The Spring Ghost Festival had arrived.
For the royal family and officials, the daytime was their busiest time. This was because they had to enter the palace to meet the emperor and participate in complicated banquets and gatherings. For the common people, the Spring Ghost Festival was actually just a night. It lasted from the fifteenth to the sixteenth of the first month until dawn.
A night of revelry was the true meaning of the Spring Ghost Festival.
However, for this year's Spring Ghost Festival, they had a good place to go during the day: the White Horse Temple!
Almost everyone in Luoyang knew that on this day, the White Horse Temple would hold a grand ceremony. It was an unprecedented event. Therefore, since early in the morning, many people had been rushing towards the White Horse Temple. At this time, the foreign and foreign envoys, relatives of the Emperor, and high-ranking officials were gathered in the magnificent Vientiane Palace to celebrate the festival with their Empress.
By the time Yang Fan arrived at the White Horse Temple, the temple had already become a sea of people. The long street, which was still far away from the White Horse Temple, was already crowded with people. Both sides of the street were crowded with peddlers. They were happily peddling their business. Today's business was really good.
Before reaching the gate of the White Horse Temple, Yang Fan saw a huge painting. It was a red painting of Maitreya. The entire canvas looked to be at least twenty feet high. The things that Xue Huaiyi made were always bigger and more majestic than others.
Suddenly, Yang Fan heard a loud voice shouting from the crowd, "Look, look, do you see that? I heard that Master Huaiyi cut his own knee and used his own blood to draw the painting to show his devotion to Buddha. "
Hearing this, Yang Fan immediately turned around and looked at him. He cursed in his heart, "That's bullsh * t! It's like letting out all the blood of a cow to draw such a huge painting. Who is spreading this rumor? "
"That's bullsh * t!"
While Yang Fan was thinking, someone in the crowd had already loudly refuted and loudly ridiculed the person who spoke.
The person who just spoke blushed and explained, "It's true. I didn't say it. It was the monks of the White Horse Temple. If you don't believe me, you can go to the gate and take a look. They are currently preaching!"
"The people of the White Horse Temple said it? That meant that Xue shi had instructed him to do so. If it was Xue shi's idea... then such a rich imagination does seem to be Xue shi's style! "
Yang Fan thought to himself and stopped glaring at the Lie Talker.
The closer they got to the White Horse Temple, the more crowded the crowd became. There were men and women, young and old. The thieves were like fish swimming in the crowd. They were happily harvesting.
The "immortal-squeezing" ruffians followed the young ladies and young wives. Some of them gesticulated and asked others to look at this and that, and used the movement of their arms to rub against the women's arms and breasts. Some of them puffed out their tummies and tried to use their lower bodies to rub against the women's buttocks.
The children were held in the arms of their parents, and the older ones were held by the hands of their parents. They were jumping impatiently, trying to get a clear look at the huge Buddha statue over the heads of the crowd. The human traffickers followed closely behind, hoping that the careless parents would throw their children aside.
The beggars specifically picked the rich and good-looking people to ask for money. Sometimes, Yang Fan's eyes would reveal a sympathetic look, making them feel that he was an ideal customer. Unfortunately, they would never be able to get close to Yang Fan. This was because there were seven or eight men dressed in different colors surrounding Yang Fan. Anyone who tried to get close to Yang Fan would be squeezed outside.
Along the gable wall of the White Horse Temple, there were many colorful lanterns inside and outside. There were colorful ropes between the lanterns, and there were many riddles hanging on the ropes. Those who could guess the correct answer would happily go to the monks to receive the prize. Sometimes, a handful of shiny copper coins would appear above the crowd and fall like raindrops …
This was a trick that Xue Huaiyi imitated Wu Zetian. If it wasn't for this, how could the White Horse Temple's Great Dharma Assembly gather so many people? When the copper coins fell to the ground, both men and women would bend down to pick them up. This was the happiest moment for the "immortal-squeezing" ruffians. They would casually touch the round and big buttocks, and then quickly bend down to pick up the coins.
There were also ruffians who were too slow to escape and were grabbed by the tough women. Their slaps rained down on their faces. There were also ruffians who felt soft and extremely bouncy when they touched their buttocks. The feeling was so good that it left an endless aftertaste. When the beautiful woman in his heart suddenly turned around, he was so scared that he screamed out loud when he saw her pockmarked face.
Yang Fan was squeezed into the crowd. He could not go faster even if he wanted to. He could only follow the flow of people and watch the lively crowd with amusement along the way.
Finally, he squeezed into the gate of the White Horse Temple. There were two monks preaching on both sides of the gate.
In this era, it was very common for monks to use some grand festivals to preach the Buddhist scriptures in public like they were performing in the Jianghu. They used this as a way to gain followers. What they preached was not dry and boring theories or profound scriptures that people could not understand. Instead, they preached some lively and interesting Buddhist stories.
The monk on the left side of the gate was the true abbot of the White Horse Temple. He was the last disciple of Great Master San Shan, Monk Hong Yuan. This monk was tall and sturdy. His voice was loud and clear. In such a noisy environment, it was impossible for people to hear him clearly if his voice was not loud. Compared to him, Great Master Huai Yi's proud disciple, Hong Liu, who stood on the right side of the gate paled in comparison.
