The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 140 Years Ago
There is only time left for the last stick of incense.

The time was too short. He had a lot to say, but he couldn't finish it.

Simply, let’s not talk about it.

"The third thing is that after the monk passed away, Yongjie took over as the abbot of Shaolin."

After saying that, Xing Chi nodded to Li Miao. Li Miao understood, put one hand on Yongjie's back, pinched Xing Chi's pulse with the other hand, and started to teach him the skills directly.

Xing Chi felt the vital energy that sustained his life constantly flowing away and closed his eyes.

He is just a dull monk.

Because he couldn't chant, he learned martial arts; because he couldn't sit still on a cushion, he went out to travel the world; because he couldn't understand the interests and rules of the world, he stubbornly followed what the Buddha taught him and did it for his whole life.

He opened his eyes and glanced at the people around him who were either crying, in pain, wailing, or panicking.

Like hungry ghosts, like wronged souls, like sinners.

For most people, this world is hell.

After the power transmission was finished, Li Miao took his hand away from behind Yongjie and said to Xingchi.

"Master, you have the last fifty breaths of time."

Xing Chi nodded, looked at everyone and smiled at them.

Then he staggered and trembled as he sat cross-legged on the ground, let go of Li Miao's hand that was holding his life, and began to recite the scriptures he had just learned.

It was also the scripture that he carried through his entire life.

"All sentient beings who have not yet been liberated have an undetermined nature and consciousness."

"Bad habits lead to karma, good habits lead to results. Doing good or evil is born according to circumstances."

"Revolving in the five realms, there is no rest, moving through the ages, confused and entangled. Like a fish swimming in a net, it will be a long flow, escaping for a while, only to be caught again."

"I am worried about people like them..."

Li Miao, who was standing by, heard Xing Chi reciting the scriptures, but he shook his head and smiled.

"The Sutra of the Original Vow of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva."

This passage of scripture was spoken by the Buddha after Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva made a great vow to save all sentient beings who are suffering from the retribution of their karma.

Li Miao understood Xing Chi's thoughts - he clearly regarded this world as hell, and then followed Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and threw himself into it without hesitation. He took the scriptures seriously, and then really did what the scriptures said for his whole life.

But thinking of this, Li Miao sighed.

"Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva said that he would not attain Buddhahood until hell is empty."

"Master, if I recite this sutra before I die, can I still leave peacefully?"

Sure enough, as Xing Chi continued to recite, he became slower and slower, and there was a hint of hesitation in his tone.

"Since you have fulfilled your past vows and made solemn vows over countless lifetimes to save the sinners, what else do I have to worry about..."

"I am back, what's there to worry about?"

"What else should I worry about...?"

Xing Chi murmured.

"My Buddha, can I really let it go?"

He was already unconscious, and he seemed to see the Buddha's golden body emerging from the clouds, holding a flower and smiling, as if to confirm that he had finally achieved enlightenment.

But he didn't like that smile.

Because that smile is too pure, without blood or dust, without sallow complexion, and without scars or wounds. The Buddha sitting on the lotus platform is neither dirty nor clean, neither increasing nor decreasing. He cannot understand the suffering of the world, nor can he save the world.

The Buddha could have said, "What else do I have to worry about?", but he couldn't say it.

He couldn't let go after all.

Xingchi stopped chanting and put down his clasped hands.

He raised his head, looked at everyone, and said the last words of his life, but they had nothing to do with Buddha.

"The monk is gone. The world is now in your hands."

He did not close his eyes, but tried hard to look at the world he could not let go of, until his vision dimmed and he lost his voice.

In Li Miao's arms, Xing Chi collapsed like a deflated ball, leaving only a handful of feather-light bones covered with cracks.

Some were left by Ji Tianrui, and some were left by people he saved over the past seventy years.

The third day of the twelfth lunar month in the twenty-third year of Jiajing.

The Shaolin abbot, the "holy monk" Xingchi, passed away.

--------

That afternoon, Li Miao avoided others and walked out of the side door of Shaolin with Yin Minjun.

Yongjie walked him to the door and bowed to Li Miao.

"Thank you, Lord Li."

Li Miao waved his hand: "Go back, Master, you still have things to do."

