"Shopkeeper, please give me a copy of Journey to the West."
"I want three copies..."
"I want five copies..."
"I'm done..."
"..."
"Who? Who wants to round him up? Beat him to death."
The shopkeeper of the bookstore looked at the crowded crowd in front of him and smiled so hard that he couldn't see his eyes. This was all money.
"Everyone, everyone, don't worry, I have two hundred sets here, enough for each person to have one set, so there is no need to squeeze."
The crowd immediately became quiet after hearing this. There were only thirty or forty people at the door, which was enough for everyone to buy.
However, at this moment, someone in the distance shouted: "Everyone, come quickly, this bookstore has two hundred sets."
"Where where?"
"This is Biquxuan, come quickly."
"Wow!" A thick, dark crowd rushed over.
The book buyers who had been quiet at first couldn't sit still when they saw this situation. They swarmed up again and shouted: "Shopkeeper, get the book quickly, get the book quickly."
"It's just that you keep wasting time. If labor and management can't buy books, they will destroy your store."
"Yes, labor and management came first. If you can't get the books, your store will be destroyed."
Some people tried to disturb the audience and shouted to the newly arrived crowd: "Don't come, there are no books here. Isn't there a Ding Ding Bookstore over there? Go over there."
Someone on the opposite side shouted back: "Brother, forget it, all the bookstores over there are sold out. We have already visited several bookstores."
"Yes, don't try to lie to us. Just now I heard the shopkeeper say that he has two hundred copies in his hand."
"They want to round them up, so squeeze through quickly."
Then the door of the bookstore was surrounded by people.
The bookstore owner couldn't laugh anymore, especially when he heard the threats from those who came first, he broke into a cold sweat.
He understands the character of these people very well and can do anything when they are excited.
The key is that there are so many people across the street, and even if the store is destroyed, he doesn't know who to ask for compensation. Even if he reports it to the official, it will most likely be nothing, and he will have to spend money on the government, which is not worth the loss.
At that moment, he didn't dare to irritate people with his ink, so he quickly took out the book and started selling it.
In order to prevent someone from smashing up the store, he tries to sell to the first group of people who arrive first. When opening the business, he has a very good ability to remember faces and will not make big mistakes.
As for those who want to buy three or five sets, it is naturally impossible.
There is no need for the shopkeeper to refuse. Anyone who dares to buy two sets will find it difficult to get out of the crowd.
Even so, there were still less than half of the people who had not bought the book and gathered in front of the bookstore and refused to leave.
The shopkeeper spread his hands and advised: "Gentlemen, I really don't have any more here. It's useless for you to keep guard. Hurry up and go to the next store to have a look."
A scholar sighed: "Where can I buy it now? When will the next batch of books from your bookstore arrive?"
The shopkeeper shook his head and said: "I don't know. We submit the orders, and Zixiaoguan issues the books according to the orders. I have already submitted the new orders, I don't know when they will arrive."
Someone said reproachfully: "Why didn't you order more before? What are two hundred sets enough for?"
Everyone condemned: "Yes, yes, why don't you order a few more sets?"
The shopkeeper actually regrets it more than anyone else. Although the two hundred sets also made him a huge profit, no one thinks it's too much money. Making less money is equivalent to losing money, not to mention how uncomfortable it is.
"Who would have thought that Journey to the West would sell out so fast. If I had known, I would have ordered three hundred sets... no, five hundred sets."
Bookstores also buy books first, and if they don't sell, they sell them to themselves. It's normal for him to be cautious. But as he said, who would have thought that Journey to the West would be such a best-seller.
At this time, a person seemed to have thought of something and said: "Shopkeeper, where did you just say you ordered the books?"
The shopkeeper said casually: "Zi Xiao Guan, Wang Yuetan belongs to their family, what's wrong?"
The man rolled his eyes and said: "It's nothing, nothing... I have something to do at home. If anyone has bought the book, please lend it to me to read. I'd be very grateful."
The people next to him looked at the direction he was going and were confused. This was not the direction of his home, but rather to Zixiao Temple... Wait, Zixiao Temple, no.
Good guy, you didn’t tell everyone. It was so selfish.
Then he also said loudly: "Everyone, I suddenly remembered that my wife is going to have a baby. Let's take a step first and see you later."
After saying that, he chased after him.
There are a lot of smart people, and more and more people are saying goodbye, and the reasons they give are all kinds of weird. There are things like wives giving birth to children, daughters getting married, sons getting married, etc.
