Although Tongchen is an eminent monk, his human nature has not been completely eliminated. As long as he has human nature, he will inevitably have seven emotions and six desires. He may not care about his own reputation, but he cannot care about the reputation of the Shaolin Temple. Previously, he led his troops to the east and returned in vain. He has always been grudged against him, but now he finally has a chance to avenge his past humiliation. Tongchen was afraid that he would have no chance of winning here, so he asked, "Excuse me, my lord, how many Japanese pirates are there in total at Gupo Mountain? How are their cultivation levels?"
Changsheng replied, "No less than three thousand, most of whom are red and blue practitioners. The number of purple energy masters is unknown. It is roughly estimated that there are about two hundred."
Hearing Changsheng's words, Tongchen suddenly frowned and asked, "In addition to our temple, what other helpers has the prince invited?"
"No more," Changsheng shook his head and said, "The Japanese pirates are well prepared this time. This battle will be extremely brutal. How could they speak so easily if it wasn't a life-and-death friendship?"
After Changsheng finished speaking, Tongchen did not answer immediately, but thought quickly in his mind. When he led the troops on the Eastern Expedition, he had been plotted by Japanese pirates many times, and he knew the Japanese pirates very well. They were a group of desperadoes who would do anything they could. , did not abide by the rules of the world at all, and had a large number of people. On the other hand, the Shaolin Temple, although the monks were sophisticated and had strong martial arts, the martial arts of the Shaolin Temple were upright, benevolent, and not vicious. They fought against three thousand Japanese pirates and sixty Ziqi who were like mad dogs. The monk has no chance of winning.
After a brief pause, Tongchen spoke up and said, "The monks of the Qing generation in our temple are already old, so this matter will not alarm them. I will personally lead this trip. As the abbot of Shaolin Temple, I should work together with the monks in this temple." advance and retreat."
Seeing Tongchen's resolute attitude, Changsheng did not object, "According to what the master said, although the master and the other eminent monks left the temple to resist the enemy, it was out of their true intentions, starting from loyalty, and not for fame and fortune. But after this battle, I I will definitely report it to the imperial court and ask the emperor to issue an edict to treat monks and nuns in the world kindly."
"Namo Amitabha." Tongchen and the other old monks all clasped their hands and chanted the Buddha's name. They knew that all the Shaolin monks would not be able to return after going to war. If they could exchange their lives for the court to treat the monks and nuns in the world well, then they would have died a worthy death.
Everything was agreed upon, and Tongchen sent someone to send Changsheng and Zhang Mo to the guest room in the temple. Although he knew that the two were husband and wife, Tongchen still arranged two adjacent rooms for them, and did not arrange them together. It is also the rule of the Shaolin Temple. The Shaolin Temple usually does not allow female donors to stay overnight. Even if they stay overnight, couples are not allowed to live together.
As soon as the little novice who led the way left, Changsheng ran to the next room. Zhang Mo also knew that he would come, and the door was only ajar.
"I really didn't expect things to go so smoothly," Zhang Mo loosened his hair from his bun, "When my eldest brother recruited the troops from the east route, Tong Chen's attitude was very cold."
"It's excusable," Changsheng said casually, "In terms of martial arts, there are probably not many people in the world who can match Tongchen, but when leading troops in battle, he is a real layman, using his own shortcomings to attack the enemy. Commander, in the end he lost troops and generals, and was disgraced. You can imagine his mood when the military power was transferred."
Without waiting for Zhang Mo to answer, Changsheng said again, "Moreover, Shaolin monks practice martial arts every day. Except for occasionally going down the mountain to beg for alms, they rarely have contact with the world. They don't know the sinister people's hearts. During this Eastern Expedition, they have thoroughly seen what it means to repay kindness with hatred, and what it means to repay kindness with hatred." It’s called despicable and shameless. It seems that if you see such dark and dirty things too often, your state of mind will be greatly affected.”
"It's not without reason that Tongchen can serve as the abbot of Shaolin Temple," Zhang Mo said. "This person has a clear mind like a mirror, has a level of advance and retreat, and understands the principle of no reward for no merit. He offers to help without waiting for you to ask."
Seeing that Zhang Mo was having trouble combing his own hair, Chang Sheng took the initiative to help. However, he had never combed anyone else's hair before, so he was clumsy and grabbed Zhang Mo's hair after only a few combs. At first, Zhang Mo didn't say anything, and he never thought about Chang Sheng. But he pulled at it again and again. In desperation, Zhang Mo could only take the comb back and do it himself. "Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men. Your fifty thousand taels of silver and fifty thousand dans of rice played a big role. Shaolin Temple There are so many monks and their daily expenses for food, rice, oil and salt are too high, and their lives are not easy."
