"Help! Help!"

On a mountain path, a ferocious-looking man with his hands tied behind his back was screaming for his life.

"Run! I told you to run!"

Behind the man, a young scholar dressed in scholar's clothes, holding a machete, was chasing him, panting.

There was a servant boy with a bag on his back stumbling behind him.

The book boy had a book basket on his back, a book box in his right hand, and a bundle in his left hand. It was difficult for him to catch up with his master.

Before anyone knew it, the evil man with his hands tied behind his back escaped into a temple in the mountains, alarming a fat old monk.

"Master, help!"

When the evil man saw the fat monk, he hurriedly hid behind him and shouted for help.

No matter what he had done before, he looked so frightened now, just like a powerless girl being chased by a vicious bandit.

"Run! Run! I told you to run!"

The scholar with the knife rushed in and stood on the steps, panting.

"what's up?"

The fat monk stood in the middle and asked curiously.

At this time, the book boy stumbled in and shouted, "Master, he is a thief!"

The vicious man hurriedly said: "The knife is in his hand, and the person tied up is me."

The scholar loudly retorted, "We were the first to attack! He is the thief!"

The fat monk said with a smile: "He is a thief, but the knife is in your hand!"

The scholar was stunned for a moment, and quickly explained: "The knife is his..."

Before he could finish his words, the evil man broke free from the restraints on his hands, rushed towards the scholar, and was about to take the knife to commit murder.

But the next second, the knife magically appeared in the fat monk's hands.

The magical scene made the three of them stunned for a moment.

The evil man was unwilling to give up, and pounced on the fat monk again. However, the fat monk dodged lightly and easily avoided the evil man's attack.

In this way, the fool knows that he has met a master.

So the villain wisely gave up on his violence and just stood aside quietly.

The fat monk held up a knife and laughed: "There are no soldiers or thieves in Buddhism. I won't move my name, so you guys should stay calm."

The scholar, the page boy, and the villain were all tactful and did not move.

Master Budong nodded in satisfaction and said, "I think everyone is hungry. I'll go get some food. If you have anything to say, we can talk after we eat!"

But just as Master Immovable turned his back, the evil man suddenly had a fierce light in his eyes and pounced on him again. Master Immovable suddenly swung his sword, scaring the evil man so much that his hair stood on end. He lowered his head and dodged dangerously.

This time the villain really didn't dare to move.

Master Budong held the knife in both hands and looked at the evil man with a smile, "Your knife is very useful, can you lend it to me?"

"Please feel free to do so!"

How could the evil guy dare to say no?

Those who are in the underworld are afraid of encountering someone with real skills. If they fail to get their knife back after many attempts, it means losing the knife, and if they don't know what's best for them, they will die.

"thanks, thanks."

Master Budong smiled and walked into the back door with a knife in hand.

In someone else's territory, the knife was borrowed by force again. The villain never dared to do anything tricky again and sat down obediently by the table.

The scholar sat down on the steps opposite the villain to avoid being hit by a club.

The servant boy was very tactful and handed the sweat towel to the scholar. The scholar wiped the sweat off his face and the servant boy handed him a steamed bun. The service was very thorough.

"when?"

The scholar took a bite and realized that the taste was wrong.

The servant thought for a moment while sorting the boxes and replied, "It seems to be... the day before yesterday."

"..."

The scholar's eyes widened and he was about to spit out the steamed bun, but he saw the evil man opposite him looking at him with longing, so he swallowed the steamed bun with gritted teeth, and then took another bite, which made the greedy evil man swallow his saliva repeatedly.

Obvious.

The villain was having a very bad life and might even have been hungry for two or three days, otherwise he would not have been drooling over a steamed bun.

"Sir, eat slowly."

The servant handed another bowl of water to the scholar.

The scholar took a sip and breathed a sigh of relief.

At this time, the servant boy picked up the small fan and fanned the scholar, which made the villain opposite him very envious, but more of him felt helpless.

In those days, people were starving to death everywhere. If he had the ability, he could have supported a hundred or eighty servants.

But the problem is that he can't even support himself now, let alone support others.

"anyone there?"

At this moment, another person walked into the temple, and the three of them immediately turned their heads away.

I saw a man in black walking towards me, carrying a backpack commonly used by scholars on his back. He had an elegant temperament and was as gentle as jade. Seeing him, several people praised in their hearts: What a handsome young man!

"My name is Zhu Xiaolian. May I ask your name?"

The scholar hurriedly stood up, handed the steamed bun and the bowl of water to the servant, and bowed.

"Thank you for your courtesy, brother." The man in black bowed and returned the greeting, smiling, "I am Cheng Long, from Xinzhou. I am currently traveling around the world to study. I passed by here and would like to stay here for a night. I wonder if it is convenient?"

