My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 803 - 502: Enlightenment and Clarity (Double - )

This family of five fled from the south to the north.

Since ancient times, compared to the Central Plains, the south has always been a region with diverse worship practices, an abundance of ghosts and gods, and the farther south one goes, the more prevalent the miasma and the more gods there are. Mountain spirits, lone ghosts, and wild spirits even dare to proclaim themselves as deities. In some places, there is even a shrine every two streets.

Throughout the dynasties, wild and licentious worship has often been strictly prohibited. However, since the beginning of the reign of Great Yu, which rose from Chu and Yue, it has been particularly tolerant of folk worship of wild gods, resulting in the flourishing of such practices in the south, providing a loophole for the White Lotus Sect.

This family of five, decades ago, when the previous emperor was reign, owned about sixty acres of fertile land. They were hardworking and willing to endure hardships. After ten years of effort, not only did they get married, but they also leased land from neighbors for farming.

But as fate would have it, within a few years, they encountered the emperor's grand construction projects, and in his desire to hold the Fengshan ceremony at Taishan, all regions competed to present auspicious treasures, naturally imposing various miscellaneous taxes and labor levies upon them.

"With such heavy burdens, for farmers like us who work the fields from dawn to dusk, those with less land sought refuge, those with more land endured, and families like ours, with a modest amount of land, after much contemplation, had no choice but to donate the land to temple lands," Gong's father sighed, his voice filled with reluctance for the land.

So-called temple lands refer to lands under the name of monasteries, temples, Taoist temples, and nunneries. These lands are exempt from taxes and rarely require labor levies; they only require the payment of land rent. Therefore, many people donate lands during heavy tax periods and buy them back from temples when taxes lighten.

The temple they donated to was named Baolian Temple. At that time, the old abbot had just passed away, and the new abbot of Baolian Temple was none other than Ji Yuan.

Under Ji Yuan's leadership, Baolian Temple, which originally only worshipped the Buddha, somehow acquired numerous unknown gods and buddhas from unknown sources. Various wild god statues were brought into the temple, not destroyed, but carefully selected and worshipped.

"Just like… the statues in the Duanguan Clan's house?" Chen Yi thought of the Duanguan Clan's house filled with statues and asked.

"It seems like that…" Gong's father recalled briefly and gave a positive answer before continuing: "Possibly due to the excessive number of gods and buddhas needing veneration in the temple and insufficient incense offerings, the monks would give some statues to the tenants to take home and worship... and we received these five statues."

Chen Yi's eyebrows slightly furrowed.

After the Gong family of five died, they inhabited the statues, becoming five wild gods. If that's the case, wouldn't the temple lands of Baolian Temple be infested with wild gods everywhere?

This is not ordinary.

Chen Yi immediately wondered if there might be intricate connections between Baolian Temple and the White Lotus Sect, both bearing the name "Lotus."

If not, how could the Southern Taoist Sect's leading Dragon and Tiger Mountain be forced to close its gates, almost powerless against the White Lotus Sect's intrusion, having to seek help from Taoists nationwide?

His thoughts multiplied, spreading wide, and Chen Yi stopped himself in time, focusing on the main issue, asking:

"How did Wa City... break free of reincarnation and become such a ghost town?"

"As the Taoist can see, the local feng shui and terrain naturally gather yin and repel yang, always beloved by lone ghosts and wild spirits," having followed the Duanguan Clan for a long time, Gong's father had some understanding of the ghost town's background, continuing: "By the time we fled here, the ghost town was already forming. If not, we couldn't have sought revenge and killed the unfilial child."

Gong Sanniu trembled slightly, seemingly embarrassed, saying nothing.

"However, by the time we arrived, the ghosts here already knew they were ghosts, brought by a monk. That monk was in ragged clothes but had a kind heart, giving food and drink along the way. As the City God didn't accept them, the monk drove away the City God."

Chen Yi pondered briefly, able to drive away the City God, thinking the monk's cultivation must be quite profound, at least reaching the realm of a crazed scripture master.

"However, without the City God, there was no one to guide the souls to the underworld for reincarnation, so that monk told the ghosts he would open a hole in the ground. Whoever's tired of existing and willing to reincarnate could enter the hole, thus reincarnating."

Gong's father's words were extremely straightforward, not knowing if it was the monk's intentional effort or because the ghosts retold the story multiple times, making it easy to understand.

Yet despite the simplicity, Chen Yi's pupils involuntarily constricted after hearing it.

Drilling a hole in the ground, ghosts entering it, and proceeding to reincarnation? The ghosts didn't know, but Chen Yi had been to the underworld and knew reincarnation passage was carried by the Yellow Springs. The monk opening a hole, directly leading to the depths of the netherworld?

"Who is the monk you mentioned?"

"A Bo-Bodhisattva… something like a Bodhisattva…"

"A Bodhisattva?"

Gong's father shook his head, saying: "Not a real Bodhisattva… it's just someone calling him something like a Bodhisattva, but definitely not a real Bodhisattva."

Chen Yi couldn't immediately figure out who it was, unfamiliar with Buddhism, and even more so with distinguished Buddhist monks, so he glanced at Yin Tingxue.

Yin Tingxue also shook her head, although she could enumerate famous Buddhist monks and recite their meditative poems, merely two characters made it difficult to identify who it could be.

Yet... if someone could open a reincarnation cave, they must be remarkable... even if they self-proclaim as a Bodhisattva, it wouldn't be unreasonable.

Chen Yi quickly asked: "And then?"

Gong's father turned around, saying: "Later, for some unknown reason, the monk left without saying goodbye, seemingly intending to go somewhere, and the town, leaderless without the City God, saw us wild gods as those with the greatest mana among the lone ghosts and wild spirits. So, under their coercion and inducement, they worshipped us. There were so many of them, and we dared not be ineffective…"