"Dear donors, would you mind having a cup of cold tea?"The monk asked again and stood in the courtyard, waiting for Yin Xiu and the other two to answer. "Brother, is it a human or a ghost?" White Peacock asked nervously. "How do I know this?" After Yin Xiu finished speaking, he smiled at the monk and secretly handed two pomelo leaves to Ma Xiaoyu. Ma Xiaoyu pretended that her eyes were blinded by the wind. When she raised her hand to wipe them, the pomelo leaves brushed across her eyes. Then she looked more closely. There was no black aura on the monk, and there was even a faint Buddha's light shining from him. "It's a person." Ma Xiaoyu whispered. "I see." Yin Xiu's smile grew wider, he opened his hands, and then clasped them together in front of him. "Amitabha, good, good, we have finally arrived at the Thousand Buddha Temple. My wife and I are so excited."
The monk just smiled and said, "You must have lost your way. This is the side courtyard of the Thousand Buddhas Temple, far away from the main road. It is fate that you can walk here." "I have a connection with Buddha and Master." Yin Xiu smiled, "It's because of the fog that we got lost." "From your accent and attire, you don't seem to be from southern Xinjiang?" "Yes, we are from Central China. We heard that the Thousand Buddha Temple is efficacious, so we came here to pay our respects." Yin Xiu said sincerely. "Please come over here and have some tea." The monk still insisted, "By the way, my Buddhist name is Meng Wu, and I am responsible for sweeping this courtyard every day. I wonder what the donor came all the way to the Thousand Buddha Temple for?" Meng Wude lowered his eyes, as if he didn't care about Yin Xiu's purpose of coming here, but he still asked again. "Asking for a son." "Asking for a son?" Meng Wu smiled slightly, "There is no Guanyin who sends children in the Thousand Buddha Temple. Is there another name for seeking children outside?" "Almost the same. I have a neighbor named Aniu. He and his wife had been childless for many years. Later, he heard from someone that the foreign church can help people have children. It is very effective. He took his wife there, and when he came back, he gave birth to a big fat boy, very white and plump." At this point, Yin Xiu smiled bitterly again, "I don't believe in the teachings of foreigners. I am devoted to Buddhism. I eat vegetarian food and release animals on the first and fifteenth day of every lunar month, so I came to the Thousand Buddha Temple." "The donor is also sincere." Meng Wu chanted the Buddha's name in a low voice, then lowered his eyes to glance at Ma Xiaoyu and Bai Kongque not far away, and quickly looked away. "Although I don't know whether my temple can help you get what you want, but since you are here, please rest here for a few days and have some vegetarian food." Meng Wu opened a room and said, "Please come in and have a seat."
"That's good, that's good." Yin Xiu didn't hesitate and walked in, waving to Ma Xiaoyu. Bai Kongque gently pulled Ma Xiaoyu's sleeve and asked nervously, "Do you really want to go in?" Ma Xiaoyu tilted her head and looked at her, "What are you afraid of?" "Who said I'm afraid?" The white peacock puffed up his chest and said, "I have seen everything in this world. Am I afraid of having a cup of tea?" "Let's go then?" Ma Xiaoyu raised her hand to signal the white peacock to continue moving forward. Suddenly she turned back and blinked. The light purple eyeliner and beautiful eyes would make even the white peacock fascinated. "By the way, can you use your internal energy to force the tea out?" Ma Xiaoyu asked. "There is such a magical power?" The white peacock was stunned and shook his head vigorously, "What should I do? I don't know how to do this!" "It's ok." Ma Xiaoyu grinned, "I don't know how either." "what?" While Bai Kongque was stunned, Ma Xiaoyu had already entered the room and sat down on the bench. The room was extremely simply furnished with only a bed, a table, a few benches, a futon, a portrait of Buddha hanging on the wall, an incense burner, and a wooden fish, and that was all. Yin Xiu sipped the tea that Meng Wuyuan brought to him and just chatted with him about family matters. "I heard that Jiaozhi was originally under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains court?" "That was a long time ago." Meng Wu smiled, "Besides, whether it is the people of Faguo or the Central Plains court, they don't really care. As long as you can pay enough salary every year, they don't care about anything else and let you do whatever you want." After a pause, he nodded and said, "It's a sin, it's a sin. I'm an outsider and shouldn't talk about these things." "The world has changed. Master, there is no need to be so cautious." Yin Xiu took a sip of the tea and felt that it was bitter and astringent, and he couldn't help but frown. "This is bitter tea from the mountains. It's not top quality. I'm sorry." Meng Wu smiled apologetically. "It's okay, just drink it as herbal tea." Yin Xiu looked around and saw that the house was as clean and tidy as the courtyard outside. "This place is so secluded, there should be few visitors, right?"
