"Sigh~"
Upon hearing this, Lianxing couldn't help but sigh inwardly, feeling a deep sense of melancholy.
However, Lianxing, lost in her melancholy, was unaware of this.
As she frowned in worry, a gaze was secretly watching her, the eyes seeming to be brewing something as they shifted with thought.
...
Eleventh day, sunny.
Yanzhou City, located thirty miles north of the Great Song Dynasty and outside the Five Buddha Mountain of Northern Shaolin Temple.
As evening approached, the entire city of Yanzhou was shrouded in wisps of smoke.
From a distance, the entire city appears to be shrouded in a layer of mist and smoke. Under the evening sunlight, the slowly drifting mist and smoke give the entire city of Yanzhou a dreamlike quality.
As the sun set, a carriage slowly drove into the city.
Upon entering the city, Qu Feiyan and her two companions, who were sitting in the front of the carriage driving, immediately smelled a faint sandalwood scent.
And just like the towns near the Southern Shaolin Temple of the Ming Dynasty at that time, not only were there many monks walking around begging for alms in the Northern Shaolin Temple, but almost half of the shops in the city had incense and candles of various sizes displayed at their entrances.
Moreover, along the way, I saw that many people were holding a string of prayer beads in their hands.
Along the way, many vendors were selling their goods to passersby while holding Buddhist beads or jade or gold ornaments carved with Buddha images, their eyes occasionally revealing a shrewd glint.
In response, Qu Feiyan, sitting in front of the carriage, muttered, "Why does it feel like there are more people doing this kind of Buddhist business in Yanzhou City, which is next to the Northern Shaolin Temple, than in the towns next to the Southern Shaolin Temple of the Ming Dynasty?"
Listening to Qu Feiyan's words beside her, Lin Shiyin said with a calm expression: "Currently, the only top-level power left in the Great Song Dynasty is the Northern Shaolin Temple. In terms of status and influence, the Northern Shaolin Temple is far superior to the Southern Shaolin Temple of the Great Ming Dynasty. In the hearts of the Great Song Dynasty, the Northern Shaolin Temple has been developed into a sacred place. Every day, pilgrims flock to the Northern Shaolin Temple, making it naturally more prosperous than the towns surrounding the Southern Shaolin Temple."
Inside the carriage, listening to the bustling noise outside, Chu Qinghe, who had been immersed in the combat simulator, opened his eyes.
After stretching and sitting up, Chu Qinghe first rubbed the little guy lying next to him a couple of times before lifting the car curtain to look at the street scene outside.
However, after glancing at it a few times, Chu Qinghe lost interest and turned back to petting the little guy next to him.
As Chu Qinghe rubbed him so freely, the little one on the blanket even rolled over to lie down, allowing Chu Qinghe's hands to cover a larger area.
His obedient and affectionate manner made Wang Yuyan, who was standing to the side, extremely envious.
It's been so many days already. Because she rode in the carriage with Chu Qinghe and the others, and had some of Chu Qinghe's scent on her, Wang Yuyan's relationship with the little guy has become a little closer, but it's limited to feeding him bamboo.
If the bamboo doesn't smell good, the little guy will just throw it aside.
Not to mention someone like Chu Qinghe who can be so casually fondled.
Watching Chu Qinghe's actions, Wang Yuyan couldn't help but imagine what it would feel like to pet the little guy.
"Although it's furry, I guess the hair there isn't as coarse as the hair in my area!"
Human thinking can be quite peculiar at times.
When I'm spacing out, I don't know where my thoughts will wander off to.
Just like Wang Yuyan now.
Looking at the little one, and then at Chu Qinghe rubbing the little one's hand, Wang Yuyan suddenly turned her head away, her ears turning slightly red, as if she had thought of something.
Beside her, watching the little guy being affectionate with Chu Qinghe, Lianxing sighed softly in her heart.
She fed the little guy every day, just like Jellyfish Yin Ji, but now, while the little guy was on Chu Qinghe's shoulder or in his arms, Jellyfish Yin Ji was occasionally able to handle him, but she still couldn't.
This puzzled Lianxing greatly. She couldn't understand what the difference was between her and the Water Mother Yin Ji that made the little guy treat her differently.
Half an hour later, after the group had settled on their lodgings, they went to the most famous restaurant near the north of the city, as recommended by the waiter.
With her gaze fixed on the street below, Xiao Zhao said with a slightly complicated tone, "I never expected that in all my time in the Song Dynasty, the most prosperous place I've ever seen would be right next to the Northern Shaolin Temple."
Lin Shiyin, standing to the side, also sighed, "Yes! Buddha is originally high above, but once he gets involved with human affairs, he becomes covered in the stench of money."
Chu Qinghe and his group have been in the Great Song Kingdom for quite some time now.
However, in recent years, the Great Song Dynasty has had to pay tribute to the other four countries every year.
Internally, treacherous officials held sway, powerful families monopolized land and degraded farmers; the state of the Song Dynasty was predictably in dire straits.
In the past few days, the women have seen that not only the official roads, but even the city walls of some towns have been in disrepair for many years. In almost every town, on every street, one can see the figure of a beggar.
Ordinary people's clothes have as few as a few patches and as many as a dozen.
But now, even the street vendors in Yanzhou City are wearing clothes made of fine silk.
Xiao Zhao and the other girls even witnessed a well-dressed woman drop a few copper coins into a beggar's bowl, but the beggar not only didn't thank her, but instead showed a look of disgust and contempt.
It evoked a feeling of "the rich feasting on meat and wine while the poor freeze to death on the streets."
Beside an ancient temple with a history of over a thousand years, the feeling is not one of being surrounded by Buddhist charm, but rather one of being surrounded by mercenary and materialistic atmosphere.
Compared to the two women's sentimentality at this moment, Chu Qinghe was not surprised.
If people's hearts are at peace, there will be no Buddha in the world.
Perhaps, the current situation of the Song Dynasty is one of the reasons why the Northern Shaolin Temple has endured for so long.
After all, it is precisely when suffering is at its most intense that the sound of Buddhist chants is most abundant.
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