641: Chapter 637 “Yu Gong Nine Provinces Map 641: Chapter 637 “Yu Gong Nine Provinces Map Bai Lan said solemnly, setting three rules with Ye Tian, and Ye Tian immediately nodded in agreement.
“Don’t worry, Sister Lan, I am very well-behaved!
I promise you that after we go to the scripture repository at Lingyin Temple, I will only look, not flip through!”
“Alright then!”
Since Ye Tian had already agreed, Bai Lan naturally would not refuse anymore.
So, after work, Bai Lan took Ye Tian to Lingyin Temple in Jiang City!
The Lingyin Temple was located in the deep mountains on the outskirts of Jiang City.
After Ye Tian and Bai Lan got off the bus at the Lingyin Temple station, they started walking up the mountain.
After a while, they finally saw the main gate of the Lingyin Temple.
Although it was an ancient temple with a thousand years of history, Lingyin Temple was not large.
It was much smaller compared to the Shaolin Temple and the Great Compassion Temple.
Outside the temple gate, there was a young novice monk keeping watch.
Seeing Bai Lan, a frequent benefactor, he immediately put his palms together and bowed to her.
“Benefactor!
Please come in!”
The novice monk warmly invited Bai Lan in, and as Ye Tian was her companion, he was naturally allowed to enter as well.
Upon entering, Bai Lan went to the merit box at the storefront, performed a Buddhist salute, and threw in several hundred yuan notes.
After all, as a devout follower of Lingyin Temple, Bai Lan was quite willing to spend money here…
Ye Tian, however, couldn’t be bothered to throw money in.
He simply followed Bai Lan’s steps to the scripture repository of Lingyin Temple.
“Benefactor, you have come again.”
A white-bearded monk politely bowed to Bai Lan.
Judging by the cassock he wore, this monk’s status in Lingyin Temple was probably quite high.
“Abbot, this is my friend who wishes to join me in visiting the scripture repository.”
Bai Lan spoke truthfully, and the abbot of Lingyin Temple did not prevent them from entering.
“To study Buddha’s teachings is indeed good, but be cautious not to touch or damage the precious ancient books!”
The abbot advised, and Bai Lan immediately promised.
“Rest assured, Abbot, both my friend and I are here to simply look around in the scripture repository, and we will not do anything unnecessary.”
Thus, the abbot allowed Bai Lan and Ye Tian to enter the scripture repository.
Although the area of Lingyin Temple was quite small, the scripture repository was not.
It was equivalent to a small museum.
Inside the scripture repository, all that was collected were books, and all of them were of ancient origin.
Each book had already turned yellow, resting on the shelves, untouched by anyone, because if someone did indeed touch them, the books would likely be damaged beyond repair.
Ye Tian was a man who kept his promises.
Since he had assured Bai Lan he would not touch anything, he naturally refrained from doing so…
“Sister Lan, do you know why there are so many ancient books here?
These books date back to quite ancient times!”
Ye Tian asked curiously.
The scripture repository’s collection was rich and ancient, with not only paper-made books but also bamboo slips.
“I don’t know either, but I heard the abbot say that over a thousand years ago, a major event occurred in Jiang City, and that’s why Lingyin Temple was built!”
“A major event?
Over a thousand years ago?”
Bai Lan’s words immediately made Ye Tian sigh in wonder.
“Sister Lan, did the abbot tell you what major event happened in Jiang City over a thousand years ago?”
“I have no idea,” Bai Lan shook her head, “I also asked the abbot what the major event was, but he didn’t know either.
He only mentioned that successive abbots of Lingyin Temple have passed down only the eight words ‘The universe changes, the seas turn to mulberry fields’.”
“The universe changes, the seas turn to mulberry fields?”
Ye Tian was even more puzzled, subconsciously wondering if over a thousand years ago, a major earthquake had occurred in Jiang City, causing numerous deaths, and perhaps Lingyin Temple was built to calm the spirits of those who had died?
Of course, no matter how much Ye Tian speculated, he couldn’t guess the answer.
Since they had come to the scripture repository, Ye Tian’s task was to find some useful clues within it!
“Sister Lan, I’m going to have a look around here.
You don’t need to mind me!”
Saying this, Ye Tian began to stroll around the scripture repository, and while doing so, he started to use his clairvoyant ability.
In this scripture repository, because the ancient books were too frail, others were not allowed to peruse them, thus ordinary people could not know the contents of these books.
But Ye Tian was different.
With his clairvoyant ability, he didn’t need to flip through them to know what was written inside the books.
In the scripture repository, most of the books were Buddhist scriptures, which Ye Tian was not interested in.
He was here to search for ancient maps and illustrations.
After searching the scripture repository for quite some time, Ye Tian finally found the book he was looking for in a corner.
——”Yu Gong’s Map of the Nine Provinces”!!
“The Tribute of Yu to the Nine Provinces” is said to have been composed by the people of the Zhou dynasty, and the one Ye Tian found was not made of bamboo slips but a book made of paper, so this “Tribute of Yu to the Nine Provinces” must have been transcribed by later generations.
Even so, the reference value of this ancient text was incredibly high for Ye Tian!