Finally, an honest man shouted: "They went to Zixiaoguan to buy books, right?"
At this time, the remaining people also reacted, scolding those people for being unreasonable, and chased after them.
…
Qiu Yangbai set out early in the morning to go to the bookstore he often went to. Although he had made an appointment with the shopkeeper, he still wanted to get the book as soon as possible.
When he arrived at the door of the bookstore, he found that there were already many people queuing up. While he was amazed at the popularity of Journey to the West, he was glad that he came early.
However, he did not go to the front to line up, but quietly went to the back door, knocked on the door, and said: "I am the shopkeeper, Qiu Yangbai."
Soon a familiar voice came from inside, saying: "Mr. Qiu, wait a moment, is there no one outside?"
Qiu Yangbai said: "Everyone is queuing up in front, but I am the only one at the back door."
The shopkeeper inside felt relieved, then opened the door and handed over a thick set of books and said: "This is the complete set of Journey to the West. Even if you don't come, I will keep it for you."
Qiu Yangbai took the book in one hand and handed the money in the other, saying: "Thank you, shopkeeper, there are a lot of people lining up in front of you. You will make a lot of money this time."
The shopkeeper smiled and said: "It's just a small business."
As soon as Qiu Yangbai saw his expression, he knew he must have made a lot of money, so he asked curiously: "How many sets did you order this time?"
The shopkeeper stretched out his hand and gestured.
Qiu Yangbai said: "Fifty sets? It's not grand enough. There are more than fifty people lining up in front."
The shopkeeper smiled mysteriously and stretched out his hand again to make a gesture.
Qiu Yangbai said in surprise: "It can't be five hundred sets, right?"
The shopkeeper said proudly: "Hey, don't spread the word. We are only telling you because we are familiar with it."
Qiu Yangbai said in admiration: "You really deserve this money, Daqi. Don't worry, I promise not to say a word to anyone else."
The shopkeeper was naturally relieved about him, and nodded and said: "No more, I'll go to the front and open the door. I'll keep it for you when I have a good book later."
Qiu Yangbai cupped his hands and said, "Okay, I won't bother you anymore. Goodbye."
After saying that, he trotted back home with the book in his arms, told his servants not to disturb him, closed the door and prepared to enjoy it.
There are five books in total, and each book is very thick, quite a long book in this era.
Qiu Yangbai was very satisfied with the thickness. He was afraid that the book would be too short and he would lose it after reading it for a while.
Open the first book first, find the chapter about "Havoc in Heaven" and read on.
The supreme God Haotian appears, what auspiciousness comes from itself, the sound of the great road fills the air... Anyway, all kinds of lofty descriptions are used, and people know at a glance that this character is very powerful.
Then it turned out that this character was indeed very powerful. Sun Wukong really had no power to resist in his hands, and he was pinned under the Five Fingers Mountain with a flip of his hand.
Although the monkey was suppressed, Qiu Yangbai was not sad at all, he just felt that it should be like this.
That's God Haotian. It would be disappointing if he still had to go to great lengths to capture the monkey.
Then he looked forward to the next content even more. How will the monkey escape? How will the subsequent plot unfold?
He tried to conceive the rest of the story on his own, but found that there was really nothing to write about. God Haotian was so powerful, and it felt boring no matter how he wrote it.
He couldn't write about monkeys killing God Haotian. He didn't think that the dreamer had the courage. If he really wrote it like this, this book would disappear soon, and so would the dreamer.
Unexpectedly, he picked up the book and continued reading.
What is the Zixiao Palace, the dojo of Tianwaitian Haotian God...wait, Zixiao Palace? If I remember correctly, the main hall of Zixiao Temple is called Zixiao Palace, right?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but was speechless again. Zixiaoguan really dared to write this, because he wanted to completely establish himself as the ancestral home of Taoism.
Continuing to look down, all the great gods gathered in the Zixiao Palace to listen to the sermons of God Haotian.
The description of the scene once again made him admire the dream teller's imagination. How did the other party come up with the idea?
What follows is a dialogue, through which the theme of the book is thoroughly revealed.
Measurable catastrophes, countless catastrophes, immortals and gods cannot avoid them. The heaven and earth will reopen... The moral god descends to earth to resolve the catastrophes.
Qiu Yangbai couldn't help but applaud the case: "It's a good measure of calamity, a good measure of calamity. It turns out that Journey to the West means this. I went to the West to preach and resolve calamities."
At this point, he had a flash of inspiration and thought of a possibility: "Won't Sun Wukong become my protector?"
