Chapter 145 Sending Buddha to the West

"By the way, where is Di Yun?"

Ding Dian suddenly asked.

Ding Dian's reminder made Chu Yuan and Ling Shuanghua realize that Xie Yanke had returned with his men, but Di Yun had not returned yet.

"Maybe Xie Yanke was one step faster than him, so Xie Yanke came first?"

Chu Yuan said in an uncertain tone.

Di Yun went to deliver a message. Xie Yanke asked someone to help, and they had already arrived at Tianning Temple. Logically, Di Yun should have returned long ago.

"Brother Chu, Brother Ding..."

Just then, a familiar voice sounded outside the door.

Ding Dian opened the gate of Tianning Temple, and then they saw Di Yun, who was wearing tattered and dirty clothes and standing outside the gate like a beggar.

From this we can see that he did not slack off along the way and must have been on the road all the time, otherwise he would not have had the time to take care of his image and now looks like a beggar.

"It's been a hard journey, come in."

After Di Yun came in, Ding Dian closed the door again.

"Brother Ding, Brother Chu, I'm not tired. I went to Motian Cliff and met Senior Xie, the Motian Lay Buddhist. He said he was going south to Jiangnan..."

He was halfway through his words when he saw Xie Yanke coming out of the main hall of Tianning Temple. For a moment, he looked as if he had seen a ghost:

"Xie Laoxian, why are you here?"

Xie Yanke looked at Di Yun's expression and said with a smug smile:
"Why can't I be here?"

Di Yun said, "When I left, Senior Xie was still on the Motian Cliff. Didn't Senior Xie say that you were going to Jiangnan? How could you have arrived at Tianning Temple before me? Didn't you go to Jiangnan?"

Xie Yanke said, "Of course I went. Everyone has been invited back and is busy inside. As for why I rushed to Tianning Temple first... How can you young people guess my Qinggong?"

Usually in front of Chu Yuan, he was deeply shocked.

But in front of Di Yun, Xie Yanke felt that he had regained his confidence as a senior in the martial arts world.

In fact, he rushed to Tianning Temple before Di Yun.

Zhu Junwang and I rode at full speed all the way, changing horses several times along the way, just for this moment.

Those guards and laborers were all trustworthy people that Zhu Junwang found for his own business in the cities near Jingzhou Prefecture.

"But... this is too fast."

Di Yun still felt incredible.

It was obvious that he was the first one to go down the Motian Cliff. When he left the Motian Cliff, Xie Yanke was still on the Motian Cliff. Xie Yanke also went to Jiangnan, but in the end, Xie Yanke arrived at Tianning Temple one step earlier than him.

"Di Yun, Senior Xie is a well-known master in the martial arts world. His Qinggong skills are extraordinary. Isn't it normal that he is faster than you?"

Ding Dian said to Di Yun.

Because of Xie Yanke's reputation in the martial arts world, in Ding Dian's mind, Xie Yanke became the image of a peerless master who was high and mighty.

"Too."

Di Yun felt that Ding Dian's words made sense, so he stopped making a fuss.

"Di Yun, I have some bad news for you."

Ding Dian thought about it and decided to tell him that his master Qi Changfa was dead.

"Your master Qi Changfa was here before, but because he touched the treasure without permission, he was poisoned by the jewels and bled from all seven orifices and went crazy and died. His body is buried on the small mound behind Tianning Temple."

Chu Yuan also said to Ding Dian.

"How is this possible? Wasn't my master killed by Master Uncle Wan Zhenshan?"

Di Yun didn't believe it.

"He only faked his death. In fact, he has been secretly searching for the secret of the treasure of "Liancheng Jue" and even found Tianning Temple."

Ding Dian said to Di Yun.

After a long silence, Di Yun said, "I will go to the back of the temple to pay my respects."

After saying that, he left.

He suddenly heard the news that his master Qi Changfa was not dead, but died in Tianning Temple, which made him feel very complicated.

He couldn't tell what kind of feeling he had towards his master who had raised him for more than ten years.

Last year, when I went to Jingzhou City to celebrate the birthday of my master uncle Wan Zhenshan, my master watched himself being framed and thrown into prison. No doubt he felt some resentment in his heart.

However, he was more concerned about his master Qi Changfa, who had raised him for more than ten years, so he never blamed his master.

"Mr. Zhu, how long do you think it will take to transport all these treasures?"

After Di Yun left, Chu Yuan asked Zhu Junwang as he saw him walking out of the hall.

"The amount of Emperor Liang Yuan's treasures is huge. The three-meter-tall golden Buddha alone weighs at least tens of thousands of kilograms. If we want to transport it, we can only cut it into pieces. We also need to find an accountant to count its value. If we want to transport it all, it will take at least half a month."

