The surface of the river was stained turbidly with the blood of those monsters for a while.
The monsters that can be brought here by Lei Yungong and Zheng Zhizhou are all the elites they have accumulated over the past hundred years. The blood evil spirit cannot be underestimated. Most of them rely on killing blood to eat and ingesting resentment. Come practice spiritual practice, a way that doesn’t use much brain.
It is for this reason that after their death, all their souls fell into the underworld, and the resentment and blood evil spirits that entangled them disappeared with them. The remaining bloody smell was very weak, weaker than when they were alive. A lot.
But Fan Zhongyan stood on the bow of the boat, looked at the porridge in his hand, and then at the river. After hesitating for a while, he turned around and put down the bowl.
Zhan Zhao ate deliciously, and Zhihua ate even more deliciously. While eating, he talked about the purpose of his coming here.
Bao Zheng was looking through the things Zhihua had brought, not just those in Lu Kun's yard, but also things that could be linked to the Prince of Xiangyang's palace.
There are also some secret accounts in the Jianghuai Governor's Mansion, which, due to conspiring with the King of Jinling and the Tianxian Sect, raised bandits, plundered treasures, and conducted overseas transactions.
Su Hanshan himself never paid attention to these things. At that time, his goal was just to pursue Su Yan’s practice experience.
Zhihua, however, searched secretly and cracked many mechanisms. He also asked Ouyang Chun for some help and successfully obtained these account books.
“The Governor of the Jianghuai River was also a hero of the moment and the pillar of the imperial court. He is actually such a person.”
Bao Zheng shook his head, picked up the bowl next to him, and said, "Thank you, Zhihua Warrior, for sending these evidences. Otherwise, if we had to check and collect it ourselves, it would take a lot of time, and we may not be able to collect everything."
Serving people with sticky sweet porridge as wine may seem a bit childish, but Bao Zheng has always been serious about his words.
Zhihua is usually elegant, but at this time he was also a bit generous. He added two spoons of porridge and finished it in one mouthful.
Fan Zhongyan stopped talking but wanted to, and wanted to talk but stopped.
The porridge is made with thick ingredients, and I can swallow it without choking. What a hero!
He turned his head slightly and looked, drink~! Bao Zheng's bowl was also clean. The bottom of the bowl was so shiny that it could be used as a mirror.
Fan Zhongyan used to think that few people in the court dared to get close to this colleague who was ten years younger than him. He really couldn’t imagine how he got along with so many Jianghu people when they took the initiative to help him. of.
Today he understood a little bit.
"Although the evidence is already there, the Jianghuai matter still needs to be slightly verified. The army has lost its generals, so it should be comforted. There are also hidden dangers in Taihu Lake, and there are many matters."
Gongsun Ce waved his fan and said, "But King Xiangyang is the top priority. Shouldn't we report it to the court and call in some helpers?"
Bao Zheng pondered: "I'm in a hurry, I'm afraid there is no suitable candidate."
Fan Zhongyan sat down and said with a smile: "How about I go to Jianghuai, and you go to Xiangyang?"
Fan Zhongyan is more than ten years old. Years ago, when he was the prefect of Kaifeng, he went to court and tried to implement the New Deal. There was considerable resistance from the court, and he wrote dozens of eloquent articles to appeal to the emperor.
As a result, these articles, somehow, got exposed.
At that time, an old demon who was famous on the banks of the Danube River in the West traveled to the Middle Earth and called himself Grandma Styx. After reading the article, he became interested and wanted to kidnap Fan Zhongyan.
Fortunately, Grandma Minghe acted arrogantly and ignored the opportunity. At that time, when all the civil and military officials were going to court, she took someone in the Song Dynasty palace, which caused the civil and military officials of the court, the emperor and the queen mother to work together to resist, which delayed it for a period of time.
In the end, Emei’s headmaster, Pudu Pu Qun Sheng Lao Zhenren, received a message from the palace asking for help and sent out a flying sword to scare her away.
Fan Zhongyan was seriously injured as a result, and he had been practicing for many years. He only had a sinecure, and the Pure Land of Wenqu was also transferred to Bao Zheng. This time, he only traveled with him because of friendship, and he did not hold the position of imperial envoy. .
If he were to go to Jianghuai to take charge of affairs now, he would be afraid that his reputation would not be justified.
“Hahaha, we can get things done first and wait for the official documents while we do it.”
Fan Zhongyan stroked his beard and smiled and said, "There should be many people who know my name. When I go to Jianghuai, in addition to calming the hearts of the army, I also want to see the situation in Taihu Lake in detail."
