Start practicing from Mr. Fox

Chapter 153 Frog Divination and Eight Treasures

"Frog Divination"

"Chen Sheng was traveling and visiting friends when he encountered villagers seeking help. Because Chen had a past relationship with the villagers, he went to investigate and learned that the underworld officials under the City God were doing evil and persecuting the spirits. Chen suspected that this matter was related to the City God who controlled the water, so he took in the spirits. The following month, his friend gave Chen Sheng a clue, and Chen went to Baishou Temple to investigate. He saw that the worshippers were dazed and seemed to have taken poison, so he asked the abbot and learned about the monk's enlightenment of the frogs and the rain-making monk. Because Chen had a past relationship with the toads, he was given the frog divination method."

Chen Ji's eyes flickered, and he realized that what he had just experienced was not spirit writing, but frog divination.

He had previously discussed Taoism with Miss Bai and knew the differences between spirit writing, divination with divination sticks, and fortune telling, but this was the first time he had ever seen the frog divination method.

So I took the opportunity to patiently browse through it.

He read it all in about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and then he understood.

Frog divination is indeed different from planchette writing and divination with divination herbs.

The practice of spirit writing involves inviting deities and spirits to control a writing brush, which writes characters on fine sand and dust, and then interprets the characters.

Yarrow divination involves generating a hexagram based on the arrangement of yarrow stalks or making inferences based on the characteristics of broken yarrow stalks.

And the frog divination method...

It's roughly a combination of two methods.

Because toads are good at water, they use toad venom incense sticks to create a misty atmosphere, like water vapor in the air. They then use the disturbance of the person asking the question to deduce the result of the divination from the mist and answer in writing.

The accuracy will be better.

However, Chen Ji had seen the Rain Monk vomit blood and felt that this method should be used sparingly, in case it was attributed to some powerful figure, which would cause considerable trouble.

I understand why many things can be known by calculation, but neither the old abbot nor Miss Bai had any such intention.

Now that I know about divination, I understand it better.

No wonder they only calculate trivial matters; the secrets of heaven are indeed not to be revealed.

Close the Book of Strange Tales.

Chen Ji then thought of the idea that the monk Zhenru had suggested.

Although there were some flaws, considering that the other party dared to use such methods so openly in the temple, they probably didn't have any other concerns.

So I felt relieved again.

The next morning, Chen Ji went to Baishou Temple again.

I still saw many devout believers repairing the road, even more than the day before, but I didn't see any pilgrims in silk robes.

Chen Ji had no intention of chatting, so he didn't interact with them and continued walking to the shed.

The monks from yesterday are not here; instead, three new faces have arrived.

One of them asked Chen Ji what his purpose was upon seeing him.

Chen Ji thought for a moment, but didn't mention that he had been there before. He only said that he had heard that praying to Buddha at the temple was effective and he wanted to ask for something.

"Then you have made the right choice. Worshipping Buddha in the temple is the most efficacious. Moreover, if you have any questions about divination, you can also ask them."

As he spoke, he casually pulled out a stick of incense.

Chen Ji squinted, sensing a familiar aura—it was Yu Seng, but not the one he had seen yesterday.

After thinking for a moment, he smiled slightly, knowing that this must be another Rain Monk, so he did not refuse.

Should we ask here instead?
"Of course not, please come into the hall."

Chen Ji followed.

But they discovered that the road was not the one leading to the temple, but rather a fork in the road from the moment they started walking.

In a daze, Chen Ji took a step forward and raised an eyebrow, realizing something was amiss.

Although the scene before my eyes remained unchanged, everything within the Qi Observation Technique had become different.

The lush natural atmosphere and the unique incense and prayers of the Buddhist temple had all disappeared, and everything in front of me was gray and hazy, as if shrouded in a layer of mist, and I could not see anything.

It's the same space as yesterday.

Chen Ji remained calm.

I already knew this supernatural power when I was chatting with the monk Zhenru. It was the supernatural power of the rain monks. They could only use it for divination and to deceive the five senses. They couldn't do anything else.

