The copy of the universe from the journey to the west

Chapter 175: Meeting the Hostage and Borrowing a Body to Be Reborn (asking for monthly ticket)

When Xiao heard what Lu Chen said, she just lowered her head and didn't reply.

But Renmian Song smiled helplessly.

My lord, this ghost looks so well-behaved in front of us, but if it is in front of ordinary people, it is really a scary ghost.

However, after seeing Xiao who had recovered a little from his tense state, Ren Liansong realized that it was not that the master could not imagine the evil of ghosts, but that the master said so on purpose.

The purpose is to prevent Xiao from being too nervous.

Seeing this, Ren Liansong said nothing.

Lu Chen asked the two of them to clean the courtyard as soon as possible, and to replace the pond water, aquatic plants and the like if possible.

Ren Liansong turned around and assigned the matter to Xiao: "If you are allowed to stay in the courtyard, you should also pay some rent. Hurry up and complete the master's order and restore the courtyard to its original appearance."

Xiao: "..."

Her expression was extremely resentful, but she didn't dare to say anything. She turned around and went to deal with the weeds and the yard.

Looking at Xiao who was busy working, Ren Liansong nodded slightly.

Good, good, it is indeed good to leave a female ghost behind. Finally, I don’t have to deal with these little things myself.

Early the next morning, as soon as Lu Chen opened the door, he saw three or four people standing outside.

After seeing Lu Chen open the door, the group of people immediately surrounded him.

"Congratulations to Mr. Lu on his new home!"

"I wish Mr. Lu good health and happiness!"

"..."

A bunch of flattering words came out, and Lu Chen realized that these people were hostages.

That is, the middleman. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, this kind of intermediary was called a zhiren. In the Western Han Dynasty, it was called a jiaren. Finally, it was called a yaren after the Tang Dynasty.

The middlemen in the Han Dynasty already had a unified organization called the Xianhui.

All the mortgagees will be interconnected and linked together, and the effect is the same as when modern people buy a house and someone calls to ask whether they want to decorate it or whether they need a sofa or mattress.

Yesterday, Ren Lian Song bought this yard from the pawnbroker who was selling the house under the name of 'Lu Song', and today a pawnbroker from another business came to find him.

Lu Chen listened to it and found out that some of these pawnbrokers were buying and selling maids, some were selling furniture and decorations, and there was even one pawnbroker who came specifically to ask Lu Chen if he needed any cleaning.

It was obvious that these hostages knew very well the situation in this yard.

Naturally, Lu Chen didn't need any of that. As for the hygiene of the room, Lian Song and Xiao cleaned it up in one night. As for servants and maids, Lu Chen didn't need them at all.

joke!

There are three conscious people in the whole yard, but two of them are ghosts!
If we hire servants and maids, won't we have to worry about their mental health every day?
Upon seeing this, the hostages scattered like birds and rushed to other homes.

The pawnbrokers who go door to door are the lowest level in the pawnbroker club, just ordinary salesmen. Naturally, they dare not excessively disturb Lu Chen who bought two courtyards.

After the hostages left, the door of a house across the street opened. A 13 or 14-year-old girl looked around and confirmed that the hostages had left. Then she said to Lu Chen, "Hey! You should buy some things. If you don't, those thieves won't let you go. When my family first moved in, we were threatened to buy things. My father said that spending money would ward off disaster."

The girl looked at Lu Chen with great sympathy, as if she saw the miserable days that Lu Chen would face in the future.

The girl was dressed very simply, just like ordinary people, without any makeup or beautiful dresses.

Obviously her family is not a wealthy family, but just an ordinary household.

Lu Chen just smiled and said, "Oh? I don't need it, why should I buy it? Besides, what can they do to me?"

The girl thought about it. She had never encountered such a thing before, so she naturally couldn't think of it. She changed the subject and said, "Hey! Did you buy the Liuxiang Garden?"

Lu Chen's courtyard was called Liuxiang Garden, but the name was too delicate and it sounded like a woman's residence, so Lu Chen had the plaque taken down and prepared to replace it with "Lu's Residence".

Lu Chen smiled and nodded: "Yes, I bought it."

"Ah!? You are a Taoist priest!" The girl stared at Lu Chen with wide eyes, looking him up and down.

Lu Chen smiled, opened his loose Taoist robe and said, "Isn't it obvious?"

The girl shook her head: "I have seen Taoist priests from the Tianshi Taoist Temple. They dress differently from you."

The Taoist attire of this year has not yet been reformed, and the clothing styles of each Taoist sect are different.

Then he asked again: "My name is Zhaodi, what's your name?"

Lu Chen said: "My name is Ruchen."

"Like dust?"

