Myriad Paths

On the fifth floor, all the visions disappeared.

Here, it truly became an ordinary wooden building, without those things that made Li Qi ashamed.

But this wooden building is extremely luxuriously decorated, with gold and jade on all sides, agarwood as a cover, sesame grass coating the walls, fungus crumbs and caissons, flower buds hanging from the top, and many clay sculptures placed below.

Clay canopy, pipa, demon-conquering pestle, nine-ring tin staff, flowing cloud support, multi-treasure vase, pagoda bell, lotus leaf petals, Pemba vase, Longwen orb plate, treasure flag, square flag, Habali drum, Garbala bowl.

None of them are genuine, they are all fakes made from clay sculptures that have been colored and baked.

Under many clay sculptures, there is a Buddha seat with a niche, a throne and a bed inside.

In the Buddhist niche, there is a Buddha statue, which is less than one foot and very small.

However, although it is small, it uses a lot of very fine materials. The materials that Li Qi can see include gum, green powder, alum, ocher, cinnabar, realgar, stone yellow, garcinia, rouge, red gold, and gold. .

All these materials are ground into powder and made into a slurry, which is painted on the skin of the Buddha statue, making it lifelike and like a real person. The skin seems to be really soft to the touch.

The headband, flower crown, earrings, bracelets, and tassels on the Buddha statue are all exquisite and as if they are real.

Around the shrine, there are colorful murals, all of which are gold lacquer oil paintings. The main subjects of the murals are lion roars, elephants, sacred horses, sacred mules, sacred cows, statues, Arhats, Bodhisattvas, and monks.

The content of the painting is a picture of all living beings living in harmony, with the monk as the center, and all things harmonious, all in the mountains, rivers, trees, bridges, colorful clouds, and landscapes.

Many mythical beasts spread around the edges, including tigers, leopards, bears, dogs, sheep, wolves, cranes, warblers, and parrots, gradually spreading out until the end of the mural.

The entire Buddhist niche is six feet wide, two feet deep, and three feet high. In front of the Buddhist niche, there are two people.

A man was sitting cross-legged, with an open scripture in front of him. He closed his eyes, his expression was intoxicated, and there was golden light flowing from his body.

This person was wearing official uniform and seemed to be sitting here impatiently without even having time to change.

The other person was standing, dressed in white with cloud patterns on it, with a chic demeanor, holding a scripture in his hand and reading something carefully.

This standing man was very handsome, and Li Qi was dwarfed by him. The white clothes set off his temperament incomparably. However, from the style point of view, this did not look like the clothes of Bailin Kingdom at all, and it did not even look like the clothes of Bailin Kingdom. Like Baiyue's clothing.

The pendants, moiré patterns, patterns, etc. all looked like something Li Qi had never seen before.

It's just that it looks really good.

In addition, this person is a handsome guy, which makes people feel like a breeze blowing on their face.

Compared to the middle-aged man in official uniform who was so intoxicated that he was almost immersed in sleep and completely unaware of Li Qi, this young handsome man immediately put away his book as soon as he saw Li Qi's arrival.

"Ah, it's interesting that someone can actually pass through the four floors below. Who are you?" The handsome young man put the book away, placed it on the altar table in front of the Buddhist niche, and walked towards Li Qi.

As soon as he came over, Li Qi felt a strong oppression.

It's like...

what is it then?

Li Qi couldn't describe it.

But he felt restrained, subconsciously restrained when facing this person.

It's like, normally when a person is alone, he will feel very comfortable and may even be rude.

But if he speaks at a very important meeting, then unless this person is really big-hearted, he will probably be more restrained and pay attention to his manners and speech.

That's what it feels like.

He felt as if he was subconsciously straightening his back and holding his head high.

This feeling was very bad, which made Li Qi's expression change. He channeled his martial arts energy, forced himself to break away, and messed up his hair and collar.

His hair was originally tied up, but now it was torn open and turned into disheveled hair. As a result, there was more "chaos" in him than "order", and that sense of restraint suddenly disappeared.

Although this restraint was broken, Li Qi was still full of vigilance in his heart.

"Who is your Excellency?" Li Qi took two steps back without leaving a trace, staring at the other party cautiously.

"Wang Baiyan, I'm sorry for scaring you. It's just that I was a little surprised to see someone pass through the four floors downstairs." The handsome young master said.

A young man in white clothes who called himself Wang Baiyan stood in front of Li Qi with a curious face: "On the four floors downstairs, the Arhat Hall will see if your mind is pure, the Bodhisattva Hall will see if you have karma, and the Three Buddhas Hall will test your mind and patience. , only the scriptures are really unprotected, but it can still be regarded as a test of concentration.”

