Chapter 106: Scholar, Taoist Priest, and Monk

Longmen Prefecture has always been a very special place. If Yujing is the capital of Taoism, then Longmen Prefecture was once the capital of Confucianism. Ziwei City and Mingtang are roughly equivalent to Zifu and Jinque. Although Taoism defeated Confucianism and forced Confucianism to give up Wanxiang Academy and changed Wanxiang Academy to Wanxiang Dao Palace, Confucianism still has a strong influence in Longmen Prefecture.

Later, Taoism and Buddhism turned against each other and went to war. In order to suppress Buddhism, Taoism relaxed various restrictions on Confucianism, allowing Confucianism to escape the fate of the defeated. In order to show sincerity, although Taoism did not return Ziwei City and Mingtang to Confucianism, it moved Zhongzhou Daofu to Beimang Mountain.

In addition, the location of the peace talks between Buddhism and Taoism was also set in Longmen Prefecture. The two sides redefined the boundaries. Buddhism recognized the dominant position of Taoism in the Western Regions, and Taoism returned Jingchan Temple outside Longmen Prefecture to Buddhism.

There is a saying in the Jianghu that there are four cities in Zhongzhou, one is Longmen Shendu City, one is Beimang Ghost City, one is Zhongyue Buddha City, and one is the City of No Day and Night.

Shendu City refers to the capital of Longmen Prefecture, which is also the capital of Zhongzhou. It has been passed down for thousands of years and is the ancient capital of nine dynasties; Beimang Ghost City refers to the ghost country cave in Beimang Mountain, where countless ghosts and corpses are raised, almost like Fengdu Hades. The City of No Day and Night refers to the "Heavenly Music Peach Blossom Land" of Taoism, located in the belly of the mountain. It does not distinguish between day and night. There are countless lanterns and candles. Looking around, there are pavilions stacked on pavilions, corridors connected to corridors, all with brilliant lights. Looking around, it is all red, so it is known as the City of No Day and the City of No Night.

As for Zhongyue Buddhist City, it is located on Zhongyue, the home of Jingchan Temple, the ancestral home of Buddhism in the Central Plains. Jingchan Temple is so large that it has a total of one thousand palaces, including three nine-story buildings, and three inner and outer walls. From a distance, countless temples are stacked one on top of another, like a city, so it is also called "Buddhist City".

So in addition to the Taoist and Confucian forces, Longmen Prefecture also has Buddhist forces. Monk Yanxiu, who was blacklisted by Qi Xuansu, was born in Jingchan Temple.

The more forces there are, the more gaps there are, and it is easier to fish in troubled waters. Therefore, all kinds of people in the rivers and lakes and secret societies are very fond of Longmen Prefecture, which can be said to be a mixed bag.

In other words, the control of Taoism over Longmen Prefecture is far less than that of Xijing Prefecture.

Although Longmen Prefecture is surrounded by various Taoist forces, it is difficult for secret societies to stir up trouble here, but because the control of Taoism has declined, various small fights are inevitable. Many people who were wanted by the Taoist sect would secretly come to Longmen Mansion to live in seclusion. It was not that the Taoist sect would not dare to arrest people in Longmen Mansion, but that the arrest would be much less severe. As long as they changed their names and kept a low profile, they would probably be fine.

This is why these people in the martial arts world dared to openly gather in this restaurant.

There were three leaders in this gathering, namely the scholar Song Luodi, the Taoist Pili Master, and the monk Denghua Master, who just corresponded to the three religions of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. However, the three were not orthodox Confucian, Taoist, or Buddhist disciples, but just some strange people in the martial arts world. There was also a Chang Sanye, but he fell some time ago. Not only was he seriously injured, but a group of sworn brothers were also killed and injured. It can be said that he suffered heavy losses. Now I don’t know where he is hiding and has not shown up.

Including Chang Sanye, the four are all outstanding people under heaven, but because of their old age, they are not on the Ruyi List. However, they should not be underestimated. These people specialize in making money from illegal businesses in the Jianghu. Like Qi Xuansu, they have all been through the swordplay and bloody storms. They have rich experience in fighting with others, which is definitely not comparable to young people like Wan Xiuwu who have just entered the stage of returning to the truth.

Because they are illegal businesses, they inevitably violate the king's law and have some unclear dealings with various secret societies. Therefore, they are wanted by both the Taoist sect and the court, so they will not stay in one place for a long time, but keep moving back and forth between states.

Generally speaking, these people are also considered to be bandits in a broad sense, figures in the Jianghu green forest, different from the Jianghu white road such as the escort agency.

However, they are different from Qi Xuansu, Bodhisattva Man and others. Although they have a close relationship with the "inn", they are not formal members of the "inn". At most, they are non-staff members. No matter how reluctant Qi Xuansu is to admit it, he is a formal member of the secret society and has an establishment, but Qi Xuansu is obsessed with getting rid of this establishment.

"Let's not wait for that flower monk for now." Pili Taoist said, "Mr. Song, you sent someone to follow him, how is the follow-up going?"

Scholar Song Luodi looked at Zhou Quezi and Xu Changwu: "Brother Zhou, Brother Xu."

Zhou Quezi stood up and said: "Some friends have already known, some friends don't know yet, then I will say it again, this great Bodhisattva has a habit of going to Taiping Inn to drink every day. Brother Xu and I originally went to stake out according to the usual practice, but we didn't expect to have an unexpected gain today. The helper that the great Bodhisattva found arrived, and the two of us drank together, so we wanted to test it out, and the result was..."

"What was the result?" Pili Taoist asked.

