Judge Cui explained to Emperor Taizong all the way about the land and water ceremony.
First, Taizong had done too many evil things for his own sake. He forced his father to abdicate and shot his brother with his own hands, killing countless brothers and clan members.
Not to mention the sixty-four places of smoke and dust, the extermination of seventy-two places of grass bandits, the wars in the south and the north, killing people like hemp, and even the countless souls who died in vain complained about their injustice.
Hurry back to the underworld and hold a large-scale water and land Dharma ceremony, so that these countless lonely souls and wild ghosts who have died in vain can be saved. After you have saved countless resentful souls, naturally no one will come to entangle you.
Secondly, by holding the Water and Land Dharma Ceremony well, you can also take the lead in doing good deeds as an emperor and educate the people in the world to do good deeds together and not to do evil. Only in this way can we accumulate blessings for future generations.
Emperor Taizong thanked him again and replied: "Don't worry, Judge Cui, I will take care of this matter when I get back..."
"If that's the case, I won't return it..."
Judge Cui waved his hand, which was like a breeze, sending Taizong away from the underworld...
In his sleep, Taizong felt that the tightness in his chest gradually dissipated.
Youyouzhong opened his eyes, and when he touched it with his hand, his whole body felt as if he had been fished out of the water.
So, he quickly summoned Changsun Wuji to the palace.
By the time Changsun Wuji entered the palace, Taizong had already washed himself and changed into a set of clean clothes.
Changsun Wuji saw Taizong's expression was different and asked quickly: "What does your Majesty want from me?"
Taizong thought for a while and sighed deeply.
He told Changsun Wuji what happened at night, with a solemn look in his eyes.
He said quietly: "Originally, I only had less than thirteen years left to live, but the King of Hell and the judge asked me to perform a water and land ceremony, and gave me ten more years..."
Changsun Wuji was also frightened and quickly replied: "I will obey your Majesty's arrangements in everything."
Taizong nodded and said leisurely: "In order for the Tang Dynasty to have a prosperous age, we have indeed committed too many crimes, so we will gather the eminent monks and hold a grand water and land ceremony."
So the monarch and his ministers discussed it in detail, and finally handed it over to Changsun Wuji to handle the matter.
…
The mountain wind in early summer blew from the snow-capped mountains all the way to the temple at the foot of the mountain. Even Sanzang, who was sitting quietly in the Buddhist hall, felt the slightest coolness in the wind.
After reciting scriptures for a while, I took a rest and planned to visit the Buddhist temple built in Dahu.
At this moment, the old monk, the abbot, walked in. Looking at him, he couldn't help but recite: "Amitabha, Sanzang has good news."
Sanzang smiled slightly, thinking that since the young monk left with Li Xiuyuan, he hadn't heard anything that made him happy.
First, he invited the old monk to sit down, and then he asked, "Why do you want Master to come in person? Just call me over."
The old monk looked at him and shook his head: "It is indeed a big event. Emperor Taizong summoned various monasteries to send eminent monks to hold a grand water and land ceremony in the imperial city..."
Just like that day when he first met Li Xiuyuan on the mountain, Sanzang sighed silently in his heart.
It turns out that you already know all of this. If so, why can't you explain it clearly?
Sanzang looked at the old monk and smiled bitterly: "Master, you may not believe it, but my little brothers on the mountain seem to have known that this day was coming."
The old monk thought carefully and sighed.
He smiled bitterly and said: "No wonder, he took my disciple to the desert early. It turns out that he has already understood the many major events that are about to happen?"
"He just told me not to leave the imperial city before the Mid-Autumn Festival and let me wait with peace of mind..."
Sanzang smiled slightly and continued: "It seems that we can get together in the desert in late autumn."
The old monk said with emotion: "It seems that my disciple is going to accompany you to the West. That's fine. I can rest assured that you will take care of me."
Sanzang sighed and said: "The journey to learn the scriptures is long, and Donor Li will accompany us for a while. Master, please don't worry about our little junior brother."
