Chapter 154 Matchlock Gun (Happy Lantern Festival)
Because of the need to recite scriptures and practice rituals, Abhi, the lord of Dadala City, also managed human nature and deliberately put off work early. When the sun in the west fell, the city began to seal the doors. After eating, the people of every household gathered on the open space at the city gate.
Facing the crowded field, Maitreya did not pass by at the first time, but sat in the house and blessed a bowl of water with a nectar spell. When the person who came told him that everyone had already waited almost the same time, he turned around and entered the field. A Shi, who had lost his family, followed behind him with branches of the water bowl.
In the entire field, in addition to the firewood piled up in it, there was also a circle of open space, and the other people hid from a distance, and Inuyasha, Kagome, Hitoko, Amber, Haemon and Shizuo were also avoiding the other side.
The city lord, Lord Absch, stood on the wooden wall frame with a knife surrounded by several guards, and looked down at the ritual grounds.
First, Maitreya sat on the cushion west of the Dharma field, counted the rosary with his hands, closed his eyes and recited the Pure Land Mantra. As per his request, Ashi and others held the branches of the bowl in their hands, sprinkled the nectar and purified the temple.
When the red sun was halfway down in the west, the venue was cleaned. Maitreya stood up and chanted the Buddha's name with great voice, asking everyone to follow him, chanting Amitabha, Guanyin and the lord of Mahasthamaprapta, and praying westward. It was considered to invite the Three Western Saints to enter. After all, there was no Buddha statue or portrait here for a moment, so it was just a formality. After worshiping, everyone knelt on the ground, bowed their heads silently, and prayed with their hands together.
After asking the Three Saints of the West, Maitreya asked someone to pick up the wooden board with the name written on it, throw it into the rising bonfire, chanting the spell silently, summoning wandering ghosts from all over the world, and ghosts that are invisible to the naked eye, and come with thoughts.
After the undead who had been invited to participate in the ritual, Maitreya sat back on the west cushion, straightened his body, and gradually entered meditation during the worship of everyone, chanting the mantra. The sound went from low to high, vibrating the whole audience, and a ball of golden light condensed from gold to light, gradually becoming transparent and colorful. Following his fingers, he placed it into the fire.
With Maitreya's fingers, there were also people next to him put the prepared debris into the fire. In the bonfire, golden light was like flames, and the spring rushed upwards, turning into light rain, spraying in the sky, falling into the field. The lonely ghosts were washed by the golden light, all of whom showed comfort in their faces. After seeing their relatives nostalgic, their bodies faded away and disappeared.
The ritual was carried out until dark, and the golden light on the fire was like fireworks, which made everyone dazzling. When the fire light dimmed, it was still in a dream. Maitreya also stood up and asked everyone to recite Amitabha together, cultivate blessings and wisdom. Life should move forward. Don’t worry about the dead. If you live well, everyone will feel at ease. In short, it is all about spiritual chicken soup.
After pouring chicken soup for everyone, chanting the Buddha's name together, the ritual was over. After everyone was grateful, they began to end. Maitreya also met Inuyasha and the others, and happened to meet Aiboxi and others who were also here.
The female city lord came forward and thanked her first, and then arranged everyone's stay for the evening. Maitreya also thanked her, but she did not want to be invited aside, saying that she would ask for some questions again.
Abhi, who always faces many problems, cannot refuse, and can only separate from everyone, walk with the female city lord, on the streets of Dadara.
"Haha Walker, why did I hear your companions call you Zimi?" As if they were chatting with friends, Absch asked about his name interestingly.
"That's my Chinese name, Wang Zimi, and I have another name called Maitreya and Bald Donkey." Maitreya's expression did not change.
"Bald donkey..." Abrech's eyes raised.
"Well, when I was teasing a monk, I gave my own names. In short, these are all me." Maitreya nodded and confessed.
"Forget it, I really don't understand you monks, but to be honest, I have always been a good thing, Zimi, can you answer me?" Abhi sneered and then led to the topic.
"Excuse me."
"Are there really gods and Buddhas in this world?"
“Something is in people’s hearts.”
"This answer is too slick." Absch was dissatisfied.
"There is no way, the people in this world are also very cunning. For those poor and humble people, they hope that there will be gods and Buddhas who are superior to them can give them warmth and save them. Those powerful and nobles who are superior seem to respect Gods and Buddhas, but in fact they hope that there will be no gods and Buddhas, because then, they are gods and Buddhas."
Absch opened her mouth. She had a lot of words. When Maitreya said things so bluntly, she couldn't say anything. After a while, she laughed and praised:
"You are such a wise walker. I have something I want to ask you."
"I can't do it." Maitreya directly refused. Although this Abhi had no malice towards him, he could not say bad things, nor could he say good things. He was very cunning and was a big trouble.
"Don't rush to refuse me, let's take a look with me first, by the way, haha, do you hate me?" Abhi denied Maitreya directly and refused, and led him through a sewage ditch and towards the remote place.
"I don't hate it, but I don't like trouble. I still have many things that I haven't done. I don't want to take on anything I don't know if I can do it!" Maitreya replied truthfully, but Absch's reply made him feel a little in wanting to vomit blood.
"What a reliable person!"
He didn't dare to talk, Maitreya said silently, but followed Absch to a secluded corner of the city near the lake, walked past a clean pond and several vegetable gardens, and came to a few huts far away from the crowd, which were very inconspicuous and sometimes knocked out.
Abhi pushed the door and entered, and Maitreya followed him. After entering, he saw that in the few cottages that looked very inconspicuous from the outside, there were a group of people wrapped in bandages and mummy-shaped people. They were working. Some people knocked on the iron mold and wire with small hammers, some people pulled the round shaft, wrapped the thin layer of iron into a tube, and some people were drawing wood.
Maitreya couldn't see clearly what these people were making, but when he saw a finished product held by a bandage man, he realized that muskets were making muskets.
"This is the latest stone rocket." Absch asked for a finished grenade from a worker and tried to carry it on his shoulder. This primitive grenade was not like the handheld style of later generations, but was carried on his shoulder like a rocket, with the ignition machine installed on the back of the gun.
"The outside world is called iron cannon, of course, also called the medley gun." Maitreya looked at the guy in Absch's hand with interest and nodded slightly.
"Oh, I'm very knowledgeable! However, we still call these things as stone rockets. This was developed by the people in our village." Absch praised a few words, but disagreed.
Chapter completed!