Chapter 123 Monster Wedding
The next day.
The rays of the rising sun passed by, and the rumbling train landed in front of the gate of the Tai Chi Hall.
Pinggong Qianye stood up, finished preaching with the four monks, picked up his Zen staff and Dharma bowl, and continued his journey.
He has been here for 3 days and it's time to leave.
Although the idea of visiting Todaiji Temple, Saidaiji Temple, and Horyuji Temple is indeed very tempting, one month is not enough time.
He also needs to go through Nara to Wakayama Prefecture, where Koyasan is a holy place for people from all over the world to study and practice Eastern Esoteric Buddhism.
I plan to stay there for a week, so I don't have much time to waste here.
The morning breeze was refreshing, and Pinggong Qianye walked very slowly. It was not until noon when he was gradually getting away from the crowd that he quickened his pace.
At night, when darkness fell, Pinggong Qianye had no scruples and moved even faster.
Sometimes it's like a breeze blowing, and people come from one end of the mountain to the other.
Walking through the mountains and forests, one feels even more peaceful and comfortable. There are no distracting sounds around, only the occasional chirping of birds, the buzzing of insects, and the sound of rushing water in the mountain stream.
Tonight the moonlight shines brightly through the dense forest. Pinggong Chiye takes out the moon doll from the bag and hangs it on his right shoulder with a red rope.
At around 9 o'clock in the evening, the divine power of Yaezakura Jingu once again descended upon the moon doll.
"These two nights were really boring. I couldn't even come out for some fresh air."
As soon as Jingu Yaezakura arrived, she controlled the moon doll and started complaining.
"I have things to deal with these two nights."
Pinggong Qianye came to a rock beside a pond, sat down to rest his feet and eat something.
I have been walking all day today and have not eaten anything except some water.
"Don't you always have a big appetite? Can you fill your stomach with just these wild fruits?"
The moon doll slid off Pinggong Qianye's shoulder, sat on his lap, and looked at him with its head slightly tilted back.
"This is also a kind of practice." Pinggong Qianye answered naturally.
"Why do you Buddhists have to be vegetarians? Aren't you afraid of malnutrition?"
Pinggong Qianye put down the bowl in his hand, took a bite of Yamanashi, and smiled: "There is no rule that you must eat vegetarian food."
"In the early days of Buddhism, monks were not strictly prohibited from eating meat. This has deep historical reasons and is also a demand that gradually evolved from cultural development."
"But one thing is certain, Buddhism emphasizes compassion and not killing. Some believers believe that all life has Buddha nature and should be respected and protected, so they abstain from eating animal meat."
"Buddhist practice requires a clean mind and few desires, and a vegetarian diet helps practitioners maintain inner peace and concentration."
Jingu Yaezakura listened quietly for a while, then asked curiously, "All things have life, so why is the life of animals the only one that is noble? Don't fruits and vegetables also have life, so why are they destined to be eaten by you Buddhists?"
"You forbid eating meat out of compassion and abstinence from killing. This way, your need to fill your stomach will only be doubled over on fruits and vegetables. Isn't this a discriminatory mind?"
Hiramiya Chiye's eyes lit up slightly. He did not expect that a Shinto deity like Jingu Yaezakura would actually mention the Buddhist sense of discrimination.
“This is indeed a very controversial point.”
Hiramiya Chiye did not directly refute Jingu Yaezakura's question, but calmly said: "Whether they are Buddhists or Shintoists, their original identity is one person."
"Maintaining the basic needs of life is a problem that all lives must solve. Buddhists also need to survive first before they can talk about compassion and not killing."
"They just choose between eating animal meat and eating fruits and vegetables, which best reflects the teachings of compassion and ahimsa."
Jingu Yaezakura was silent for a while, then asked innocently, "So the so-called vegetarian diet is a rule introduced by Buddhists because they eat too much?"
"You're not wrong to think so."
Pinggong Qianye took another bite of the pear, finished eating it, and then took out a jujube and started eating it.
The so-called vegetarian regulations were indeed implemented only after Buddhists had the choice.
Precisely because they have a choice, they try their best to choose an approach that is in line with compassion and non-killing.
Is this considered discrimination?
I guess so.
"I thought you would severely refute me and say that my ideas are heretical."
Yaezakura Jingu seemed very happy, and she manipulated the moon doll to gently shake her feet.
When she is happy, she always likes to express it through such body language.
“Only those who claim to be righteous would have heretical views.”
"Then, when you are targeting demons and monsters, do you also call yourself the righteous party?"
"Yes."
Pinggong Qianye thought about it and gave this answer.
"Demons and ghosts harm people, and as a Buddhist practitioner, when I see them, I can only do my best to kill them and stop them from harming other lives."
"If they are like the mountain children and rabbits before, and have no intention or behavior to harm people, I will put away my killing intent and try my best to save them with compassionate Buddhist teachings."
"People live in society and follow the rules of this society. Buddhists are also doing what they think they should do based on the teachings of compassion."
Hiramiya Chiye sat on a rock, eating some wild fruits and chatting with Jingu Yaezakura.
About half an hour later, Hiramiya Chiye stood up, holding a staff and a begging bowl, and continued to walk towards Wakayama Prefecture.
……
The moon is shining, people are in a panic, only ghosts are busy with weddings.
Under the hazy moonlight, in the quiet mountain forest, an ancient village is decorated with lights and colors.
Two white lanterns were hung at the entrance of the village, followed by one white lantern after another, laying all the way along the village road.
Finally, the white lantern stopped in a courtyard in the northwest.
