Besides, this year, the flat peaches in Yaochi were ripe again, and the Queen Mother of the West invited the gods from all over the world to Yaochi to participate in the peach event. The Guanggang Fairy and the Bai (White) Flower Fairy from Tiantangping were also invited. In response to the appointment of Guanyin Bodhisattva, they went to Yaochi via the "Heaven Avenue" of Guanyin Pavilion to attend the meeting.
One day, two foreigners dressed as peasant women went to the Guanyin Pavilion to offer incense. However, one or two days passed and the two foreigners were not seen. People felt strange and went to the pavilion to look for them, but they couldn't find them. trace.
Something like this is said to have happened more than once.
As soon as the news spread, people said: "Guanyin Pavilion, you can't go up but not down." This added to the mystery of Guanyin Pavilion, but some people speculated that this was the whereabouts of the immortal.
After the peach festival ended, the Jade Emperor specially left the Boanggang Immortal, Baihua Immortal and Beidi Huaguang to ask questions.
Jade Emperor: "I heard that there are a lot of thieves in the Tiantangping area. Is this true?"
Baihuaxian: "I report back to Your Majesty that this is the case."
Jade Emperor: "As a god, why don't you care? Do you still have love for ordinary people?"
Boogang Immortal: "Your Majesty, there are a lot of thieves there, but there are reasons for that."
Jade Emperor: "Please tell me the reason."
Baogangshan: "Your Majesty, Rong Chen reports. Most of the people in Tiantangping District are kind and hard-working, but their lives are very hard. In normal years, they can only eat gruel for two meals a day. Therefore, it is called the 'porridge eating area', which is an irony and an insult to Tiantangping. The real thieves are just some bad people with evil intentions, and most of them are forced by life."
Jade Emperor: "Why?"
Baihuaxian: "Your Majesty, the land in the paradise area is occupied by some bureaucrats, nobles and landlords. The people have no choice but to rent fields from them for farming. However, the rent is very expensive and the government exploits it heavily. All year round, in addition to paying the rent, There is not much food left in the harvest, and farmers have to live on wild vegetables and gruel. If there is a disaster, it will be even more miserable. Children and daughters are sold, families are ruined, people flee from famine and begging, and starvation is common. Paradise. There are many droughts in Ping District. If it doesn’t rain for half a month, it will be a small drought, which will affect the growth of crops, and the harvest will fail. If it doesn’t rain for a month, it will be a medium drought. Many crops will be planted out of season, and the harvest will be even worse. If three If it doesn't rain, the miserable scene mentioned above will occur. In this case, the people have no way out for their livelihood. Even the originally kind people will follow some bad guys to rob in order to survive and regardless of committing crimes. As far as we know , Tiantangping District encounters such disasters at least twice every ten years, how can there not be many thieves?"
Jade Emperor: "Why are there so many years of disaster there?"
Bogangxian: "I am reporting to your Majesty that there are roughly two reasons. First, the terrain of Tiantangping is high and it looks like a ridge. Water pours to both sides, making it impossible to store water. Because the land is dry, if it doesn't rain, there will be a drought. . Secondly, there is very little rainfall there..."
Jade Emperor: "Please tell me the reason."
Baogangshan: "Your Majesty, Rong Chen reports. Most of the people in Tiantangping District are kind and hard-working, but their lives are very hard. In normal years, they can only eat gruel for two meals a day. Therefore, it is called the 'porridge eating area', which is an irony and an insult to Tiantangping. The real thieves are just some bad people with evil intentions, and most of them are forced by life."
Jade Emperor: "Why?"
Baihuaxian: "Your Majesty, the land in the paradise area is occupied by some bureaucrats, nobles and landlords. The people have no choice but to rent fields from them for farming. However, the rent is very expensive and the government exploits it heavily. All year round, in addition to paying the rent, There is not much food left in the harvest, and farmers have to live on wild vegetables and gruel. If there is a disaster, it will be even more miserable. Children and daughters are sold, families are ruined, people flee from famine and begging, and starvation is common. Paradise. There are many droughts in Ping District. If it doesn’t rain for half a month, it will be a small drought, which will affect the growth of crops, and the harvest will fail. If it doesn’t rain for a month, it will be a medium drought. Many crops will be planted out of season, and the harvest will be even worse. If three If it doesn't rain, the miserable scene mentioned above will occur. In this case, the people have no way out for their livelihood. Even the originally kind people will follow some bad guys to rob in order to survive and regardless of committing crimes. As far as we know , Tiantangping District encounters such disasters at least twice every ten years, how can there not be many thieves?"
