Chapter 7 Laughter? Laughter counts as a good deed!
"My dear son, open your mouth." Madam Zhen gently held the medicine spoon and handed it to him.
"Auntie, I can drink it myself," Ouyang Rong muttered helplessly as he took a sip.
As if she hadn't heard, Madam Zhen continued scooping medicine, completely ignoring the commotion.
Early this morning, Madam Zhen brought her maids to take care of Ouyang Rong's meals and medicine, and also arranged for the abbot of Donglin Temple to come and examine him.
Ouyang Rong had originally planned to suggest leaving the temple and going down the mountain today, but seeing Zhen Shi like this, he wouldn't let her go unless he was fully recovered and healthy.
Ouyang Rong frowned silently.
At this moment, the pretty maidservant who seemed to be called "Banxi" beside Madam Zhen invited the attending physician and his apprentice into the front hall.
"Master, my son seems to have little appetite today. Please take a look and see if his illness has relapsed." Madam Zhen frowned with worry.
Ouyang Rong hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping himself. Being fed like a child, how could he possibly have a good appetite?
"Don't worry, Your Highness. Your nephew looks well. Let me take his pulse again."
"Thank you for your help, Master."
Then Zhen turned to someone and said, "The abbot's medical skills are famous in the surrounding counties. Even the doctors in the prefectural medical office may not be able to compare with him. This time, it was thanks to the abbot's intervention that you were saved. You don't like to listen to your aunt, but you should at least listen to the abbot who saved you, right?"
The abbot, an old monk, stroked his beard and smiled, then calmly sat down, his white eyebrows and lowered eyes taking the pulse of Ouyang Rong, who was leaning against the couch.
Ouyang Rong turned his head and looked at the abbot of Donglin Temple. He indeed had the air of a high-ranking monk with a sage-like demeanor.
"May I ask your name, Master?"
"This old monk is skilled in guidance..."
Ouyang Rong listened intently, but after a long while, there was still no follow-up. He paused, then asked, "Huh?"
Xiufa, who was holding a medical kit, interjected, "Shandao is Master's Dharma name."
Ouyang suddenly realized and coughed, "So it's Master Shandao, my apologies for my rudeness."
In his heart, he was cursing wildly: What kind of names do you monks from Donglin Temple have? Can you be any more inappropriate?
Master Shandao added with a smile: "However, I am indeed good at enlightening others. If you have any questions about life or Buddhist principles, you can come to me. I will welcome you at any time."
“Yes, Master.” Ouyang Rong nodded, glanced out the window, and suddenly said, “Your temple’s pagodas are quite tall.”
Master Shandao's heart skipped a beat, and he observed the young magistrate's expression without revealing his true feelings.
The old monk sighed deeply, saying with a mixture of helplessness and sorrow:
"Let Your Excellency know that these pagodas were all voluntarily donated by the pilgrims and lay Buddhists from the foot of the mountain. Building pagodas is one of the three reliances of Buddhism, which can accumulate merit. The pilgrims are very enthusiastic and sincere about this. Our temple has not forced them in the slightest, but it is not easy to refuse. However, it is indeed a bit of a waste of manpower and money... But every time a pagoda is built, the temple goes to the county government to report and pay taxes... And this year there is a flood, so there will absolutely be no more construction. Your Excellency can rest assured."
Ouyang Rong never expected that a casual remark would lead people to misunderstand that he was trying to freeload off others.
He neither confirmed nor denied it, but continued, "Does your Donglin Temple have a pagoda... called the Merit Pagoda?"
Master Shandao's two white eyebrows met, and he remained silent for a while. He first shook his head slightly, and then nodded.
“It used to exist, but it doesn’t anymore.”
Why is it gone?
"Fire broke out. And twice."
"Could you elaborate?"
"Initially, before the establishment of the Great Gan Kingdom... even earlier than the previous Great Sui Dynasty, during the Southern Dynasty, the royal family of the Southern Kingdom funded the construction of a magnificent lotus pagoda in the temple, with an underground palace built underneath. However, the pagoda collapsed due to a fire during the reign of Emperor Wen of Great Sui."
"Then, during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Great Qian Dynasty, when my master was the abbot, the temple rebuilt a new pagoda on the original site of the Lotus Pagoda, named 'Merit Pagoda,' to house the Buddha's relics. But, coincidentally, in the year my master took over as abbot, this Merit Pagoda unfortunately caught fire again..."
The white-haired old monk shook his head and sighed, "Therefore, the temple never built a pagoda on the original site of the 'Merit Pagoda' again. It's just a pity about the underground palace below, which cost a lot of money."
Ouyang Rong couldn't help but glance sideways, "Could this abandoned underground palace be the Pure Land Palace?"
Master Shandao nodded.
Ouyang Rong glanced silently at the ancient tower perched in the clouds in his mind. Good heavens, is this a coincidence or...?
