Chapter 490: Destruction of Shenlong Temple
Chapter 490: Destruction of Shenlong Temple (5k)
From today onwards, there will no longer be a Shenlong Temple in the capital.
Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, his eyes flickered, he pursed his lips, nodded and said: "I will do it."
Xu Zhenguan nodded slightly and said:
"Xuan Yin is no longer in the capital. Now, among the three great Bodhisattvas in the temple, Prajna is achieving enlightenment, Nagarjuna is dead, and Dajing has fled to the Western Regions. The remaining strong men should no longer be a threat to you now."
She entrusted this matter to him only after she was sure that there was no powerful enemy in the Shenlong Temple who could harm Zhao Duan.
"I know." Zhao Du'an nodded, and suddenly thought of his old acquaintance Bian Ji. He wondered if that guy was still there.
"By the way, I'll give you this sword. You've been lacking a weapon since you entered the world."
Xu Zhenguan suddenly called him and threw to him the sword that was handed down from Li Yanfu's family. It had a simple and square shape, a scabbard inlaid with gems, and a noble origin.
Zhao Duan stretched out his right hand, grasped the scabbard in mid-air, and raised his eyebrows:
"Isn't this thing for warlocks? Can I use it too?"
Xu Zhenguan nodded and explained:
"I have seen it. This sword is quite interesting. It can be used by both magic and martial arts. If a magician wields the sword and drives it with magic power, he can strike out with one blow and chop down multiple enemies at the same time. Even if the enemies are not in the same direction, he can still repel them.
If it is activated by a warrior with his Qi, it will also be indestructible. I was thinking of finding a sword for you from the armory, but I didn't expect this to be suitable for you."
So interesting? I can now summon Pei Niannu to possess me at any time. I am a martial artist myself, and this sword also has two modes... It is indeed a good match...
Well, although the Golden Crow Flying Knife is useful, it is not enough for me now, and the Frost Sword has been eliminated... Zhao Duan's heart moved, he held the sheath with his left hand, grasped the handle with his right hand and pulled it out!
With the sound of metal friction, the sharp blade came out half an inch from the sheath, revealing a concave seal character on the blade below the handle.
It was the word "Zhen".
It is both a talisman and a weapon. The name "Zhen Dao" is simple but vivid.
Zhao Duan sheathed his sword and smiled: "It's just right, let's go to Shenlong Temple to test the sword."
……
……
After leaving the palace, Zhao Duan rode straight to the imperial yamen.
Running on the familiar streets of Beijing, he felt as if he was in another world.
It was past noon, but Zhao Du'an did not feel hungry. When he arrived at the familiar imperial court, he saw teams of soldiers in brocade uniforms returning, escorting a large number of captured rebels and locking them up in the imperial prison.
"Zhao Duan!" A clear female voice sounded. Looking in the direction of the voice, the heroic Haitang was smiling and waving at him.
Zhao Duan raised the corner of his mouth and smiled. He got off his horse and turned his face to the female colleague who was walking towards him:
"In public, call him Zhao Shaobao."
"Tsk." Haitang rolled her eyes, not afraid at all.
As the great-granddaughter of Eunuch Hai, she is one of the few people in the capital who dares to call him by his name in public.
"I heard about what happened in the palace. It's really your style." Haitang suddenly asked seriously, "I... Do you know the whereabouts of Eunuch Hai and the others?"
Zhao Duan shook his head and briefly explained how the two sides were separated after the Fengshan ceremony.
Haitang nodded, but she was not anxious:
"Mo Zhaorong's team probably doesn't know about your return to the capital, but they should be on their way back to the capital."
She was not too worried about the safety of Eunuch Hai. For one thing, with the fighting power of Eunuch Hai and the entire Martial Arts Hall, it would be difficult for them to die unless they were killed by celestial beings or went crazy and charged into the battlefield.
Secondly, during this period of time, Eunuch Hai has been using the shadow guard channel to pass news to the capital.
"By the way, are you back to look for the Governor?" Haitang asked curiously.
Zhao Duan nodded, then shook his head: "Your Majesty has assigned me an errand, I will come back to call for some help."
