When the birthday banquet ended, the strange pressure suppressing the monks quietly vanished. The monks hurriedly found an excuse to leave the banquet hall, but by the time they reached the street, the southern barbarian song-and-dance troupe had already disappeared without a trace.
"Master, that demon escaped!"
A relatively young monk spoke, while the older monk pressed his palms together.
"Amitabha..."
For this group of monks, their luck had been quite poor. They came from the Buddhist kingdom of the Western Regions, and their purpose in coming to Great Han this time was naturally to spread their faith. Of course, another reason they had come was because they had learned that this place possessed an astonishing technique capable of mass-printing texts.
For Buddhists, Buddhist sutras were also an important part of spreading their teachings. That was why they had traveled thousands of miles and endured such a long journey to come here.
Of course, these monks had no concept of purchasing anything. Originally, as they had elsewhere, they had hoped to take the upper-class route: discuss scriptures and doctrine with local officials and nobles, guide them toward Buddhism, and then "seek alms." Yet what the monks had not expected was that they would encounter unforeseen difficulties the moment they arrived.
First, their plan to take the upper-class route was completely unworkable, because Great Han law stipulated that no member of the public administration could practice a religion. Thus, whenever those officials heard that the monks wanted to discuss gods, Buddhas, and similar nonsense with them, they shut the door in their faces. Although the monks wanted to preach scriptures to the public in the streets, they would be driven away by the city management officers, because the law stipulated that religious figures could only preach at designated locations after applying