In the winter of the 31st year of Jianing, Luhun Villa.

The sky is full of wind and snow, and thousands of miles are covered with silver.

The manor is still brightly lit at dawn, with its tall gray walls and gray tiles stacked on top of each other, like a huge cruise ship, sailing quietly in the silver-white sea of ​​snow. From a distance, pedestrians passing by can seem to hear the ice. The sound of breaking is like it is slowly breaking through the permanently frozen polar regions.

A bell sounded melodiously.

The two young novice monks in front of the Luhun Villa had their hands folded in their sleeves to watch the door. One of them heard the bell and looked back towards the depths of the Villa, saying softly: "Another person from Taoist Court has been defeated. Who is this?" "The eighth one, if you lose one more, there will be no one left."

"The Taoist court is arrogant, but we are here well prepared."

A young novice monk rolled up his sleeves and looked at the wind and snow outside the door, sighing: "The whole day and night of debating scriptures is finally coming to an end." At this time, the sound of horse hooves came from the wind and snow.

The young novice stood under the plaque of Luhun Villa, put his hands on his eyes, squinted his eyes and looked into the wind and snow. After looking for a long time, he saw a few gray shadows gradually becoming clearer.

A young man lowered his head, holding three reins in his hand against the wind, and walked hard through the snow. The strong wind blew his clothes back, and there were people on the three horses behind him bending down to resist the cold wind. The little novice monk was alert Said: "Who?"

The visitor quickened his pace: "I'm staying the night."

"A stayer?" The little novice monk was confused. When he saw the visitor walking faster and faster, he suddenly shouted: "This is the solemn and precious place of Buddhism. Stop the visitor!" "Buddhist?"

The visitor raised his head and revealed his face as a young man: "Isn't this the foothills of the Taoist Temple of Laojun Mountain? How did it become a treasured place for Buddhism?"

The young novices looked at each other and hurriedly explained: "Ma Yiming, the leader of the Laojun Mountain Taoist Court, lost the sutra debate with our senior brother. The Taoist court has already lost the Luhun Villa to our Yuanjue Temple." The young man was stunned for a moment: "Is it such a big deal?"

He looked up at the lintel of Luhun Villa. This villa covers an area of ​​hundreds of acres and is vast and boundless. The cost of building it was tens of thousands of taels of silver. How can a manor like this be lost?

The little novice monk said: "This is the property of our Zen sect. It was won by Tao Ting from us in the twelfth year of Ren De. Now it is just that the property has returned to its original owner. There is a bigger bet today. If Tao Ting After losing all nine games, the nineteen Taoist priests who participated in this literary meeting and debated scriptures all had to be ordained and become monks, and they would have to ring bells in our temple for the rest of their lives."

The young man was dumbfounded: "How many debates are we in now?"

The young novice replied: "The eighth debate has just finished, and we may take a break for half an hour. If you are just passing by and staying overnight, please go back. Today, Luhun Villa only accepts guests from the cultural society."

The young man turned around and glanced behind him. There was a young girl lying unconscious on the horse. When he looked back again, he said politely to the young novice: "Among us are the prince and princess of Prince Jing's palace, and the prefect of Luocheng." Miss Zhang Er, please tell me that we encountered bandits on the road and lost the invitation."

The little novice monk was shocked: "The prince and the princess? Are you..."

The young man said: "I am just a young apprentice at the Imperial Medical Office of Prince Jing's Palace, Chen Ji." The young novice asked: "Do you have any tokens from the Palace?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "No, but there must be someone in this Wenhui who knows the prince and the princess."

"Wait a moment," the little novice monk held up the hem of his gray monk's robe and ran into the manor to announce.

Chen Ji returned to the horse and whispered beside the princess, "Don't worry, princess. With Taoism and Buddhism here, there will definitely be medicine to cure wind and cold." The princess had a piece of clothing wrapped around her head and lay low on the horse. He hummed, unable to straighten up, and he didn't know if he heard what Chen Ji said.

Chen Ji touched her forehead with his hand and it was hot.

The next moment, the little novice monk ran back in a hurry: "I'm sorry, donors, the road is blocked due to heavy snow, so we can't verify your identity, so please come back." Chen Ji frowned slightly: "Have you informed who is there? this?"

The young novice monk said patiently, "Yes, but senior brother said that since you didn't bring any tokens or invitations, you might as well invite them back." Chen Ji suddenly realized that the Buddhist monks were making excuses!

In this literary society at Luhun Villa, even if you are an ordinary scholar, as long as you are willing to come, you can get an invitation. Why is it that such a loose threshold makes it impossible for you to get in? The other party must know what happened over there in Longwang Tun. Because he didn't want to get involved in the affairs of the Liu family and Prince Jing's mansion, he was unwilling to let them in.

What a good one, not tied to cause and effect.

Zhang Xia rode on Zaozao's back and asked, "What should we do now?"

Chen Ji stretched out his hand to hold the whale knife next to the princess's saddle, but the princess weakly raised her hand to hold the back of his hand: "Don't do anything stupid."

He smiled and said, "Don't worry, I just checked to see if the sword is still there. I'm not so stupid as to go to the Taoist court or the Buddhist official to die."

Chen Ji turned back and looked at the couplets under the plaque of Luhun Villa. The first couplet read, "Everything depends on man-made things. Don't worry, everything is fate." The second couplet said, "Situation is created by the heart. Taking a step back will naturally broaden your horizons." However.

