong and Xue Pan. Of course, the many female relatives would not come out to see anyone.

The reason why Baoyu didn't come was purely because he was allergic to things like emperors and felt uncomfortable just looking at them.

Zhao Ji hurriedly stepped forward, performed a Taoist salute, and said respectfully:

"Your Majesty, I, your disciple Zhao Ji, greet you."

Before Mr. Zhan could speak, Xue Pan shouted with shining eyes:

"Is this guy the Emperor Huizong of Song who was involved in the Jingkang Incident?"

"Eh?" Zhao Ji was stunned and had no idea what he was saying.

Master Zhan glared at Xue Pan, but did not blame him. Instead, he nodded and said:

"Yes, this Zhao Ji is the Emperor Huizong of Song who did not try to resist but compromised during the Jingkang period, and was eventually captured by the Jin army, leading to the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty."

"Hmm?" Zhao Ji's eyes widened. "Wait, Tianzun, what is the Jingkang Shame, what is the Jin Army, how did our Song Dynasty fall? How did I become Emperor Huizong?"

(End of this chapter)