"The hidden dangers of Taihu Lake. The biggest disadvantage is that only one river reaches the sea, and the other tributaries have small flows and shallow river beds, and they all merge into the same river, so once the embankment breaks, it will be a disaster. "
"After I survey the terrain, I will mobilize the Jianghuai military and civilians to dig ponds, store water and divert water. Even if something happens to Taihu Lake in the future, it will be unlikely to be a serious problem. I will also find something for these people to do to avoid unrest."
< br>Bao Zheng stroked his beard and said nothing. At that time, the New Deal matter was left alone. However, he had already had opinions on the redundant official situation in the imperial court, the turnover of official documents, and the extremely delayed situation, so he acquiesced in the matter.
It should have been a humiliation for Grandma Styx to break into the palace.
But afterwards, Grandma Styx's reputation and strength spread across the Danube River.
It became an honor for the Song Dynasty court to be able to contend with such a giant monster.
Fan Zhongyan, a man who attracted the covetousness of giant monsters because of his articles, his reputation became subtle during the whole incident.
As long as he does not rebel, the Song Dynasty will definitely give in to him if he does things that are not in compliance with the regulations.
No one is procrastinating. After a brief discussion, they split up.
Bao Zheng and others turned to Xiangyang, while Fan Zhongyan and Zhihua took a boat to Jianghuai.
………………
At the same time, not far downstream of the river, hundreds of people stopped.
There are hundreds of people, all dressed up by monks, Taoists and lay people. The leaders are three old Taoists, each wearing a crown of purple jade lotus, red jade lotus, and white jade lotus. Although they are slightly different in fat and thin, they all look fairy-like. Wind bone.
The person wearing the purple jade lotus crown has an extraordinary identity. He is one of the five authentic sects in the world today, the head of the Lotus Authentic Sect, Guo DaDa.
The two next to him are the left and right guardians of his sect, the left guardian "Shou Xing Zhenren" Zhuang Ziqin, and the right guardian "Luxing Zhenren" Ye Qiusheng.
The group of people were slightly surprised when they saw a large number of water monster corpses drifting down the river and being eaten by fish and shrimps in the river.
"Just now, the demonic energy on the river was soaring, and a group of demons formed an array. There must be demon fairies sitting in charge, and the momentum should not be underestimated. How could the formation be broken so quickly?"
Ye Qiusheng squeezed it with his hands. A handful of gold Ruyi flashed in front of his eyes, his eyes There was a faint glow, and he looked upstream, "The aura of Wenqu Pure Land turned out to be Bao Zheng and his party. Zhan Zhao and Gongsun Ce beside him, the three of them combined are quite powerful. No wonder they have such a record."
< br>There were some monks and Taoist priests behind them who were whispering to each other.
"It's a pity that so many monsters died in vain."
"If we had arrived before they died, we could have arranged it and put all the monster souls into the magic weapon, which would also be a sacrifice. A good material for magic weapons.”
“Look, these are all blood-eating monsters. They rely on blood and resentment as their magic power. They don’t put much thought into polishing their bodies. Their Qi and blood are very mixed. Without the soul, it is not worth mentioning. If there is a monster of Qingxiu, then it is full of treasures."
Zhuang Ziqin looked back, knocked the ground with his crutch, and said, "We still have it. Do your own business and don't make trouble."
Guo Changzhang saw two or three ships separated from the upstream fleet, but he didn't care and turned around to lead everyone away.
Not long after he left, his expression changed slightly and he pulled out an iron ruler from his sleeve. The golden threads on the iron ruler were swimming and forming characters.
"Kunlun sent a message..."
Guo DaDa said in surprise, "Why did they also come to Jianghuai?"
Zhuang Ziqin said solemnly: "Is it possible that someone in Kunlun already knows about it? Are you going to send someone here to hold you accountable for the decline of Incense?"
Ye Qiusheng shook his head: "With our status and strength, we shouldn't have someone come directly to hold us accountable for this matter, right?"
< br>
Guo Dada said in a deep voice: "Anyway, they are less than a hundred miles away from here. Now that we have summoned the Lotus disciples, we will know the reason after we go over and take a look."
These people are all good at cultivation and arrived quickly. A hillside.
There is only one person on the hillside.
He is a fat monk with slender eyebrows and big ears, a smile on his face, and gold rings in his earrings. He is sitting under a tree, playing rosary beads, and seems to be meditating.
The message was unclear. Guo Dada originally thought that the person who came was a Kunlun Dharma protector and his ilk. When he saw this monk, he couldn't help being surprised, and quickly stepped forward to pay homage.
"Disciple Guo Dada, pay homage to the master!"
