Cihang Jingzhai.

Holding the letter in his hand, Fan Qinghui raised his head and looked at the Dita Peak in front of him.

She didn't know why her master wanted to call her together at this time. Did something happen in the sect?

To be honest, Fan Qinghui didn't really want to return to her master at this time, because her mission had not made any progress so far. On the contrary, it had caused a lot of losses.

Although Fan Qinghui made a lot of efforts, the monks of Jingnian Zen Temple were eventually convicted and sent to Siberia to grow potatoes.

Moreover, after that, the Han Dynasty conducted an investigation of the Jingnian Monastery and found many illegal acts, including their unauthorized change of land use - the monks of the Jingnian Monastery actually allowed some people to cultivate the land around the sect, and did not even declare and pay taxes. Moreover, the grain obtained by the farmers had to be handed over to the Jingnian Monastery instead of being purchased by the state grain depot!

In Fan Qinghui's opinion, this was not a big deal, but it seemed not to be the case for the Han people. The Jingnian Zen Temple was directly disqualified, and most of the monks were convicted and imprisoned. Not only that, after investigating the Jingnian Zen Temple, the Han people's detectives also discovered the Buddhist ancestral hall and chanting room inside.

As a result, Jingnian Zen Temple was charged with another crime: "spreading illegal religion without permission."

Fan Qinghui had never thought that these seemingly harmless actions could actually be found in the laws of the Han Dynasty. Although she had tried to appeal and convince the Han officials that the Jingnian Zen Temple was not trying to spread an illegal religion, it was just a custom and sect practice.

However, those officials simply took out a thick book, opened it and told Fan Qinghui that what kind of behavior was considered religious behavior was clearly written in the Han Dynasty Code. Whether you admit it or not, as long as it meets the description in it, it will be automatically judged as a religious behavior.

Fan Qinghui really had no way to deal with this. She could rely on her charm and smile to make any serious official speak to her in a friendly manner, but she could not impress a code written in black and white.

Not only that, Fan Qinghui was also told that the Buddhist scriptures distributed by Jingnian Zen Temple also violated the laws of the Han Dynasty. According to the laws of the Han Dynasty, no group, organization, sect or individual may publish or distribute any books without the official permission of the Han Dynasty and obtaining a book number.

Poor monks in Jingnian Temple don't understand any of this. They just think that giving away the Buddhist scriptures in their temple to others to read is part of promoting Buddhism. They didn't expect that this is actually against the law.

Fortunately, since this was a gift and not a sale, this legal provision does not apply.

Unfortunately, because the books they gave away were Buddhist scriptures, which were missionary in nature, they were once again suspected of "spreading illegal religions" - which should be said to be an even more serious crime.

As a result, all the senior members of Jingnian Zen Temple were sent to plant trees in the western desert, and the other monks were dismissed. Fan Qinghui had to run around for this matter, and only recently he completely resolved this troublesome matter.

This made Fan Qinghui very tired.

The big man's situation was completely different from what she had heard.

Fan Qinghui learned from her master that her predecessors had preached Buddhist scriptures in various places in the Western Regions and were treated with courtesy by high officials and kings of various countries. They were willing to accept the influence of Buddhism and even built temples.

But it's completely different here.

This is not to say that the Han people were unwilling to help. On the contrary, they all showed great enthusiasm in this regard. However, the way they refused was something Fan Qinghui had not expected.

That means they don't have the authority.

That's right, no matter if Fan Qinghui found the prefect, the county magistrate, or some other high-level figures, the other party's answer was the same. Although they expressed regret for what happened to Fan Qinghui and Jingnian Zen Temple, to establish a religion and build a temple, all of these required approval from the superiors, and must be allowed by the local religious department...

Permission from local religious authorities...

Thinking of this, Fan Qinghui felt a headache. She had met with the so-called "local religious department leaders", but she found out to her despair that these "leaders" were actually the leaders of local religious sects...

Fan Qinghui was not a fool. She understood the principle that there could not be two tigers in one mountain. If she asked a local religion to examine a foreign religion, she could guess what the conclusion would be.

Therefore, Fan Qinghui had already found in despair that what she faced in the Han Dynasty was almost an iron wall made up of various rules and laws. What was even more terrible was that she had no way to change it. If there was anyone who could change it, it would most likely be the legendary Han emperor.