He kept looking at Li Qi: "There are no visions along the way, which means that you have no angry thoughts in your heart, there is no cause and effect in the past and next lives, your mental endurance can withstand the light of the Buddha, and you do not covet scriptures and can do anything Anyone who has experienced so many things must be an outstanding person if he is not born as a Buddhist. You don’t look like someone in a high position. You have calluses on your hands. Although your clothes are clean, your spine is a little distorted. You should have practiced martial arts and have done something. Heavy physical work, not like tender skin.”

"I guess you should have been in a low status before, then seize the opportunity and use your talents to rise up. However, your cultivation level has not improved much, so you are both a great man and a disciple of Buddhism. Brother, you have wisdom." Wang Baiyan looked at it Li Qi sighed.

Li Qi was ashamed, but he had something serious to do, so he did not answer the call. Instead, he asked Wang Baiyan: "Your Excellency is joking. I came here with a mission. I don't have time to joke. May I ask if this person here is the right person?" This Guangyang Sima?”

As he asked, he pointed at the middle-aged man who was immersed in Buddhist scriptures.

But Li Qi did not relax his vigilance. He also observed this person.

This person seems to be in the ninth grade as well?

But what kind of path he is practicing, I have never seen it. He does not look like a martial artist, nor does he have the aura of ghosts and gods in Wu Jin, nor does he look like a member of the Taoist sect.

But that kind of restrained feeling felt familiar to Li Qi.

Fortunately, the other party is only at the ninth level, so this kind of restraint cannot really suppress him.

"Exactly, he is Guangyang Sima, but now he has become addicted to Buddhism and has no intention of the secular world. I'm afraid you can't wake him up now." Wang Baiyan said to Li Qi.

"Can't you wake me up?" Li Qi's expression darkened, then he stopped caring about Wang Baiyan, walked straight to Guangyang Sima, and pushed him.

But with a gentle push, the other person still sat cross-legged with an obsessed expression and ignored Li Qi.

When Li Qi saw this, he pushed hard with all his strength.

However, this time, the surrounding golden light burst out with a repulsive force, which neutralized Li Qi's push and did not push him at all.

Li Qi took a deep breath, moved Li Liuyi, waved his fist, exploded with tens of thousands of kilograms of force, and punched down!

But this time, the golden light actually burst out. Li Qi didn't notice for a moment and was directly pushed away by the golden light. He stepped back more than ten steps and reached the edge of the wooden tower before stopping.

"Look, I told you, I'm afraid you won't be able to wake me up." Wang Baiyan said as he watched from the side.

"How could this happen? Golden light protects the body. This is not a common thing." Li Qi was not injured. He fell from the wall with a solemn expression.

It's broken, what's going on?

When reading the scriptures, the golden light protection means that he put it up himself. Generally, he happened to have entered an important stage of practice, so he put up a layer of protection to prevent others from disturbing him.

In other words, it was Guangyang Sima who took the initiative not to be disturbed and actively blocked the outside world.

"What's your emergency?" Wang Baiyan asked curiously.

But Li Qi had no time to pay attention to him. Could this man still sign for him on behalf of Guangyang Sima?

So Li Qi just stood up and said: "The military situation is urgent. Please forgive me for not being able to tell the truth. I'll take my leave."

After he finished speaking, he immediately set off and went downstairs without stopping.

He is going to find Monk Zenzhi.

Tianning Temple here is his territory. Naturally, he has to ask Monk Zenzhi for this kind of matter. If Monk Zenzhi can't do it, then he may have to go back to the city immediately and go to Guangyang Prefect to make a decision.

Running all the way down to the pagoda, Li Qi just felt ridiculous.

Ridiculous, extremely ridiculous!

A Sima from Yizhou didn't do any business, but came here to study Buddhism, and he seemed to gain a lot from it.

If you really want to do this, you should resign!

He occupies his position and does nothing. Maybe he is also the reason why the front line is so chaotic.

Neglect of duty in such an important position is simply a waste of human life.

Li Qi ran all the way down and saw Monk Zenzhi sweeping the floor.

He walked forward and took the initiative to say to Zen Zhi: "Master Zen Zhi, Guangyang Sima is intoxicated with Buddhism and ignores the secular world. Can you help me wake up? I really have important military information, involving hundreds of thousands of people, life and death, I am here all the way , I heard that the master is a kind and good person, and he usually saves just one person, so he shouldn’t just sit back and watch a hundred thousand lives in danger, right?”

Zen Wisdom heard the words and raised his head: "Donor, can you tell the poor monk something about what you said? If you don't know the details, it may be difficult for the poor monk to judge whether he should help you or not."

