A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 238 Reverence for God as if God were present

Qingchuan Tuoshan Mountain is characterized by its rugged terrain and unique scenery. Its highest peak, reaching hundreds of feet high, resembles an ancient pine tree that reaches straight into the clouds when viewed from afar.

Not far to the east of this ancient pine tree, there are two hills facing each other, one to the south and one to the north. The southern one is smaller and the northern one is larger, shaped like two humps on a camel's back. The surrounding terrain is also relatively gentle, as if a giant camel is resting under the tree.

This scenery is the origin of the name Tuoshan (Camel Mountain).

Haotian Palace was built on the top of Camel Peak in the north. Centered around the "Haotian Shangdi Shrine", the palace was surrounded by the Jade Emperor Hall, the Seven Treasures Pavilion, the Gathering Immortals Tower, the Dragon Pool, and the east and west side halls, among others.

There are fifty or sixty large-scale palaces and pavilions that stretch across the entire summit, embracing the wind and clouds, creating a magnificent and ever-changing landscape.

This palace complex was built during the reign of Emperor Zhezong of Song, less than thirty years ago. With its red walls, black tiles, and gilded statues, it has not been damaged by the passage of time, but has gained a sense of historical depth, creating a peaceful and solemn atmosphere. It is truly a rare and wonderful place for literati to enjoy spring outings and compose poems.

However, nowadays, Qingzhou is riddled with bandit strongholds, and no high-ranking officials, nobles, scholars, or Confucian gentlemen dare to come to the deep mountains to offer incense and play. The entire palace complex is now occupied by lean, wiry men dressed in tight-fitting clothes and wearing headscarves.

They occupy various halls, chanting incantations and sweeping daily, diligently practicing magic. Sometimes, in groups, they summon flying shuttles and copper wire nets, which swirl in the air, sparking and creating a lively clanging sound.

If someone reaches a higher level in their magic, they will go to the Temple of the Supreme God of Heaven and receive guidance from their Grand Master before they can confidently take that step.

The Grand Master Fang La sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, his back to the statue of the Jade Emperor, facing the door. A ray of sunlight slanted in, illuminating him, and his simple white robes radiated a warm glow.

He wore a square scarf around his head, his beard was somewhat disheveled, and his features were slightly thin, but he had a high nose, bright eyes, and sword-like eyebrows, exuding a powerful aura. When instructing his disciples in cultivation, his slightly hoarse voice could bring people an unparalleled sense of security.

Just as several disciples outside the door sat down on the ground as instructed and entered a meditative state, a burly man in red robes, with the imposing presence of a tiger and the swiftness of wind, arrived.

"Shi Bao pays his respects to the leader."

Fang La asked, "Protector Shi, what is it?"

Shi Bao presented a letter, and after Fang La read it, he explained, "This letter appeared in the village last night. We examined it first, and there was nothing tampered with in the letter. As for the so-called divine Gu worm, we also had some soldiers test it, and it was exactly as described in the letter."

Before speaking, Shi Bao took out a piece of clothing folded into small pieces.

Fang La looked surprised, took it, and rubbed it between his fingers: "It really is a living thing. I have never heard of such a Gu worm before. Liangshan is truly blessed to have obtained such a divine object."

"But Liangshan wants to use the Divine Gu Mother Worm as bait to lure all the leaders of the righteous armies in the world to Qingzhou."

Shi Bao said anxiously, "Qingzhou is our territory. Their actions are going too far."

Fang La lowered his eyes in thought, then calmly said, "If he were at Liangshan, inviting all the leaders of the righteous armies in the land to a gathering, how many would dare to attend?"

Although everyone wanted to kill corrupt officials and resist the emperor, it was unlikely that they were all like-minded or could trust each other.

Liangshan was not only Guan Yu's stronghold in Luoyang, but its terrain was also very unfavorable to outsiders.

In contrast, Qingzhou is a place with a unique and treacherous terrain, with high mountains, deep valleys, dense forests, and ravines. Those who come to the meeting must all be experts. If they find that things are not going well, it will be easy for them to get away.

Shi Bao thought for a moment, his expression softening slightly: "Moreover, from an outsider's perspective, the bandit forces in Qingzhou are complex and intertwined, and they are not of one mind. If those people were to attend the meeting, they would feel more at ease. However, Liangshan specifically requested that the people behind us attend, which probably means they have sensed the presence of the leader."

Fang La said, "That's not surprising, after all, Liangshan and Qingzhou are too close. They can guess that Qingzhou's power is entirely under my control, and they still dare to hold their gathering here, which is quite bold. Where exactly in Qingzhou is it?"

Shi Bao's expression was strange: "According to Dai Zong's message, the time is the 15th of this month, and the location is the Thousand Buddha Cave."

Fang La was taken aback: "What a clever move to secure Luoyang!"

The so-called Thousand Buddha Caves refers to the camel hump in the southern part of Camel Mountain. Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and the Sui and Tang Dynasties, monks have successively carved stone statues there. There are countless Buddha statues of all sizes. This practice gradually decreased after the end of the Tang Dynasty.

