The night wind howled outside the palace.

The treasures in the palace are solemn.

"Isn't it convenient for the female Bodhisattva to speak?"

Master Shandao stepped out of the way and asked curiously.

The embroiderer silently walked to the table where the marriage papers were signed, picked up the brush prepared on the table, and wrote on a piece of red paper:

"Master, is he the abbot of Donglin Temple?"

Master Shandao was stunned and realized something. He couldn't help but take a closer look at the mute female donor, and clasped his hands together:

"It's Lao Na. If it's inconvenient for the female Bodhisattva to speak, you can write it down in detail..."

Before Master Shandao Che Zhuluan could finish speaking, the embroiderer had already lowered her eyes and started writing:

"Master, do you still remember the Lotus Pagoda?"

"What lotus pagoda?" Master Shandao's first reaction was to ask with a startled look on his face.

The embroiderer's eyes did not move, silently observing the confused look on the old monk's face.

The latter frowned and looked at the embroiderer, and then looked at the dark night sky outside the hall.

"Lotus Pagoda? The well-preserved pagoda and pagoda in the temple. I have never heard of this name..."

Under Xiu Niang's gaze, Master Shandao suddenly paused in his words and turned around with a dazed look on his face:

"Is the lotus pagoda that the female Bodhisattva is talking about the one before this dynasty, during the Da Sui period? There was a pagoda at that time, called the Lotus Pagoda, because the pagoda was nine stories high and shaped like a lotus..."

Master Shandao reflected in his thoughts:

"But this all happened during the reign of Da Sui in the previous dynasty. I remember that this pagoda seemed to have been built before Da Sui unified the north and south. The southern royal family funded the construction of this temple. I heard that the construction of this pagoda cost a lot of money. It is so majestic that it even

It is known as the first pagoda in Jiangnan.

"It's a pity that the lotus pagoda collapsed due to accidental flooding during the Great Sui period. The female Bodhisattva mentioned the lotus pagoda in reference to this pagoda. Unexpectedly, the female Bodhisattva still remembered this pagoda at such a young age. But has she seen it in any single copy of the Buddhist scriptures? What a pity.

It’s gone now.”

Master Shandao frowned and sighed:

"Well, the female Bodhisattva asked me if I remembered it. I was not born yet at that time, so naturally I had never seen this pagoda. How could I remember it? I only heard about it from my master.

"And later, Lao Na's master built a Merit Pagoda on the site of the Lotus Pagoda, but it still accidentally leaked water, but this is a story for later, so I won't mention it.

"The female Bodhisattva wants to find the Lotus Pagoda? But she heard about it somewhere and wants to pay homage to it. Unfortunately, there is only one ruin left. It is over the Beitian Almshouse in the back mountain. The female Bodhisattva can only go and visit the remaining underground palace now.

Already."

Master Shandao gave thoughtful advice.

Except when writing, the embroiderer's eyes never left the face of the old monk in black.

His face covered with age spots was full of sincerity and kindness, he spoke without pause, and his expression did not seem to be fake.

The embroiderer lowered her eyes and held the pen with her bare hands:

"Beitian Almshouse? Underground Palace?"

Master Shandao shook his head and said regretfully: "The female Bodhisattva is really here to see the ancient pagoda? It would be a pity if she came from afar."

The incense and pagodas of Donglin Temple are famous in Jiangnan Province, and even spread as far as the north. Every day, pilgrims from all walks of life come to the mountain to visit the temple, and their wishes or reasons are also all kinds of strange.

Therefore, Master Shandao is not too surprised that young female pilgrims like to visit pagodas.

The old monk smiled and said:

"That's right, there is still an underground palace called the Pure Land Palace. Although the lotus pagoda collapsed, we were lucky. The underground palace was buried under the tower. Except for some smoke that polluted the murals, the fire did not burn into the underground palace. It was a lucky escape.

.

"Later, when the new director rebuilt the merit tower at the original site, it was just a simple decoration and not many changes were made. Later, the merit tower also suffered from water damage for the second time. It was a blessing in misfortune."

Master Shandao sighed with emotion, turned his face and stroked his beard, and said kindly:

"It's getting late. If the female Bodhisattva is really curious about this temple, which was once the first pagoda in the south of the Yangtze River, you can stay overnight in the small temple. Early tomorrow morning, I will let my disciple take you to have a look.

"The Pure Land Palace is located at the Beitian Almshouse in the back hill of this temple. It is also a scene of our Donglin Temple. However, you have to use some ropes to get down. Female Bodhisattva, please rest assured that your hair will be arranged by then.

"In addition, if you stay overnight, the female Bodhisattva only needs to donate ten pieces of incense and fire money. Meaning..."

As if he had consciously grasped the purpose of the pilgrim's visit, the man from Donglin Temple made endless arrangements.

But at this moment, he paused for a moment, and saw that the face of the rather strange mute female pilgrim in front of him was still surprisingly calm, but her eyes were slightly blank, as if she was distracted.

