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The monk was around fifty years old, with a kind and compassionate face, and a broad, generous-looking figure.
Many people among the commoners recognized him. A woman exclaimed, "It's the Living Buddha! They've captured the Living Buddha!"
Upon hearing the crowd's exclamation, the initially frightened bald monk's eyes flashed. He straightened his back and fearlessly said, "Amitabha Buddha, be virtuous, be virtuous! Why, dear benefactors, have you caused such harm and suffering in the city?"
"Damn your benefactors!" General Zhang Shen kicked the bald monk's buttocks, sending him sprawling on the ground. "Fake monk! Pretentious fraud!"
The Living Buddha had a considerable reputation in Lingguan City, and General Zhang Shen's action undoubtedly enraged some of the commoners.
General Zhang Shen didn't think it was the commoners' fault. After all, the commoners were innocent. It was all this shameless fake monk's collaboration with Yi Wang, deceiving both the borderland soldiers and the common folk.
General Zhang Shen wished to vent all his anger on the fake monk but was stopped by Gu Changqing.
Gu Changqing calmly said, "Stop."
General Zhang Shen cupped his hands and stepped aside, saying, "Yes, Commander!"
The fake monk felt the pain from the fall, cursing inwardly thrice, but he dared not show any expression on his face.
He simply sat cross-legged on the ground and held his prayer beads in one hand. Then he performed a Buddhist ritual and spoke as if enlightening the masses, "Amitabha Buddha, the negative karma accumulated by the benefactors through the actions of violence is too heavy. May the compassion of the Buddha prevail, and I implore all of you not to further increase this burden of negative karma."
"How can you treat the Living Buddha like this! The Living Buddha is a good person! Sent by the Buddha to save us all! Disrespecting the Living Buddha will bring retribution upon you!" An elderly lady exclaimed with righteous indignation.
General Zhang Shen felt a pang of frustration.
Old lady, open your eyes wide and see clearly, this bald donkey is a fake!
Which Buddhist master would collude with rebels and involve borderland civilians in the flames of war?
And also, he, he...
General Zhang Shen nearly blurted out what he had just discovered, but Gu Changqing's timely interruption stopped him. Gu Changqing looked down at the seated Living Buddha and asked calmly, "You claim to be the Living Buddha. Alright then, let me ask you, how many sections are there in the Diamond Sutra?"
"Thirty-two sections!" The Living Buddha replied without hesitation.
"What is the content of the thirty-second section, do you remember?"
The fake monk inwardly sneered. How could someone impersonating a Living Buddha not know about the Diamond Sutra?
Performing a Buddhist ritual, he slowly said, "Subhuti! If there is someone who, out of generosity, gives away as alms a quantity of the seven treasures sufficient to fill immeasurable worlds, and if another person, be they a good man or woman, develops the Bodhi mind and holds, reads, recites, or explains even as few as four lines of this Sutra, without grasping at forms, and remains undisturbed, why is this so? Because all conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew and a flash of lightning. Therefore, one should thus contemplate them.
When the Buddha finished speaking this Sutra, the venerable Subhuti, along with all the monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen, as well as gods, humans, and asuras in the world, upon hearing what the Buddha had said, were all greatly delighted and faithfully accepted and practiced it."
"See! He is the Living Buddha!" Another commoner exclaimed.
General Zhang Shen's temper flared, and he couldn't help but retort, "So being able to recite some Buddhist scriptures makes you a Living Buddha? Then, if I can recite a few paragraphs from the Four Books and Five Classics, does that make me the top scholar in the imperial examinations?"
"Did you know that Shakyamuni once wrote a text called the ‘Lesser Shurangama Sutra'? It's a scripture he composed while still an imperial family member, before attaining enlightenment. Can you recite a few lines from it?"
The fake monk's expression momentarily froze.
Generally, these lesser-known scriptures weren't widely disseminated. He wasn't a real monk, so how could he have memorized every Buddhist scripture out there?
