On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the sky was fine in Beijing.
It snowed all night, covering the green mountains with white snow and a layer of light that dazzled people even when they looked up.
Shen Manzhi stopped the car halfway up the mountain, climbed the steps, and saw the plaque at the main entrance of the temple, Jiuqing Temple.
It was already ten o'clock in the morning.
Shen Manzhi took the incense from the young monk's hand, worshiped the Buddha devoutly and inserted it into the incense burner.
After the young monk saw her bowing, his round eyes became a little brighter. They were not like they were doing business just now, and he whispered, "Senior sister, the master asked you to go to the back hall."
Shen Manzhi lifted the wide cuffs of his white mica coat, took off the high-quality Bodhi beads wrapped around his wrist, and placed them in the young monk's hands, "New Year's gift."
The little monk's eyes curled up, he took the gift and thanked him, but he couldn't help but get closer and said, "Senior sister, you didn't come back yesterday. Master was very angry."
Shen Manzhi smiled at him and said, "No problem."
She walked to the side hall alone, put down the other items on her body, took off her coat, dipped her white jade hands into the water in the porcelain basin, then drained them and wiped them dry before walking into the inner hall.
The carved top pillars are small, the spiritual tablets are arranged in an orderly manner according to seniority, and the incense continues for a long time.
There was a futon in the hall. Shen Manzhi took the incense candle from the side, stood up and bowed in thin plain clothes, and knelt on the futon to salute. As soon as he inserted the incense candle, the sound of a sharp pointer moving the air came from behind.
She stood still and resisted the whip.
Another whip, swung diagonally on the thin back in the opposite direction. If you lift the clothes, you can see the red marks of broken skin.
For the third whip, Shen Manzhi bent his legs and knelt on the futon.
"When I accepted you as my disciple, I told you not to forget the rules. Now that you are living a better life, you are going back."
Listening to the old man's calm voice, Shen Manzhi didn't even tremble, and said in a casual tone, "Rules are dead, people are alive."
As soon as he finished speaking, two more words were added, causing a muffled groan.
Mr. Tang stood beside and behind her. Although he had reduced his strength in his hands, there was always a sense of helplessness on his face that he hated iron for not being able to become steel.
"Get up and see me again in two hours." Old wounds and new scars began to spread from behind like a fire to the heart, and then spread throughout the body.
Shen Manzhi closed her eyes. The pain was like an electric current, but she didn't feel any pain at all. Looking closely, she felt a hearty pleasure.
Mr. Tang threw away his pointer and walked out of the inner hall to clean his hands in a porcelain basin. When he walked to the middle hall, he saw the young disciple wearing a new string of Buddhist beads around his neck and turned towards the mountain.
The person in the room was sitting in a wheelchair, with a tiger fur blanket on his legs, holding up his sleeves to reveal a bright wrist, and was adding fire to the stove for warming tea.
Hearing Mr. Tang sigh as he walked in, Si Ke lowered his eyes and made tea, "Are you gentle?"
Mr. Tang sat down at the small table. His cold expression in the temple had not yet calmed down. He ignored his joke and said, "It is a rule to worship ancestors on the first day of the new year. She has not been absent in the past few years, but this year is the only one. "
Si Dai leaned back lightly, with a pair of cold and indifferent eyes, and said without hesitation, "Rules are set by people. You obviously don't want to punish her, but you still make a fuss about this matter."
"She arrived in the capital at [-]:[-] yesterday, but she didn't come back immediately." Mr. Tang picked up the tea in front of him, opened the lid of the cup and removed the floating tea. "She has been in a bad state in the past two years, especially a month ago. The time I came here, I was so angry that I didn’t even bother to hide it..."
Mr. Tang lost consciousness and sighed softly, "I'm afraid she is too extreme. I can control her a little if I have some rules. She seems to be a very well-behaved child, but she has 99 pounds of bone in her body. Please help me look at it later. Look, lest she stay here for two days and get pissed off by me.”
Si Ke stroked the Buddhist beads on his wrist and said in a very soft voice, "She won't leave this time."
Two hours later, Si Dai maneuvered the wheelchair from the front hall to the room in the backyard. The door was ajar and he entered silently.
Shen Manzhi was sitting on the bed, his lower body covered with a quilt, his plain robe half-stretched around his waist. Deep red scars superimposed with bright red whip marks that oozed blood, running wildly across his thin and beautiful back.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, she turned her wrist, lifted the plain robe around her waist and wrapped it up to her shoulders and neck, covering every inch of her snow-white skin.
"Feel sorry."
Si Dai was at the door, his eyes falling on her back where she had put on clothes. He said sorry, but he didn't mean to avoid suspicion.
Shen Manzhi buttoned the buttons in front of him, turned around, and looked into those black eyes as deep as spiritual spring water, "It's really not polite."
Si Dai clasped his hands on his lap, with a faint smile in his eyes.
(End of this chapter)