Fan Qinghui had certainly heard of the rumor that the Han emperor was the reincarnation of a celestial being, but she thought it was just a rumor or legend. After all, based on the information, the Han emperor should be at least two hundred years old. However, Fan Qinghui learned from those officials that the emperor looked like a young man in his twenties.

Maybe I can try another approach.

Fan Qinghui learned from her master that some of her former sisters had chosen a similar path. They sacrificed themselves to accompany the royal families and exerted an unparalleled influence on the spread of Buddhism. Fan Qinghui thought that if she wanted to achieve her goal now, this was probably the only way she could think of.

And I heard that the emperor has not married yet, and he doesn't even have a concubine...

Perhaps this is indeed an opportunity to come back and report to my master.

But while walking up the mountain, Fan Qinghui felt something was not right.

She couldn't tell what was wrong. Under the sun, there was nothing unusual about this mountain road she had walked since she was a child. Fan Qinghui could even walk back to her home with her eyes closed. But now, for some reason, Fan Qinghui felt that this road looked a little strange, as if this was not the place where she had lived and grown up, but some strange place she had never been to.

Not only that, when the breeze blew past and the surrounding bushes made rustling sounds, Fan Qinghui also had a special feeling, as if something strange was hiding behind the bushes, staring at him through the gaps.

But as a top master, Fan Qinghui certainly understood that there was no ambush here, but she just felt something was bad, very bad.

The sky is clear, cloudless and the sun is shining.

Under the sunlight, the entire Emperor Peak was in full view. This scenery was so familiar to Fan Qinghui. But now, when she stood on the mountain path and looked down at the forest below, she always had a strange feeling. It was as if there was some indescribable, huge monster hiding in the dense forest below, quietly peeping at her - for a moment, Fan Qinghui seemed to really see the forest below begin to shake, and then a huge black shadow slowly poked its head out.

However, when she rubbed her eyes and looked again, she could only see clouds and shadows floating with the sunlight.

Did something happen in Cihang Jingzhai?

Fan Qinghui quickened her pace and ran upwards along this path that was familiar yet unfamiliar to her. Not long after, she arrived at the gate of Cihang Jingzhai.

It was as quiet as ever here, but Fan Qinghui's fear became more and more obvious. For a moment, she even seemed to see some huge, python-like monster that looked like a towering tree flashing through the place. The air around it began to become damp, sticky, and depressing.

But it was only for a moment.

The next moment, everything seemed to be back to normal.

"call……"

Arriving at the gate, Fan Qinghui took a deep breath. She was very nervous. Thinking about how she would report all this to her master made Fan Qinghui feel uneasy. She suppressed her heartbeat and reached out to hold the iron ring on the gate. However...

“——!?”

At the moment she grasped the iron ring, Fan Qinghui found that what she touched was not a cold iron ring, but a sticky, soft touch that resembled the touch of some living creature. Not only that, at the same time, Fan Qinghui seemed to see a terrifying, disgusting round eye suddenly opened on the door knocker, staring at her!

This scared her so much that she instinctively withdrew her hand, but when Fan Qinghui looked again, she found that there was still the big iron ring in front of her.

Is it... an illusion?

Fan Qinghui reached out her hand again and carefully grasped the iron ring. This time she did not feel anything strange. So Fan Qinghui grasped the iron ring and knocked it hard.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

The knock on the door echoed in the silent forest, but at this moment, Fan Qinghui felt as if all the sounds were swallowed by the abyss...

“Squeak—”

Not long after, the tightly closed door slowly opened, and then two disciples of Cihang Jingzhai appeared behind the door. When they saw Fan Qinghui appear, they immediately smiled.

"Senior Sister Fan, you're back!"

"Hello."

Seeing her junior sisters, Fan Qinghui relaxed a lot and threw aside the strange feeling she had before.

"How are you doing lately?"

"Well, everything is fine, come in, Senior Sister."

As they spoke, the two girls smiled and opened the door, and Fan Qinghui nodded, then stepped into the door of Cihang Jingzhai in front of them.

The next moment, the heavy door closed heavily behind Fan Qinghui.

She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but Fan Qinghui always felt as if she had stepped into a prison from which she could never escape.