Chapter 112: Umibozu: Even if I starve to death, I will never eat a bite of vegetarian food! November 7, 30 . Pinggong Qianye returned home, took a shower, had breakfast, and then returned to the temple. The three nearby buildings have been almost completed, and they will definitely be completed successfully by the time he returns from his summer vacation. He found the person in charge of the overall construction and explained his new needs to him. He planned to build a lotus pond in a secluded place near the grove behind the side hall. The lotus ponds of many temples are built in the center of the square below the steps at the main hall entrance. In this way, if tourists come to worship normally, they will first pass by the lotus pond, then climb the stone steps to the entrance of the main hall, and then they can enter the main hall to worship the Buddha and Bodhisattva. Weilian Ancient Temple was built on flat ground, not on the top of a mountain. There is no height difference and it is not suitable for building stone steps. Therefore, the lotus pond should be placed in a quiet place at the back as much as possible. In this way, after worshipping the Buddha and Bodhisattva in the main hall, tourists and believers can find a quiet place in the side hall at the back to rest, take photos, check in and post them on WeChat Moments. As for the matter of building the pagoda, let's put it on hold for now. After he teaches Takeda Saburo a few more times, perhaps the entire pagoda will be funded and built by Takeda Saburo.
So far, Saburo Takeda has sought his advice three times and has agreed to the three incarnations of the pagoda. The number of floors in a pagoda is usually an odd number. Pinggong Qianye was also considering how many floors the pagoda of his own temple should have. According to what he knew, the pagodas in Japanese temples were usually built with only three floors, symbolizing the Three Treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and also representing the three realms of color, desire, and non-existence. Currently, the tallest pagoda in Japan is the five-story pagoda in Toji Temple. The five-story pagoda symbolizes the five evil turbidities of the world and also represents the five aggregates, namely form, feeling, perception, volition and consciousness. But Pinggong Qianye always felt that the five-story pagoda was still a little too low. I am determined to develop my own Weilian Ancient Temple into the most precious temple in Japan! The seven-story pagoda representing the seven emotions and six desires seems a bit low. The nine-story pagoda, which symbolizes the ninth-grade lotus platform, is very appropriate to his Buddhist name, Liansheng. Nine is the extreme number, implying the pinnacle of achievement. As for the tallest thirteen-story pagoda, I probably can't support such a pagoda at the moment. The nine-story pagoda seems to be his best choice. While Pinggong Qianye was daydreaming, Ruyi came over and asked curiously about the lotus pond. After chatting for a few words, Pinggong Qianye handed the Coke can to Ruyi and asked him to keep it safe until he came back. "Master Liansheng, don't worry." Ruyi nodded confidently. The fish that can be put in a Coke can like this are at most small fish as thick as a thumb. How can it create huge waves? "You'd better stay in the main hall. This Umibozu still has some strength." Pinggong Qianye left the hall after giving these instructions. He remembered that there was an unused pickle jar in Grandma Shanye's house. It’s quite big, and should be enough to raise Umibozu for the time being. After Pinggong Qianye walked away, Ruyi was about to return to the main hall with a Coke can in one hand, when the Coke can in his hand began to shake violently.
"What kind of fish is this Umibozu? It's so powerful!" Ruyi was so frightened that she shuddered and quickly held the Coke can tightly with both hands. From the shaking of the can, he felt as if there was a big fish struggling inside it. But how big and powerful a fish can be put in such a small Coke can? Wait, Umibozu, is that the legendary big monster? Suddenly, the Coke can stopped struggling for a short while. Could it be that it has no strength left? Despite thinking this, Ruyi did not dare to relax at all. He held the Coke can tightly in both hands and walked towards the main hall. At the moment when he was about to step through the door, the Coke can vibrated violently again, and a stream of white water rushed out from the mouth of the can. The sword hit Ruyi's face accurately, causing her to stagger. Fortunately, he tried his best to keep his body steady and did not let himself fall. He ignored the water stains on his face, walked into the hall and came before Vairocana Tathagata. "Do you still dare to continue making trouble in front of the Great Sun Tathagata?" Ruyi placed the Coke can on the altar, and the can, which was shaking violently, stopped shaking instantly. "Amitabha." Ruyi chanted the Buddha's name and then he felt truly relieved. "Little monk, if you let me go, I can promise you three conditions: money, beauty, or power. You can choose whichever you like!" When Ruyi relaxed a little, a weak but pretending to be tough voice came from the Coke can. “Do you understand Buddhism?” Ruyi just asked with a smile, and no sound came out of the Coke can. "Have you read Buddhist scriptures?" “Do you know what compassion and wisdom are?” "Look, you can't even answer these questions with your wisdom, so how can you fulfill the three conditions you mentioned?" Ruyi's voice was very soft, but it revealed a firmness that was hard to convince. "I am the master of the sea! I am rich in all the seas!" An angry voice came from inside the Coke can. "So what do you have now?" Ruyi spoke calmly, seeing that the monster in the Coke can seemed unwilling to pay any more attention to her.
