As one of the seven highest mountains in Japan, Mount Hiei is the headquarters of the Tendai Sect of Japan. Mount Hiei is bounded to the north and Mount Shiga to the south. Since the Heian Dynasty, Mount Hiei and Mount Koya have been the two major jungles of Japanese Buddhism.

The whole mountain is divided into three pagodas and sixteen streams. There have been many monks coming and going since ancient times. There are more than 3,000 monks in the whole mountain and more than 5,000 monk soldiers.

At its peak, the temple was known as the Three Thousand Squares. It was a comprehensive Taoist temple with equal emphasis on circle, secret, precepts, and Zen, and the Pure Land philosophy was particularly developed.

However, during the Warring States Period, the monks on Mount Hiei were fond of drinking and lasciviousness, and did not abide by the strict rules and precepts of monks.

The monk soldiers even assisted Asakura Yoshikage in resisting Oda Nobunaga, and paid a lot of money to bribe the Tenshin Sect to assassinate Song Xing, which led to the annihilation of the family.

After Nagao Tenkai took off Takeda Shingen's head on Song Xing's order, the coalition forces were defeated. Nobunaga's army began to violently attack Mount Hiei. All nine of Song Xing's slaves were dispatched to help Oda Nobunaga, without any loss. The prepared Mount Hiei Enryaku-ji Temple can only be left to the mercy of others.

The temple's main hall, the Riji Shrine, the Three Kings and Twenty-one Shrines, as well as the Buddha statues, spiritual shrines, monks' quarters, and scriptures within the temple's gate area were all devoured by the blazing tongues of fire and turned into ashes.

Three thousand monks and five thousand monk soldiers suffered heavy casualties under the thousands of fire cannons fired by the Oda army. The river at the foot of Mount Hiei was soaked in blood red.

Oda Nobunaga's act of massacring Buddhist holy places caused a great sensation throughout Japan.

The small and medium-sized princes were all silent when mentioning Oda Nobunaga's name. After Takeda Shingen's death, the power of the Takeda family plummeted and they were no longer able to contain Oda Nobunaga.

Oda Nobunaga's power once again expanded unprecedentedly, unifying one-third of the country centered on Kyoto.

In Japan at this moment, only three powerful feudal lords, including Uesugi, Hojo, and Mori, could stand a fight.

Oda Nobunaga's act of exterminating Buddhism even angered Echigo's Uesugi Kenshin, who publicly reprimanded Oda Nobunaga for saying, "The destruction of Buddhism, the king's law, and the changes of the gods and demons."

But at this moment, Oda Nobunaga's situation was established, and all the lands in the Gyeonggi Province were in his hands. Although Uesugi Kenshin was willing to launch an army, he was also worried about losing, so he contacted the Hojo clan and the Mori clan to prepare for a joint crusade against the Oda regime.

At this moment, Song Xing was entertaining a special guest on the sixth floor of the castle tower.

On the sixth floor of the castle tower, the surrounding railings are carved with tortoises and flying dragons, the outer walls are painted with evil spirits, and the inner walls are painted with images of Sakyamuni and his ten disciples preaching the sermon.

At this moment, Song Xingzheng was sitting opposite a monk who was thin, with a withered face but a kind-faced and kind-hearted monk. There was a calligraphy and painting hanging on the wall behind, which read, "Tea Zen is the only way."

On the small tea seat in front of Song Xing were placed a stove, a tea cauldron, a water bottle, white charcoal and other utensils. The old monk watched Song Xing light a fire and boil water. After the water boiled, he ground the tea into fine powder and placed it in a tea cup. In the middle, brew with boiling water, first pour a small amount of boiling water to make the ointment, then measure the tea and pour into the soup, whisking with the tea while pouring.

The movements are smooth and flowing, pleasing to the eye. When the tea is brewed, Song Xing holds the bowl with his left hand and the five fingers of his right hand holding the edge of the bowl.

He raised the tea bowl and delivered it to the old monk.

The old monk took the tea bowl and couldn't help but admired: "In the Kamakura period of Japan, the tea-ordering culture of the Song Dynasty was introduced to Japan. The tea culture centered on temples and teahouses and spread to all parts of Japan. Nowadays, the inheritance of Japanese Buddhism is chaotic, and there are few I saw such an authentic tea-ordering culture.”

Song Xing said with a smile: "Japan is currently in constant war, and the tea ceremony culture has attracted unprecedented attention. Owari's daimyo Oda Nobunaga was addicted to tea. He collected tea sets everywhere, and this set of Gutian Mingping Spider Cauldron was donated to him. A treasure, the tea is brewed with pure water taken from Zuo Ushii in Kyoto, and it has a unique taste."

