BookMe #582 - It’s the New Year, I wish you a prosperous New Year.
#582 - It’s the New Year, I wish you a prosperous New Year.
What kind of feeling is this?
Blatant flaunting of wealth becomes 'thrift' in their mouths.
Good heavens, this is more painful than a slap in the face!
Tang Sanzang really didn't have any bad intentions; he was simply stating a fact.
After all, the things Tang Sanzang had obtained before, whether the treasures of the palace or the kasaya given by Guanyin Bodhisattva later,
Which one wasn't a top-notch treasure?
Just these two small jade plates and two small cups?
Forget it, that's it?
If it weren't for Tang Sanzang's high moral character, his low profile, and his aversion to showing off, he would have already pinned this beast to the ground and slapped him silly!
But the old abbot was unhappy.
I worked so hard, swindling, deceiving, burning, killing, and looting, to run this black Zen temple for over two hundred years, and only barely managed to obtain these two precious items.
And you call it thrift?
People who like to show off can't stand hearing that!
"Take a look."
Tang Sanzang flung out the brocade kasaya.
After the Water and Land Dharma Assembly, Tang Sanzang was driven to madness and suffered unspeakable pain by the kasaya and the tin staff.
But later, the Western Paradise renovated the tin staff and kasaya, removing the Buddha light from them and leaving only the genuine materials.
At this moment, when Tang Sanzang flung out the brocade kasaya, all the monks present seemed to be staring at the sun, terrified,
"Ah! It's so dazzling! How can there be such a magical treasure in the world?!"
The old abbot was even more outrageous, his eyes wide open, almost glowing.
The brocade kasaya was made of ice silk spun by silkworms, woven by celestial maidens, and crafted by goddesses.
The squares and clusters of embroidered flowers were sewn with red agate, purple coral, luminous pearls, relics…
It could be described as stealing the moon's whiteness and competing with the sun's redness, with strands of celestial energy and朵朵auspicious light.
When the old abbot saw Tang Sanzang holding the brocade kasaya, he was so dazzled that his saliva flowed down.
"Venerable Sir, may I borrow this item to examine it in detail?"
Without a second thought, Tang Sanzang waved his hand,
"Take it, just return it to me tomorrow."
Full of heroic spirit, Tang Sanzang relied on his cultivation; what did he care if you took a glance at the mere brocade kasaya?
Tang Sanzang inwardly adhered to the Buddhist precepts.
Tang Sanzang just wanted to trick them into breaking the precepts, and then, save them!
If I don't save all of them today, it will be difficult for me to end this!
This move was learned from the skill of saving!
Small details, all are details.
Sun Wukong seemed to have seen through Tang Sanzang's intentions.
To prevent his master from accumulating too much karma, Sun Wukong, being kind and beautiful, reminded him,
"Hey, kid, have you thought it through?
"This thing is hot to handle."
But the old abbot completely ignored Sun Wukong's reminder, only chuckling:
"No need to worry, I'm just borrowing it for one night and will return it tomorrow morning."
As long as you can live through tonight.
"Then this old monk won't disturb your rest."
The old abbot waved his hand.
He ordered the monks to sweep the front meditation hall, fetch two rattan beds, and set up bedding, inviting Tang Sanzang and his disciples to rest.
He also pretended to arrange a vegetarian meal for their send-off tomorrow morning, putting on a very peaceful and amiable appearance.
The master and disciples closed the meditation hall and went to sleep.
As Tang Sanzang was falling asleep, he suddenly said:
"Disciple, this master really wants to set this Zen temple on fire."
Sun Wukong opened his eyes, embarrassed: "Master, I advise you to be kind."
Tang Sanzang sighed, very unwilling,
"It's a pity I can't take life proactively, damn it!"
Tang Sanzang was very regretful, with a sad look on his face.
Sun Wukong shook his head, good heavens, a surge of enthusiasm, truly unspeakably awesome.
It is said that the monk who had tricked the kasaya into his hands took it to the back room under the lamp.
A group of monks gathered together, their faces full of sinister greed.
"What a treasure, no wonder it's from the Great Tang in the Eastern Lands, they're so rich!"
"How about…"
"Hey, have you thought it through? The Great Tang's army is strong and its horses are sturdy. Once the Tianzhu Buddhist Kingdom is defeated, they will come to settle accounts with us!"
"If this were any other place, we would have just robbed them, but the eminent monk of the Great Tang is not easy to deal with…"
The monks were still timid.
However, the old monk's eyes were almost glued to the brocade kasaya.
After a long time, a cold light flashed in the old abbot's eyes,
"Even if it's from the Great Tang, we'll just rob them! When the time comes, according to the old rules, we'll kill them, dismember the bodies, and abandon them in the wilderness. Who will be able to find any evidence?!"
"Besides, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. That Great Tang is also a distant country, how can it move me?!"
"I want to seize the treasure, but I don't want to leave any traces. What methods do you have?!"
The old abbot, as the master of the Guanyin Zen Temple, spoke domineeringly.
And the monks present all swallowed their saliva, but they also nodded one after another, emboldened!
Now that the old abbot had made the decision, they naturally had a backbone.
The little monk Guangzhi jumped out, his face full of sinister color,
"Tonight, each person should bring a bundle of firewood, abandon those three meditation halls, set them on fire, and teach him to have no way to escape, burning him to ashes immediately!"
"Even if the people in front and behind the mountain see it, they will only say that he was careless and caused a fire, burning down our Zen temple. Wouldn't those two monks be burned to death? It would also be a good way to cover our tracks. Wouldn't the kasaya be our family heirloom?"
The old abbot was overjoyed, slapping his thigh and shouting: "Excellent, excellent, excellent! This plan is wonderful, extremely wonderful!"
"Tonight, we strike!"
That night.
Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong were sleeping in the room.
Sun Wukong was snoring loudly, but Tang Sanzang was tossing and turning.
His compassionate heart was stirring!
But killing innocents for no reason was definitely not an option.
This was the principle: do not kill the innocent.
Even if he could hear from their words that these people seemed to have malicious intentions.
But there was still no evidence, and it was even harder to act.
The best situation would be if they broke the precepts, and it had to be the kind of breaking that could lead to a major incident!
That would be easy to handle.
Just as Tang Sanzang was about to fall asleep with resentment, he suddenly heard a commotion outside the room.
Taking a peek, his eyes lit up.
He saw the monks carrying firewood and grass, already surrounding the meditation hall and setting it on fire.
Each of them was skilled and experienced.
The little monk Guangzhi sneered as he dropped the torch,
"No matter how strong you are, isn't killing you just a matter of a fire?!"
The torch fell, and the monks turned and left.
However, just as they turned around, from inside the room, a pair of eyes like a tiger's lit up!
Tang Sanzang pushed open the meditation room and picked up the torch again.
Seeing that there were already flames rising everywhere, Tang Sanzang suddenly threw a punch.
The force of the punch scattered all the flames!
At this moment, all the monks had run away, and no one knew that Tang Sanzang had prevented the fire.
Tang Sanzang held the torch in his hand, a look of compassion in his eyes,
"Since it's the New Year, this poor monk wishes you all a prosperous and fiery year!"