Chapter 39 A High Monk from the Western Regions Enters the Hall

Chapter 39: Western Pure Land Great Master Enters the Hall

Following Tie Yunshan's death, rumors of the Ghost Swordsman, suspected to be a Demonic Sect expert, appearing in Great Yan became rampant, causing panic throughout Jiangnan Province.

The words "Demonic Sect" were a taboo in the Great Yan Jianghu, a name that struck fear into people's hearts.

There were even rumors in the Jianghu that the Cao Gang was preparing to unite with the Four Great Families of Jiangnan Province to deal with the Ghost Swordsman and the Demonic Sect's evil-doers.

A storm was brewing, casting a shadow over Yu Prefecture City.

It was September, and while the autumn chill hadn't fully set in, a coolness was beginning to emerge.

Inside the Ji Shi Clinic, An Jing was putting the dried medicinal herbs back into the medicine jars. In just a few months, he clearly felt his Qi and blood growing stronger, though he was still some distance from condensing the Earth Flower Realm.

Most of this was thanks to the bodhi pearl.

The bodhi pearl truly lived up to its reputation as a Buddhist treasure, possessing surging pure Yang Qi, which was greatly beneficial for Cultivation.

Li Fuzhou sat on a nearby chair, reading a book, his eyes fixed on the pages.

And Tan Yun, like a little quail, was also earnestly holding a book and flipping through it.

Xiao Heizi lay at the entrance, lazily basking in the afternoon sun.

The scene was very harmonious.

"Tan Yun, the weather is nice today, want to go fishing later?" An Jing looked outside and saw that the weather was quite pleasant.

Tan Yun looked up at the old antique beside her and whispered, "Young Master, I have to prepare fabric with Young Miss to sew autumn clothes later."

An Jing said regretfully, "That's a real shame. I was planning to use Old Li's boat to go to the west of the city. You should know, Xie Ji's Crystal Buns in the west of the city are absolutely divine."

Crystal Buns!?

Tan Yun swallowed hard, then glared fiercely at An Jing.

The Young Master's words were clearly meant to tease her. In the past, whenever he passed by, he would buy candied hawthorn, Crystal Buns, steamed sugary pastries… Thinking of this, her mouth was practically watering.

Li Fuzhou flipped through a page of his book and said indifferently, "In books, there are golden houses; in books, there are beautiful women."

"Sanjia is right."

Tan Yun nodded, then seriously looked at the book in her hand.

An Jing felt a buzzing in his mind, as if enlightened, drawn by some force, seemingly agreeing with Li Fuzhou's words.

"Hmm!?"

An Jing's brows furrowed.

He felt that what Li Fuzhou had just said seemed to be influencing him.

That subtle feeling, based on such situations, was very similar to the bewitching arts of the Jianghu, or perhaps the Confucian method of enlightening the Heart-Nature with Righteous Qi.

Was it his imagination!?

An Jing couldn't help but glance at Li Fuzhou; this old man was a bit off.

"Truly an unteachable youth!" Li Fuzhou saw An Jing's indifference and muttered to himself.

This was a secret art he had created by combining the Heavenly Devil Secret Tome and Confucian Dao methods, called Heavenly Devil Righteous Qi, which could subtly guide others.

Generally, only two types of people were unaffected: one type were experts with extraordinary Heart-Nature, and the other were ignorant fools with closed minds.

Apparently, in Li Fuzhou's eyes, An Jing was one of these hopeless people.

Just then, a figure appeared at the entrance of Ji Shi Clinic.

"Oh! Isn't that Mr. Zhou?"

An Jing couldn't help but exclaim when he saw the person.

It was Zhou Xianming.

Li Fuzhou coughed lightly and said nothing.

And Zhou Xianming, as if he hadn't seen An Jing, called out to Li Fuzhou, who was reading, "Senior Li, Senior Li!"

"Coming."

Li Fuzhou put down the book in his hand, then said to Tan Yun beside him, "I'm going out for a bit, I'll leave this place to you."

"Yes."

Tan Yun suppressed her inner joy and nodded.

After Li Fuzhou finished speaking, he quickly walked out, and the two chatted and laughed.

Tan Yun looked at Zhou Xianming's retreating figure, deep in thought. It seemed she needed to have a good talk with Zhou Xianming tonight; visiting the Brothel to listen to music should be a more frequent occurrence.

"Tsk tsk."

An Jing looked at their 'arm-in-arm' backs and sneered, "In books, there are golden houses; in books, there are beautiful women. It seems there are none in books, but only in the Brothel, right?"

"Young Master, weren't you going to the west of the city? Let's go."

Tan Yun put down the book in her hand and said excitedly.

"I was joking, did you take it seriously?"

"You stinky Young Master! You always trick me!"

Hearing this, Tan Yun's small face puffed up with anger, like a round baozi.

"Where are you going?"

Zhao Qingmei slowly walked out from the back hall, holding a white plate on which soft, glutinous pastries were placed.

At the same time, a faint fragrance wafted through the air.

"Husband, these are apricot blossom cakes, quickly try one."

Zhao Qingmei gently picked up an apricot blossom cake and handed it to An Jing's mouth.

"Delicious!"

An Jing immediately gave a thumbs up.

"If it's delicious, eat more." Zhao Qingmei chuckled softly.

"Young Miss, I want to eat too."

Tan Yun quickly said when she saw this.

Zhao Qingmei directly handed the plate in her hand to Tan Yun.

