There are daily meditation practices at Jinling Temple.
Pilgrims were required to burn incense and sit in meditation with their hands in mudra, so Liu Ruyan sat cross-legged on the futon until noon.
The one in charge today is Master Kong Jing, who is also a knowledgeable guest of this temple. He is in charge of daily affairs and receiving monks and lay guests.
Until the end of the practice, Liu Ruyan felt numb in her legs when she stood up.
She rubbed her legs, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Master Kongjing standing up from the futon and seeming to stagger a few steps.
She secretly thought, it turns out that monks also have numb legs.
The young novice immediately came forward and supported Kongjing: "The holy monk is not in good health and has been working hard for many days recently, so the disciples will do the lunch meal for him."
Kong Jing faltered: "That's fine."
After eating the fasting meal, Liu Ruyan prayed in various Buddhist halls.
According to historical records, Xuankun Seal was enshrined in Jinling Temple as a Buddhist treasure.
But after searching for it, no trace of it was found.
At this time, she followed the young novice to a Buddhist hall. On the wall were the portraits of eminent monks throughout the history, and the relics of the Buddha were enshrined here.
She looked around and asked: "I heard that in the year when the temple was built, there was a Buddhist treasure with a flawless jade body and engraved with mythical beasts bearing down on each other."
The young novice monk had just become a monk and knew a thing or two about this matter.
He clasped his hands together and said, "Is what the donor said a jade seal? These Buddha treasures are always held by the abbot, and they need to burn incense, bathe, and recite scriptures."
Liu Ruyan asked directly: "I wonder where the abbot is?"
The young novice monk replied to her: "The abbot has gone into seclusion a month ago and will not be able to leave seclusion until seven, seven and forty-nine days later."
Monk retreat is a big deal. During the meditation period, there will be monks guarding the retreat and cutting off all visitors. If she wants to take the Xuankun Seal, it will be difficult to reach heaven.
So the only solution for now is to wait.
The little novice monk took some sticks of incense and handed them to Liu Ruyan: "Here are the portraits of all the eminent monks and virtues since the establishment of Jinling Temple. Buddhism leads people to do good and saves all living beings. If the donor often does Buddhist deeds, he will do more good deeds.
, you will be protected by my Buddha.”
"Monks and nuns may live longer." She nodded, put the incense in her hand into the incense burner, and prayed for a long life.
"But..." she paused in front of a portrait, "this holy monk looked so young, why did he pass away?"
The young novice explained: "Master Daoxuan suffered from an old illness and unfortunately passed away at the beginning of the month."
"How did I hear that Master committed suicide?" a pilgrim suddenly mentioned.
The young novice monk quickly explained: "Monks have already converted to Buddhism, and their six roots are pure, so they will definitely not commit suicide. I hope this donor will be careful and not blaspheme the Buddha's teachings."
The pilgrim apologized profusely.
Winter sets in the west.
A mansion outside the palace.
Zhang Yan was a sword-carrying guard in front of the emperor. After the emperor's birthday banquet, he returned home and killed a servant in a rage.
Then he acted like a madman, slashing at everyone he saw, appearing to be crazy.
Zhang's father had no choice but to lock him in the house.
At midnight, the night is thick.
The candlelight was flickering, and Zhang Yan was pacing back and forth in the room, holding a piece of red coral in his arms and mumbling something.
"Don't...don't kill...help me..."
He stared at the window screen with horrified eyes, the branches and leaves were whirling, as if they were being summoned by ghosts.
"Namo Buddhas abide in the ten directions forever."
"The ten methods of permanent residence in Namo."
"There are no permanent monks in the ten directions."
"Namo Sakyamuni Buddha."
He kept reciting in his mouth, and suddenly the candle flames burst into flames, leaping from the table, flying all the way to the beams of the room, burning to his feet, devouring everything in sight.
Zhang Yan was so frightened that he saw several shadows appearing in the sea of fire.
Those black shadows looked like humans but not humans, like ghosts but not ghosts, as if they were crawling out of Abi Hell, stretching out their long black claws towards him, moaning in pain.
