Chapter 39 - The Arrival of the Monk from the Western Regions

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Following the death of Tie Yunshan, the news of a swordsman suspected to be a Demon Sect expert entering and exiting the Swallow Capital spread like wildfire. The entire Jiangnan Dao was in a state of panic.

The word Demon Sect was an existence in the Great Yan martial world.

There were even rumors in the martial world that Cao Gang was preparing to ally with the four great clans of Jiangnan to deal with the swordsmen and demonic cult demons.

A storm was brewing, casting a shadow over Yuzhou City.

It was September, and it became gradually colder.

In the Ji Shi Hall, An Jing kept the sunbathing herbs back into the medicine pot. In just a few months, he could clearly feel his qi and blood strengthening, even though it was still a while before he could condense the Earth Flower.

Most of this was thanks to the Bodhi Bead.

The Bodhi Bead was indeed worthy of being a Buddhist treasure. Its body contained surging pure Yang energy which was very beneficial for cultivation.

Li Fuzhou sat on the chair beside him and read a book. He did not look sideways.

Meanwhile, Tan Yun was like a little quail, holding the book and flipping through it.

Lil Blackie was leaning against the door, lazily basking in the afternoon sun.

The scene was very harmonious.

“Tan Yun, the weather is pretty good today. Shall we go fishing later?” An Jing looked outside the door and realized that the weather was pretty good.

Tan Yun looked up at old antique beside her and said in a low voice, “Young master, I have to prepare fabric to sew autumn clothing with the missy later.”

An Jing said regretfully, “That’s a pity. I was planning to use Old Li’s ship to reach the west of the city. You should know that the crystal bun at the west of the city is excellent.”

Crystal bun!?

Tan Yun gulped and glared at An Jing.

The young master was obviously saying this on purpose for her to hear. In the past, the young master would buy candied fruits, crystal buns, and sweet cheese whenever he passed by. Thinking of this, she almost drooled.

Li Fuzhou flipped through the book and said calmly, “Be diligent in your studies, success and glory will follow.”

“Third Master is right.”

Tan Yun nodded her head and looked at the book in her hands seriously.

An Jing felt a buzzing in his head. It was as if his mind was affected by something, as if he approved of Li Fuzhou’s words.

“Mm!?”

An Jing frowned.

He felt that Li Fuzhou’s words affected him.

That subtle feeling, according to this kind of situation, was very similar to the Bewitching Technique in the martial world, or the Confucian Nature Energy’s method of guiding one’s nature.

Could it be an illusion!?

An Jing could not help but glance at Li Fuzhou. There was something wrong with this old man.

“This child really cannot be taught!” Li Fuzhou muttered to himself when he saw An Jing’s indifference.

This was a secret technique that he had fused with the Heavenly Demon Secret Manual and the Confucian Dao. It was called the Heavenly Demon Righteous Energy, and it could silently guide others.

Typically, there were only two types of people who were unaffected. One type was an expert with an exceptional temperament, while the other type was a fool without a brain.

In Li Fuzhou’s eyes, An Jing was an incurable person.

Right at this moment, a figure appeared at the entrance of the Ji Shi Hall.

“Yo! Isn’t this Mr. Zhou?”

An Jing could not help but shout when he saw the person.

It was Zhou Xianming.

Li Fuzhou coughed lightly without saying anything.

Zhou Xianming acted as if he did not see An Jing and shouted at Li Fuzhou who was reading, “Senior Li, Senior Li!”

“Coming.”

Li Fuzhou put down the book in his hand and said to Tan Yun, “I’m going out for a while. I’ll leave this to you.”

“Yes.”

Tan Yun suppressed the ecstasy in his heart and nodded.

After Li Fuzhou finished speaking, he quickly walked out. The two of them chatted and laughed.

Tan Yun looked at Zhou Xianming’s back and was deep in thought. It seemed like she had to have a good talk with Zhou Xianming tonight. The more songs one listened to, the better.

“Tsk tsk.”

An Jing looked at the backs of the two of them who had their arms around each other’s shoulders and sneered, “Be diligent in your studies, success and glory will follow. It seems that there are no such things in books, they should be only found in the brothels.”

“Young master, aren’t you going to the west of the city? Let’s go!” Tan Yun put down the book in her hand and said excitedly.

“I was joking. Did you take it seriously?”

“Annoying! You only know how to lie to me!”

When Tan Yun heard this, her face swelled up like a round bun.

“Where are you going?”

Zhao Qingmei slowly walked out of the back hall with a white plate in her hand. There were soft pastries on it.

One could also smell the faint fragrance.

“Darling, this is apricot cake. Try it.”

Zhao Qingmei picked up a piece of apricot cake and handed it to An Jing.

“Delicious!”

An Jing immediately gave him a thumbs up.

“Eat more if it’s delicious.” Zhao Qingmei chuckled.

“Miss, I want to eat too,” said Tan Yun hurriedly.

Zhao Qingmei handed the plate to Tan Yun.

An Jing chuckled and said, “Look, although I didn’t get to eat the crystal bun, the apricot cake made by Madam is even better than the crystal bun.”

Tan Yun snorted and turned around to back face An Jing.

