One of the bustling and iconic landmarks of Tokyo City is Sokoku-ji Temple.

Xiangguo Temple has a long history, it was originally one of the four sons of the Warring States period who stole the talisman to save Zhao's Wei Gongzi Wuji, that is, the former residence of Xinling Jun, the Northern Qi Wenxuan Emperor Tianbao began to create a temple in the sixth year, called Jianguo Temple, and was destroyed in the war. In the first year of Tang Chang'an, the monk Huiyun purchased land to rebuild, so it is still called Jianguo Temple, Tang Yanhe first year, Tang Ruizong Li Dan in order to commemorate him by the Xiangwang enthronement as the emperor, then Qinxi Jianguo Temple was renamed "Xiangguo Temple", and personally wrote the "Great Xiangguo Temple" plaque, the prosperity of Xiangguo Temple reached the peak after the Zhou Dynasty built the capital Kaifeng.

As a royal temple, Xiangguo Temple is not only prosperous with incense, but also very developed in commerce, only the temple fair is open five times a month, and people call it the surname trade at the time. Among them, rare birds and beasts, household department stores, fruit and vegetable pastries, civil and military utensils, clothing and decorations, Buddhist supplies, and so on, are all complete.

Let's say that after Gu Haotian reported in the Ministry of Rites yesterday, there was nothing important, and several people came to Xiangguo Temple on the morning of this day.

Outside the gate of Xiangguo Temple is a large courtyard, which is full of dense shops at this time, all selling all kinds of rare birds and beasts, Gu Haotian seems to have entered a huge pet market. And the passage from the mountain gate to the Buddha hall is lined with shops, all kinds of commodities are dazzling, and the tourists and buyers are endless. Gu Haotian was in the middle of it, as if he had returned to the township bazaar in his previous life.

A few people walked around in Xiangguo Temple, and they didn't realize that they had a quiet place in the backyard, but they saw that there was a long wall in front of them, and they could vaguely hear a burst of shouting and cheering from the other side of the wall.

Shi Qian suddenly pointed to a place and said, "There is a gate in the place of the little official. ”

Everyone looked, sure enough, there was a small round arch in the corner of the wall, so a few people walked over, only in front of them was a wide vegetable garden, and in a clearing on the side, a fat monk was making an iron Zen staff, and a few idlers on the side were shouting loudly.

In front of him, Gu Haotian suddenly remembered a famous person, but according to the record of "Water Margin", he should not have arrived in Tokyo at this time. However, in recent times, he has seen too many things that are inconsistent with the original record, such as Xu Guanzhong, etc., so it is not surprising that some characters have time deviations.

"Master, good stakes."

Looking at the monk holding a sixty or seventy pound iron Zen staff and a flying wooden stick, Gu Haotian couldn't help but cheer.

"Who are you waiting for? How did you get here? ”

When the monk saw that there were many people coming, he also stopped, turned around and asked.

"We are a foreign businessman, I heard the name of Xiangguo Temple, I came to play today, I don't want to enter here by mistake, I am fortunate to see the master's demeanor." Gu Haotian saluted back.

"You also know martial arts, why don't you try it with the Sprinkle family."

When the monk saw Gu Haotian and his party, he was polite and upright, not like a villain. Besides, since coming to Xiangguo Temple, a person is uncomfortable, and now he sees these heroic figures, and he immediately sees the joy of hunting.

"I'll accompany the master through two tricks in the next step."

Seeing that the monk was extraordinary, Bian Xiang was already itchy and uncomfortable, so he picked up a wooden stick from the sidelines and walked off.

"The end is cool, but it is in line with the character of the Sprinkle family."

The monk was overjoyed, picked up the Zen stick and went down to the field to fight with Bian Xiang.

Let's say that these two people are strong martial arts, it is the chess opponent, will meet the talent, the fight is inextricable in a moment, and when it is intense, I only see two groups of figures flying in the field, it is Gu Haotian and Xu Guanzhong who are extraordinary, and they can only see the clear moves.

About a pillar of incense for a little more time, the two quickly fought for more than 100 rounds, but they didn't know the winner. Later, Bian Xiang was a little struggling because the weapon was not suitable, and he was still young and his stamina was not long.

"Stop for now."

Gu Haotian shouted at the right time, Bian Xiang jumped out of the battle circle with a false move, and said:

"The master is at stake, and he is not an opponent."

"Happy, happy, the kid's skills are extraordinary, if the Sprinkle family doesn't take advantage of the weapon, I'm afraid I can't help you, but in this broken garden, these few months are about to be idle, it's rare to find a good hand, how can you not be happy, come again, come again."

The monk was still unsatisfied, and stood in the field and continued to invite the battle.

"The master is not happy, so he will accompany you to take a few more moves."

Gu Haotian saw that the monk was invited again and again, and he couldn't help but itch, and at the same time, he also had the intention of leaving a good impression on the monk, picked up the wooden stick, and walked away. Gu Haotian learned marksmanship, and he was also handy at replacing guns with sticks, and the monk had just fought more than 100 times, and it was inevitable that he would lose his strength, so the two of them fought for 70 or 80 times and did not know the winner.

Seeing that the timing was about the same, Gu Haotian jumped out of the battle circle and saluted: "The master is strong in martial arts, and he is not an opponent in the next place." ”

Let's say that the monk has been fighting for more than 200 times in a row, and he is out of breath at this time, but he is also secretly shocked in his heart, he is already difficult to find an opponent for his skills, and he didn't expect to meet two tough opponents in a row today. The seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy who fought with him with a wooden stick was acceptable, but later this boy who was only twelve or thirteen actually fought with him with a wooden stick for seventy or eighty times, and he couldn't help him, which really shocked him.

