Water Margin people

Chapter 1422 Monk Daoji

The beautiful scenery of Suzhou received unanimous praise from the female relatives. The winding river and the unique gardens and houses on both sides of the river were very much in line with women's aesthetic tastes.

Especially on the last day, the misty and rainy ancient city of Jiangnan presented a unique scenery.

However, Lu Zhishen and Wu Song were not interested at all. They even thought that Suzhou had a soft feeling. They drank light yellow wine in small cups and ate meat with two or three pieces on a plate, which was not very refreshing.

After staying in Suzhou for a few days, Sun Lei led everyone to continue heading towards Hangzhou.

However, Sun Lei did not continue to take the boat. Instead, he took everyone on a horse-drawn carriage and traveled to Hangzhou by land.

"Your Majesty, isn't this water route faster?"

Ruan Xiaoqi was very puzzled. He thought it would be more convenient to take a boat. It would only take one day to get from Suzhou to Hangzhou by boat, but it would take at least two days to take a horse carriage.

"It's too conspicuous to take a boat. We're sure to be discovered along the way. It's better to take a land route to be more concealed!"

Sun Lei shook his head. He had done a lot of things along the way, especially his handling of Daming Temple, which would definitely be noticed by someone with ulterior motives.

"Could anyone dare to assassinate His Majesty?"

Ruan Xiaoqi became nervous.

"With so many people around me, who would be so bold?"

Sun Lei laughed. The people around him were all good fighters who could fight ten people at once, and they were accompanied by powerful generals. Even though there were only a few hundred of them, with all the weapons and armors, it would be a piece of cake for them to face thousands of people. What's more, he had secretly arranged for Shi Qian to lead people to investigate.

"I'm too worried, little brother!"

Ruan Xiaoqi then realized that he had been overthinking. Even if there were enemies in secret, they were no match for them.

"Report, there's a sloppy monk blocking the road ahead!"

A soldier in civilian clothes came running over to report.

"Sloppy monk? What kind?"

Sun Lei asked with a frown. He looked around and saw that they had already arrived in Hangzhou.

"He has tattered shoes, a tattered hat, and a tattered fan. The only thing that's intact is the wine gourd around his waist! He's even eating a piece of dog meat!"

The soldier said.

“There are still such monks?”

Wu Song became interested. After the Daming Temple, he had a bad impression of monks. They hid in the temples to enjoy the offerings and ate until they were fat and big.

"I'll go take a look!"

Lu Zhishen also became interested. No matter how bad a monk's life is, it can't be this bad, right? He could find a temple to stay at, and at least he could make a living.

"Your Majesty, will there be any problem?"

Chai Jin whispered to Sun Lei that this place was sparsely populated and the nearest village was more than ten miles away. It was abnormal no matter how you looked at it that such a sloppy and eye-catching monk suddenly appeared and blocked the road.

“I don’t know, maybe I met someone interesting!”

Sun Lei touched his chin and laughed. Looking through history, the only person who dared to drink and eat meat openly and was still called a living Buddha was the monk Dao Ji, also known as the living Buddha Ji Gong.

In Sun Lei's impression, Jigong should be a person from the Southern Song Dynasty and should not have become a monk at that time. However, judging from the dress described by the soldier, it should be Jigong, so he did not dare to confirm it before seeing him.

Lu Zhishen and Wu Song had already gone there first. When Sun Lei approached, the three of them were already sitting in the middle of the road, drinking and eating dog meat, as if they had met each other too late.

"Originally there was one person blocking the road, but now there are three. We can no longer go on this road!"

Sun Lei looked at the three people speechlessly, and she looked at the sloppy monk carefully. He was indeed dressed like Jigong, especially the broken fan, which was exactly the same.

"Brother, the dog meat this monk brought is really delicious!"

Lu Zhishen took a big bite of dog meat and said with oil drooling from his mouth. After he finished speaking, he waved to the soldiers and asked them to hand him the wine gourd.

"Monk, try my wine!" Lu Zhishen handed the wine gourd directly to Jigong.

"Good wine, good wine!"

Jigong was not polite. He took the wine gourd and took a big sip, then said with shining eyes.

"Hehe, this is the fine wine brewed in Liangshan, it has been aged for several years!"

Lu Zhishen laughed and said, since he had eaten someone else's dog meat, he naturally had to treat him to some drinks.

"Excuse me, Master, are you the bitter melon monk from Huanglian Temple?"

Sun Lei looked at Jigong and asked, and bowed for the rare time. This was not to Buddhism but simply to Dao Ji, the most alternative monk. If this monk could match the secret code, it would be Jigong without a doubt.

"Bitter Gourd Monk from Huanglian Temple? What kind of name is that?"

Lu Zhishen looked at Dao Ji in front of him and asked, he had never heard of Huanglian Temple, but the name of Bitter Gourd Monk sounded strange.

"You actually know this temporary name I gave you?"

Dao Ji looked at Sun Lei in surprise. The Bitter Gourd Monk of Huanglian Temple was a name he randomly gave himself when he traveled around. Not many people should know about it.

"Haha, I've heard something about you. So you must be Master Dao Ji!"

Sun Lei asked with a smile.

"I am Daoji, a poor monk. I am honored to meet you, benefactor!"

Monk Dao Ji smiled and bowed to Sun Lei with one hand.

"Daoji? Never heard of it!"

Lu Zhishen looked at Sun Lei in confusion. How come Sun Lei knew more about monks than he did? He had heard Deng Yuanjue talk about many eminent monks in Jiangnan, but there seemed to be no one like Dao Ji.

"I have only traveled down the mountain in the past few years, so it is normal that you don't know. But you are famous all over the world. You led the army to pacify Xixia and spread Buddhism, which resolved a century of war in one fell swoop!"

Dao Ji performed a Buddhist salute to Lu Zhishen before speaking.

"Haha, I didn't expect that I would be so famous in Jiangnan!"

Lu Zhishen laughed loudly, not being modest at all.

"Master Daoji stopped me here today. Is there something wrong?"

Sun Lei looked at Dao Ji and asked, there are countless enlightened monks in Middle-earth, but if we say which monk in Middle-earth is the most famous among the people, it must be Dao Ji, the "alternative" monk.

"The donor should be His Majesty the Emperor of Da Qi!"

Dao Ji looked at Sun Lei and asked with a smile.

"Yes, I am Sun Lei. How did you know my whereabouts?"

Sun Lei admitted it directly.

This made everyone around him alert. They had been very careful along the way and never revealed their whereabouts. After leaving Suzhou, they changed from boats to carriages. Even so, they were still discovered and stopped by a sloppy monk.

"I am just guessing. The Daming Temple incident has spread all over Jiangnan. Although they all say that it was confiscated by Yangzhou Prefecture, there must be something wrong. The incidents at Daming Temple are not a secret in Jiangnan Buddhism, but the Yangzhou Prefecture governor just took office, how could he know!"

"A few days ago, when I was traveling in Suzhou, I happened to see the donors and their group taking a boat trip. I felt like a dragon passing through the land, and the imperial aura was overwhelming. I guessed that it must be the Emperor's incognito tour, so I boldly stopped His Majesty here!"

Dao Ji smiled and bowed to Sun Lei.

"I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence, but I have admired Master Dao Ji for a long time. Zhu Wu, set up camp here and rest here today. Master Dao Ji and I want to drink and chat!"

Sun Lei gave orders to Zhu Wu. His original plan was to rush to the town twenty miles ahead to rest, but now the time was not enough, so it would be better to rest where he was.