Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Some people took it for granted that Fang Xushan was so kind to Xie Lingya, while others were dissatisfied. For example, a Taoist named Liu who participated in the reception was Fang Xushan’s junior brother.
As he walked, he said to Xie Lingya: “Mr. Xie, how much salary does Baoyang Temple pay to the resident Taoist priests every month?”
Xie Lingya knew what was going on. If he wanted to find something to be unhappy about, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to start from this aspect.
At first, Xie Lingya didn’t react and said, “Now the pay is two thousand per month for each Taoist priest.”
Compared with the first offer given to Zhang Daoting, this had already increased, and did not include commission.
Liu Daoshi smiled and said, “We have six thousand here.”
The Jade Palace was a large temple and the city was also larger, so the level was naturally different.
He asked again: “How much do you charge for a normal fast?”
“It’s 100 yuan to participate in the ceremony, and the ceremony is another thing…” Xie Lingya answered, feeling a bit subtle.
Fang Xushan was also raising money just now, but that was to introduce the situation inside the temple, and secondly, he wanted to sell Amway to Xie Lingya without offending others. But this person’s tone made people uncomfortable, as if he was mocking the concept of holding rituals.
Dozens of Taoist priests walked back and forth, and their voices were not loud. So, others thought they were just discussing something serious.
Xie Lingya didn’t want to talk much anymore, so he stepped into the Shanmen Hall. However, Taoist Liu was still talking: “Is it difficult to make offerings in daily life? What is the area of the temple?”
Damn, is it interesting for you, a monk, to ask for money all the time? Are you here to practice Taoism or to make money?
However, there seemed to be quite a few such Taoist priests nowadays.
Liu Daoshi: “…How tall is the main statue of Guiguan? Clay sculpture or bronze?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a heavy object fell down and landed in front of Liu Daoshi’s feet, almost grazing the tip of his nose!
Xie Lingya glanced at the ground and almost couldn’t hold back his smile. He turned around and lowered his head to avoid being seen.
The Taoist priests were all attracted, “Hey, what’s going on?”
“Are you injured?”
“It’s time to repair the statue. Don’t be reluctant to spend money when you earn so much. Our place’s statue is gold.” Xie Lingya raised his head and said slowly. He then walked to the statue and burned three sticks of incense.
Liu Daoshi looked at him in shock, touched his nose, looked down, and saw a huge middle finger in front of his feet pointing upwards, facing his face.
This was a clay-painted hand with the middle finger raised. In Taoism, which deity had the middle finger raised?
They had just entered the Shanmen Hall. There were spiritual officials in the temple, just as there were Chinese troops in the government. Lingguan had been guarding the mountain gate since ancient times. This hand fell off the statue of Wang Lingguan in the Shanmen Hall!
The other Taoist priests turned back and looked at the statue. They all felt that the meaning was not good. Fang Xushan quickly picked up the finger with yellow cloth and asked someone to contact the craftsman. He muttered about what happened in the factory. It was broken into dregs such that it could still be broken.
“Junior brother, are you okay?” Fang Xushan asked, seeing that Liu Daoshi was still dumbfounded.
Taoist Liu went to see Xie Lingya. Xie Lingya had just finished offering incense. At this time, other Taoist priests went to offer incense because of the scene just now, but he was the only one standing aside with a smile on his face.
Liu Daoshi felt a chill in his heart, how could he dare to tell the true situation just now. He walked to Shanmen Hall and mentioned the main god of Baoyang Temple. Now that he thought about it, wasn’t the main god of Baoyang Temple Wang Lingguan…
Even if it was a coincidence, it was scary enough, not to mention that Taoist Liu was a Taoist.
For a moment, Liu Daoshi was so scared that he didn’t dare to talk to Xie Lingya anymore.
….
“What happened just now, Teacher Xie, are you hurt?” Zhang Daoting and Shi Changxuan were both being pulled to talk by other Taoist priests just now. Zhang Daoting now asked with concern.
“It’s okay, it’s just…” Xie Lingya glanced at the statue of Lingguan, “Hey, our ancestor is still our ancestor.”
The ancestor had a really violent temper. No wonder his original name was “Wang E”. His country was easy to change, but his nature was hard to move.
Zhang Daoting nodded in confusion, “Then let me go and offer incense to the Patriarch.”
They were going to spend the night at the Jade Palace. There were rooms specially designed to accommodate laypeople and tourists, but many people slept in one room.
“Let’s sleep together, are you on top or below?” After entering the room at night, Xie Lingya habitually pulled Shi Changxuan and asked.
Shi Changxuan: “…”
Xie Lingya: “?”
Shi Changxuan: “…top bunk bed.”
This room had bunk beds.
“That’s so kind of you.” Xie Lingya thanked him, thinking Shi Changxuan took the initiative to bear the inconvenience of getting in and out of the upper bunk.
Most of the other top beds were reserved for the younger ones, who took the initiative to sleep on the upper bunk.
Shi Changxuan hesitated to speak and finally climbed to the upper bunk with his head down.
….
The next day, the Qiyang Taoist group was going to have a formal discussion with the Taoist priests of the Jade Palace. In order to avoid Amway, Xie Lingya squatted at the door and used his mobile phone to write a WeChat push message.
At this moment, a little Taoist priest ran towards this side in a panic, tripped on the steps, and suffered a nosebleed.
Xie Lingya strode over, supported the little Taoist priest and recited the hemostatic mantra, “Don’t let clean blood come out, don’t let dirty blood flow!”