Whoosh!

At this moment, the curtain was lifted.

An old monk wearing a kasaya walked in.

“Amitabha!”

The old monk bowed to An Jing and the rest. “I am Huizhi. Greetings, benefactors.”

“You’re welcome, Master Huizhi.”

An Jing took out his pouch and prepared to give the old monk some money.

In Great Yan, Buddhism did not have a high status. In fact, it was on the lower end. There were very few incense offerings in the temple, so there were often monks going down the mountain to beg for alms.

When it came to Buddhism, the Great Zhou Dynasty had to be mentioned.

The Great Zhou Dynasty respected Buddhism, and Buddhism flourished. Buddhism temples and monasteries were everywhere in the Great Zhou Dynasty. At that time, the Great Zhou Dynasty’s emperors had offered sacrifices to Buddhism. As the emperors paid their respects to Buddhism, ordinary people naturally followed suit, causing Buddhism to flourish in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

At that time in the Zhou Dynasty, temples and Buddha statues could be seen everywhere. People also had abnormal respect for monks.

Following the Great Zhou Dynasty’s decline, Buddhism also plummeted and was even denounced by various people. In the end, they even planned to exterminate Buddhism. During the Nine Nations’ chaos, there were three grand battles to exterminate Buddhism.

At that time, the First True Sect that represented the Dao Sect was also one of the current representatives of the Yan Country.

Even though the battle to exterminate Buddha did not succeed, it still caused Buddhism to suffer heavy losses in the world. The legacies of Leiyin Monastery, White Horse Monastery, and other monasteries even retreated to the pure land.

The monasteries left in some places were also sparsely populated, gradually becoming desolate lands. Only a few places still had some monasteries, but there were very little incense offerings.

When the monks in these temples had no incense offerings, they could only come out to solicit donations.

Within the Yuzhou City, there was an ancient temple called the Fa Xi Monastery which had been left behind by the Great Zhou Dynasty.

“Huizhi? Master, are you from the Pure Land?” Zhao Qingmei asked smilingly.

“That’s right. This poor monk came from the Pure Land three months ago,” Huizhi said as he placed his hands on his chest.

“Madam, do you know that this monk came from the Pure Land?” An Jing asked softly.

It had been hundreds of years since the founding of Great Yan. Therefore, there was a slight difference between the Buddhism of Great Yan and the Buddhism of Pure Land. However, others could not tell.

Zhao Qingmei explained, “The robes of the monks of Great Yan have gradually been assimilated. They are mostly plain and elegant, while the monks in the Pure Land are still following the ancient teachings. Their robes haven’t changed much.”

Monk Huizhi chuckled. “This female benefactor is right. I am from the Pure Land’s Leiyin Monastery. When I passed by this place just now, I felt some buddhist ripples. I sensed it carefully and came in to take a look. If I have disturbed you, please forgive me.”

Buddhism ripples?!

Could it be the Bodhi Bead!?

An Jing’s heart skipped a beat.

Zhao Qingmei frowned and thought to herself, “Leiyin Monastery, this monk is actually from Leiyin Monastery. Could it be him, Monk Huizhi?”

Tan Yun casually said, “Monk, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. This is a small medicine hall, so there’s no such thing as Buddhism or Daoism.”

“No, I’m not mistaken.”

Monk Huizhi looked at An Jing and said with a smile, “This benefactor is filled with Yang qi, but it condensed and didn’t dissipate. It seems like he was born in the Seamless Realm. Such a person is naturally fated with Buddha.”

Yang Qi was abundant and condensed without dispersing. This was talking about the Bodhi Bead.

After all, he had covered the Bodhi Bead with his inner core. Ordinary people would not be able to sense it. Even Mu Xiaoyun and Jiang Sanjia were unaware of it, but the monk in front of them knew.

Before An Jing could even speak, Zhao Qingmei chuckled and said, “Master, my husband can’t become a monk.”

If that monk dares to shave my husband’s head, I will kill him. If that temple dares to take in my husband, I will destroy that temple.

“Amitabha!”

Monk Huizhi put his palms together and said sadly, “That’s really a pity. I didn’t expect this benefactor to be married. Don’t worry, benefactor, I’m a monk so I won’t force you.”

An Jing took a glance at Old Monk Huizhi. From the looks of it, this monk was not an ordinary monk. He could actually sense the Bodhi Bead in his body.

“I won’t allow you to harbor such thoughts.” Zhao Qingmei shielded An Jing behind her like an old hen protecting a chick.

“Definitely.”

Monk Huizhi smiled. “I’m from the Western Regions and have succeeded the new abbot of Fa Xi Monastery. It will be the Yulanpen Festival in a few days. I welcome the three benefactors to come to Fa Xi Monastery to offer incense at any time. I’ll take my leave first.”

With that said, Monk Huizhi turned and left.

“This monk is actually the new abbot of Fa Xi Monastery.”

An Jing looked at the monk’s back and secretly clicked his tongue.

Zhao Qingmei stared at the back of Monk Huizhi, overwhelmed with emotions.

The Western Region Pure Land appeared in Great Yan. It was just as Li Fuzhou had said..