"Two good men, with a high surname, the Sprinkle family has been in this Xiangguo Temple for a few months, why have I never heard of it."

"I'm waiting for Jingdong who just arrived in the capital, and the master has naturally never heard of it, it's called Gu Haotian, and this is my brother Bian Xiang."

"Jingdong-Gu Haotian-"

When the monk heard this, there were words in his mouth, as if he remembered something, and he stood there and forgot to reply for a while.

You said that he was standing there in a daze, it turned out that he remembered what Elder Zhizhen said when he left the Wenshu Monastery on Wutai Mountain.

"The stars descend on Jingdong, revitalize the Han family, you help him, you can change your life against the sky, and achieve merit."

"Zhizhen's old monk is talking about this person, I was deceived by him into this vegetable garden where birds don't, and I was aggrieved for a few months, I didn't expect that there was really a Jingdong character."

The monk muttered to himself, and unconsciously glanced at Gu Haotian again, but saw that he had sword eyebrows and starry eyes, dragon and phoenix talents, and he was a talent, and he thought that he was a good martial artist just now, and the more he felt that it was the person the old monk said.

"Lu Zhishen of the Sprinkle family, a monk from Wutai Mountain, has the fate to meet a few donors today, and his heart is happy, a few people don't think this place is simple, and they get drunk together."

As he spoke, this Lu Zhishen took out a few silver horns from his arms, threw them to the two idlers on the side, and instructed:

"Zhang San, Li Si, you two go buy some wine and food."

Let's say that Gu Haosan finally heard the name he wanted to hear from the mouth of this monk, and he was very excited, and he couldn't imagine that he would meet such a great god by mistake in Xiangguo Temple. I have been in the Water Margin world for several years, although there are many masters, but there is no one strong man on the original Liang Mountain, and the flower monk in front of him is the first.

Water Margin has one hundred singles and eight generals, but Lu Zhishen's evaluation is in the top few in the eyes of future generations.

Jin Sheng sighed and commented on Lu Zhishen as a middle-class and upper-class character of one hundred and eight generals, and said: "Writing about Luda as a person, a piece of blood spurts out, which makes people feel ashamed to be born in the world and never contribute to others." ”

Li Zhuowu, a thinker in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, is a representative of cultural celebrities who read the spirit of mad Zen from Lu Zhishen's stories. In Rong Hetang's criticism of "Water Margin", his praise for the flower monk can be said to be incomprehensible, calling Lu Zhishen "a benevolent, a wise man, a brave man, a saint, a god, a bodhisattva, an arhat, and a Buddha." ”

Another example is that Mr. Le Hengjun, a Taiwanese scholar, talked about Lu Zhishen in the article "The Creation and Disillusionment of Liang Shanbo", and there is a passage full of emotion, saying: "Lu Zhishen turned out to be the only person among the one hundred and eight people who really brought people light and warmth. From the time he unfortunately killed Zheng Tu on the scene, to the havoc in the wild boar forest, he exuded selfless enthusiasm all the way. ……”

In Gu Haotian's mind, compared with Lin Chong, who is compromised, and Wu Song, who is reckless and impulsive, he really loves this casual and straightforward flower monk more.

At that moment, when he saw that he took out a few poor silver horns to go to the wine and food, he began to speak:

"The master doesn't have to break the bank, I heard that this is not far from the Royal Street, I just haven't seen it, it's better to go together, find a restaurant to have a meal, one to see the grandeur of the capital, and the other to give the next opportunity to make the east."

"Since Lang Jun is the east, the Sprinkle family is not welcome, these days I have been eating some turbid wine and rotten vegetables here all day long, and this mouth has no bird flavor, just go to change the taste."

This Lu Zhishen is really a person with a true temperament, and he is not polite, and he ordered Zhang San and Li Si to take the silver horn to have fun by themselves, and he will take Gu Haotian and his party to the royal street.

Gu Haotian is delicate, he ordered Bian Xiang to take five taels of silver to Zhang San and others, the people in the market will be of great use to him to lay down an intelligence network in the capital in the future, and he must try his best to encircle him.

Five taels of silver, more than a little is a lot, at a time when you can buy a good dish for more than a dozen dollars, it is a huge amount of money for these idlers, Gu Haotian's action really won the great favor of these idlers, and Lu Zhishen's heart was also touched.

Xiangguo Temple is not far west of the Royal Street, from the alley out, Gu Haotian was shocked by the street in front of him. He saw that its horizontal width was about 200 meters, and he remembered that the widest part of Chang'an Avenue in the capital city of later generations was only about 100 meters, and there was a street in front of him, which was clearly a square.

Just when Gu Haotian was stunned, he suddenly heard a rapid sound of horses' hooves coming from afar. He turned his head to look and saw more than a dozen men in mink hats and brocade clothes, galloping towards him on tall horses.

"Qiao'er—"

At this moment, a panicked cry suddenly sounded in his ears. Gu Haotian looked for the sound, and saw a five or six-year-old girl standing in the middle of the royal street in a daze, and the horse team was surging, as if there was no intention of evasion, and the girl was about to be injured by the horse's hooves.

Gu Haotian didn't have time to think about it, he immediately jumped out and walked towards the girl, and in just a moment, he picked up the girl, and then rolled sideways, avoiding the horse's hooves that galloped by.

At this moment, there was a long laugh of arrogance, followed by a long horsewhip down.