The old monk looked at the tea cauldron that looked like a lying spider on the tea seat, nodded and said: "The body of the cauldron is solid and thick, and the body of the cauldron has no unnecessary decorations. The surrounding images of lions, ghost faces, distant mountains, etc. are vivid, and the surface of the cauldron is as rough as granite."

The concave and convex texture is truly rare.”

Song Xing picked up the tea bowl in front of him, took a sip and said, "Master knows tea. Japanese tea ceremony pays attention to peace and respect for tranquility. It is similar to the tea Zen of the Song Dynasty. Master, do you know what it means?"

The old monk looked up at the calligraphy and paintings behind Song Xing, pondered for a moment and said: "There is no hatred or love, and there is no choice. My heart is the Buddha, and the Buddha and I are the same."

Song Xing put down his tea bowl, raised his head and looked at the old monk: "Buddha and I are the same. No wonder the five branches of Zen in those days could not accommodate the Vajra branch, so it could only be passed down from generation to generation."

The old monk is the sixth-generation mermaid monk of the King Kong lineage who was exiled to Japan by Wan Guizang fifteen years ago.

Monk Yu smiled and said nothing, and did not argue with Song Xing. Looking at Song Xing's young appearance, there was still a trace of surprise in his eyes.

"I heard decades ago that the Fire Immortal Jian Ning Bu Kong is a rare talent in the Ministry of Fire. I didn't expect to see him today. I was even more surprised than when I first met Lord Wan City."

In addition to his youthful appearance, Song Xing's majestic demeanor, which was as strong as a mountain, was what surprised Monk Yu the most.

Over the years, he has only felt such momentum from one person.

"I didn't expect that besides City Lord Wan, there is such a great talent as your Excellency in the West City."

Ignoring Monk Yu's polite words, Song Xing asked directly: "After the tea, it's time for Master to tell you why you came to my Tianshou Pavilion."

Monk Yu recited the Buddha's name and said, "The poor monk came here to ask for a favor from the benefactor."

Song Xingyi raised his eyebrows: "Master should be free from worries in Japan. Who deserves your mercy?"

Monk Yu said: "The Owari Lord Oda burned Mount Hiei, destroyed countless Buddhist classics, and killed monks. When the old monk heard this, he was really heartbroken. He came here to ask for your favor, hoping that the Lord Oda could let the Japanese monks live.

.”

Song Xing raised his eyes, and the evil spirit flashed in his eyes: "Did I hear you correctly? Master wants to intercede for those monks on Mount Hiei?"

"If I remember correctly, over the years, Mount Hiei has declared the master an enemy of Buddha. The Koga and Yinga ninjas have been hunting you for the bounty for several years. If you can't kill them, you are considered a great monk. Now you are still going to fight for it.

Are they begging for mercy?"

Faced with Song Xing's slightly sarcastic tone, Monk Yu responded with an expression as usual: "Buddha said, first realize the wonderful mind and practice without cultivation. Then Buddha and everyone will let it go, and then everything will be gone."

Song Xing said indifferently: "Master is kind-hearted, but I am not a Buddhist. Mount Hiei offended me and hired the master's disciples to kill me. Of course, I have to pay a price."

Monk Yu obviously also knew about the death of the Tianshen Sect at the hands of Song Xing. He sighed and said again: "The poor monk's teachings are incompetent. His disciples cannot cause trouble for decades. Now he died in the hands of your Majesty. It is also his cause and effect.

The monks of Mount Hiei have also paid the price for their mistakes, so why don’t Your Majesty and the Lord Oda please be merciful and merciful."

Song Xing smiled and said: "Buddhism allows people to face the world with a tolerant heart and try to treat everything with kindness. How about repaying evil with kindness?"

The fish monk sighed, unable to answer.

How about repaying evil with kindness?

How to repay kindness? Repay evil with straightness and repay kindness with kindness.

This is Song Xing's answer.

If someone slaps me, should I lick my face and go up to him and give him another slap?

With the strength of the Fish Monk Refining God, he swept across Japan without any resistance.

But just because of his good-natured character, he was hunted down by incompetent Japanese monks and ninjas for fifteen years and still never killed.

The only disciple committed evil. He tried to clean up the family, but the Tianshen Sect used his compassionate heart to escape again and again, and then committed even greater evil deeds.
Chapter completed!