Temple

Li Qi is decisive and quick to act. Although he is indecisive during the consideration phase, he is very decisive once he has made up his mind.

The lives of over 100,000 people cannot be delayed. We should go and return as soon as possible.

So he fed the Old Ma briefly, said goodbye to Shen Shuibi, and then quickly set off for Guangyang City.

Li Qi had been to Guangyang City, but only stayed briefly to replenish his supplies before leaving. It was about 1,500 li away from this town.

Based on the average physical condition of people in this world, and considering that the main force will definitely delay the journey, it will take about ten days to travel 1,500 li.

They can travel more than 100 miles a day. To be honest, that speed is already quite frightening. This is also thanks to the fact that everyone has Cultivation Method, even farmers, so they can maintain this marching speed.

However, it wasn't so troublesome for Li Qi. After Old Ma cultivated the Uncommon Song, he could travel two thousand miles a day. It would only take him five Chen to reach Guangyang City. If he turned back, even traveling day and night, it would only take him ten Chen.

Since we can come back tomorrow, there's no need to worry too much.

Li Qi packed his belongings and spurred his horse to hurry away.

Nothing particularly unusual happened along the way, after all, his cultivation level was already quite high, and it was unlikely that ordinary demons or bandits would bother him.

His destination was Guangyang City.

Guangyang City is a prefecture city in the Hundred Forests Kingdom, similar in size to Li Prefecture City. The governor resides here, governing the prefecture and also responsible for the defense of the town.

The military pay and provisions for the soldiers stationed at the pass were naturally overseen by the Prefect of Guangyang, with the Guangyang Sima responsible for the specific implementation and arrangements.

They sped along at breakneck speed, with Thunder Shadow accompanying them. With the Uncommon Song of Buqunge, the True Dragon Bloodline in Old Ma's body sparked and flashed all the way, tearing auspicious clouds and blue thunder in the sky.

Although it looks cool, it actually shows that the skill level is not high enough.

The true dragon travels through the sky, with the clouds following it. Though it passes by, it leaves no trace, and its movements are completely undetectable.

People like Old Ma, who desperately want everyone to know where they are, have fallen into Lower Vehicle.

They traveled without stopping and safely, arriving in Guangyang City in five Chen.

Five Chen passed, and it was already dark; it was nighttime.

Under normal circumstances, Li Qi would definitely rest for a night before making the visit, but since it involves tens of thousands of people, he can't worry about that right now.

In a large city like Guangyang City, flying into it is not allowed, so Li Qi landed directly, led the Old Ma, and hurried forward to the Prefect's Mansion.

The position of Military Commander is in charge of the soldiers of a province, as well as the orders and regulations of their chariots, horses, and armor, and is responsible for distinguishing the six types of horses and armor.

In reality, he was the commander-in-chief of the army of a state, in charge of the actions of the soldiers in that state, responsible for their logistics, and also had personnel authority, able to "distinguish between the six types of soldiers and armor", that is, he could promote talents on his own.

He wielded immense power and held immense influence. As the military commander of a province and one of the Three Offices, he was on par with several other officials, second only to the governor.

The so-called Three Ministers were Sima, Situ, and Sikong.

Si actually means "responsible". The word after the word "Si" directly represents the specific powers and responsibilities of the official position.

Sima was in charge of military logistics, supplies, personnel deployment, foreign conquests, and internal defense.

The Minister of State was responsible for the maps of the land and the number of people in the state. He was also responsible for compiling religious texts, distributing official positions, taxation, and finance. He was the core of the regular official system and had the function of supervising and recommending officials in various regions. At the same time, he was responsible for the formulation and implementation of specific policies for people's livelihood.

The Sikong was responsible for basic infrastructure projects, including land surveying for farmers, road construction, water conservancy maintenance, urban planning, and industrial technology reserves. These were all within the Sikong's purview.

These three were collectively known as the Three Offices, and they were directly responsible to the Prefect. Apart from the Prefect, these three were the pinnacle of power in this province.

As far as Li Qi knew, of these three, only Situ was appointed as an eighth-rank cultivator because of his intelligence, wit, and outstanding talent; the other two were seventh-rank cultivators.

Visiting a seventh-rank expert, who is also a high-ranking official, late at night, Li Qi naturally wouldn't be so impolite as to simply show up at his door.

We should still prepare some gifts.

Choosing a gift requires some consideration.

Li Qi couldn't afford to send anything too expensive, nor did he have the money.

You can't just do it carelessly, or you'll lose face and might even get kicked out.

On the way there, Li Qi thought for a moment, and then outside the city, he picked some 'Ancient End' by hand, pounded them into curtains, and then after entering the city, he found a tailor and spent several tens of coins to have him weave the curtains.

