Chapter Ten: The Poetry Duel (Seeking Bookmarks)

  "I'm delighted to see several young and handsome gentlemen today. Hehe, female benefactor, how have you been?" The old monk slowly descended the rock stairs, holding his Buddhist beads and smiling at the group.

  Taking a step forward with a gentle rhythm, her simple yet elegant dress and skirt couldn't hide her slender figure, which only accentuated her pure and refined beauty, untainted by the slightest impurity.

  She slightly bowed and smiled shallowly at the corner of her mouth, saying "Yī Yùn has seen Master, Master's Buddhist robe is still as colorful."

  Chen Zhuo and the other three, including Xiang Qiang, hastily joined their palms together and devoutly said to the old monk: "We have seen Master Yin Kong."

  Wei Zhao originally rushed towards Yin Kong with a smile and nodded, but when he saw the appearance of several people, he was somewhat caught off guard, standing in his original position extremely conspicuous.

  Chen Zhuo saw Wei Zhao's impolite appearance, and sneered in his heart. He became even more devout on the surface, and bowed deeply to Master Yin Kong: "I'm disturbing you, Master. We just wanted to take advantage of this sacred Buddhist site to hone our poetry skills, absorb the Buddhist atmosphere, and improve our cultivation. If we've disturbed you, please forgive us." Chen Zhuo's expression was humble and polite, and the crowd nodded in approval.

  The old monk, Yin Kong Da Shi, waved his hand and smiled kindly: "No need to worry." Then he turned his head to look at Wei Zhao, with a curious expression, saying: "This donor's facial features are extraordinary, with a misty aura rising from the top of his head. He must be a person destined for great wealth and nobility."

  Wei Xiao smiled slightly, previously he was indeed a first-class rich man, and it's not wrong to say that he was a great noble. However, no matter how he looked at him, he felt that this old monk looked like a swindler who would cheat the dead out of their money.

  Yin Kongzi saw Wei Zuo smile without speaking, his face was even more strange and weird. He walked a few steps closer, his eyes puzzled: "This donor's facial features are extremely strange, extremely good at birth, extremely bad at death, strange, strange, really strange..."

  Wei Zhao's eyes changed slightly as he listened, and he asked in a steady voice: "Master, what is meant by 'the extreme of life, the extreme of death'?"

  Master Yin Kong furrowed his brow, staring at Wei Zhao, almost subconsciously saying: "The extreme of life is death, the extreme of death is life. Ordinary people only have one aspect, either alive or dead. But the donor has two aspects, a rare sight in my life as an old monk."

  "Master, is this ominous?"

  He was taken aback for a moment, then regained his composure, his face calm once more, and a smile reappeared as he said, "Heh heh, I've said it before, benefactor, you are a person of great wealth and nobility, how could you possibly have a short life?"

  Wei Xiao let out a sigh of relief, and in his normally calm and unremarkable eyes, a hint of respect appeared. Perhaps the fortune-telling of ancient times was not just a swindler's trick after all; at least this person in front of him didn't seem like one.

  From the moment Master Yin Kong spoke, Chen Zhuo listened with utmost respect and did not pursue their tacit understanding. As soon as they stopped, he hastily said: "Master, this is a sacred place of Buddhism, why don't we use 'Buddha' as our poem? What do you think, Brother Wei?"

  Wei Zhao seemed to have not heard Chen Zhuo's words, and instead, he stood up straight with one hand raised in a slight bow towards Yin Kong Master, saying: "Master, can you tell where I come from?"

  The Empty Void Master raised his right hand with the Buddha's seal, chanted a Buddhist mantra, and slowly said: "All beings have a place of origin, from where they come to where they go."

  Wei Zhuo's eyes seemed to be thinking deeply, and he said: "Master, I know where I came from, but I don't know where I'm going. What should I do?"

  With an empty and distant gaze, he flashed a smile and said, "What's the point of knowing? What's the use of understanding? The mundane world is full of hardships."

  Wei Xiao's heart slightly stirred, and suddenly he felt much more at ease. He then asked: "Then, Master, how should I conduct myself?"

  The Master of the Void smiled, with a hint of Buddhist aura in his smile. Suddenly, he became majestic and towering, his voice like thunder: "All things in heaven and earth are precious by nature. With Buddha in one's heart, every place is a temple."

  Wei Zhao raised his head to look at the sky, motionless, with a contemplative expression. Yet in his heart, he felt a sense of sudden clarity and openness.