The old monk nodded and said with a smile: "It's up to you, Tripitaka, to take the monks in the temple to the imperial city for the Water and Land Dharma Assembly."
…
Heavenly beings fly in the sky.
At this time, Li Xiuyuan had been walking on the road with the young monk for more than ten days. The two stopped for a while and were resting for two days in an inn in a small town.
The coachman took the young monk to go shopping to buy dry food and food for the road. Li Xiuyuan was leaning on the bed, half asleep.
His eyes were closed, but his mouth seemed to be murmuring.
"A stone bridge, two lonely souls, in the middle of the night, no one is around, the fifth watch is approaching, six gods and no one, seven up and down, nine deaths, very reluctant to give up..."
With a sound of "Buzz!", the spirit flew to nowhere.
But a familiar voice came from my ears: "I said, can't you sleep well? Why are you talking about me all the time? You also know that I am a poor man."
When he opened his eyes, he saw King Qin Guang, whom he had not seen for a long time, looking at him angrily.
Li Xiuyuan smiled lightly: "I brewed wine in Wangchuan. You can go to my eldest sister to get it. Now you should be happy, right?"
The expression on King Qin Guang's face changed instantly, and then he regained his composure.
He said with a smile: "There is a gossip story, do you want to hear it?"
Li Xiuyuan was stunned and said with a smile: "You are the King of Hell of the Tenth Palace, why do you like to listen to these gossips like a woman?"
King Qin Guang shook his head: "This matter has nothing to do with you and me. I just thought that you happened to be in the Tang Dynasty and wanted to laugh at the situation in this world..."
"tell me the story."
When Li Xiuyuan heard King Qin Guang talk about the Tang Dynasty, he immediately became interested.
No matter what, he still wanted to wait here to witness the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, Jue'er becoming the emperor, and the arrival of the things and people he was looking forward to.
King Qin Guang smiled faintly and told the story of the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty entering Jiuyou.
When Li Xiuyuan heard this, he couldn't help complaining: "He forced his father to give up his throne, shot his brother to death, and his men killed his own brother... all of this happened under my nose..."
"Not to mention other things, just holding a water and land ceremony for these things can eliminate all sins?"
Li Xiuyuan sighed and said with a wry smile: "No wonder, he wants to be the emperor even if he kills the prince."
"Otherwise? Why don't you try it?"
King Qin Guang chuckled and replied: "There is no perfect law in the world. There must be an emperor in the world. The people don't care who becomes the emperor. They just want a prosperous age."
"If you become a Buddha in the future, is it possible? Your Buddhist kingdom cannot tolerate people who have committed sins. The Buddha said that you can become a Buddha by putting down the butcher's knife; Ksitigarbha said that hell is not empty and vowed not to become a Buddha. What about you?"
King Qin Guang shook his head and said with a smile: "I think you have to follow that monk and go to the Western World to get Buddhist scriptures."
Li Xiuyuan sighed: "I'm not a Buddha yet, why are you telling me these principles? Is it okay if I want to be happy with my grudges now?"
"No, the world you are in is not your world."
King Qin Guang said seriously: "It is so difficult to be a mortal, let alone an emperor."
"Do you understand that when an emperor wakes up and leads all people to do good by example, his power is more powerful than the Buddhas in the temple?"
After clapping his hands, King Qin Guang said with a smile: "Is this news useful to you?"
Li Xiuyuan nodded and replied: "It's useful to Monk Tripitaka. He only wants to go to the West to learn scriptures. Otherwise, why should I take the young monk to the desert?"
After thinking for a while, he said: "The wine doesn't have much flavor when it's just brewed. You can wait until autumn or winter to go there. You will be indispensable."
King Qin Guang asked: "Do you want to accompany that monk?"
Shaking his head, Li Xiuyuan said seriously: "Walking for a short distance at most, because I want to see the scenery on the road, but this is Sanzang's own road, not mine."
He sighed quietly and asked: "How are my two old friends with you?"
