Inside the Taiheng Hall.
Fuxi and some idle members of the Heavenly Stem looked at the Hun Tian Yi in the center of the hall.
The Kui Tian Mirror in the center of the Hun Tian Yi reflected the scene inside the Wen Xin Hall.
"The first level, asking about mortal hearts. How long did it take you all back then?" Fuxi asked.
"Haha, it took me three days back then. The bald donkey guarding it kept calling me a blockhead! Hahaha..." A young man with a honest appearance laughed, covering the back of his head.
"Wu Tu, mind your words," Bing Huo reminded him, then turned to Xin Lei and asked, "Old Lei, I remember you took most of the day back then, right?"
"Mmm. The Master's evaluation of me was that mortal hearts are hard to let go of, and the secular world has stained my body."
Compared to this, Xin Lei had been pondering whether Mo Chuan could pass three of the five trials.
That is, the passing score.
...
After Xin Lei left, Mo Chuan arrived at the first level of the Wen Xin Hall.
It was not as magnificent or sinisterly mysterious as he had imagined. Simply put, it was a bit ordinary.
In such a large hall, there was only a small Buddha statue, a prayer cushion, a few scrolls of scriptures, and a wooden fish.
"Hello?"
Mo Chuan called out a few times. Seeing that there was no one around, he walked closer to the Buddha statue, intending to observe the clues for this level's trial.
"This is..." Mo Chuan saw that something seemed to be written on the wooden fish. He knelt on the prayer cushion and carefully identified it.
"Flowers in the mirror, moon on the water... lightning in the void... dreams and bubbles, the mortal world is at my fingertips; I in the mortal world, rivers flow and turn... the myriad states of the world, a thousand years in an instant, a green lamp and ancient Buddha, a single thought of Bodhi..." kuAiδugg
After reciting it, Mo Chuan's forehead broke out in black lines, thinking, "What kind of top-tier riddle-maker is this? Get out of the Dragon Country, riddle-maker!"
Seeing that there was really no one here, Mo Chuan felt a headache coming on. He picked up the mallet for the wooden fish and, out of boredom, tapped the wooden fish, hoping to attract the attention of the guardian of this level.
"Bang—"
Mo Chuan's vision suddenly blurred, and then he lost consciousness.
...
Jiangzhou, Purple Gold Mountain, Lotus Temple.
Hui Chuan got up early and went to the bell tower to strike the morning bell.
Dong... Dong... Dong...
The solemn bell sound startled the birds in the mountains, and the forest gradually became lively.
After striking the bell, Hui Chuan picked up a broom and began to sweep the fallen leaves and dust in the courtyard.
At this moment, a young monk carrying a satchel rushed out of the Zen courtyard and headed towards the outside of the courtyard.
Seeing this, Hui Chuan immediately stopped the young monk and asked, "Hui Hai, where are you going!? It's chaotic and war-torn outside now, what are you doing?"
"Brother, don't stop me!" The young monk broke free from Hui Chuan's hand and said, "My hometown, Songjiang City, is in conflict. These Japanese devils are so hateful, I want to enlist and kill the enemy!"
"You!" Hui Chuan frowned, but he couldn't persuade Hui Hai to stay. He could only turn around, go to the kitchen, take out a few flatbreads, and stuff them into Hui Hai's hands, asking, "Did the abbot agree?"
"He agreed, don't worry!" Hui Hai smiled, looked around, leaned closer to Hui Chuan, and released a cluster of flames with one hand, saying, "Brother, I've awakened my supernatural abilities. When I drive away those Japanese devils, I'll use the military pay to renovate our Lotus Temple!"
"I'll add one, no, two stoves to your room then, so you won't be afraid of the rainy season." Saying that, the young monk ran out of the gate and waved goodbye to Hui Chuan.
"This child..."
...
Three days later, Hui Chuan chanted the "Maha Karuna Dharani," attracting auspicious signs of golden light. The sky was colored with seven hues, golden lotuses emerged from the ground, venerable beings bowed, and Buddhas chanted together. The villagers called him a reincarnation of a living Buddha. In fact, Hui Chuan knew himself that it was just the awakening of his supernatural abilities, and he didn't know what the effect was.
