The Dragon Girl's Plea

Chapter 226 The Dragon Girl's Plea

The Chengdu Water Festival is an opportunity for the Dragon Clan, and the Dragon Clan naturally makes arrangements in accordance with the rules.

However, Ao Guang did not expect Ao Peng to arrive, so he invited two other masters of painting to paint dragons.

One of them was Kong Chan, a painter-monk from Baima Temple. Legend has it that decades ago, Emperor Ming of Han heard that there were gods in the West, so he ordered a physician to go and seek their teachings. When he passed the edge of Jambudvipa, before he had even crossed the Five Elements Mountain, he encountered two bodhisattvas who came from the West.

The Bodhisattvas were practicing in Xiniu Hezhou when they heard that Emperor Ming of Han was fond of Buddhism. However, it was not yet the time for Mahayana Buddhism to be spread. So the two Bodhisattvas transformed into high monks and "accidentally" met two envoys in the Great Yue Kingdom. They carried a scroll of the Hinayana Buddhist scripture "Forty-Two Chapters Sutra" and several Buddha statues on a white horse and returned to the Central Plains with the two Han envoys.

The two bodhisattvas built a White Horse Temple in Luoyang, and preached Buddhist teachings and translated Buddhist scriptures there.

At this time, Buddhism had just entered China, but because the two Bodhisattvas were learned and had unparalleled insight, a wave of Buddhist study arose in Luoyang.

Amidst this trend, Kongchan became a disciple of the two Bodhisattvas. Unlike the other disciples who practiced Buddhism day and night, Kongchan was particularly interested in the Buddhist statues and paintings that the two Bodhisattvas brought from the West.

However, there were only a few Buddha statues and a dozen or so Buddhist paintings, which could not satisfy Kong Chan's curiosity. So, through the oral instructions of two bodhisattvas, he painted a vast array of Buddhas of Bliss at Baima Temple. Now, eight or nine out of ten of the Buddha murals in Baima Temple are the work of Kong Chan and his disciples. As a result, he became a highly popular painter at that time and was invited by Ao Guang.

The other painter was Zheng Ziming, a top painter from the Huangmen Bureau.

Erlang Xiansheng Zhenjun was a righteous god of the Han Dynasty, and all his sacrificial activities had to be reported to the central court. The Water-Opening Festival, which took place once every sixty years, was of great significance. Moreover, when Zhenjun expanded the main hall, the Han emperor needed to send an angel down to check whether it conformed to the rites. Therefore, Ao Guang invited the court painter Zheng Zimo to come with the angel.

Two top-notch painters arrived more than ten days ago and began to paint dragons in gold on the pillars of the newly built Zhenjun Hall. Even for top-notch painters, this is not an easy task, because they not only have to paint the dragons realistically, but more importantly, they have to make their paintings match the overall style of Zhenjun Hall so that the dragons they paint will not be superfluous.

The Zhenjun Temple was expanded to three buildings, which correspond perfectly to Erlang Shen Zhenjun's achievements in controlling floods, educating the people, and subduing demons.

After the two painters arrived, Kongchan chose to paint the real dragon in front of the Hall of Teachings. His dragon was ethereal and peaceful, with one of its claws folded in its palm. Although the dragon's body was coiled upwards, its eyes were lowered and looking down with compassion like that of a Bodhisattva, looking down at the masses of people who came to worship.

Another dragon opened its palm, holding a bright pearl in its hand, as if the wisdom of all living beings had been gathered, shining brilliantly.

Zheng Ziming painted a golden dragon that symbolizes the power of flood control. The dragon's body is undulating, with rugged scales and strong bones, just like the rocks of the vast mountains. The dragon's claws hold a divine axe that splits the Min Mountains, transforming them into the winding river that nourishes the plains of Chengdu.

The dragon in the last Demon-Subduing Hall was originally to be painted by a local artist, but for some unknown reason, the painting disappeared from the pillars of the corridor a few hours after the artist started painting during the day, which amazed everyone.

