Wizards begin with Occlumency.

The monk Liaochen left, looking utterly dejected.

Link did not see him off, but quietly watched Monk Chen leave, his eyes calm.

Values ​​are not something that can be easily broken down or reshaped.

Moreover, Link did not force Monk Chen to break his worldview; in fact, he reshaped Monk Chen's worldview.

In short, one who is free from desires is invincible.

It was precisely because Link didn't insist on this that Monk Liaochen wasn't surprised.

Everything that is happening now, the doubts about Baima Temple and about Buddhism, are all things that Monk Liaochen brought upon himself.

After watching Monk Chen leave, Link did nothing else but sit quietly in deep thought.

The princess's secluded courtyard.

Jasmine looked at the dressing mirror in front of her, silently asking, "Has he arrived?"

"They're here."

The answer came from the mirror.

The maid standing nearby was completely oblivious and continued to diligently dress and groom Jasmine.

"How is he doing?"

"It couldn't be better."

"What are his plans?"

"It doesn't seem so at the moment."

"he……"

"You two will soon be able to meet openly and be together as a matter of course. Go ask him, why are you asking me?"

Lottesno, who was communicating with Jasmine through the dressing mirror, finally couldn't hold back anymore and his tone became annoyed.

Jasmine pursed her lips, suppressing her smile.

She knew this, of course. The reason she kept asking Lottesno was twofold: first, she wanted to know as soon as possible, and second, she wanted to cause trouble.

Yes, looking for trouble.

Who told Lottesno to wander around aimlessly these past few days, and even wander in front of Link?

Even though she was just standing on an attic and looking at him from a distance, Jasmine could still see the slight displeasure that Link was hiding beneath his calm demeanor.

If her husband was unhappy, Jasmine would get her revenge and make trouble for her younger brother who had upset him.

"Ugh!"

Lottesno sighed deeply, "I've had enough of you two! You're always showing off your love, no matter what!"

After sighing, Lotesnow severed his connection with the dressing mirror and strolled out of the Guanglin Prince's Mansion.

As a reincarnation of a saint, and also a "possession" of another, Lotesno's special feature is not just that others have a body as soon as they enter, while he is a ghost.

While Link was pursuing his destiny, Jasmine was accumulating power, Iris was planting the white lotus and igniting sparks, and Forrest and Medici were being hunted down, Lotte Snow was already capable of doing many, many things.

For example, sneaking into the study of Prince Guanglin without making a sound.

After entering, Lottesno didn't take anything; instead, he left a letter.

The title of Prince of Guanglin is quite interesting.

The succession to the throne in the Song Dynasty had two lines: one was the line of Emperor Taizu, and the other was the line of Emperor Taizong.

The current rulers are from the Taizong lineage.

The Prince of Guanglin was a direct descendant of Emperor Taizu of Song.

According to the rules of succession to the throne in the Song Dynasty, the Prince of Guanglin was the first in line to the throne, that is, the crown prince.

However, after the Prince of Guanglin came of age, the current emperor of Song did not follow the rules and appoint the Prince of Guanglin as the crown prince.

This is very interesting.

In other words, the Song emperor was merely at the pinnacle of secular power, yet he still had to submit to and serve many major Buddhist temples, which is why the current emperor dared not go too far.

Otherwise, if they accidentally offended Buddhism, they could replace the emperor without hesitation.

This is how the two lines of succession to the throne in the Song Dynasty came about.

With past mistakes as a warning, the current emperor of Song could only resort to petty tricks.

For example, all the officials, big and small, sent to Guanglin Prefecture were the kind of people who shamelessly flattered the Buddhist community.

In the context of the supreme authority of Buddhism, no one could say that the current emperor of the Song Dynasty was wrong in doing so.

On the contrary, we should praise the current emperor of Song for his deep affection and care for the Prince of Guanglin.

After all, if the counties under the jurisdiction of Guanglin Prefecture appeased the Buddhist community, wouldn't that be the same as the Prince of Guanglin appeasing the Buddhist community?

This is accumulating blessings and good deeds for Prince Guanglin!

The Prince of Guanglin had a grievance he could not express.

It is not wrong to venerate Buddhism, but the throne of the Song Dynasty is ultimately a secular power, and it still needs to maintain some face and reputation among various families, merchants, scholars, and ordinary people.

If this continues, the reputation of Prince Guanglin among various families, merchants, scholars, and ordinary people will be completely ruined. Even if the Taizong line returns the throne to the Taizu line and passes it to Prince Guanglin, he will not be able to hold the throne securely.

Therefore, the Prince of Guanglin secretly allowed the former princess to travel around doing chivalrous deeds, killing the rich to help the poor, and killing officials to distribute grain, in an attempt to make amends.

