When the monk spoke to the Taoist priest, he was not as polite as Zhao Rang. He took the cup directly from his hand and said:
"Who made you so impatient? You drank the water used to wash the tea before I made it. You deserve to feel bad!"
Zhao Rang saw the two people bickering like children. If the Taoist priest is Bai Hezi, the headmaster of Baihe Mountain, then the monk can only be——
"Master Shiding, just call me Zhao Rang. I can't bear the word benefactor. To be honest with you, I have never done any charity. During this trip, I also stole the merit box at the feet of the Buddha for emergency reasons. The incense money in it.”
Buddhism and Taoism coexist, and very few monks and Taoists can become friends, with the exception of two people.
One is the headmaster of Baihe Mountain, Bai Hezi, and the other is the former eminent monk of Bawang Temple, Master Shiding.
Although the incense of Hachioji Temple could not be continued due to wars and other incidents, Master Shiding was a true master. He is not like other monks who sit high on the lotus platform, pretending to be an enlightened monk, enjoying the worship of believers, and saying a few obscure words by the way.
Since leaving the ruins of the Eight Kings Temple, Master Shiding has traveled far and wide, helping those in need. I would rather go barefoot than break a biscuit in half and give it to the poor in exchange for broken straw sandals. Therefore, people in the world say that fake Bodhisattvas use the money of believers to build palaces and build golden bodies. A true Bodhisattva eats and sleeps in the open and does his best to help all the vulnerable people.
"I have to apologize to Master Shi Ding here!"
Zhao Rang stood up and bowed his hands, but because his legs were numb from sitting on his knees, he could not get up.
Master Shiding handed a cup of tea with both hands and said:
"To be honest with Donor Zhao, the poor monk occasionally did the same thing for this reason."
Zhao Rang took a sip of tea and felt that it was pure and elegant. Waves of mountain air arose in his mouth, which was refreshing.
"The master's tea-making skills are truly extraordinary!"
Zhao Rang's words did not mean any flattery, but they still aroused dissatisfaction from Bai Hezi beside him:
"That's because you haven't drank my Baihe Mountain wine, Baihe Mountain's Hundred Flowers Drunken Brew, or Qianhua Secret Brew. None of them are much better than the stinky water soaked by this smelly monk's dirty thick fingers!"
The two of them have extremely high status in the world of Buddhism and Taoism as well as in the world of martial arts. Who would have thought that in private, the two of them would quarrel like street gangsters?
Zhao Rang watched while drinking tea. He was so happy that he forgot about the soreness in his legs and feet.
It wasn't until Bai Hezi also drank tea that the two of them calmed down.
Zhao Rang had finished his cup of tea. When Master Shi Ding gave him more tea, he asked:
"Master just said I could ask you?"
Master Shiding immediately put down the teapot, took off the beads from his neck, put them on the table, and said:
"Amitabha, the poor monk swears by this string of beads. Although the poor monk has low understanding and weak mind, what he says is never false."
This string of beads must be quite old.
Bawang Temple is famous for its ascetic cultivation, and all the disciples in the temple are masters of Kung Fu from outside the sect. As for Buddhism, it is even more simple and crude. You only need to twist the beads and recite the six-character mantra at the same time. When this string of prayer beads becomes smaller and smaller after years of twisting, and even becomes empty, that is when the prayer beads in the hand are transferred to the heart and the Arhat state is reached.
When the Buddha beads in your heart disappear without a trace amidst chanting, you have reached the state of Bodhisattva.
As for becoming a Buddha, everyone’s journey is different.
The beads that Master Shiding placed on the table should be one hundred and eight.
Zhao Rang glanced at it and found that almost half of it had been rubbed off by him. It seems that as far as Buddhism is concerned, Master Shiding is already a half-stepped Arhat.
Buddhist martial arts and Buddhist teachings complement each other, and Master Shi Ding must be a peerless master in martial arts who surpasses a third-grade grandmaster.
"I just have a question."
Zhao Rang said.
Master Shiding put his hands together and said:
"The poor monk knows everything he knows and can tell you everything he knows."
Zhao Rang paused and asked:
"I want to know why you two came to the first floor."
Baihe Mountain is more than 600 miles away from Suluo City.
Master Shiding even traveled far and wide, living in no fixed place.
Zhao Rang didn't think it was a coincidence that the two of them appeared in Suluo City at the same time and gathered on the first floor at the same time.
When he heard Zhao Rang's question, Bai Hezi looked aloof. He originally had no intention of answering any questions for Zhao Rang, nor was he prepared to interfere in any of Zhao Rang's affairs. Although he was very familiar with Zhao Rang's father, Zhao Boyi, and Zhao Rang was considered the son of an old friend, he also had his own considerations and did not give up his principles and bottom line because of the relationship between the two parties.
What's more, the job was taken over by the monk, and he was full of words, so he would do the troublesome work, but Bai Hezi did not agree with the monk's behavior.
The two of them quarreled, but they still knew what was going on and respected each other. Therefore, although Bai Hezi disagreed with the monk's approach, he did not mock him, but sat aside and watched quietly. m.
"Donor Zhao, please look at this."
