The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 178 The Eight Guardians
Dali is a continuous mountain range north of Shanju County and south of Tubo.

The green mountains are dazzling, the sunlight is pouring down, and the bright rays of light are dancing happily among the woods.

Wild flowers bloom on both sides of the path, the breeze stirs the grass, the gurgling stream responds, and clouds float slowly in the sky, showing a lively and tranquil appearance.

In the Kufan Temple, Mu Wanqing, with her slender figure and her face covered with a green veil, was silently reciting the Great Wisdom Sutra while burning incense in front of the statue of Nagarjuna Bodhisattva.

There was no sutra meeting in the temple today. Only a few mountain folk came to pay their respects and left early. Now she was the only pilgrim in the hall.

When the sandalwood burned out, she stopped chanting, and there was a hint of joy behind her veil.

Tomorrow Qin Hongmian will take her down the mountain and go to Dali. She will then take the opportunity to propose to go north to get the horse. When her mother sees that father, she will definitely be happy and may let her go and go to the capital of Song State alone.

The young monk Tongqin was wiping the niches for unknown statues on both sides. These statues were usually not worshipped and offered incense by the mountain people, but the temple residents burned incense and made offerings themselves.

Mu Wanqing looked at them for a while. These statues had different appearances. Some were majestic, some were handsome, and some were beautiful. Each one exuded a mysterious aura, and many had strange and bizarre temperaments.

Some of the body outlines are human, some are neither human nor half human, and still others look like monsters. The carvings are real or imaginary, visible or invisible, exuding a mysterious charm that is awe-inspiring and elusive.

The young monk Tongqin stood up and chanted the Buddha's name, "Miss Mu, are you free today?"

Mu Wanqing smiled and said, "I have to go down the mountain tomorrow. I don't know when I will be back. Stay a little longer."

The young monk asked, "Miss, are you going to get a horse from your friend? I miss the black horse so much after not seeing it for a long time."

Mu Wanqing nodded: "First go to Dali, then go north to a friend's place. It may take some time for me to return. I don't know if Black Rose has gained weight or lost weight now."

At this moment, she was thinking in her heart that day in the small village not far from Wanjie Valley, Zhao Ti had repeatedly said that he liked Black Rose, and it was probably sincere. So he should treat her well, because she should have gained weight.

The young monk pondered, "I think the black horse likes the freedom of the mountains and fields and is not happy to stay in the secular world. It will definitely jump for joy when it sees the girl coming to take it away."

Mu Wanqing nodded: "The horse is of course thinking of me all the time, and will definitely be very happy to see me."

The little monk smiled and said, "It must be so."

Mu Wanqing looked at the statue standing tall behind the little monk and asked curiously, "Master Tongqin, I have been worshipping Bodhisattvas for a long time, but I still don't recognize what the statues on both sides of the temple are. Are they also Buddhas and Bodhisattvas?"

The little monk turned around and took a look, then said, "Miss Mu, these statues are not Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, but the guardian gods of our Buddhist sect, the gods who protect the Dharma, the practitioners, and all living beings."

"Guardian deity?" Mu Wanqing asked doubtfully.

The little monk nodded and said, "There are different types of guardian gods in the religion. The one worshipped in Kufan Temple is the guardian gods of the Eight Divisions, also known as the Eight Divisions of Heaven and Dragon, the Eight Divisions of Dragon Gods, and the Eight Divisions of the Sky."

"The Eight Tribes, the Eight Tribes of Heaven and Dragon, the Eight Tribes of Dragon Gods..." Mu Wanqing thought for a moment, then looked up and looked at them one by one.

The young novice monk said, "The guardian gods all have great powers. They are human-like and non-human, spirits, and are all well versed in Buddhism. Among them, there are guardian gods who like to listen to the Buddha's lectures, but they are argumentative. If the Buddha says four, he says it should be five. If the Buddha says five, he will add one to make six. Although he knows he is wrong in his heart, he always refuses to accept it."

Mu Wanqing was surprised when she heard this and said, "In the Great Wisdom Sutra, there are four called the Five Truths, and five called the Six Groups. It doesn't say one thing, and it seems to be this meaning..."

The young monk smiled and said, "It's this god you are talking about. Although the master mentioned these few sentences in his lecture, he hasn't explained them yet. I guess he will start explaining them in the next lecture." "It turns out that he is talking about the guardian gods of the Eight Divisions..." Mu Wanqing said.