Zhaodi muttered, "He looks a bit like a monk... But don't Taoists live in Taoist temples? Why did you buy a haunted house?"

When she mentioned the word "haunted house", her tone became noticeably weaker, and she shrank her neck in fear, her eyes dodging, not daring to look directly at the courtyard behind Lu Chen.

Her family has always lived opposite Liuxiang Garden, so she naturally knew the name of the haunted house in Liuxiang Garden. Lu Chen was not the first person to buy this place, but these people would often run away in fear after living there for a day or two.

Lu Chen seemed to be puzzled and asked: "Who stipulates that Taoists must live in Taoist temples? I am a wandering Taoist priest. Besides, is this a haunted house? I think it's pretty good."

The girl rolled her eyes and said to Lu Chen, "Isn't it true? This is a haunted house. A female ghost in white appears every night."

Lu Chen looked thoughtful, and murmured in a voice that the girl could just hear: "Oh, so that's how it is. Who was the white shadow I saw here last night? It turned out to be a female ghost..."

The girl's expression froze on her face instantly.

what?
Is there really a ghost?!
"call!"

Just then a gust of wind blew by and the girl shivered suddenly.

"what!"

The girl screamed in fright.

Lu Chen smiled: "Don't be afraid, I was just kidding you, we are even now."

Zhaodi finally reacted. She originally wanted to scare the Taoist priest in front of her, but ended up being frightened by the Taoist priest?

"Bad uncle!" the girl muttered with blushing cheeks.

Lu Chen's expression was stiff.

I have such a young face, and you call me uncle?
Zhaodi didn't know that being called "uncle" had made Lu Chen a little unbalanced. When she was thinking about how to retaliate, her family members who heard the girl's scream also came over.

"Zhao Di, who are you talking to?" a woman's voice came.

Zhaodi turned around and shouted, "Mom! Dad! The Liuxiang Garden across the street has been bought by someone, and it's a Taoist priest."

Before he finished speaking, two middle-aged people, a man and a woman, appeared in front of the door.

The middle-aged man was very tall, a big man. After looking at Lu Chen, he clasped his fists and said, "My name is Zhou Daping, and my ancestral home is Caozhou. May I know who you are?"

Lu Chen was very familiar with this tone, he could tell it was from an old family member.

In this era, too many people fled from the north to the south. It was obvious that Zhou Daping's family came from the north.

Zhou Zhaodi was still young when she came, so her speech was more in line with the local style, but Zhou Daping's tone of voice did not change.

Lu Chen smiled and bowed, saying, "I am a Taoist priest who travels around the world."

This statement is also spoken in Caozhou dialect.

Zhou Daping's eyes lit up: "Oh! A fellow villager!? Where in Caozhou are you from?"

"Good father." Lu Chen said.

"Isn't this a coincidence? I'm from Caozhou, your good father, and it's very close!"

Zhou Daping was very enthusiastic. He took Lu Chen's hand and started asking about Lu Chen's situation.

Lu Chen simply said that although he was a good man, he left his hometown to travel very early.

Zhou Daping felt a little regretful. He also wanted to ask Lu Chen if he knew anyone he knew.

However, Zhou Daping's happiness was genuine as he was able to meet people from his hometown which was under the control of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the vast Liu Song Dynasty.

But Zhou Daping will leave soon as he goes to work at the dock.

According to what he said, when he was in his hometown, he was also a small landlord and had some assets. Otherwise, he would not have eaten so well.

However, after fleeing to Xunyang and buying a house, he had almost spent all his money. Although he had no special skills, he had a lot of strength, which was just right for him to move goods at the dock.

Watching Zhou Daping leave, the man next to Lu Chen frowned and said, "Master, the peak of innate..."

"It has nothing to do with us. He is just a poor man."

Lu Chen shook his head.

Zhou Daping's experiences in the first half of his life must have been not simple. The martial arts qi had already penetrated the eight extraordinary meridians in his body, which were innate. It seemed that he was not much worse than Liu Yuanjing in his prime.

But now he is injured, his meridians are severely damaged, and his strength is only 10% to 20%. However, the family is living happily now, Lu Chen has no intention of getting to the bottom of it, and he is going to work.

"We need to find a way to improve the Paper Cutting Adult Technique. Not to mention increasing the combat power, we need to improve its concealment. Otherwise, the main body will have to do everything, which is a waste of time."

Lu Chen thought in his mind.

The strength of the paper man incarnation is acceptable, but there is only one thing, that is, any magician who spends a little time can see that the paper man incarnation is just an incarnation, not a real person!
This is also the reason why his real body went to the city gate to tell fortunes. Otherwise, Lu Chen would not bother to go there in real body.