Jade Emperor: "Why are there so many years of disaster there?"
Bogangxian: "I am reporting to your Majesty that there are roughly two reasons. First, the terrain of Tiantangping is high and it looks like a ridge. Water pours to both sides, making it impossible to store water. Because the land is dry, if it doesn't rain, there will be a drought. . Secondly, there is very little rainfall there..."
Jade Emperor: "Why does it rain less there?"
Horugangxian: "Then I have to ask the Dragon King of the South China Sea."
Jade Emperor: "Ao Guang!"
Ao Guang: "I'm here."
Jade Emperor: "Everyone should be treated equally. How did you do it?"
Ao Guang: "Your Majesty, in the past it was because there were many thieves there and we wanted to punish them, so there was less rain. I think they brought it upon themselves."
Baihuaxian: "This is not right. Specific things must be analyzed in detail. If they are forced to do it, they can be punished lightly or even forgive them. Baihuaxian has just said that most of the people in Tiantangping are good people. , some people are forced to commit crimes in order to survive. Besides, in Tiantangping District, the vast majority of people would rather starve than become thieves! God has a good life, and you can't let the people suffer because of a handful of bad people. Let’s suffer together!”
The words left Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the South China Sea, speechless.
Jade Emperor: "Northern Emperor Huaguang."
Beidi: "I am here."
Jade Emperor: "Huaguang, although you don't live there permanently, you still receive the incense from that place and you always know something about it. What do you think?"
Beidi: "I thought that what Immortal Guanggang and Immortal Baihua said were right. This is indeed the case."
Jade Emperor: "Taibai Venus."
Taibai: "I'm here."
Jade Emperor: "You send me a message that the treasure house of Tiantang Guanyin Pavilion will be open for three days, so that the people of Tiantang Pingzhai can get some benefits and improve their lives."
Jade Emperor: "Baihua Fairy, when you go back, you must make the flower planting secrets public and teach the people how to grow flowers. As for Ao Guang, you must act according to the actual situation in the future and cannot be beaten to death with a stick."
The news spread that Guanyin Pavilion's "Treasury of Wealth" would be open for three days, and people in Tiantangping Village were excited.
At this time, bureaucrats, aristocrats, local tyrants, evil gentry, etc. immediately took action to try to make a big profit.
They organized manpower, colluded with each other, held meetings and negotiated, divided them into several levels according to their power, and then distributed the gold and silver treasures in the treasury according to the levels. They marked the treasure numbers in the tanks and basins in the treasury to indicate who each belonged to. He also sent people to guard the cave gate to prevent people from entering.
Therefore, ordinary people only like it in vain, look at the treasures and sigh, and wait until the evildoers have removed the treasures in the cave and the gatekeepers have withdrawn, then they dare to enter the cave.
When they entered the cave, they saw that the treasure house was empty.
They thought at this time: since they had no gold or silver, it would not be a waste to pick up some gravel and soil from the cave and take them home as souvenirs.
Having said that, after those evil people moved the treasure home, some put it in iron cabinets and some even put it in a secret cellar. However, when they checked it after two days, the treasure was missing. They were unwilling to accept it. I wanted to go into the library to plunder, but the cave door was already closed.
As for the gravel, soil and other things that ordinary people took away from the warehouse, they turned into various crop seeds when they returned home, including vegetables, melons, beans, wheat, corn, etc., as well as red smoke , fruit cane, flowers, fruit trees and other seeds.
The people are very happy because these seeds are drought-resistant and some can be planted in winter. When there is a drought and the rice cannot be planted, they can replant these crops. In winter, the farmland is idle and winter planting can be carried out, making the farmland more productive. The harvest has been increased from two crops a year to three crops a year; fruit trees, flowers, etc. can also be planted in front of the house, behind the house and on the hillside. Some crops are very suitable for local soil cultivation, and later became a specialty of Tiantangping Village, such as red smoke. , fruit cane, radish, garlic, vegetable pepper, melon, etc. are all crops with large yield, good texture and delicious taste. They are highly praised by outsiders and sold well in far away places.
