The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 81 When the Flowers Bloom, the Buddha Appears
After wiping away his cold sweat, the governor said with a forced smile:
"Master, you are a highly accomplished Taoist, so you naturally need not concern yourself with worldly troubles. However, I beg you to have mercy and take care of me!"

Seeing him like this, Du Yuan asked with a smile:
"Isn't that right?"

The governor's expression instantly became quite interesting.

After a long pause, Du Yuan waved her hand and smiled:
"Alright, alright, since you're so worried, I'll do as you say."

Governor Pei immediately felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders:
"Thank you for your understanding, Daoist Master."

"So," Du Yuan changed the subject, "you came to find me because of those two Taoist priests?"

The governor was about to nod when he suddenly realized something and said:

"Master, do you know those two Taoist priests?"

He hadn't mentioned before that the two Taoist priests might be able to control spirits. But Du Yuan brought it up.

Ah, that's true, how could the Taoist priest not know?

The Taoist priest is a highly accomplished person who can see through the secrets of heaven and goes to great lengths to save people from suffering!

Thinking of this, Governor Pei asked with delight:
"Daoist Master, did you come to Qingzhou specifically for this matter?"

Since he said so, Du Yuan naturally nodded in agreement.

Upon seeing this, Governor Pei was overjoyed and said:
"That's great! With you here, Daoist Master, these two mere evil spirits are nothing to fear!"

At first, he didn't take the two Taoist priests seriously at all. What he was really worried about were Anqing King's old subordinates and the Tu people he was in contact with.

Even if he is demoted to a county prince, Qingzhou is still the hometown of the Prince of Anqing.

With years of experience and his royal status, he wouldn't be truly without capital.

He was genuinely worried that he wouldn't be able to handle the situation if the other side caused trouble.

However, after receiving a series of urgent reports from Qing County and other places, those two Taoist priests who might actually have abilities suddenly became his biggest worry.

After all, if even a fake one in the Southwest can be so powerful, then the two real ones plus the King of Anqing must be unbelievable!
But things are different now. With the Taoist priest, a true master from another world, what are two mere heretics?
That's a piece of cake!

But before Governor Pei could rejoice for long, he heard Du Yuan say:
"However, this matter is probably not that simple."

Du Yuan didn't know who the richly dressed young man was, but through him, she realized that the person in the temple was probably no ordinary person. She also learned that the old monk and the Taoist priest she had encountered earlier were likely cultivators.

Furthermore, the old monk's last destination was the direction of the Prince's Mansion gate!
Even though it wasn't just the Prince's Palace there, I also heard there was a very popular temple nearby.

But Du Yuan just felt that the Taoist priest and the monk were both heading towards the Prince's mansion!

"It can't be that simple? Then, Taoist Master, do you have any insights?"

The governor was startled. The Taoist priest said it was not simple. Wasn't that extremely dangerous?
Shouldn't the imperial court organize a large army as soon as possible?

But the situation in the southwest is still unresolved. Without solid evidence, how can I convince the court that it is truly Prince Anqing who intends to rebel, and not that I want him to rebel?

Du Yuan thought for a moment and said:
"Perhaps we could call the Han family over to discuss this?"

Governor Pei shook his head regretfully and said:

"Daoist Master, the Han family may not listen to me!"

Anqing Wang is not exactly a law-abiding citizen; is he just a powerful clan?

The Han family might even be a more troublesome problem than Prince Anqing! After all, in terms of time, Prince Anqing and the Han family came later!
Unexpectedly, Du Yuan laughed:

"It's okay, they should listen to me!"

Governor Pei stared wide-eyed at Du Yuan, only to see her chuckling as she poured tea.

It was as if what I had just said was some trivial matter.

This startled the governor, who hurriedly stepped forward and took the teapot, saying:
"Master, this is a matter for me to handle. I'll pour you some tea right away!"
-
After leaving Du Yuan, the old monk slowly walked towards the Fran Temple.

His ultimate goal was indeed the Prince's Palace.

But the temple of Fran is also on the way.

In that case, as a monk, one should naturally first pay homage to the Buddhist temple.

Such actions bring him great satisfaction.

Even though he had obtained the true Dharma, he was still the same as always.

Isn't this the great state of seeing one's true self and being unmoved by external things?

After checking in with the guest monk, the old monk, led by a young monk, went to the main hall to offer incense and pay his respects.

As he walked through the corridor, a ray of sunlight happened to filter through the trees and fall on the prayer beads in his hand.

Seeing this, the old monk couldn't help but stop and look up at the sky.

The sun was high in the sky.

It's aboveboard, yet somewhat jarring.

The young monk beside him spoke up at the opportune moment:

"Elder, although it's a bit late, after you finish paying your respects to the Buddha statue, I'll take you to the dining hall to see if we can still prepare a vegetarian meal!"

"Is it already this time?"

"That's right, I think most people have already eaten it."

The old monk nodded and said no more, preparing to continue forward. But the young monk leading the way stopped in his tracks.

This puzzled the old monk, who asked:
"what happened?"

The young monk pointed in surprise to the Bodhi tree beside him and said:

"Elder, the Bodhi tree has blossomed ahead of schedule!"

He clearly remembered that there were no signs yesterday, but today it suddenly bloomed!

"Um?!"

Following the young monk's finger, the old monk saw that the ancient Bodhi tree, said to be over a thousand years old, was now shrouded in swirling clouds of mist among its branches.
These small, off-white flowers, which should have bloomed at the end of May, are now covering the branches like falling snow.

'There's still more than a month until the flowers bloom!'

The old monk was stunned and speechless.

The young monk standing nearby observed silently for a moment, then suddenly raised his finger and exclaimed in surprise:

"Why do all the flowers bloom facing east?"

Such an unusual sight immediately drew passersby to stop and admire it with their hands clasped in prayer.

Many devout believers were already kneeling under the Bodhi tree, their faces filled with excitement, constantly bowing and praying.

Unlike the two monks who hadn't noticed this place.

Many of these pilgrims witnessed the miraculous sight of the ancient tree blooming in an instant.

They were all astonished by this:

"The Buddha has appeared!"

"It is the Buddha manifesting his power!"

Upon hearing this, the pilgrims immediately rushed to prostrate themselves in worship, their voices of piety rising and falling.

Even many monks in the temple came after hearing the news, chanting sutras and putting their palms together in front of the Bodhi tree that had blossomed ahead of schedule.

Only the old monk and the young monks did not join the others in paying their respects.

The young monk was unable to approach because he needed to lead the old monk to the main hall, but he repeatedly put his palms together and chanted Buddhist mantras incessantly.

The old monk lowered his eyes and pondered silently, trying to understand the cause of these strange phenomena.

He subconsciously picked up the prayer beads and started moving them, when suddenly he had an epiphany:
"When the flowers bloom, the Buddha appears!"

"When the flowers bloom, one sees the Buddha?"

The young monk was both astonished and inquiring.

The old monk said excitedly:
"Yes, yes, yes, it means that when the flower blooms, one sees the Buddha! The Bodhi tree is a great treasure of Buddhism, and now that it has bloomed ahead of schedule, it is naturally a sign of welcoming the Buddha!"

Seeing the extremely excited old monk, the young monk asked in confusion:

"But what about Buddha?"

The old monk's excitement came to an abrupt halt, and the prayer beads in his hand suddenly collapsed to the ground.

(End of this chapter)