"Is there any particular reason why the underground palace is named Pure Land?"
“Your Excellency truly possesses Buddhist nature. The name ‘Pure Land’ is not without reason. Firstly, ‘rebirth in the Pure Land’ is one of our temple’s doctrines. Secondly, in that underground palace, our temple once had a high-ranking monk who achieved perfect merit, attained Buddhahood in his physical body, and ascended to the Pure Land.”
"Is that really true?" Ouyang Rong's back was lifted off the cushion.
Master Shandao recited a Buddhist chant in a solemn tone, and said with utmost seriousness:
"Of course it's true, because this eminent monk is none other than my grand-uncle, Master Zhongma. I remember back then, I was about the same age as Xiufa is now."
"On that day, the gate to the underground palace, which had been sealed by the collapsed pagoda for decades, was reopened. I followed my master down there and saw with my own eyes that my great-uncle, who had been missing for many years since the collapse of the lotus pagoda, was sitting cross-legged in the center of the underground palace. He had passed away many years ago, but his appearance and skin were still lifelike, and even the veins on the back of his hand were clearly visible. He had already achieved Buddhahood in his physical body! On the ground next to my great-uncle, there were also the four characters 'Return Home' written... It seems that he has returned to the Pure Land."
"Even after many years, I still cannot forget the sage-like face of my grandmaster. The Buddha's teachings are boundless, capable of saving all sentient beings and leading them to rebirth in the Pure Land, where they attain enlightenment and freedom. This is one of the reasons why our temple is the most popular temple in Longcheng County and even Jiangzhou. Many lay Buddhists travel thousands of miles to burn incense on the mountain. In recent years, there have even been foreign monks from Japan who have come here to study Buddhism and spread the Buddha's teachings southward across the sea."
The beautiful hair behind Master Shandao, who was carrying a box, looked on with longing as she listened.
Even when Ouyang Rong and his companion were talking, Zhen Shi and her maid Banxi, who had consciously retreated behind the curtain, listened with fascination and envy.
Ouyang Rong looked sad.
He suddenly felt that there really was some kind of divine will at work.
Ouyang Rong said thoughtfully, "No wonder you erected a lotus throne in the center of that underground palace, but there was no Buddha statue on it, it was completely empty."
“Grandmaster Uncle has already ascended to heaven, so naturally he is now empty-handed.” Master Shandao smiled mysteriously, then said with a hint of surprise, “However, Your Excellency seems quite familiar with that underground palace.”
How could I not be familiar with it? That's where I woke up, and I stepped on it countless times. He even requisitioned the lotus-shaped golden lamp that might be enshrining Master Zhongma's relics, and had a physical "ascension"...
Ouyang Rong thought to himself, then smiled.
Ding~
Suddenly, a deep, muffled sound of a wooden fish echoed in my ears.
Merit points added? Could it be the unintentional thing he told Xiufa yesterday...? Ouyang Rong was stunned. He glanced at the normal appearance of everyone in the room who hadn't heard anything, and immediately made up an excuse that he was "dizzy" to send everyone away.
Ouyang Rong lowered the bed curtains, closed his eyes, leaned back against the pillows, concentrated his mind, and flew back into the merit pagoda surrounded by white clouds. He looked expectantly and curiously at the cyan-gold seal characters above the wooden fish...
However, after seeing it clearly, he almost stumbled and fell to his death.
[Merit: One Hundred]
"Damn, why is it upside down?!"
"This... take a deep breath..." Ouyang Rong calmed down.
Sure enough, the merit points not only increase, but can also decrease even without ringing the bell.
"Damn it, what's the reason? What's the justification? What about justice? I haven't done anything wrong, have I? Is it something that happened far away that's causing this? I was just laughing... wait."
Ouyang Rong suddenly stopped speaking.
Seriously? Does a joke about hell deduct my merit?
He stared at the little wooden fish in front of him with a stern face, unsure whether to be angry or amused.
Now things are really messed up. You really have to act like a gentleman at all times when you're out in public, otherwise this little bit of merit isn't enough to make him "laugh"—the amused man is furious.
In addition, Ouyang Rong noticed something different and seemed to be deep in thought:
"When adding merit, the sound of the wooden fish seems to be lighter and crisper; while when deducting merit, the sound of the wooden fish seems to be more muffled."
"The difference between the two sounds is like one is patting your girlfriend's butt and the other is patting your best friend's butt... The difference is quite big, the former definitely sounds better..."
Just as Ouyang Rong was savoring something, he suddenly heard the sound of a door opening inside the room. Someone was tiptoeing closer, so he quickly composed himself and left the Pagoda of Merit.
However, the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was... large breasts.
...
The update schedule is now set: one update at noon and one update at midnight!
Starting tomorrow, brothers, keep an eye on me! (Hands in hands)
(End of this chapter)
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