With the planting of flowers, people in Tiantangpingzhai learned a way to make a living. From then on, gardeners at home and abroad were all from Tiantangping.
After the leader of Longzhai told the story of Tiantangping, he said with emotion: "With the cultivation of these crops, the lives of the people in Tiantangping Village have been improved. Everyone has realized that when dealing with God's gifts, you should not get something for nothing, but We need to use hard-working hands to turn it into wealth."
After listening to "The Legend of Tiantangping" taught by Longzhai, Liang Yaocai gave a thumbs up and praised, "Longzhai is knowledgeable and the stories he tells are vivid, interesting and fascinating. I, the so-called 'gold medal old talker', sigh to myself Not as good as that!”
The gentleness, humility and attitude of creating wealth through hard-working hands shown by the leader of Longzhai in his narration of "Legend of Tiantangping" made Huineng more willing to contact him and learn more about the people's sentiments and social will through him, in the hope of being able to Help more sentient beings to escape suffering and live a better life.
Huineng looked up at the sky and said, "Master Longzhai, Uncle Yaocai, it's getting late. Let's go."
"Okay, just turn the corner in front and we'll be there." Leader Longzhai said while leading the way.
After walking for about half a mile, we arrived at the turning point. What appeared in front of Huineng's eyes was a flat plain, with villages dotted like dots...
Huineng couldn't help but admire: "Does it look like you are in the deep mountains and old forests? It is really a plain mountain city, a paradise on earth!"
Entering Tiantangping Village, the leader of Longzhai pointed at the nearby blue brick house with a dull expression and said, "This is my home..."
Before the leader of the Long Village could say the word "humble house", he heard a sad voice coming from the house... Huineng and Liang Yaocai hurriedly followed the leader of the Long Village into the yard in front of the big house.
The leader of Longzhai entered the hall and saw his father, mother, brother-in-law, aunt and other relatives in the hall, as well as the elderly villagers in the village. They all burst into tears and came to see his precious son for the last time.
Seeing this, Liang Yaocai raised his hands and said loudly: "Dear uncles, aunts, relatives and friends! Please be quiet and listen to me. You don't need to be sad anymore. Today, the master of Longzhai has invited a powerful man who can subdue demon snakes. The boys and girls are saved!"
When everyone heard this, they immediately fell silent, and everyone turned their attention to Liang Yaocai.
Liang Yaocai looked at Huineng beside him and said loudly: "Dear relatives and friends! The man who subdued the dragon and subdued the tiger invited by your village master is right in front of you. He is a distant relative of my eldest brother Yaocheng's family..."
When everyone heard what Liang Yaocai said, they couldn't help but turn their attention to Huineng.
Huineng bowed his hands to everyone, and comforted the wife of the leader of Longzhai: "Auntie, please don't cry. My name is Aneng. I will subdue that monster snake tomorrow, so your son won't have to throw himself into the pool. People in this area can live a peaceful life.”
The Longzhai Master's family and everyone present saw hope in Huineng's firm, confident and sure eyes, and said in unison: "Thank you Aneng for being such a great benefactor!"
After Hui Neng comforted the daughter-in-law of the head of Longzhai who was crying like a woman, he asked the head of Longzhai to lead him to comfort the relatives of the virgin family.
The leader of Longzhai led Hui Neng and Liang Yaocai to the home of his virgin girl.
This girl's name is Tian Jinfeng, ranking fifth. She has two brothers and two sisters. She has just turned four years old this year. Her father's name is Tian Gui, and her mother's family name is Wang. When Tian Gui's family heard the consolation from Master Long and Hui Neng that the golden phoenix could be preserved tomorrow, Tian Gui's family immediately stopped the pain of separation and stopped crying.
Although his family has many children, the youngest daughter is the heart and soul of her parents after all. When she saw the arrival of Master Longzhai and Huineng, it was like seeing a savior, and she knelt down to thank her benefactor with great gratitude.
…
The next morning, dark clouds were gathering and it was about to rain. The local people gathered around Huineng and came to the waterhole. The leader of Long Village raised a jar of wine prepared for them and drank it all in one gulp.