He couldn't retreat from this step.

Chen Ji helped Bai Li tighten the clothes around his head to prevent the cold wind from blowing into his collar. He turned around and walked back to the door of Luhun Villa: "Is this the Wenhui Society here?"

The young novice replied: "Yes." "Are you debating scriptures?" "Yes."

Chen Ji asked: "What is the topic of this round of debate between Taoism and Buddhism?" Xiaosha curled his lips: "Why should I tell you?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "I also want to go in and debate the scriptures."

The little novice monk was happy and looked him up and down: "What sutra are you trying to argue?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Xia got off his horse, braved the wind and snow, and led Zaozao to the door: "Is Yuanjue Temple afraid that I will win the argument with you when I come in?"

The little novice monk leaned against the gray brick wall under the plaque and rolled his eyes: "You can't even use the provoking method!"

Zhang Xia said calmly: "I am Zhang Xia, the niece of Xu Shu, the deputy supervisor of Qintian Prison. If you don't go and inform me, I will go back to the capital and tell everyone when I meet that the monks of Yuanjue Temple are afraid of being overthrown, so they won't let us in." Luhun Villa! Go and report it quickly, you can't afford this!" The young novice shrank his neck and turned around to report to the Villa.

After a while, he ran back with snow on his shoulders: "You can debate the scriptures if you want, but you need to answer the questions we asked the Taoist Court this round!" Chen Ji glanced at him and said, "Say."

The little novice monk asked: "Taoists say that Tao gives rise to all things. Does this Tao have knowledge or ignorance?"

Just as Chen Ji was about to answer, Zhang Xia gently pulled his sleeve and said in a lowered voice: "Debating scriptures is not that simple. Respondents must pay attention to the source of every word of the scriptures. If there is a source, it is a true scripture, if there is no source, it is a false scripture." ...Chen Ji thought for a moment: "Why don't you come and argue with them?"

Zhang Xia's expression darkened: "No, they don't debate scriptures with women. You answer their questions and I'll teach you how to answer them." "Okay."

The wind and snow flowed between the two of them, and small cyclones flowed around them.

After taking a few breaths, Chen Ji turned back and said, "The Tao Te Ching says that humans follow the earth, earth follows the sky, heaven follows the Tao, and Tao follows nature. The Tao is the law of the heaven and the earth and serves as a model for all things, so nature has knowledge." With the answer, the little novice took small steps back to report again.

When he came back after a while, he came back with a new question: "My senior brother said that since Tao has knowledge, then it should only give birth to good people. Why should it give birth to evil people? Since Tao does not distinguish between good and evil, it should be Ignorant; since it is ignorant, how can it give birth to all things, and how can it become an example for all things in the world to follow?"

But he heard Zhang Xia's lips move slightly behind him and whispered a few words.

Chen Ji looked at the little novice monk and replied: "The Mahaparinirvana Sutra says that I am the Tathagata's hidden meaning. All living beings have Buddha-nature, and all living beings have my meaning. The Buddha said that everyone is born with Buddha-nature. What do you think? Who can decide who is born good and who is born evil?" The little novice monk was stunned: "How do you understand the meaning of my Buddhist scriptures so well?"

Chen Ji said angrily: "Human life is at stake, go and report quickly!" The little novice monk hurried into the villa again.

This time, the young novice did not come back soon. It seemed that the monk from Yuanjue Temple who asked the question was deep in thought. I don’t know how long it had passed before a melodious bell sounded again in the villa.

Zhang Xia's eyes lit up: "When the bell rings, the other party shelving this issue is tantamount to admitting defeat, Chen Ji...Chen Ji?" She turned around and saw Chen Ji lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking about.

At this moment, Chen Ji found that the fire in his body suddenly jumped for a moment when the bell rang, and then the light red fire became brighter! It was strange because just now Zhang Xia debated scriptures in his own name When you win the opponent?

Previously, he thought that the change in the situation was due to doing good deeds and winning the hearts of the people, but now it seems that the reason for the change in the situation may be deeper and broader. Chen Ji looked at Zhang Xia.

Zhang Xia touched his cheek: "What do you think I am doing?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "It's okay. I admire Miss Zhang Er for her knowledge and knowledge. No wonder you look down on uneducated people."

Zhang Xia was a little embarrassed: "I'm just better at memory."

While talking, the little novice monk hurried back: "You won this round, but..." "But what?"

The young novice monk said, "To be honest with you two, I am a Buddhist who is peaceful and free from karma, and I really don't want to get entangled in the mortal world. You two have worldly affairs, and the karma has not yet been resolved, so it is not suitable for you to enter Luhun Villa." Please come back." Chen Ji looked at the other party calmly: "Is it okay to ask for a pill?"

The little novice monk shook his head: "No. Don't make things difficult for me, two donors. I'm just a little novice monk." Chen Ji immediately wanted to rush in, but Zhang Xia grabbed his arm and shook his head silently: "You can't break in." ." "You have to break through even if you can't!"

However, at this moment, a song came from outside the wind and snow.

Chen Ji and Zhang Xia suddenly looked back, only to see a man sitting on the back of a green bull, flipping through a book and humming: "If you have evil intentions, burning incense will not do any good. Stand upright and do not bow when you see me." ..." The slang song was swept into the wind and snow, and was carried far away by the snowflakes.

Seeing the green bull coming to the door, the young Taoist priest on the green bull jumped off the bull's back with a slight leap.
Chapter completed!