Otherworld Merit Upgrade System

Chapter 361 Two Sects of Buddhism

Chapter 361 Two Schools of Buddhism

"Pah, what a piece of trash!" The man couldn't help but mutter after Lin Fei had walked away. "Hmph, you'll only realize how good I am after you've suffered in this quicksand market! I've seen plenty of rich young masters who are all talk and no action. Did you really think this quicksand market was so easy to navigate?"

The Shifting Sands is certainly not an easy place to live. Every year, probably at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, people die in the desert. What this desert has in abundance, besides yellow sand, are the countless bones buried beneath the rolling sand.

Of course, the danger of the Flowing Sands only applies to ordinary people who come to the desert to search for treasure. With Lin Fei's cultivation level, let alone this vast desert, even dragon's dens and tiger's lair could be traversed freely by him. He truly didn't take the Flowing Sands seriously.

……

After dealing with the local constable, Lin Fei found a decent inn in Liusha and settled in.

Of course, this is good, but only compared to other inns in the Liusha area. Compared to Zuiyunju in the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty, it's like a small outhouse.

Most people who come to this place are risking their lives to make a living, not knowing when they will be buried under the yellow sand. So they are not picky about food and lodging.

Even in this area of ​​quicksand, many inns don't even have individual rooms, and many guests are crammed onto a large communal bed.

Lin Fei naturally didn't want to sleep with others, so he found a fairly high-class inn. The price was also quite high, costing fifty taels of silver per night, which was considered expensive in the secular world.

After settling into the inn, Lin Fei ate something casually and then lay down on the bed to rest.

After traveling continuously for half a month, covering tens of thousands of miles, even someone with Lin Fei's cultivation level felt somewhat tired. He fell asleep shortly after lying down on the bed.

Of course, someone with Lin Fei's cultivation level wouldn't sleep as soundly as an ordinary person, even when asleep. He would still retain some awareness and would immediately wake up at the slightest disturbance.

Just as night fell, Lin Fei was awakened by a commotion outside the inn.

……

Lin Fei opened his eyes, sat up in bed, and frowned slightly.

In his divine sense, he sensed a group of monks outside the inn, and the innkeeper was asking the guests to leave each room, seemingly to make room for the monks.

Although the inn was expensive, it was considered one of the better places to stay in this desert area, so there were quite a few people willing to spend the money. But now, all the guests had been asked to leave by the innkeeper, and they didn't even dare to say a word.

Lin Fei couldn't help but wonder—what were the identities of those monks outside? After all, anyone daring to come to this Flowing Sand Village either had a powerful background or exceptional skills. After all, one only has one life, and even the most desperate criminals wouldn't want to throw their lives away in vain.

But now, the guests who stayed at the inn didn't dare to utter a sound and slunk away, which shows that those monks outside must be someone of great importance.

Just then, there was a knock on Lin Fei's door, and the innkeeper's voice came from outside: "Sir, I have something to ask you."

"Come in!" Lin Fei replied directly.

The innkeeper pushed open the door and entered, rubbing his hands apologetically: "Sir, I'm sorry, my inn has been booked out, and I'll have to trouble you to move out. As for the money for the stay, I'll refund it to you in full."

Lin Fei frowned and asked, "Who are those monks outside? Why are they acting so domineeringly?"

"Those masters outside..." The innkeeper was only halfway through his sentence when he suddenly realized that Lin Fei, lying in the room, knew that monks had come outside. He was probably a martial arts expert with some skill. So he lowered his voice and said, "Sir, don't do anything foolish just because you have some cultivation. Those masters outside are from the Vajra Heavenly Wheel Temple. You can't afford to offend them. I'll return your money to you. You should find another place to stay. Don't mess with those people, or you'll be in big trouble!"

So they were monks from the Vajra Heavenly Wheel Temple. No wonder they were so arrogant!

Vajra Heavenly Wheel Temple is one of the three major schools of Buddhism.

These three schools of Buddhism are Leiyin Huasheng Temple (Exoteric Buddhism), Vajra Tianlun Temple (Esoteric Buddhism), and Bodhi Fangcun Temple (Mind Buddhism).

Of the three major schools of Buddhism, only Leiyin Temple is located in the Central Plains; the other two are situated in the deserts of the Western Regions.

To the outside world, they would say that the Western Regions were the birthplace of Buddhism, and that one could better explore the true meaning of Buddhism there. In reality, it was simply because Leiyin Temple always considered itself the orthodox Buddhist sect and could not tolerate other Buddhist sects spreading different doctrines on its territory.

As the saying goes, there are no two Buddhas, and no two dharmas; this is exactly the case.

Although Vajra Heavenly Wheel Temple is also one of the three major Buddhist sects, it is still far inferior to Thunderclap Temple. Left with no other choice, it could only establish itself in the Western Desert, hoping that Thunderclap Temple would turn a blind eye to its problems.

After all, although the Western Regions are the birthplace of Buddhism and the location of ancient Buddhist holy sites, even the ancient Buddhist sects have disappeared for countless years, and the Western Regions desert is barren with scarce cultivation resources.

Lin Fei took the silver from the shopkeeper and sneered, "A bunch of monks who don't care about cultivation but do this kind of bullying, no wonder they're suppressed by Leiyin Temple and can't even leave the Western Regions!"

Although Lin Fei, a monk from Leiyin Temple, didn't have much affection for them either, those senior monks at least maintained a proper facade and, relying on their status as high-ranking monks, would never do such a disgraceful thing as oppressing ordinary people. Compared to them, the monks from Jingang Tianlun Temple were far inferior.

"Sir, you mustn't speak recklessly. If those masters hear you, not only will you be in trouble, but our shop will be in big trouble too!" the innkeeper hurriedly said, lowering his voice considerably. "Actually, there are quite a few eminent monks in the Vajra Heavenly Wheel Temple. But in a large forest, there are all sorts of birds. In this Western Region, apart from the Iron Blood Banner Sect, no one dares to oppose the two major Buddhist sects. Sir, please be more tolerant and don't argue with them."

It seems that these monks outside are among the most shameless even inside the Vajra Heavenly Wheel Temple, and the innkeeper dares not speak out against them.

Lin Fei is the kind of person who's stubborn and won't budge even when led away. If the other party really has any difficulties, he wouldn't mind giving up the room, since he's only resting for one night and the room isn't anything indispensable to him.

However, when someone tried to bully others by forcing them out of the room, Lin Fei didn't have such a good temper.

Let alone ordinary monks from the Vajra Heavenly Wheel Temple, even the abbot of the Vajra Heavenly Wheel Temple probably wouldn't have enough influence to kick Lin Fei out of the room!