Northeast of Satsuma, there was a waterfall called Looking River.
Near the great lake beneath the waterfall stood a town called Wangchuan City, with villages scattered around it.
All these people depended on the waterfall for their water.
Beside the waterfall stood Wangxiang Temple.
By then, probably no one knew exactly why it had been given that name.
The main hall of Wangxiang Temple enshrined the very common Fudo Myoo.
The paint had flaked off the clay statue, leaving little sense of sacred majesty.
The temple received a fair amount of incense offerings. It did have a whole town nearby, after all.
Many people liked to come here to offer incense and worship the bodhisattva. Fudo Myoo was also known as Fudo Son Bosatsu.
The temple's abbot, Reverend Wuming, was said to be an enlightened monk who had already lived for over a hundred years.
People had a simple belief: anyone who lived that long was no ordinary person.
Reverend Wuming's longevity surely meant there was something that set him apart from ordinary people.
Naturally, what came to mind was the boundless power of Buddhist teachings.
Wangxiang Temple did indeed have a good reputation.
Under Reverend Wuming's leadership, its monks often practiced medicine and saved lives.
More importantly, the temple had warrior monks.
These strong, sturdy monks, armed with naginatas and steadfast in their faith, played a positive role in maintaining local peace.
Though Wangchuan City was called a city, its walls were only a little over a meter high, and it had nothing like a castle keep.
Its military strength was weak.
If bandits or routed soldiers wandered into the area, the people of Wangchuan City would have had trouble protecting themselves.
The warrior monks thus became a considerable force.
For that very reason, people often felt grateful to