The people who created the statues have returned to the earth, but the stone statues they carved have become one of the eight scenic spots of Qingzhou, known as Camel Ridge and the Thousand Buddha Grottoes.

For ordinary people, the mountain roads are rugged, and the ladders wind around the mountains. Going up and down between the two peaks of Haotian Palace and Thousand Buddha Cave is a long and difficult journey.

However, for top-tier sorcerers and martial artists, they can all fly from the mountaintop, and the Haotian Palace and the Thousand Buddha Cave are only a few miles apart.

Fang La stood up, walked out of the Temple of the Supreme God of Heaven, and stepped out of the palace gate, gazing at the Thousand Buddha Caves.

"The fact that they chose this place doesn't seem like a random decision. It seems they not only realized that there was someone behind the Twenty-Eight Villages of Qingzhou, but also vaguely knew the area I was in."

Shi Bao cupped his hands behind him and said, "Master, should we make some arrangements?"

Fang La retorted, "What are you going to arrange?"

"Guan Luoyang's choice of this location and the holding of this conference shows that he is extremely domineering, and there will definitely be conflicts with the leaders of the rebel armies in various places."

Shi Bao analyzed carefully and said, "In the current situation, the imperial court is still the biggest threat. All parties are certainly restrained, but they are all martial artists and practitioners of law. If they lose their temper and become murderous, it is not impossible for them to fight each other and suffer serious injuries."

"If we carefully plan some methods, we might be able to seize that opportunity to capture them and control them with poison. At that time, most of the righteous armies in the world will have to obey our orders. And if we also get our hands on the divine Gu..."

As he spoke, his nostrils flared, his breathing became increasingly rapid, and his eyes gleamed with ambition.

Fang La, however, did not react to his words, but stood with his hands behind his back, looking south, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Shi Bao paused for a moment, then said, "Master, I know things probably won't go as smoothly as I expect. If they aren't seriously injured, then we should keep our plans well hidden and not activate them. In any case, having these plans in place is always more beneficial than harmful."

Fang La remained silent for a moment before finally asking, "Shi Bao, do you believe in gods?"

Shi Bao, puzzled, hesitated and said, "Since the sect leader asked me personally, I dare not lie. Although we always use supernatural matters to mobilize the people and boost our military prestige, ordinary ghosts and monsters can't even withstand a single blow from me. As for true immortals, how many have truly ascended throughout history? And if they have, why would they care about matters of the mortal world?"

Fang La said, "According to you, the Yellow Emperor was the progenitor of immortality, and Jiang Ziya was a sage of military strategy. Why would such peerless powerhouses, who were capable of ascending to immortality, also need to be honored with sacrifices?"

Without hesitation, Shi Bao replied, "It's most likely a means of controlling the masses."

Fang La continued, "But they are gods and demons in the world. When they were at their peak, who would dare disobey them? Why bother with sacrifices to Heaven? And who is worthy of their worship?"

Shi Bao was taken aback by the question. Although he couldn't answer it at the moment, he didn't think there were any gods or Buddhas who could respond to the world. Instead, he felt a sense of absurdity.

"Our methods for appeasing the people and stirring up public sentiment are all pieces pieced together by the cult leader from passages extracted from Taoist and Buddhist scriptures. After all these years, has the cult leader even deceived himself?"

He looked at Fang La, his mindset shifting slightly as he suddenly noticed some things he hadn't considered before.

Fang La's cuffs showed signs of wear, and several seams on his white robe had loose threads showing through.

Back then, the leader secretly plotted a rebellion and declared himself king. On the surface, he associated with the government, and when he went out, he was dressed in fine silks and satins, drove fine horses and carriages, rode hawks and fought dogs. When he went in, he was surrounded by servants and bathed in incense. When was he ever so simple?

Even when he occasionally visits those poor people, it's just lip service to showing compassion; it's all for the sake of having more followers when the real uprising begins.

What's wrong with the cult leader?

Shi Bao felt a little worried and blurted out, "Master, is your 'Precious Sun and Moon Transformation Heart Sutra' coming out soon?"

"You're worried I'll go astray."

Fang La turned around, a smile on his face, "On the contrary, I have had many enlightenments in recent years, far surpassing my former self. Your cultivation has often been guided by me, can't you realize that?"

Upon reflection, Shi Bao realized that this was indeed the case. Not only had the sect leader's cultivation level become increasingly advanced, but his ability to manage his influence had also become more profound than before.

That year, they fled all the way from Qingxi in Muzhou to Qingzhou, hiding their identities and thinking that this was how their lives would end. Unexpectedly, in just a few years, Fang La actually managed to establish the Twenty-Eight Fortresses again, and the troops under his command were even more reliable than when they were in Muzhou.

"You don't need to be afraid. I do believe in God now, but I don't believe in any Buddhas or immortals. I just thought about it deeply after I survived that ordeal back then, and slowly came to understand some truths."