"Oh, so, the governor is not in the yamen right now. He has gone to take people to deal with the remnants of Li's party. How many people do you need? We have just freed up some staff in Narcissus Hall." Haitang said.
Zhao Duan smiled and said, "With only one person from Shuixian Hall, I'm afraid it's not enough."
Haitang was stunned, her teardrop-adorned face was filled with surprise:
"The chaos in the city has been basically quelled. What other errands are there that require so many people?"
Zhao Duan smiled and said, "Destroy Shenlong Temple."
Haitang was stunned.
……
A moment later, on the streets of the capital, a large group of imperial officials marched in a mighty manner, with murderous intent and the sound of thundering horse hooves, heading straight for the Shenlong Temple.
Zhao Duan rode in the lead, followed by Haitang, Zhang Han, and another detective from the gang.
This time when he went to Shenlong Temple, he brought people from three halls, which was an astonishing momentum.
"Are you sure we have enough people? How about we wait for the governor to come back and gather all nine halls together?" Haitang was a little panicked on the horse.
Zhao Duan glanced at her with a smile:
"Why? The Maritime Police Department has never been a cowardly group. Why are they so cowardly today?"
Haitang stared:
"That's Shenlong Temple! Even if it's as you said, Abbot Xuanyin is not here, and those Bodhisattvas are not here either, but it's not something we can destroy with just a few people. At the very least, we need to bring one or two worldly realm masters with us, right?"
At her level, she did not understand the ins and outs of Fengshan. She only knew that the empress failed because of the intervention of Shenlong Temple. Now that His Majesty has been promoted to a celestial being, she wants revenge.
"Who said there is no world here?" Zhao Duan smiled.
Haitang was stunned, and so were the other two detectives. The three of them had a vague guess, but they didn't dare to believe it.
When the coup d'état took place in the palace, Zhao Du'an only drew his sword and killed Li Yinglong. Apart from that, he did not take any other action. At this moment, only a few people in the capital knew that Zhao Du'an had passed away.
However, just when the three wanted to ask, Zhao Duan pulled the reins, looked ahead, and said in a deep voice:
"Everything from now on, follow my instructions."
We have arrived at Shenlong Temple!
In front of us, there is a magnificent and solemn temple building, covering a large area, with red walls and yellow tiles. At a glance, the glazed roof of the Buddhist temple shines brightly in the sun.
The Shenlong Temple was once very popular, with countless pilgrims visiting the temple and the smoke from incense and candles billowing in the sky almost never disappearing.
But since the imperial court banned Buddhism last year, Shenlong Temple has become deserted.
Now, the door is closed and there is no one around.
However, the sound of horse hooves of Zhao Duan's group still alarmed the temple. They reined in their horses and a small door opened under the tall lintel of the temple, next to the tightly closed temple door, and several monks in monk robes walked out.
The first one is the "Master of the Reception Hall" who receives pilgrims in the temple.
"Amitabha, when will Zhao Shaobao return to Beijing? And why did he come to my Shenlong Temple?"
The middle-aged monk in charge of reception was very nervous. He was terrified when he saw the large group of cavalry. He was even more shocked when he saw that the person leading them was King Zhao Yan who had disappeared for several months.
Zhao Duan did not dismount. He held the reins with one hand and the whip with the other. His eyes narrowed slightly and his voice was soft:
"Oh? You don't know why I came here? Then you should know what Xuan Yin did."
The middle-aged monk in charge of reception had a blank expression:
"Abbot? The abbot has been meditating in the temple. Since the beginning of spring, he has ordered all monks in the temple to practice meditation behind closed doors. Can you explain it more clearly, Shao Bao?"
Zhao Duan frowned:
"You don't know? Xuanyin is no longer in the temple? Then you should know that Longshu and others have left, right?"
The head of the reception hall became increasingly confused:
"The abbot is not in the temple? This... I don't know. As for Nagarjuna Bodhisattva and some monks, they did leave the temple a few days ago. They heard that there was unrest outside, so they went out of the city to protect some monks and small temples outside..."