"I see."

Zhu Xiaolian smiled and replied, "We are here to stay as well. The owner of this temple is Master Budong, a fat monk with real skills..."

At this point, Zhu Xiaolian turned his head and looked at the evil man, "By the way, Brother Cheng, this is the bandit that Hou Xia and I met on the road. He is not a good person."

"Thank you, Brother Zhu, for telling me." Cheng Long bowed.

"It doesn't matter. We were the ones who took the initiative and drove this evil guy here, causing Brother Cheng to be implicated innocently..." Zhu Xiaolian's expression was filled with guilt, and he was obviously worried about bringing danger to others.

He has Hou Xia looking after him, so they can take turns to rest at night. Brother Cheng is alone, so he might have trouble sleeping at night.

"Brother Zhu, you and this young brother, both of whom are ordinary people, were able to take the initiative and snatch the knife from this green forest master. It's really impressive!" Cheng Long said with interest.

"Hmph~~"

The evil man snorted and said dissatisfiedly: "If I hadn't been hungry for three days and had no strength, how could he have taken the initiative? Even if they took the knife away, I could easily kill them."

Cheng Long agreed deeply and nodded, saying, "Yes, this road bandit is indeed much stronger than you. It is fate that we meet. Brother Zhu, I have a few martial arts skills here. They are only one or two taels of silver each. I will sell them to you at a low price."

The next moment.

Like magic, Cheng Long had five more secret manuals in his hand, namely, Wulang Bagua Stick, Hong Family Iron Wire Fist, Twelve-Way Tan Leg, Toad Kung Fu and Lion Roar Kung Fu.

"..."

Zhu Xiaolian and Hou Xia looked at each other.

Neither the master nor the servant understood what was going on. Master Cheng's hand was empty the moment before, but the next moment, five martial arts secret books appeared in it.

This method is even more amazing than the previous one used by the Immovable Monk.

"Brother Zhu, have you thought it through?" Cheng Long asked seriously.

At this time, the evil man Meng Longtan came over and said, "Are these martial arts secrets of yours real? The Toad Kung Fu of the Kunlun School is a secret that cannot be passed on. Where did you get it from?"

"The origin is not important. What's important is that these secret books in my hand are real. As long as you have talent, you can practice to the innate realm." The secret books in Cheng Long's hands, except for the Toad Skill which he deduced based on the power displayed by the Fire Cloud Evil God in the movie, all the other secret books were given by the holders.

Absolute fidelity.

"I choose Lion's Roar and Wulang Bagua Stick."

After Zhu Xiaolian finished speaking, he turned around and looked at Hou Xia and ordered, "Hou Xia, give me the money."

"Sir, we don't have much money left, why don't we just buy one book?" Hou Xia rummaged through his purse and found that there were less than twenty taels of silver left.

But they still have more than a month to go before reaching the capital.

The money must be spent frugally, otherwise when we arrive in the capital, we won’t even have enough money to live in someone else’s firewood shed.

"Okay, then I'll need the Wulang Bagua Stick."

Zhu Xiaolian thought about it and it made sense. He felt that he and Brother Cheng had just met, so it would be inappropriate to spend too much money. He might as well just buy a book as a token of his appreciation.

"Okay, if you have any questions, you can always ask me."

Cheng Long handed over the secret book very readily.

Hou Xia, who was given the silver, was a little reluctant and didn't seem very willing.

At this time, Monk Budong came over with three bowls of rice. Seeing the situation in front of him, the monk was stunned.

"Why did the monk come so late? I am starving to death."

When Meng Longtan saw the rice, he immediately grabbed a bowl and started eating without serving anything else.

He was really starving. Including today, he hadn't eaten for almost four days. He could only survive on water and some mountain berries.

Cheng Long turned his head and looked at the immovable master, smiled, clasped his fists and said, "Master, sorry to bother you."

Inadvertently discovering the golden wheel of merit behind the other person's head that was invisible to ordinary people, Master Budong's eyes flashed with surprise, then he laughed, brought rice and walked forward and said: "I just prepared vegetarian food for them, but I didn't expect the donor to come, and the vegetarian food is not enough."

"It's okay. I can't get used to vegetarian food either."

Cheng Long found a place, took off the backpack on his back, first took out a folding stool, then a folding table, and then three oil paper bags and a pot of wine.

He managed to turn the small backpack into a big wooden box. Even a folding stool and three oil-paper bags could be squeezed in.

But the ancient folding table you took out was too much. It was more than one meter long and wide, while the backpack was only fifty or sixty centimeters long and wide, and less than eighty centimeters deep.

