Southern Xinjiang, as always, is warm and humid, with lush trees, birds, beasts, snakes and insects, like the cradle of life.

On an inconspicuous green hill in the depths, there is an ancient temple made of bluestones.

Maitreya sat opposite Jizo and studied the Dharma with a sad face, and there was no longer the heartfelt smile on his face.

The big-bellied Buddha and the smiling Buddha, under the merciless blow of the new saint Lin Ze, have completely become the smoke of the past.

Jizo is just the opposite of Maitreya, the sad color that used to hang on his face is gone, and occasionally he has studied the Dharma, and he will show a bright smile, which is very different from the image of the Jizo king who is merciful and compassionate.

To be precise, Lin Ze wasted not the two cultivators, but the two people who broke the avenue, the two people broke the avenue, and the cultivation fell straight from the third realm of heaven and man to the first realm, which was the same as the cultivation that was abolished.

Maitreya Jizo sat down to talk about the Buddha at this moment, not out of love and belief in the Dharma, but because he wanted to awaken the fragmented path through profound Buddhist teachings and restore his cultivation.

After a period of time, although the two of them did not achieve the goal of awakening the Broken Dao, they also stabilized it and did not continue to deteriorate.

Studying the Dharma every morning is a homework that both of them have to complete.

Maitreya Jizo didn't know how long this state would last, but they had no other choice.

"Whew~"

Maitreya woke up from his state of indulging in Buddhism and sighed from the depths of his heart: "I wonder what is the situation of the World-Honored One?"

On the other side, Jizang smiled bitterly: "The World Venerable has not yet recovered the Holy Throne, and the Dao Palace has one door and three saints, how can he be easily let go?" Brother Buddha also saw the situation that day, and the Shizun is afraid that he has been suppressed by the Dao Palace, and he will not be able to turn over in a short time. ”

"And now you and I can't protect ourselves, we can only hide in this uninhabited place to survive, even if we have the heart to save the world, but there is nothing we can do. ”

Maitreya sighed and said, "If the World-Honored One doesn't get out for a day, I'm afraid you and I will have to sink for a day, and I don't know how long it will take to be liberated and return to the realm of the ancient Buddha." ”

Jizo was silent, his face difficult to hide the look of loss.

"Knock Knock"

At this time, there was a knock on the door outside the temple.

Maitreya looked at Jizo with a puzzled look on his face, as if asking, have you informed the others?

Jizo also looked at Maitreya with a puzzled expression, and blurted out: "Brother Buddha has told his disciple that you and I are hiding here?"

Maitreya was stunned for a moment and shook his head: "No, the person outside the door was not notified by you?"

Wrong!

This thought came to their minds at the same time, and then they gently knocked on the floor with a specific frequency, only to see the floor collapse, and both of them fell into the hole at the same time, and then the floor returned to normal.

It turned out that the two had already set up a mechanism in the temple, just to save their lives at a critical moment.

Although the two of them still don't know whether the people outside the temple are friends or foes, the two of them are in extremely poor condition at the moment, and they do not hesitate to choose to use the prepared life-saving means.

Even if the two of them guessed wrong, they were friends and not enemies outside, or just mortals who accidentally broke into this place, even if they did more, it was better than doing nothing and losing their lives carelessly.

After all, Buddhism, as a sect with the same reputation as Taoism and Confucianism, has offended many people openly and secretly for tens of thousands of years.

In the past, Buddhism was at its peak, and he was not worried about being retaliated against, but now that the Buddha has been sealed and suppressed, and Maitreya and Dizang have been hit hard, it is inevitable that no one will move their minds.

If there are celestial beings who privately resent Buddhism outside the door, wouldn't they suffer?

In the cave below the temple, Maitreya Jizo leaned together, looking nervous.

Jizo gently wrote on the palm of Maitreya's hand: "Could it be the Dao Palace?"

Maitreya replied: "If the Dao Palace wants to kill them all, you and I will not be able to leave Chang'an alive that day." ”

Jizo: "Who could that be?"

Maitreya replied: "I don't know, wait and see." ”

Then the knock on the door died down, replaced by the sound of pushing the door in, and the slight footsteps.

The footsteps got closer and closer, and apparently unidentified people came to the main hall of the temple where the Buddha statue was enshrined.

Maitreya Jizo stiffened and remained motionless, for fear of being discovered.

Just as the two of them were secretly speculating about the identity of the visitor, a familiar voice came from their ears: "Can the two Buddha brothers of Maitreya Jizo be nearby?"

Maitreya Jizo looked stunned: "Golden Cicada, why is he?"

In the main hall of the temple, Xuantang wore a moon-white monk's robe, matching his thin figure and handsome appearance, and the demeanor of a monk came naturally.

It's a pity that Xuan Tang has a faint smile on his face, and his overall temperament has been damaged a lot, and he looks a little evil.

Take a look at the monk, take a closer look, the demon monk.

Xuantang, who did not receive a response, had a smile on his face, and said confidently: "The two Buddha brothers don't want to hide, the poor monk has been looking for you for ten days, and before coming here, I already knew that you were hiding here, why did the two Buddha brothers avoid it?"

Repeatedly confirming that it was Xuantang's voice that was correct, Maitreya Jizo suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, it turned out to be a false alarm.

Maitreya subconsciously wanted to open the mechanism and go out, but was grabbed by Jizo.

Maitreya was slightly puzzled: "Since the person who came is a golden cicada and there is no danger, why are you hiding here?"

Jizo said in a low voice: "Brother Buddha, have you ever thought about what if the golden cicada takes refuge in the Dao Palace, and wants to take you and me as a vote in exchange for the trust of the Dao Palace?"

Maitreya said with a smile: "The Buddha brother of the Earth has been worried a lot, the previous world venerable suffered, and the golden cicada did not completely fall to the Dao Palace, how can he take refuge in the Dao Palace now?"

"He's not a fool, isn't he afraid that the World Venerable will come back and settle accounts after the autumn? With the state of the World Venerable at his peak, if he wants to take the life of the golden cicada, even if he has the protection of the saint, he will not escape death. ”

Jizo still felt that something was wrong: "Don't you think that Brother Buddha is too coincidental for him to appear? You and I are hiding here to heal, why did he come here?"

Maitreya smiled casually: "Xu is that he heard the news of Chang'an, and he couldn't believe that Shizun would be defeated, so he came to ask what happened that day." Or maybe he is flustered when he learns of the suffering of the World-Honored One, and urgently needs to seek help from you and me. ”

"There are all kinds of possibilities here, but it is unlikely that they will take refuge in the Dao Palace to harm you and me. After all, he is a Buddhist, can he abandon Buddhism and cultivate the Tao?"

For some reason, Jizo was extremely uneasy and wanted to persuade again: "But ......"

Maitreya interrupted: "It's nothing, you and I are speculating wildly, it's meaningless, it's better to go up to him and ask for an understanding." ”

Just as Maitreya wanted to press the mechanism, a green jade palm was inserted into the ground, grabbing the bodies of the two and pulling them up.

At the same time, Xuan Tang's cheerful voice sounded: "It turned out that I was hiding under the ground and found you." ”

Maitreya Jizo only felt that his eyes lit up, and he had come from the ground to the surface.

Looking at Xuantang with a smile on his face, Maitreya blurted out and asked, "Golden Cicada, why did you find it?"

Xuan Tang sighed and replied, "I finally found you." ”