There were two tall and strong men guarding the gate of the courtyard. They looked at the house inside the courtyard from time to time, with a look of pity and pity in their eyes.
boom!
There was a sound from inside the house, as if something was being smashed.
"I would rather face death and commit suicide with the bamboo chopsticks in my hand than marry a monster!" "Go! Everyone, get out of this house!"
"If you don't leave, I'll set the whole house on fire."
Soon after the girl's fierce and angry voice was heard, the door of the house opened and an old man and two middle-aged women were pushed out.
"Village head, how do you think we should deal with this?"
"Yes, King Jintong's betrothal gifts have been sent to the village. If the daughter of the Ito family really wants to die rather than marry, it will definitely anger King Jintong, and then our village will definitely be in trouble."
"Thinking about the revenge that would come from angering the Golden Eyed King, I dare not sleep at night."
"Village chief, for the survival of the entire village, you must come up with a solution."
Listening to the two middle-aged women talking, the old village chief also felt a headache.
The betrothal gifts have been received, and marrying off the daughter is inevitable.
But the girl from the Ito family left the village when she was a child. I heard that she went to college outside. She came back this time just to pack up the belongings left by her parents in the village.
Since she was not a girl born and raised in the village, she naturally did not understand how terrifying the King of Golden Eyes was, nor did she have the spirit of self-sacrifice to devote herself to the village.
"Humph, this matter has already been decided. Who does she think she is? Can she not get married if she wants to?"
The old village chief spoke angrily, and then said, "She can only blame herself for being unlucky. It was because she came back to the village that King Jintong took a fancy to her and sent a betrothal gift overnight."
"I think she is destined to be the wife of King Jintong this time."
"Yes, otherwise why would King Golden Eyes fall for her when she has only been back for one day?"
The three people were talking about the follow-up of the incident without any scruples at the gate until they heard the sound of something being smashed inside the house again. Then they chose to shut up and leave the yard temporarily.
Before leaving, the old village chief specifically instructed the two strong men guarding the door not to let the people inside escape.
At two o'clock in the morning, a golden sedan chair emerged from the dense forest.
The four black bear spirits responsible for carrying the sedan chair were strong and covered with black hair. Only two of their hands were human-like, while the rest of their hands retained their original appearance.
At the front of the golden sedan chair was a little monster about one foot tall, wearing red shorts, with long braids and a face that looked a bit like a fox.
On both sides of the golden sedan chair were two teams of lantern fairies holding white lanterns. They walked unsteadily, as if they would fall down at any time.
The monster in red shorts led the way, through the gate with white lanterns hanging on it, along the village road, all the way to the courtyard in the northwest corner.
All the houses we passed along the way had their doors and windows closed, and even the lights were turned off.
The old village chief stood up at the gate to greet them, bowed, and respectfully offered a jar of wine, "Please drink the wedding wine to the envoy of the gods."
"Where is the bride our king wants?"
"The bride is in the room."
The little monster in red shorts nodded with satisfaction, opened his mouth and sucked. A jar of wine that was taller than himself was sucked into his stomach.
"Not bad, but the taste is a little bland. Remember to make the wine stronger next time you offer it."
"I will follow the instructions of the messenger of God."
The old village chief nodded repeatedly, then led the way to the door of the house.
"God's messenger, this bride has a rather stubborn temper. She still hasn't figured out how lucky she is to marry the Golden Eyed King."
"It doesn't matter."
After drinking the wine, the already drunk little monster knew what the old village chief was going to say.
It burped, shook itself, then turned toward the door and opened its mouth to exhale a puff of black smoke.
The black smoke quickly entered the room through the gap in the door, and soon there was a sound of someone collapsing to the ground.
"Now, you can help the bride put on her wedding dress."
The little monster lifted up the golden sedan chair, and inside was a neatly folded golden wedding dress, shining brightly and made entirely of gold.
The old village chief understood and immediately called over two middle-aged women who were shivering nearby, and asked them to bring the golden wedding dress into the room and put it on the bride.
Although they were a little scared, the two middle-aged women still put on the golden wedding dress, walked into the room, and put it on the unconscious bride.
About 10 minutes later, two middle-aged women came out, supporting the bride who had changed into her wedding dress. Under the gaze of the monsters, they sent her to the bridal sedan.
The leading little monster was very satisfied with the result. He stretched out his right hand and reached into his red shorts, then scattered out a handful of golden beans.
The golden beans sparkled alluringly under the moonlight.
"This is the wedding money the king gave you as a reward."
"Thank you, King Jintong, for the reward!"
The old village chief and two middle-aged women quickly knelt on the ground and picked up the golden beans one by one.
Their peripheral vision only briefly glanced at the sedan chair that had been carried away by the monsters.
When the flower bridge was far away, they picked up all the golden beans on the ground with peace of mind.
"This is the wedding money given by King Jintong. You can keep it for yourself and don't hand it over to the village."
"Thank you, village chief!"
The two middle-aged women were overjoyed, as each of these golden beans could be exchanged for a sum of money.
The old village chief was in a good mood. He walked to the gate of the courtyard and counted out four golden beans to the strong man guarding the gate.
This is called hard-earned money.
On the other side, the monsters carried the flower bridge, swaying along the village road as they left the village and went deep into the dense forest.
The little monster is responsible for leading the way, the lantern monster is responsible for lighting, and the black bear monster is responsible for carrying the sedan chair.
After going deeper for a while, the little monster suddenly stopped, raised his hand, and signaled the wedding procession behind to stop for a while.
“Are you a monk?”
The little monster said this as he looked at the young monk in front of him who was wearing a bamboo hat and holding a staff and begging for food.
(End of this chapter)