Therefore, they patiently watched to see what tricks the monk might have up his sleeve.

However, the aura observation technique did not detect any trace of the Rain Monk's aura on the monk, which made them rather curious about how he intended to perform divination.

As I was thinking, we arrived at a monks' quarters.

"This humble monk is only skilled in divination and dares not perform it in the temple. Please ask the faithful to do so in your quarters."

Chen Ji paused for a moment, then sneered inwardly.

The fact that monks don't actually tell fortunes is a huge flaw, but it should also be part of the selection process.

Those who are unaware of this matter are easily deceived, while those who are aware have other ways of dealing with it.

So he nodded in agreement.

"It's alright, thank you very much, Master."

Upon hearing this, the monk said "Good" and opened the door to invite Chen Ji into the room. He brought over a plate of imperial rice cakes and poured a bowl of tea.

"The temple offers no other hospitality, but we hope that the homemade pastries will not be too much of a problem for the devotees."

After saying that, he stood aside with the bowl in hand, and Chen Ji had no choice but to pick up a piece and eat it.

Anyway, the salt master said that there would be no problem eating this, so I might as well give it a try.

Sure enough, the moment it entered my mouth, a sense of illusion arose in my eyes, and in the hazy light, I could hear birds singing and flowers blooming, and soft whispers in my ears.

Looking left and right, his vision became blurry, the candlelight flickered, and he saw a bald head appear before his eyes.

Upon closer inspection, the overlapping shadows revealed the monk's face.

Upon closer inspection, the monk's skin slowly separated from the top of his head, and a layer of skin and flesh slid off to the ground as if coated with grease, revealing the shape of a toad.

But he is completely different from the one in the mural.

It stretches out its arms and legs, standing like a human, but only its head still resembles a toad.

It's the Rain Monk!
Chen Ji's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly understood.

No wonder the Qi Observation Technique couldn't see through the demonic auras hidden here.

The rain monk himself studied Buddhism, so his demonic aura was not obvious. Now that he was hiding under the skin of a monk, it was naturally difficult to detect him.

"My benefactor, have you decided what you want to ask?"

The words drifted slowly into Chen Ji's ears, and the toad spread its webbed fingers as if clasping its hands in front of it.

Chen Ji smiled and spoke slowly in return.

“I want to ask my master about a place. An old friend told me to go there, but he hasn’t returned for several years. I want to go and find him, but I don’t know the way.”

"where?"

"Xuanshan."

"This is simple, just wait a moment."

The monk smiled and rubbed his webbed fingers together, and a stick of toad venom incense slowly lit up, but there was something else inside.

Just as Chen Ji was about to make his judgment, he heard the rain monk speak.

"West... Pfft!"

He only uttered one word.

A cloud of blood mist exploded in the air; it hadn't even uttered a complete divination inscription before it withered away.

The faint sound of thunder could be heard in the air, but it was even more ferocious than yesterday.

"Boom... Crack!"

Chen Ji sensed danger and quickly used his speed to avoid it.

As the magic flowed, the medicinal effects of the Imperial Rice Cake completely dissipated, and his eyes became clear.

Looking back at the spot, one could see bolts of lightning, thicker than a person's body, descending from the sky.

The purple lightning, like a waterfall, washed over the rain monk's entire body, lasting for several breaths before finally stopping.

When the thunder had completely dissipated, Chen Ji looked towards the location of the rain monk and sighed.

The Purple Heaven Thunder is most effective at suppressing evil spirits. At this moment, not only is the monk's physical body about to disappear, but even the Rain Monk's soul is about to vanish, leaving only a few wisps of wandering spirits.

The illusion naturally vanished, leaving only a Pisces pendant on the ground.

A great light shone brightly in the distance, as if a high monk was about to arrive, and the wandering spirits in the air almost dispersed.

Chen Ji hurriedly raised his hand to capture the soul.