"I will recite the Heart Sutra for you, which may help eliminate your desires and attachments." Without waiting for an answer, Ruyi recited the Heart Sutra by herself. Not long after, at the entrance of the main hall, Pinggong Qianye passed by with a jar of pickled vegetables in his hand. He called out to Ruyi and asked him to take the Coke can to the back of the side hall. Coming to the back of the side hall, Pinggong Qianye put down a pickle jar as big as a large tire, filled it halfway with water, and put in some stones and weeds. Then he took the Coke can from Ruyi, pointed the bottle mouth at the pickle jar and shook it, and the Kaifangzu inside flowed into the pickle jar. Only then did Ruyi clearly see the appearance of the monster, a hairless old man with a round head and a somewhat wretched and ugly appearance. "Ah! It's so salty!" As soon as Umibozu entered the pickle jar, he wanted to jump out. "You live in the sea all day long, and you still think the water is salty?" Heimiya Chiya flicked his finger on Umibozu's smooth head and sent it to the bottom of the tank. "It smells like kimchi. You didn't even clean the jar!" Umibozu only dared to complain in his heart and silently hid his body in the weeds to avoid Pinggong Chiye's sight. "Your image is not good, it's too ugly. It would be better if you turned into a fish, an anglerfish." Pinggong Chiye could easily see where Kaibozu was hiding through the weeds. "Anglerfish?" "Damn! Isn't this fish ugly?" "Can this fish be better looking than my current image?" Umibozu was furious, but he could only mutter silently in his heart. In order not to anger Hiramiya Chiye, he obediently turned into an anglerfish. Ruyi looked at it for a while and said hesitantly, "Can anglerfish live in this kind of tank?" "It might work." Hiramiya Chiye was not quite sure about this. "I remember that anglerfish should be a deep-sea fish, right?" "It's okay. Just think of it as a mutated relative of the anglerfish. Don't worry, it won't die so easily." Listening to the conversation between Pinggong Qianye and Ruyi outside, Haifangzhu couldn't help but roll his eyes. Two ignorant bald asses! Anglerfish is a deep-sea fish and has long been accustomed to the high-salinity seawater environment. This small water tank, damn, smells like Korean kimchi. Can't it be washed before use? Umibozu kept complaining in his heart, while at the same time thinking about how to escape. Although half of its body was destroyed, it still had half of its demonic power left. Once that hateful and terrifying monk left, it could easily escape with the help of the water in the jar. Outside is Arakawa. As long as I can escape into Arakawa, I can successfully escape from the clutches of this monk. Tonight is a good opportunity to take action.
"Master Liansheng, you keep this monster here without a Buddha statue to suppress it. What if it escapes?" Hearing this, Haifangzhu's heart skipped a beat and he felt an inexplicable panic. "I will carve the Six Paths Vajra Mantra on the surface of this jar. I believe it will be enough to suppress it and prevent it from leaving the jar." Pinggong Qianye said this and asked Ruyi to go to the side hall to get a pen and the golden paint that had been prepared in advance. No! Don't come over here! Umibozu screamed wildly in his heart, his body swaying constantly, shaking off the weeds, but the brush painted with golden paint still fell on the surface of the water tank. As the Six Paths Vajra Mantra was chanted word by word, the entire pickle jar seemed to be held in the arms of a Vajra. The powerful Buddhist force surging from all directions suppressed the demonic power in Haifang's body, making it impossible for him to transform even if he wanted to, let alone jump out of the water tank. "Damn Master Liansheng, you damn bald ass!" After Umibozu uttered his last cry for freedom, he was completely transformed into an anglerfish with only wisdom. Apart from swimming around, he no longer had any power. "As long as the tank is not broken, it can't get out." Pinggong Chiye is still very confident about the "Six Paths Vajra Mantra" which he wrote by himself. Previously, the other half of Umibozu's body was destroyed by the "Six Paths Vajra Mantra". "Master Liansheng, should I feed it regularly from now on?" "I think so." Pinggong Qianye thought for a moment and said, "During the time I am away from the temple, I will leave this matter to you." Ruyi nodded, picked up her phone and searched for information about anglerfish, and saw that anglerfish are carnivorous fish. She frowned slightly. He handed the search results to Pinggong Qianye to take a look. "Just feed it some fruits and aquatic plants, and less meat. It will be more beneficial to its practice." Pinggong Qianye said lightly. "That's good too. From now on, when I have free time, I can come here and recite Buddhist scriptures for it a few times to drive away its hostility and evil spirit, so that it can understand the Buddha's compassion more." "That's a good idea." The sea lord in the pickle jar swam into the water plants and shed tears silently. When it was roaming the sea, when had it ever eaten vegetarian food? It opens its mouth as wide as a whale, and all fish, big or small, go into its stomach. Even whales were eaten raw. If it gets tired of eating, it can ask its believers to drive ships to the sea and cook human food as offerings in front of it. When will you become so poor that you have to eat aquatic plants and fruits? thump. Ruyi, who was standing outside the pickle jar, took the tribute pears that had been offered as sacrifices from the main hall and threw them into the water jar. Ha ha. Looking at the tribute pear floating on the water, Haifangzhu sneered in his heart. Even if it was starved to death and couldn't jump out of this jar, it would never eat a bite of vegetarian food! (End of this chapter)