Chapter 1046 Opening a Zen Forum (3)

Shizhu Temple occupies a large area, and the female ghost is extremely cunning. The monks searched for a long time but found nothing. Ｘ

Just when everyone was at their wits' end, a local story reminded them that it turned out that Shizhu Temple had been built for more than a thousand years, which was not too long. Before that, Shi Tao, a high-ranking official of the Mortal Empire, was here. 's mansion.

It is said that Shi Tao had a daughter named Xiaozhu. She was smart, lively and cute since she was a child. When she grew up, she had bright eyes, white teeth, slim appearance, gentleness and kindness, and was good at female beauty, becoming a famous beauty far and wide.

One year during the Lantern Festival, Xiaozhu and his maid secretly went out to enjoy the lanterns. While they were enjoying themselves, they were spotted by several gangsters who robbed people in the street. Just when they were about to be taken away, a muscular man appeared out of nowhere. Defeated the gangsters and rescued the two girls.

Xiaozhu was grateful, but also fell in love with the man, and the two began to have frequent private meetings.

Due to Xiaozhu's reputation, many high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen in the empire came to propose marriage for their sons with huge betrothal gifts, and there was endless traffic...

After careful selection, Shi Tao made a marriage arrangement for Xiaozhu. Unexpectedly, Xiaozhu flatly refused.

As a woman from a mortal empire, marriage matters were originally decided by her parents. Xiaozhu's abnormal reaction made Shi Tao furious and tortured her severely, but Xiaozhu didn't say a word.

Later, Shi Tao tortured Xiaozhu's maid again, and finally figured out the origin of the matter. He couldn't help but became furious and immediately sent an order to arrest the strong man.

However, this man was so skilled that he not only beat away all the people who came to arrest him, but also flew into Shi Mansion, took Xiaozhu away, and the two eloped.

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the lovers finally got married, Xiaozhu and the man finally got rid of their shackles, flew away, and could live a happy life.

Of course, things are far from that simple. Xiaozhu lived with the man for a period of time, but by chance, he found that he had been deceived by the man.

When he rescued her at the Lantern Festival, it was actually a drama about a hero rescuing a beauty written and directed by the man. The man ordered several gangsters under his command to rob her and the maid, and then he came to the rescue again. The method is simple and effective, and successfully captures their hearts.

But later, the gangsters got together with the man and bragged about it, and Xiaozhu happened to hear it, which made her recognize the man's true face.

She felt heartbroken. Although the deal was done, she could no longer get along with the man, so she tried to find a way to escape from the man and return to Shifu.

What Xiaozhu didn't expect was that because of his escape from marriage, Shi Tao's reputation was damaged. Those who failed to propose marriage collectively made a speech to the emperor, demanding that Shi Tao be punished.

Shi Tao was soon dismissed from his official position, fell ill, and passed away soon after.

The entire Shi Mansion was emptied out, and all the property was divided up by the servants. When Xiaozhu came back, the Shi Mansion was already in a state of dilapidation. Even his father's body was hastily buried and no one took care of it.

When Xiaozhu saw this scene, she was completely stunned. After crying bitterly, she fell ill. Since there was no one to take care of her, Xiaozhu passed away not long after...

Many people couldn't help crying when they heard the ending of Shi Tao and Xiaozhu!

I hate the man who caused this outcome even more.

Legend has it that after Xiaozhu died, a dianthus appeared in the back garden of Shifu. Under the dianthus was the tomb of Shi Tao and Xiaozhu.

This incident was passed down by later generations, and as the Shi Mansion gradually became deserted, many years later, no one knew that this place used to be the residence of a high-ranking imperial official.

Thousands of years ago, Zen practitioners found this place and built a Zen temple. Because there was a very unique dianthus in the courtyard, the temple was called Dianthus Temple.

Unexpectedly, a thousand years later, there would be a female ghost kidnapping people here.

This made Chen associate this matter with this legend.

Could it be that this dianthus is the legendary dianthus in front of the tombs of Shi Tao and Xiao Zhu? And this female ghost was transformed by Xiaozhu?

Liao Chen immediately checked the dianthus plant in the temple. After careful inspection, he finally found the clue.

After thousands of years of wind and rain, the dianthus actually gave birth to a bamboo spirit, and the soul thread that prompted it to come into life was the resentment of the legendary little bamboo. This resentment was extremely hatred for the strong man who did evil, so the bamboo spirit every time Every time they were dispatched, they kidnapped strong men from outside and locked them up in the Dianthus space and tortured them in all kinds of ways...

Most of these men are doing evil in various places, picking flowers and robbing people. Getting rid of them is actually doing harm to the people.

However, some people were killed by the Bamboo Spirit even if their crimes were not fatal. Moreover, the number of missing people increased day by day, causing panic and uncertainty among the people in the surrounding areas.

During this period of time, dozens of strong men have been tortured to death by bamboo spirits. From the perspective of others, no matter how wronged Xiaozhu has been in the past, but due to the current situation, not only will she not get sympathy from others, but she will Considered the source of evil.