With his status as a wandering god of the underworld, he doesn't even need to issue an edict.

With a thought, several scattered souls flew back into Chen Ji's palm, faintly resembling the Rain Monk.

His eyes were vacant, and he didn't seem very bright; it was unclear how much of his memory he had left.

Chen Ji took out a jade bottle, put the soul inside, and picked up the pendant. Two figures appeared in mid-air.

"Old Abbot, Master Zhenru."

Chen Ji greeted the two men and then introduced himself.

The two exchanged a glance, their eyes lighting up, and bowed to each other.

"So it was Master Zhenru in person. I have never paid my respects before. I have been very impolite."

"Senior is too kind. I am a junior and should have paid my respects to you first, but I haven't been able to because I haven't finished dealing with matters at the temple."

"Alright, we're all up on the mountain now. We'll have plenty of opportunities to meet in the future. Let's take a look at the situation here first." Chen Ji pointed to the ground and recounted his experience, omitting the question about Xuan Mountain.

Upon hearing this, the two frowned.

After examining the situation, the monk Zhenru spoke first.

"It seems to be the work of the Rain Monk in the Eight Treasures Hall. This should also be a Rain Monk, but his magical power seems to be inferior to that of the Patriarch."

Chen Ji nodded.

"His strength has indeed weakened considerably; he died before he could even withstand a single divination."

Upon hearing this, the two looked at Chen Ji in surprise.

After a moment, he looked away without asking any further questions.

This statement was naturally intended to give them an explanation and to clarify where the thunder came from.

The Rain Monk, who had attained enlightenment for many years, had become like this because he had revealed heavenly secrets; there was no need for them to understand.

"Fellow Daoist, you used the Soul Binding Technique, but did you leave behind any fragments of the soul?"

The old abbot looked around and then asked Chen Ji.

Chen Ji nodded, took out a jade bottle, and faintly revealed the phantom image of the Rain Monk's soul inside.

The old abbot knew the state of the soul at a glance and didn't ask any further questions.

The monk Zhenru, however, was still pondering how to ask the questions.

"Fellow Daoist, there is no need to worry. Fellow Daoist Chen will handle this matter. There are people who are more skilled at this than we are."

"Ok?"

The monk looked puzzled, then saw Chen Ji take out the Underworld Seal, and suddenly realized what was going on. He put his palms together and chanted a Buddhist prayer.

"Fellow Daoist is indeed extraordinary. That's good. Handing it over to the Underworld will allow them to find out the reason."

Chen Ji pursed his lips as he listened.

I'm afraid the underworld is so busy these days that even the ghosts are exhausted.

There is still no news about the plague demon, and the collusion between the City God and the Ghost Gate has not been investigated. At this moment, there are several rain monks.

They'll probably just blame it on their own investigations in the human world, so you can't really count on them much.

He did not respond to the monk Zhenru's words, but still agreed to go to the monk's room to talk about other things, so he went there with the old abbot.

After entering the room and taking a seat, tea was poured.

Chen Ji then inquired about his experiences on the mountain that day.

"When I went up the mountain, I noticed that the monks who were greeting guests had changed..."

"I arranged it."

"That's what the monk Zhenru replied."

“Fellow Daoist said yesterday that this was done by a monk in the mountains, so I checked the records of the guest monk overnight and found that he was on duty when the incident happened.”

"It's just that my magical power is too weak to detect the problem, so I asked you to give it a try."

"I didn't expect that he couldn't restrain himself upon seeing you, fellow Daoist. He dismissed the other two and attacked directly, thus revealing his identity, which saved us a lot of trouble."

"really."

Chen Ji nodded.

This meaning was revealed in the divination text given by the monk Yuseng yesterday.

They had originally intended to lure out this hidden Rain Monk, but they succeeded on their first try, which saved them a lot of trouble.

"I wonder how many more of these rain monks there are..."

Chen Ji sighed.

The monk Zhenru paused, then slowly spoke.

"There should be eight."

"Why?"

