Chapter 1082 - Stone Statues And Chicken Soup (1/2)

Chapter 1082: Stone Statues And Chicken Soup

Translator: Larbre Studio  Editor: Larbre Studio

Back then, Ning Que and Sangsang were besieged by the world of cultivation. They went through the Buddha's chessboard to the West Wilderness, then to the Lanke Temple in the autumn rain, and suffered the wrath of the Academy. Jun Mo's iron sword slashed the largest Buddha statue at the peak of Wa Mountain into pieces. The pieces of stones rolled down from the peak of mountain to the valley, milling over half of the old temple.

Fortunately, those huge rolling rocks did not cause a devastating disaster to the town. After being washed over daily by the sea rain and sea wind, it was covered by layers of moss and thus formed a picturesque scenery. With the end of Ghost Festival, the number of visitors to Lanke Temple fell drastically, and this had become the only way to attract tourists.

The current residents' livelihood mainly depended on the stones from the Buddha statue. They broke the huge stones into pieces, then carved into statues and sold them to the tourists. Of course, it was very hard to break the stones. Even with the heaviest iron hammer and the sharpest iron blades, it could not be done easily by the residents. Most commonly, they tempered the stones with fire and water.

The fire came from the wildfire from the hays in the rural field, and the water was the seawater from the Wa Mountain. The quarry at the Southeast of the town was surrounded with smoke that hurt the eyes from morning until night, while vapour continued to steam. As the red hot rocks were suddenly cooled by the cold seawater, sizzles could be heard continuously. At some point, the hard rocks would clearly show some cracks, meaning it was the time to break it.

Ning Que stood at the hillside of the quarry, observing the process of residents breaking the rocks quietly for a long time. He observed how fire worked with water, how the rocks layered with moss cracked. He found out that when the cracks appear, it usually follows a pattern where two slanted cracks will meet somewhere.

The joining of the two cracks looked like a word. He remembered the sword mark on the stones at the bottom of Daming Lake deep into Tianqi Mountain. In those years, Youngest Uncle used the sword to carve many words outside of the Front Gate of Devil's Doctrine, turning the barrier array left by Devil's Doctrine founder, Great Divine Priest of Light into rubbish there.

The rocks were broken into smaller stones, then cracked with iron by the adults as the little children rushed to front and picked up stones they could carry. They carefully selected the stones, arranging the stones by size and appearance, then only the stones were delivered to the stoneman.

Of course, the craftsmen in town were half a monk, just like how Ning Que was half way into his cultivation before engaging in Buddha Dharma. As they carved day and night, they had mastered the art of carving. Within a dozen days, they could carve the small stones into intricate Buddha statue.

Ning Que looked at the stones, and observed the craftsmen at work. After three days, he started to learn how to carve a statue. After a short while, he became the best craftsman in Wa Mountain. During his last few years in Buddha's chessboard, he carved a Buddha from a mountain, so what were mere stones to him?

But the way he used was different with the other craftsman, they had praised him and also gave him some opinions many times, but he just smiled and went on his own way.

Ning Que's Buddha statues not only did not have wide forehead with big ears, but also lacked compa.s.sion. In fact, he carved a slightly chubby woman with hair on her temples, and an indifferent expression was clearly shown on her face.

One day, when it was raining in Lanke Temple. Ning Que was carving a stone outside the temple. Suddenly, a soft voice came from behind, “Did she lose weight?”

“Yeah, in the Chaoyang City of Buddha chessboard.”

Ning Que put aside the statue beside the rest, about a dozen, and put down the carving knife. Then, he swept away the dust on his body and stood up.

“After a thousand years, she only lost this little? Seems like Haotian is not omnipotent,” the person remarked.

Ning Que smiled, turned around and hugged him. “I thought you liked her? Why are you chiding her now? You shouldn't do that, since you're the leader of the New Stream now.”

Chen Pipi teased him with a grin, “Do you like her new ident.i.ty or the she before?”

Ning Que thought twice and found that the answer to this question was absolutely obvious, and smiled reluctantly. He looked at Tang Xiaotang beside him and found that

Tang Xiaotang was still in her ponytail. He asked, “Not married yet?”

Tang Xiaotang was not shy at all and answered calmly, “Waiting for my Elder Brother.”

Chen Pipi sighed. “I do not expect father to allow it.”

Ning Que looked at him again and his sight fell on the loose green robe, he could hardly remember that he encountered the abbey dean in green robes twice in Chang'an City. He noticed that Pipi looked like the Abbey Dean after the latter slimmed down.

Three of them walked into the pavilion. The autumn rain continued to pour down, acc.u.mulating on the roof and forming a stream that flowed down along the pillars and finally wet the ground.

“Are you done writing?” Chen Pipi said.

Ning Que drew a scroll from his bosom and gave it to Pipi. “It's better for Ye Su or elder brother to write the letter, I am an atheist after all.”

It was something he sketched when he was meditating in Lanke Temple. If it were to pa.s.s, it might be the final and possibly the most crucial part of the New Stream's doctrines.

Chen Pipi accepted the scroll and said, “There's a higher chance of completing it if Elder Brother does it, and would be tougher for me to finish it. But rest a.s.sured, I won't waste your efforts.”

“We don't have much time, have to hurry up,” Ning Que urged.

Chen Pipi opened the scroll, it was all about a new world, Divine Kingdom or the afterlife that frowned his eyebrows. “It is a really awesome drawing,” he commented.

“From the generation of teacher to uncle, and then to us, the Academy had used about a thousand years to prepare. If it's not awesome, it won't be fun,” Ning Que replied.