"Yes, apart from the people who bring water and food to the temple every day, I have only seen three rare visitors in the past month." As Meng Wu said this, footsteps were heard outside. It was heavy, but steady, and there was also the sound of wood swaying, twisting and pulling. "It's the brothers from the temple who are here." Meng Wu got up and walked out the door. Yin Xiu and the other two followed him outside. It turned out that there was a bluestone staircase at the back of the Zen temple, which went down to the bottom. There was a monk wearing a bamboo hat and a green robe, carrying two buckets of water and a bundle of vegetables tied to a shoulder pole. He was walking up step by step with his head lowered. "Zhikong, thank you for your hard work." Meng Wu walked up and pulled him. At this time, the monk wearing a bamboo hat raised his head, revealing a dark, thin but naive face. "Uncle Master, what are you talking about? The abbot said this is a form of practice, and it's what we should do." Zhikong showed a row of white teeth and glanced at Yin Xiu again. When he met Ma Xiaoyu's eyes, he quickly lowered his head and chanted the Buddha's name in a low voice. “Who are these three donors?” "Oh, we are here to burn incense." Yin Xiu clasped his hands together and said, "Nice to meet you." Then he gave Ma Xiaoyu another look. Ma Xiaoyu wiped her eyes with pomelo leaves again, then threw them on the ground and shook her head angrily. "Burning incense?" “Yes, I burned incense, but I took the wrong road.” Yin Xiu sighed. Originally, for Taoists like them, they could basically judge whether the other person was a human or a ghost by the aura on that person with just one look. If they were really unsure, they could also use pomelo leaves to rub their eyes to see the reality of the other person. However, despite her doubts, Ma Xiaoyu still had to say that there was nothing unusual about the two monks in front of her. Meng Wu took the pole and saw the green vegetables on it. He couldn't help but said happily, "What fresh and tender green vegetables. It's perfect to boil them in water. Would you be willing to stay and let me treat you with a small dish?" "Thank you, Master." Yin Xiu smiled, "However, we don't have much time, and we wanted to go to the temple to have a look. We have already taken the wrong road. Of course, Master, this place is also secluded and is a good place for practice." "I understand. I understand." Meng Wu smiled and said, "Everyone in the world is attracted by the majestic appearance of the Bodhisattva in the Thousand Buddha Temple. They always want to take a look at it to feel satisfied." "Yes, that's why we are here."
"Then, Zhikong." Meng Wu called to the monk carrying water, "When you go back to the temple later, take a few donors with you." "As ordered." Zhikong bowed, then picked up the shoulder pole and went to the Zen temple. He filled the water tank first, and then walked out quickly. "Three donors, please come this way." "Then we take our leave, Master." Yin Xiu and Ma Xiaoyu put their hands together and lowered their brows, looking like a pair of newlyweds praying sincerely to Buddha. The white peacock didn't know what to do and refused to put his hands together like them, so he could only nod as a greeting. Meng Wu smiled and suddenly asked, "Donor, do you think that the solemnity of the Dharma and the perfection of the heaven are important to the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas?" "what?" Yin Xiu paused, thinking he had heard wrongly. However, Meng Wu was not talking nonsense, he smiled and said: "People worship Buddha because he is solemn and sacred, and people are afraid of ghosts because ghosts look ferocious and fierce, with bared fangs and claws. What if the Buddha's true appearance does not match what we have seen and imagined?" "You mean, Buddha and Galan look like evil spirits. What should we think when we see them?" asked the white peacock. Meng Wu did not say it clearly, but just smiled, "Perhaps the Buddha and Bodhisattva are neither kind-hearted nor bloody-eyed? They are neither women nor men, neither children nor old men?" "Amitabha." Zhikong clasped his hands together and said in distress: "My disciple is ignorant and I dare not think about it." “Emptiness is color, color is emptiness. Color is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from color.” Yin Xiu replied. "Oh?" Meng Wu's eyebrows relaxed, and there was joy in his eyes. He bowed and said, "Donor, you are truly a person of great practice and wisdom. I bow to you." Yin Xiu returned the greeting, "It's just a little insight, goodbye." He looked at Zhikong again, "Master, please lead the way." Meng Wu clasped his hands, "Goodbye!" Yin Xiu immediately turned around and walked downstairs with Ma Xiaoyu and Bai Kongque. "Why did you answer like that?" Sure enough, Ma Xiaoyu was the first to feel strange and asked him in a low voice. "What's the matter? Can't I suddenly become enlightened?" “Are you such a person?” Ma Xiaoyu glanced at him and asked, "Do you want to become a monk?"
