The copy of the universe from the journey to the west

Chapter 182: Searching for Monsters, the Asshole Governor (asking for monthly tickets)
Although he felt emotional, Lu Chen had no intention of getting rid of the monster at this time.

Maybe after forming the elixir, I can think about helping.

But before forming the pill, Lu Chen did not plan to do anything.

Lu Chen did not go into seclusion directly, but instead went to visit Zhou's family.

Zhou Daping came to visit these days to tell Lu Chen about the situation in Xunyang City.

In order to return the favor, Zhou Daping was saved by Lu Chen's detoxification pill, and he always wanted to do something to repay Lu Chen.

Among them, more than half of the news about the loose faces was brought by Zhou Daping.

It was not for any other reason, but just to remind Lu Chen not to go out, as it is very dangerous outside.

After the evil spirit appeared, the city began to become uneasy, the government's control over order began to decline, and many petty and despicable things happened one after another.

More people died or were injured at the hands of humans than at the hands of monsters!
……

Only Zhou Dasao and Zhou Zhaodi are at home in the Zhou family. Zhou Daping is now a government servant and has not yet finished his work.

Zhou Zhaodi said to Lu Chen: "Dad is about to get off work, and he specifically told me to tell you, uncle, that our West City is not safe. It seems that some bad guys are coming."

Lu Chen thought about it and understood the meaning. He smiled and rubbed Zhou Zhaodi who was a little worried: "Don't worry, your father is an official of the government. The bad guys dare not come here."

Zhou Zhaodi shook off Lu Chen's hand and said, "Uncle, you lied to me again. I'm not a child anymore. My parents think I don't know anything, but I heard from people in the alley that there are monsters here. Mom said that Dad is doing dangerous work now. Although it's easy now, there may be dangers in the future."

Zhou Zhaodi is twelve years old this year. Zhou Daping and his wife dote on this daughter very much, so they raised her to have the personality of a child.

However, the general environment of this era is that many girls have to get married at the age of thirteen or fourteen.

Among the royal family and aristocrats, the marriage age generally does not exceed sixteen years old.

If you are over sixteen, you are considered an old maid.

Zhou Zhaodi is actually old enough to get married in this era.

There are many things that the adults don't say, but she actually understands them very well in her heart.

For example, she knew everything about her father Zhou Daping.

Then, she said pitifully, "Uncle, aren't you a Taoist priest? People say that Taoist priests can fly with swords, and Zhang Tianshi can kill monsters. Can you kill the monster?"

Lu Chen smiled and shook his head: "I am not Master Zhang Tianshi, and I don't know how to use a sword."

"Oh, is that so?" Zhou Zhaodi was a little disappointed.

"However, I do have a few tricks to deal with monsters."

As he spoke, Lu Chen took out a few pieces of talisman paper and said, "Here are some talisman paper. Ask your parents to stick them on the door, windows, and walls around. Then, I guarantee that the monsters won't dare to enter your house."

"Yeah, thank you, uncle."

Ever since Lu Chen's elixir saved Zhou Daping, Zhou Zhaodi's way of looking at Lu Chen has changed, and she seems to admire him very much.

The uncle can really exorcise demons!
Lu Chen felt a little uncomfortable being looked at by the little girl, so he ordered again: "Don't go out these few days, I won't come out either."

The first two times Lu Chen went into seclusion, he did not tell the Zhou family in advance, so he told them in advance now.

Afterwards, Lu Chen left the Zhou family and returned to the Lu residence.

After Lu Chen left, Zhou Zhaodi took the talisman paper to find Zhou Dasao and said to her: "Mom! Look, this is the demon-subduing talisman paper that Uncle Lu gave me!"

"what?"

Mrs. Zhou was shocked. Talisman paper to exorcise demons?

She took a quick look, but felt something was wrong.

Monsters are now rampant in Xunyang City, and many families go to Longquan Temple and Tianshi Taoist Temple to seek protection.

In Longquan Temple, most people come to buy instruments blessed by eminent monks, or to take Buddha statues home to worship.

On the other hand, at the Tianshi Taoist Temple, they were requesting talismans for consecration.