Hui Neng bowed to the Master of the Dragon Village with a calm expression: "Master of the Dragon Village, I am fighting against the evil snake this time. I don't know if I will succeed or not. If I succeed in subduing the demon snake, even if I do a good deed for you, don't worry. I will give you any reward. If the demon snake refuses to obey, or I am buried in the snake's belly, I will be willing to do so. If so, mobilize the masses to fill up this deep pool, so that the demon snake loses its nest to do evil, and build a temple on it. Just commemorate it.”
Huineng was talking when suddenly a giant python with bright eyes shot out two dazzling beams of light. The giant python with a body as big as a vat stretched out its snake head, opened its bloody mouth, and spewed out water columns dozens of feet high. It was so menacing that it caused The onlookers were all frightened.
It was too late, but it was too soon. Hui Neng did not let the demon snake take a breath and show off its power. He picked up a stone the size of a fist and smashed it towards the demon snake's throat with a "hit" sound.
The demon snake was hit on the head, jumped into the air, shrank suddenly, and dived into the pool.
Huineng jumped into the pool and chased after him...
Immediately there was a sound like thunder in the bottomless pool, the river was stirred, and water splashed in all directions. The usually emerald green water in the pool suddenly became muddy and turbid. Because Hui Neng had a Zen mantle to protect his body, the demonic snake could not get close to him. Fight.
But Huineng couldn't bear to kill, so he tried to subdue the snake with his bare hands.
This demonic snake is not someone to be taken lightly. How can he surrender and be captured?
Hui Neng fought with the demon snake from morning to evening, and still couldn't decide the outcome. He temporarily retreated and found another way to kill the demon.
That night, the demon snake met its opponent. After a day of fighting, it felt exhausted and did not dare to come out of the pool to do evil.
That night, Huineng, the leader of Longzhai, Liang Yaocai, Long Zhongbiao, Li Yihu and other well-informed and courageous people in the village gathered in the meeting hall of the village to study ways to eliminate the demon.
After Huineng narrated the process of diving into the deep pool and fighting the demonic snake today to everyone present, he scanned the meeting hall with his bright eyes and said in a consultative tone: "Master Longzhai, Uncle Yaocai, Ah Biao, Ahu, do you have any strategies for subduing the demonic snake?"
The people present looked at each other in confusion when they saw Huineng asking them for advice.
For a long time, I only heard the leader of Longzhai sighing "Alas", and then said helplessly, "Brother Aneng, your kindness is appreciated by everyone in our village. If even you can't do anything, Just let me bear the pain and throw my precious son into the deep pool."
Huineng waved his hand and said firmly: "Master Longzhai, how can you give up like this! It's not that I have no way to kill it, I just can't bear to kill it and want to surrender it!"
"Brother Aneng, I will go into the deep pool with you tomorrow to help you!" Long Zhongbiao said, patting his chest.
"Brother Aneng, count me in!" Li Yihu didn't give up.
At this time, I only heard Liang Yaocai, who is known as the "King of Ancient Telling" with a gold medal, shaking his head in a corner of the hall, looking at a nave painting on the wall, and reciting the couplet: "The dragon on the shallow water is played by the crab, the tiger falls on the flat sun and suffers." Dog bully.”
Upon hearing this, Huineng suddenly clapped his hands: "Yes!"
"What happened?!" everyone asked in shock.
So Huineng told the truth about what he was inspired by this couplet: It seems that this demonic snake was originally a dragon. To get rid of it, we must lead it away from the deep pool. If it leaves the water, it will lose the help of force. I am not limited by pools, caves and water, so I can use my kung fu to conquer it. Just now, Uncle Yaocai recited the couplet and hit the nail on the head. It was precisely because of the influence of this environment that I was affected by the environment when I fought with the snake during the day, so I failed to win.
So, Huineng and them agreed on a strategy to conquer the demonic snake tomorrow - Huineng pretended to be defeated and lured the demonic snake out of the pond, while the leader of Longzhai mobilized the masses overnight to prepare rice straw, rags, cloth, sulfur and other materials. When the demonic snake left the pond, Just light rice straw and rotten cloth around the pool, and add more sulfur on it to make it difficult for the snake to return to the pool.