It was strange indeed. Clearly, this young man was just a brute who fought wars, yet he knew Buddhist scriptures?
Was there someone in his family who was a monk?
Or did someone teach him all the scriptures by heart, reciting them to him daily?
"As for the ‘Lesser Shurangama Sutra,' this humble monk naturally knows. However, when I preach the Buddha's teachings, I rarely touch upon this scripture. Even if I were to recite it, not many would have heard it. If this benefactor slanders me with baseless words, who will stand up to confirm my innocence?"
Heh, a petty trick. It won’t be easy for you to defeat me!
Gu Changqing continued, "As the Living Buddha, you should have this scripture in your possession."
The fake monk replied without changing expressions, "The scriptures... have long been burned by your people!"
"You're talking nonsense! When did I burn your things?" General Zhang Shen exclaimed angrily.
Gu Changqing looked at the fake monk, composed and serene, "So, Great Master acknowledges the existence of this scripture."
As these words came out, the fake monk's expression froze again.
Gu Changqing calmly stated, "Great Master, do you know that such a scripture doesn't exist in the world at all."
‘The Shurangama Sutra’ did exist.
However, the ‘Lesser Shurangama Sutra’ was entirely fabricated by Gu Changqing to deceive him.
Gu Changqing looked calmly at him and said, "Shakyamuni was just an ordinary person before attaining enlightenment. How could he have written a Buddhist scripture? Great Master, being revered as the Living Buddha, you don't even understand such basic reasoning?"
“...”
The fake monk was left speechless.
Who said those who lead armies into battle lacked brains? This kid was so cunning! He actually fell into his trap!
Not everyone among the commoners were followers of the Living Buddha. Many retained their rationality. Seeing the Living Buddha reveal such a significant mistake, some couldn't help but question loudly, "You can’t really be a fake monk, right?"
The fake monk asserted, "I am the Living Buddha! Not a fake monk!"
"Then why don't you even know the Buddhist scriptures?" The young man who had just questioned him retorted.
"I was just..."
Before the fake monk could finish, Gu Changqing raised his hand, and several soldiers from the Gu Family Army approached with a few women.
The leading woman was of a similar age to the fake monk. She was adorned with luxurious jewelry and attire, presenting a stark contrast to the impoverished civilians who had suffered through the ravages of war.
The women behind her were also dressed in opulence, just slightly younger.
Upon seeing this group of people, the fake monk couldn't hold his expression anymore. He wanted to silence them, but it was too late.
"My Lord, please save us—— They're trying to take us to the authorities!" The leading woman's outcry completely stripped away the fake monk's pretense.
"Don't listen to her nonsense! I don't know them! I don't know what kind of trickery these court officials are using, bringing a bunch of women to frame and slander me! Amitabha Buddha, forgive this transgression!"
"Dad..."
From behind the women, a tender child's voice tinged with tears rang out.
There wasn't just one person. Roughly counted, there were at least seven or eight.
While it might be plausible that these women were somehow orchestrated by Gu Changqing, these children, each resembling the "Living Buddha," couldn't possibly have been brought in to deceive people.
There might be many similar-looking people in the world, but these children all spoke with the accent of the borderlands. How many children could there possibly be in the borderlands who resemble the Living Buddha? If there were seven or eight of them, who would believe they weren't his biological offspring?
The fake monk truly hadn't anticipated that the Gu Family Army would be so ruthless. Not only did they dig him out from the secret chamber, but they also found his family members hidden in the cellar.
Now, even if he jumped into the Yellow River, his name could no longer be washed clean.
With both human testimony and physical evidence against him, Gu Changqing left Military Adviser Shao to handle the affairs of Lingguan City and stationed General Zhang Shen with ten thousand Gu Family soldiers to guard the city.
After that, Gu Changqing swiftly returned to Yuegu City with the remaining troops and companions.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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