The monks, Taoists and lay people at the Lotus Gate all bowed down and shouted in unison at the foot of the hillside: "See the master!" The fat monk said with a smile: "Get up quickly, get up quickly, Zhang Chang, we two masters and disciples are also It’s almost ten years since we’ve seen each other.”
“It’s still more than five months before it’s ten years.”
Guo Changda stepped forward and said, “Master takes charge of Kunlun. I’m so busy with business, why did I come to Jianghuai in person?”
This fat monk is the current headmaster of Kunlun and is known as the Third Bhikkhu Reclining Buddha.
When he was in Kunlun, he called himself the Reclining Buddha Monk. After leaving Kunlun, he could call himself the Reclining Buddha Kunlun Monk, representing the meaning of Kunlun in one person.
"I came to Jianghuai, naturally, for important matters."
Kunlun Monk said, "How come you, the Lotus Sect, have sent so many people to the Jianghuai area?"< br>< br>"When I sent the Yasha ghost out to inquire about some things, I saw many Lotus disciples activities, so I tried to contact you. I didn't expect that your majestic Lotus leader and the guardians are all in Jianghuai."
Guo DaDa's face moved, and he said: "Since Master asked me, DaDa dare not lie to me."
"It is actually the incense of our Lotus Sect, something has gone wrong in the past ten years..."
In addition to relying on oneself to sense the underworld, refine thoughts, and tap into spiritual power, the Pure Land Immortal's way of practice also includes many auxiliary methods.
The most widespread and common one is the so-called way of incense.
The word incense originally refers to the use of materials from the underworld, mixed with some rare spiritual objects in the world, and after careful refinement, the spiritual incense formed has the effect of nourishing the soul and blessing the mind.
However, this kind of high-quality spice is difficult to popularize. The refining process also requires the practitioner's mental effort and delays the practitioner's time for practicing and having fun.
So later, this kind of method was expanded several times, and extended meanings appeared. The word incense no longer refers to simple spiritual spices, but to believers who offer incense to gods and Buddhas.
Create a piece of pure land into a Taoist image similar to that of a mythical figure, and leave secret notes in temples dedicated to such gods and Buddhas, so that the thoughts of those who offer incense can be collected into your own pure land. .
The power of ordinary people's thoughts is extremely weak, but that is because they do not know how to absorb and cultivate it, and they waste it in vain. If everyone accumulates the power of their random thoughts every day since childhood, and releases this power when they are forty or fifty years old, it can be equivalent to a thunder from the sky.
The temple of the Pure Land Immortal can help people who have never stepped into the threshold of cultivation to play this role.
Over time, each person accumulates many times, and the number of people continues to expand. The sand becomes a tower and the water becomes a sea, which is of great benefit to the Lord of the Pure Land.
The pure land inherited from the ancestors of the Yelu family in the Liao Dynasty was called "Nanzhan Buzhou" because it was in line with the name of the world where mortals lived in Buddhist legends. This method was used to collect incense.
The Xiao family’s Tianmen and the Song Dynasty’s literary and martial arts are all for similar reasons.
The Lotus True Sect originated from the Buddhist Lotus Sect during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. It was originally just an ordinary branch of Buddhism.
But during the Wu Zetian period, because the Pure Land Immortal system was formed, which coincided with the philosophy of the Lotus Sect, all the disciples of the Lotus Sect turned to the Pure Land Immortal method.
In order to enjoy more of the power of incense, the Lotus Sect gradually mixed the three religions and blossomed everywhere, becoming the Lotus Orthodox Sect.
At that time, Wu Zetian herself was the chief leader of the Lotus True Sect. Unfortunately, in the late Tang Dynasty, when the feudal lords were separated, the Lotus True Sect's orthodoxy was torn apart, and many successors insisted on their own opinions, so it declined.
In the Song Dynasty, Kunlun laid out its layout and integrated the Lotus disciples. The Kunlun monks of Reclining Buddha directly accepted Guo Dada, a Taoist priest, as a disciple and taught the wonderful method.
Secretly, Lotus Zhengzong has completely become a vassal of Kunlun.
The incense temples where the Lotus Authentic Sect was widely spread were also modified in accordance with Kunlun's wishes.
Originally, in the Lotus Buddhism, one worshiped the Buddha Immeasurable Life, and the Taoist worshiped the Immeasurable God.
After the change according to Kunlun's wishes, in Buddha, one worships the Longevity and Brightness Buddha, also known as Infinite Life and Brightness Buddha; in Taoism, one worships the Great Immortal with Long Eyebrows and Longevity.
Because the scope of modification does not seem to be large, it is easy to modify temple sculptures, etc., and it is even easier to modify scriptures and classics.
