Chapter 91: Repaying the Sins of the Past Life
Today, the Xuanmen sect is in decline. Not only are all kinds of metaphysical techniques boring, but Xudu has even been lost. Apart from places like Tianquan Temple where people can practice Taoism, there are very few places.
Cultivation means cultivating the mind. It is obvious that Yang Chong's skills are not up to par and need to be improved.
Seeing that the young Taoist priests in Tianquan Temple all had more or less the same expression, Qin Qinsen was not annoyed. He just exchanged a knowing look with Su Yuande and then asked to borrow the skylight.
Qin Qinsen and Su Yuande walked side by side in front. Yang Chong and the others had some doubts in their hearts, but they did not leave without permission. Instead, they followed the two of them closely.
It wasn't until Qin Qinsen placed the white-glazed plum vase under the banyan tree that Yang Chong asked in confusion, "Master Qin, what is this doing?"
It's just a hungry ghost. If it does something wrong, just destroy it. Why are you taking it so seriously?
"The infant spirit is used as bait, and the hungry ghost kills the body. Karma is a cycle, and retribution will come."
Qin Qinsen's words were ambiguous. As the last syllable fell, the banyan tree's branches rustled in response. The talisman on the white-glazed plum vase was torn apart by an unseen hand, and the curled-up white-skinned ghost was dragged out.
The leaves moved without wind, and when the stench was about to spread, the elegant scent of the trees swept across the courtyard. As the stench dissipated, the white-skinned ghost opened his eyes.
"This is……"
Su Yuande narrowed his eyes cautiously, looking 70% similar to his junior brother who didn't like wearing glasses. "Infant spirit."
"Isn't it a hungry ghost?" Yang Chong still covered his nose and didn't dare to let go. He was very puzzled when he heard what Qin Qinsen and his master said.
Su Yuande glared at his young disciple. "Didn't you hear what Master Qin just explained? This is a method of using infant spirits as bait to lure hungry ghosts to devour them, and then using magic to refine them into hungry ghost spirits. They feed on filthy and poisonous things, and they create plagues and spread them."
"Who is so vicious as to dare to use such evil magic?"
Qin Qinsen's expression was the same as Su Yuande's, both of them were angry. "We already have a direction, but we just need to continue investigating and confirming it."
"Why not just send a ghost to take a look? Why go through so much trouble?"
Yang Chong was puzzled. He was obviously very capable and even the master invited him to do it, so why was he so timid when investigating something?
Thinking of this, Yang Chong and the others looked at their master with suspicion. Could it be that the master was trying to pressure them into studying the sutras seriously, so he made up this story of a genius to deceive them?
Just as Yang Chong and the others exchanged glances, Qin Qinsen suddenly said, "That makes sense. In that case, let's make a deal. How about you help the hungry ghost calm down, and I take him away to be a servant ghost?"
Before the onlookers could understand the meaning of this sentence, they heard a loud bang.
A banyan tree branch hit Qin Qinsen hard where he had been standing.
"No, then no. Why are you so fierce?" Qin Qinsen quickly jumped away, patted his chest in fear, and swallowed his saliva. "Then you must do a good job of praying for the soul. If you can't handle it, let Master Su come to me and I will help - I won't interfere!"
Qin Qinsen jumped up from the spot and narrowly avoided being whipped by the unhappy branches of the banyan tree. He felt that his agility at this moment was not much different from that of a monkey in the mountains.
"It's not like I'm not paying you, I won't say anything more! Stop hitting me now!"
At this moment, Qin Qinsen didn't look like a "master" at all. He was just a jumping monkey constantly shuttling between the branches of a huge banyan tree.
Yang Chong tugged at Second Senior Sister's sleeve, leaned over, and whispered, "When did the banyan tree become a spirit? How come I didn't know?"
The second senior sister shook her head silently. Did she already know the answer to this question?
"That happened in the last century." Su Yuande stroked his beard and watched Qin Qinsen jumping around happily. "I haven't seen him so happy in a long time. He is worthy of being Master Qin."
"Master, how can you tell the banyan tree's mood?"
Not only Yang Chong, but several other young Taoist priests were also very puzzled.
Trees don’t have mouths and can’t talk, so is their way of expressing happiness to play high jumping with people?
Qin Qinsen made a mistake in landing and was hit hard on the lower back by the branch.
"Hiss—stop! I know you like him, so I won't compete with you. Let me perform a round of salvation first, okay? After that, I'll leave it to you to separate the infant spirits and hungry ghosts."
The last time he visited Tianquan Temple, he'd noticed the entire aura was filled with an aura similar to that of plant spirits, hence his decision to bring the white-glazed plum vase with him. While he could exorcise and separate the two ghosts himself, it would be exhausting and time-consuming.
After all, your new boyfriend has only been in office for one day, so you have to set aside some time to manage the relationship.
The banyan tree finally stopped and brought the white-skinned kid to a position five meters in front of Qin Qinsen. The branch pushed his back, signaling him to move faster and not dawdle.
He glared at the banyan tree unhappily, then, resigned to the fact that it had saved him so much effort, formed a seal and muttered something to himself. Only when the gentle, warm light shone through the branches onto the white-skinned ghost did Qin Qinsen withdraw his stance.
"Whether you want him to stay with you forever or to personally send him into samsara, the rest is up to you." He turned to the stunned Yang Chong and the others, "All things have spirits, and all have their own characteristics. You cultivate the Tao but not your mind, and you can't even detect the spirits and monsters you live with every day. How can you expect to cultivate merit? Isn't that ridiculous?"
Qin Qinsen shouldn't have meddled in other people's business, but thinking that he was here to borrow the banyan tree from Tianquan Temple today, he could only give his juniors some advice as a reward.
"Besides, plant and tree spirits prefer people with pure hearts. If you grew up in a Taoist temple, you would have played with this banyan tree."
When it comes to purity of mind, nothing can surpass the innocence of a child. As if in response to Qin Qinsen's words, the banyan tree branches transformed into a cradle, gently placing the white-skinned imp, whose sinister nature had faded, in the cradle and rocking it slightly, clearly trying to coax it to sleep.
Faced with this scene, Yang Chong was dumbfounded. He was the naughty kid who grew up in the Taoist temple. But in his memory, he didn't seem to have any special "playmates".
"Master Qin is indeed perceptive." Su Yuande chuckled, "My little disciple has been a troublesome person since he was young. If it weren't for the banyan tree, I don't know how many times he would have fallen to his death while climbing the tree to get bird eggs."
"Is that true?"
He climbed trees as a child? Isn't he afraid of heights?
When Su Yuande spoke, the disciples dispersed. Yang Chong remained guarding the gate, trying to recall the past, but he couldn't recall a single moment of playing with the goblins.
When Su Yuande was sending the person out, he felt a little soft-hearted when he saw his little disciple's distressed look. He turned around and asked, "Master Qin, do you have any solution?"
He had picked up Yang Chong, a beggar, at the gate of a Taoist temple, hoping to just give him food, but he had accidentally entered the Taoist sect at such a young age and had his clairvoyance opened. He had thought he was a gifted man, but for over a decade, he hadn't even been able to recite the Pure and Tranquil Sutra fluently. This was truly unbelievable.
Qin Qinsen nodded, "Abbot Su should know that the sins committed in the previous life are repaid in this life, and cultivating the mind and tempering the character is the right path."
Some words should be said in moderation. Whether or not someone listens to them depends entirely on the individual. If the food is already in front of his mouth, you can't expect him to chew it up and feed it to him, right?
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