Zhou Quezi smiled bitterly, stretched out his hand and pointed at Xu Changwu who was listless next to him: "Paying a hundred Taiping money to Taiping Inn is a small matter, the key is that Brother Xu didn't survive three moves under his hands."

When this was said, everyone was in an uproar.

In the previous chat, they had learned from Zhou Quezi that the great Bodhisattva had found a helper, which was very difficult. Because Zhou Guizi knew some skills in observing people's aura, and even knew that the young man was full of murderous intent. But he didn't know much about the specific process, and never expected it to be so difficult.

Although Xu Changwu was a poor man from the royal family of the previous dynasty, he had some real skills. He was considered a top figure among the local tyrants in Longmen Prefecture. Many people present might not be as good as him, but Xu Changwu didn't last more than three moves under his hands. If he were to go up, he would probably be defeated in two or three moves.

After all, this was not a matter of showing off, and Xu Changwu didn't seem to be exaggerating.

Song Luodi pondered and said, "He is a tricky character. We need to let a few more brothers step on the plate and find out his details."

The Thunderbolt Mage disagreed: "A good tiger is afraid of a pack of wolves. We have more people to fight against fewer people. Why do we need to go through so much trouble? If everyone goes up together, can that kid still have three heads and six arms?"

Song Luodi did not refute.

The Thunderbolt Mage was right. This was not a martial arts competition. There was no need for so many details. It was more about winning by numbers.

However, in this way, many lives would inevitably be lost.

It's not that Master Pili didn't think of this, but he did it on purpose. After all, if one more person dies, one less person will get to share the money.

As expected, Master Pili changed the subject: "Hewu, those who sit here today are not new to the platform, so I'll be frank. This time, the amount of money spent on climbing online is not a small amount, at least this amount."

Master Pili held up two fingers.

"Two thousand Taiping money?" someone said.

"Look at your little ability, two thousand Taiping money is really worth such a big show?" Master Pili sneered, "Two thousand worry-free money!"

A sound of people gasping for air came from the restaurant.

Two thousand worry-free money is twenty thousand Taiping money.

Even if a few leaders take the lion's share, the rest will get a share of the profits, which is still several hundred Taiping money, enough to live happily for half a year.

Master Pili looked at Song Luodi and said: "How should the two thousand Taiping money be divided? It's better to make it clear first, and it's better to come up with a rule, this is the right thing to do."

Everyone's eyes fell on Song Luodi.

Song Luodi thought for a while.

The deal of Chang Sanye was only worth this much. How could a little girl be compared with the beloved disciple of Cihang Zhenren? How could the employer behind the scenes offer a high price of 20,000 Taiping coins? There must be something hidden in this.

…

Qi Xuansu escorted Bodhisattva Man out of Taiping Inn. The two agreed to meet tomorrow to formally discuss the human escort.

But this time, he escorted him half a street away.

It was not that the two men were clinging, but that they were both a little drunk. After all, it was not a social drinking party, so there was no reason to use true qi to resist. It was unnecessary to spend money to drink and then use true qi to resist the alcohol. Why not just not drink? So the two of them couldn't help but talk a lot at this time, and even felt a little reluctant.

After saying goodbye, Qi Xuansu walked to the inn alone.

"Hey, no wonder Zhang Qingxiao likes to drink. After getting drunk, he feels different. The sky is not the sky, the earth is not the earth, and this person... is not a person..." Qi Xuansu staggered. It is said that alcohol makes cowards brave. Qi Xuansu was already quite courageous. After drinking, he even had the urge to imitate the ancient madman singing loudly.

At this moment, a tall figure walked towards Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu stopped and shouted: "Who is coming? Tell me your name!"

The tall figure stopped suddenly, as if he was frightened by Qi Xuansu's voice. After a long while, he chanted a Buddhist name: "Amitabha Buddha."

Qi Xuansu smiled and said: "Infinite Light, Infinite Life, is the leader of the Western Heaven, you are a disciple of Buddhism."

The Taoist sect respects the Supreme Taoist Ancestor. The surname of the Supreme Taoist is Li, and he is called Li Laozu. The Supreme Taoist Ancestor transformed into the Three Pure Ones, namely, the Supreme Daode Tianzun, the Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun, and the Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun, collectively known as the Three Pure Ones. The Supreme is the Three Pure Ones, and the Three Pure Ones are the Supreme.

The Supreme Taoist Ancestor is high in the Thirty-three Heavens, where the disciples of the Taoist sect go after ascending. Kunlun Yujing is the Taoist temple of the Supreme Taoist Ancestor in the human world. Over the years, the Li family has often preached that they are not only descendants of Xuansheng, but also descendants of the Supreme. One is the ancestor of the revival, and the other is the ancestor of the creation. The Li family is the real orthodox descendant of the Taoist sect, just like the Yansheng Duke of the Confucian sect.

The Buddhist sect is roughly the same. The World Honored Buddha is also called the Buddha, and Buddhism is therefore called the Shimen, just as Taoism is also called the Xuanmen. The World Honored Buddha has the Dharma body, the reward body, the response body, and the angry "wrathful body", so the Immovable Buddha is the Buddha, Sakyamuni is the Buddha, and Amitabha is also the Buddha. In the Pure Land, the Buddha is Sakyamuni, and in the Western Paradise, the Buddha is Infinite Light.

Therefore, the Taoists call him "Infinite Heavenly Lord" and the monks call him "Infinite Life Buddha".

A tall figure slowly walked out of the darkness. It turned out to be a fat monk, wearing a bright red cassock, with a solemn appearance. He put his palms together and said, "Infinite Light illuminates all the worlds in the ten directions. All the worlds in the ten directions are bright in their own nature. All the worlds in the ten directions are in my light. There is no one in the worlds in the ten directions who is not me."