The Kapok Cloth Soap Tent were called "Ancient End". Cotton cloth is thicker than silk and warmer, so it was used in palaces to symbolize frugality.

This item has a story behind it. "Emperors used Ancient End, all of which emphasized frugality. If such frugality exists even in the palace, then commoners should know the importance of thrift!"

With the gift prepared and flattery done, and as the saying goes, "one cannot hit a smiling face," it would likely be no problem for him to go to her door asking for an autograph.

Everything has been decided, so all that's left is to make the visit.

Li Qi led the horse all the way to the Prefect's Mansion.

The nightlife in Guangyang City is also quite vibrant. As Li Qi traveled along, although it was already night, the entire city was brightly lit, with taverns lining the streets. People strolled into the city from time to time, enjoying the scenery of mountains and lakes, cooking fish and bamboo shoots, and drinking and chatting to their hearts' content.

However, if some people enjoy themselves, then naturally others must do the work.

Along the way, vendors from all walks of life carried goods on their shoulders and in their hands, continuously transporting supplies into the city.

Guangyang City has a population of one million, and its daily consumption is countless. Naturally, it also requires countless people to be responsible for the daily transportation and handling of supplies. Vendors and shops also need to distribute supplies through retail.

Li Qi also passed by a strange sight: a wealthy family's house had a giant pillar at its entrance. The pillar had a tarpaulin on it to provide shade and shelter from the rain for passersby below, and a water-gathering talisman that continuously condensed water jets to provide free clean water for those standing below.

The giant pillar is twenty feet high and is inscribed with "Zhang Family Blessed Land". The pillar is carved with tens of thousands of bats, so passersby also call the place "Ten Thousand Blessings Come to Court", which is the place where this wealthy family accumulated virtue and prayed for blessings.

But when Li Qi passed by, there were hundreds of beggars under the pillars, densely packed with stench, fighting for water, sheltering from the wind and rain under the pillars. The word "Fu" could not be seen at all, and it had already become a beggar's den.

Li Qi was puzzled as to why there were so many beggars in Guangyang City, so he asked the vendors around him.

Upon hearing this, the vendor, while frying snacks in his hand, smiled and said to Li Qi, "Recently, countless refugees have been evacuated from the town. Some have found a way to make a living, while others can't do anything, so naturally they can only gather here."

"Countless refugees? What happened at the town gate?" Li Qi asked curiously.

The vendors seemed to be quite talkative. They replied, "Sir, you jest. We're just a street vendor in the city. How would we know what happened in the town? We only heard that the soldiers there have all withdrawn, bringing back a lot of refugees. Things are a bit better these days. For the first half of the month, the city and its outskirts were packed with people. Now, only beggars are left begging for food. Oh, and places like Yichun Tower have a lot of new young ladies. Sir, since you're single, why not give them a try? The prices are very low."

"Forget about that. Give me two skewers of tofu, two skewers of fried cabbage, and one of these tiger-skin eggs, and some chicken feet too. By the way, according to you, such a big thing, why didn't the Prefect's Mansion issue any announcements?" Li Qi ordered some fried skewers and asked curiously.

"What kind of notice could the Prefect's Mansion possibly issue? Lord Sima has been going to Tianning Temple all these days; he probably hasn't even been able to handle his official duties." The vendor said with a chuckle.

"You know about this kind of thing?" Li Qi was very surprised. He had just asked casually to see if there were any official notices or anything like that, but this street vendor knew so much!

When he was a boatman at the bottom of society, he never knew about these things; he was already quite lucky if he could even glance at the notices.

"Hey, is Guan Ren new to Guangyang? I don't need to ask around. Just ask everyone in the city. Everyone knows that Lord Sima is a devout Buddhist and basically lives at Tianning Temple." The vendor said while frying tofu for Li Qi.

Li Qi, however, suddenly frowned.

Wait, Buddhism? Tianning Temple?

Buddhism? Holy crap, I've never heard of that.

Having been in this world for so long, he had almost forgotten that Buddhism even existed.

The book does mention that in the far west of the world Supreme Boundless Buddha Kingdom, but because it is so far away, Li Qi basically treated it as a story.

Now, within the sphere of influence of Wushen Mountain, there is actually a state governor who is a devout Buddhist and has even opened a temple here. This is no ordinary matter.

"Sir, you've never heard of this kind of appearance before, have you? I've never heard of any temples or Buddhist teachings before either. But they claim to be no different from the Shaman we often see. They can cure diseases and pray for blessings, and then nobody bothered them anymore. Anyway, they don't do anything evil. They often come to the city to give alms, and I've even eaten the food they give as alms~." The vendor said with a gossipy smile, still very sunny.