Hong Liu's voice had already become completely hoarse from competing with Hong Yuan's. He repeated the legendary story of Great Master Huai Yi stabbing his knee and painting the Buddha statue with blood at the top of his lungs. His hoarse voice was completely drowned out by the noisy crowd of tourists. However, the "followers" around him were far more numerous than those on Hong Yuan's side.
This was because the "followers" had already discovered that the frequency at which copper coins were splashed was the highest.
"Hong Qi, Hong Qi, you hold on for a while. I can't take it anymore …"
Seeing how busy Hong Liu was, Yang Fan originally wanted to just walk through the gate and not disturb his sixth senior brother's business of promoting Buddhism. However, he only stood there for a moment before Hong Liu saw him. Hong Liu seemed to have eaten too much salt. He called his junior brother onto the stage with a hoarse voice that no one could hear. Then, he jumped off the stage and squeezed through the crowd to walk towards Yang Fan.
"Seventeen … cough cough … junior brother, you're here!"
"Sixth senior brother!"
Yang Fan waved his hand and stopped his subordinates from trying to stop him. He took the initiative to greet Hong Yuan, "Haha, it's so lively here!"
"Of course! Master is holding a big dharma conference today, and the whole city of Luoyang is in an uproar. When the emperor comes, there will be a thousand monks … cough cough cough … "
Hong Liu's voice was like a broken string. It was so shaky that no one could hear what he was saying.
"Sixth senior brother, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Hong Liu waved his hand and rushed to a roadside stall to pick up two frozen pears.
"Master, you didn't pay!"
"Pay my ass! Just now, several copper coins fell on your chopping board, and they all went to your advantage. I saw it clearly from the stage! You still want money? You only care about money! "
Hong Liu used a voice that was even more eunuch than a eunuch to clearly reprimand him. He returned to Yang Fan's side and handed the frozen pears to Yang Fan. With a crunch, he took a bite of the frozen pear and chewed on the icy flesh a few times before saying, "My throat can't even speak."
Yang Fan also took a bite of the frozen pear and let the cold and sweet juice seep into his throat. He smiled and said, "Why didn't you let your senior and junior brothers take your place?"
Hong Liu shook his head. "Everyone is busy and can't spare anyone. Seventh junior brother just sent his wife and child away and just came back. That's why I grabbed him."
"Wife and child …"
Yang Fan paused and then asked, "What about master? Where is he busy?"
Hong Liu said, "Master went to the palace early in the morning to accompany His Majesty to the great dharma conference."
As they spoke, they passed by the originally spacious front hall and saw that there were already four high platforms in the courtyard. One was performing a play, one was telling a story, one was performing a dance, and one was doing Master Xue's old trade, "Shattering Boulders on the Chest and Selling Golden Spear Aphrodisiac!"
Yang Fan was quite sweaty at this kind of all-encompassing great dharma conference, but it looked like the effect was pretty good. There was a sea of people in front of each platform, watching with great interest.
Hong Liu glanced at Yang Fan's strange expression and couldn't help but burst into laughter. After laughing for a while, he began to cough again. "Cough, cough, ordinary people all like liveliness. Why don't we go to the Sangharama Hall? The reincarnated Pure Light Buddha is there, divining the past and present lives of people. Each divination is at least a hundred strings, so there aren't many people there and it's extremely quiet. "
At this point, Hong Liu even winked at Yang Fan and lowered his voice to say with a smile, "Most of the people there are women, and there's no lack of beauties."
Yang Fan smiled bitterly. "Forget it, let's go to the back hall. Is Junior Martial Brother Yizhuo there? You go about your business, I'll chat with him. "
Hong Liu said, "Yizhuo is also busy with the great dharma conference. Look, he's over there."
Yang Fan took a closer look and indeed saw a platform in front of a great hall. Monk Yizhuo was sitting behind the table, talking non-stop like a storyteller. Needless to say, there were quite a number of people in front of him. Yang Fan was curious and didn't know what he was talking about, so he gestured to Hong Liu. The two of them didn't say anything and quietly moved closer.
The two of them moved closer to listen. Monk Yizhuo was also telling a story, preaching the idea of karma and retribution. This idea was advocated by Buddhism, but he didn't just talk about the six paths of reincarnation, but also embodied the Five Ghost Emperors, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the Ten Kings of Hell, Ox-Head and Horse-Face. He actually mixed the figures of Buddhism and Daoism together and actually talked about them clearly and logically.
Yang Fan had read a lot of books when he was young, so he knew a thing or two about Buddhism and Taoism. However, this was the first time he had heard of someone combining the legendary figures of Buddhism and Taoism, and actually making them colleagues. He wondered if the chaos between the Buddhist and Taoist deities in the Central Plains had started from this Reverend Yizhuo, who wore a kasaya and worshipped Taishang Laozi.
Yang Fan shook his head and teased Hong Liu, "Forget it, Junior Martial Brother Yizhuo is busy arranging the seats for Beiyin Necropolis Great Emperor and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, so let's not call him. Let's go to the back courtyard and have some peace."
The illiterate Hong Liu said with concern, "Alright, then let him be, Senior Martial Brother will accompany you for a drink or two. Why hasn't the Jade Emperor decided who will be the boss between Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and Feng Du Heavenly Emperor? Can't you just discuss it with Buddha? We're all family, don't fight. "
Yang Fan was speechless again.
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