Zhang Yan backed away desperately: "Don't, don't come over!"
The shadow got closer and closer, clinging to his ankle and making a grunting sound, like a strange sound made by someone covering his mouth and nose: "Guard Zhang——"
"Who are you!"
The shadow cracked a black seam, and he smiled arrogantly: "I am the evil spirit you summoned from the lake."
Zhang Yan immediately fell to the ground, his body uncontrollable and dragged step by step into Abi Hell.
The fire of karma rushed over and burned him, and eventually he was swallowed by the sea of fire.
There was a sudden flood in the mansion, and the servants hurried outside the master's house without even bothering to dress.
Someone used an ax to split the door lock, only to see Zhang Yan collapsed in the firelight, with coral shattered on the ground. What was even weirder was that he was holding a fiery red candle in his hand, which had already burned out.
Young Master, he committed suicide...
In the past few days, murder cases occurred frequently inside and outside the palace. It was said that several of the people involved had seen the female corpse at the bottom of the lake on the day of their birthday party.
The palace maid's resentment persisted, and she refused to enter reincarnation, possessing these people.
Master Kong Jing once tried to save the undead, but because the evil spirit was so dangerous, she had not repaid her karma and could not resolve it for a while.
Not long after Master Kongjing returned to the temple, he fell ill.
After the king heard this, he was very upset.
He ordered the eunuchs to bring a statue of Guanyin from Jinling Temple and hang it in his palace. The statue of Guanyin was enshrined with incense and blessed by Buddhist teachings, which could eliminate all evil spirits.
The portrait of Master Guanyin was enshrined in the palace, and the king's mood became much more peaceful.
Noon.
The king took a nap on Maitreya's couch.
Outside the embroidered screen, the musician held the pipa vertically, lowering his eyebrows and playing softly while lingering sounds lingered.
The king fell asleep listening to the sound of the pipa.
The tune goes from slow to fast, like a trickle, then gathers into a river, and finally rushes into the sea.
The musician's left hand vibrates the strings and presses them in vain, while his right hand plays the strings more and more urgently and violently.
Until her fingertips started to bleed, and large blood particles dripped down the strings, she seemed unaware.
"Zheng——"
The king woke up from his dream, and at first glance he saw a woman standing in front of the bed, her head lowered, staring at him expressionlessly.
The king sat up in a hurry and called out: "Here comes——"
The musician took action instantly, and the strings wrapped around his neck, tightening them tighter and tighter!
The king was strangled so hard that he couldn't breathe. He grabbed the strings and pulled them out with all his strength. Unexpectedly, the woman was surprisingly strong and wanted to kill her.
The king was sweating coldly, and the scene in front of him seemed to become blurry.
In a trance, he saw musicians, beams, gauze curtains, incense burners, Guanyin statues...
There was a sound of breaking the door, and the eunuch waiting in front of the emperor broke into the house and dragged the crazy musician.
The female musician immediately turned around, bared her teeth and claws, and pounced towards the eunuch, biting his face and tearing off a piece of flesh.
The eunuch immediately covered his face and kept wailing in pain.
The musician swallowed the meat in his mouth and pretended to bite again.
"Hurry and save me -" the palace people rushed over.
Immediately afterwards, guards with swords broke into the palace, one on the left and the other on the right, to restrain the frantic musician.
She was lying on the ground, and countless ants crawled out of her bun, densely packed all over her face, eating her flesh and drinking her blood.
She touched her face in pain and tried to scratch it with her hands. The bloody red fingernail marks were shocking.
When a centipede got into her eye socket, she screamed suddenly, put her fingertips on the eye, dug it in, and pulled out a round eyeball.
She raised her eyes, smiled, and opened her mouth, revealing a mouth full of red teeth. The fishy smell was so strong that it made her sick.
She muttered words: "Om, ma, ni, ba, mi, hum."
The musician recited the six-character Great Ming Mantra, which can exorcise evil spirits.
The king of the country witnessed the tragic scene with his own eyes. His face turned pale and he murmured: "She is possessed by an evil spirit. She is possessed by an evil spirit!"