The cheapest talisman paper now costs more than five taels of silver.

Mrs. Zhou also brought back two pieces of talisman paper and pasted them on the left and right sides of the gate, so she knew what the talisman paper at the Tianshi Taoist Temple looked like.

It is completely different from the talisman paper in my daughter's hand.

Mrs. Zhou wondered, "Did your uncle Lu give you these talismans?"

"Uh-huh."

Zhou Zhaodi nodded repeatedly: "Uncle said that he drew this himself and it can protect the peace of our home."

Mrs. Zhou nodded and didn't take it seriously: "Yeah, go and play with it."

It’s not that she didn’t believe Lu Chen. After the pills Lu Chen brought saved Zhou Daping, she also knew that the neighbor across the street must be a capable person.

But no matter how capable a person is, can he cure diseases and save lives, and can he also exorcise demons and monsters?
Besides, Lu Chen looks too young.

He is not yet a true Taoist priest of the Tianshi Dao. I heard that Lu Chen once set up a fortune-telling stall at the city gate.

Isn't this obviously not the style that a truly capable master should have?

So Mrs. Zhou didn't take it seriously.

Zhou Zhaodi was driven away, her face was full of discontent, she stamped her feet and said: "Humph! If you don't post it, I will do it myself!"

Then he turned and came into the yard.

But before she could wait, the door suddenly opened.

Several officers wearing yamen uniforms, holding swords in their hands and with solemn eyes, swarmed into the yard.

Following closely behind were two Taoists holding whisks and swords.

"Is it coming this way?"

"Yes, but now... there is no movement."

"Check carefully, the monster should be around here."

"Well, it seems that the monster is difficult to deal with."

"..."

The two Taoists started talking to each other.

"Ah! Who are you!"

Zhou Zhaodi finally came to her senses and shouted loudly.

"Shut up!"

An officer shouted fiercely: "Where is your master? Come out immediately!"

Zhou Zhaodi quickly shut her mouth. Behind her, Zhou Dasao also walked out of the door. Seeing this, she hurriedly pulled Zhou Zhaodi behind her and kept bowing, saying, "My dear officials, my husband is Zhou Daping, and he is also an official of the government."

An officer was stunned when he heard this: "Is this the home of Zhou Daping?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Mrs. Zhou nodded repeatedly.

The officer turned and walked towards the two Taoists and whispered something to one of them.

"It turns out he is one of our own."

The Taoist's serious expression instantly relaxed and he nodded: "The monster must not be here anymore. Let's go to the next one."

Then the group of people went out again.

The last officer bowed to Mrs. Zhou and said, "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry to bother you. It's all a misunderstanding. Please forgive me."

When Mrs. Zhou saw this, she immediately understood and nodded, "I understand."

The officer then smiled and closed the door again before leaving.

"What kind of world is this?"

Mrs. Zhou followed behind and quickly ran over to bolt the door, a look of worry appearing on her face.

If her man was not a government official, this time might be like the chaotic years, and she would have to pay real money to make these officials believe that there was no monster in her house.

Zhou Zhaodi was a little confused.

She was a little confused. Since there were monsters in her home, why didn't her mother let the officials and Taoist priests investigate?

She doesn't understand the ins and outs of this.

I wanted to ask more, but seeing the sad expression on my mother's face, I could only swallow the words.

There are still many things she doesn't understand, but she knows that her mother's actions must have their reasons.

She turned around silently and prepared to stick the talisman paper.

And at this moment, a butterfly flying in the sky slowly landed on her shoulder.

"Butterfly?"

Zhou Zhaodi looked at the butterfly, stunned for a moment, then showed a happy expression in the next second, and carefully touched the butterfly. The latter seemed to be not afraid of people at all and did not fly away.

This made Zhou Zhaodi even happier: "Little Butterfly, Little Butterfly, can't you find your home? Then you should stay with me from now on."

The butterfly flapped its wings as if in response.

The sky around was filled with wind and waves, and the dry yellow leaves on the trees in the yard were blown off by the wind.

The butterfly's antennae swayed back and forth, as if exploring something.