Another week passed, and Hui Chuan went down the mountain to the eastern suburbs of Jinling City to distribute porridge. Just as he had set out the pots and bowls, a woman ran over in a hurry with a newspaper and said, "Master Hui Chuan, don't distribute porridge yet! The Japanese are going to attack!"
This woman was Xue Jingjing, Hui Chuan's classmate before he became a monk. They had gone to school together from elementary school to university. If it weren't for Hui Chuan being raised by the abbot and wanting to repay the abbot's kindness, Hui Chuan would probably be married to Xue Jingjing by now. However, Xue Jingjing didn't blame Hui Chuan; she simply helped out every month when Hui Chuan went down the mountain to distribute porridge.
Hui Chuan was a bit surprised, but he still put down the pot and said, "The soldiers fighting and the local people need to eat. This pot of porridge can help one person at a time."
Xue Jingjing was very angry. She pressed Hui Chuan's ladle onto the table and shouted, "Hui Chuan! The Japanese will reach here in five days at most! Even if we can win! But in this chaos, how can you guarantee your safety? Go back to the temple and pack your things immediately! You'll go with our car!"
Hui Chuan heard this and shook his head, saying, "The Abbot is here, I can't leave."
Xue Jingjing knew she couldn't persuade Hui Chuan, so she could only stomp her feet in anger and finally go up the mountain to ask the abbot for help.
A moment later, a group of refugees came from the east to the east gate of the city. Hui Chuan distributed the porridge bowl by bowl. An old woman took a bowl, recited a few words of Amitabha, and said to Hui Chuan, "Little master, we are from Shanghai. The Japanese devils have already captured it and are on their way to Jinling. Little master, hurry up and leave here after you finish distributing the porridge."
Hui Chuan just thanked the old woman for her kindness, then silently finished distributing the porridge and returned to Purple Gold Mountain with the iron pot.
...
Three days later, the abbot was seriously ill and bedridden. Hui Chuan served him at his bedside. The abbot simply said, "Hui Chuan, Hui Hai has already left, you should go too."
"I won't leave," Hui Chuan shook his head silently.
The abbot sighed, left him with the words "This temple is left to you," and passed away.
On the fourth day, cannons roared outside the city, and countless civilians fled westward with their families. Hui Chuan, wearing the abbot's kasaya, took in the elderly, orphans, disabled, and those who were unwilling to leave who were unable to leave, sheltering them in the Lotus Temple to await the end of the battle.
On the sixth day, the temple's food supplies began to dwindle. Hui Chuan took a few older children and quietly went out of the city to pick wild vegetables and tree fruits in the nearby mountains.
On the seventh day, Xue Jingjing brought a large cart of food to the temple and wanted to stay, but Hui Chuan refused. He only gave Xue Jingjing the Buddhist beads he had used for many years and his handwritten Buddhist scriptures. The latter shouted "idiot" but carefully hid everything when she left.
On the ninth day, the outer city was breached, and another batch of refugees, mostly wounded soldiers, students, and women, poured into the Lotus Temple.
On the twelfth day, the city fell.
On the thirteenth day, the Nanjing Massacre began.
The fourteenth day.
Hui Chuan took a few nimble men down the mountain again to search for food and survivors in the city, which was filled with gunfire and ruins.
Fortunately, some staff from the Cross Alliance embassies gave Hui Chuan a few bags of purchased food and urged Hui Chuan to hurry back to the mountain, warning that discovery by the Japanese would cost him his life.
However, on the way back, Hui Chuan saw two Japanese espers brutally assaulting a young girl. He decided to lead his men in a surprise attack, "cleansed their intestines" (physically), and then rescued the girl.
Unexpectedly, the two Japanese soldiers had their brains burned out by something, turning into two charred corpses. Before Hui Chuan could get a good look, he saw a familiar figure leading people to rescue the girl.