Morning bell, evening drum, day after day, as if endless.

  Every day is like the one before, some people feel dull, others feel at peace. The fleeting years, whether long or short, exist in people's hearts.

  In the blink of an eye, Gui Li had been waiting at Tianyin Temple for many days. He listened to the clear morning bell and the evening drum, which rang out from an unknown place in the temple every day on schedule, silently passing the days. He didn't know how it was possible, but after just a few days, he seemed to have already blended into this strange environment, silently and rarely speaking, often lost in thought.

  He is in his prime, with a very good body. Although he was seriously injured, due to his young age and high cultivation, plus the generosity of Tianyin Temple, they used all sorts of excellent medicine on him without hesitation. With Tianyin Temple's reputation and status, the temple's fine medicine is naturally among the best in the world. The effect of the medicine was quickly apparent, and his injuries healed extremely fast.

  However, in just a few days, he was able to get out of bed and walk with difficulty. Although his chest still hurt severely when walking, he would be panting after taking only a few steps. Nevertheless, this already made the monks who came to visit him happy and excited, praising that they had never seen anyone recover so quickly before, and it seemed that he would be fully recovered in less than a month.

  In his daily life, Gui Li was also lukewarm with them, occasionally chatting, and both sides avoided talking about their opposing identities. It seemed that at this moment, in the eyes of the monks of Fa Xiang Tian Yin Temple, Gui Li was just an ordinary person they had rescued with kindness, not a demon who had been snatched from the hands of Qing Yun Men, risking the wrath of heaven and earth. And Gui Li never asked again why the people of Tian Yin Temple wanted to save him.

  Time passed like this, and Gui Li's body got better day by day. In these days, he could walk on the ground relatively easily. Sometimes when the morning bell and evening drum sounded, he would pull a chair to open the window, sit by the window, and listen carefully with his ear sideways. It seemed that the sound of the bell and drum from Tianyin Temple had another flavor for him.

  During his convalescence, the monks of Tianyin Temple who came to visit him were only Fashang and Fashan. The other monks hardly ever came, let alone Pu Heng Shangren and other powerful monks. Because of his injuries, Gui Li had never left this room. Except for occasionally opening the window to look outside, what was presented before his eyes was just a small courtyard with red walls and green tiles, where several short trees were planted.

  It was just that for Gui Li, this ordinary and simple courtyard had a few familiar feelings that he hadn't felt in a long time. From the day he opened the window, although he didn't show it, but in his heart, he immediately liked this place.

  In the morning, he listened to the morning bell, and in the evening, he listened to the dusk drum. Such a peaceful and leisurely life, but it was only a short time, yet he couldn't bear to part with it, and was intoxicated by it.

  Who knows, in his heart, his greatest wish was just to live such a peaceful life...

  Mount Sumeru, Tianyin Temple, in the vast and magnificent temple halls, a small courtyard in a remote corner, lived there, lived there, lived there...

  ********

  "Creak," the wooden door was pushed open, and Fa Xiang walked in alone, casting a glance around the room before his eyes landed on Gui Li lying on the bed. Gui Lie's eyes were closed, it was unclear whether he was asleep or not.

  Fa Xiang smiled slightly and closed the door, turning to Gui Li and asking: "How do you feel today? Is your chest still hurting?"

  Gu Lianchen's body moved slightly as he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Fa Xiang, saying faintly: "You ask this every time you come, don't you get tired of it?"

  Fa Xiang smiled and shook his head, his eyes turned around, but he walked to the other side of the wall, in front of the picture of Guanyin Bodhisattva, took three thin sandalwood incense from the offering table, lit them on the fine candle next to it, and then inserted them into the copper incense burner.

  A wisp of smoke rose, drifting into the air, and the image of Guanyin Bodhisattva suddenly became somewhat hazy. The air also began to waft with a faint scent of sandalwood.

  The Dharma body merged into ten, turned to face the image of Guanyin Bodhisattva and bowed three times. Only then did he turn around, gaze at Gui Li for a while, and suddenly say: "You didn't come to pay your respects?"

  The ghost's expression changed slightly, and he involuntarily looked at the painting. The Guanyin Bodhisattva in the picture had a compassionate face, dignified and beautiful, with a pair of wise and slender eyes that seemed to be gazing at all living beings in the world. At this moment, she seemed to be looking at him with compassion.

  He was moved in his heart, but immediately sneered: "Why should I worship her? If she really has a spirit, I have begged the heavens and all the gods and Buddhas countless times before, but they have never shown any mercy!"

