County Town Chapter 34: Lotus Wind Snow Pavilion

  Lowering head to play with lotus seeds, lotus seeds clear as water.

  Who will pity Zi?

  ……

  ……

  The croaking of frogs all around suddenly stopped!

  As soon as he moved his mind, he felt that the green leaves in front of him were like fans, and they were already blowing towards him with a strong wind. Although he had possessed extraordinary abilities since childhood, when had he ever seen such strange things? He thought it was the lotus leaf being possessed by evil spirits, and he had entered the world of Liaozhai.

  But at this moment, it was still daytime, and the sun was shining brightly. The lotus leaves and stems were so sacred and pure, without any evil intentions. He was startled and didn't know what had happened. In his panic, he kicked his left heel backwards and flipped forward in an arc, thinking he had escaped the ambush. However, dozens of lotus stems near the lake shore suddenly shot out and bound his limbs as swiftly as lightning.

  Yi Tian Xing didn't know what was going on, but he vaguely suspected that it was the old monk beside him who had done something. However, he couldn't understand why the abbot had suddenly made a move against him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the monk who had been standing next to him earlier had now floated away and was standing on the pavilion in the center of the lake.

  The lotus leaf and branch were tightly bound, Easy Tianxing's hands were clenched into fists and tied firmly around his waist, but after all, he was born with a golden body, so he didn't feel much pain. He tried to use a bit of force, and was somewhat astonished to discover that these ordinary-looking branches had been enchanted with some sort of spell, and were as hard and tough as fine steel threads. But since he had come to understand the Tao from a young age, his body possessed incredible strength, so he didn't take these strange branches seriously. He pretended to be powerless, lowered his face slightly, and waited for the other person's next move.

  "Good indeed"

  The abbot of the Temple of Return to the Origin stood elegantly on the pavilion, lightly chanting a Buddhist mantra, took off the sandalwood rosary from his wrist, and threw it towards Yitian Xing, who was tied up with lotus branches. The rosary, which had a brownish color, rotated continuously in mid-air, gradually releasing a refreshing fragrance that calmed the mind and soothed the spirit.

  Yi Tian Xing furrowed his brow, instinctively sensing that this unassuming rosary might bring harm to himself. He decided not to delay any further and let out a low grunt as he shook off the lotus leaves and branches on his body into fragmented pieces.

  The host was shocked and let out a loud cry. It turned out that the lotus leaf had been nurtured by the ancestor in the garden behind, and with its own Buddhist heart controlling it, it was as flexible and clever as a semi-divine object. In the past, it had been used to bind people without ever failing, but unexpectedly, this young man had easily broken free from it today. The host's face turned pale with fright, and he trembled with fear, saying: "So you have already reached the sixth level of cultivation! No wonder you came alone to my temple to challenge me!"

  Before he could even finish his formation, a gust of wind suddenly appeared in front of him. A flash of light flickered by, and Yi Tianxing was already standing in front of him with a smile on his face.

  The abbot of the Temple of Return to the Origin, whose Dharma name was Bin Ku, was the master of the Buddhist school of Expedient Means. He had not expected that his magic would be ineffective against this young boy and he was shocked once again. Cultivators usually emphasized spiritual cultivation but were not skilled in physical strength, yet earlier he had clearly seen that this youth had used a pair of mortal feet to charge across the surface of the lake at a speed that was frighteningly fast!

  Yi Tianxing felt that this battle was a bit inexplicable and smiled warmly: "Is the host mistaken about who he is?"

  Bin Ku and the monk's face was slightly yellow, slowly said: "The master's magical powers, the old monk can't recognize, it's just for the sake of my return to the Yuanyuan Temple incense, but I couldn't bear you leaving." His face suddenly changed to kindness and compassion, saying: "Alone on a peak, hiding and laughing at my foolishness, years and months passing by, failing to fulfill my distant promise. From now on, I will go to Tiantai to beg for the Dharma, when can we meet again at Shaoyin to recite poetry together? My heart is like muddy water, without any attachment, my body is like a mountain cloud, free and easy! A hundred years pass like a dream, don't be bound by fame and wealth. From now on, let's travel the road together, Master."

  Yi Tianxing listened clearly, this was the farewell sentence made by Master Binzong when he came to the mainland to practice Buddhism that year. At this time, it was recited from the mouth of the abbot of Yuanyuan Temple, and a touch of jade stone's burning meaning was born.

  Yi Tianxing's face changed color, knowing something was wrong, and suddenly realized that his surroundings had changed.

  Sudden rain poured down, the temple that was originally bright in daytime suddenly became extremely gloomy. The light in the courtyard gradually disappeared, leaving only the faint sounds of summer frogs gasping under the lotus leaves by the lake.

  The five courtyards of the Guiyuan Temple, east, south, west, north and central, suddenly emitted a chant at the same time. Yi Tianxing's heart skipped a beat as he realized that something big was about to happen. In an instant, he saw a huge dark shadow appear in mid-air. He looked up carefully and found it was an extremely large kasaya!