Yongjie nodded and was about to turn and leave.

"Oh, yes, Master."

"Do you want revenge?"

Yongjie turned around suddenly and looked at Li Miao.

Li Miao said slowly: "I plan to kill Ji Tianrui and wipe out those bastards of the Ming Cult."

"Are you interested in lending a hand?"

Yongjie thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "Lord Li insisted on following me. Is this your plan?"

Li Miao smiled.

"Yes at first."

He had no intention of hiding it. Li Miao followed Yongjie in the beginning because he wanted to drag Shaolin into the water and help him deal with the Ming Cult.

"It's just that I don't need Shaolin's help anymore."

"Master Xingchi is my friend, and you are also my friend. I am asking you now, do you want to avenge your master?"

Li Miao saw Yongjie hesitate and spoke lightly.

"Don't think too much. You won't die as long as I'm here."

"You don't need to leave Shaolin and follow me. I'll send you a message once I figure it out, and you can just come."

Yongjie looked at Li Miao and nodded slowly.

"In that case, I will wait for news from Lord Li."

After that, he turned around and left.

Li Miao then smiled, relaxed his shoulders, and turned to look at Yin Minjun.

"Elder Yin, I wanted to talk to you tonight."

"But the old monk Xingchi is so willful that I have to complete the second level of heavenly realm before I can accompany him in such a scene."

Seeing the worry on Yin Minjun's face, Li Miao waved his hands.

"I have my own way to avoid the Five Degenerations of Heaven and Man. The price is that I will be drowsy in two hours. It's not dangerous, but I will probably not wake up."

"So, what happens between us will have to wait until the day after tomorrow."

Yin Minjun screamed, clutched the corner of her clothes, and her face turned pale.

She thought this was Li Miao's excuse.

Because Li Miao had already implicitly rejected her once before.

Li Miao couldn't help laughing when he saw Yin Minjun's anxious look.

He took a step forward, grabbed Yin Minjun's hand, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

Then he leaned close to her ear and whispered softly.

"The reason I'm delaying is because you're the first woman who's expressed her feelings to me since I started traveling the world."

"I'm afraid you're just distracted for a moment and haven't thought it through."

"I'm a playboy, but I don't want to delay a good girl."

Yin Minjun's heart was soft at this time. She leaned in Li Miao's arms and spoke softly.

"Li, Li Lang."

"I am a swordsman. I also know the method of mind-cleansing swords. How could I have lost my mind?"

"I'm just afraid that you don't have any feelings for me..."

Li Miao chuckled and said.

"In that case, are you willing to wait for me for a while?"

"What is Li Lang going to do? How long will he be gone?"

Yin Minjun raised her head in Li Miao's arms and looked into Li Miao's eyes.

"What else can the Jinyiwei do? They can only kill people, burn people, and scatter their bones to ashes."

The corners of Li Miao's mouth turned up, but there was no smile in his eyes.

"Kill Ji Tianrui, destroy the Ming Cult and these beasts, and cut off the Miao people's witchcraft heritage."

"Send them down to see Master Xingchi."

"Today is the third day of the twelfth lunar month, and there are still twenty-five days until the Chinese New Year. I don't like to spend the New Year with errands."

"It just so happens that it's not convenient for me to go back to Shuntian Prefecture right now, and I have nowhere to celebrate the New Year."

"Wait for me at Hengshan Sect on New Year's Eve."

"After I kill someone, I'll come find you."

Yin Minjun nodded softly, then pushed Li Miao away and got on the horse.

"Li Lang, I will prepare some good wine to wash the edge of your sword for you."

"I'm waiting for you."

After saying this, he rode away at a gallop.

Li Miao smiled and stretched.

A man came out from the woods nearby, walked quickly to Li Miao, bowed, and handed him a stack of papers.

"Pacifier, this is the letter from the Commander, and it also contains their location."

"This is a map, it marks the hiding places of the Ming Cult that we have discovered."

Li Miao took it, looked it up and down, and laughed coldly.

"Oh, quite a few."

"Bring me two sets of clothes and some soap to remove grease."

"There were too many people to kill, and the human oil and brain matter would get on my clothes and it would be hard to wash."

(End of this chapter)