  Fa Xiang gazed at him for a long time, Gui Li looked back calmly with a cold smile still hanging on the corner of his mouth, without any sign of retreat. After a while, Fa Xiang let out a long sigh and turned around to face the Guanyin Bodhisattva statue, bowing his head in reverence, muttering some words under his breath, unknown what he was saying.

  The ghost stood behind him, watching his appearance with a cold smile that didn't stop.

  After finishing the Buddhist ceremony, he turned around and his compassionate expression gradually faded away, replaced by a calm smile. "I see that you're looking well today, and your body has mostly recovered recently. Shall we go out?"

  The ghost heard this and was taken aback, saying: "Out? Where to?"

  "Go where you want to go, see who you want to see."

  The ghost's eyebrows furrowed and then rose as he said: "What? Could it be that Puhong Shangren is..."

  Fashang nodded and said, "That's right. Master heard that you've recovered from your illness and is overjoyed. He asked me to come see you today. If you're not too tired, you can meet with him. What do you think?"

  The fierce and stern gaze lasted for a long time, then suddenly he burst out laughing: "Good, good, good! We've been waiting for this day for a long time. I must see him, no matter what. Even if my body is still badly injured from that day, as long as he's willing, I'll crawl to see him."

  "The donor's words are heavy, please follow me."

  After saying that, he led the way forward and walked to the door first. He opened the door and went out, and Gui Li followed closely behind. However, just as they were about to leave the room, for some reason, he suddenly turned his head back to look at the Guanyin Bodhisattva picture hanging on the wall. Amidst the swirling mist, Guanyin's eyebrows were kind and her eyes were gentle, with a faint smile, as if she was also gazing at him.

  The ghost scowled, grunted, and immediately turned around, never looking back, and left, leaving only the faint scent of sandalwood floating lightly in the empty room behind him.

  ********

  Walking out of the courtyard, there is a passageway about two zhang long and four chi wide. Both sides are red walls with a height of over two people. The top is also covered with green glazed tiles. At the end of the passageway, there is a circular archway. As you approach the archway, you can faintly hear a sound coming from outside.

  The sound was quite strange, at first it seemed to be the voice of monks chanting scriptures in the temple, but there were also other strange sounds mixed in, some of which should not have appeared here even in a ghost story, such as village women chatting together, or believers loudly worshipping Buddha, and faintly audible were also the sounds of children crying.

  What kind of strange noise is this? How could it appear in Tianyin Temple, one of the three major orthodox sects in the world?

  The ghost's heart was filled with shock and uncertainty, he looked at Fa Xiang, but saw that his expression remained unchanged, leading the way in front of him, walking towards the gate. The ghost furrowed his brow, composed himself, and followed him out.

  Outside the gate, it is suddenly open and bright, but only white jade stones are seen as rocks, flat stones are paved as a court, stone steps are layered, nine as a group, connected to the top of the Great Treasure Hall. There are 81 groups of high levels. Between the jade stone carvings, only the magnificent halls are seen, extremely tall and large, with thirteen giant stone pillars in front of the hall rising into the sky, over ten feet high. The golden wall on the roof is shining brightly, with eight ridges dividing it evenly, each ridge carved with a dragon head shape. In front of each flying eave dragon head, there are ten auspicious beasts carved, each with different shapes and vividly lifelike.

  The carvings in the palace are exquisitely beautiful, far exceeding people's imagination, and cannot be made by ordinary people. Behind the Daxiong Hall, on both sides, and in front, there is a series of tall halls connected to each other, with squares or small winding roads in between, some of which are directly connected together, layer upon layer, magnificent.

  Although the building is magnificent and breathtaking, what shocked Gui Liang the most at this moment was not these, but rather that in this solemn and sacred Buddhist site, there were countless ordinary people rushing about, holding incense sticks, kneeling and worshiping Buddha, with the stairs, courtyards, halls inside and outside, all filled with a magnificent and unimaginable scene of burning incense.

  A grand Tianyin Temple, with a high status in the orthodox Taoism of the world, is open to countless secular people to burn incense and worship Buddha just like an ordinary temple in the mortal world.

  The ghostly voice had never occurred to him before, but the strange sounds from earlier made sense now. However, everything in front of him was even more bewildering. Growing up on Qingyun Mountain since childhood, he had long been accustomed to the so-called immortal family style, where only cultivators could possess such a realm. On Qingyun Mountain, when had he ever seen an ordinary mortal come to burn incense and make wishes?