After talking for a long time, he didn't wait for a reply from King Qin Guang.
When I looked up, I saw that the sun was setting in the west. A ray of sunset shone on the window sill of the inn, and the young monk's voice came from outside the door.
Shaking his head, he thought that these guys are just like the old Taoist master, they come and go without a trace one by one.
He walked away without saying a word.
The only thing that made him happy was that he finally didn't have any major issues that affected Sanzang's pursuit of scriptures.
And the legendary story of Taizong entering the underworld seems to be true.
However, he did not tell the young monk about this. In his opinion, everything would have to wait until Sanzang came to the desert to meet the two of them.
This time the carriage did not stop at Prince Village, but went directly through the village to the outside of the Great Wall.
His old friend had left long ago, and he didn't want to visit the yard back then.
The young monk didn't care, and the coachman saw that it was still early and wanted to travel a little longer to get to Dunhuang City as soon as possible.
…
After leaving the pass of the Great Wall, the young monk turned his head and looked back, then raised his head and looked forward.
Then he touched his little head and asked: "Brother, it's just a mountain away, but the scenery is completely different?"
Li Xiuyuan sighed and murmured to himself: "I advise you to drink another glass of wine. There are no old friends when you leave Yangguan in the west... People in the Central Plains have always been reluctant to live in the desert."
"Why?" the little monk asked while eating melon seeds.
"Because the desert is windy and sandy, life is difficult and difficult. People in the Central Plains are used to enjoying themselves. How can they endure these hardships?"
Li Xiuyuan shook his head, thinking about Xiaohu back then, and looked at the little monk in front of him.
I wonder if the little monk can endure these hardships?
Fortunately, let him try it with himself first. If it doesn't work, let him stay in Dunhuang for a few years, or follow the old monk back to the imperial city.
The young monk nodded and asked: "The desert is so bitter, does Senior Brother Sanzang still want to come here?"
Li Xiuyuan sighed, looked at him and said seriously: "The place he is going to is very far away. It is estimated that when you return to the Tang Dynasty with him, you will be almost as good as Sanzang now."
Thinking of the long road ahead, Li Xiuyuan didn't know whether to stick to his previous idea.
Let the young monk go with Sanzang to obtain Buddhist scriptures.
However, even so, he decided to wait for another two years before talking to him about this matter. It was too early to say anything now.
The driver driving the carriage in front laughed and said: "Sir, do you want to live in Dunhuang City for some time? If so, I will go back to Datang when I get to the end of the land."
It’s just that the coachman loves his family. This trip is the farthest he has ever gone out.
Fortunately, Li Xiuyuan gave him enough travel expenses, otherwise no one in the imperial city would be willing to come all the way to the desert.
Li Xiuyuan nodded and replied: "When you arrive in Dunhuang, you can go home."
It would be inappropriate to take a carriage all the way forward, so Li Xiuyuan planned to buy some horses to accompany Sanzang on the thousand-mile journey.
Take a look at the scenery of the Western Regions and try to meet someone in the future.
The young monk was thinking about his own thoughts, looked at Li Xiuyuan and asked: "Brother, will I meet my uncle? Didn't you say there are grottoes in the desert?"
"I don't know either."
Li Xiuyuan thought about the monk Huiming in the grotto, and replied calmly: "Even if I don't meet him, I can still find you a great monk to teach you how to write and read."
In his opinion, it is not enough for young monks to just read Buddhist scriptures.
He wanted Huimingjiao to teach the young monk some worldly principles and poems from the previous dynasty.
The carriage was running happily, rolling up yellow sand along the way. Looking at the appearance of the little monk, Li Xiuyuan sighed.
Take out two black gauze scarves, one for the coachman and one for the little monk.
He said quietly: "The desert is windy and sandy, so wrap this around your face."
The little monk took it, chuckled on his face, and replied: "My brother is still careful and has already prepared it."
The moment the coachman took the gauze scarf, he pointed ahead and frowned and said, "Sir, there seems to be wind and sand ahead."