Zhao Duan had a blank expression on his face. He could not see any signs that the hall master was lying, so he roughly guessed the reason:
No matter whether it was the Fengshan battle or the assassination of the emperor in Baihua Village, they were both extremely secretive and fatal events.
Presumably, only Xuan Yin and a few high-ranking officials in the temple knew about and were involved.
Although this monk is in charge of a hall, his status is not high enough. I am afraid that he still doesn't know what the Shenlong Temple is involved in, let alone that a disaster is about to happen.
Not only him, the entire Shenlong Temple, since it was abandoned by Xuan Yin, must be filled with a group of ignorant middle and low-level monks.
But...does it matter?
"Everyone listen to my orders," Zhao Duan ignored this person and said loudly:
"Immediately seal off the entire Shenlong Temple, and don't let even a fly fly out!
Your Majesty has issued an order that Shenlong Temple is guilty of treason and rebellion, which is unforgivable. From today on, Shenlong Temple will be destroyed, all Buddhist properties will be confiscated, and all monks in the temple will be arrested and imprisoned pending trial. Anyone who dares to stop us will be killed immediately!"
A large group of brocaded-clad warriors drew their swords and raised their arms high:
"Anyone who dares to stop me will be killed immediately!!"
As he spoke, the cavalry split into two teams, rushed out from behind Zhao Duan and surrounded the entire Shenlong Temple.
Zhao Duan led the rest of the group and walked straight towards the gate:
"Break the door! Arrest him!"
What? Treason?
The monk in charge of reception and other monks were shocked and wanted to ask something, but when they saw Zhao Duan and others drawing their swords, they were already scared to death and turned around and fled back into the temple.
Zhao Duan was not in a hurry to catch him and ordered Jinyi to tear down the door.
Seeing his subordinates struggling, he shook his head and missed Hou Renmeng, his close confidant of Lihua Hall, who was with the Fengshan team.
"If Lao Hou was here, why would breaking the door be so fussy?"
As he was sighing, the main gate of Shenlong Temple was removed with a loud bang, and the middle gate was opened wide. Zhao Duan and his men swaggered into this nearly thousand-year-old temple.
At this time, the whole temple was in an uproar. Monks ran out one by one, but were frightened back by the vicious soldiers. Several warrior monks were so angry that they tried to stop them, but were chopped down by the imperial guards.
"The soldiers are coming in!"
"Killed!"
"Go and invite the abbot!"
The monks fled in terror, as if it was the end of the world, and they had no idea what was happening.
Zhao Duan led his men forward inch by inch without haste. When they passed through the front hall and entered the central courtyard, a large number of monk soldiers wearing dark yellow robes and holding sticks and long swords rushed out like a tide.
Stop the officers and soldiers.
"These are the monks from Luohan Hall. They all have great skills. If they really fight, there will inevitably be casualties." Haitang frowned.
There are many halls in the Shenlong Temple, and the Arhat Hall is responsible for the combat power.
"Zhao Duan!? What do you mean? Are you really bullying me because there is no one in Shenlong Temple?!" Suddenly, there was a roar as thick as a bell.
Zhao Duan, who was standing in the crowd with his hands behind his back, caught a glimpse of a big monk with huge ears, a dark face, eyes like copper bells, a half-open chest, and holding a very heavy Zen staff with eighteen copper rings on it.
He was very tall, and his monk's shoes made a heavy thumping sound when he stepped on the ground.
At this moment, his face was filled with anger, just like the angry eyes of the legendary King Kong.
"Abbot!" The other monks seemed to have found their backbone.
Zhang Han, who was standing next to Zhao Duan, spoke in a low voice:
"This is the head monk of the Arhat Hall, a martial monk of the worldly realm. Although he is not as powerful as a Bodhisattva, his martial arts are definitely not bad. It will be difficult for us to resist him if we join forces. Unless the governor comes..."
Zhao Duan was too lazy to listen and said calmly:
"Where is Bian Ji? Let him come out and speak. I don't want to waste my breath on a nameless wretch."
When the head monk of the Arhat Hall heard this, his face turned even darker, as dark as the bottom of a pot. He practiced in the temple all year round and seldom went out, so he was not well-known.