For example, when the disciples of the Lotus True Sect originally preached, they said that the three stars of good fortune, wealth and longevity were the attendant gods of the Infinite Heavenly Lord. After the change, they claimed to be the god of the Immortal Long Eyebrows and Longevity, which was very convenient.
Because Kunlun supports the Lotus Authentic Sect, every ten years, the top leaders of the Lotus Authentic Sect will go to Kunlun and use the Kunlun secret method to transfer a batch of incense from their own pure land as tribute.
"In the past two years, the incense we have collected from various countries has become less and less. I became suspicious and ordered a thorough investigation. Only then did I discover that since ten years ago, there have been people who have gone to places where our Lotus Sect is flourishing to play tricks. , robbing believers."
Guo Dada said bitterly, "Those thieves also worship Buddha and ask people to worship Namo Confucian Bodhisattva, saying that they can bless children to be smart and grow up to be successful, but they are also very good at telling stories. ”
< br>“Under the influence of subtle influence, many Lotus disciples already chant Namo Rutong Bodhisattva on weekdays. There are even some foolish altar owners who think this is the new Bodhisattva of our Lotus Sect!”
< br >Ye Qiusheng echoed: "They don't use their brains. Even if they want to add a new Bodhisattva, who would regard a child-like Bodhisattva as the main deity?"
The way of incense is very particular, and the image of gods, each Has connotation.
Generally speaking, the spirit that looks like an old man represents wisdom, generosity, kindness, and longevity. It also means smoothness and tranquility, and no illness or disaster.
Things that look like adult men mostly symbolize might, defense, slaying demons and pacifying disasters.
Those who look like adult women mostly symbolize love, kindness, relieving worries, protecting the family, and driving away evil spirits.
There are relatively few gods with the appearance of children, because gods with the appearance of children tend to contaminate thoughts with purity, innocence, whimsy, etc.
For those who practice the Pure Land, it is very difficult to restrict and use it, and naturally they will not bother to vigorously spread their beliefs.
"Kunlun Lotus comes from the same line. Although there are no child-like gods among our gods, there are also such slave gods. As for blessing children, growing up smart, and being filial to their parents, they are also mentioned in the scriptures and classics we compiled. Yes.”
The Reclining Buddha Kunlun Monk glanced at the crowd and said, “If it only has these characteristics, then this one How did the Confucian Bodhisattva snatch away our followers?”
Guo Dada took a breath: “Because they... don’t charge money.” When he started robbing believers, he would also give money to children.”
After hearing this, the monk Kunlun couldn’t help but froze.
hiss! What a ruthless method!
This is really a trick for those who want to steal believers.
“If you don’t charge money, then you won’t sell statues and build temples, right?”
Kunlun monk frowned and said, “Then these people are not doing it for the benefit of their own cultivation, but simply I want to go against the Lotus Sect."
"There is no ordinary person behind spending so much energy and money, traveling around the world, destroying the incense of the Lotus Sect. Have you found any clues?"
Guo DaDa said: "The identities of the people we identified are also very complicated, but two of them are particularly outstanding. They are very good at refining pills and pills. One is an old beggar and the other is a lame young man."
"We found out that the lame man has been in Jianghuai for the past two years, so we gathered people and prepared to encircle him with a 100% certainty and capture him alive. We must find out who is behind it!"
Kunlun monk thought for a moment, Said: "Since you have clues, I will follow you and follow up and check together."
Guo DaDa quickly asked: "Master must have something important to do when he comes to Jianghuai, how can he delay for us?"
“ Alas, originally I came to chase Ouyang Chun and Princess Huashen, because I know that Ouyang Chun has a close relationship with Shaolin. Many guardians and Xixia masters are secretly guarding and blocking the Shaolin side, and there are not many people left. "
Kunlun monk explained, "Fortunately, I have an old friend in Jianghuai who is willing to help and has considerable influence, so I came to take a look. Unexpectedly, he seemed to have found clues about Ouyang Chun, but he was killed by Ouyang Chun's accomplice."
“These things caused quite a stir, but the atmosphere of the battlefield was too Chaos, I sent out all the people around me and the Yasha ghosts I raised, but I can’t find any clues for the time being.”
“Let me help you with this matter first”
The fat monk stood up, shook his rosary, and smiled.
“This matter may not be just for Lotus. It is more likely that I want to disgust Kunlun. After all, the Kunlun Authentic Sect has an overview of all the sects in the Kunlun Mountains. It is the top sect of all countries and has a great reputation.”
< br>
"We should be more ruthless this time. We should let some people understand that once the big tree supporting the sky moves, the mountains will collapse and the earth will burst, and all souls will cry and be afraid. They cannot bear it!!"
< br>(End of this chapter)