  Yi Tian Xing suddenly felt that something was off, and he realized that his entire body was being pressed down by an invisible force coming from the distant horizon. He couldn't move at all, as if he was being held down by a heavy weight. At the same time, he felt a strange and eerie coldness spreading across the lake surface, with icy intent seeping into his bones. The two of them were standing in the center of the lake, where the chill was even more intense than usual. The wooden pillars of the pavilion began to creak and groan as they froze.

  The pavilion was getting colder and colder, the lake surface within a few meters outside the pavilion had also frozen, the temperature dropped too quickly, so that the fish that were originally playing in the water did not have time to swim out, and were frozen alive in the ice.

  Yi Tian Xing had never encountered such a magical technique before, and he didn't know that the kasaya was a variation of the Guiyuan Temple's Fumo Golden Vajra Formation. He didn't understand its sinister intentions, and he just stood there stupidly, confused, wondering how he could be pinned down by a thin piece of cloth when he could even move cars with ease. It seemed like he was going to suffer today, and he couldn't help but let out a silent cry in his heart. He had no idea how he had offended the monks of the temple, nor did he think that sneaking into the temple for a peek would cause such big trouble. As he glanced at Bin Ku's long eyebrows, which were gradually frosting over with icicles, it seemed like he was also struggling to withstand the cold. Yi Tian Xing couldn't help but sigh and say: "What enmity do we have? Why must we perish together?"

  Bin Ku Lao Shang could no longer speak, but looking at him, although he had a fearful and cold intention, he still spoke freely, and involuntarily, a thread of fear and regret appeared in his eyes.

  The water vapor in the air was also condensed into snowflakes by this extreme cold, floating slowly around the two of them. At this time, the pavilion was pitch black, and ordinary people couldn't see anything. Only these snowflakes reflected some light from an unknown source, looking quite beautiful.

  Time passed minute by minute, second by second. Yi Tianxing felt the temperature on his body getting lower and lower, even the clothes that came into contact with his skin seemed to be frozen brittle. At a loss for what to do, he suddenly discovered that his fingers had moved slightly.

  For some reason, it was just a moment of being carefree and casual, his right hand fingers moved slightly.

  Yi Tian Xing seized this momentary opportunity, his right hand's ring finger slightly lifted, and with his thumb seemingly touching yet not touching, he formed a subtle connection. His spiritual energy instantly coursed through his entire body, driving away the extreme cold in a flash of lightning, letting out a stifled hum from his nose, rapidly circulating his internal energy to force out all the crimson flames within him.

  All that was seen was a black night in the snow pavilion, one person burst forth with great light, and clusters of bright red flames danced around his body.

  The cooling process in the backyard of Guiyuan Temple suddenly slowed down.

  The kasaya floating high above the sky of Huiyuan Temple seemed to have a spiritual aura, and it slowly floated down for dozens of feet. Yi Tianxing only felt his body being pressed down by a thousand pounds of force, and even with his abilities, he almost knelt down on the ground.

  But he's a clever guy, seeing that the treasure has great power, and doesn't resist it head-on. He sits down with the momentum, and in the instant when his body is suspended in mid-air, he strikes a pose, with his left leg stretching out naturally and his right leg placed on top of his left knee, forming a scattered lotus flower.

  Easily, with palms placed on the chest, fingers forming a bell shape, eyes closed in meditation, allowing one's own unclean Dharma door to be like a vacuum cleaner, continuously absorbing the golden red light points within the body, then transforming into high-temperature white incandescent flames, expanding outward in all directions. Meanwhile, that cassock in the sky seemed to be lightly swept by an ethereal breeze, and the chill from outside the pavilion increased by threefold.

  The two sides fought for not long, and the snow in the pavilion had already accumulated several inches. At this time, Yi Tianxing was like a high-temperature furnace, while the terrible cassock in the sky was like a terrifyingly large ice cabinet. The temperatures of the two sides were competing with each other in this small pavilion. The snow around Yi Tianxing also melted and condensed with the ebb and flow of their powers.

  Yi Tian Xing only felt the true fire in his body constantly surging outward, and he slightly felt a bit weak. He thought that just now, the fierce fire had suddenly driven out the chill from the pavilion, but it was also a great loss. He couldn't help but scold himself for being foolish - why did he need to compete with that dead object over who was stronger? He thought that after all, he was still a beginner in practicing Zen, and the piece of kasaya on his head was a treasure, its power endless. If he really lost all his true yuan, wouldn't he be frozen into an ice pillar?

  In the midst of a cold and desolate atmosphere, Yi Tianxing only felt his mind dazed for a moment, and the true fire in his body gradually showed signs of exhaustion. At this time, the wind and snow were raging, as if they wanted to extinguish the last bit of residual fire on the young man's body in the Snow Pavilion at any moment.