  He turned his head and looked at Fa Xiang, asking in surprise: "This..."

  Fasheng smiled slightly and said, "Today is the first day of the month, so there are more people. Although this temple has a lot of incense and fire, it's not usually this crowded. It's just that every first and fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, people from all around within hundreds of miles come to worship Buddha."

  The ghost shook his head, hesitated for a moment, and finally asked: "No, I think it's strange, why do you let the common people come in to burn incense and worship Buddha?"

  Fasheng nodded and made a gesture to follow him, leading Gui Li towards the back of the Daxiong Treasure Hall. As they walked, he said: "Actually, in the past, Tianyin Temple was not open to the secular world just like Qingyun Gate and other sects. However, after my master Puhong took over as the abbot, together with three other masters, they comprehended the Buddhist teachings, made a great vow, and said: 'The Buddha is the Buddha of all living beings, not just one person's Buddha.' Therefore, they decided to open the mountain gate and accept ordinary people."

  He said this and stopped in his tracks, turning to point at the countless steps leading to the Mahavira Hall, "Do you see that long stone staircase?"

  The ghost nodded and said, "What?"

  "That was when a master saw that the mountain road was steep, and although the people had the heart to worship Buddha, many were physically weak and could not climb the mountain to fulfill their vows. He used his great spiritual power, with one person's strength, spent ten years of effort, on the original treacherous mountain road, forcibly opened up this Buddhist plain path, did such infinite good deeds."

  The ghost's expression changed and he stood up straight, his face also becoming more serious. He said: "There is actually such an unremarkable senior, may I ask for his name?"

  Fa Xiang looked at him for a moment, unexpectedly fell silent for a while, and then said in a low voice: "That Master Pu Zhi has passed away for over a decade."

  Kui Lie's body suddenly stiffened, as if the two words "Pu Zhi" were like a thunderclap on a clear day, striking his mind and stunning him to the point of mental collapse.

  Fa Xiang looked at the ghost's changing and unpredictable face, which was sometimes sad and sometimes resentful. He let out a long sigh and said in a low voice, "Alright, let's go. The abbot is still waiting for us."

  The ghost followed Fah Xiang silently, but his originally relaxed pace had become extremely heavy. After walking for several dozen feet, he suddenly turned back with a complex expression, and saw the crowd of people swarming in the distance, countless men, women, children, old and young, all with pious faces, walking up the stone steps, reciting Buddhist scriptures, as if by walking this path, they had become closer to the Buddha.

  The ghost's face was complex and difficult to discern, his fists clenched and then slowly relaxed. After a while, he finally turned around slowly and walked away. The Dharma image waiting in front of him joined his palms together and chanted Buddha's name, but didn't say much either.

  The two of them left together, leaving behind the countless believers and that silent Buddhist road, leaving behind the world of men.

  This place was once human, no longer a fairyland or Buddhist realm.

  ********

  After passing by the Dahongbao Hall, there was still a long string of halls and temples behind. The Tianyin Temple was indeed a famous sect, and its grandeur was not comparable to that of ordinary temples. However, Fasheng led Gui Li towards the back, but did not stop at any of the halls or pavilions, only heading towards the rear mountain.

  Guilian followed Fa Xiang all the way, not saying a word, with a heavy expression on his face. He didn't even notice the beautiful and exquisite buildings around him.

  It wasn't until the end that Fa Xiang brought him out of the back door of Tianyin Temple and walked up a small mountain road towards Mount Sumeru, where Gui Lie furrowed his brow and said: "What's going on? Isn't Pu Heng Shangren in the temple?"

  Fa Xiang nodded and said, "Not bad. Although our temple is open to the secular world, which is a great virtue, monks still need to be pure. Our master and several uncles are all fond of purity, so they usually live in the small temple on the mountain top, which we also call 'Xiao Tianyin Temple'." After finishing speaking, he smiled slightly, revealing two white teeth.

  The demon nodded silently and didn't say anything else, following Fa Xiang towards the top of Mount Sumeru.

  Although Mount Xumi is not as high as the Tongtian Peak of Qingyun Gate, it is also not low. The Tianyin Temple they came out of earlier was already halfway up the mountain, but this time they went further up and walked for half an hour before seeing the signboard of Xiaotianyin Temple.

