Chapter 400 I am waiting for you in the palace
Open your eyes? No... What does this mean? There's no record of this situation in the booklet Lao Zhang gave me...
On the high platform, Zhao Duan, who had just finished the debate with great passion, was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly raised his head, his pupils suddenly narrowing.
I saw that in the hole in the center of the huge cloud in the sky, the huge and mysterious shadow of Buddha's head was overlooking the earth as before.
However, the clouds with the Buddha's head at the center suddenly spread out into circles of golden ripples.
It was like the surface of the water shaking violently, and the tightly closed eyes of the Buddha's head slowly opened at this moment.
In an instant, a pair of majestic and compassionate huge golden eyes filled Zhao Du's vision. He was stunned, and felt that his whole body was shocked by an indescribable power.
Then, before anyone could react, two pillars of Buddha's light descended from the eyes of the "Buddha Honored One", penetrating heaven and earth. The Buddha's light merged into one, covering the entire platform.
"ah……"
The Red Sect Master and Master Bian Ji cried out at the same time and were pushed off the platform by a gentle force.
So, only Zhao Duan was left bathing in the Buddha's light, like a god.
"Wait...I'm going to..."
Zhao Duan's face changed, and he felt no joy in his heart. Instead, he remembered that a long time ago, when Zhenbao first opened his "third eye", he had warned him not to look directly at the "Buddha".
Otherwise, this god who holds the authority of "wisdom" will force wisdom into people, causing them to feel dizzy at best and to become completely stupid at worst.
The moment the thought came to his mind, Zhao Duan felt as if his whole body was in a hot spring.
The expected flood of brain-bursting information did not arrive.
On the contrary, his mind was clearer than ever before, and the injuries that remained in his body from the sneak attack by Master Dajing were quickly healed at this moment.
In a breath, he returned to his peak state.
The sea of qi was boiling, and the energy in his dantian was covered with golden light. At the center of his eyebrows, a hint of green flame appeared faintly and flashed away.
A green lotus can be vaguely seen swaying in the flames.
"Baptism by the Buddha!"
In the square, after the monks were stunned, someone cried out in surprise, and then almost everyone showed a sour look as if they had eaten a lemon.
"What is that?" The young monk Danche looked confused.
After stepping down from the stage, his expression was not at all dejected, but rather radiant, with a look of fanatical devotion in his eyes. The Red Sect master explained in a low voice:
"Throughout the ages, only those who have made great contributions to Buddhism and pioneered wisdom have been favored by the gods and baptized by the Buddha... Throughout history, every dynasty and every generation who has been baptized has gone on to become a saint. However, this is the first time that a non-Buddhist has received this honor!"
The Red Sect Master stared intently at Zhao Duan, who was bathed in the Buddha's light on the stage, and muttered:
"The soul of the baptized will be greatly nourished, just like being able to read ten lines at a glance and then memorize them. These are only incidental benefits. The real benefit is receiving the care of the Buddha, planting a blue lotus in the sea of consciousness, and having an endless supply of energy...
At a low level, it's not particularly special, but the higher you go, the greater the benefits. If you practice Buddhist techniques, you'll get twice the result with half the effort..."
Dan Che was stunned when he heard this. He opened his mouth and wanted to ask:
Could it be that this treacherous minister is the "Wisdom" you're looking for, Master? The Buddha's incarnation in the human world?
But... is this reasonable?
"The Blessed One has baptized... the debate is over..."
Prajna Bodhisattva had already stood up in horror. This plump female Bodhisattva, whose mind was full of dual cultivation, had a dull expression. Her heart was beating wildly, and she looked at Zhao Duan with extremely complicated eyes.
At the beginning, after Mr. Zhengyang was defeated, the reason why she broke into the Zhao Mansion was that she realized that Zhao Duan had great potential in Buddhism.
At that time, he was driven away by his real girlfriend, the Empress, and had already given up hope.
However, she did not expect that this excellent furnace would help her perfect her Zen studies today.
"After baptism, one will be born with a Buddha body, and dual cultivation will achieve twice the result with half the effort..."
Prajna bit her lip, rubbed her legs together, and then sensed a sharp gaze from afar. Her brows drooped helplessly, and she sighed softly:
"pity……"
…
Inside the Guanshui Tower.
All the court officials, headed by the empress, had stood up and looked in astonishment at the magnificent scene in front of them.
Xu Zhenguan's eyes were shining brightly. As a celestial being, she knew clearly that the Buddha's baptism would be of great benefit to Zhao Duan, so she did not stop it.
He just watched quietly, his heart was filled with a thousand thoughts, and suddenly he began to understand why the Dragon Soul of Emperor Taizu chose him.
Just a glance at the shameless Prajna nun at the edge of the square made him feel a sense of crisis.
"Why would the Buddha's gods... favor such a wicked person?"
Princess Wenzhu stood there in a daze, her mind in a mess.
She was a little confused. At this moment, she wanted very much to meet the man who was her niece in person and find out everything in person.
…
Zhao family.
"Mom, look!"
In the courtyard, Zhao Pan, wearing a cotton-padded jacket, excitedly pointed at the Buddha's light descending from the distance, marveling at it:
"It looks lively, but I don't know which side won. I'll have to ask when Big Brother comes back."
Then I can gossip with the new sisters I met...
Eugene Hua, with the Pekingese dog entangled in her legs, tried to drive the dog off her legs. Upon hearing this, she raised her head, looked at the sky in surprise, and muttered:
"These thieves are quite intimidating."
…
Tianshi Mansion.
A priest walked out of the building, pointing at the strange sight in the distance.
Lian Jinjian and Gongshu Tianyuan were curious and walked out of their residence to watch remotely with the help of the latter's strange invention.
Deep in the ground, the branches and leaves of the banyan tree are swaying.