……

Lu Mansion.

The Taoist priests and yamen runners who left the Zhou family broke straight into the Lu Mansion.

"Is it coming this way?"

"Yes, but now... there is no movement."

"Check carefully, the monster should be around here."

"Well, it seems that the monster is difficult to deal with."

"..."

The two men dressed as Taoist priests of the Shangqing Sect who had not even reached the level of alchemist were still conversing as usual.

Lu Chen, who was just about to go back to retreat, turned around and saw this situation. He immediately understood what it meant.

But his face remained expressionless and his body did not move.

The man next to him immediately put down the scissors he was using to trim the flowers and plants, and trotted over: "My Lords, what's going on here?"

As he spoke, he stuffed a tael of silver into the hand of a yamen runner.

The yamen runner pinched it, then a smile appeared on his face. He said to the man with a straight face, "Shangqing Daoist Immortal Wang severely injured a monster this morning. The monster was no match for Immortal Wang and fled into Qingfeng Lane. The two immortals behind me are Immortal Wang's direct disciples. We are here to search for the monster and protect the safety of the people in Qingfeng Lane. Please understand and support us."

"Oh! So that's how it is! I understand. I will definitely support you!"

Ren Liansong's acting skills were very good. He looked terrified and kept bowing: "Masters, Taoist priests, please investigate. We must investigate thoroughly. If there is a monster here, won't we be in danger?"

"Isn't this currently being investigated? We have been following the two Taoist priests since early morning until now, all for the sake of everyone's safety. This job is very tiring."

The bailiff glanced at the man's face. The two Taoists behind him were still pretending to close their eyes and muttering to themselves, as if they were performing a ritual to search for traces of monsters.

When Ren Liansong saw this, he immediately understood what this meant.

He quickly took out a small purse from his sleeve and stuffed it into the hand of the yamen runner: "Oh! This is really too hard work, but unfortunately, we didn't boil water in the yard today, so there is no hot water, and the place is messy, so we can't let you take a rest. I can only express my gratitude. You officials and Taoist priests can go buy some tea to drink. Thank you for your hard work."

After weighing the weight of the purse, the yamen runner smiled even more: "Well, isn't this all for the safety of our elders? It doesn't matter if we are a little tired, but I'm afraid that no one will understand, right?"

"Yes, yes, everyone should understand." The man with the face nodded.

The bailiff nodded with satisfaction and turned to look at the two Taoists.

One of the Taoists opened his eyes and nodded: "There is no evil spirit here, let's go to the next one!"

A group of people left in a swarm again.

But the door was not closed.

The smile on Ren Liansong's face disappeared, and with a wave of his hand, the normally open door seemed to be closed again by a pair of big hands, and the bolt was automatically inserted.

Then he turned around and came to Lu Chen, and said respectfully: “Master, they are not disciples of the Wang Ling period, but two ordinary post-natal warriors who have passed on the clothes of the Shangqing Sect.”

"Normal. Although Wang Lingqi's Taoism is not very good, he would not do such a despicable thing."

Lu Chen smiled and said, "It must be another way that Governor Zhao is thinking of to make money."

Although Wang Lingqi's temper was disliked by Taoists from other sects, it must be said that Wang Lingqi only showed his bad popularity in the competition for Taoist veins. He was hostile to the Lingbao sect and was disgusted by Xu Huangmin's non-competitive expression.

However, there has never been a precedent in which the Shangqing Sect under Wang Lingqi bullied ordinary mortals.

Especially Lu Chen had also seen Wang Lingqi and his disciples.

Even though his cultivation level was not that great, at least he was a refiner, and he must have some real skills in his hands.

Without even being a refiner, how dare you call yourself the direct disciple of Master Yuanshen Zhenren Wang Lingqi?
I'm afraid that if Wang Lingqi knew about this, he would slap these two guys to death with his own hands!

This is obviously a fake, designed to ruin the reputation of the Shangqing School!

Although the Liu Song Dynasty was a new dynasty, it inherited the legacy of the Eastern Jin Dynasty almost intact.

It can be said that only the appearance has changed, but the inside remains the same.

