The master comes down the mountain: I don’t want to be a son-in-law

The white hair fell one by one, like snowflakes drifting to the ground.

Venerable Xingkong took the razor and carefully cut the old monk's long hair bit by bit.

A bell rang from the foot of the mountain, and the lingering sound echoed among the mountain peaks.

It is definitely not normal for the bell to ring at this time.

Xingkong did not dare to be distracted at all. He held the razor steadily in his hand and cut it again and again.

The long hair gradually became shorter, and when the razor shaved close to the scalp, the old master's head became shiny and bright, shining in the sun, just like his name - Huideng.

"Master, the shave is done." Xingkong stood aside respectfully.

The old master seemed to be asleep, with his eyes closed and not saying a word.

Xingkong wanted to call him, opened his mouth, but in the end no sound came out.

A young monk came running from the path on the top of the mountain. Xingkong waved his hand from a distance, signaling him not to come over and disturb him.

The little monk stood in the distance, scratching his ears and cheeks, very anxious.

Xingkong knew that something must have happened down there, and he became anxious.

The old master suddenly asked, "What are you in such a hurry for?"

Xingkong was startled and said quickly: "Disciple, there is no rush."

"Hey, no hurry, why is the spring water moving?"

"what?"

Xingkong was puzzled and looked at the spring. There was no wind at this time, and the water surface was clear and calm, without any ripples.

He knew it was the old wizard who was criticizing him, so he put his hands together and said guiltily, "My heart was moved."

"Well, then look down and see what's in the spring?" asked Master Huideng.

Xingkong then took two steps forward and came to the edge of the spring. He looked down and saw his own reflection, so he said, "That's me in the spring."

"What else besides you?"

“I alone reflect myself, and nothing else.”

"Look, you are trying to play wit with me again. I got tired of this game hundreds of years ago! Zen is in the heart, not in the words. Witty remarks are just for show."

"Then... Master's meaning..."

"Master, I am asking you, is the spring water clear? What is under the water?"

"This..." Xingkong seemed to have not figured it out yet, and touched his bald head, "To reply to Master, the spring water is very clear, but there are rocks at the bottom of the water."

"Hey, isn't that right? Cultivation requires being down-to-earth, seeing what you see and saying what you know. It is useless to use witty words and official documents, which are as good as saying nothing. You manage such a large temple, so you must understand this principle. If you do not practice in a down-to-earth manner and take shortcuts, the people below will follow your example, meditating on mantras and practicing face-saving Buddha all day long without doing practical things. Sooner or later, this temple will be destroyed, and it will also implicate a group of Bodhisattvas and Vajras, and their golden bodies will fall and their incense will lose."

Xingkong lowered his head: "Master is right."

"Well, go ahead. It's not convenient for me to go down. You can bring the guests here."

Xingkong wanted to ask who the guest was, but when he saw the old master closed his eyes again, as if he was asleep, he stopped asking, bowed, retreated to a distance, and then hurried down the mountain with the young monk who came to report the news.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew up from the cliff outside the Black Dragon Pool, bringing with it a little black smoke and miasma, as well as some strange sounds, like a dull roar or a shrill scream.

Hui Deng stretched himself, stood up from the bluestone, walked around the Black Dragon Pond, and went to the edge of the cliff. He looked at the abyss below and said, "It's been five hundred years, and you can't become a ghost, and I can't become a Buddha. What's the point of this?"

The wind at the foot of the cliff grew stronger, stirring up the thick fog. The whistling sound was like the roar of ghosts, responding to the old wizard's questions.

Huideng sighed and waved his hand gently. The white hair on the ground beside the Black Dragon Pool behind him floated up and danced in the wind, like heavy snow all over the sky. Suddenly, it split into thousands of white silks and turned into a rain of arrows, which were fine and dense, and shot into the clouds under the cliff.

The wind stopped.

The clouds and fog dispersed, revealing a clear, thin waterfall hanging on the cliff. Perhaps because there were many black rocks on the cliff, the waterfall appeared black, like a black dragon diving into the abyss.

……

Eighteen monks emerged from behind Yun Tong, three in front, three behind, three on the left, three on the right, three up and three down, surrounding Lin Manqing and the other three in the center.

The monks had blank expressions on their faces as they waved the sticks in their hands. The shadows of the sticks filled the air in all directions to the west, making it impenetrable.

Li Asi didn't take it seriously at first, thinking it was just a few monks setting up an Arhat formation.

But he soon discovered that things were not that simple.

The crisscrossing shadows of sticks in the sky actually vaguely transformed into the images of Arhats.

Invisible pressure also comes with it, making people feel suffocated.

Li Asi knew that these were not ordinary martial monks, and their stick techniques were full of Buddhist teachings. And these sticks were not ordinary eyebrow-high sticks, but Buddhist instruments.

Li Asi's eyes flashed, and without waiting for the opponent to launch the first wave of attack, he immediately rushed forward and broke into the sky full of stick shadows.

The opponent's formation was also activated at this moment.

With a few bangs, several sticks hit Li Axi hard, but the hidden blade in Li Axi's hand also moved along the sticks, silently drawing a thin line on the monk's neck.

Li Asi's first move was a killing move.

He would not hold back just because the opponent was a monk. Fighting was not a game of house. The Wu family was such a big family, and they would be gone in the blink of an eye.

So he was determined to break the formation as soon as possible, even if it meant getting injured and getting hit by a few sticks.

Fortunately, those few blows only caused him some pain, and the monk's formation was obviously disrupted by him.

Li Asi did not stop. As he turned his body, the knife had already cut the ribs of the second monk, and then he slashed at the third monk.

Master Yuntong reacted only at this time. He rushed into the formation, pulled his disciples away, and slapped Li Asi.

Li Asi didn't have time to put away his knife, so he could only use his other hand to fight back against Yun Tong.

With a bang, Li Asi flew backwards.

In terms of skill, he is obviously not as good as Yuntong.

Fortunately, Yun Tongqing was in a hurry to save people, so his palm power was not fully exerted. This palm only caused Li Asi's blood and qi to be shaken, and he was not injured.

Yun Tong helped the injured disciple up and used some magical Buddhist techniques to barely save his life.

He turned around, looked at Li Asi, and shouted angrily: "You bold lunatic, this is a Buddhist holy land, how dare you kill someone like this!"

Li Asi said calmly: "You were the first to attack me. If I hadn't killed you, I would have been beaten to death."

"you……"

Yun Tong was speechless for a moment. He was so angry that he no longer cared about his Buddhist mindset and shouted, "Mahavairocana Tathagata!"

The disciples responded in unison and rearranged their formation, but this time with Yuntong as the center.

The monks moved around, and the purple sticks that reached their eyebrows cast purple shadows.

Every beam and brick of the temple buildings in the eight directions to the west began to emit colorful streams of light.

Then, the bell on the bell tower that Li Asi had just rung made a loud bang when no one was around.

Along with the sound of the bell, the sound of Buddha's chanting could be heard faintly in the void.

"careful!"

Lin Manqing had just shouted when she saw a huge hand falling from the clouds.

She took off the phoenix hairpin on her head and picked it up gently.

A flaming phoenix soared into the sky and crashed headfirst into the giant palm.