But now that the plan has been made, he has to implement it according to the plan.

When I arrived at yesterday's fortune-telling stall, there were already people waiting here.

They were several people who had had their fortunes told by Lu Chen yesterday, and they all came to thank Lu Chen.

Some of them found their lost things again, and some followed Lu Chen's advice and avoided some disasters.

After expressing their gratitude, they all left one after another.

At this time, there were only two people left there, and everyone looked at each other.

"Don't be so reserved, we are all family." Lu Chen said casually.

The two men breathed a sigh of relief, and one of them clasped his fists and said, "Sun Youfang, I greet the Taoist priest."

The other person used the Taoist kowtow: "Lingbao Sect Hua Buwei, greetings to Senior Lu."

Lu Chen asked: "Tell me, what news do you have?"

The first to speak was Sun Youfang: "My uncle has arranged for my cousin You Yue to join the White Lotus Society. The White Lotus Society is organizing an autumn sweep, and the target is Longshou Mountain."

"It seems the hunter has been alarmed."

Lu Chen smiled and said, "Tell them not to rush in and play it safe so that they can catch big fish."

Sun Youfang nodded: "Yes, I will pass it on."

Lu Chen looked at Hua Buwei again.

The latter also reported his own news: "My sect has spread the news. Soon, the news that an ancient immortal will be born in Mount Lu will spread all over the country. By then, the land of Mount Lu will be very lively."

Lu Chen said, "Please tell Fellow Daoist Xu that too much is as bad as too little. Stop after the news spreads, lest others notice anything unusual."

This is a plot against the Donglin Sect, which is no small matter. If one is not careful, it may be discovered.

"Yes, I will inform my master." Hua Buwei nodded.

"This is my stall. If I am not here, please go to Lu's house in Qingfeng Lane to find me." Lu Chen said.

Both of them nodded.

"Is there any news from Daosheng?" Lu Chen asked again.

Both of them shook their heads.

It's normal that there's no news in just one day. After all, Daosheng is just a wandering monk. Although he has more than a dozen disciples serving him, it's hard to say whether they are on the same side with him if something happens.

For example, Huiyuan had hundreds of disciples when he was in Chang'an, but when he fled to Xunyang, he was only served by dozens of disciples.

However, just in case, Lu Chen sent a paper crane to Daosheng.

Let him pay more attention to safety. If the hunter is alarmed, his vigilance will be raised to the highest level.

Then the two of them left, agreeing that if there was nothing urgent, they could come once every ten days.

This is a long-term plan and cannot be completed in a few days.

Time passed slowly. In the afternoon, after Lu Chen had just pointed out where the fish were to a fisherman, Zhongli Quan, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, sat down in front of him.

"senior."

Lu Chen was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to stand up, Zhongli Quan held him down with a fan; "Don't stand up."

His expression was slightly complicated.

He still has the words that his master said to him yesterday in his mind.

If Lu Chen really enters the sect, he will at least be of the same generation as his master!

Zhongli Quan was shocked at the time and his spiritual heart was almost broken.

But fortunately, he recovered. The better Lu Chen's talent is, doesn't it mean that their Shaoyang Dongtian will be stronger?

If that's the case, then what else is there to say? Just accept it calmly.

Since he has accepted this setting, Zhongli Quan naturally does not want to accept Lu Chen's courtesy anymore.

An elder bows to him? He doesn't have the nerve to do that!
After Zhongli Quan calmed down, he said, "I came here to tell you that the governor Zhao Hui sent someone to Longquan Temple. I checked with the monk Dao Jing. There is indeed something wrong with this person. It should be someone who has used a body to revive. It must be the people from Guling Mountain."

After hearing this, Lu Chen fell silent.

The reason why the man named Mian Song was arranged to go to the prefect's mansion to create a haunted incident was because the person with the highest status in Xunyang City was the prefect.

The prefect himself is a man of no real ability. Although he has a high status, he is not a Confucian scholar like Sun Haoran, and he does not have the ability to deal with ghosts.

The prefect has a high status. If he wants to get rid of the ghosts in his own family, his first choice must be the Tianshi Mansion and Longquan Temple, which are home to "one Taoism and one Buddha".

Zhongli Quan stayed in the Tianshi Mansion to confuse the people in the Taishou Mansion and the Tianshi Mansion so that they could not have any contact with each other.

Without the option of Tianshi Mansion, the only choice left is Longquan Temple.

Since the prefect had invited him, Longquan Temple naturally took it seriously and sent a senior monk to handle the matter.

There are two eminent monks in Longquan Temple, one is the abbot Huichi, and the other is the eminent monk Daojing.

As the abbot, Huichi could not leave the temple easily, but it was no problem for Daojing.