In addition, planks, wood, stones, and sand must be prepared. When the demon snake leaves the pond, immediately seal the entrance of the pond and cut off the demon snake's return path.
Early the next morning, the demon snake was furious because it could not defeat Huineng yesterday, and was determined to eat Huineng in today's duel.
So head out early and wait for the duel.
This time Hui Neng arrived and was not in a hurry to attack, let alone enter the pond. He held a wooden stick in his hand and only dealt with the demonic snake outside the pond, looking timid and tired.
The demon snake thought that Huineng was weak today, and looked down upon him. The more he fought, the more energetic he became, eager to swallow Huineng in one gulp.
Hui Neng only evaded, using softness to control hardness, consuming the demonic snake's physical strength.
After lingering like this for more than an hour, seeing that the demon snake's physical strength was declining, Huineng feinted with his stick and turned around to feign defeat.
The demon snake thought that the opportunity had arrived, so it left the pool and chased after him.
When the demon snake was far away from the deep pool, Hui Neng turned around and swung his stick to hit it hard, left and right, forward and back, making the demon snake dizzy. As soon as the leader of the Long Village here saw the demon snake leaving the pool, he Command the masses to burn materials and fill the pond according to the original plan.
Another half hour passed after the human-monster confrontation. The demon snake was gradually losing its strength and was about to turn around and fly back to the pool. However, the smoke covered the sky and blurred its direction. At the same time, the thick smell of sulfur made it dizzy and difficult to swim. slow.
Besides, after hearing the news, Wu Botao, the commander-in-chief of Heaven, led the commander-in-chief Wu to send Wang Ju and Zhang Fei to the scene. When Wang Ju saw the demon snake escaping to the pool on the ground, he couldn't help but draw his bow and arrow, and "swish, swish" toward the demon snake. Shooting away, the power of several arrows hit by the demonic snake was greatly reduced.
Then Zhang Fei drew his sword from his waist and swung the sword towards the demonic snake like a mountain.
Seeing this, Hui Neng shouted: "Wait a minute!" He rushed forward and tried to lift Zhang Fei's sword-wielding hand, but he was still half a beat too late.
Zhang Fei raised his sword and lowered it. The demon snake's head was immediately cut into two pieces.
…
The demon snake was eliminated. At this time, the cheers of the crowd rang through the sky, and they rushed to tell each other: "The demon snake has been eliminated."
The people gathered around Huineng to return to the village, and some burned incense to welcome Huineng's triumphant return. On behalf of the local people, Tiantang Dusi wanted to reward Huineng grandly.
Huineng said, "I told you before that I don't want any reward. I want to subdue the demon snake and not kill any living things. But... the matter has come to this. I hope that everyone can work together to fill the deep pool." After that, he handed over his hands and said: Those present bid farewell.
The owner of Longzhai and the villagers repeatedly asked Huineng to stay in the village for one more day to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.
Huineng said movedly, "Thank you for your kindness! I still have a mother at home who is concerned about my safety and is waiting for me to go back for the holidays!" After that, he and Liang Yaocai headed towards Wenyang Tianzhai.
The people of Tiantangpingzhai surrounded Huineng and Liang Yaocai and took them to the bend halfway up the mountain before saying goodbye.
After the Dragon Boat Festival, the owner of Longzhai immediately organized hundreds of laborers to fill the deep pool in accordance with Huineng's wishes.
However, after nearly a month of filling, the soil and stones that fell into the pond disappeared. Now that the summer harvest is coming, we have to wait until the summer harvest and summer planting work is completed before proceeding.
After the summer harvest, people braved the scorching sun and wind and rain to continue filling the pond, and added more manpower. It took more than four months to fill the deep pond. Later, people called this place Longtan Village (this is a story later).
Longtan was filled up, and people did not forget Huineng's kindness and planned to build a temple. Everyone who had money and ability contributed, chose the place where Huineng subdued the demon, and built a temple, named it Lide Temple, hoping that future generations would Learn from Huineng's practice of establishing a virtue that relieves the suffering of the people.
According to Huineng's characteristics, he invited skilled craftsmen to carve a statue of Huineng and set up a shrine for people to worship and commemorate for a long time.
From now on, a grand sacrifice will be held every Dragon Boat Festival. People will kill chickens and geese and burn incense in the temple to commemorate it.
