Chapter 19: Names and Appearances

Hearing me and Yi He shouting in unison, Yebai laughed inexplicably.

I saw that he nodded slowly at first, but then shook his head at us again, obviously a simple question, but it made him extremely complicated.

"Sagara is just a name."

It seems that seeing the doubts we can't hide, Yebai finally stopped playing tricks.

"Yihe, you just said that in addition to this legend, there is no record of the word Sagara from ancient times to the present, haven't you thought of the strangeness in this?"

Although he doesn't know a lot of secrets like Chunting and Yebai, Yihe is by no means a stupid person, Yebai only needs a little bit of a look of understanding, looking at Yebai and asking tentatively.

"Could it be that this so-called Sagara is just a pseudonym?"

"That's right."

Yebai finally nodded with satisfaction and told us the strange thing.

"During the Tang Dynasty, there was never a so-called Sagara, it was just a pseudonym, and once the task was completed, there was no need to use this name, so there was no record left."

Although Yebai explained the strangeness to us, our doubts were even greater, and I couldn't help but ask.

"Yebai, who is this Sagara using the pseudonym, why doesn't this person dare to show his real name, what kind of secrets are in this ancient painting?"

"Han Chuan, in fact, as long as you can think calmly, many things are already obvious."

Chunting, who hadn't spoken for a long time, suddenly spoke at this time, revealing dissatisfaction with my lack of calmness in his tone.

"Although Sagara is just a pseudonym, this person must be real, if you look at this legend, in the end, the Great Xiangguo Temple once painted a portrait of him, that is, no matter who Sagara is, there must be his true appearance on this picture, right?"

I nodded without hesitation, without the slightest refutation of what Chunting said.

"If this legend is true, it is indeed what it should look like."

"In that case, it's simple."

Although Chunting was explaining to me, his eyes were firmly fixed on Yebai, and his words were slow but full of confidence.

"Yebai definitely doesn't care so much about a meaningless thing, and it just so happens that the person depicted in this ancient painting has a face exactly like him, do you think it will be a coincidence?"

I listened carefully to the content of Chunting's mouth, my eyes wandered between Yebai and ancient paintings several times, and finally understood what Chunting wanted to express, and I couldn't help but blurt out before I could confirm how much it might be.

"What is depicted on this ancient painting is Sagara's true appearance, and Yebai is the same as the person in this painting, which means that Yebai is the person in this painting, that is, the legendary Sagara!"

Chunting nodded with satisfaction, looking at me with a much softer gaze than just now.

"Han Chuan, I knew that as long as you were calm enough, you would definitely be able to see the strangeness in it."

And just after I calmed down and thought slowly, I suddenly thought of a very unreasonable question.

"Chunting, there is something unreasonable about this."

"Since he chose to use a pseudonym and not show his real name, it means that he doesn't want to be known about what he does, but if he really doesn't want to be known, why would he agree to let the monks paint portraits of themselves and keep this scroll with his own face preserved to this day?"

Chunting smiled strangely and turned his gaze to Yebai again.

"I don't know about this question, but I think someone will know, right, Yebai?"

"It seems that your memory really hasn't been restored."

Yebai's expression didn't change at all, and he once again mocked Chunting's lost memory, and then looked at me and said seriously.

"The reason why you have such doubts is that you have a preconceived idea that I am Sagara, but in fact it is not me, this is just your own speculation."

"You say you're not Sagara?"

Yebai's answer was so unexpected that I couldn't help but ask him rhetorically.

"If you're not Sagara, then why is your appearance on this ancient painting that should have Sagara's face painted, Yebai, you don't want to tell me it's just a coincidence, right?"

"Han Chuan, calm down and listen to me."

Yebai didn't mind my tough tone, and his mouth was still indifferent from the past.

"I just said that I wasn't Sagara, but I didn't say that I wasn't painted on this ancient painting, and the two don't seem to be in conflict."

Yebai nodded and shook his head, he no longer paid attention to the name in Yi He's mouth, but looked at the ancient painting, and his tone was meaningful.

"Although I don't know if there are immortals in this world, and I don't know if the four masters and apprentices have gone to the west to worship the Buddha and ask for scriptures, but I can be sure that this Great Xiangguo Temple was indeed built by Sagara, but the reason is not the same as in the story."

Hearing Yebai's statement, Yi He knew that there must be a hidden secret, so he hurriedly asked the doubts in his heart.

"Master, who is Sagara in your mouth, it seems that I have never heard this name except for this story, is this person important?."

"Don't worry, I'm not done yet."

Yebai didn't panic at all, and the tone in his mouth was still so calm and light.

"Legend has it that this Sagara was originally a person from Kaifeng, he and his wife lived by selling black pot pottery, although they were not rich, but in addition to maintaining a basic life, the couple gave all the rest of the money to the monks, bought gold and silver paper ingots, and burned the library, although he was only a good poor man in the yang world, but he was an elder who accumulated jade and gold in the underworld."

"Because this Great Xiangguo Temple was built by Sagara, the first abbot of Xiangguo Temple specially invited Sagara to the bell tower, and found a very famous Danqing holy hand at that time to paint his portrait, and then left this painting for future generations, so that future generations of monks know the origin of this Great Xiangguo Temple."

"There have been rumors that this ancient painting is not just a simple portrait of a person, but that there is a treasure left behind by Sagara hidden in it, and whoever can unlock the true secret of the ancient painting will be able to find the location of that treasure."

Hearing Yebai's words, and then related to the strange content depicted on the ancient painting, I glanced at Yihe, looked at Yebai and shouted in unison.

"Are you Sagara!?"

"So, Yu Chi Jingde bought a section of the foundation with gold and silver, and then gathered people to build a temple on it, and built Xiangguo Temple in the name of the name, and built the ancestral hall of Sagara husband and wife on the left side, engraved stone, it was written that Yu Chi Gong supervised the construction, and this temple is the Great Xiangguo Temple where we are now."