Wandering Gods of Day and Night-Chapter 1110 - 429: Three Incenses of Buddhist Renown
In this world, there are generally two kinds of reputations,
One is earned through painstaking dedication, honing one’s skills, studying diligently for twenty years, waiting for the day of achieving success and fame. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚
This kind of reputation is hard to achieve but, once gathered, it is enduring.
The other kind of reputation is that of "deception and false reputation", achieved by doing dubious, grand, and empty deeds, relying on theft, fraud, and plunder to gain a significant name.
As the saying goes, "a paper cannot wrap up fire", in due time, the hidden secrets within this kind of reputation will inevitably be seen through, leading to a scenario of the tree falling and the monkeys scattering,
This kind of reputation comes quickly and goes just as fast,
Master Lu Xue is a person with developed desires but idles without diligence,
If he were to arduously delve into the Buddhist Law of the world, to participate in debates at various grand temples and with renowned monks to earn a Great Buddha name, he would never agree to it.
"If one merely immerses in dim lights and faded texts, prays and meditates on Buddhism, before even achieving a Great Buddha name, one would die of boredom."
What did Master Lu Xue do? Before he became a monk, he was a hunter, always traversing mountains, so how could he not recognize some mountain spirit monsters and fox ghosts?
He struck a deal with a wolf spirit and a spirit monster in the mountains.
Those wolf spirits and spirit monsters would often bring their minions down the mountain, doing eerie things in towns and counties, such as secretly sneaking into homes and cruelly devouring children and the elderly.
They create chaos, and then Master Lu Xue would come to subdue the demons, performing some fake rituals, and those wolf spirits and spirit monsters would then not attack the villages and towns for several months,
Over time, the people truly believed he could subdue demons.
Master Lu Xue thus earned a good reputation among the people, known as the "Demon Suppression Great Master",
but the poor people, how could they know that both the god and the demon were Master Lu Xue.
Once Master Lu Xue’s fame rose, it was incredible; residents from the seven mountains and five ridges all knew that a well-known mage had appeared in the Mahayana Temple and flocked to donate incense money.
Meanwhile, some devout disciples, crossed several great mountains, wanting to become monks at the Mahayana Temple.
And then,
those incense moneys naturally became Master Lu Xue’s expenses for a life of indulgence and extreme pleasure,
As for those monks who came from afar because of his fame, they were deceived by Master Lu Xue into the mountains and offered to the wolf spirits and spirit monsters as Blood Food.
If one were to say that Buddha’s name is like incense, described by one stick, two sticks, or three sticks for its abundance,
then the business of "conspiring with spirit monsters for human skin" earned Master Lu Xue his first stick of Buddha’s name.
Zhou Xuan and Master Wu Ya, within the great fish, only saw the tip of the iceberg of Master Lu Xue’s past and were a bit amazed,
"Everyone in this world is born from their mother, weighing merely six or seven pounds of flesh and blood at birth, not much different from one another, so why do some people, as they grow older, become so evil?"
Master Wu Ya immediately recited the Buddha’s name, exclaiming "Well said, well said."
Zhou Xuan, however, sneered coldly, and said, "Some people only grow to look like humans, but in fact, they’re ghosts wearing human skin, when their power is small, this ghost hasn’t grown up, and doesn’t show extreme ferocity,
But when their power grows large, this ghost grows up, and that’s when it eats people and gnaws bones, Master Wu Ya, just wait and see, the ghost in Master Lu Xue’s heart has awakened."
"Are you saying that he can become even worse in the future?"
"Of course."
Zhou Xuan continued on his own into the depths of the great fish, to look at Master Lu Xue’s future, with Master Wu Ya also following up.
...
Master Lu Xue conspired with mountain spirits, earned his reputation, but soon, he became dissatisfied again,
One day, while drinking with the wolf spirit in a cave in the wilderness, he lay on the bed, resentful, and said, "Brother Wolf, how can I make my days better."
"Master, isn’t your life good enough now? You have food to eat, clothes to wear, and women by your side, one after another. The only downside is that you have to frequently sit in the temple, pretending to be in seclusion to deceive the world, which is a bit boring."
"Food has its classes, clothes have their grades."
Master Lu Xue sat up abruptly and said, "First, let’s talk about food, Landlord Zhao in the city has his business spanning three mansions and is a big eater, let’s say when he eats fish, he only eats an inch of fresh meat under the belly of a perch,
One meal would use several dozen fish to cook one dish, now that’s eating well."
"Then, let’s talk about clothing. When I went to the Capital City Mansion for the Great Buddha Assembly, the abbots of the Bao Guo Temple and Tianma Temple each wore a Kasaya made of brocade, with seams made of gold thread,
And, on a fabric surface the size of a thumb, an intricately embroidered Buddha’s head is visible, the cost of this embroidery is probably even higher than the gold thread."
"Only when food and clothing reach such a level can life be considered good. This life is hopeless for me."
Master Lu Xue lay back down on the wooden bed, sighing heavily.
"In the end, it’s still about needing money, to get money, you need to earn great fame, but how do you earn great fame?"
As he thought of this, the wolf spirit came over and said, "Master, I have a plan."
"Let’s hear it,"
Master Lu Xue, intrigued, promptly said.
The wolf spirit pointed southward and said, "To the south, across five mountain peaks, there’s a Great Rat Immortal who knows the art of pestilence, covered in lice."
"What is the use of these lice?" the Master asked.
"These lice, thrown into a town, can cause a terrifying plague, and when the plague spreads, with the people on the brink of death, you can find the Great Rat Immortal to obtain some antidote and save them from the plague...
