Chapter 157 Why Not Worship Me
The news of Zheng Yuansheng's death caused a stir in the village but it quickly died down. The old people wiped their tears and kept saying, "What a good child, he is gone at such a young age." The younger uncles and aunts didn't say a few words. They came to Zheng Chunni's house to take a look and sent back anything that was missing. They also dug a big hole and buried the small jar containing Zheng Yunsheng. There were many graves there, so he was probably not alone.

Even though this matter was over, there was no wailing or shouting, nor any grand celebration. People just stood in silence in front of Zheng Yuansheng's small grave, as if they had just met a friend in the early morning, talked for a few words, and said goodbye to him calmly, as if they believed that they would meet again in the future.

Even Zheng Chunni became much more cheerful. She let down her guard, accepted the reality calmly, prepared dinner, and invited the prison warden, Zheng Qiuting, and the monk Faqing who was chanting sutras for Zheng Yuansheng's soul. She originally didn't want to eat, but Zheng Qiuting sent her rice and flour and asked her to entertain the guests.

The meal was not very good, but what was rare was that there was a fish, which was brought by Faqing. He was not bothered by it and took a few bites of it as soon as the meal was served.

Faqing was a monk who loved meat and wine. He was a little thin and lacked the so-called Buddha appearance. Seeing the warden looking at him from the dinner table, Faqing smiled and patted his belly: "Eating is the most important thing in the world. I don't get much oil and water in a year. If I abstain from meat and fish, I'm afraid I can't survive as a monk. The Buddha is merciful and will surely pity me. He won't care about a small violation of the precepts."

What else could the warden say but "Master, you are very insightful" and picked up the fish with his chopsticks out of curiosity.

Then he regretted it. The fish was not as delicious as he had imagined. The little salt and oil could not cover up the fishy smell of the fish itself. Instead, it tasted a bit bitter. This reminded him of the authentic West Lake vinegar fish he had eaten in West Lake in his previous life.

As the saying goes, delicious, vinegar fish, authentic, you can only choose two out of the three, and they are mutually exclusive with the rest. The delicious and authentic ones are not vinegar fish, the authentic vinegar fish cannot be delicious, and the delicious vinegar fish is definitely not from West Lake.

Seeing the prison warden hesitating about picking up his chopsticks, Zheng Qiuting and Faqing laughed.

"It seems that the prison warden doesn't like the food in the village very much. It must be a little hard to swallow, right?" The prison warden had taken off his mask. Zheng Qiuting also saw the somewhat childish face and teased.

The warden paused, decided not to upset his stomach, and put down his chopsticks: "It does have a unique flavor."

He looked at the three people who were eating with gusto and his thoughts drifted away. He just talked about the suffering of all living beings, but how bitter could it be? Was it seeing off old friends in a somewhat indifferent or even numb manner, or was it the meal that was hard to swallow but still made him happy?
The prison wardens understood a little, he could see all living beings struggling to survive, life was hard like swallowing a bitter pill, but he also saw how all living beings found joy in suffering and wrapped the bitter pill with a thin layer of sugar coating, and he also saw the strong and tenacious power hidden beneath that numb appearance.

After dinner, Fa Qing invited the prison warden Zheng Qiuting and the other man to sit in his temple for a while.

"Although my temple is dilapidated, it can still shelter me from wind and rain. Although my house is small, I can still have a cup of strong tea," he said.

The temple is right at the entrance of the village, facing Zheng Qiuting's residence. As expected, the temple is not very big and is not as prosperous as the big temple in Dingyuan City.

There wasn't even a plaque, and the backyard was fenced in, with a trellis and some vegetables planted.

The prison wardens stood in front of the temple gate. There were red paper couplets pasted on both sides of the door, but they had faded a little due to being hit by rain and wind.

As the sun sets and the fragrance fades, my worldly desires are put to rest.

The fire is out and the furnace is cold, so put your thoughts aside.

Fa Qing pushed the door open and invited the two in. The room was not big, with a thatched hut and a small Buddhist shrine inside, with some scattered green incense next to it.

