"Leave home? Become a bald... no... become a monk? Me?" Ouyang pointed at his own nose and asked blankly.
The white-browed Kongtiao looked at Ouyang without a change of expression and continued, "Yes. Please shave your head and enter the monastic life, young brother, and preside over the affairs of Great Spirit Mountain Temple!"
"Why the hell should I? I fucking..." Ouyang immediately shook his head like a rattle drum. He was just about to refuse when he looked up and saw the gleaming Twelfth-Grade Merit Golden Lotus above his head.
The corner of Ouyang's mouth twitched. Fuck, I almost forgot. I just said I was the Buddhist Holy Son.
The white-browed monk Kongtiao looked at Ouyang with a smile. Ouyang's appearance with the Twelfth-Grade Merit Golden Lotus had truly been unexpected.
Yet he had appeared at just the right moment, when Buddhism was undergoing a drastic upheaval.
As the junior fellow disciple of Kongming, the previous abbot of Great Spirit Mountain Temple, Kongtiao did not approve of the radicals led by Hui Zhi, but neither had he spoken out against them.
His aptitude fell short of his senior fellow disciple Kongming's, and his strength was insufficient to command everyone's respect. His only distinction was his virtue and prestige.
His refusal to take a position was the greatest obstacle to the radicals' current popular support within Buddhism. In his heart, Kongtiao actually understood clearly that under Hui Zhi's leadership, Buddhism would head down an extremely dangerous road.
But he was powerless to stop it. He could only silently watch the struggle within Buddhism and remain neutral.
When Ouyang appeared at this critical juncture with the Twelfth-Grade Merit Golden Lotus above his head, Kongtiao seemed to see another road Buddhism could take besides radicalism and preserving the status quo!
Kongtiao had