"Although life in Shaolin Temple is difficult, it is not so difficult that the pot cannot be opened," Changsheng said. "Tongchen agreed to help not because of the 50,000 taels of silver and 50,000 dans of rice, but because of the huge sincerity behind these things. .”
"It makes sense," Zhang Mo nodded and said, "And Tongchen also knows that if he doesn't offer to help, he will be forced to help next."
"Oh?" Changsheng tilted his head and looked at her.
"You are here to deliver an edict," Zhang Mo said with a smile, "What edict? Tongchen is not a fool. If you don't take the initiative to help, you will come up with the edict."
Changsheng shook his head and said, "Monks are monks, and they are not obliged to obey the imperial court's orders. I feel that 50% of the reason Tongchen agreed to help was because of the silver and rice I promised, 30% of the reason was his deep hatred of Japanese pirates, and 20% of the reason why Tongchen agreed to help. The reason for success is knowing that we are bound to win.”
Zhang Mo smiled and nodded, "It's reasonable and well-founded, it's true."
While the two were talking, the crows and toads outside began to cackle again. Although Chang Sheng had driven away the crows before, they would come back. Although some toads were killed, there were still many inside and outside the temple.
Changsheng stood up and wanted to go out. Zhang Mo saw this and hurriedly stopped him, "There is no need to mobilize troops. I will draw a few charms to drive away snakes and insects. You take them out and stick them everywhere, and the snakes and insects will go away."
Changsheng nodded, Zhang Mo put down his comb, took out the talisman and began to draw the talisman, "By the way, how do you know what month crows brood?"
"When I lived in Wangjiakuan, I often climbed trees and dug out bird eggs." Changsheng said with a smile.
"Weren't you lame at that time? How could you still climb trees?" Zhang Mo asked casually.
"Who said lame people can't climb trees? I can climb trees very quickly. I can also fish very well." Chang Sheng said with a smile.
Zhang Mo was extremely skillful in drawing talismans, and he quickly drew several soul-shaking talismans. The soul-shaking talisman and the soul-suppressing talisman are not the same kind of talismans. The former is a talisman to intimidate aliens, and the latter is a talisman to suppress the soul.
While waiting for the spell to dry up, Changsheng suddenly remembered something, "The reason why these snakes, insects, rats and ants have gathered here is because someone is secretly controlling them. If this person can be found, they will be able to drain the fire."
"There are deep mountains and dense forests outside the temple. If this person hides, it will be difficult for us to find him," Zhang Mo said.
"I'm still idle. I'll go out and have a look." Changsheng said.
"I'll go with you." Zhang Mo said.
Changsheng shook his head and said, "Don't go. Your hair is all untied and needs to be re-tied. I can just go by myself."
Zhang Mo originally wanted to go with Changsheng, but since Changsheng didn't allow it, she didn't insist. If she continued to insist, it would be like not believing in immortality.
"Okay, go on your own, pay attention to safety, and come back early." Zhang Mo said.
Changsheng nodded in agreement, then pushed out the door with a talisman. The soul-shaking talisman imitated the aura of powerful aliens, making the surrounding aliens mistakenly think that there were powerful aliens here. Aliens have the instinct to seek good luck and avoid evil, and have powerful Wherever there are aliens, weak aliens will instinctively avoid them.
Posting Taoist charms in a monk's temple is a taboo, but Changsheng would not be stupid enough to stick the charms on other people's eaves and courtyard walls. Instead, he found a few hidden places and carefully posted them. Then he jumped over the wall and used the Wind Chasing Ghost Step to quickly search through the forest.
Changsheng just wanted to try his luck at first, but he didn't expect to find suspicious clues after searching. There were almost no crows and toads in the northwest of the temple. They were found elsewhere, but not in this area. It was obvious that they were fake.
After searching carefully, I found a cave hidden on the mountainside. The entrance of the cave was not big, and it was surrounded by vegetation. It was extremely difficult to find it without careful observation.
Changsheng approached carefully, and listened carefully when he got close. Sure enough, there was the sound of breathing in the cave. There was only one sound of breathing, and there was only one person inside.
The breathing sound of a Qi practitioner is different from that of ordinary people. The deeper the cultivation level, the slower the breathing. However, the breathing sound in the cave is not slow, indicating that the person's cultivation level is mediocre and has not been promoted to Purple Qi. .
Confirming that the person hiding in the cave was not an expert, Changsheng went straight into the cave.
There was a middle-aged man covered in dirt sitting in the cave, leaning against the stone wall and drinking alone. When he saw someone suddenly intruding, he immediately stood up in panic and reached out to grab the wooden stick on the side.
Before the people in the cave could react, Changsheng grabbed the other person's inches, sealed the meridians, and pushed the other person to the ground...