But he was the head monk of a temple after all. How could a martial monk in the world tolerate this? He immediately slammed the heavy Zen staff into the ground fiercely. With a crack, the blue bricks collapsed and cracks like spider webs appeared. He said angrily:
"Zhao Duan! Don't go too far! Da Jing has a grudge against you. If you have the guts, go find him. But you dare to hide behind the soldiers and use your power to bully others. What kind of person are you? Shenlong Temple is an important place for Buddhism. Leave immediately, otherwise don't blame the Buddha for not giving face to the court!"
He was still calm and didn't dare to really take action.
Zhao Duan frowned, as if annoyed by the noise, and finally glanced at him, shook his head and sneered:
"You don't even know what happened, and you still say you're not a scumbag?"
He realized that even though this man had a strong cultivation base, he was mostly just a reckless gatekeeper in the temple and had no access to the decisions of the Shenlong Temple's top brass.
Far inferior to Bian Ji.
"But you reminded me that unless I cripple a piece of trash like you, I won't be able to intimidate all the monks in the temple and make them surrender. In this case, I'll use you as a chance to test my sword."
Zhao Duan changed the subject, smiled lightly, raised his right hand, and a man in brocade clothes immediately handed over the sword in his hands with both hands.
This weapon is extremely exquisitely crafted. The scabbard is square and simple, inlaid with precious gems, and it is glittering and gorgeous. It would be an exquisite artifact if placed in the study.
Who could have imagined that it was also a killing weapon with a profound origin?
“What are you going to do?” The head of the Arhat Hall was stunned, surprised that Zhao Duan, who was just a god in the rumors, dared to draw a sword against him.
His expression changed and he said:
"Do you think that we dare not fight back just because of your power? Let you slaughter us? You must know that even a clay Buddha has some temper. If you make me angry, I will just hit you with my Zen stick..."
Zhao Duan held the hilt of the knife with his right hand, his eyebrows drooped, his eyes cold:
"Noisy!"
At this moment, the official robe he was wearing became more and more scarlet, and in a trance, it seemed that the style had changed.
His bun was broken, and his black hair fell like a waterfall. One of his eyes was still clear, but the other had turned a strange silver color.
Deep in the silver eyeballs, the wedding dress sorceress covered with a dark gold mask opened her eyes indifferently.
The Qi sea roared, and Qi and magic power poured into the hilt of the knife frantically at the same time.
A strong sense of danger enveloped everyone's heart!
The head monk of the Arhat Hall was extremely pale and felt the threat of death. Without time to think, he held the Zen stick weighing hundreds of pounds across his body with his strong hands, and the illusory golden bell began to condense around him.
Zhao Duan has already drawn his sword!
"Qiang!"
A bright knife light illuminated the entire courtyard. At this moment, Zhao Duan mobilized his own strength and Pei Niannu's strength at the same time and merged them into this knife.
Most of the internal energy in his Qi Sea evaporated in an instant!
The blade of the Zhen Dao burst out with dazzling light, and an illusory word "Zhen" vaguely emerged. Then, the majestic sword light was like a gap in the sky, flowing down.
"boom!"
The heavy Zen staff in the hands of the Arhat Hall's head monk wailed as it could not bear the weight and was cut into two pieces by the sword light. The golden bell cover that had not yet been fully formed also shattered!
There were crisp sounds of bones breaking, mixed with screams. This extremely huge Luohan monk was completely unable to fight back, as if he was hit head-on by a high-speed locomotive and flew backwards!
With a loud bang, he hit a clock in the pavilion, and blood spurted out. The man leaned against the clock, his head tilted, and he fell into a coma. A long vertical cut appeared between his eyebrows, and scarlet blood flowed out like tears!
"when--"
There was a moment of silence in the temple, with only the sound of the bell echoing.
Lost? !
The head of the Arhat Hall in the middle realm of the world was seriously injured and defeated in just one round? !
This result shocked everyone.
Not only the people from Shenlong Temple, but even the officials from the imperial court were stunned.
Haitang widened her bright eyes, slightly parted her lips, and stared blankly at Zhao Duan who suddenly drew his knife.