In addition, because the female ghost came from Shizhu Temple, her behavior has also affected the reputation of this temple. If Shizhu Temple had not had an excellent reputation before, people would have come to ask for punishment.

It can be said that the Shizhu Temple is extremely passive now. If the bamboo spirits are allowed to continue to prey on strong men, the source of pilgrims to the temple will inevitably dry up. This will not only strain the relationship with the faithful men and women in the area, but also affect its own practice.

And if Zhu Ling is caught and brought to justice, doing so is also inconsistent with the Mahayana Zen path that she has understood.

For them, although they are the victims in this matter and need to take action to save themselves, the bamboo spirit transformed by Xiaozhu also needs to be saved. This is the principle of Mahayana Zen to save the world and save people.

If Liao Chen and the others only care about getting rid of their bad reputation and seize the bamboo spirit and present it to the local government, the final outcome may be that the government will send people to destroy the dianthus that Xiao Zhu is attached to, making it impossible for him to continue practicing and even have a place to live. No, let alone being refined into a spiritual being, it is very likely that she will even lose her soul mark and become a real lonely ghost.

Such an ending is naturally not what Liao Chen and the others want to see.

So, how can we not only save the reputation of Shizhu Temple, but also save this bamboo spirit?

Liao Chen and the others thought about it for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. Later, they asked Master Zhida after repeated inquiries.

Master Zhida studied the matter carefully and found that the key lies in the resentment of the bamboo spirit.

Only by resolving this ray of resentment can the bamboo spirit practice with peace of mind and become a true spiritual life. Otherwise, this ray of resentment will eventually affect the transformation of the bamboo spirit, and at the same time, push Shizhu Temple to a place of eternal destruction.

The best way to dispel this resentment is of course to find the strong man who deceived Xiaozhu and punish him severely.

Master Zhida asked Chen to organize the monks to hold rituals, summon local officials to witness, and chant sutras for the resentful spirit of Dianthus. At the same time, he contacted the Netherworld Palace in the spirit world to track down the whereabouts of the strong man's soul.

Of course, such a search requires a huge price, and the results of the search surprised Master Zhida. It turned out that this man's soul had been reincarnated several times, and in this life, he actually became Liao Chen, the abbot of Shizhu Temple! ! !

"Wow!!!"

When the people at the scene heard such a bizarre story about reincarnation, they couldn't help but scream and break into a cold sweat!

Things in the world are so wonderful. There may be more or less connections between everyone. It can be said that the people and things that have appeared in your life did not meet or happen for no reason. Maybe, someone is on the road. The people you pass by were the ones you traveled with, ate at the same table with, and even slept with in the same bed countless years ago!

The occurrence of such a situation made Master Zhida feel extremely troubled. Liao Chen is now a Zen person. He is not only a Zen guard, but also an upright person and fair in dealing with things. Only then can he become the abbot of Shizhu Temple.

But he turned out to be an evildoer several lives ago, which directly led to the emergence of the resentful spirit of Dianthus. Now the two are miraculously reunited in the Temple of Dianthus!

If he was punished for resolving Zhu Ling's resentment, it would be simply ridiculous in the eyes of people in the world, because the problem now is that resentment.

But if Liochen is not allowed to be punished, I am afraid that the resentment cannot be resolved, and the purpose of saving the world and saving people will not be achieved.

"What should we do?"

This question arose in everyone's mind, and Master Zhida had a faint smile on his face. In fact, he just left this problem to Chen to solve by himself, because the person who tied the bell needs to be tied to untie the bell. .

After Liao Chen learned about this incident, he confined himself for ten days and nights. Later, he came to the ritual ceremony in front of the dianthus and told everyone the cause and consequences of the incident. At the same time, he made a great wish to always wait beside the dianthus. On the one hand, recite scriptures for them to resolve resentments until their spiritual life is completely transformed; on the other hand, they prevent the resentful spirits from disturbing the people and protect the stability of the place.

Under the witness of everyone, he built a formation around Dianthus, trapped himself and Dianthus in it, and began to realize his ambition.

After this move, Shizhu Temple became famous and its reputation in the local area became increasingly prosperous. More people came to Shizhu Temple to offer incense than before.

In addition to offering incense, people also went to the Dianthus Formation to watch Chen chanting sutras. In fact, this was the main purpose of their coming here to offer incense.

"What about the ending?"

Those who listened to the story couldn't wait to ask.

"The end... is far from here! Because it still takes a long time for Dianthus' spiritual body to transform, Liao Chen is still there chanting sutras day and night, but..." Master Zhida said.

"But what?!" people asked anxiously.

"The current situation is not bad. The resentful spirit of Dianthus no longer attacks the formation frequently, and no longer attacks Chen. Instead, it quietly listens to the scriptures in the Dianthus. The resentment is gradually diminishing!"

"What about Liao Chen himself?"

"Although he has not practiced Zen, his cultivation has turned into a Zen master without knowing it. Moreover, the light of Zen in his body is getting stronger and stronger, and his Tao power has greatly increased!"

"Wow!!!"

…rw