Taoist Qinglian stared at the great monk blankly, unable to believe his ears.
"I am no longer the abbot." The great monk looked into Taoist Qinglian's eyes and repeated it with certainty, telling her that she heard correctly.
"Why...why?" Taoist Qinglian's emotions were complicated and difficult to understand.
During the month when the great monk rang the bell and preached his sermon on the mountain, she imagined that the great monk could say this to her every day. But when these words actually came out of the great monk's mouth, she realized that she was not what she had imagined. So happy and happy, but instead I felt guilty and guilty, thinking that I had ruined the great monk's Dharma.
"Because of you, I miss you in my heart. I can't let you go, and I can't break away from the world of mortals." The great monk said.
He was not blaming Taoist Qinglian, but telling Taoist Qinglian his truest feelings.
This month he has been unable to find Taoist Qinglian, and he worries and misses her all the time. On the way to Duanqing Cliff, he was so panicked that he was afraid that Taoist Qinglian would do something stupid.
Fortunately, the Buddha protected us and Taoist Qinglian was safe and sound.
But just now Taoist Qinglian was standing on the edge of the cliff, and his lonely and cold figure clearly told him that Taoist Qinglian did have the idea of committing suicide, so he did not dare to hide his true feelings.
He wanted her to know that he could not live without her in this life.
Two shy blushes appeared on Taoist Qinglian's cheeks. This was the first time she heard such bold and passionate words from the great monk. Her heart felt as sweet as honey, but at the same time she couldn't help but blame herself and feel guilty. She apologized: " It’s all my fault, I ruined your Dharma.”
The great monk shook his head and said: "That day when I was presiding over the abbot's appointment ceremony, I heard that your thatched cottage caught fire, and when no one came out of the thatched cottage, my heart immediately became confused.
Master said to me, "You can't ask for a Buddha, you can't ask for a Buddha." He asked me where the Buddha is?
I knew that my relationship with Buddha was broken and I had no chance to see Buddha in this life. I could not give him the answer, so I had no shame in going back to the mountain.
But just now I was standing there—"
The great monk turned around and pointed to the place where he had just stopped, and then continued: "Looking at your back, I suddenly saw the light and found the answer.
If you cannot seek the Buddha, if you cannot seek the Buddha, where is the Buddha?
The Buddha is before your eyes.
You are my Buddha in this life! "
"You..." Taoist Qinglian pursed his lips, tears welling up in his eyes.
She looked at the great monk with a sincere face, crying and laughing, and couldn't stop her tears.
After crying for a long time, she stopped, glared at the monk with red eyes, and said angrily: "Monk, when did you learn to talk sweet words?"
"Amitabha!"
"Monks don't lie!" the great monk said, proclaiming the Buddha's name.
Taoist Qinglian couldn't help but burst into laughter. He stared into the monk's eyes and asked, "You said you don't lie. Then let me ask you, do you... do you like me?"
"Of course... I like it." The great monk's cheeks were slightly hot.
Taoist Qinglian was extremely happy when he heard this, and his eyes bloomed with happiness that he had never seen before.
She took a step forward, then stood on her tiptoes, and lightly tapped her red lips on the great monk's mouth.
"……Amitabha!"
The great monk's body trembled as if he was electrocuted, and he said the Buddha's name in a panic, and his face turned into a big red cloth in an instant.
"Giggle--" Taoist Qinglian laughed happily at the great monk's embarrassed and panicked look.
The great monk was so embarrassed that he couldn't place his gaze. He avoided looking at Taoist Qinglian. Suddenly he saw Zhang Xiaopeng who was meditating and adjusting his breath not far away. He was suddenly startled.
Thinking that his intimate conversation and behavior with Taoist Qinglian had been seen by others, he was so embarrassed that he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in.
But he soon discovered that Zhang Xiaozu had his eyes closed, as if he was meditating and adjusting his breath, and he immediately let out a long sigh of relief.