"The Great Wisdom Sutra is the experience that the Buddha gave to the eight groups of guardian gods on Mount Vulture Peak, which he shared with them about cultivation and enlightenment. It also contains the aspects of the gods themselves that they cannot hold on to and become demons, so how can they be converted?" The little monk said, "Bodhisattva Nagarjuna gave a detailed explanation, which was compiled by Venerable Ananda into two Buddhist scriptures, the Great Wisdom Sutra and the Great Wisdom Treatise."

"So that's how it is. It's actually the sutras that the Buddha gave to the guardian gods of the Eight Divisions of Heaven and Dragon..." Mu Wanqing revealed a look of sudden realization behind her veil and said, "Master Tongqin, what are the honorific titles of these eight divisions of gods?"

The young novice monk said, "The eight groups of gods are divided into one group, namely, the heavenly group, two groups, the dragon group, three groups, the gandharvas, four groups, the yakshas, five groups, the asuras, six groups, the garudas, seven groups, the kinnaras, and eight groups, the mahoragas are also called rakshasas in some hidden sects. Among them, the heavenly group and the dragon group are the most powerful and influential, so the eight groups of guardian gods are also called the eight groups of heavenly dragons."

Mu Wanqing exclaimed "Ah" for the rest of her life. Her eyes fell on one of the statues, which had an extremely handsome appearance and a slightly smiling look in its eyes. She asked, "Master Tongqin, which guardian deity is this?"

The young monk looked over and said with a smile, "This is the Gandharva God King, also known as the God of Incense."

"The God of Fragrance?" Mu Wanqing asked in surprise.

"It is the God of Incense. One of the Gandharvas, they do not take any food, wine or meat. They only seek fragrance to nourish their magical powers. There is a rich and strong fragrance emanating from their bodies." said the little monk.

"So that's the case." Mu Wanqing nodded.

"The Gandharvas are also called phantom gods in the Brahma scriptures, which means unpredictable. In Sanskrit, magicians are also called Gandharvas, and... the mirage is called the Gandharva city. The fragrance and changes are vague and elusive, so it is this god." The little monk pondered.

Mu Wanqing looked at the statue of the God of Incense at this moment, and felt that the other party's smiling eyes seemed to be staring at her all the time. She couldn't help but panic in her heart, and hurriedly looked at the beautiful goddess next to her and asked: "Who is this god?"

The young monk looked at it and said, "This is King Kinnara, the god of song and music."

Mu Wanqing looked at another god, who had an ugly and ferocious appearance and seemed to be full of malice. She asked, "What kind of person is this... a guardian god?"

The little monk smiled and said, "This is the Asura God King, the guardian god who was not convinced when listening to the Buddha's teachings. He often doubted the Buddha. When the Buddha talked about the Four Mindfulnesses, he said the Five Mindfulnesses. When the Buddha talked about the Thirty-Seven Factors of Enlightenment, he said the Thirty-Eight Factors of Enlightenment. He has a violent and stubborn temper... He has great power and great magical powers, but he just likes chaos in the world. The more chaos, the better..."

Mu Wanqing was shocked when she heard this: "This Divine King is so..."

The little monk continued, "The Asura God King is very suspicious. When he heard the Buddha's teachings, he suspected that the Buddha favored the Indra God King. He added more to what the Buddha said, as if he said less. When he went to war with the Indra God King, the battles were always fierce. As a result of the wars, the Asura God King was often defeated. He had nowhere to escape, so he transformed himself and hid in the silk holes of the lotus root..."

Mu Wanqing was stunned for a moment after hearing this, thinking to herself, these gods are not as compassionate and peaceful as Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they are actually quarrelsome and aggressive, and their temperaments are also strange. However, as guardian gods, the word "guardian" does make sense for them.

She looked at the statue in the head and asked, "Who is this guardian deity?"

The young monk clasped his hands and said, "This is the God King Indra, the leader of the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Beings. Among the Heavenly Beings, the God King Indra is the leader."

Mu Wanqing thought for a while after hearing this. These were things she had not known before. She had not thought there were so many explanations. She said, "Master Tongqin, I want to burn incense and pay homage to the eight kings, but I have to leave tomorrow, so I can only come back down the mountain and talk about it later."

The young monk said, "Miss Mu, there is no rush. You can wait for her to come back and pay your respects."

Mu Wanqing nodded, looked at the statues of the Eight Divine Kings again, then turned and walked out of the temple.

By this time, Zhao Ti had returned to Suzhou, assembled his troops, and headed straight for the Yangtze River out of the city...

(End of this chapter)