The vendor added, "I reckon they're similar to those Daoist priests, all from out of town. But they're much better than the Daoist priests. Those Daoist priests just sit in the mountains all day, and when they do show their faces, they look like dead men, so unfriendly. They're nothing like those bald guys, all kind-faced and smiling, friendly to everyone, and they don't charge for their medical treatments."

While talking, Li Qi inquired about the so-called Tianning Temple. By the time the fried skewers were ready, Li Qi had asked almost everything he needed to know. He paid the money, took the Old Ma, and prepared to leave.

He still planned to visit the Prefect's Mansion.

According to the vendor, Tianning Temple was visited about ten years ago.

At first, a group of monks came, all of them very thin, who called themselves ascetic monks and whose mission was to travel all over the world and spread the Buddhist teachings.

This group of thin, bony monks numbered about four or five hundred, but only one remained here; the rest left quickly without lingering.

According to them, traveling the world is a difficult task, so it cannot be delayed. They will only arrange for an ascetic monk to spread Buddhism in a place they consider to be 'connected' to.

This ascetic monk, who called himself Chanzhi, stayed here to spread Buddhism, but he did not start spreading it from the beginning.

The Chanzhi who survived first went around "begging for alms," which was actually just begging. Some people saw that he was very thin and gave him some things.

In return, he would leave something behind, such as some handwritten pages of Buddhist Scriptures, or if he didn't even have any pages, he would sit at people's doorsteps and recite a passage of scripture, saying that he was praying for the people's well-being.

This kind of behavior is quite endearing. After all, although most beggars say auspicious words, none of them have his calm and gentle temperament. Although he is thin and old, his eyes are still gentle and warm.

Besides, those auspicious words that we've heard so many times before don't sound as good as those mysterious and profound scriptures.

Some time passed, and one of the families who had given alms suddenly suffered a terrible misfortune. A vicious ghost broke into their home at night, intending to take their lives and suck their Essence Blood.

But as soon as the evil spirit entered the door, it saw the house radiate golden light and heard chanting. The house was filled with a loud booming sound, and the evil spirit immediately let out a wail and lost its ability to resist.

When the local Demon Eradication Division arrived, they were astonished, and the story spread.

Now, the entire Guangyang City knew that a monk named Chanzhi had real skills; if you gave him a meal, he would protect you and pray for your well-being.

For a time, Chanzhi went around explaining to people that his name was his Dharma name, not his real name, and that he was not worthy of being called a monk, but at most a Buddhist monk.

But the general public didn't care about that. They didn't know what the monk and his Dharma name meant, but they knew that Chanzhi was a person with real skills. They invited Chanzhi to eat, and all kinds of delicacies and rare ingredients were served to him. Wealthy families invited Chanzhi to be their guest and wanted to hold a grand banquet for him.

However, after this incident, everyone found that they could no longer find Chanzhi.

He disappeared for a full six months, only to reappear after the Chanzhi craze subsided. Upon his reappearance, he continued to "beg" for alms from a poor family, asking them to give him some leftovers from the previous night.

That family was not wealthy to begin with, and their food was no different from what Li Qi ate when he was a boatman; it was extremely meager.

Moreover, they had no idea that they had encountered the renowned Chanzhi.

But out of their simple kindness, they still gave Chanzhi food.

After finishing his meal, Chanzhi, as always, chanted mantras, offered prayers, and left behind a piece of paper.

Later, when word of this incident spread, the page was sold for 20,000 coins and bought by a wealthy family. They took it home to worship, and the family's life improved significantly. Only then did they realize that they had encountered Chanzhi.

Chanzhi visited again the next day, hoping to take a plank from their roof.

The family had just earned 20,000 coins from this, so naturally they wouldn't refuse and quickly offered it to the household.

Chanzhi accepted the wooden board and continued to beg for alms every day, once a day. Sometimes he went to wealthy families, and sometimes he went to poor families. He never picked and chose his people, and he had no dietary restrictions. He would eat whatever was given to him.

According to him, begging for alms arises from causes and conditions, and he is simply going to resolve the karmic ties from his past life. The people he visits are all those with whom he had a karmic connection in a previous life.

But after this incident, he would always beg the other person for a piece of wood. If someone gave him one, he would accept it and express his sincere gratitude. If they didn't give him one, he would not say anything, and would leave after finishing his meal.

After several years, he actually used the wooden planks he had collected from thousands of households to build a temple on a barren mountain.

That temple was called Tianning Temple.