Ye Tian concentrated intensely, examining the “Tribute of Yu to the Nine Provinces” with his clairvoyant ability.
The “Tribute of Yu to the Nine Provinces” was indeed one of the most famous geographical texts of ancient times, not only comprehensive in its records but the maps it contained were also vividly detailed.
Compared to modern maps, they were hardly inferior.
“Ye Tian, what’s wrong?”
Seeing Ye Tian suddenly freeze, Bai Lan couldn’t help but ask worriedly, but Ye Tian just waved his hand, signaling to Bai Lan not to fuss over him.
Reluctantly, Bai Lan dared not disturb him any further and backed off to the side to watch silently, naturally unaware of Ye Tian’s clairvoyant ability!
Ye Tian scrutinized the maps in the “Tribute of Yu to the Nine Provinces” bit by bit, then compared them with the map he had obtained from the ancient tomb, gradually analyzing to determine exactly where the map from the tomb depicted.
After a long while, Ye Tian finally found a similar map, in which the mountains, rivers, plains, and hills were almost identical to those on the map from the ancient tomb!
On the map, the location was labeled with small seal characters—it was called “Longzhou”!
Longzhou?
Ye Tian found this name somewhat unfamiliar—there was no place called Longzhou among the Nine Provinces, and he had never heard of such a name in ancient geographical place names.
In an effort to investigate thoroughly, Ye Tian had almost finished reading the entire “Tribute of Yu to the Nine Provinces”, but since it was an ancient cartographic text, some connections were lost, leaving Ye Tian clueless about the exact location of the so-called “Longzhou”…
“Let’s go, Sister Lan.”
Having looked through the entire “Tribute of Yu to the Nine Provinces”, Ye Tian found no more interest in staying in the scripture repository and decided to leave.
More importantly, using his clairvoyant ability was very draining, and after reading an entire book with his power, he felt dizzy and overwhelmed.
“Hmm!”
Since Ye Tian wished to leave, Bai Lan followed his wishes.
After all, they had stayed in the scripture repository for so long without much fun.
Moreover, it was getting late, and this was the outskirts of Jiang City.
After leaving Lingyin Temple, they still had to return to the urban area, and there was work to do tomorrow!
Ye Tian and Bai Lan left the scripture repository side by side, but just as they came out, they heard the alarm bell ringing in the temple!
“What’s happening?”
The two were astonished and immediately hurried toward the temple gate.
Upon reaching the entrance of Lingyin Temple, they saw a thin middle-aged man standing in front of the few monks who had gathered there.
Ye Tian was slightly startled because he had seen this thin man, Huang Bo before and had even clashed with him!
This Huang Bo, who called Sima Hong “Young Master Hong”, seemed to be some sort of steward for the Sima Family…
Although Ye Tian was far superior in skill to Huang Bo, Huang Bo still carried many clues on him, so Ye Tian didn’t immediately reveal himself and hid to the side along with Bai Lan.
Seeing Ye Tian hiding, Bai Lan had no choice but to obediently hide with him…
Outside the gate of Lingyin Temple, the monks had surrounded Huang Bo, holding wooden sticks in their hands, pointing them at Huang Bo like spearheads.
Despite the situation, Huang Bo’s face showed not the slightest hint of fear, and he just let out a cold laugh.
“Abbot, why bother?
I just wanted to have a look in the scripture repository and browse through a few ancient texts!” Huang Bo arrogantly told the abbot of Lingyin Temple, who then mildly brought his hands together in prayer.
“Amitabha, benefactor, such actions are absolutely forbidden!
The scriptures in the repository are priceless treasures nearing destruction, hence anyone who enters the scripture repository is not permitted to flip through them.
If these ancient texts were to be damaged, this humble monk could not bear the responsibility,” replied the abbot.
“Humph!”
A look of disdain appeared on Huang Bo’s face.
“Books are meant to be read.
What’s the use of a book that can’t be opened?
You, old monk, are so unreasonable.
I just wanted to look at a few books in the scripture repository, yet you turn up your nose at me!
Do you know, once the time of the thousand-year prophecy arrives, the entire Jiang City will turn to dust, not to mention a few decrepit scriptures in Lingyin Temple?”
“The thousand-year prophecy?”
Ye Tian felt as if his head had been struck by something, suddenly finding it hard to digest this information.
What was the thousand-year prophecy, and what did it foretell?
Next to him, Bai Lan was just as confused, wondering if she had wandered onto the wrong movie set.
Was this some kind of martial arts film location?
But when Huang Bo mentioned “the thousand-year prophecy”, the abbot of Lingyin Temple remained unfazed.
The abbot said slowly, “Benefactor, even if the thousand-year prophecy comes to pass and Lingyin Temple is destroyed, this humble monk would accompany it to its end, but the scriptures in the repository still cannot be perused!”
“Obstinate!”
Huang Bo cursed vehemently, unable to hold back any longer.
“Old monk, I am here on a mission.
I must find the book I seek today.
If you continue to be so unappreciative, don’t blame me for being impolite!”
With that, Huang Bo swung his claws, lunging at one of the monks.