Zhang Han could hardly hold the seven-foot sword in his hand and nearly dropped it. This man who was once the strongest fighter in the nine halls of the Zhaoya now had a blank look in his eyes, as if he was dreaming.
One knife? Seriously injuring the head of Luohan Hall?
Has Zhao Duan advanced to the worldly realm?
Do not!
Even in the ordinary worldly realm, it is absolutely impossible to do this. You must know that the head of the Arhat Hall is of the middle quality in the world!
Even if a high-quality item beats a medium-quality item, it wouldn't be so seamless, right?
So… could it be that after not seeing Zhao Duan for several months, he has already reached perfection in the world? Has he become a master comparable to the level of Senior Brother Qingshan Duan Shuiliu?
The group of imperial guards in the imperial court were buzzing with disbelief.
Of course, they didn't know that Zhao Duan's real cultivation level was barely on par with the abbot of Arhat Hall.
If we consider that his cultivation level was not achieved through real practice, but rather through a short-term dual cultivation, attacking the emperor, and forcing things to happen... in terms of cultivation level, Zhao Duan is not as good as the other party.
But what can be done? This sword of his is equivalent to two worldly realm masters attacking at full strength at the same time, and only with the help of the extraordinary "Zhen Dao" treasured by Li Yanfu can such a powerful attack be unleashed.
As a price, Zhao Duan's energy was mostly consumed, and he couldn't make such a slash again.
"You are just a small fry, you can't even block my sword, yet you still dare to speak nonsense."
Zhao Duan moved his wrist and calmly pushed the sword into the scabbard, which was held by the man in brocade clothes.
His expression was calm as he glanced at the monks in front of him:
"If you don't want to die, surrender."
The group of monks were silent for a moment. After a moment, it was unknown who took the lead and the first iron rod was thrown to the ground.
Immediately, the monks dropped their weapons and gave up resistance.
They knew very well that even if the entire temple fought hard to fight against this group of officials, this was the capital city and they would eventually be defeated.
"If you don't accept my toast, you will have to drink the wine for punishment." Zhao Duan sneered and handed the matter of arresting people to his men. He then turned to look at the trembling monk in the corner:
"Where is Bian Ji?"
The monk in charge of reception turned pale and shook his head.
"No... I don't know... The master hasn't appeared for several days. I only know that he was in Jizhao Temple last time, and his whereabouts are unknown since then."
What was Bian Ji doing in the nunnery? Zhao Duan suddenly had an idea and called a Jinyi:
"Go to the Jizhao Temple across the street and find out what's going on."
He highly suspected that Bian Ji ran away with Xuan Yin.
Compared with the group of monks in front of him, although Bian Ji is not a Bodhisattva, he is undoubtedly one of the high-ranking officials of Shenlong Temple, or at least a close confidant of Xuan Yin.
There's no reason not to take it away.
"You stay here and seal up the property and training materials in the temple. From today onwards, everything in this temple will belong to the court."
After leaving these words behind, Zhao Duan took a step forward, went deeper into the Shenlong Temple, and arrived at the deepest part, outside the Buddhist temple where Xuan Yin had been in seclusion all year round.
Without hesitation, he pushed the door open with force. With a creak, sunlight poured into the empty Buddhist temple from behind him.
The spacious and solemn Buddhist temple was empty, and even the incense and candles on the altar had been extinguished for many days.
"It's just as Zhenbao said. The old monk has been away for several days..."
Zhao Duan muttered to himself, walked to the futon in the hall, and kicked the huge wooden fish on the ground, which made a "dong" sound. It didn't look like a treasure at all.
He looked up and saw the huge gilded Buddha statue looking down at him.
That is the statue of the deity, the Buddha.
The Buddha looked down upon the world with compassionate eyes. Zhao Duan looked at the gigantic Buddha statue, whose head almost reached the ceiling of the hall, and felt that he himself was as small as a speck of dust.
The body and mind are at peace.
After an unknown amount of time, footsteps were heard outside the temple, accompanied by Haitang's call:
"Zhao Duan, there's something going on here, I need you to come over and take a look."
(End of this chapter)