From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 54: Seeing Buddhism Again
When asked, the brother and sister did not hide anything and confessed everything.

At the end of last year, as a large number of refugees came here, an old woman came here.

This old woman is in her seventies or eighties. She calls herself Luo's mother. She is blind in her left eye and deaf in her right ear.

Since Luo's mother happened to have some inherited medical skills, she made a living from it and stayed in this area.

Luo's mother didn't charge for consultation, just a meal. And her skills were really good, and she could cure seven out of ten patients.

Most of the people here are poor and it is difficult for them to see a doctor, so Luo's mother gradually gained some fame.

It even won the hearts of the people, and more people gathered around Luo's mother, and privately called her Luo Jiao.

Just at the beginning of February, Luo's mother changed the rules for seeing a doctor.

"Mother Luo is so nice! When she saw that some families couldn't even afford to eat, she didn't ask others to provide them with meals. All they needed to do was to recite a few passages from books and listen to her classes." Sister Hua obviously had great respect for Mother Luo.

"Memorizing? Attending classes?" Meng Yuan felt more and more that something was wrong with Luo's mother.

"That's right!" Sister Hua nodded repeatedly, "Mother Luo said that if you memorize the books and listen to the lessons, you will be a slave in this life, and you will go to paradise in the next life, and you will eat tofu feasts every day!"

Well! In the paradise, we don’t eat fish and meat, but tofu! A well-behaved person!
"Do you know which school of thought defines the Pure Land?" Meng Yuan asked.

"Didn't Mother Luo say that?" Sister Hua was curious. Apparently, Qing Kingdom's efforts to discredit Buddhism were indeed effective, but she didn't even know that this was a Buddhist view.

"It's okay if I don't know." Meng Yuan understood more and more, and said with a smile: "Recite a passage for me to hear."

Meng Yuan likes to listen to opera. It would be even more interesting if it was told like the one by Venerable Dawei, which was both righteous and deviant.

"I forgot. Who cares about which one to remember?" Sister Hua spread her hands.

Meng Yuan only felt that Sister Hua was better than Xiangling and her daughter. Even if she forgot, at least Sister Hua attended the class.

"I do remember a few lines from the Universal Gate Chapter." Sister Hua's brother immediately recited them like singing, "Good man, if there are countless hundreds of thousands of millions of sentient beings suffering from various kinds of distress, and they hear this, this, this..."

The boy began to scratch his head.

Meng Yuan was almost certain that this Luo Mu was probably from a Buddhist sect and was teaching Buddhist and Taoist knowledge.

The State of Qing was vast, and when it was founded it set a national policy of respecting Confucianism, Taoism and despising Buddhism. Only Ping'an Prefecture had Buddhist heritage, and no Buddhist temples could be built or Buddhist doctrines spread in other places.

However, Buddhism has flourished for thousands of years, and many people in various places still believe in and worship Buddha in private.

Besides, Buddhism talks about this life and the afterlife, cause and effect, and the six realms of reincarnation. Therefore, as long as these concepts exist, there is no way to ban Buddhism, unless a similar sect emerges.

Because people experience joys and sorrows, separations and reunions, and countless sufferings, they will naturally look for a place to rest their minds.

Taoists seek freedom and will only think that these people are too much trouble. Confucianists emphasize establishing one's destiny and mind, and will only advise these people to cultivate both the inner and outer aspects.

And the Buddhist philosophy is exactly for these people.

This is the reason why Buddhism has been able to coexist with Confucianism and Taoism for many years.

Of course, the Buddhist concept of emptiness and void, as well as the cleverness of wit, are also quite popular among some scholars. Therefore, many concepts of the three religions are interconnected and integrated.

Therefore, people like Luo Mu are not rare and can be found everywhere. Most of them borrow certain Buddhist concepts and integrate them with some Confucian and Taoist doctrines. They go around among the poor and immediately have a group of believers.

"What does Luo's mother say most often?" Meng Yuan couldn't help but think of Venerable Dawei.

"Let me think about it!" Sister Hua smacked her lips, but couldn't remember anything after thinking for a long time. It was obvious that Luo's mother's kindness was wasted, just like the eggs of the Great Tail Venerable were coaxed away by Xiangling and her daughter. "When I asked for medicine for my sister, I heard Luo's mother say that everyone in the world is wronged; all love in the world is sin." Sister Hua's brother said.

Isn’t this the words of the master relayed by Venerable Dawei?

Meng Yuan felt that he had underestimated Luo's mother, so he immediately asked, "Do you still have the medicine that Luo's mother gave you?"

"You can only get one copy a day. You have to go and get tomorrow's copy this evening," said Sister Hua.

How is this the same as the Great Tail Venerable's? Meng Yuan even laughed.

"Where does Luo's mother live?" Meng Yuan didn't want to provoke Luo's mother, but prepared to go back and complain.

"Mother Luo has moved to a new place and doesn't allow me to tell you. But since you asked, there's nothing I can't tell you. She lives in..." Just as Sister Hua was about to speak, her eyes suddenly rolled back, she foamed at the mouth, and her whole body convulsed.

Her brother immediately panicked and didn't know what to do.

Meng Yuan took out a knife, cut off a piece of wood from the stool, and stuffed it into Sister Hua's mouth to prevent her from biting her tongue.

Looking at Sister Hua's appearance, Meng Yuan guessed that this was probably some kind of meditation method. If Sister Hua wanted to tell strangers where Luo's mother was hiding, she would do this.

Sister Hua's brother quickly scooped a bucket of water and splashed it on Sister Hua's face.

"The fortune teller said that my brother and I would be poor for the rest of our lives, and that we wouldn't be able to spend the money we had. Sure enough, as soon as we took your money, something bad happened!"

Hua's brother cried. He took out all the silver from Hua's arms and stuffed it all back into Meng Yuan's hands. "Uncle, you came all the way to repay my sister and pulled her out of the quagmire. My sister and I are very grateful, but we don't dare to take the money."

"Why did your sister fall ill in early February?" Meng Yuan did not take the silver.

"Before the spring rain, I fell ill for no reason." The young man cried, "I used all the money I earned from work to buy medicine, but it didn't work. Someone told me about Luo's mother, and I invited her to come. She prescribed medicine, and I gradually got better."

"I remember you said that in early February, Luo's mother changed the rules for seeing a doctor?" Meng Yuan asked again.

"Yes." The boy replied.

Meng Yuan was about to ask more questions when there was a knock on the door.

The knock on the door was soft and slow, not like someone was in a hurry to have fun.

Meng Yuan drew his knife and went forward to open the door. There were actually three people outside, one of whom was an acquaintance of his, Zhang Guinian.

Zhang Guinian was also a little surprised when he saw Meng Yuan. He looked Meng Yuan up and down and smiled, "Did you cheat on me without telling Old Nie?"

He also glanced around the room and said, "Oh, you're all lying on the floor? Are you going to have a stroke?"

"Uncle Zhang, why are you here?" Meng Yuan didn't have time to joke, and then he understood, "To check on Luo's mother?"

"No wonder Old Nie praised you for being clever!" Zhang Guinian smiled and said, "Someone from the Luo Sect came to take a look, so I came to take a look. It turned out that it was you who lured the person here!"

"I found out about Luo's mother by accident. When I asked her where she lived, she was about to tell me, and that was it." Meng Yuan said immediately.

"It's a small method of chanting. It's not serious. It will be fine in two days." Zhang Guinian entered the room, glanced at Sister Hua, and walked out again. He looked at Meng Yuan and asked, "Is your body drained?"

Meng Yuan looked up at the sky. It was already past mid-afternoon, and it was almost time for Luo's mother to give out the medicine, so he said, "We can still fight!"

"Then you're one!" Zhang Guinian patted Meng Yuan's shoulder happily.

(End of this chapter)