This is a large-scale "Buddha Temple".

When standing outside the gate, you can see a pagoda rising from the ground in the backyard. The pagoda is seven stories high. It is an architectural form that combines wooden structure, platform and stone structure with the characteristics of the ancient Chinese dynasty.

This form of building is relatively stable and can withstand natural disasters such as earthquakes to a certain extent, but it also has obvious shortcomings in terms of fire protection and shelf life.

But this is the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Being able to build a pagoda to seven floors would have almost reached the ceiling of the architectural level of this era.

It can be inferred from this that this county called "Qiancheng" is probably not simple. At least in modern times, there may have been some rich and powerful nobles who lived there, and they were also people who believed in and respected Buddhism. Therefore, they would do it at all costs.

This is the place to build a "Pagoda Renci" of this scale.

However, the Buddhism spread in China was actually not that pure.

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty" says: "When Ying was young, he was a good knight, visiting guests, and in the evenings he was even more fond of Huang Lao, and he learned to fast and offer sacrifices to pagodas.

It is said that in his later years, King Liu Ying of Chu not only believed in the "Huang Lao Taoism" created by Yu Ji, but also highly praised "Buddhism" and built many "Buddha Temples" for worship.

Generally speaking, religions are very exclusive.

Even if it is the same religion, if different schools appear, the schools will be incompatible with each other, so that believers of each other will regard each other as heretics, which will lead to constant conflicts, starting from the war of words.

It evolved into a brutal and bloody conflict.

The most vivid example in later generations is the "Shia" and "Sunni" in the Middle East. Although there are some forces or countries with ulterior motives to disrupt the situation, the two schools have been divided and hostile to each other for thousands of years.

, is the source of the perennial wars here.

It can be seen from the records in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty".

In this era, there did not seem to be any obvious conflict between foreign Buddhism and Taoism, which was born in China. Instead, there was an extremely rare phenomenon of coexistence and complementarity.

People can believe in both Taoism and Buddhism, which is almost impossible in the history of many religions.

But now, the original plaque on the door of the "Pagoda Renci" has been replaced.

It was replaced by a plaque with the three characters "Shou Cao Dao" written on it.

It seems that "Shou Cao Dao" has taken over the magpie's nest.

A group of people walked up the steps at the entrance of "Shou Cao Road". More than ten guards wearing simple armors guarding both sides immediately bowed slightly to the female protector in white and respectfully called "right protector".

The female protector in white still looked intently and did not make any response. She just walked into the gate with her head raised.

The twenty or so archers following her consciously took down their bows and arrows and placed them on a stand on the right side of the gate.

Then another archer came over and said to Wu Liang: "No one is allowed to carry weapons in the main altar. The people who asked you to also store weapons here, don't break the rules."

"Easy to say."

Wu Liang smiled and nodded, then turned around and motioned to everyone in the Hu army to follow suit.

So there was a copper dagger and a dozen strange-looking engineering shovels on the table. The guards looked at it a few times in surprise, but Wu Liang and others were brought by the female guardian in white. As long as they did not violate any laws,

According to the rules, the guards did not dare to come up and ask questions for the sake of the female protector in white.

In this way, a group of people entered the compound.

The courtyard is also the architectural structure of a quadrangle, with smaller halls in the east and west. In the middle is a square that seems to be able to accommodate at least one or two thousand people. There are many huge bronze incense cauldrons in the square. Each incense cauldron has

There were thick incense sticks stuck in them, and green smoke was constantly rising.

Directly north of the square is a larger hall.

In a Buddhist temple, this main hall facing north and south is usually called the "Mainxiong Hall" or the "Heavenly King Hall".

But at this time, the plaque on the hall has also been replaced, with the words "Tianshi Palace" engraved on it.

The female protector in white led everyone straight to the "Celestial Master's Hall".

There are also some guards in the courtyard, and there are also many hurried believers. Most of these believers are women and they don't look too old.

"Right Protector."

These people still saluted the female protector in white very respectfully.

The female protector in white remained speechless and led Wu Liang and others across the square and entered the "Tianshi Palace" in a short time.

The roof of the "Tianshi Hall" is very high, roughly estimated to be more than two feet. There are also some square platforms made of bricks about half a meter high on the east and west sides and due north. There are some left on the square platform.

Less serious signs of damage.

Based on these details, Wu Liang guessed that these square platforms should have been used to place the Buddha statues enshrined here.

