White Lotus

  "Without a birth mother, the true hometown is empty. The old mother in heaven has tears streaming down her face, and all men and women under heaven have not returned to this day. Without a birth mother, the heavenly palace has two eyes hanging with tears, tears frequently dripping down, wetting through clothes..."

  Lin Xue followed Huang Shiren out of the Land Temple, and from a distance, he heard a group of White Lotus disciples on the street loudly chanting and spreading their teachings. At this time, Lin Xue's face became even more solemn and gloomy, now he could confirm that it was not just Huang Shiren being paranoid, this time's opponent was indeed not an easy one to deal with.

  In the history of the earth, the White Lotus Society is a miscellaneous native Chinese religion, although it appears to be unified in the eyes of outsiders. However, the internal divisions of the White Lotus Society have branched out into countless factions, with two main streams: one worships Amitabha Buddha of the Western Pure Land and the other worships the Unborn Venerable Mother of the True Void World. Other gods, Buddhas, demons, and spirits are relegated to secondary positions.

  In its early stages, the White Lotus Society mainly followed Amitabha Buddha as its main deity, promoting the Pure Land School's method of reciting the Buddha's name before death to achieve rebirth in the Western Paradise after death. As the White Lotus Society developed into its middle and later periods, its followers all flocked to worship the Unborn Venerable Mother.

  Nowadays, in this realm, the Heavenly Court has become a mere decoration. Probably except for old antiques like Huang Shiren, the Earth Gods can hardly remember that they still have such a superior unit above their heads. Correspondingly, Buddhism is not very prosperous either, and it's been a long time since I heard of any Buddha or Bodhisattva descending to the mortal world to spread the Dharma and perform miracles.

  It doesn't matter what reasons the gods and Buddhas had for abandoning this realm, in any case they are unlikely to return. If the gods and Buddhas were really concerned about this world, they wouldn't have chosen to abandon it so easily in the first place.

  In business, there is a saying: "When others discard, I take; when others take, I give."

  From the knowledge imparted by the former Mountain God, Lin Xu analyzed that during his tenure, there were rarely any rumors of White Lotus Sect activities. If things went wrong, this Wú Shēng Lǎo Mǔ (Eternal Life Old Mother) might have come to this realm specifically to compete for disciple resources. Considering the destructive power and wrapping ability of the White Lotus Sect disciples who are deeply entrenched in extreme religious fanaticism, as well as their reputation as professional rebels throughout Earth's history, it is undeniable that the White Lotus Sect poses a far greater threat to the Earth Gods than those great gods and buddhas whose names are only heard but never seen.

  Among the White Lotus Sect disciples who publicly preached and lectured in Jiangjiaji Street, that leading great master was emitting a faint white glow all over his body, looking extremely holy and sublime.

  As the chanting hymns rose and fell in pitch, the onlookers around them seemed to be infected by the intense religious atmosphere, and began unconsciously humming along with the White Lotus tune. Witnessing this scene, Lin Xu's heart secretly cried out that something was amiss.

  Recently, the residents of various counties along the eastern coast have been repeatedly harassed and looted by Viking pirates and Dongyi pirates. To avoid the increasingly severe banditry, they had no choice but to flee westward with their elderly and children. During this period, a large number of refugees fled to Jiangjia Village at the foot of Huoshan Mountain to seek refuge with relatives and friends.

  These refugees have just lost their happy homes, and a bewildered soul has no support. When people are in this spiritual state, they are most easily deceived by external forces. As expected, after a short while, among the crowd watching the sermon, a large area fell to their knees. Many people cried out loud and shouted "Wu Sheng Lao Mu, Zhen Kong Jia Xiang", obviously already moved by the teachings of the White Lotus Sect.

  At this scene, Lao's face turned as black as a pot bottom. Lin Xu turned his head and said to Huang Shiren:

  "These White Lotus Society people are a big nuisance!"

  Upon hearing this, Landlord Huang Shiren nodded in agreement. He stroked his long beard under his chin and said:

  "It's all right, if it were just these people, it wouldn't matter, but what's scary is that old mother who has no children..."

  The two have always been referred to together in the world, with no distinction between high and low. The most important reason is that the divine powers of the top-level earth gods are in no way inferior to those of the heavenly gods.

  It is said that the heavens are vast, the earth is vast, but reason is the greatest. If there is no reason to speak of, then it depends on whose fist is bigger, and those with big fists will not be discriminated against. Those who are incompetent, whether they are heavenly gods or earthly spirits, will still be looked down upon. Just like Hou Tu, the Earth Emperor, who can sit alongside the Jade Emperor as an equal, isn't he also just a earthly spirit? Unless it's some great being like the Pre-Heavenly True Saint or the Post-Heavenly Immortal Saint who suddenly loses their mind and wants to join the ranks of the gods, otherwise, both heavenly gods and earthly spirits are equally weak in the beginning. Who can go further depends on each one's karma and fate.

  After witnessing the White Lotus Society's deception in the bustling streets of Jiangjia Village, Lin Xue immediately advised Huang Shiran to take action against the White Lotus Society upon returning to Tudi Temple.

  After a lengthy and vehement denunciation of the White Lotus Sect's evil influence, Lin Xu spoke with deep sorrow and indignation:

  "When you don't cut off what should be cut off, you will inevitably suffer the consequences. Huang Lao Ge, I advise you to take action immediately while there is still time, for keeping a tiger as a pet will ultimately lead to disaster."

  The Landlord Huang Shiren is not that kind of ruthless and decisive hero who kills with a single blow, after listening to Lin Xu's suggestion to eliminate the disaster, he shook his head repeatedly, saying "Absolutely impossible" these four words.