Zhong Pan, with a naturally ferocious appearance and a scarlet sword on his back, crossed his arms, stared into the distance in shock, and said:
"Master, have you already calculated this? Hehe, this is really interesting. Just now, the Shenlong Temple and Zhao Duan are at odds, and now the Buddha is baptizing them... It's a slap in the face, a loud slap, tsk tsk..."
The old Taoist priest, who is tall and has narrow eyes and brows, holds the Book of Heaven in his hands. He looks like a master who can calculate and plan, and his expression is calm.
It's as if everything is calculated.
In fact, I was so shocked that I took a deep breath:
"This guy... this guy... I asked you to cause trouble, but I didn't say it would be this big... Fortunately, fortunately, that stupid bald donkey Xuanyin had already made an enemy of this strange little guy, otherwise it would have been terrible if he really had been forced to become a monk...
Or maybe that girl from the Xu family acted earlier... Jin Jian'er, why can't you live up to your expectations? What a pity, what a pity..."
…
At this moment, believers in the city who were close to the Shenlong Temple kowtowed at home and worshipped the Buddha.
But no one knows what wonderful expressions they will have when they find out that the one who was baptized was the one they cursed all day long and caused the "ban on Buddhism".
finally.
The Buddha's light lasted for about a dozen breaths, then gradually dimmed and narrowed, and returned to the clouds.
The huge Buddha head slowly closed its eyes, faded away, and disappeared without a trace as the clouds dissipated.
All the strange visions disappeared, and Zhao Duan felt relaxed all over. He looked at his body in doubt and wonder, feeling refreshed and full of energy, as if he had endless energy with nowhere to vent it.
Below the stage, a group of monks looked at each other in bewilderment:
The Buddha has disappeared, so will this debate... continue?
It seemed that everything was over before they even started.
It feels like all the prepared lines have been wasted...
Suddenly, the cold winter wind blew up with a huge roar. A figure floated out from a distant building and appeared in the air in the blink of an eye in the square.
Her black hair flows gracefully, her white clothes are as white as snow, and her appearance is peerless.
"I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
Zhao Duan shuddered, feeling inexplicably uneasy, and was the first to salute in a spineless manner.
The other monks finally came to their senses, suppressed their emotions, and saluted the empress.
Xu Zhenguan stared silently at Xiao Zhao, who was acting like a loyal bootlicker. Suddenly, he wanted to laugh for no reason, but he forced himself to hold it back.
She forced herself to maintain her dignity, looked at Xuan Yin and the Red Sect Master, nodded, then looked at Zhao Duan and said:
"I'm waiting for you in the palace."
After saying this, the empress turned into a gust of wind and disappeared between heaven and earth.
No... you just came here to pass on a message? Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, then realized that the reason the empress showed up was actually to "protect" him.
To prevent him from being targeted by irrational Buddhist monks from both the Eastern and Western sects.
"I obey the decree!"
Zhao Duan pretended to salute, then glanced at the monks, said nothing, and walked away.
The monks looked at each other, intimidated by the empress's power, and reluctantly made way.
Zhao Duan left, leaving the two groups of monks looking at each other in bewilderment.
"Now that things have come to this, we will take our leave."
The Red Sect master suddenly spoke first, breaking the awkward atmosphere. He left with these words, then turned around and left with the confused Western monks.
"Abbot... look..."
Bian Ji looked as if a relative had died. He didn't understand why a good debate had turned out like this.
Bodhisattva Nagarjuna did not say a word. He still had not come to his senses and was in a trance.
All eyes were cast towards Xuan Yin.
Abbot Xuanyin, who had hardly spoken since he appeared, remained silent. He stared at Zhao Duan's departing back for a while, then suddenly turned around and walked into the temple.
At the same time, Xuan Yin's old voice echoed in Bian Ji's ears:
"Go back to the temple and tell me about this person in detail."
Abbot Xuanyin, who had ignored worldly affairs for many years and had not paid much attention to the Buddhist-Taoist competition, finally remembered the name "Zhao Duan".
…
As the empress and the monks left one after another, all the court officials in the Guanshui Tower also came downstairs, each with mixed feelings, and left quickly in their carriages.
"Princess..." The tall female warrior helped Princess Wenzhu into the carriage and said, "Where are we going?"
Princess Wenzhu hesitated for a moment and said, "Let's go to the Golden Wind Pavilion first and meet the 'holy monk', and then return to the palace."
"yes."
On the other side, Ma Yan led a group of Jinyi out. Suddenly, a subordinate came running over from a distance and whispered:
"Lord Governor, there is some progress on the Link that His Majesty ordered to be investigated."
Ma Yan was stunned for a moment, his eyes fixed, and he took a folded piece of paper handed to him by his subordinates. He opened it and took a look, and his expression became extremely interesting.
"...Wait a moment. I'll send it to His Majesty at the palace later."
"Um, later, how late?"
Ma Yan was silent for a moment, then said, "You'll see when Zhao Jisi arrives at the palace, and we'll send him there about an hour after him."
"oh."
…
…
The crowd dispersed, and news about today's debate began to spread throughout the capital along with the flow of people.
At the same time, Zhao Duan, who had left the scene, rode on the horse that had been prepared in the alley, and rode straight to the palace.
Soon, Zhao Duan arrived at the winter palace gate, reported, and walked in.
After asking a familiar female official, I learned that Zhenbao had indeed returned to the palace long ago.
"Flying is indeed fast... but why did you not bring me back with you? Why did you insist on making me go all the way..."
Zhao Duan muttered softly, walked straight through the palace walls, and came to the outside of the empress's bedroom.
After a while, a palace maid came out and said with a strange expression:
"Master Zhao, His Majesty has said that he does not want to see you."
…
Today's 10,000 words
(End of this chapter)
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