He quickly flipped back and found the chapter about Wuzhishan Recruiting Disciples, and he couldn't help but feel happy that he had guessed the plot.
At the same time, I was once again impressed by the imagination of the dreamer, and it actually meant such a thing.
And many of the previous loopholes, such as why monkeys are allowed to guard the peach garden, etc., have all been explained.
When the calamity comes, the gods' spiritual wisdom is clouded by evil spirits, causing them to make mistakes.
"The dreamer is indeed a dreamer. The setting is perfect. I want to see what those who say it is a loophole have to say."
Then he turned the book to the section about Lao Tzu's birth and continued reading. But for some reason, he always felt that he had overlooked something important and felt uncomfortable all over.
What exactly is it?
He couldn't help but think about it.
During the great calamity of heaven and earth, the God of Morality descended to earth and transformed into Lao Tzu, traveling west to preach... traveling to the west to preach... traveling to the west... He suddenly thought of a possibility.
He murmured to himself in disbelief: "No way, if that's true, things will be really bad."
He was not the only one who discovered something fishy, but many others.
Anyone who understands the debate between Buddhism and Taoism and knows the "Laozi Transforming Hushu Sutra" will immediately think of Laozi's transformation of Hushu into Buddha when he sees the missionary missionary of Journey to the West to resolve calamities.
And when they turned to the last few chapters of the book and saw the familiar names of Sakyamuni, Randen, Lingshan, etc., they no longer had any doubts.
Then there was the shock. Taoism finally took action against Buddhism, and it did so quickly and violently.
In these troubled times, this sentence comes to many people's minds.
As one of the keynote speakers of Buddhism in the capital, Fa Lin always paid close attention to Zixiao Temple.
I don't know why, but he always has a sense of crisis, always feeling that Zixiaoguan will not keep a low profile like this.
This feeling was not given to him by Sun Simiao, but by the little Taoist priest named Chen Jingke.
When he was in his early tenth year, he dared to face an eminent monk like himself and asked three questions about himself. Such a person could not be willing to be lonely.
If the opponent doesn't move, it's just that the time has not come yet. Once he moves, it will definitely be a thunderous force.
Subsequent Taoist innovations confirmed his suspicion that the other party did have a big plan.
But he always felt that the other party's plan was more than that, and the next step was probably to attack Buddhism.
There is no reason, he just feels this way and is sure that the other party will take action.
No, it cannot be said that there is no reason. One mountain cannot tolerate two tigers, Buddhism and Taoism have been fighting for hundreds of years. This is the biggest reason.
So he has always paid close attention to Zixiaoguan's every move.
Taoism went south to preach to the barbarians on a large scale. Buddhism in the Central Plains celebrated this, thinking that they would not attack Buddhism.
But he didn't see it that way. The Taoists' move south just showed that they were more aggressive than ever before.
And with the aggressive Taoism, will we still be willing to coexist with Buddhism?
He once wrote letters to various sects, urging everyone to be more vigilant and at least establish a loose offensive and defensive alliance to deal with possible Taoist attacks.
However, no one responded. Those people were more wary of other sects of Buddhism than they were of Taoism.
Of course, it was mainly Taoism's move south that made Buddhism lower its vigilance.
This made Fa Lin very worried, but she had no choice but to continue to monitor Zixiaoguan's every move.
Naturally, he also read Journey to the West, every issue, and the influence of this story was investigated, which made him both worried and envious.
Taoism's luck is so good, why are so many great talents born?
Although the author of this book is signed as The Dreamer, he is certain that it must have been written by Chen Jingke.
Although the other person's age did not seem like someone who could write such a book, when he thought of the scene when they first met and the legends about the other party he had learned in Beijing, he became more certain of this guess.
To be honest, he was very envious and jealous of Sun Simiao having such a disciple. Why wasn't he a disciple of Buddhism?
And for some reason, the title Journey to the West always made him feel uneasy. Journey to the West, wouldn’t it be related to the Pure Land of the West?
He also knew that maybe he was thinking too much, but this thought always appeared uncontrollably.
When he learned that the complete version of Journey to the West was going to be published, he asked his disciples to buy a set as soon as possible.
He wanted to read the entire content of this book for himself and see what Journey to the West really meant.
Then his heart sank to the bottom of the abyss and he said in a trembling voice:
"Tu Qiong Dagger sees, Zi Xiao Guan, is this your attack method? It's really clever, everyone in the world has been deceived by you."