The prefect had obviously considered this and directly invited Dao Jing by name to his house for a chat.

This gave Zhongli Quan the opportunity to capture him alive.

After a silent interrogation, Zhongli Quan discovered Dao Jing's true identity.

"You did kill Dao Jing, but not long after his death, his body was possessed and reborn by a primordial spirit from Guling Mountain. If he had been given a few more days to get familiar with his body, I'm afraid even I, a Taoist priest, wouldn't have been able to find out."

Zhongli Quan waved a palm-leaf fan, but there was not much fear on his face. Rebirth through the soul borrowing a body is not some mysterious method. For example, in later generations, Li Tieguai was resurrected because his physical body was destroyed, and he had no choice but to use the soul of a lame beggar's corpse to revive.

Many Taoist sects know this method, but it is somewhat difficult to perform. Only the Taoist Immortal can perform it, because only the Taoist Immortal's soul can complete the transformation of Yin spirit into Yang spirit.

If the primordial spirit does not become a yang spirit, then rebirth through borrowing a body is not rebirth through borrowing a body, but possession by a ghost!
Although the cultivation systems of Buddhism and Taoism are different, they both require similar levels of cultivation to perform the method of borrowing a body for rebirth.

Zhongli Quan said dimly: "I don't know how many beings above the Arhat level there are in Guling Mountain, so how many people are left in Donglin Temple and Bailian Society is probably unknown."

Lu Chen frowned and said, “I don’t know how many of them are a scourge… In this way, as long as there are more people left in Guling Mountain, they can kill people and then replace them?”

Zhongli Quan shook his head: "Dao Jing is only a mage, and his Dharma image is not yet complete, so his body does not have the mark of his soul. If he condenses into a Dharma image, his body will have its own mark of his soul. If others want to possess his body, they cannot simply kill him and then possess his body. They must go through a certain transformation of consciousness, that is, the two souls must become one. Otherwise, even a Bodhisattva or Buddha will find it difficult to be reborn through borrowing a body. Therefore, the soul under the Dharma image is called rebirth through borrowing a body, also known as possessing a body."

This made Lu Chen clear up his doubts.

That being said, if a being that has condensed into a primordial spirit can be easily possessed by the primordial spirit, then everyone can just change bodies for fun.

Whether it is Taoism or Buddhism, if one wants to advance to the Yuanshen realm or the Dharmadhatu realm, one must have the help of the physical body.

Unless you don't want to be promoted to a higher level, and only want to follow the path of a ghost fairy, and are not ready to transform from a Yin spirit to a Yang spirit, otherwise, you cannot give up your physical body.

By transforming Yin into Yang, the connection between the soul and the body will inevitably become closer, and other people will not be able to take over it easily.

"Now Donglin Temple has been alarmed."

Lu Chen sighed: "Now we can only wait and see how many discoveries Daosheng will make."

Zhongli Quan nodded. Daosheng was one of the eighteen great sages of the White Lotus Society. Although he did not have much real power, he was still a high-ranking official. If he disguised himself well, good news might come to him.

Afterwards, Zhongli Quan asked about the implementation of the plan and the progress of Donglin Temple.

Lu Chen said: "The plan was implemented very smoothly, but the time is still short, and Donglin Temple has not discovered it yet. However, Donglin Temple has discovered Longshou Mountain. Have you been to Longshou Mountain?"

Zhongli Quan shook his head and said, "I have already investigated all the mountains and rivers around Mount Lushan. Although there is some cave heaven aura in Longshou Mountain, it is not the real entrance to the cave heaven. It should be that the cave heaven is on the verge of breaking and bordering the human world, so it leaked a little aura. The real entrance to the cave heaven is somewhere else."

He couldn't find any useful opportunities in the places he couldn't check, so with the help of people from Donglin Temple and White Lotus Society, it would be even more difficult for him to find any useful opportunities.

At this point, Zhongli Quan added: "There is a Buddhist atmosphere in Longshou Mountain. There must be monks from Donglin Temple or White Lotus Society who found the place first. It seems that they have made a breakthrough and achieved the status of Arhat. It should have been a few years. But I don't know why Donglin Temple is only starting to send people to investigate now?"

Arhat status?

Lu Chen frowned.

The Arhat level is the immortal on earth, and in this world it is the Taoist Changsheng, who is a practitioner of a higher level together with Zhongli Quan.

Lu Chen thought of the Buddhayasas' relics: "Could it be the work of a monk who is not on the same page with Donglin Temple?"

The relics of Buddhayasas appeared in Longquan Temple. Coupled with the living example of Daosheng, it means that the eighteen sages of the White Lotus Society are not of one mind.

(End of this chapter)