Zhu Junwang responded.

"Hurry up. There are so many of us gathered here. Tianning Temple is not far from Jingzhou City. If we are discovered by the people around us, it will probably attract the attention of the government."

Chu Yuan thought about it and said.

The key point is that the Jingzhou prefect Ling Tui Si has a grudge against them!

Once they find out that the treasure of Emperor Yuan of Liang, which he has been trying every means to find, is in Tianning Temple, they will probably send troops to encircle and suppress it.

But Chu Yuan is not afraid.

At worst, he could go to Jingzhou City again and take off Ling Tui Si's head.

However, unless it was necessary, Chu Yuan did not want to be charged with killing an official.

Zhu Junwang felt that what Chu Yuan said made sense, and he said, "Don't worry, Young Master Chu, I will have these guards and laborers be careful to avoid being discovered by the people around, and count and transport these treasures as soon as possible."

Chu Yuan nodded!

……

Three days passed.

The three-meter-tall Buddha statue in the main hall of Tianning Temple had been cut into gold nuggets of varying sizes by Zhu Junwang's men using tools.

In fact, after knocking off the outer layer of clay of this Buddha statue, the real gold inside is not three meters, but probably only more than two meters.

However, this alone is amazing enough.

"Young Master Chu, Master Ding, Young Master Di, the exact weight of this golden Buddha has been counted."

That day, Zhu Junwang invited Chu Yuan and others to the main hall, and he said to Chu Yuan.

"How many are there in total?"

Chu Yuan asked.

As they were talking, Chu Yuan and the others were looking at the center of the Tianning Temple's main hall, where the Buddha statue had originally been. The statue had now disappeared, and the space was occupied by piled-up wooden boxes like a small mountain.

There were probably over a hundred of these wooden boxes, and most of them were filled with gold bars cut from golden Buddhas. Only a few boxes contained jewelry and jade.

"There are ninety-seven wooden boxes filled with gold here, with a total weight of twenty-four thousand five hundred and seventy-three catties, or two hundred and forty-five thousand seven hundred and thirty taels of gold. There are five boxes of jewels and jade in total. Compared to gold, these jewels and jade are very valuable, including agate, turquoise, cat's eye, Hetian jade, etc. Since Prime Minister Zhang's reform, the exchange rate of gold and silver in the Ming Dynasty has slightly varied from place to place, but it has improved overall. Most areas have maintained a ratio of one to seven, so we will use the ratio of one to seven. The value of these gold is about one million seven hundred and twenty thousand taels of silver."

"In addition, there are also jewels and jades. After I asked someone to appraise them, the value is 515,000 taels of silver."

"Total is two million, two hundred and thirty-five thousand taels of silver."

Zhu Junwang told Chu Yuan the value of this treasure.

After hearing this, Chu Yuan felt that the treasure of "Liancheng Jue" was indeed valuable, as it was as much as two million taels.

But not as many as he had imagined.

The Ming Dynasty's annual tax revenue was estimated to be tens of millions of taels.

Rumor has it that it is the treasure of Emperor Yuan of Liang, priceless and rich enough to rival a country.

Now it seems that it was just an exaggeration.

To put it bluntly, Emperor Yuan of Liang was just an emperor during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. How much wealth could his treasures accumulate?

And as far as Chu Yuan knew, Emperor Yuan of Liang didn't serve as emperor for long at all, as he was killed when the city was breached.

Chu Yuan was satisfied with just over two million taels of silver, and it was worth his trip to Jingzhou Prefecture.

Even if he, Ding Dian and Di Yun divided it equally, they would still get hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

For Chu Yuan, there is no difference between hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and millions of taels of silver.

Anyway, as long as you have enough money to spend, it's enough.

"More than two million taels of silver. This treasure of "Liancheng Jue" is so precious. Before, my master and I went to the market to sell a cow for only a dozen taels of silver."

After hearing this, Di Yun couldn't help but be amazed.

He had never seen so much money and silver in his life!
"That's right. With so much money, even if it's a big family, it would take ten lifetimes for the whole family to spend it all."

Ding Dian also exclaimed.

Although he came from a martial arts family, his family was not very wealthy and had at most a few thousand taels of silver in savings.

More than two million taels of silver was a sum he had never heard of.

"These five boxes of jewels and jade are so valuable?"

Chu Yuan's focus is here.

Although these jewels and jades were valued at only more than 500,000 taels of silver by Zhu Junwang, there were only five boxes of them.

There were nearly a hundred boxes filled with gold bars.

From this perspective, jewelry and jade are more precious and valuable than gold.