However, after the magpie nest was occupied by the "Shou Cao Dao", the Great Xian Master not only ordered people to replace the plaque, but also ordered people to remove all the Buddha statues enshrined here.

Nowadays, some couches and tables have been placed on these square tables.

Especially on the largest square platform in the north, there is a couch of similar proportions, and the table is also much longer than the ones on the east and west sides.

If Wu Liang's guess is correct, it should be the throne of the "Great Sage Heavenly Master".

There was no one in the hall at this moment.

However, some very picturesque sounds could be heard coming from the apse:

"Celestial Master... Please, Heavenly Master, please bypass this maid. I am willing to work as a cow and horse for Heavenly Master in this life... Heavenly Master, please don't..."

"Don't be afraid. When your parents saw you brought here, they were praying to the Heavenly Master for me to bless you. If you are obedient, I can not only keep you alive for a long time, but also keep your parents at home rich and healthy.

, this is an opportunity that no one else can ask for. Don’t miss this great opportunity by mistake.”

"But the Heavenly Master... ugh!"

"Hiss... snap!"

"You don't know how to praise! Today you have to obey even if you don't obey. If you dare to resist again, you will be a traitor to Shou Cao Dao. Do you know the fate of traitors?!"

"My maid doesn't dare to do it anymore! Please forgive me, Heavenly Master. My maid knows that I was wrong..."

"Take it off yourself!"

"..."

Wu Liang had already imagined the following scene. This "Great Sage Heavenly Master" should be "blessing" a virgin who was sent here by her parents.

It's a pity that this girl was probably a little nervous or resisted, so she accidentally hurt the "Great Sage Master".

So much so that the "Great Sage Heavenly Master" became so angry that he stopped using the previous coaxing methods and directly began to coerce the girl into submission... Obviously, the consequences of becoming a traitor to Shoucao Dao are quite serious.

At this point, the girl should have been forced to surrender.

The girl's faint sobbing could only be heard in the back hall...

at this time.

"The right protector heard that Ren Zhao has something to ask for and wants to see the Heavenly Master. Please ask the Heavenly Master to show up and meet him!"

The female protector in white suddenly raised her voice and shouted loudly.

The sound echoed in the empty hall.

Wu Liang turned back to look at her, and saw that her brows were frowning slightly at this moment, and he didn't know what he was thinking in his heart...

"Wen Renzhao..."

"Wenren" is a relatively rare surname, and "Zhao" is her single name. It turns out that the female protector in white is called this name, and it sounds like a good name.

but.

The emotional intelligence of this female protector in white seems to be a little low. It would be inappropriate to suddenly interrupt the "Celestial Master"'s good deeds at this time, and the "Celestial Master" will inevitably feel dissatisfied.

Of course, it may also be because the female protector in white is confident.

After all, being able to become the protector of "Shou Cao Dao" means that she still has some abilities that the "Celestial Master" has to rely on, or something else. If this is the case, even if the female protector in white deliberately breaks the law at a critical moment,

If she doesn't know the good deeds of "Heavenly Master", "Heavenly Master" should not be able to do anything to her.

…

After a while.

Seeing the "Great Sage Heavenly Master" coming out of the back hall, Wu Liang was surprised again.

This so-called "Great Sage Heavenly Master" is not a normal person at all, but a dwarf with a height of only about 1.2 meters?

It can be inferred from his face that this person should be at least a middle-aged man in his thirties, and even looks somewhat handsome, but this face is placed on that short and thick body, especially

It's the swaying posture when he walks that makes people really unable to associate him with the word "handsome", and they just find it very funny.

No wonder before entering the city, Wen Renzhao specifically reminded him that after seeing the "Celestial Master", if the "Celestial Master" came in front of him, he must immediately bow down and was not allowed to raise his head to look at him.

It is most likely because of the height of this "Heavenly Master".

Even if a normal person like him bends down to look at him, he will still feel like he is looking down, which may stimulate the self-esteem of this "heavenly master".

However, Wu Liang did not have any doubts that "a dwarf can also be a heavenly master".

In ancient times, people did not have a clear understanding of many things. In their eyes, dwarfs born with physical defects would be said to be "naturally different", and some people even deliberately exaggerated this "different appearance".

Description, in order to create an image of a destined person.

For example, Confucius' "top is like the opposite of the universe", which translates to "low in the middle and high on the four sides", a bit like a kappa...
To be continued...