Chen Ji looked over in confusion and saw that the monk Zhenru was pointing to the Eight Treasures Hall.

"One of the eight auspicious symbols on the mural has been restored."

……

"In the Eight Treasures, the fish symbolizes the eye of wisdom, which can see through all illusions. If you obtained this treasure in your environment, it is normal."

"I see."

Inside the Hall of Eight Treasures, the three stood still.

As Zhenru gazed at the restored mural on the wall, she slowly introduced the double fish pendant that Chen Ji had picked up.

Chen Ji seemed to be thinking about something.

Yesterday's divination result was that the treasures were divided and each went its own way, like rivers flowing into the sea.

He had only thought that this was the Rain Monk who had obtained the Eight Treasures and wanted to attain enlightenment, but he never thought there was another explanation.

Anyone who obtains the Eight Treasures can attain enlightenment, regardless of whether they are a rain monk or not.

However, Chen Ji shook his head and placed the double fish pendant on the incense table.

"I have no use for this. I will give it to Senior Yuseng when he wakes up. I will repay him for the favor I owe him."

"This……"

The old abbot and the monk Zhenru opened their mouths, but didn't know what to say.

These are the Eight Treasures left behind by that nameless monk. He was able to enlighten thirty-six frogs and toads to cultivate Buddhism, so his cultivation level must be quite high.

This pendant must be extraordinary, yet Chen Ji could give it away as if nothing had happened.

Although it was to repay a debt of gratitude, such decisiveness is not something an ordinary person could do.

The old abbot glanced at Chen Ji but said nothing.

This item was, after all, his, and the opportunity he encountered was his; how to dispose of it was up to Chen Ji.

The monk Zhenru swallowed hard, somewhat excited.

"Fellow Daoist, do you really not want what this ancestor left behind?"

Chen Ji was in a daze for a moment before he remembered that if it were based on seniority and lineage, this nameless monk was indeed the patriarch of the monk Zhenru.

However, they should not know that this nameless monk was an Arhat.

It's not appropriate to tell them directly right now.

He simply shook his head.

“You yourself said it’s something from your lineage, but I don’t practice Buddhism, so keeping it is useless to me.”

“Then I will thank you on behalf of the patriarch. I will explain to the patriarch after he has regained consciousness.”

"it is good."

"Fellow Daoist's actions are upright and admirable!"

The old abbot and the monk Zhenru both stood up to express their gratitude.

Chen Ji waved his hand, not taking it to heart.

He was indeed serious about what he said just now.

He has dealt with monks quite a few times, but so far, apart from the Mustard Seed Sumeru Technique, there are no other obvious Buddhist techniques.

Even this technique was a gift from Senior Huai.

Besides, he didn't like Buddhist magic, so he couldn't get over it psychologically, and it was just right to return it to its rightful owner.

The old abbot then took out a gourd and placed it on the table.

"Fellow Daoist, you can distribute the pills inside to all the believers, which will break the poison of the Imperial Rice Cake. In the future... please do not use this thing again, for people's hearts have changed."

"Of course, thank you both!"

After the monk Zhenru sincerely thanked him, the three of them had a discussion.

Speaking of entering the Tao through cooking, breathing the five elements, and the power of merit and vows, I have gained a lot of knowledge and experience.

It didn't end until sunset.

Then, the monk Zhenru remembered something and asked the old abbot if he had received an invitation to the Kyoto Grand Ritual.

"nature."

The old abbot nodded in response.

"The temples and monasteries on the mountain should have received the message and are discussing when to set off."

"Fellow Daoists, are you going too?"

The old abbot looked around the Baishou Temple as he spoke.

He doesn't practice Buddhism, but his eyesight is sharp enough to see that this temple is actually in a worse state than Qingfeng Temple.

Only a handful of people possess Buddhist spiritual cultivation; the vast majority are ordinary people who simply chant scriptures.

The temple wasn't even fully repaired yet, and they still had to participate in the grand ritual; it only made things more tragic.

(End of this chapter)