"To be honest with you, Young Master Chu, these jewels and jades are the favorite things of the rich and powerful. If they come across something they like, it is not impossible for their families to buy it even if they spend ten times the original price."

"And these jewels and jades in front of us may be the treasures of Emperor Liang Yuan. Their quality is better than most jewels and jades in the folk, so they are very valuable."

"I have tried my best to raise the valuation for Young Master Chu. Even so, I still have a huge profit margin."

Zhu Junwang explained with a smile.

"I see."

Chu Yuan nodded.

He also didn't think Zhu Junwang was a bad person.

He is a businessman who wants to make money. The fact that he told me this shows that he is very kind.

"Would you three like to check the quantity?"

Zhu Junwang asked Chu Yuan, Ding Dian and Di Yun.

Chu Yuan looked at Ding Dian and Di Yun, asking for their opinions.

Seeing the two men shaking their heads, Chu Yuan said, "Forget about the inspection, Mr. Zhu. We will value these treasures according to your estimate. You can take 10% as a reward for your help, and the rest can be exchanged for silver bills that can be exchanged in major banks in the Ming Dynasty."

During these three days they would come to check from time to time to prevent anyone from smuggling the items.

However, it was not known whether it was because the hush money given by Chu Yuan worked, or because these people were the confidants of the big businessman Zhu Junwang, Chu Yuan, Ding Dian, and Di Yun did not notice that they were smuggling any property.

"The three young men are so generous. That's settled then."

Zhu Junwang laughed.

He didn't expect that just by doing a favor for an old friend, he would make a lot of money.

More than two million taels of silver, if you give him 10%, that would be more than 200,000 taels of silver.

This is more money than he could earn in several years by running his own business.

"Sir, do you have a detailed plan for transporting these treasures?"

Chu Yuan asked Zhu Junwang again.

This is a treasure worth more than two million taels of silver. There can be no room for error. If it is intercepted by others, it will be a huge loss.

"Of course I have. I don't plan to transport these treasures to Jingzhou City. The prefect of Jingzhou has a personal grudge against you and is searching for you. If we are caught by the government, things will become complicated."

"I plan to transport these treasures to several large cities around Jingzhou Prefecture. I have businesses in these cities. Once they are in my business, there will be no problem."

Zhu Junwang said to Chu Yuan.

"Since Mr. Zhu has a plan, let's do as Mr. Zhu says."

Chu Yuan nodded.

He also did not agree to transport it to Jingzhou City.

Anyway, the Yangtze River is not far from Jingzhou City, so both land and water transportation are very convenient here.

He believed that with Zhu Junwang's ability, he would be able to transport these treasures out.

"Chu boy, I didn't expect you to find a treasure worth more than two million taels of silver in just one trip. It seems that if the bastard and I don't have enough money in the future, we will have to ask you for help."

Seeing his good friend Zhu Junwang leave to direct his men to move the gold bars and jade jewelry away, Xie Yanke teased Chu Yuan.

Even he had never seen so much money.

Fortunately, he is not greedy for money.

Otherwise, he didn't know whether he would be tempted by more than two million taels of silver.

But if he was a greedy person, I'm afraid Chu Yuan would not ask him for help.

"We have already discussed that after we find the treasure, the money will be divided equally among the three of us. Mr. Xie has helped us a lot. If you need anything, of course you can always contact me."

Chu Yuan smiled.

"You kid..."

Xie Yanke looked at Chu Yuan with mixed emotions.

He wanted to say that this was more than two million taels of silver. Didn’t Chu Yuan ever think of keeping it all for himself?

But seeing Ding Dian and Di Yun right beside him, he took back the words he had not yet said.

In any case, he admired Chu Yuan very much.

Chu Yuan was very young, but at the age of fifteen he had accomplished so many things that ordinary people could not do. He was also able to stick to his nature and was willing to share the more than two million taels of silver he had obtained with the other two people.

He felt that Chu Yuan would achieve extraordinary success in the future.

"Okay, now that I have done what you asked me to do, I am going back to Motian Cliff."

Then Xie Yanke said goodbye.

He was a quiet person to begin with. If Zhu Junwang had not been his good friend introduced by him, he would have left long ago because he was afraid that without him as a middleman, there would be a gap between Zhu Junwang and Chu Yuan.

Seeing that the cooperation between Chu Yuan and Zhu Junwang was getting on track, he began to think about leaving.

"Mr. Xie, why are you in such a hurry to leave? As the saying goes, help others to the end, and send the Buddha to the west. How about doing me a favor?"

Seeing that Xie Yanke wanted to leave, Chu Yuan immediately said to Xie Yanke.