"Is that donor Zhang over there?" The great monk looked at Zhang Xiaopeng and asked uncertainly.
He and Zhang Xiaozu had not seen each other for more than a year, and Zhang Xiaozu's appearance had changed too much in the past year, so he only felt that he looked familiar, but he was not sure.
"Well, it's my junior brother." Taoist Qinglian nodded, and couldn't help sighing: "If my junior brother hadn't arrived in time to stop me, I would have turned into a wisp of dead souls under the Duanqing Cliff."
Thinking that she would jump to her death and never hear the great monk's true confession, let alone stay together with the great monk in the following days, she felt even more grateful to Zhang Xiaozu.
The great monk couldn't help being frightened when he heard this, and said gratefully to Zhang Xiaopou: "Donor Zhang has a kind heart, and there will be blessings."
"I hope so!" Taoist Qinglian looked at Zhang Xiaopou and couldn't help but feel sad and worried about his rough and difficult fate.
At dusk three days later, Zhang Xiaozu woke up from his trance.
The ninety-five bones in his hands, arms, chest, and ribs were all dyed with a faint golden luster.
This was after he extracted the ancient immortal power of Shen Wenyu and Shen Wanhua, and awakened the ancient immortal power in his corresponding bones.
When the power of the Ancient Immortal was first awakened, it was still weak, so his bones were not as golden as Shen Wenyu's.
"Senior sister——"
As soon as Zhang Xiaozu woke up from trance, he immediately stood up and looked around for Taoist Qinglian.
Although he knew that since Taoist Qinglian had promised to help him deal with the Shen family, he would not jump off a cliff to seek death again, but when he woke up and didn't see Taoist Qinglian, he still couldn't help but feel a little panicked.
He looked around, then stood there stunned.
He saw Taoist Qinglian sitting on the edge of the cliff with a bald monk, admiring the beautiful scenery under the cliff at dusk.
"Junior brother, you're awake."
Taoist Qinglian heard Zhang Xiaozu's voice and turned to say hello to Zhang Xiaozu.
The great monk was as if he had been caught as a thief. He was so frightened that he hurriedly moved his buttocks and put a little distance between himself and Taoist Qinglian.
"Um...did I wake up at the wrong time?" Zhang Xiaozu smiled awkwardly at Taoist Qinglian, feeling that he woke up at an inappropriate time and ruined his good deeds.
Then he couldn't help but cast an inquiring look at Taoist Qinglian, eager to know what happened and what the current situation was.
Why is the great monk who has attained enlightenment and become a Buddha here?
And the atmosphere seems a bit ambiguous. Could it be that the great monk abandoned his virtue and became a prostitute?
Pooh!
It must be that he turned from darkness to light, fell in love for the first time, and finally fell under the pomegranate skirt of his senior sister?
Zhang Xiaozhu's heart was scratching his head, full of curiosity.
Taoist Qinglian blinked at him.
Zhang Xiaozu understood this and couldn't help being shocked. Then he grinned and gave Taoist Qinglian a thumbs up.
Taoist Qinglian got his wish and the lovers finally got married. Zhang Xiaopou was really happy for him.
"Amitabha!"
The great monk stood up, bowed to Xiaopeng Zhang, and said, "The poor monk received the holy blood and jade beads from Junior Brother Zhang. He has never been able to express his gratitude in person. I am really ashamed."
"Master's words are serious." Zhang Xiaozu returned the greeting.
He remembered that when Qinglian Taoist left the small world, he left him the holy blood, jade beads and many cultivation resources, so he walked forward and said: "Sister, you left your things in the small world and forgot to take them, I brought them to you ”
"Just give me the holy blood and jade beads, and then give me some Yuanshi Jindan. You can keep the rest for use. I won't need it anymore." Taoist Qinglian said.
Zhang Xiaozu first handed the holy blood to Taoist Qinglian, then looked at the great monk and said: "Master, do you have that jade bead with you? If so, please take it out and I will bless you all again."
