Chapter 269 Don’t Become a Buddha
Boom—boom—boom—
Before he could finish his words, three secret doors suddenly opened behind the Bodhisattva statue. In the blink of an eye, several monks armed with sticks rushed out and surrounded Hao Ren.
Master Mingdeng sighed inaudibly:
"Donor, there are some things that should not be said even if you know them."
"Once you tell me this, you will never be able to leave this Ciguang Mountain."
Hao Ren, who was surrounded, smiled and said, "I haven't finished speaking yet. The Second Prince doesn't even know who I am."
Master Mingdeng's voice was flat and dull. "You're wrong. I've already checked you out. The moment I saw you just now, I knew who you were. You're Hao Ren, from Lingnan, a royal merchant, and you're quite trusted by Murong Yu."
Mingdeng will send people to investigate any new person who appears around Murong Yu.
Ming Deng: "The expert who recently appeared in Ciguang Mountain is probably one of yours."
"It is indeed someone I sent. If I hadn't come to investigate, how would I have known that there were old friends in the mountains?"
Hao Ren raised his hand and peeled off the disguise on his face one by one.
Under Ming Deng's suspicious gaze, Hao Ren revealed his unparalleled handsome face:
"It's been a long time. I wonder if the Second Prince still remembers that when we played chess back then, the Second Prince always gave me three pieces."
Mingdeng paused for a moment, his eyes carefully tracing Hao Ren's face.
After a long while, he slowly uttered a name with a look of surprise:
"Pei Lingyun?"
"Are you Erlang from Minister Pei's family?"
The bright sunbeams stopped dancing, but some scenes from the past came to mind.
He remembered that a long time ago, when he was only a teenager, he played chess with Pei Lingyun, who came into the palace with his father.
He was fourteen years old, while Pei Lingyun was only seven. When they played chess, it was Pei Lingyun who won.
He was very concerned about his reputation at that time and was afraid that it would be embarrassing if he told others about his loss, so he always gave Pei Lingyun three pieces.
Every time he lost, he would tell others that he lost on purpose and would not argue with a child.
Those times are so far away, like a lifetime ago.
Hao Ren laughed dryly and briefly, "I'm very different from what I was back then. It's hard for the Second Prince to recognize me."
"You bear some resemblance to your brother. The Pei family is indeed all handsome and graceful, but the world is unpredictable..."
There was a hint of regret and bitterness in Mingdeng's voice.
He raised his hand, and the monks around him who were holding sticks quietly retreated and disappeared into the secret door behind the Bodhisattva.
The secret door closed again, and the hall was empty, as if no one had been there just now.
The statue remains silent and compassionate.
Hao Ren: "The Second Prince is quite scheming. He has actually managed to build a world at the foot of the Imperial City."
Mingdeng picked up the bowl and drank tea:
"It's the same here. You were able to come back from Lingnan and get close to Murong Yu. It must have taken a lot of effort. How did you find out it was me?"
Hao Ren simply said that he knew that Crown Prince Jinshan had disappeared, and he always felt that the disappearance of the Second Prince was strange.
They accidentally found the gold and silver hidden in Ciguang Mountain, and after carefully investigating Ciguang Temple, Hao Ren connected the two things in his mind.
Ming Deng shook his head: "Even so, how do you know it must be me?"
Hao Ren glanced out the window and could vaguely see two children sitting on a stone bench talking:
“When I mentioned Mount Tzu-kuang, my wife and daughter told me that they had eaten some delicious dried peach meat on the mountain.
This is truly a coincidence. I remember when I was young and playing chess with the Second Prince, you always had dried peaches in your tea and snacks."
Ming Deng: "You still remember."
Hao Ren: "I can't forget the past even if I want to."
Ming Deng smiled bitterly, a trace of sadness on his face, and his voice was hoarse:
"It was indeed a childhood for you. When my royal brother was murdered and passed away, you were only eight years old."
"Twenty-three years have passed in a state of panic. How unpredictable things really are."
The sun is at its zenith.
The light grew brighter and brighter, and the heat became intense.
Hao Ren and Master Mingdeng stayed in the hall for a long time.
Su Zhizhi's face was tanned red by the sun, so Wuzhen took Su Zhizhi to the temple to avoid the sun.
Su Zhizhi: "Why is my dad still in there? He's been talking for so long."
Wuzhen: "The pilgrims who come to discuss the sutras with my master often stay for a long time, and some even stay overnight on the mountain."
Su Zhizhi shook her head: "My dad can't live in the mountains. My mom is waiting for us to go back home for dinner, and I have to go to school tomorrow."
Wu Zhen: "Little donor, didn't you say last time that you had finished school?"
Su Zhizhi: "My dad said that learning never ends, and I have to keep going after I finish. And I'm not studying in a college, I'm studying in a martial arts school, so I have to practice martial arts every day."
Wu Zhen nodded and said, "Young donor, it must be very hard. I've seen some of the brothers in our temple get up early to practice, and after that they have to chant sutras. It's not an easy task."
Su Zhizhi: "Why do you always call me Little Donor instead of my name? I do have a name. My name is Su Zhi. You can call me Zhizhi."
Wuzhen scratched his head a little embarrassedly: "Because I just forgot your name."
Su Zhizhi asked again, "You said last time that your master was going to become a Buddha. Is he going to become a Buddha soon?"
Wuzhen said with regret:
"My master... my master said that becoming a Buddha isn't that easy and requires a long period of practice. Lately, I've been urging him to recite sutras every day, and it's been really stressful for him. He's getting quite old."
Wu Zhen's face was filled with guilt, and his eyebrows were squeezed together:
"I had a nightmare last night. I dreamed that my master was crying. When I woke up, I saw him meditating in the middle of the night. He said that what he wanted was as difficult as ascending to heaven. Yes, becoming a Buddha must be difficult. It's my fault. I pushed my master too hard."
"Is it so uncomfortable? You'd better not make your master too nervous. It's very sad if he can't sleep. If you can't become a Buddha, being an abbot or a sweeping monk is also good." Su Zhizhi shook her head repeatedly, taking it as a warning.
It seems that you can't try too hard in anything.
Wuzhen said seriously:
"Whether he's the abbot or the sweeping monk, no matter what my master becomes, I just want him to be happy."
"I don't want my master to become a Buddha."
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