"What's the deal?"

Xie Yanke frowned.

"Escort Mr. Zhu and his men along the way and transport these treasures safely."

Chu Yuan said.

"My good friend is very capable. Since you have handed this matter over to him, you can rest assured that nothing will go wrong."

Xie Yanke saw Chu Yuan's worry and said to Chu Yuan.

Chu Yuan insisted: "It's better to be careful."

Seeing Xie Yanke's reluctant expression, Chu Yuan said, "How about this be Xuantie Ling's second request?"

Xie Yanke took Chu Yuan's words seriously after hearing this: "Are you sure? You've already asked me to do one thing, but now there are only two things left."

Chu Yuan nodded and said, "OK."

Seeing Chu Yuan insisting, Xie Yanke asked, “Are you being too cautious?”

Chu Yuan said: "This is cautious, not careful."

Seeing that Chu Yuan was still insisting, Xie Yanke looked at Chu Yuan's expression and said, "Chu boy, do you have any news?"

Chu Yuan shook his head and said, "Just be cautious."

In Chu Yuan's opinion, the reason why Xie Yanke was asked to do the second thing was just a matter of caution.

With so many people here and so many gossips, it is inevitable that there will be people with ulterior motives who will spread the news.

With Xie Yanke's help, many troubles can be solved.

In Chu Yuan's opinion, it is better to plan ahead and be prepared than to be at a loss and try to make up for it after something happens.

Xie Yanke said helplessly: "Okay, since you said so, I will help you again."

He complained again: "I am a great monk, but I have become your errand boy."

Chu Yuan looked at Xie Yanke who kept complaining and winked at Ding Dian next to him.

These days, he discovered that Ding Dian's cooking skills were actually quite good.

Ding Dian understood and turned to the monk's house where the stove was set up. He fried two side dishes and brought a jar of glutinous rice wine for Xie Yanke, which they had bought in Jingzhou City earlier.

"That's pretty much it."

Xie Yanke was satisfied now, and said as he ate and drank.

……

After a period of time, the treasures in Tianning Temple were gradually taken away by Zhu Junwang and his men.

Xie Yanke also followed him around, busying around, leaving early and returning late.

Soon, half a month passed.

The treasures in Tianning Temple were also taken away completely.

Most of the guards and laborers brought by Zhu Junwang have already left.

Tianning Temple, which had been bustling for a long time, became deserted again.

"Brother Ding, what do you think about what I told you before?"

Seeing that the treasure of "Liancheng Jue" had been found and everyone was about to leave Tianning Temple, Chu Yuan asked Ding Dian again in the courtyard of Tianning Temple that day.

"whats the matter?"

Di Yun said with a surprised look on his face.

"Brother Chu said before that if Shuanghua and I want to live a stable life, we need to have our own power. He also persuaded me to create a gang. If I create a gang, he is willing to join and help me."

Ding Dian repeated what Chu Yuan had said to him before.

In the past two days, Ling Shuanghua's health has become weaker. She just took some medicine and was resting in the monk's house next door.

"Create a gang!"

Di Yun looked somewhat excited when he heard this.

"Brother Ding, Brother Chu, we are brothers. How can I be absent from the creation of a gang? I am willing to join!"

Di Yun said after listening to it.

After listening to this, Chu Yuan couldn't help but shook his head.

Got it!
Seeing Di Yun like this, they didn't need to persuade him at all, he was willing to join.

"If you want to join us, we welcome you."

Ding Dian smiled.

Then he looked at Chu Yuan:
"Brother Chu, I have seriously considered what you said during this period of time, and have discussed it with Shuanghua. Shuanghua and I both think that what you said makes sense, so I am willing to establish a gang."

"But... since you, brother Chu, said before that we should use the treasure of "Liancheng Jue" that each of us got to establish a gang, let's not talk about who helps whom. After the gang is established, the three of us brothers will all be the leaders of this gang."

Chu Yuan agreed: "Okay, then it's settled."

Although he was willing to help Ding Dian, he was not completely selfless.

The main reason was that he was afraid of trouble. Otherwise, with his martial arts skills and now that he had found the treasure of Liancheng Jue and had such a huge amount of money, he could definitely create his own gang for fun.

And if he were to create a gang with Ding Dian and Di Yun, he could just be a hands-off boss.

Di Yun said happily, "From now on, in this gang we set up, Brother Ding will be the first gang leader, Brother Chu will be the second gang leader, and I will be the third gang leader."

Chu Yuan asked, "Brother Ding, have you thought of the name of the sect you want to establish?"

Ding Dian thought for a moment and said, "How about calling it the Yunlong Gang?"

(End of this chapter)