An Jing chuckled, "See, even though we didn't get to eat Crystal Buns, we have apricot blossom cakes personally made by my wife, which are even more delicious than Crystal Buns."

Tan Yun snorted indignantly, then turned her back to An Jing.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Just then, the door curtain was lifted.

A kind-faced, benevolent-browed old monk, dressed in a kasaya, walked in.

"amitābha!"

The old monk performed a Buddhist greeting to An Jing and the others, "This poor monk, Huizhi, greets the three benefactors."

"Great Master Huizhi, no need to be so polite."

An Jing took out his purse, preparing to give the old monk some silver.

In Great Yan, the status of Buddhism was not high, even somewhat low, and the incense offerings at temples were very few, so monks often went down the mountain to beg for alms.

Speaking of Buddhism, one cannot help but mention the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The Great Zhou Dynasty revered Buddhism and suppressed Daoism, leading to a great flourishing of Buddhism. Buddhist temples and monasteries were found everywhere in the Great Zhou Dynasty. At that time, Buddhist rites were included in the sacrificial ceremonies when Emperors of the Great Zhou Dynasty ascended the throne. With the Emperor's reverence for Buddhism, ordinary people naturally followed suit, making Buddhism extremely prosperous in the Great Zhou.

At that time, in the lands of the Zhou Dynasty, temples and Buddha statues were seen everywhere, and people held monks in great respect.

However, with the decline of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Buddhism also plummeted, even being attacked by various factions, with some even planning to exterminate Buddhism. During the Nine Kingdoms chaos, there were three grand wars to eradicate Buddhism.

At that time, the Zhenyi Sect, representing Daoism and now the state religion of the Great Yan Country, was one of the representatives.

Although the later wars to eradicate Buddhism did not succeed, they caused heavy losses to Buddhism throughout the land. The Legacies of temples like Leiyin Temple and Baima Temple even retreated to the Pure Land.

Some temples that remained in certain areas were sparsely populated and gradually became desolate. Only a very few places still had temples, but the incense offerings were extremely thin.

When these temples' monks had no incense offerings, they could only go down the mountain to beg for alms.

In Yu Prefecture City, there was an ancient temple called Faxi Temple, which was left over from the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"Huizhi? Great Master, are you from the Pure Land?"

Zhao Qingmei asked with a smile.

"Precisely, this poor monk came from the Pure Land three months ago." Huizhi said, placing his hands on his chest.

"Madam, how do you know this monk is from the Pure Land?" An Jing asked in a low voice.

Great Yan had been founded for several centuries, so there was a slight difference between the local Buddhism of Great Yan and the Buddhism of the Pure Land, but ordinary people couldn't tell.

Zhao Qingmei explained, "Our Great Yan monks' attire has gradually assimilated, focusing on simplicity and elegance, while the monks in the Pure Land still follow ancient teachings, and their attire has not changed much."

Monk Huizhi chuckled, "What this female benefactor says is true. This poor monk is from Leiyin Temple in the Pure Land. I happened to pass by this place and felt a fluctuation of Buddhist principles. Upon closer sensing, it was here, so I came in to observe. If I have disturbed you, I hope the benefactors will forgive me."

Buddhist principles!?

Could it be the bodhi pearl!?

An Jing's heart stirred.

And Zhao Qingmei's brows furrowed secretly, thinking, *Leiyin Temple, this monk is actually from Leiyin Temple. Monk Huizhi, could it be him…?*

Tan Yun said bluntly, "Great Monk, you're probably mistaken. This is a small pharmacy, we don't have any Buddhist or Daoist things here."

"No, this poor monk is not mistaken."

Monk Huizhi looked at An Jing and smiled, "This benefactor's body is full of abundant Yang Qi, yet it is condensed and not dispersed. It seems he is naturally in a state of 'leak-free,' such a person has a natural affinity with my Buddha."

Abundant Yang Qi, condensed and not dispersed, this was referring to the bodhi pearl.

One must know that the bodhi pearl was covered by his inner Qi, and ordinary people couldn't sense it at all. Even Mu Xiaoyun and Jiang Sanjia were completely unaware, but this monk in front of him knew.

An Jing hadn't spoken yet, but Zhao Qingmei beside him smiled and said, "Great Master, my husband cannot become a monk."

If any monk dares to shave my husband's head, I will kill that monk. If any temple dares to take in my husband, I will destroy that temple.

"amitābha!"

Monk Huizhi put his palms together, regretting, "That is truly a pity. I didn't expect this benefactor to already be married. This female benefactor, please rest assured, this poor monk is a renunciant and naturally will not force anyone."

An Jing glanced at this old monk Huizhi. It seemed this monk was not an ordinary monk, being able to sense the bodhi pearl within him.

"I will not allow you to have even a tiny fraction of that thought." Zhao Qingmei firmly protected An Jing behind her, like a hen guarding her chicks.

"Naturally."

Monk Huizhi smiled, "I come from the Western Pure Land and will be the new abbot of Faxi Temple. In a few days, it will be the Yulanpen Festival (Ghost Festival). You three benefactors are welcome to visit Faxi Temple to worship Buddha and offer incense at any time. This poor monk will take his leave now."

With that, Monk Huizhi turned and departed.

"This monk is actually the new abbot of Faxi Temple." An Jing secretly marveled, watching the monk's retreating figure.

Zhao Qingmei, however, watched Monk Huizhi's back, her heart stirring.

The Western Pure Land, appearing in Great Yan, just as Li Fuzhou had said.