The governor of Chengdu hurriedly asked the two masters, Kong Chan and Zheng Zimo, for the reason. After taking a look, the two masters came to the same conclusion: the local painter had not captured the true meaning, which displeased the heavenly dragon, which was unwilling to land on the pillar.

At the same time, they were secretly competing with each other, wanting to quickly perfect their paintings and then complete the second one. In this way, they could not only gain more opportunities but also surpass their opponents and become the undisputed number one painter.

Several real dragons were coiled in the sky.

At this moment, two real dragons radiated Buddhist light, and two real dragons condensed true water, clearly indicating that they had all benefited from the painting below.

Ao Ting looked at his younger sister Ao Zhu beside him and advised, "Little sister, stop fooling around. Let the painter below finish the painting, and you quickly attach yourself to it. Don't miss this incredible opportunity!"

Ao Zhu, dressed in blue, her eyes red-rimmed, exclaimed, "How can we let those painters paint this? Their dragons are worse than snakes! I won't stand for it!"

Her protest was like a clap of thunder in the air, causing the spring rain below to intensify and wash over the mortal painter's painting again, preventing it from falling on the pillars.

The five siblings came here to participate in the Water Festival as ordered by Ao Guang.

The three temples under construction will have a total of six real dragons painted on them.

The older brothers all gave way to their younger sister, Ao Zhu, and let her choose first, so that she could occupy the positions of two dragons.

Ao Zhu was also proud and arrogant, so she chose the True Dragon Painting from the Demon Subduing Hall.

But this immediately caused a problem.

Kong Chan and Zheng Zimo were both highly skilled painters with profound knowledge of the Dao. They understood the current situation in Chengdu, where the ghostly calamity was still unresolved. The true dragon of the Demon Subduing Hall was the most difficult to paint, so they chose to paint what they were good at first, leaving the true dragon of the Demon Subduing Hall for ordinary painters in Chengdu to paint. Only when the Chengdu painters could no longer paint the true dragon would their extraordinary abilities be revealed.

Sure enough, those ordinary painters, although they painted the dragons in the same way, did not have any power to subdue demons, nor could they resonate with the Taoist tradition of Erlang Temple. If Ao Zhu were to attach herself to it, even if one person gained the essence of two dragons, the harvest would be the least.

Seeing this, the older brothers knew Ao Zhu's predicament. Suddenly, Ao Ting thought of something.

"By the way, it seems that General Wu Gong hasn't appeared yet. Did you run into him while you were strolling around the market these past few days?"

Several real dragons shook their heads slightly.

Ao Ting thought for a moment and said, "Grandfather said we would meet this General Wu Gong... I've been wandering around the market these past few days and heard some rumors about General Wu Gong. I heard he's also skilled in painting, and that Peach Capital Mountain was painted by him. Perhaps this is my little sister's destiny!"

"Taodu Mountain is a painting? How is that possible!"

It was hard to believe that a true dragon could not see the cause and effect of the events in Shudu from the beginning, as they did not possess Ao Guang's supernatural powers. They flew to Shudu and learned some information from the people. They were able to see the huge Taodu Mountain in the distance from the sky and the two great gods standing beside it.

That's why they couldn't imagine that Taodu Mountain was actually "painted".

Ao Ting laughed and said, "How could it be impossible? If General Wu didn't have this ability, how could my grandfather have reminded us to respect General Wu as we would him?"

Then Ao Ting looked at his younger sister Ao Zhu, "Little sister, since you are so proud and don't want a mortal painter to paint your dragon, why don't you ask General Wu Gong for help? If you can get him to paint it, the dragon he paints will definitely satisfy you!"

Ao Zhu laughed through her tears, then looked worried. "They say you have to burn incense before praying to the gods, but I don't even know what General Wu likes. What offerings should I bring to his temple?"