A Clash of Gods - Chapter 126

Chapter 126 Hierarchical Structures
Some of the monks looked astonished, but most of them were used to it.

Zhenbi stared at Yang Ning and sneered. “Aren’t you making trouble now? You think that you get too little food, so you dared to smash your bowl on the ground. Do you know how the Five Cereal Hall will punish the people who do something like this?”

Yang Ning was stunned for a while and then sighed. “I thought it is a sacred place of Buddhism, but it turns out to be like society.”

“What do you mean by saying that?”

Yang Ning responded coldly, “Isn’t it said that there are many rules in the Temple of Great Light? It turns out that you can say anything randomly and it’s common to play the bully.” He asked, “You said that I smashed this rice bowl?”

Zhenbi replied, “All of us have seen that. According to the rules in the temple, you can’t come to the Five Cereal Hall in the following three days. After three days, you will know how precious so much food is.”

Yang Ning smiled and suddenly walked into the Five Cereal Hall. Zhenbi frowned but saw that Yang Ning walked to that fat monk and raised his foot, kicking the big basin of rice to scatter on the floor without demur. The fat monk turned pale in shock and asked angrily, “What, what do you want to do?”

“What do I want to do?” Yang Ning pointed to the rice on the floor. “Many people can’t have enough food, but you poured a big basin of rice to the floor. You can’t eat within three years according to the rules in the temple, right?”

Zhenbi had come to behind Yang Ning. He stated furiously after seeing that, “How dare you act wildly in the Five Cereal Hall?” He reached out his hand and put it on Yang Ning’s shoulder. Yang Ning didn’t hesitate to grab Zhenbi’s hand. He grunted and bent over, throwing Zhenbi over his head. Then Zhenbi fell on the rice heavily.

In the beginning, Yang Ning had thought that Zhenbi was difficult to cope with, so he didn’t dare to underestimate him but exerted all strength. However, Zhenbi was not as powerful as Yang Ning had imagined. He was thrown to the floor and cried several times.

Six or seven people rushed out of the Five Cereal Hall instantly and helped Zhenbi up in a great bustle. And some people with sticks in their hands surrounded Yang Ning.

The little monk Zhenming came in and expressed in panic, “Everybody, it’s Ning…Ning’s fault. I apologize to you. He is new here…”

At the moment, all the monks who had been patiently standing in lines gathered around.

Zhenbi had rice all over his body in an awkward position. He stared at Yang Ning furiously. “How…dare you cause trouble in the Five Cereal Hall?”

“Zhenbi, you have wasted the rice. You can’t eat within one year at least, right?” Yang Ning sneered. “You are just in charge of the canteen. Some people who don’t know that might think that you are the abbot as you are so domineering.”

Zhenbi roared angrily, “Capture him. Send him to the Commandment Hall…”

Then two monks from the Five Cereal Hall swung the sticks in their hands and tried to hit Yang Ning mercilessly.

Yang Ning twisted and stepped out, avoiding them easily. After only a few steps, he rushed out of the canteen and came to the square outside.

All the monks outside obviously didn’t want to stir up trouble and dodged. The monks in the Five Cereal Hall rushed out and chased him. Zhenming was anxious and followed them while shouting, “Everybody, stop chasing him. He…”

Before Zhenming finished his words, Zhenbi raised his hand and pointed at him, asking harshly, “Did you bring him here?”

“Yes, yes. I brought him…”

Zhenbi stated in a rage, “Zhenming, you purposely brought this guy to make trouble, right? I know that you and your master are not satisfied with the Five Cereal Hall, so you specially brought somebody to find fault today. Zhenming, you can’t get away with it this time. We will send you two to the Commandment Hall and leave you to Master Jingneng.”

At the moment, several monks from the Five Cereal Hall were chasing Yang Ning in the square. It appeared that their marital skills were ordinary. Yang Ning rushed here and there in the crowd, and they couldn’t catch up with him for a moment.

The fat monk chased him and was out of breath after taking several steps. He stopped and suddenly felt that a figure flashed next to him, to see that Yang Ning ran to him. The fat monk reached out his hand to grab him and shouted, “He is here. He is here.”

Yang Ning dodged effortlessly and swayed in front of the fat monk, who screamed and rushed to Yang Ning but saw him flash. The fat monk just felt that his feet slipped and he shouted “ouch” while falling on the ground.

Some of the monks around held back laughter and some intentionally let Yang Ning go but when they dodged, they blocked the monks from the Five Cereal Hall who were chasing.

It had been silent in front of the Five Cereal Hall, but now it was noisy with many people running and shouting.

At this moment, suddenly a cold roar was heard. “All of you, stand still.”

This voice was loud and forceful with much power. It was noisy on the spot, but this roar suppressed all the other voices. Yang Ning was stunned and looked at the voice direction, to see an old monk dressed in a purple and yellow robe standing not far away. He was tall and big, over fifty years old, with black beard dancing on his chin, looking at them coldly.

It went quiet around at once, and the monks from the Five Cereal Hall quickly put down the sticks before kneeling on the ground. Zhenbi hurriedly walked forward and knelt down, greeting respectfully, “Master Jingneng!”

Yang Ning was astonished and thought, “Speak of the devil. These guys shouted that they would send me to the Commandment Hall, and unexpectedly, the head of the Commandment Hall, the monk Jingneng showed up all of a sudden.”