Li Qi thought about it for a moment, and then said: "There is a demon attack at the town pass, and the people must be evacuated urgently. Hundreds of thousands of people have to move out, but the military rations are not enough. Guangyang City must allocate food, but all food and salary payments must be approved by Lord Sima." , At this moment, he is trapped in cultivation, but the military situation is urgent, and he still hopes for help from the master. "

When Li Qi was talking, he kept looking at Zen Zhi. To be honest, he didn't really believe in this monk.

But what I didn't expect was that Zen Zhi actually agreed with Li Qi's words.

After hearing what Li Qi had said, he actually said urgently: "So it is indeed an urgent matter. The poor monk will go and help the benefactor wake him up."

Then, he took Li Qi upstairs quickly.

When he got upstairs, he quickly stepped forward and pushed Yang Sima: "Donor Qian, Donor Qian, wake up quickly, wake up quickly."

Guangyang Sima's golden light burst out again, but this time it was directly broken by Zen Zhi, who then pushed him.

"Who is it?!?" Guangyang Sima was furious and stood up directly.

Li Qi and Wang Baiyan's expressions changed, they closed their eyes at the same time, and then ran away from the door.

These two ninth-level men are not even qualified to look at the anger of the seventh-level strong man. Be careful to look at it twice and your heart will be broken.

Death is not inevitable, but serious damage to one's cultivation level is certain.

But before they could run away, they saw Monk Zenzhi clasping his hands together and chanting the Buddha's name softly.

Amidst the sound of Buddha, golden light transformed from his feet.

There are many wonderful flowers, made of golden color of Jambudvipa sandalwood, like spinning fire wheels, with great light, turned into banners and countless treasure canopies.

There is also a lotus flower, with twelve leaves in full shape, playing the sound of the Dharma. Its sound is subtle, speaking of the perfections of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and selflessness. It emits subtle golden light. Each leaf of the lotus flower is colored with a hundred treasures. The eighty-four thousand meridians are like a picture in the sky. Each meridians has eighty-four thousand lights. They are all clearly visible.

There are also musical instruments, suspended in the sky, like heavenly treasure banners, which sing without drums. Among the sounds, they all say the name of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the monks.

Such an illusion passed by in a flash, but he saw Guangyang Sima's anger completely gone, his mind clear, and his face looking ashamed: "I've lost my composure, master, why did you call me?"

"Good man, this is not the fault of sentient beings, this is the fault of afflictions. A wise man has a good view and is not angry with all sentient beings. I have no reason to blame you. However, if you are always angry and fill your mind with filth, it will blind your pure and holy heart. You can't see everything clearly." Chan Zhi put his hands together and said to Guangyang Sima.

"Qian Bin was taught, but I don't know why the master woke me up?" Guangyang Sima calmed down and asked.

Seeing this, Zen Zhi turned around and looked at Li Qi and others who had just escaped: "Donor Qian has woken up. Please tell me the situation quickly. The poor monk will avoid it first."

After saying this, Monk Zenzhi prepared to exit the fifth floor.

Li Qi quickly thanked him: "Thank you, Master, for your help, and thank you for your protection."

"Thank you for your protection." Wang Baiyan also nodded in thanks.

If Zenzhi had not intervened to block the anger before, something would have happened to them.

"No, does Wang Shi want to go down with the poor monk? After all, it seems that Donor Qian and Donor Li have something important to discuss." Monk Zenzhi said.

"Okay, then I will go down with the master."

On the other hand, Li Qi took a deep breath after hearing this.

He didn't tell Zenzhi his name.

How does Zen wisdom know? And he screamed out as if nothing had happened?

But he didn't point this out. Instead, he watched the other party leave, then closed the door, walked up to Guangyang Sima, and said in the eyes of the other party's doubts: "Sir Sima, it's important to have military affairs!"

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Sima Guangyang to answer, he told a lot about the White Rhino Army and the relocation of more than 100,000 people.

Then, he took out the tokens and the military flag, and then took out the official document written in advance: "I also ask Lord Sima to sign and seal, so that I can go and collect the food and grass."

"Just this kind of thing? Are you here to disturb my Qing Xiu? That's nonsense! From now on, you can go to Situ for this kind of thing, not me!" Guangyang Sima seemed to be very angry, but he barely suppressed his anger and with a stroke of his pen, After printing the seal again, he waved Li Qi away, and he picked up the Buddhist scriptures again.

Li Qi sighed when he saw this, but didn't say much.

He went straight downstairs and said goodbye to Zenzhi.

Wang Baiyan seemed to want to talk to him, but Li Qi didn't have the time. He simply said a few perfunctory words, then quickly went down the mountain, mounted his old horse, and rushed towards the military grain warehouse.