Unfortunately, the righteous path is one foot high, but the evil path is ten feet high.

The current emperor of Song's response left the Prince of Guanglin feeling very aggrieved.

This time, the Prince of Guanglin orchestrated the princess's search for a husband, and the choice of a husband was limited to Buddhist monks. He wanted to curry favor with Buddhism, get close to it, and gain some of its support.

The letter that Lottesno left in the study of Prince Guanglin contained nothing but a brief introduction of Master Wusheng, some of his deeds, and a hint that he had been reincarnated as the monk Liaofan of Baima Temple.

Isn't the Prince of Guanglin looking for a strong backer?

Baima Temple may not be considered particularly powerful, but Sanyang Temple, the main branch of Master Wusheng, is one of the most prominent Buddhist temples in the Song Dynasty and surrounding countries.

There are countless Vajras, 108 Arhats, 12 Bodhisattvas, and, according to legend, even a Buddha!

If one could connect with the Sanyang Temple through the reincarnation of Master Wusheng, Prince Guanglin would not only be able to inherit the throne of Song as promised, but it would also be an easy matter for him to annex other countries.

Therefore, when Prince Guanglin finished his reception duties and returned to his study, he found this letter and felt conflicted and hesitant.

Firstly, the person who could break through his study's defenses and silently place this letter must be incredibly powerful, increasing the credibility of the letter's contents.

Secondly, although it was said to be a public search for a son-in-law, Prince Guanglin already had a suitable candidate in mind, namely the monk Nengqing, a direct disciple of the abbot of Ci'en Temple in Bianjing.

Thirdly, while Sanyang Temple is indeed powerful, Baima Zen Temple is too ordinary.

Holding the thin letter, Prince Guanglin was at a loss for words. It was no wonder that he, as the first in line to the throne of the Song Dynasty, had not even been granted the title of Crown Prince.

Lotesno was speechless, so he decided to go all out and try to confuse the Prince of Guanglin's thinking.

Of course, Lottesno didn't go too far; he just gave it a proper nudge.

Like a sudden awakening, Prince Guanglin immediately understood the principle that "hesitation leads to trouble" and decided to investigate the monk Liaofan of Baima Temple.

Having made up his mind, the Prince of Guanglin immediately summoned people to retrieve the information on the candidates for the marriage proposal sent by Baima Temple.

The relevant information was obtained in a short time.

After reading it, Prince Guanglin couldn't help but put on a very bright smile, and muttered to himself like a simpleton: "Having cultivated the six supernatural powers, one can attain the Arhat (sage) status at any time, and has a great chance of reaching the Bodhisattva status, and even has the potential to become a Buddha. He is suspected to be the reincarnation of Master Wusheng. Haha... My good son-in-law, you are the one."

Lotesno, who had been secretly observing the movements of Prince Guanglin, could no longer stand it and left immediately.

Anyway, the seeds have already been sown, the Song Kingdom is in chaos, and Lotesno is in charge.

Just as Link was calmly waiting for the Guanglin Prince's Mansion to begin its search for a son-in-law, in another world, Forrest and Medici successfully reunited.

"How did you get exposed?"

In the dark, damp cave, Forrest, whose right arm was broken, asked in bewilderment.

"I possessed a death row inmate."

With a gash in his abdomen, Medici, who had barely managed to stop the bleeding, said helplessly, "I'm going to be beheaded the next day, to make an example of someone and warn others not to disrespect Buddha. Under these circumstances, of course I can't just sit and wait to die. Killing him through the execution ground is perfectly reasonable, isn't it?"

"Reasonable."

Forrest nodded, then spat, "Reasonable my foot!"

Unbeknownst to him, after relinquishing his position as Dean of Rivoss Academy, Forrest's words and actions became bold and unrestrained. He cursed, "As the executioner, before I even stepped onto the platform to oversee the execution, I heard that a wanted criminal had fought his way through the execution ground and escaped, and then I was held accountable, convicted, and sentenced to beheading. Is that reasonable?"

Medici's eyes widened as he sized Forrest up and down, then he said strangely, "So you were the one who wanted to kill me, huh... Serves you right!"

Forrest rolled his eyes in annoyance, composed himself, and asked seriously, "What are your plans now?"

"Shouldn't I have to ask you?"

Medici rolled his eyes. "You, Forrest Diormand, are a renowned sage, a master strategist. What to do next is, of course, up to you, the sage."

"Ah... a wise man."

Forrest chuckled self-deprecatingly, then began to analyze the situation seriously. "Whether you 'possessed' a death row inmate, or I possessed that unfortunate 'executioner,' it's not as simple as it seems on the surface. After this incident, I no longer believe in the elemental saint's so-called random 'possession.' So..."

