Master Jueming finally brought Gu Xu and Luo Chuan into the temple.

Stepping into the mountain gate, a wide stone road winds up, and the pines and cypresses on both sides reflect the buildings with red walls and gold tiles, which are scattered and scattered, like a picture scroll.

"I'm leading you in now, but I'm risking my life," Master Jueming said as he walked, "The recent wanted warrant can state that those who dare to shield and conceal traitors will be guilty of the same crime. ”

"Master don't laugh," Luo Chuan smiled, "Don't think I don't know, you, Lingshan Temple, don't care about the rules of the imperial court at all." If it weren't for the fact that you owe the court favors recently, I'm afraid even the emperor wouldn't be able to invite you out to arrest the criminals. ”

Master Jueming snorted, not wanting to quarrel with Luo Chuan anymore, he stretched out his hand and pointed to a fork in the road next to him: "Go this way." ”

Luo Chuan looked at Gu Xu beside him: "Emperor first, please." ”

After a few moments, the three of them walked into a secluded and empty side hall at the end of the road.

This side hall seems to be rarely visited on weekdays.

There are no Buddha statues in the hall, no incense, and there are many cobwebs on the ceiling. The sunlight shone obliquely through the half-hidden windows, and countless dusts danced lazily in the beams.

Gu Xu saw that there were portraits of many old monks hanging on the wall of the side hall, and their Dharma names and dates of birth and death were marked next to them.

Only the one at the far end is covered with a black cloth, making it impossible to see its true appearance.

Each of the three sat down on a futon.

Luo Chuan habitually took out the tea set and tea leaves from the space magic vessel, poured three cups of tea, handed the first cup to Gu Xu with both hands, drank the second cup by himself, and put the third cup on the ground and pushed it in front of Master Jueming at will.

"This is the Mengding mountain tea known as the 'immortal tea' of the Great Qi Dynasty, do you want to try it?"

Master Jueming lifted the teacup, took a sip, then put it aside and frowned: "It's not as good as the fragrance of tea on the tree in my small temple." ”

"I really didn't expect that there was still a good tea hidden in Lingshan Temple that even I didn't know," Luo Chuan deliberately showed an extremely exaggerated expression of surprise, "Why didn't the master take it out and share it with you?" ”

Master Jueming no longer paid attention to Luo Chuan's ridicule.

He looked at Gu Xu on the side: "Gu Xiaoyou, you-"

"—The Emperor." Luo Chuan interrupted him and corrected.

"Alright, Emperor," Master Jueming submissively changed his words, "The phrase you mentioned earlier, 'Hell is not empty, and you will not become a Buddha' is actually the last words left by the third abbot of Lingshan Temple, 'Jizo'.

"According to the records in the temple, the Jizo Patriarch cultivated to cover the world, and it was only a thought to ascend to the upper realm, but he kept suppressing his cultivation until his longevity was exhausted and he passed away in the temple, and he was reluctant to take that step.

"He called this world 'hell' and hoped that by his own strength, he would be able to alleviate all the sinful beings in hell.

These ideas of his were regarded as heresy by later generations. The spells he pioneered were also listed as forbidden because they often made later generations of disciples go mad. ”

As he spoke, he gently shook the Zen staff in his hand.

A gentle breeze blows.

The black cloth at the far end of the side hall suddenly fell slowly to the ground, revealing the portrait hidden behind it.

It was an old monk in a robe, the whole person was as thin as withered straw, but his eyes were as bright as torches, as if he could penetrate all the vanity and see the truth of the world.

On the side of the portrait, in addition to the Dharma name and the date of birth and death, there is also the sentence "Hell is not empty, and you will not become a Buddha" -

This is exactly what Gu Xu saw standing outside the mountain gate with the help of the "astrolabe".

"He's right," Gu Xu pondered for a moment and said lightly, "This world is indeed hell. But sober people are in the minority after all.

"Most people have been living in the lies carefully concocted by Taishang Haotian, unaware of their suffering."

"Taishang Haotian?" Master Jueming's eyebrows raised slightly, and he was a little puzzled by this.

Gu Xu glanced at Luo Chuan next to him, and lightly ordered, "Wenchang, explain it to him." ”

"Yes." Luo Chuan said.

Then he looked at Master Jueming and briefly recounted the truth of the Great Wilderness, the grievances between Taishang Haotian and Emperor Ziwei, the secret hidden behind the ascension, and Gu Xu was the reincarnation of Emperor Ziwei.

After listening, Master Jueming lowered his head and was silent for a long time, and it took a while before he came back to his senses from his trance.

"This is the way the world is." He let out a long sigh and sighed.

"You agreed with me so quickly?" Luo Chuan smiled playfully, "Aren't you afraid I'm fooling you?" ”

"A long time ago, I had a similar, vague guess in my head," Master Jueming said slowly, "especially after I heard the news that Chiyoko had gone mad.

"But I'm not sure if it's true or not, and I can't find anyone to confirm it.

"Even, when I was going to tell someone about this speculation, I would inadvertently forget about it.

"The fact that you are able to tell me these things today without hindrance proves that you are very unusual. People like you shouldn't come to Lingshan Temple thousands of miles away just to fool me and have fun. ”

Hearing this, Gu Xu couldn't help but think of the terrible visions he had seen when he went to worship Chiyangzi's tomb with the Great Qi National Teacher.

At that time, he wanted to tell the national teacher the sentence "The Great Wilderness is a prison".

However, the moment he opened his mouth to utter the first syllable, a powerful and mysterious force stopped him, preventing his throat from making any more sounds.

But these days, he can discuss these great secrets without hindrance.

Could it be because of Emperor Ziwei?

"And what is your position?" Luo Chuan continued to ask, "Do you plan to continue to hide in the mountains and be a coward who stands by after knowing all this, or do you want to change all this with us?" ”

"You are a True Monarch of the Eighth Realm, an Emperor Monarch is still alive," Master Jueming pondered for a moment and said, "I am just a monk of the Seventh Realm, how much can I help?" ”

"To break the cage of the Great Wilderness, we will undoubtedly have to kill the 'jailer' Emperor Tianxing," Luo Chuan explained, "And I have a formation in my possession, called the 'Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Array', which can block the connection between the Emperor Tianxing and the 'Tai'a Sword', making him an ordinary Eighth Realm cultivator, and preventing Taishang Haotian from interfering in our Nether Realm battle with his hand."

"But this 'Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Array' consumes a lot of true yuan, and it requires a number of saints who are well versed in the true meaning of the Great Dao to work together to maintain its operation.

"We really need your help."

"It turns out that in your eyes, I'm just a tool man who assists in the operation of the formation!" Master Jueming laughed at himself and shook his head slightly, "I still have to think about your proposal. After all, what I am representing now is not me, but the entire Lin San Temple. If I don't do it well, I will become a sinner of the sect through the ages. ”

Speaking of this, Master Jueming turned his head to look out the window and shouted, "Jingru!" ”

A thin young monk in a light brown robe hurriedly ran over and saluted Master Jueming, "What does Master command?" ”

This monk with the law name "Jingru" is still an old acquaintance for Gu Xu - at this year's Lantern Festival Ring Competition, the two had an extremely fierce fight, and finally Gu Xu comprehended the new spell "Thousands of Trees Blooming in the East Wind Night", and successfully defeated the monk Jingru and made him fall into Luoshui.

"These two distinguished guests have come to visit our temple today," Master Jueming pointed to Luo Chuan and Gu Xu in front of him, "take care of them for me." ”

(End of chapter)