Master Shandao couldn't help but take another look, reorganize his words, and said sideways:

"Does the female Bodhisattva have any concerns or dissatisfaction? Well, I am not adding any jealousy to this. This Pure Land Palace in our temple is indeed impressive. It was built together with the first pagoda in Jiangnan. It has a long history, and it was also the original Nanguohuang Temple.

It's a royal standard to fund and help people build it. The female Bodhisattva only needs to donate some incense money and she can..."

The embroiderer seemed to have come back to her senses, her eyes moved from the Buddha statue behind Master Shandao to the white-bearded old monk's face, and after taking a look, she quietly lowered her eyes and wrote on the red paper:

"The Lotus Pagoda collapsed. Apart from the underground palace, nothing else was left."

Master Shandao was interrupted and frowned slightly:

"Everything left behind was burned away. Only the underground palace and the physical Buddha of Lao Na's master-uncle were left."

The embroiderer wrote: "Uncle Master, Buddha in the flesh?"

Master Shandao nodded and mentioned this as smoothly as the tour guide Ouyang Rong had seen in his previous life reciting:

"I forgot to mention that this Pure Land Palace is also the place where Master Zhongma, the great uncle of the old monk, ascended. That year, under the auspices of the old master, the underground palace under the ruins of the Lotus Pagoda was reopened in Kaifeng. Master Zhongma, who had been missing from the temple for many years, was in

Sitting cross-legged and passing away in the middle of the Underground Palace, the flesh body is now fully visible, still lifelike, and it seems that it has quietly ascended to the Pure Land..."

Master Shandao talked with great eloquence, just like when he told Ouyang Rong this secret at the hospital bed in Sanhui Yuan two months ago, without changing his lines. It seemed that he talked to the pilgrims a lot.

Moreover, when he talked about the physical Buddha of his great uncle, his voice was low and his tone was rather mysterious.

The embroiderer was silent for a while, her hand holding the pen tightened, "Where is the physical body of my great uncle?"

Master Shandao sighed:

"It has been cremated by Master Lao Na. This is also a Buddhist tradition. Finally, a few relics were obtained, and they were all placed in a golden lotus lamp and returned to the Pure Land Palace for safekeeping... Do you want to worship the female Bodhisattva?"

The embroiderer gently put down her brush and turned to look at the majestic golden Buddha in the main hall without saying a word.

Master Shandao's eyes were curious, he clasped his palms together, followed the embroiderer's line of sight, looked towards the golden Buddha behind him, and said at the same time:

"Amitabha, are there any other female Bodhisattvas..."

The old monk turned around and halfway through his words, the hem of his black monk's robe suddenly floated.

There was a sudden breeze in the hall.

Immediately, there was a "ding" sound.

Something heavy fell to the ground from a high place.

The old monk was startled and jumped to the side subconsciously regardless of his image.

His heartbeat quickened as he looked at the fallen and deformed copper treasure at his feet, and then he looked up blankly at the top of his head.

As the main hall of Donglin Temple, this main hall is luxuriously decorated. The high places in the hall are covered with hanging canopies, treasures, beads, flags, and colorful decorations.

Among them is a bronze product called Baoduo, which is about the size of a human head, shaped like a bell, and heavy in weight. It was originally hanging in the middle of the hall between the hanging beaded flags.

Master Shandao found that the place where he had just been standing was directly under a Baoduo.

I don’t know at the moment whether it was driven by the wind and caused the hanger to hang unstable.

Bao Duo fell down.

Almost hit someone.

If this heavy thing were to hit it, a bloody disaster would be inevitable.

"It's so dangerous, it's so dangerous. I wonder how I could fall down. I'm scared to death!"

Master Shandao clapped his chest, his face looking shocked.

"Female Bodhisattva, are you okay... Hey, where is the person?"

Master Shandao looked suspicious and looked around at the empty hall.

But soon, his face turned from surprise to joy, he walked quickly to the table, shouted "Amitabha", bent down and put the newly appeared three taels of silver quietly placed on the table into his sleeves, his movements were neat and skillful.

As for the previous doubts, looking at the smile in the white-bearded old monk's eyes, it seems that they have been forgotten long ago.

"This female Bodhisattva is a bit strange. She comes and goes silently in the middle of the night, but she is a destined person who worships Buddha devoutly. She must have great blessings. Oh, if I had known, I would have helped her calculate her marriage just now..."

Master Shandao nodded solemnly and said to himself, then turned around and called the novice monk on duty to tidy up the hall.

As for the copper treasure that was lying quietly on the ground, it seemed that it was just good luck that it didn't hit the old monk's bare head even though it fell vertically.

…

The wind is strong tonight, and the dark clouds in the sky are moving slowly, sometimes covering the bright moon.

At midnight, the bright moon quietly hid behind the dark clouds.
To be continued...