"So you believe this was done intentionally by the Elemental Saints?"

Medici picked up where Forrest left off, offering the guess that Forrest had wanted to say but hesitated to voice.

"Um."

Forrest nodded, then immediately changed the subject, continuing, "I don't know why you're involved in this mission. But I do know that I'm involved for two reasons: first, to demonstrate the value of Rivosos Academy and the Diomand family to the Supreme Council; and second, to maintain close ties with Lotesnor and Link Grand. Therefore, whether this mission is completed or not, and how it is completed, is not my concern. I can simply play the role of attracting attention."

After saying that, Frith stared intently at Medici, waiting for Medici's response.

"Me too."

Medici gave a very calm answer.

"it is good."

Forrest grinned. "Then let's make a big fuss and attract attention so they can get things done."

"no problem."

Medici agreed without hesitation.

This made Forrest even more certain that he and Medici were just putting on a feint, their purpose being to cover for Link and the others.

Since that's the case, let's make a big fuss about it.

After discussing their plan, the two began to treat their injuries and try to recover their strength as soon as possible.

Then they would ignite more and wider flames of war, disrupting the internal situation of the remaining Buddhist sects.

Where Iris is, the flames of war have already been lit around Liangshan.

Sixteen girls and twenty-three women went out to fight, and the lotus societies they established were successively destroyed by the allied forces of Buddhist temple warriors.

The death of the abbot of Ciren Temple in the abbot's quarters thoroughly enraged these high-ranking Buddhist temples.

After consulting with the Buddha, the eminent monks decided to use the Vajra method to punish the foolish people who did not know their place, could not distinguish truth from falsehood, and did not know good from evil.

Every village that established a Lotus Society suffered heavy blows from the combined forces of Buddhist temple warriors.

Farmers who had joined the Lotus Society, regardless of age, were all whipped.

The fields that had been cleared with the help of the Lotus Society were all destroyed; the harvested grain was all burned.

Those who spread the Lotus Society's ideas were either hanged or burned to death, suffering extremely tragic ends.

In an instant, wails filled the air.

At Iris's suggestion, the sixteen girls and twenty-three women did not confront the Buddhist monks' alliance head-on. Instead, they led the core members of the Lotus Society from various places, along with the elderly and children who were willing to migrate, to Liangshan.

After settling the elderly and children who were willing to leave their homes, the girls and women led the core group down the mountain again to start a guerrilla war.

Today we kill one or two lone monks, tomorrow we raid one or two execution grounds that are not heavily guarded, and the day after tomorrow we dare to storm a poorly defended temporary stronghold.

The teleportation technique passed down by Iris granted the girl and the core members of the Lotus Society, led by the women, the ability to appear and disappear unpredictably.

Although the Buddhist monks and warriors did not suffer any serious injuries, they were still greatly troubled and felt helpless.

No matter how powerful a force is, it needs to find a target to strike in order to be effective.

The Buddhist temple and martial monk alliance had considered setting up an ambush, as well as breaking the Lotus Society's elusive ability to appear and disappear unpredictably.

However, Iris, who was standing on Liangshan, only wanted to train her subordinates and did not want to destroy the budding seeds. How could she let the Buddhist temple warriors' alliance succeed?

Those farmers, old and frail, died and that was that.

The sixteen girls and twenty-three women we had painstakingly trained, as well as the core members of the Lotus Society who survived this calamity and grew greatly, could not die in vain.

Even in death, one must die a worthy death!

With Iris's help, the Lotus Society seemed to have gained divine insight, and was able to evade the ambushes and pursuits of the Buddhist temple warriors every time.

As the saying goes, a single spark can start a prairie fire.

The commotion caused by the Lotus Society grew larger and larger, and its reach expanded. Society, which had endured too much high pressure and extreme exploitation from Buddhism for too long, quickly became turbulent.

The already unstable situation deteriorated rapidly.

Although the Lotus Society uses the white lotus as its symbol, it is like a dandelion seed, scattered by the wind and taking root everywhere.

In places where the sixteen girls and twenty-three women had never been, one lotus society after another sprang up.

Even though many lotus societies were destroyed as soon as they emerged.

Despite the fact that many ordinary people who joined the Lotus Society met with the tragic end of losing their families and lives.

However, once a numb heart rediscovers pain, desire, and resistance, it won't easily return to numbness.

Living is worse than dying, so what's the point of dying?

The people are not afraid of death, so why threaten them with death?

Continuing to be numb will also lead to death, and fighting back will also lead to death. Since death is inevitable, why not die a more spectacular death?

Even if you can't knock down the Buddha statue, spitting on it will do. (End of Chapter)