How can such a small thing fit on a table?
Even if it was an ancient foldable table, it still took up a lot of space, not to mention there seemed to be clothes inside.

Zhu Xiaolian, Hou Xia, and Meng Longtan obviously did not understand the means behind this, but the fat monk Budong saw through the clues at a glance.

But he had no intention of speaking.

"Brother Zhu, I have beggar's chicken and braised duck here, would you like to try them?"

As Cheng Long opened the oil paper packages layer by layer, a rich aroma instantly filled the entire temple.

Meng Longtan, who had just been enjoying his vegetarian meal with great relish, once again lost control of his expression and drooled with greed. However, Master Cheng was obviously not someone to be trifled with, and there was a fat monk who was meddling in other people's business beside him.

"Forget it, out of sight, out of mind."

Meng Longtan shook his head helplessly, took the vegetarian meal and sat down at the temple gate, eating quietly.

The food cooked by the immovable monk is actually very delicious.

What's more, he had been hungry for three or four days, so he could eat not only noodles and cabbage, but even stale steamed buns with relish.

"Brother Cheng, isn't it not good for us to eat meat in front of the Buddha?"

After eating for a while, Zhu Xiaolian suddenly realized that he was in a temple. There were three huge clay Buddha statues placed on the side, so he slowed down his eating speed.

"What are you afraid of? We are not monks. Even if we are monks, we will just eat it. As the saying goes, wine and meat pass through the intestines, but remain in the Buddha's heart!" Cheng Long is a real demon god, why would he care about these things?
If you really want to be afraid, the clay Buddha statue is nothing. The immovable monk behind him is the one who makes people afraid.

Because this monk is the Budai Arhat who has an unclear relationship with the aunt in the Painted Wall Fairyland, one of the Eighteen Arhats, a genuine Taiyi Golden Immortal, whose strength is far above that of the aunt.

The aunt who lives in the Painted Wall Fairyland actually only has the cultivation level of a Golden Immortal. Cheng Long can explore the entire Painted Wall Fairyland with just a thought.

It’s just that… my aunt’s background isn’t very clear.

My aunt seems to be similar to Guanyin Bodhisattva. Both of them turned to Buddhism from Taoism. They have both the Taoist charm and the Zen spirit of Buddhist masters.

"Wine and meat pass through the intestines, but the Buddha remains in the heart..."

Monk Budong thought about it for a long time, then came to Cheng Long and exclaimed: "Sir, I am not as advanced as you are. I wonder if you have studied Buddhism?"

"Never."

Cheng Long shook his head to deny it.

"Then you must be born with wisdom and have a connection with Buddha. How about I introduce you to the White Horse Temple to practice Buddhism? Apart from anything else, with your wisdom, you will definitely be able to achieve the fruit of Arhat in the future, and you will definitely have a seat among the Eighteen Arhats."

The Eighteen Arhats are not static. Once one of them dies, a new one will inherit the position of Arhat and become one of the Eighteen Arhats.

Budong Monk was appointed as the second Budai Monk by the Buddha because his predecessor Budai Monk met with an accident and achieved the status of Arhat.

If there is no vacancy, the newcomer who obtains the Arhat fruit will become one of the Eight Hundred Arhats.

And eight hundred is not a fixed word, but an imaginary number.

As Buddhism grows more and more prosperous, there will be more and more Bodhisattvas, Arhats and Monks in the future.

The eight hundred arhats will sooner or later become nine hundred or one thousand arhats, and the three thousand bhikkhunis will sooner or later become eight thousand or ten thousand.

"Master, don't waste your time here. I'm not interested in chanting scriptures or reciting Buddha's name. I like to do whatever I want. Your Buddha can't control me." Cheng Long was not interested in beating around the bush with the monk, so he stated his position directly. If the monk didn't know how to advance or retreat, he wouldn't mind teaching Budai Arhat a lesson.

"Sir, I'm sorry, Monk, I'm rude."

The monk Fudo bowed and apologized with a look of apology on his face.

Cheng Long is full of merits. Even if he has wisdom, it is not necessarily the wisdom of Buddhism. Practicing Taoism can also achieve achievements that ordinary people cannot achieve.

To be honest, he still hasn't figured out Cheng Long's true level of cultivation. He just sees that the golden wheel of merit behind the other party's head is extremely dazzling.

Like a little sun.

Evil spirits dare not even get close to such a person, and even immortals and Buddhas have to bow to him when they see him.

Even if he was one of the Eighteen Arhats, he would not dare to surpass the Immovable Monk and make the person with great merit unhappy.

"After dinner, I want to go to the back to see the murals. Master, you don't mind, right?" Cheng Long looked at the monk Budong with interest.

"No... I don't mind." Monk Budong said insincerely. (End of this chapter)