The other monks feared Jingneng apparently and all of them lowered their heads in silence.

Jingneng looked around and asked in a deep voice, “Why are you making noises here?”

Zhenbi answered in a hurry, “Master, a new disciple with hair thinks that the food is not good, so he made trouble here. Please uphold justice, Master.”

Jingneng looked at Yang Ning and ordered, “Come here.”

His momentum was powerful and his voice was cold, with an imposing manner that people could hardly resist. Yang Ning hesitated for a while and then stepped forward. He wanted to cup his hands, but realizing that it was a temple, he put his palms together. “I am Qi Ning. Elder, nice to meet you.”

He didn’t shave his head or have a master, so he couldn’t call Jingneng Master.

Jingneng seemed not to care about the form of address and asked, “You think the food is not good?”

Yang Ning replied, “Elder, the rules in the temple are strict. I wonder if you break the rules when you speak something randomly.”

“What do you mean?”

Yang Ning responded, “You need to ask Zhenbi. He claimed to be in charge of the Five Cereal Hall, but when they gave out food, they didn’t give everybody the same amount. I don’t comment if the food in the Five Cereal Hall is good, but I am not convinced as they are unfair.”

Jingneng asked, “Are you Qi Ning who came to have the wounds cured on the mountain?”

Yang Ning nodded and thought, “It turns out that Jingneng knows me, so he must know that I am the heir of the Marquis of Honor, but I don’t know if he would help me because of my identity.”

“There are rules in the Five Cereal Hall.” Jingneng looked cold. “You are new here but make trouble and break the rules in the temple. You can’t be spared.” Then he continued in a deep voice, “Somebody, take him to the Commandment Hall.”

Two monks instantly came up from behind.

Yang Ning furrowed his brows. “Wait a moment.” Then he asked, “Elder, do you mean that you will punish me?”

“Of course you will be punished as you break the rules in the temple.”

Yang Ning laughed. “Elder, you still don’t know the cause and effect, but you are so arbitrary? Why don’t you ask what the people from the Five Cereal Hall have done?”

Jingneng stated, “I just know that you caused an uproar here. I will investigate the other things later.”

Yang Ning suddenly burst into laughter, which was harsh. Many monks looked shocked and thought that all the monks in the Temple of Great Light didn’t dare to speak loudly in front of Master Jingneng, but this bloke was so bold as to behave recklessly. It appeared that he would be in trouble.

“Why are you laughing?” Jingneng asked in a cold voice.

Yang Ning replied casually, “I thought that since the Temple of Great Light claims to be the number one temple in the world, it must be extraordinary, but now, it looks that a rotten interior beneath a fine exterior.”

Jingneng’s face darkened, and he asked harshly, “What are you talking about?”

Zhenbi expressed, “Master, listen to him. This guy is arrogant and ignorant. We can’t let him ruin the fame of the Temple of Great Light…”

“Stop talking.” Jingneng glared at Zhenbi.

Yang Ning pointed at Zhenbi. “This one in charge of the Five Cereal Hall caters to those in power and appears tough, but weak inside. And the others play the bully. I thought you can uphold justice, but it appears that you can’t make a distinction between right and wrong. All of you are like this. I don’t know why the Temple of Great Light has the qualification to call itself the number one temple in the world.”

After he said that, all people turned pale. Zhenming explained in a hurry, “Ning, it’s not true…”

“Zhenming, you still don’t understand that the people in the Five Cereal Hall are arrogant in front of you because you are simple and young? Didn’t you see how much food they gave to others?” Yang Ning snorted. “You have seen that some people can enter the Five Cereal Hall and bring food with big wooden buckets. Not to mention that their food is much better than yours, they can enter the Five Cereal Hall randomly and don’t need to stand in a line, so can you say that all people are equal in the Temple of Great Light?”

Some people heard that and looked as if they were watching a play, and some of them laughed with sarcasm.

Zhenbi also sneered. “Are you talking about the disciples from the Bright Building?”

“I don’t care where they are from. Since you demand that all people are equal, it should start from the Temple of Great Light.” Yang Ning asked loudly, “Even you don’t follow this principle. Why do you advocate that all people are equal?”

Zhenbi said sarcastically, “You are just in the temple for a few days. Do you qualify to talk about the Buddhist Scripture? Are you jealous of the disciples from the Bright Building? Aha, can you be put on a par with them? You are nothing in their eyes.”

Yang Ning laughed loudly. “As I said, the Temple of Great Light is strictly hierarchical and it’s impossible that all people are equal. Zhenbi, you think that you can’t be put on a par with them, but I don’t think they are special.” He glanced at Zhenbi. “You even look down upon yourself. I don’t know why you have the confidence to swagger before others.”

Jingneng looked at Yang Ning coldly and finally asked, “Do you think that the Temple of Great Light is unfair?”

Yang Ning responded, “In fact, it’s not wrong to have orders, but you can’t cheat others. Since the people in the temple are different with hierarchical structures, you don’t need to advocate that all people are equal. You can’t even be fair while giving food, so it’s unnecessary to talk about other things.” Then he added, “Right, You want to punish me in the Commandment Hall, Elder? I am sorry. I am not a member in the Temple of Great Light, so I don’t need you to teach me.”