There was an endless stream of people heading to Baqian Prefecture!
Crowds gathered from all around Little Continent and formed a main stream in Baqian Prefecture. The worshippers who had been stifled along the way were finally released. They were allowed to freely spread the faith of Buddhism after entering Baqian Prefecture, especially when they reached Youdu Ghost City and came into close contact with the ordinary people under the rule of Ghost Sect.
It wasn't realistic to expect a Ghost Festival to completely change everything in a few months. What was realistic was to leave behind seeds, ideas, and some of the most resolute believers to take root in this land. Over time, the foundation would be built up imperceptibly.
These Buddhist believers were either in groups of two or three or in groups of ten. After entering Baqian Prefecture, they revealed their true colors. Along the way, they ate and slept. If there were many people, they would gather together to talk. If there were few people, they would help each other. The core was to coerce the local people who didn't know the truth and be led in by them. The key was that what they said made sense and was precisely what they couldn't say in their hearts.
This kind of situation would only reach its peak after reaching Youdu Ghost City. At that time, there would be hundreds of thousands of people arriving every day, and that would be the best time to spread the faith. What they were doing now was just a small test of their skills.
Even though they had the support and coordination of Ten Thousand Buddhas Imperial Heaven behind the scenes, there were no cultivators participating in the actual operation. Therefore, to the people of Unfettered Sect, they couldn't use their abilities as cultivators or the abilities of Ghost Sect. The only resistance they could do was to those Daoist temples!
Only the Daoists of these Daoist temples were the only power to resist the invasion of Buddhism. The weakness, disorder, and corruption of the Daoist temples made them helpless when they truly saw the truth. This was also the mischief of Daoism's philosophy of taking care of oneself.
Entering the core area of Ghost Sect through normal means and using the Ghost Festival to spread Buddhism, in terms of strategy, they didn't leave any room for Daoism to criticize!
As the believers expected, the Daoists of Baqian Prefecture didn't have any room to retaliate. They couldn't be blamed for being too useless. Daoism didn't have a strict system that targeted the spirit of the masses. If they had to find something, it would be something purely technical like astronomy, earth power, farming, and fishing. It was practical, but not convenient!
However, even though these Buddhist believers didn't meet any Daoists to recite scriptures and debate with them, the journey wasn't easy!
The Daoist priests of Dam Front State were useless, but they were filled with countless local ruffians and hooligans!
It was as though all the hoodlums in the world had come to Youdu to see ghosts.
The Buddhist gathering was interrupted and stopped by them! One group after another, heckling and creating a ruckus. That was gentle! Cheating, swindling, and stealing were the norm!
The Buddha speaks from above, while the thief acts from below! Since he had the heart of salvation, how could he refuse to help others?
A large number of believers encountered an even larger number of hooligans! Furthermore, there was no need to teach a Brawler. They were born with it and were proficient in it!
Because they had to stay in front of the dam for a long time, the Buddhists had enough luggage. They did not pay much attention to the quality of life. A ladle of water, a piece of naan, and a piece of ground could solve the problem. But the Buddhists were not particular, but the hooligans were. They wanted to eat meat, drink wine, and after drinking, they wanted to find women!
The Buddhists discovered that their luggage, which was originally quite sufficient, quickly began to shrink after entering Damen State. This was because they had to face all kinds of expenses when crossing the roads and bridges! All kinds of village tyrants, road tyrants, and river tyrants! Just as they were robbed, there would be people swindling them. When the sky turned dark, it was simply robbery!
If there was any resistance, the male believers would be beaten up and the female believers would harass them. When the local tyrants started to have no misgivings, unless there was an army present, what could stop them?
The Ghost Sect adopted the attitude of not caring about this matter, and they turned a deaf ear to it and turned a blind eye to it. Under such an attitude, it didn't take long for the news to spread throughout Bazian Prefecture. At this moment, it wasn't just the hoodlums raised by the Daoist Temple that were making a move, it had spread throughout the entire prefecture!
What was the most common in the martial world? Friends, of course! Scoundrels!
Brothers, Buddhists are foolish and rich, come quickly!
All the idle hooligans in Damen State and even their counterparts from other prefectures started to gather here. It was another sight!
This was the seed that Lou Xiaoyi had been planting since he came to Damen State. He knew all too well that Daoism was at an unchangeable disadvantage in the competition with Buddhists. It was not something he could change alone. It required the combined efforts of the entire Daoism, time, and the brainwashing of the mortals!
Daoism simply could not do it. If it did, would it still be Daoism?
But Daoism still held a dominant position in the cultivation world of the universe. What did it rely on? It relied on the fact that if you did not have to pretend to be a saint in front of the general public, you could show your rogue side!
It was impossible to have the best of both worlds. If Buddhists wanted to restrain themselves, they had to endure patiently and guide Buddhists to place their hopes in the next life. They believed that the good they did today would definitely be compensated in the next life!
Since that was the case, Daoism would focus on this life!
In the three years of compatibility, the only thing Lou Xiaoyi did for Damen State was to unify these unconventional things. He did not ask for control. As long as he could spread the news, the hooligans would swarm over! As for how to do it, he did not need to teach them. These things were all experts!
Even Bodhisattvas had their moments of anger! What's more, even Arhat, Bhikkhus, and Buddhist monks were not devotees. They were far from reaching the realm of throwing themselves at a tiger! Even clay figurines had three points of anger, let alone humans?
They had come with a purpose, so it was naturally easy for them to organize. They worked together and resisted. There were also a few times when they beat up the hooligans and made them flee!
Thus, the Daoist temple immediately began the second step — regional armed melee!
For ordinary people, the thing they could not afford to provoke the most was the local tyrant! They were familiar with the terrain, had the advantage in numbers, and had the foundation of the masses … Perhaps not many people would care if your Daoist temple was invaded, but if someone in the village was beaten up by outsiders, that was a big matter that could not be tolerated. It was a matter of principle!
Villages, towns, and clans were the most basic units that formed the cohesion of the people at the bottom.
This time, the Ghost Sect had no choice but to take action. Because if they continued to ignore it, it could lead to a large-scale massacre! In their eyes, Buddhists and Daoists were not good things. If they caused trouble, they would have to clean up their butts!
For native sects like them, what they were most afraid of was a big power stirring up trouble in their place. They could not chase them away, but they would be annoyed if they kept them!
They could only help neither side and strictly restrain the local hooligans, not allowing them to cause trouble. At the same time, they forbade outsiders from spreading Buddhist beliefs in Damen State and provoking disputes!
In a practical sense, the monks' spread had failed, while the Daoists' defense had succeeded!
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