Faqing took the incense and held it in his hand and worshipped the Buddha statue: "Life is hard, so it's inevitable to find hope. Villagers often come to worship, so I picked some grass and wood to make some incense and let them use it as they like. Unfortunately, I can't afford to build a large temple, and I can't paint the Buddha statue with gold. It's an injustice to the Buddha."

The warden also took the incense and bowed: "Goodness comes from the heart. Why do you need gold and powder to worship Buddha? Don't seek outside. This is the sacred mountain. The master has great virtues."

Fa Qing laughed loudly and looked at Zheng Qiuting proudly: "Brother Prison Warden knows how to talk. Unlike someone, who is full of knowledge and articles of sages, but does not listen to the Buddha's teachings." "You bald donkey, there are countless Taoist scriptures, all of which are true words. Why should I listen to the noisy Buddha's teachings?" Zheng Qiuting was also an unforgiving person and spoke without hesitation.

After listening for a while, the prison warden realized that it was a dispute between Buddhism and Taoism, and the difference between the two factions. One said that the path of Taoism was broad, and the other said that Buddhism was vast, and they argued endlessly.

"Your Buddhism is full of filth and dirt. The golden statue is worse than the clay sculpture. The so-called Buddha's blessing, Bodhisattva's salvation, and accumulating virtue in this life to seek a good life in the next life are nothing but the words of fools. They stink." Zheng Qiuting was aggressive.

Fa Qing laughed: "I said you don't know the classics, but you still don't believe it. The so-called words of fooling the people are just to give people hope and persuade people to be good. Do you mean that the immortals and Buddhas treat people like cattle and horses, like pigs and dogs? How cruel! How can we survive the sea of ​​suffering in this life?"

"You said I am not familiar with the classics, but do the monks in the world understand them? Why haven't I seen the attempt to lead people across the sea, but instead the words gold and silver dazzled people and ruined so many people!" Zheng Qiuting said.

The smile on Faqing's face froze: "Amitabha." But he said nothing more.

Zheng Qiuting was complacent for a while, but then he thought of the Taoist temple, which was not as friendly as the Buddhist temple. He thought that birds of a feather flock together, so he stopped smiling.

The warden smiled to himself and stepped inside: "Master Faqing, a distinguished guest has arrived, why don't you serve tea quickly? Why are you tripped by the clay sculpture?"

Fa Qing shook his head and smiled: "I'll be right there, Master. I have some good tea called 'Starry Sky' that you must try." After saying that, he hurriedly walked past the warden and went inside.

"In fact, it's just some old tea leaves with an elegant name. Don't expect too much." Zheng Qiuting explained to Fa Qing.

"The village is too small, and most of the villagers are busy with farm work. Monk Faqing and I are the ones who have the most free time. We have nothing to do but bicker with each other to relieve our boredom. This makes the little brother laugh at us."

The warden shook his head and said, "The more we argue, the clearer the truth becomes. Mr. Zheng and Master Faqing are both learned people. This is a discussion of the truth. How can it be a joke?"

Zheng Qiuting's eyes lit up: "It seems that little brother has also read some insights. I wonder what you think of the immortal Buddha?"

"No matter Buddhism or Taoism, the intentions of the scriptures are all good. They are all profound and encouraging people to be good. On the contrary, the immortals and Buddhas showed human feelings and distorted the meaning of the scriptures, ruining such a good discipline," said the prison keeper.

Then Fa Qing came out holding a tea tray. After hearing what the prison warden said, he stood still.

"Since the clay and wooden statues are meant for people to worship, they should just sit on the altar properly instead of interfering with the human world."

"Humans are the root of immortals and Buddhas. If you take incense and treat all living beings as ants, it would be better to cut down the mountains and destroy the temples and leave it at that."

The warden looked up at the sky.

"Since the immortals and Buddhas are so ignorant, it is better to worship me than to worship gods or Buddhas!"

(End of this chapter)