Now that he recited the hemostatic mantra, the priest no longer felt pain, and the nosebleed also stopped.
At this time, the Taoist priests inside had just finished speaking and walked out. They then saw Xie Lingya supporting the little Taoist priest, whose face was covered with nosebleed.
Fang Xushan: “Xiao You, no matter how good-looking Senior Brother Xie is, you can’t have a nosebleed.”
The little Taoist priest: “…”
Xie Lingya: “…”
Shi Changxuan: “…”
The little Taoist priest jumped anxiously. “Director, don’t be ridiculous! I just received a call from the police station, asking us to assist in the investigation.”
Fang Xushan looked confused, “Why are they asking us to assist in the investigation?”
Fang Xushan complained, then he and the little Taoist priest left together and disappeared for about twenty minutes before coming back. His face was a little unsightly and he said with some sadness: “A devout believer in our Taoist temple was found to have died mysteriously at home.”
Not only was he a devout believer, but he was still a devout believer who donated a lot of money to them but died suddenly and mysteriously. Two days before his death, he went up to the mountain to burn incense, so the police also contacted the Taoist temple during their investigation.
“Hey, Benefactor He is a devout believer, how could something like this happen?” said a Taoist priest from the Jade Palace.
Fang Xushan didn’t say anything at the time. Later, when the Taoist priests dispersed, he grabbed Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan and said solemnly: “Xiao Xie, Xiao Shi, please give me the details. I’ll call and ask for more details. I suspected that Benefactor He might have been cursed to death.
“When Benefactor He’s body was found, he was still holding a Taoist scripture in his hand, which I had placed in the temple to ward off evil spirits and ghosts. I specifically told him to use it if he encountered any evil things.”
“Benefactor He is usually in good health. Even the police don’t believe that he died suddenly due to a sudden illness.”
“That does not sound right. Are there any other signs?” Xie Lingya asked.
But Fang Xushan hadn’t gone to the scene. He just inquired about some details. The three of them discussed it and felt that it was possible, but they couldn’t be sure.
“I must go to Benefactor He to let him be saved. Can you come with me?” Fang Xushan knew that, not to mention Xie Lingya, even Shi Changxuan came from a Taoist family and was very famous in the industry. He might not be as good as Shi Changxuan in this aspect.
Benefactor He usually helped the Jade Palace a lot, so Fang Xushan did not hesitate to invite Shi Changxuan and two people to go and have a look.
Naturally, the two of them did not refuse, “Of course you can.”
Fang Xushan helped the team leader and took Xie and Shi down the mountain, all the way to the city. Benefactor He had a wife, so Fang Xushan called his home. When he arrived at He’s house, someone naturally opened the door, and it was Benefactor He’s son.
Benefactor He’s son looked tired and when he looked at Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan, he thought they were Taoist priests under Fang Xushan’s hands.
As soon as he entered the house, he saw that besides layman He’s wife, there was an old monk with a white beard in the living room.
“Master Lian Tan?” Xie Lingya said in surprise.
Lian Tan looked up and said, “Xiao Xie?”
“Do you know each other?” Benefactor He’s son said confusedly, wondering how the relationship between the monk and the Taoist priest was so good.
“I know him.” Xie Lingya replied subconsciously, “Why are you here?”
Didn’t the He family believe in Taoism? What’s the situation with a monk coming to visit? Fang Xushan didn’t quite understand this.
Layman He’s wife looked a little weird and said: “Abbot Fang is here. This Master Lian Tan just came uninvited, but he said the same thing as you. That my old He died in that way.”
Fang Xushan contacted her and made it very clear that he was not only here for salvation, but that he also suspected that the perpetrators used unusual methods.
“Amitabha.” Lian Tan stood up and said to everyone in the room, “A month ago, the daughter of a believer in our temple died in exactly the same way, and we could not even attract her ghost. I followed the clues and got here, but before I could find out, I learnt that there was also a human life lost here.”
He took out a booklet from his bag and handed it to everyone, “This is the clue that appeared in the last victim’s house.”
Xie Lingya took a look and saw “Hunyuan Red Sun Floating High and Coming to the Mortal Scripture” which looked like a classic from some sect. He frowned, “What is this?”
“It seems familiar?” Fang Xushan was also confused.
Shi Changxuan was worthy of studying religion. He could tell it at first glance. He didn’t wait for Lian Tan to talk about popular science and said, “Is it a book about Hongyang school of Taoism?”
“Which school is this? Why haven’t I heard of it?” Xie Lingya was even more confused.
Shi Changxuan: “This sect has been developing for hundreds of years. Although it is called a Taoist sect, it is actually a folk evil sect that pretends to be a Taoist sect.”
After all, in China, Taoism and Buddhism had the greatest influence. Officials also admitted it and everyone had a strong respect for monks and Taoists. There was thus a sense of trust.
There were many crooked groups like this that pretended to be Buddhist or Taoist, and they did use some Taoist techniques, because some of them were developed by true Taoists or Buddhists.
In fact, there were many folk sects, such as Lushan Fa and Meishan Dao, which had become intangible cultural heritage. However, Hongyang Dao was still despised. Of course there was a reason.
Shi Changxuan took the sutra book and opened it and continued, “Those who practice this way worship Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Taoist gods. They believe that both Buddhists, Taoists, and Confucians need to read his sutras in order to ascend. In modern times, I heard that even God has not escaped…”
Everyone: “…”
Xie Lingya: “…No, you have to read this scripture to enter heaven. Will they translate it?”
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