Zhengde Temple

Inside the Five Buddhas Hall, Li Huowang saw Abbot Xin Hui again. This time, he was not alone; four old monks were lined up behind him.

"Now that you've arrived, Benefactor Xuanyang, let's get straight to the point. We need to perform a Universal Salvation Ritual to deliver him."

"Alright, Abbot, let's begin then," Li Huowang said immediately.

"Please be patient, Benefactor Xuanyang. Danyangzi's karma is tied to you. Before we can conduct this ritual, you must first calm your mind."

"Calm my mind?" Li Huowang asked, puzzled.

"Amitabha, Benefactor, your mind is far from calm. Your mind is ill."

Before the abbot could finish, Li Huowang quickly retorted sternly, "I'm not sick!"

As soon as he said this, Li Huowang was startled by his own volume.

Seeing the five old monks in front of him looking at him meaningfully, Li Huowang took a deep breath and clenched his trembling fists. "May I ask, Abbot, what must I do to calm my mind?"

A yellow-covered scripture was presented to Li Huowang. "Take this Five Aggregates are Empty Sutra back with you and recite it three times a day, morning, noon, and night."

Li Huowang took it and opened the scripture. Inside were obscure Buddhist texts, completely incomprehensible.

"Just reciting it is enough? No cultivation methods? No need to eat anything?" These simple steps were far below Li Huowang's expectations.

Seeing Abbot Xin Hui shake his head, Li Huowang picked up the scripture and was about to walk out. Just as he was about to reach the door, he turned around and looked at the old monks sitting cross-legged on the meditation cushions.

"Abbot Xin Hui, does Zhengde Temple have any cultivation methods?"

"Naturally, we do. As long as Benefactor is willing to be tonsured and join our temple, you may browse the Scripture Depository at will."

Hearing this, Li Huowang turned and left. There was no way he would become a monk.

"Benefactor Xuanyang, please stay at our temple during this time. Running back and forth like this is troublesome for both you and us."

This time, Li Huowang did not refuse. Since he already trusted them, being wary of this would only make him seem petty.

An independent room within Zhengde Temple was cleaned up, and Li Huowang quietly stayed there, looking at the scripture they had given him.

In the first few days, Li Huowang was still a little nervous, but after discovering that no one in the entire temple paid any attention to him, even when he ran to the bustling main hall to watch the monks interpret fortunes, he gradually relaxed.

Late at night, accompanied by an oil lamp, Li Huowang held the scripture in both hands and recited, "My birth is exhausted. The Brahman conduct is established. What needs to be done is done, and there will be no future existence. When this Dharma was spoken, the Five Bhikkhus and others, from all afflictions, their minds were liberated. They believed, accepted, and practiced accordingly."

When he first started reciting this so-called Five Aggregates are Empty Sutra, Li Huowang felt nothing, but as the days passed, he realized that his sleep quality was getting better and better, and he knew that this thing was really useful.

After calmly reciting it once, Li Huowang slowly closed the book, blew out the oil lamp, and prepared to sleep, planning what to do next in his mind.

"After getting rid of Danyangzi, I'll go find Black Tai Sui. If I can stabilize my condition, then I can live stably in this world."

"But that Black Tai Sui looks pretty fierce. If I really catch it, how should I restrain it and cut off its flesh to eat every month?"

"Right, and strength. I must obtain enough strength to protect myself, but that's also difficult."

Just as Li Huowang was thinking this, he suddenly saw the shadow of a Daoist head flash past outside the door, and his body instantly tensed up.

"Is someone in the temple watching me?" Li Huowang slowed his pace and slowly walked towards the door, pulling open the latch.

He suddenly opened a crack, and the small courtyard outside the door, illuminated by the moonlight, was empty. Li Huowang carefully poked his head out and saw the corner of a yellow monk's robe quickly disappear into the dark corridor in the distance.

"What's going on in this temple?" After thinking for a moment, Li Huowang slowed his pace and followed.

Taking a few quick steps, Li Huowang used the moonlight to see the bald head in front of him. He couldn't see the front from behind, but judging from the lack of any precept scars, he probably didn't have a high status in Zhengde Temple.

And so, in the silent temple, one walked ahead, and the other followed far behind.

As they walked, suddenly the monk flashed and slipped into the half-open door to the side.

Li Huowang was about to slip in, but after thinking about it, he turned to the other side of the temple and used a bit of saliva to poke a hole in the paper window.

Compared to the Five Buddhas Hall where the abbot stayed, this hall was not large, one could even say it was very small. The Bodhisattva inside, pinching a hand seal and holding a bottle in the other, was much smaller than a person.

Even the candles on the offering table were only lit two, making the entire hall very dim.

At this time, someone was kneeling in front of the Buddha, but it wasn't the monk who had just entered, but a woman.

"A woman? In a temple late at night?"

Before Li Huowang could figure out this question, the woman began to mutter in a low voice.

"Oh, merciful Bodhisattva, please, grant me a son. If I can't give birth to a son, my man will sell me off."

Just as she was saying these words, a monk with a bare upper body quietly walked up from behind the Bodhisattva.

He held a red cloth, gently tying it around the woman's eyes.

The woman's body trembled violently, but she didn't resist. Her breathing gradually became heavy.

With each breath she took, seven or eight bald heads walked out of the surrounding darkness, slowly surrounding her with their hands clasped together.

"This is the truth behind the very effective seeking of sons?!" Li Huowang was stunned by everything he saw inside, overturning all his previous knowledge of Zhengde Temple.

Suddenly, he noticed something and turned around abruptly, only to see Jian Dun standing there like a statue in the bright moonlight in the courtyard. "I've been discovered!"

Looking at Li Huowang, Jian Dun didn't say anything, just waved his hand gently and turned away.

Taking another glance at the chaos that had begun in the hall, Li Huowang quietly followed.

Jian Dun didn't take Li Huowang anywhere else, but back to his residence, then lit the lamp oil and sat down on a stool.

"I know what Benefactor is thinking. Perhaps you think the monks of Zhengde Temple are not pure in the six roots? But does Benefactor really think that those pilgrims are fools? Why would they come to worship Buddha late at night?"

Li Huowang, standing at the door, didn't speak, waiting for the other party to continue.

"Some people want sons, so we give them sons. Monks are compassionate, this is doing good deeds."

Hearing this, Li Huowang couldn't help but frown. "Then you're doing quite a lot of good deeds."

"Zhengde Temple has never had a disciple say that our Bodhisattva is effective in granting sons. This is all self-promotion by the pilgrims. We didn't say it, and they didn't ask."