Master Shiding took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his lapel. After opening and laying it flat, place it in the center of the prayer beads.
Zhao Rang took a closer look, and the first thing that caught his eye was a huge portrait on top of the paper, which was none other than Master Shiding himself.
"Hmph, why do you paint your stinky monk so majestic?"
Bai Hezi said unconvinced.
"hiss……"
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Rang took a breath of cold air.
Because he discovered that this piece of paper was not a good thing, but a sea arrest document issued by the Investigation Department!
The document stated that Master Shi Ding was wanted throughout the country for committing a felony theft. And those who can provide relevant information will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver. Anyone who can capture him will be rewarded three thousand taels of silver, life or death.
"Donor Zhao asked me what I was here for, and he told me the truth. The poor monk surrendered himself."
After explaining the important matter, he recited a Buddha's name as usual, as if to atone for his sins.
This sea arrest document already surprised Zhao Rang enough.
Now that he heard Master Shi Ding personally admit that he had surrendered, Zhao Rang laughed.
"Master is really good at joking!"
The doubts Zhao Rang mentioned just now disappeared in an instant.
He simply didn't believe that Master Shi Ding would commit a crime, nor did he believe that he would be wanted by the Investigation Department, nor did he believe that he came to the first floor to surrender.
Seeing that Zhao Rang didn't believe it, Master Shi Ding simply unbuttoned his clothes and exposed his chest.
On the fair skin, there are many fresh scars twisted together, like pink earthworms squirming. The old trees are intertwined together like tangled roots, which makes people’s scalp numb just by looking at them.
Zhao Rang frowned.
These scars are undeniable, and judging from their color, they were all left within the past month or so.
He also saw that the scars came from at least five or six different weapons. There are chain knives, hook swords, and strange weapons such as snake darts, iron fans, and arsenic sand.
With Master Shiding's martial arts cultivation, there are very few people in the world who can hurt him.
Those few people would not gather together to besiege him as if they had made an appointment.
A master who has been famous for a long time values his face and integrity most. Unless there is some deep hatred such as killing his son and seizing his wife, he will not do this at all.
Looking at the "capture reward of three thousand taels, regardless of life or death" written on the sea fishing document, Zhao Rang knew immediately that Master Shi Ding was not joking just now!
It is true that he was issued a sea arrest document by the Investigation Department and was wanted, and it was true that he surrendered himself.
According to Master Shi Ding's Buddhist mind, when faced with those extremely vicious people who came to attack him for the reward of money, he would definitely not kill him, or even fight back at all.
Blindly giving in passively and worrying about whether it will hurt the other party will only make yourself more constrained. In the end, if you are tired of coping, you will be injured accidentally.
Zhao Rang didn't know where Master Shi Ding came from Suluo City, but he knew that this road must be extremely difficult.
Regardless of what this sea arrest document was about, Zhao Rang was in awe of Master Shi Ding.
He is reluctant to hurt even those who want his own life, but instead feeds him with his body. This is the true heart of a Bodhisattva!
"It's a pity that the people who did it didn't cultivate good deeds. If someone really needed the three thousand taels of silver for business, the monk would be willing to stand there and let him pick off his head in exchange for money."
After saying that, Master Shi Ding tied up his clothes again, folded the Haizhu documents on the table along the previous creases, and put them away.
"Well, the smelly monk is indeed admirable, at least I can't do it!"
Bai Hezi said and also took out a piece of paper.
This is of course also a sea fishing document.
Except for the different portraits and charges, Bai Hezi's bounty is exactly the same as Master Shi Ding's.
His crime was colluding with the rebellion in the Western Regions.
This crime is much bigger than theft. If you catch him, he will lose your head!
However, Zhao Rang saw that there was still something vaguely visible on the back of Bai Hezi's sea arrest document, so he turned it over and looked at it, and found that it was full of marks one by one.
"What does Taoist priest mean?"
Zhao Rang asked.
Bai Hezi sneered:
"That's why I said I admired the monk just now."
He held the sword beside him with one hand and continued:
"I am also surrendering myself, and I know that this journey must be uneven, so I made a new sword before going down the mountain. Every symbol on it is a person who is short-sighted and wants to take me. My life is exchanged for money."
"These desperadoes are usually very cunning and hard to find. It's a good thing that they are all gathered together this time because of the bounty for hunting documents."
"During the six hundred miles, I killed one person in almost two or three miles. When I got to the first floor, I realized that I had accumulated so much without even realizing it!"
When Master Shiding saw these marks, he silently began to recite the Ksitigarbha Sutra and the Rebirth Mantra.
Bai Hezi still had a high aura and said:
"If there is any injustice in the world, I will indulge in drinking and swing my sword to behead people! Although my sword, Bai Hezi, cannot kill all the evil villains in the world, I will never let any of them escape under the blade!"
Taoist priests and monks.
The headmaster of Baihe Mountain and the last descendant of Bawang Temple. 1
One person feeds the tiger with his body, while the other stabs the tiger in the throat with his sword.
Although there are differences in clouds and mud, in Zhao Rang's eyes, they are all equally soul-stirring! 1