From the root, the inside has long been rotten.

Governor Zhao was a notoriously bad governor, so it was not surprising that he did such a thing.

And at this moment, Xiao floated out of the well.

When Ren Liansong saw her, he said unhappily, "I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about that abominable governor."

Xiao lowered his head and said nothing.

Ren Liansong was helpless, and turned to Lu Chen and said, "Xiao has always been thinking about revenge."

Lu Chen nodded: "Revenge is simple, just cut his neck and it's over. If there is a chance, I don't mind getting rid of harm for the people. But he is a governor after all, and there are Yuanshen Zhenren like Wang Lingqi around him, so we can't act rashly."

"I understand. I will wait. Thank you, Master."

Xiao flew out of the well, landed on the ground, and lowered her body.

She naturally understood what Lu Chen meant.

She also did not ask to kill the governor who had caused him to suffer immediately.

She also knew that this was difficult, but as long as there was hope, it would be fine. This was also the important reason why she stayed in the well and was unwilling to enter the Yin-Yang world.

Now she is a ghost bound to the earth. Once she gets out of the well, she can’t even get out of the yard. Even if she could, it would be useless.

The post of prefect is protected by the dynasty's luck, and a little kid like her can't even get close to him.

If you want revenge, you can only rely on external forces.

After thanking Lu Chen, Xiao went to cook again. There was not much she could do for Lu Chen, so she could only cook to repay Lu Chen's kindness.

Lu Chen looked at Xiao's back, turned his head and said to the face, "What will be the price for the ghost to stay in the world?"

"Naturally there is."

The human face nodded: "After a person dies, he will experience the hardship of death every day. The pain and despair will force the ghost to become an evil ghost and harm people. There are too many such ghosts in the Yin-Yang Dharma Realm, so the pain and despair fill the entire Yin-Yang Dharma Realm, which will distort the consciousness. Xiao's family also had some distorted tendencies in the past, but I used the power of incense to erase some of them, but this method only treats the symptoms and not the root cause."

Lu Chen nodded.

Every person who becomes a demon, not all of them, but most of them, have a past that is too shameful to look back on.

No ordinary person can endure the extreme pain and despair of being killed by someone else.

So, people are afraid of ghosts harming them.

Because most ghosts, no matter how kind they were when they were alive, will have their consciousness distorted after death and become evil ghosts.

It is extremely rare and precious that Xiao was able to survive for several years without harming anyone and still retain his own consciousness.

Lu Chen did not lie to Xiao. It was not convenient for him to take action against the prefect now.

But after this matter is over, if there is a chance, he doesn't mind acting as a righteous knight.

He couldn't change the world, but killing one or two people to vent his anger was something he could do easily.

This was no longer a big deal in the eyes of Lu Chen, who attached less and less importance to his life.

After eating another meal prepared by the Xiao family, Lu Chen began his retreat again.

But this time, Lu Chen did not plan to continue working on "The Secret of the Great Pill".

These two times of retreat and practice made Lu Chen feel that he had gone astray.

Let's see if changing the subject of research will yield any unexpected results. Just treat it as a way to give your brain a rest.

It just so happened that although Lu Chen had obtained the One Mind Three Treasures method for some time, he had never studied it carefully.

This time I will delve into the Three Treasures of One Mind.

“Empty Tathagata-garbha, non-empty Tathagata-garbha, empty and non-empty Tathagata-garbha… the three kinds of Tathagata-garbha are equally good, but they are very similar to the state of life.”

Although he hadn't studied the 'One Mind Three Treasures' for such a long time, it had been a long time since he had obtained it. The last time, Lu Chen remembered why he was so familiar with the 'One Mind Three Treasures'.

The three kinds of Tathagatagarbha in the One Mind and Three Treasures coincidentally correspond to a statement made in later generations.

Later generations of Buddhist Zen proposed three realms of life, which are widely used by modern people: seeing mountains as mountains and water as water; seeing mountains as not mountains and water as not water; seeing mountains as mountains and water as water.

This is somewhat similar to the One Mind Three Treasures.

There may be some subtle differences, but many of the principles are common.

(End of this chapter)