"Then I'll trouble Junior Brother Zhang." The great monk took out the jade beads from his arms and handed them to Zhang Xiaopou.
There was a red rope strung on his jade beads, which Taoist Qinglian tied up for him. Taoist Qinglian asked him to hang it around his neck, but he felt embarrassed, so he kept it in his arms.
Zhang Xiaozu took the jade beads, sat down cross-legged on the bluestone at his feet, placed the two jade beads in front of him, and then moved his hands together to apply the power of the talisman to the two jade beads at the same time.
Taoist Qinglian waved his hand and set up a confinement, fearing that someone would peek into Zhang Xiaopou's heaven-defying ability.
After a cup of tea, Zhang Xiaozhu made a seal with each hand. The light of the spell disappeared into the jade beads, and the blessing was completed.
"Try it." Zhang Xiaozu picked up the jade beads and handed them to the two of them.
As soon as Taoist Qinglian and the great monk Fu took over the jade beads, their faces showed expressions of incredible shock. The power of the nine-level soul blessing almost made them feel that their souls were getting stronger all the time.
"This thing is too valuable. The poor monk is afraid and can't take it." After the shock, the great monk hurriedly handed the jade bead back to Zhang Xiaopou.
Zhang Xiaozu waved his hand and said with a smile: "Master, I can bless two such jade beads in one cup of tea, and I can bless hundreds of them in one day. In my eyes, it is not as valuable as a star elixir."
"You can just take it as a gift from my junior brother," Taoist Qinglian said.
As she spoke, she took out a red rope from the void space.
This red rope was originally used to tie her jade beads, but she untied it when she left it with Zhang Xiaopou. At this time, she tied it with jade beads again and wore it around her neck.
When the great monk heard this, he no longer shied away and said, "In that case, the poor monk accepted it shamelessly."
He wanted to put the jade beads in his arms conditionally, but he saw Taoist Qinglian put the jade beads around his neck, and also opened the red rope and put it around his neck.
Zhang Xiaozhu saw the silent and sweet behavior of the two people, and suddenly felt that he was superfluous here.
He rubbed the goosebumps on the back of his hands, then took out a hundred Star Pills from Sumeru Mustard Seeds, and said, "Senior Sister, you and Master are already in the Star Realm, why not use Star Pills."
Taoist Qinglian couldn't help being shocked when he saw so many star pills, and asked: "Junior brother, where did you get so many star pills?"
"I cooperated with people from the Six Sects and got them from the auction of the sect. I still have a lot here, so you can use these." Zhang Xiaozu forced the Star Pill into Qinglian In the hands of a Taoist.
Taoist Qinglian couldn't help but shook his head and said with a smile: "I take good things from you every day, and I almost don't know whether I am your senior sister or junior sister."
"Then I'll ask Master later to see if I can be promoted to senior brother." Zhang Xiaozu joked.
"I want to beautify you!" Taoist Qinglian glared.
"Um..." Zhang Xiaozu suddenly raised his hand and scratched his head, and said apologetically: "Sister, I lied to you."
"What did you lie to me?" Taoist Qinglian asked in surprise.
"Actually, not everyone in the Shen family knows where I am. Only the two people who ambushed me know. I have killed both of them, so I am safe for the time being." Zhang Xiaozu explained.
"real?"
"real."
"Then you have to be careful."
"Will do."
Taoist Qinglian did not ask Zhang Xiaozhu why he lied to her, because she knew the answer in her heart.
…
The Green Dragon and White Tiger Legions have marched towards the East China Sea and the Western Regions respectively, and the war between Su Hanlin and the Sword Saints has really begun.
However, the advance of the army was very slow, because a series of policies implemented by Su Hanlin were only implemented in the 72 central cities and the southern and northern borders, and were not implemented in the cities in the East China Sea and the Western Regions.
Therefore, in this expedition to the east and west, Su Hanlin demanded that the city must be pushed through one city at a time.