  By this time, Lin Xu had also calmed down and thought about Huang Shiren's future from his perspective, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

  Lin Xu understood why Huang Shi Ren didn't dare to take action, apart from being afraid of the White Lotus Sect's backstage supporter, the Unborn Venerable Mother, more importantly, it was because he feared the reprisal.

  No three two three, who dares to go up Liangshan? That old mother who claims to be an ancient Buddha actually doesn't even put the Western Three Saints of Buddhism in her eyes. At least she has been active on Earth for so many years without being eliminated by orthodox Buddhism, which shows that this old mother's preaching ability is not bad.

  Amitabha Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva, also known as the Three Saints of the Western Pure Land, are not to be deceived.

  Buddhas and Bodhisattvas also have the wrathful form of Vajra, if there were no thunderous methods to subdue demons, relying solely on the compassionate transformation of demonic heads through Buddhist teachings, would Buddhism be able to flourish? It is precisely because of this that even if the Unborn Venerable Mother was boasting, her audacity is not something that ordinary deities can possess. Once you provoke the Unborn Venerable Mother, the mastermind behind the scenes, let alone descending in true form or splitting into incarnations, even if someone were to casually create an incarnation to come to this realm, the overwhelming power would likely be more than what Lin Xu and Huang Shi Ren, those unrefined mountain spirits and earth gods, could withstand.

  Young and vigorous Lin Xu tends to radical solutions, while the mature and cautious Huang Shiran is inclined towards a conservative style. Neither side can be said to be right or wrong; it's just a difference in approach.

  Since both sides have differing opinions, they naturally cannot take consistent action, so this matter has been delayed.

  The two of them were temporarily speechless, but that didn't mean their potential enemies also needed a break. The White Lotus Sect was originally good at inciting the masses, especially in an environment with many refugees like this one - it was like throwing a bunch of mice into a grain warehouse, they wouldn't be happy if they didn't expand wildly! In just the few days that Huang Shiren and Lin Xu were hesitant, the number of White Lotus disciples with yellow scarves, white scarves, and red scarves on their heads increased several times over on the streets of Jiangjia Village. If you also count the refugees who were drawn in, the actual population controlled by the White Lotus Sect in Jiangjia Village alone had already reached tens of thousands.

  The ancient saying goes well, with a sharp weapon in hand, the mind to kill arises naturally.

  Having such a remarkable strength in sight, it would become increasingly difficult for the White Lotus Sect to continue hiding.

  The imperial, provincial and county governments nowadays only care about collecting taxes and recruiting labor services, and have long since neglected poor villages like Jiangjia Village. As long as they can ensure that the provincial capital and county capital are not lost, no matter how big a mess is stirred up in the lower villages and towns, it's none of the officials' business. Therefore, the White Lotus Society currently faces only one obstacle, which is the spiritual pillar role of the Land Temple for local residents of Jiangjia Village.

  For hundreds of years, the Jiangjia Village Land Temple has been abandoned and rebuilt many times, but local people have become accustomed to the existence of Huang Shiren, the land god. During festivals and holidays, families with a better financial situation would go to the temple to offer incense and pray for protection, and those who had just given birth would also report to the land god as soon as possible. It can be said that the Land Temple is the center of faith for local people in Jiangjia Village, where old things are not removed and new ones cannot come in. If this stumbling block cannot be removed, the attitude of local people towards the White Lotus Sect will never reach a frenzied degree.

  Although most of the White Lotus Sect's disciples were uncultured, they were after all professionals at religious activities and had a strong sensitivity towards faith and followers.

  Soon, among the White Lotus disciples who were propagandizing on the street, there were people openly shouting slogans to destroy the evil temple. Later, a large number of White Lotus followers surged towards the Land Temple.

  Local people who witnessed the scene nearby, although still believing in the efficacy of Tudi Gong, under the premise that their number is far less than that of the White Lotus Sect believers, it is indeed too much to ask these local people to stand out with their lives to defend their faith.

  Those who do not plan for the overall situation are not enough to plan for a corner. Those who do not plan for ten thousand generations are not enough to plan for a moment.

  Advocating for a tough stance against the rise of the White Lotus Sect, Lin Xu had long expected that these heretics would one day make a move on the Land Temple. This wasn't because he had any prophetic abilities, but rather based on historical experience from Earth, where every time the White Lotus Sect gained power they became increasingly brazen, Lin Xu knew they would inevitably do so, and as for when they would make their move, that was an unimportant detail.

  Huang Shiren was the first to bear the brunt, and he had already been thrown into confusion by the sudden change. He frantically spun around on the ground, repeatedly saying:

  "What...what's going on here?"

  Hearing this, Lin Xu smiled confidently and said:

  "In the past few days, I've mobilized over 2,000 dark troops to come here. This land temple also has over a thousand dark troops. As long as you're ruthless enough, it's not too difficult to wipe them out."

  Upon hearing this, Huang Shiren's waxy yellow complexion suddenly turned pale, and he shook his head saying:

  "This is absolutely not allowed, little brother. You don't know. In the spiritual world, there are unwritten rules. Those who dare to use divine power to slaughter countless lives will be punished by heaven at any time. I'm not scaring you, this is true."

  "You can't be serious! Such remarks still exist!"

  Before this, Lin Xu had never considered this issue and was immediately speechless. Huang Shiren would not exaggerate about such things, the White Lotus Sect was about to take action against the Land Temple, and he faced a much greater threat than Lin Xu, since Huang Shiren said so, it must be true.