  From the outside, the Xiaotianyin Temple is indeed a small temple, with only three courtyards in and out, which is far from the magnificent Tianyin Temple on the top of the mountain. However, this place is far away from the secular world, surrounded by dense forests of cypress and bamboo, swaying gently in the mountain breeze, exuding an unspeakable elegance and serenity, which is a completely different flavor compared to the hustle and bustle below the mountain.

  The ghostly injury had just healed, and after walking for so many miles, his forehead was already slightly sweaty. He decided to stop and rest for a while, looking back only to see the Tianyin Temple in the distance, where incense was burning vigorously, with wisps of smoke drifting upwards. Even from such a great distance, he could still see it clearly. Amidst the faint sounds of people, there was an unspoken sense of reverence and solemnity.

  The ghost stood afar, gazing blankly for a long time, lost in thought, and didn't know what he was thinking about. After a long while, he finally turned around, and Fa Xiang nodded slightly, leading him into the Xiaotianyin Temple.

  It's much simpler here than in the mountains. The two of them walked through the Buddhist hall, turned right twice, and entered the back hall, where there were three quiet Zen rooms. Fashang walked forward and loudly said to the middle Zen room door: "Master, Zhang Xiaofan has arrived."

  A hoarse but gentle voice immediately rang out in the Zen room, saying: "Please come in."

  Fǎ xiāng turned around, made a please gesture to Guǐ Lì, who hesitated for a moment before walking into the room. However, Fǎ Xiāng stopped at the entrance and didn't seem to have any intention of going in together.

  He walked into the Zen room, and Gui Li looked around, but saw that this Zen room was simple and unadorned, with everything arranged almost exactly like his own Zen room where he had recovered from his injuries at the foot of the mountain. Meanwhile, today's orthodox sect leader, Tianyin Temple Master Fangzhang Pu Heng, sat cross-legged on a meditation bed, holding a rosary in his hand and smiling as he gazed at him.

  "You're here." Pu Heng's voice was calm and gentle, with a smile.

  For some reason, facing this godly monk, Gui Li's originally somewhat turbulent heart surprisingly calmed down quickly. He took a deep breath and nodded: "Yes."

  Pu Heng looked at him carefully, from top to bottom, his eyes shining with an unusual compassion and light, the rosary in his hand also lightly rotating, after a while, he said: "You should have something to ask me?"

  Guilian immediately nodded and said: "Not bad, I'm curious, why did Tianyin Temple take the risk of offending Qingyunmen to save me? And why did you..."

  He asked hastily, speaking in a very fast voice, but only got halfway through his question before stopping involuntarily. Pu Hengjun stretched out his right hand, suspending it in mid-air, blocking him from continuing to speak.

  The ghost was puzzled, looking at Pu Heng Shangren with some confusion. Pu Heng Shangren bowed his head and chanted a Buddhist mantra, then got down from the meditation bed, stood up, and said to the ghost: "Before you ask me, I'll take you to see someone first."

  The ghost was taken aback and asked, "Who is it that you see?"

  Pu Hui didn't respond and just walked out, slowly saying: "This person has wanted to see you for a long time, and I know that you must also be eager to see him."

  The ghost was shocked, but subconsciously followed up, unknowingly, his palms were sweating, and his heartbeat suddenly accelerated, as if there was a terrifying existence in front of him.

  Fa Xiang quietly stood outside the Zen room, seeing Pu Heng Shangren bring Gui Li out so quickly. His face didn't change expression, he just took a step back and stood aside. Pu Heng Shangren glanced at him, nodded, and without saying anything, brought Gui Li towards another direction, which was the last small courtyard in this three-section compound, leaning against a mountain wall.

  ********

  Note 1: The ridges of the palace are carved with auspicious beasts, which is a unique architectural rule in ancient China. There are extremely detailed and strict rules governing their use, from emperors to officials to ordinary people's homes, all with specific regulations that cannot be exceeded, otherwise it would be considered disrespectful and punishable by death or even extermination of the entire family. Buildings with ten auspicious beasts on the roof have only one example in China since ancient times, which is the Taihe Hall in the Forbidden City. This is a fictional account, so please just enjoy it, dear readers.

  Note 2: On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, burning incense and worshiping Buddha is a widespread practice in China where Buddhism has been widely spread. It is also known as "Fa Shi" or "Buddhist gathering". From Yonghe Temple in Beijing to small temples in rural Fujian in southern China, most follow this tradition. Having grown up watching my grandmother burn incense since childhood, I still do so today. As I write this, memories of the past come flooding back and I couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia.