The Word of Heaven

Chapter 246 You and Me Under the Buddha's Light
Yuangou Temple was a popular place with tens of thousands of people coming and going every day. There were countless horse-drawn carriages parked on the avenue outside the front gate of the temple, as well as makeshift shacks for the sick to stay temporarily.

Hundreds and even thousands of monks were walking around in this busy place, not only busy rescuing the patients, but also making intensive preparations for the coming winter to avoid the tragic situation of people freezing to death due to the freezing weather.

In a sense, ordinary people living in this small area are the most pious, because Yuangou Temple may be the last hope in their lives.

When the bell rang and the Buddha's light shone upon the earth like the rising sun, people looked up as if they were touched. Their eyes were moistened by the Buddha's light and their dry lips subconsciously opened, uttering a prayer-like sound.

In a very short time, the sound turned into a long river of vows, converging and merging into the Buddha's light.

The monks walking outside the temple were confused when they saw this scene.

The expressions of several experienced old monks changed slightly, thinking, wasn't it the senior monks from Cihang Temple who came today? Why was even the mountain gate formation activated?

Then their eyes fell on the devout believers on the roadside. Their eyes became extremely solemn and they had a very bad premonition.

……

……

At the back of Cihang Temple, the lecture hall was dead silent.

Before the Buddha's light rose, the chanting of the sutras had already reached its climax.

Both the monks from Yuangou Temple and the three eminent monks from Cihang Temple were smiling kindly, revealing their happiness at the success of this Buddhist exchange.

Therefore, whether it was Master Jianxin or the old abbot who had a profound realm, they could not have imagined the many changes that would follow, and stopping them became a nonsense.

Being unable to stop it doesn’t mean nothing can be done.

The monks in the lecture hall stood up at an extremely fast speed and surrounded the three monks in full battle array.

Master Jianxin said nothing and looked extremely indifferent.

At the same time, the old abbot had issued an order to put the entire rear temple into a state of martial law.

No one can go to the place where the Buddha's light shines.

Master Jianxin turned around, looked at him and asked, "I'll go?"

The old abbot was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I'll go."

Master Jianxin knew that the matter was of great importance and did not insist.

He glanced at the distraught little monk standing in the distance, then said, "Let Wuque go with you."

The old abbot did not refuse.

The two of them vaguely guessed what was going on. At the moment, they were angry at the Cihang Temple's silence, and they were also strongly dissatisfied with Gu Zhuo, which they could not express out loud. In addition, they felt suddenly heavy-hearted due to the sudden changes in the formation.

Leaving the lecture hall, we climbed the stairs and passed through layers of dense forests. As we got closer, the Buddha's light became more magnificent.

Monk Wuque followed behind the old abbot, with no intention of appreciating this rare and magnificent scene, and his sea of ​​consciousness was in chaos.

Not long after, the lakeside and the Zen room appeared in their eyes.

The Immaculate Monk's face turned even paler.

The golden Buddha light fell in the Zen room, but what flowed out from it was a bright red like the twilight, as thick as burning blood.

The blood did not have time to flow into a river, carrying the horrific killing contained in it, rushing towards the two people outside the Zen room, but it had already dissipated under the cover of the Buddha's light.

Monk Wugui had always had a good memory and knew the wonderful use of the Yuangui Temple mountain gate formation, so he hoped that his memory was not that good. He asked with a trembling voice: "Abbot...what's going on?"

The old abbot remained silent.

It was not that he was unwilling to answer, but he had never seen such a grand scene in his life.

How many people did the person in the Zen room kill in order for the Yuangou Buddha light to show such a miraculous sight?

A name appeared in his mind.

There was no sound coming from the Zen room.

A dead silence.

The old abbot hesitated again and again, but ultimately did not take a step forward.

It's not that he's unwilling, but he knows that the person in the Zen room must know of his arrival, so the silence at this moment means that he doesn't want to meet him, and he has no qualifications to break in.

Waiting becomes the only option.

……

……

In the Zen room.

Dao Xiu looked at Gu Zhuo quietly.

Gu Zhuo faced the pool water.

There was no sound because neither of them spoke.

There is an indescribable strange atmosphere permeating the place. Under the reflection of the bright Buddha light falling from the eaves, it becomes clearer and clearer and can no longer be ignored.

Time is the sharpest sword in the world, which can cut off all the anxiety, but at this moment there is not such a long time left for the two people sitting here.

Eventually, the matter will come to a visible and practical end.

Dao Xiu suddenly asked, "Was this premeditated?"

Gu Zhuo said: "I don't know what you are talking about."

Dao Xiu frowned slightly, as if he had encountered an unprecedented difficult problem, and said to himself: "Even if you had planned it in advance, you shouldn't be able to do it to this extent. Why?"

Gu Zhuo thought for a moment and said, "Maybe it's because I listened to Buddhist scriptures in Yuangou Temple and lived in Cihang Temple for several days?"

"That sounds reasonable."

Dao Xiu raised the corners of his lips slightly, his smile full of self-mockery, and asked: "Do the days you mentioned add up to a year?"

Gu Zhuo said: "A few more days should be enough."

Daoxiu was silent for a moment, then said, "The three old monks in the lecture hall have been chanting sutras and reciting Buddha's name in Cihang Temple for nearly a thousand years."

"If I were not here today, these three people alone would not be able to summon the Buddha's light at this moment."

He said, “That’s the truth.”

Gu Zhuo looked at him and said, "I don't understand what you are talking about."

Dao Xiu shook his head and said, "To know is not to know, and not to know is to know."

Gu Zhuo said: "These are the words of a scholar."

Dao Xiu said indifferently: "You are not a Zen Buddhist, but you are also reading Buddhist scriptures and using Buddhist teachings."

Gu Zhuo said: "If I say that I actually have some feelings towards monks, would that be too fake?"

"Yes."

Dao Xiu looked into Gu Zhuo's eyes and said calmly, "Otherwise you wouldn't have done such a thing."

This sentence may seem ordinary, but it is actually a Zen mantra that can reach the depths of people's hearts and reveal all truths, almost like a supernatural power.

Gu Zhuo looked calm as usual and asked, "What's the matter?" Dao Xiu was silent again.

The next moment, he suddenly laughed and said, "I was wrong."

Gu Zhuo didn't respond.

Dao Xiu looked at the young man in front of him, feeling very emotional, and said, "You are right to be fearless."

Gu Zhuo asked: "Do you want to try the last method?"

"Kill you?"

The smile on Daoxiu's face deepened, and he shook his head and said, "I won't do that."

Gu Zhuo was a little surprised.

Compared with the attitude revealed in the previous conversation, this is undoubtedly a repetition.

More importantly, the Yuangou Temple formation has been activated at this moment.

Everyone knows that water cannot be recovered.

Gu Zhuo didn't ask why, and said, "Thank you."

Dao Xiu said, “You’re welcome.”

After saying this, he stood up and walked out of the Zen room, leaving behind some lingering sound.

"Compared to before, I am more curious about you now, and not only about what choice you will make."

"As for why I didn't kill you."

"Perhaps the emperor hopes that you will be killed by me."

As Dao Xiu walked away, thick and substantial blood began to flow along with him, like a rolling sea of ​​blood.

Gu Zhuo watched him go.

Until there was no one else in the meditation room, the Buddha's light faded away.

The picture returns to reality.

Gu Zhuo is pure and clean.

Not a trace of blood.

……

……

There were voices coming from outside the Zen room; it was the conversation between Daoxiu and the old abbot.

At this point, it's hard to say anything cheerful, the only thing left is to be polite.

As a junior, Monk Wuque had no right to take part in the conversation. His eyes were always on the Zen room until he could no longer find any trace of blood flowing out of it. Only then did his mind suddenly relax.

It was not until this time that he realized that his back was completely wet with sweat.

These words fell into the ears of the Immaculate Monk.

"You are very good."

Dao Xiu smiled slightly and said, "I should have tried to snatch you as my apprentice."

The Immaculate Monk was stunned.

Without waiting for the old abbot to speak, Daoxiu continued, "The monk Wujiu is the future of our Zen Buddhism. If he has any confusion in his practice in the future, he might as well go to Cihang Temple. I will leave him some experience in practice, which may be of reference."

While speaking, he didn't even look at the Immaculate Monk, and he didn't seem to cherish him as much as his words said.

The old abbot had a complicated look on his face, and finally said hello.

If it were someone else, they might think that this was Daoxiu's compensation for the sudden change today, but he didn't think so.

Dao Xiu left.

Under the setting sun of autumn, the cold wind blows gently.

The fallen leaves and the monks' robes flew together.

The monk seemed to have come for fun, but returned because the fun was gone.

……

……

The Immaculate Monk pushed open the door of the meditation room.

There is warmth behind the door.

That is the afterglow of the sunset.

Gu Zhuo was sitting next to the pool, holding a Buddhist scripture in his hand, studying it carefully.

Half of the body is dark, half of the body is bright.

There was no trace of panic on his face. He was as calm as usual, and there seemed to be only profound scriptures before his eyes.

The drastic change that happened a moment ago did not leave even the slightest trace on him.

Everything has disappeared with the wind.

In the years that followed, the Wuque monk never forgot this scene.

"Do you have anything to ask?"

Gu Zhuo's voice sounded gentle.

The Immaculate Monk came to his senses but said nothing.

Gu Zhuo put down the Buddhist scripture, looked at him and said, "If you want to know the answer, I will tell you."

The words are true.

After hearing this, the Immortal Monk was silent for a long time, then asked seriously, "Do you hate monks?"

Gu Zhuo said: "It depends on what kind of monk he is."

The Immaculate Monk asked, “For example?”

Gu Zhuo said: "You."

The Immortal Monk thought this was too strange, so he shook his head and said, "I am your friend, not just a monk. You are answering a question that is not relevant to your question."

Gu Zhuo thought that seemed to be the case.

"I don't like the monks at Cihang Temple very much. The reasons are complicated and inhumane."

He finally said: "As for the monks in Yuangou Temple... I think they are pretty good. They are quite good."

(End of this chapter)