  On one side, Chen Zhuo's face had turned gloomy and terrifying, with Yiyun on his back. The anger in his eyes burst out. His fists were clenched tightly, making a cracking sound. Towards Wei Zhao, he was already filled with hatred! Originally, the insignificant ant in his eyes had now stolen his thunder, how could he not be angry, how could he not hate!

  In front of the beauty, he lost face once, looking at the two motionless people, he suppressed his inner anger with great effort, squeezing out a very ugly smile on his face, and his fists also relaxed with a tremble.

  Her beautiful eyes sparkled as she subtly understood the conversation between the two, looking at Wei Zhao with a hint of puzzlement in her gaze.

  Jiang You furrowed his brow, looking at Wei Zao, with waves of doubt flashing in his mind. He was confident about his own layout and firmly did not believe that a bookworm who rarely left the house would suddenly have an epiphany.

  "Hmm, Master said it's really good." Wei Zhao suddenly turned his head to look at Yin Kong Master and said. Yin Kong Master smiled and was about to put his hands together to chant a Buddhist phrase "Amitabha", when Wei Zhao continued: "I didn't understand a single sentence."

  Everyone was instantly petrified.

  Yin Kongzi's face also stiffened, his right hand still raised, and after a long time, he smiled naturally: "Those who understand will understand, those who don't won't, the donor has a deep Buddhist affinity."

  Wei Zao removed a stone from his heart, and suddenly felt that this old monk was still a master of deception. In general, after this sentence, it would be time to convert him into becoming a monk.

  Wei Zhuang's eyes flashed before him, his own appearance of shaving his head and sitting there knocking on the wooden fish, his heart skipped a beat, he quickly turned to Chen Zhuo, clasped his fists and said "Right, Brother Chen said he wanted to exchange blows, it just so happens that my hands are itching too, I hope you won't be stingy with your teachings."

  Chen Zhuo gritted his teeth, but at this moment, he squeezed out a very ugly smile and said with a twitching mouth: "Right, right, right, polish, polish one two."

  Wei Zhao saw the old monk was about to speak again and hastily turned his head saying: "I still hope that the master will judge this."

  Yin Kongzi Master looked at Wei Zao's sudden change in behavior, a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes, and he immediately smiled and nodded: "Which donor comes first?"

  "I'll go." Chen Zhuo suppressed the anger in his heart and turned to face Yiyun with a confident smile.

  Yi Yun felt a strange sense of foreboding about this sudden 'tempering' and glanced at Wei Cao, lightly nodding her head.

  Chen Zhuoyi nodded as soon as he saw Yi Yun, and immediately his expression changed to a mixture of excitement and cold smile as he glanced at Wei Xiao. He took two steps forward, holding a folding fan, looked up into the distance, and fell into deep thought. Feeling the attention from the crowd behind him, he smiled complacently and turned around after a while, saying with a relaxed and elegant tone: "I've got it, listen carefully, everyone."

  "Breaking through the void of life, alone and carefree, I wander the world with only my shadow."

  Kites fly and fish leap, hiding true interest; green water and blue mountains are Taoist pictures.

  Who in the grand dreamland is aware of me? On the summit of a thousand peaks, I gaze out at the bewildering paths.

  Sleeping all morning in the Hongmeng cave, I let the people of the times call me a cow or a horse.

  Chu Yu finished reading, Chu Cou immediately burst out laughing and shouted: "Good poem, good poem! I didn't expect Brother Chen to also recite such a great poem. Today is really an eye-opener! An eye-opener!" He had little ink in his belly, even if he deliberately flattered, he could only say some empty words without nutrition.

  Yin Kongzi savored it for a moment, then smiled at Chen Zhuo and said, "Chen Shizhu's poem is excellent, it's a work of observing mountains..."

  "Chen Gongzi's poem is indeed excellent, it can be chanted in the Buddhist hall." Yi Yun followed with a gentle nod, and a bright light flashed in her eyes, she didn't expect that this Chen Er Gongzi would also have such talent.

  Wei Zhuo chewed on this poem, looking at Chen Zhuo with a somewhat gloomy aura, nodded slightly, and then had an inexplicable smile in his eyes.

  Chen Zhuo appeared calm on the surface, but was actually extremely excited in his heart. Although he didn't understand the meaning of Master Yin Kong's words, being able to receive a compliment from him was a huge surprise. Moreover, Yinyin seemed to have changed her opinion about him, especially with that nod and smile, which made him feel like he was walking on air.

  No one noticed, however, the faintly disdainful smile that flashed across Jiang You's eyes.