"Master, you don't need to explain so much to a guest like me. I can't control you. Please go out. I'm going to bed."
Jian Dun put his hands together, bowed to Li Huowang, and walked towards the door. Just as he passed by Li Huowang, he said something lightly.
"Don't look down on Buddhism. I was a Taoist before I became a monk. Xuanmen is actually the same, but you just don't know it."
Jian Dun left, and Li Huowang was the only one left in the room. He turned his head and looked at the temple shrouded in darkness in the distance. At this time, he no longer felt any majesty and solemnity.
Li Huowang slowly exhaled into the darkness, "This broken place is really dirty. Isn't there a clean place?"
Since what happened that night, Li Huowang tried not to go out at night as much as possible, so as not to ruin the monks' good deeds and be hated by others.
Days passed, and Li Huowang's mental state was getting better and better, and he basically didn't have nightmares.
Just when he was about to ask the abbot when it would start, he sent someone in advance.
"Donor Xuanyang, the Pudu Grand Fast is about to start preparations. It costs a lot to prepare for a Dharma Assembly at this time. Please don't move around these days."
"Okay, go back and tell the old abbot that I already know." Li Huowang said to the little monk in front of him.
As soon as the little monk left, a familiar figure flashed in and said with a surprised expression: "Little Taoist, so you live here, why didn't you tell me?"
That was the old beggar before, but now he is obviously different from the previous embarrassed look.
He was wearing a brand new yellow monk's robe, and there was no stain on his face and body, which made him look much more energetic.
Although he only met this monk by chance, Li Huowang still felt close to such an acquaintance in this strange place.
"Monk, how are you doing here?"
"It's OK. I have enough food and warm clothes every day. It's just that I can't do good deeds in the temple. I feel a little uncomfortable."
When it comes to good deeds, Li Huowang immediately remembered what happened that night. He looked at the old monk in front of him and sighed softly. "Don't worry about it. Stay well. Although this temple is a little dirty, at least you won't be hungry."
"Come, little Taoist priest, I'll take you to see where I work. It's a big place." The enthusiastic old monk pulled Li Huowang out of the door.
"The sun is so hot, let's wait until next time." Li Huowang was a little uninterested. He had no interest in sightseeing in this temple.
"Come on!! You will never regret it if you come and see it! There are so many interesting things!" Li Huowang walked out of the door under the old monk's drag.
After following the monk around, Li Huowang came to a spacious open-air courtyard in Zhengde Temple.
When he came here, he found that Zhengde Temple was really big.
"Ding ding ding!" Dust flew in the courtyard. Some monks with gauze tied to their knuckles raised stone awls and hammers and were sculpting Buddha statues.
The Buddha statues were in two rows, one on the left and one on the right, extending to the far side of the courtyard.
Under the sunlight, the monks' bald heads shone. They sweated and concentrated on sculpting their works of art.
"Are you working here? The environment is not very good." Li Huowang covered his nose with his hand and frowned slightly to avoid inhaling dust.
"Yes, I am responsible for moving useless broken stones, and I also contributed to these Buddha statues." The old monk seemed very proud of his position.
The two walked to the road between the two rows of unfinished Buddha statues, observing these works of various shapes.
The monks who passed by them from time to time did not stop them, and completely treated them as if they did not exist.
"Zhengde Temple definitely didn't use these carvings for itself. You can tell at a glance that they were sold to pilgrims. It seems that this monk is very capable of generating income." Li Huowang secretly sneered.
However, after what happened before, Li Huowang was not surprised at all.
"There are more! There are more ahead!" The old monk said excitedly, and was about to walk towards the gatehouse in front.
Seeing him walk forward, Li Huowang raised his feet and followed him. Suddenly, he was in a trance and his body was shaking.
"Hey, hey, hey, little Taoist priest, what's wrong with you?" Seeing that the situation was not right, the old monk hurried back to support him.
"What's the matter?" When Li Huowang stood up again, he shook his head vigorously, and the strange feeling gradually disappeared.
"Are you okay? Did you catch a cold? Why don't you go back and rest first?"
Li Huowang rejected the old monk's kindness. "It's okay, I'm fine, let's keep going."
"Okay, since you really caught a cold, you should get more sun exposure, so let's keep going."
Li Huowang heard him and looked up at the scorching sun above his head. "Did he get heatstroke? It's only been a short time since the Chinese New Year? I don't feel hot either."
After feeling that there was nothing wrong with his body, Li Huowang raised his foot and was about to follow the old monk forward.
But as soon as he raised his foot, he found that the sounds around him had changed. It was no longer the clanging sound of the chisel hitting the stone, but the slapping sound of flesh hitting each other.
"Huh?" Li Huowang turned his head in confusion and looked at the stone sculpture on the right, his body instantly froze.
The stone sculpture just now disappeared, replaced by a pile of white flesh, those were monks.
The stone sculptures that carved Buddha statues just now, they were crowded together with their eyes closed devoutly, their bodies kept wriggling like white maggots, doing things that only men and women would do.
"This is... this is?" Li Huowang took a step back with his eyes wide open.
Li Huowang slowly raised his head and squinted at the dazzling sun above his head. He was not dazzled.
He slowly turned around and looked at the statues behind him. As expected, they had all changed. Under the bright winter sun, there were dozens of meat mountains.
"Taoist! Hurry up!" The old monk shouted excitedly in front, as if he was a child who was eager to show off to his companions.
Li Huowang took a deep breath with trembling, raised his feet and continued to walk forward. After passing the huge gate, another spacious courtyard appeared in front of them.
There were still many meat mountains here, but there were no longer only people in the meat mountains, but some other things, such as pigs.
They roared in pain, but this meat mountain formed by a pious monk was like mud, sinking them into it.
"Look, this carved unicorn is so realistic like a stone lion. I wish I had this skill." Li Huowang followed the old monk mechanically and continued to watch the "works" of the monks of Zhengde Temple. He saw dogs, horses, cows, and donkeys. After careful identification, he found more abnormalities, that is, these monks were hermaphrodites, half male and half female! ! At this time, Li Huowang's mind was buzzing. Suddenly, the old monk stretched out a hand and pulled him to walk a few steps quickly into an empty hall. But the snapping sound did not disappear, but became louder, echoing in the empty hall. Li Huowang looked into the hall with a stiff neck. As his head rose higher and higher, the pupils in his eyes shrank smaller and smaller. "Look!" The old monk pointed upward with his hand, showing a childlike smile on his face, and said with emotion in his tone: "What a big Buddha!"