Fang La said, "When I was in Muzhou, Emperor Daojun was incompetent, and the people of the world had suffered under him for a long time. I saw that the people's hearts could be won over, so I went with the flow. I comforted those who were suffering and inspired those who were passionate. Sure enough, I built up a great force in a short period of time."

"But why did I lose in the end?"

Shi Bao is unable to speak coherently; he has been unable to answer several times today.

Back then, they were so secretive in their actions in Muzhou. At that time, there were already rebellious people everywhere in Muzhou. No matter how hard they racked their brains, they couldn't understand how the emperor could have directed a group of Daoist officials to launch a surprise attack on the Fang family.

This question, which had troubled him for years, was brought up again, and Shi Bao couldn't help but mutter, "Yes, why is that?"

Fang La continued, "In that defeat, my good brothers whom I had painstakingly recruited suffered heavy casualties. Divine Arrow Pang Wanchun, Monk Deng Yuanjue, Sorcerer Zheng Mojun, Brother Si Xingfang, and Brother Bao Daoyi all died in the encirclement. My nephew Fang Jie was braver than anyone else and broke through the encirclement several times. After being seriously injured, he was killed by Chen Xizhen."

"I was severely injured by Wang Laozhi's Fire Dragon Stove Cauldron Technique. My son, Fang Tianding, impersonated me to lure away the pursuers, and was then turned into ashes by them."

As the words entered his ears, Shi Bao couldn't help but recall the blood-stained scenes from the past. By the time Fang La fled to Qingzhou, only Shi Bao, Wang Yin, and Li Tianrun remained by his side, all of whom were seriously injured.

"I thought about it for two years before I came up with a key idea. When we were discussing the uprising, I proposed a plan: after we raised the banner of rebellion, we could send people to set fire to the houses of ordinary people in various places, forcing them to join us."

"The six surrounding states are rich in timber, and millions of people will have to become our wings and follow us."

Fang La closed his eyes and sighed deeply at this point, "On the very night I proposed this wicked plan, the Taoist priests broke down the door, and the family fortune that my Fang family had accumulated over generations was reduced to ashes."

Shi Bao took a step back, horrified.

"There really are gods in this world! That is the way of heaven, the law of cause and effect. If it is just a small good or evil deed, or personal actions, one may be able to escape the eyes of the gods. But the greater the deeds one does, the less one can escape this law of cause and effect."

"Great scholars and literary giants, if they behave improperly, will surely be condemned by thousands of people in later generations. If a dynasty's ruler is incompetent and foolish, no matter how vast the territory, it will eventually collapse."

Fang La's eyes shone with a clear, unmistakable light as he looked at Shi Bao and slowly said, "The leaders of the righteous armies across the land—that's a huge deal! If you use poisonous schemes to lure those leaders, you will surely be devoured by wicked people in the future. You are my brother, and I will not let you fall into that situation."

Shi Bao's ambition was disrupted by a sudden panic, but having weathered many storms, he swallowed hard and forced himself to calm down, asking with some resentment, "If that's the case, then what's the point of us managing Qingzhou?"

He said indignantly, "Are we just supposed to do nothing when the Liangshan people swagger right up to us in the Thousand Buddha Caves and ask us to meet them?"

"Of course not!"

Fang La said calmly and decisively, "Now I do not use poisonous schemes, do not harm the innocent, and have a clear conscience. Now I have mastered my skills and can control the sun and moon with boundless power. Now my Qingzhou power is rising again, the emperor is still cruel, and rebellious thoughts are rising in the world again."

He spoke very slowly, each word so clear it was unforgettable: "God, this time He won't stop me either!"

The sea of ​​clouds surged around the mountain peaks.

The hazy sun in the sky suddenly became exceptionally clear, and a slit opened in the clouds.

The strongest and brightest light fell on the mountain peak and shone on Fang La, making his simple, tattered white robe completely flawless.

Those cultivating in Haotian Palace all sensed something amiss and came to the outside of the hall to pay their respects to the light. Their vital energy felt warm and comforting, and in that instant, their cultivation became even more refined.

Shi Bao's heart trembled, and he slightly bent his back, looking at the person he followed with a more devout gaze than ever before.

"When you go to the Thousand Buddha Caves, prepare seats, food and water, and simple tea and wine, as well as mountain fruits are fine. As long as they can fill their stomachs, it will be a welcome feast for them."

Looking down to the south, Fang La observed the thousands of Buddha statues in the grottoes within the camel hump, many of them exquisite and magnificent, calmly admiring them with his lowered eyes, as if they were merely naturally formed stones.

He saw that the statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were no different from any pleasant grass or wildflower by the roadside.

Reverence for the gods is as if they were present, and regard Buddha statues as mere dust.

"Liangshan's actions are exactly what I wanted to do."

"When all those patriots and heroes who have just raised the banner of rebellion arrive here, I will tell them who the strong are, who the victors are, and who is the one who can subdue them and destroy this corrupt and old dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)