"That's not the case." Yin Xiu smiled, turned around and glanced at Meng Wu who was still watching them from a distance, and whispered: "Usually when he asks this, you can just quote a passage from the Buddhist scriptures. He has a high level of understanding and will eventually be able to figure out the truth from it." "It's ok for you to cheat people normally, but why do you even cheat monks?" Ma Xiaoyu glared at him. "Do I only cheat monks?" Yin Xiu gently held Ma Xiaoyu's hand. Ma Xiaoyu struggled slightly, but was finally caught in his hand. She could only pretend not to see it. "That's right. You even didn't let the Taoist priest go. Why would I bother with you?" Ma Xiaoyu squeezed his hand again. Standing on the mountain, Meng Wu stopped and watched the three people, especially staring at Yin Xiu. Meng Wu didn't turn around until they disappeared on the mountain road. "Emptiness is form, and form is emptiness? Interesting, interesting." He put his hands behind his back and slowly walked into the Zen temple. "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form." Hearing a murmur, Ren Qi suddenly opened his eyes. What caught his eye were the roof tiles, the beams, and a girl. "who are you?" Ren Qi reached out to the pillow and was about to draw his sword, but he found that he had neither the sword nor the ability to stand up. "Don't move yet." The girl spoke softly, holding a bowl of porridge in her hands, "Dad said you were seriously injured. It's a miracle that you survived. You can't move now." "Who are you and why are you here?" Ren Qi stared at her closely, his eyes gleaming with brilliance. Even though he was lying there unable to move, the murderous aura on his body coupled with the scars on his face still frightened the girl. But she still plucked up the courage to come over. "This is Bodhi Mountain, my name is A Ke." "Bodhi Mountain?" Ren Qi only felt his temples were hot and painful, but he still vaguely remembered some memories, "Bodhi Mountain where the Thousand Buddha Temple is located?" "Yes." A Ke nodded, "But we are still two hills away from the Thousand Buddha Temple. Look, it's on our left." After a pause, she remembered something and scratched her head, "Sorry, I forgot you can't get up yet."
When she turned her head, Ren Qi saw a red birthmark on the girl's face below the left corner of her eye and in front of her ear. It was about the size of a thumb and looked like a half moon. The birthmark was not big originally, but on such a snow-white face with delicate skin and regular features, it was like a piece of white jade with a missing corner, which made people pay more attention to that place. Realizing that Ren Qi was looking at her, A Ke quickly covered her face and turned her head away. "Is it ugly? Does it scare you?" Ren Qi ignored her, turned his gaze to the ceiling, and asked her coldly: "Why did you save me?" "Do you still need a reason to save people?" A Ke asked him back, "If you saw someone seriously injured and dying on the road, would you not save him?" "of course not!" Ren Qi said firmly, "Why should we save him? If a person dies, he dies. What does it have to do with me? Saving someone for no reason will only hurt others and yourself, right?" "..." A Ke frowned, as if she couldn't understand Ren Qi's thoughts, but soon her expression relaxed and she smiled. "why are you laughing?" It was Ren Qi's turn to frown, "Shouldn't you regret saving a selfish person like me?" "what is the relationship?" A Ke took a bowl of porridge from the table and said, "Dad said that we just need to save people and do good deeds, that's all. What others think and do in the future is none of our business." [Your father is also stupid.] Ren Qi's neck was still able to move, so he turned his face away. "Where is my sword? And, did you see the other person who was traveling with me? Whether it was a person or a corpse?" "No." A Ke was very sure, "You were the only one who fell into the stream at that time, and there was no one else. As for your sword, it was taken away by the elder of the Thousand Buddha Temple. He said that such a sharp weapon should not be found in the mountains. By the way, are you selling weapons? You actually carry six swords." Ren Qi didn't explain to her. After all, the armored zombie was too powerful. He was actually unable to match the monster, and Liu Banxian's whereabouts were unknown. Thinking of this, Ren Qi just felt upset and became even more silent. "By the way, you slept for many days and only drank water in between. You must be starving, right?" A Ke didn't care about Ren Qi's indifference, she just smiled and said: "This is the five poisonous porridge I cooked. It contains poisonous snakes, scorpions, toads, centipedes, and geckos. It will be very good for your injuries." Ren Qi felt even worse after listening to this. Did this woman want to save him or torture him? Or was he spared in order to use him and ask for repayment? If it was the latter, then this woman was too self-righteous, because Ren Qi had never been a grateful person. To him, repaying kindness with resentment was just a way of survival. However, the porridge did have a charming aroma, which made Ren Qi swallow it. (End of this chapter)