novelSusiti 099: The Case of Yitian
099: The Case of Yitian
At this time, there were a large number of able-bodied men in front of the government office, voluntarily lining up to sign up to guard the outer city.
The Tang Dynasty had military service, so most able-bodied men either served their military service and then returned home; only those thousand men served long-term military service.
Hearing that the Tibetans had gathered an army of 30,000 and had already crossed the Aihekou River, and would arrive in a few days, these people came to serve as soldiers, intending to defend Dunhuang County to the death!
Su Wen was quite moved by this, but deep down he still had a slight sense of apprehension.
Su Wen looked at Cui Lingyu and said, "Lingyu, the Tibetans are about to attack. It's not safe for you here. Why don't you go back to Chang'an?"
Cui Lingyu shook her head and said, "Wherever you are, I am!" (In the Tang Dynasty, "slave" was a general term of endearment for a baby.)
Su Wen was under immense pressure at the moment, because Yi Tian, or rather a cult organization, was hanging over his head. They probably wanted to coordinate with the Tibetan army from the inside out!
It was evening, at the hour of Hai (9-11 PM).
Su Wen, Cui Lingyu, Xu Ge, and Xiao Bi have arrived at the outer city and gone to Qingyuefang and Zuixianglou.
Although a curfew had been implemented in Dunhuang at this time, the curfew only prohibited pedestrians from passing through any streets between wards, but people could freely enter and leave the wards and eat, drink, and have fun.
Qingyuefang itself was the largest entertainment district outside the city of Dunhuang County. It was filled with casinos, brothels, and other shops, and was very lively.
The four of them walked around the area near Zuixianglou, but didn't see anyone making a fuss about it.
Su Wen thought that Cui Lingyu had posted the notice today, so they dared not come out.
As soon as the four of them turned their heads, they saw several people wearing black veils and covering their faces in the alley next to Zuixianglou. They were holding brocade pouches, as if they were distributing things to each person.
Upon closer inspection, it was found that quite a few people had received them.
Upon seeing Su Wen and the other three arrive with their faces covered, one of the men immediately pulled them into an alley.
"Judging from your figures, I don't recognize you four. May I ask who you are?"
In response to their inquiries, Cui Lingyu spoke first: "This is my husband, his younger brother, and my cousin. The four of us heard of the birth of the new Buddha, so we came to obtain some amulets for peace and to pay our respects to the new Buddha for protection!"
Upon hearing that the speaker was a woman, the man immediately smiled and said, "The new Buddha statue will be unveiled tomorrow night at midnight. You will need to go to Linxiang Temple to see it. However, we can give you amulets, but these amulets are only given to members of our church. We will not give them to non-members!"
Upon hearing this, Cui Lingyu tugged at Su Wen's sleeve and said, "Husband, why don't we join the church too?"
Su Wen frowned and asked, "What religion do you belong to?"
The man glanced around and deliberately lowered his voice, saying, "The Lotus Sect!"
Upon hearing this, Su Wen asked, "My lady, have you ever heard of it?"
Cui Lingyu shook her head: "Never heard of it!"
The man said, "We are a Protestant religion; after all, the new Buddha has only been in the world for less than a month!"
Su Wendao said, "Isn't it just a baby right now? What can it do?"
The man shook his head and said, "No, no!"
Su Wen looked at Cui Lingyu, who asked doubtfully, "Could it be that the Buddha is different from ordinary people?"
The man said, "Of course it is so. The new Buddha was born from the womb of the conjoined female Buddha in full view of everyone. After that, he turned into a child who could speak in one day, and into a year in three days. Now, a month has passed, and the Buddha is already an old man of more than two hundred years. Everyone says that the Buddha lives seven years in one day!"
"The Buddha said that he descended to earth because the old Buddha was foolish, causing great suffering to the people. Therefore, he descended to earth to cleanse the world, to make the old Buddha go away, and tomorrow he will pass away, at which time he will be reborn in the womb of the Twin-Bodied Female Buddha."
Upon hearing this, Su Wen began to ponder in his heart.
Upon hearing this, Cui Lingyu quickly asked, "Then, can the four of us go watch tomorrow?"
The man smiled slightly and said, "Of course, and the new Buddha said that he will use his great supernatural powers tomorrow to let everyone see day turn into night, and then night turn into day!"
The group was slightly surprised, and even Su Wen was shocked, thinking to himself: Could it be another illusion?
Cui Lingyu asked, "Are we going to Linxiang Temple to witness the incarnation of the new Buddha?"
The man nodded, then took out four small brocade pouches from his robes, saying, "These contain Bliss Powder. After taking them, you will feel joyful, even completely relaxed, thus briefly entering a state of bliss!"
As he spoke, the man pointed to a person in a side alley. The person's posture was extremely strange, even unscientific. If an ordinary person were to stand like that, they would surely fall down.
The man glanced at one of the people, and another man stepped forward and pushed him. The man did not fall down and remained so. The man called out to him a few more times, but he still did not move or even respond.
The man said, "See that? That's a brief entry into paradise; you'll return from paradise in a few hours!"
Cui Lingyu, Xu Ge, and Xiao Bi were quite surprised, but only Su Wen knew that this so-called paradise was just high on drugs.
Su Wen reached out for the brocade pouch in the man's hand.
The man said, "Hey, what are you doing!"
"Give it to me!" Su Wen said.
The man sneered, "This is Blissful Powder, refined by the new Buddha using his magical power. How could I give it to you so easily!"
Cui Lingyu said, "How can we get it to us? We also want to go to the Pure Land!"
The man smiled and said, "When you see a new Buddha statue and take things from it, you should at least donate some money as an incense offering!"
Upon hearing this, Cui Lingyu immediately pulled out a money pouch from her bosom, deliberately revealing the money inside, and then took out a silver ingot and handed it to the man, saying, "This should be enough!"
The man took the silver ingot and quickly handed the four brocade pouches to Cui Lingyu. Cui Lingyu then took out two hundred coins from her bosom and gave them to the man, saying, "Give me a few peace charms too. Consider this money as my treat for you all to a vegetarian meal!"
The man took the money, his face beaming with joy. He quickly pulled out several talismans from his robes and handed them to Cui Lingyu, saying, "Your generosity is bound to bring you great wealth and honor, and you will surely have a son who becomes a prime minister!"
"Thank you for your kind words, thank you new Buddha!"
With that, Cui Lingyu pulled Su Wen away from the place.
After the four returned to the government office, Su Wen took a brocade pouch from Cui Lingyu and opened it. Inside were small packets wrapped in oil paper.
Xu Ge said, "Master, this paper is the same as the paper the Hu family found today!"
Su Wen frowned, unfolded the paper, smelled it, and then frowned again, saying, "It smells like Di Ye Jia. It seems this so-called new Buddha is Yi Tian!"
Cui Lingyu said, "The so-called 'old Buddha' and 'new Buddha' must specifically refer to the sages. Are they planning a rebellion?"
Su Wen nodded: "But I'm a little curious, how does he turn day into night and night into day? Xu Ge, go ask the people in Ningyue Pavilion if they have such an illusion technique!"
Xu Ge responded and turned to leave the government office.