After the city is captured, the policy is implemented, and there are no obstacles, only then can we move on to the next city.
The bureaucrats, gentry, merchants, and sects of the East China Sea and the Western Regions, as well as large and small sects, all tried their best to resist the arrival of the army, because the new policy promoted by Su Hanlin was basically to cut their flesh from their bodies.
But the common people all cheered and cheered, and wherever the army went, the people lined the streets to welcome them.
The city lords of some Zhou cities swore allegiance to the saints and refused to recognize themselves as subjects of the Su Empire. They closed the city gates to fight against the conquering army, but the people resisted and the soldiers refused to fight. As a result, the conquering army easily entered the city and wiped out the chaos. party.
Bureaucrats, gentry, businessmen, and sects of all sizes had to succumb to the power of the army and submit to Su Hanlin's new policy. However, most of them surrendered on the surface, but in fact they were secretly hiding in Chen Cang, waiting for Su Hanlin to be killed by the Two Sword Saints. Then they rebelled violently.
The smoothest implementation of the New Deal was in the Southern Territory, because the Southern Territory was a place of destruction and then establishment, and all the major sects were very cooperative.
Large sects such as Tianbaoshan, Yaowang Valley, and Sanqing Temple took the lead in paying taxes, and the remaining small and medium-sized sects did not dare to disobey.
In summary, Su Hanlin's new policy is actually very simple. It is to increase commercial taxes, customs duties and other taxes, increase sect taxes, allocate land to the common people, and exempt them from land rent taxes.
In short, after the implementation of a series of policies, the bureaucrats, gentry and businessmen will lose a big piece of flesh, and the sect feels like it has been severely chopped by Su Hanlin, because there has never been a sect tax since ancient times.
Su Hanlin not only proposed the sect tax, but also collected a lot of it. Therefore, all the sects, large and small, were very resistant to rejection. The implementation in the southern region was relatively smooth. The sects in the East China Sea and the Western Region were the most disobedient to discipline because they used swords and swords. In Northern Xinjiang, where Shuangsheng is the leader and Butcher Zhang is in charge, the implementation of the sect tax is not very smooth.
On this day, Butcher Zhang left the Eternal City in an eight-carriage sedan chair with two apprentices and 50,000 Zhang family troops, saying that he wanted to visit the various sects in Northern Xinjiang door to door.
It looks like a tiger patrolling the mountain.
It was already September 26th when Zhang Xiaozu returned to the Imperial Capital from Duanqing Cliff. The Green Dragon and White Tiger Legions had already been out for eleven days.
Eighteen people from Su Zheng went out with the White Tiger Army.
The Imperial City is still bustling and lively, but there are more guards at the city gates, the inspections in and out of the city gates have become stricter, and there are more patrols on the streets of the city.
Under the bustling appearance, an aura of urgency and murder has quietly enveloped the entire city.
Su Hanlin was waiting in the palace for the Two Sword Saints to attack.
Zhang Xiaozu returned to Guowei Mansion, and everyone who had been worried about him finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"My dear grandson, the Shen family and his son haven't given you any trouble these days, have they?"
As soon as Zhang Xiaozu sat down in the living room, Huang Daonv asked with concern. This was also a question that worried others.
"I asked Lord Killer, the leader of the Killing Sect, to come back with a message. Didn't he tell you?" Zhang Xiaozu couldn't help but asked doubtfully when he saw the concerned expressions on everyone's faces.
"The adult only said that you were safe and asked us not to worry. He didn't say anything else." Wan Qingqiu said.
"Uh..." Zhang Xiaozu was speechless.
He did say that to God Killer, but he never thought that the guy would say such a simple sentence.
It was so simple that it annoyed him, but he couldn't fault it at all.
"Shen Wenyu and Shen Wanhua, well, they should be no longer alive at this moment. The two of them ambushed me, but I killed them." Zhang Xiaozu said.
