Aquarius Island has always liked to divide the north and south by Guanhu Academy.
There are many barbarians in the north, while all in the south are civilized.
It is natural for southerners to look down on northerners. Even great Sui writers in the north would regard themselves as dwarves when faced with scholars from Nanjian Kingdom. Therefore, high-ranking families in the south feel ashamed to marry into the north.
As the New Year approaches, in a noisy market in the south, there is a barefoot, middle-aged monk begging for alms, with a square and resolute face, walking slowly.
A juggler tried his best and won bursts of applause. The monk saw a small monkey tied to a wooden stake. It was skinny and skinny, so it looked like it had huge eyes.
The monk squatted down, took out half a piece of hard dry biscuit, broke it into pieces, put it in the palm of his hand, and stretched it out to the skinny little monkey.
But it was frightened by the monk's kind deed, and fled backwards in panic. The chain was instantly straightened, and with a rebound, the little monkey covered in whip marks suddenly fell to the ground, and his body curled up. Xixian whimpered.
The monk gently placed the broken dry cake near the wooden stake, broke the remaining half of the dry cake into half, scattered them on the ground, and then put down the iron bowl. Then he stood up and walked back, and finally sat cross-legged three or four steps away from the wooden stake. He began to close his eyes, move his lips slightly, and recite scriptures and precepts silently.
Practice while walking, practice while sitting, thousands of miles away, and practice asceticism all the time.
The hungry and cold little monkey was really hungry. After the monk sat down, he looked at him timidly for a long time. Finally, he mustered up the courage to grab a piece of broken cake. After he returned to the place and lowered his head to gnaw it, he saw Seeing that the monk was indifferent, he became more and more courageous, and ate another piece secretly. Repeatedly, he accidentally discovered that there was some water in the iron bowl, so he went to take a drink. In the middle of winter, the water in the bowl was actually a little warm, which made the little monkey Feeling a little comfortable, and no longer afraid of the monk, his big eyes stared blankly at the guy with bare feet and bald head, as if full of puzzlement.
After the monk finished reciting a passage, he opened his eyes and stood up. The little monkey hid again. The monk just bent down to take back the iron bowl and left.
The little monkey held on to the wooden stake, looked at the monk's back, and quickly disappeared into the crowded sea of people.
For the first time, it burped softly, stretched out its hand to scratch its skinny cheek, and blinked its big eyes.
The barefoot monk walked with his head down among the crowds of people. Even if he was bumped on the shoulder by passers-by, he never raised his head. Instead, he saluted with his right hand in front of his chest, nodded slightly, and continued to move forward.
There was a crazy old man in the market, with knotted eyebrows, slovenly clothes, and ragged clothes. Whenever he met children, no matter whether their elders were rich or poor, he would approach them and ask questions. Most of the people were not surprised by the same problem. Most of them took their children and walked away quickly. Some would laugh and curse a few times. Some young and strong men with bad tempers would even push the old lunatic a few times. , from beginning to end, the old madman just repeated that weird question.
"Have you named your child yet?"
Do you know the elderly well?A group of young libertines blocked the old man. One of them asked with a bad smile: "I have a child at home who hasn't been named yet. What do you want?"
The old man suddenly beamed and danced with joy. , said: "I'll pick it up, I'll pick the name, I will definitely pick a good name this time..."
"Name it for your uncle!" The old man was kicked in the abdomen by the young man. He fell backward and fell to the ground. The old man was rolling on the ground holding his belly.
A mendicant knelt down and helped the old man get up, and the group of libertines left laughing.
After being helped up, the old man stretched out his hand to hold the monk's arm tightly, and still asked the monk the extremely disrespectful question, "Has your child been named yet?"
The middle-aged monk looked at the demented old man, shook his head, helped the old man dust away the dust, and then moved on.
The old man still asked for trouble in the market and received countless looks and abuses.
As the sun sets, the monk begs for alms. After seven households, he no longer asks for alms. There is very little food in the iron bowl, and it is difficult to even get enough food and clothing.
The monks entered the city from the north and left the city from the south. There were many pedestrians on the road. The monks lowered their heads and walked. If they encountered small insects, they would pick them up and put them on the roadside in a deserted place.
Finally, I saw an ancient temple that had been abandoned for a long time. The monk saluted with one hand outside the door and walked in slowly.
In the corridor under the eaves outside the main hall, after eating the food in the bowl, the monk began to sit cross-legged and continue practicing.
In the dusk, the old madman staggered back. Without looking at the monk, he went straight to the main hall, fell down on a pile of thatch, rolled up a thin and broken quilt, covered his hands and feet as much as possible, and fell asleep soundly. .
Nothing happened all night.
The bad old man who liked to give people random names didn’t wake up until noon. After waking up, he left the ruined temple and gathered people in the city. He turned a blind eye to the middle-aged monk. At first, no one guessed whether the old lunatic might be a strange person with a weird personality. Later, they found out that he was just an old loser. He would not fight back when hit or scolded. Moreover, he would cry when he was hit hard and bleed when he was hit hard. , in the end only some idle libertines were willing to make fun of the old man.
The old man has lived in this abandoned temple for many years.
For the next half a year, day after day, the monk stayed here temporarily. Occasionally he would go to the city with the old man to ask for alms, and occasionally he would go out of the city with the old man and return to his residence. There has been no verbal communication between the two, and there is very little eye contact between them. Every time the old madman sees the monk, he looks blank and cannot remember anything.
It rained heavily that night, and there was lightning and thunder.
In the strong wind and rain, it is estimated that even the shouts that are close at hand cannot be heard clearly.
The old man huddled on the thatched shop would tremble with fright every time the thunder sounded. The old man who was sleeping soundly, wondering whether he remembered something sad or had a nightmare, clenched his hands into fists, His body tensed up and he kept mumbling: "It's grandpa who chose the wrong name. It's grandpa who hurt you. It's grandpa who hurt you."
That dry and old face had no tears left to shed, but it still looked particularly heartbreaking.
As the rapid thunder became intermittent, although the rain was still dense and terrifying, the old man's soliloquy had faded.
But just when the old man fell into a deep sleep, the monk bent his fingers and tapped lightly.
Boom!
The sound of wooden fish echoed through the ancient temple.
Like spring thunder, it sounded in the corridor.
The old man shuddered and sat up suddenly. After looking around, he felt confused at first, then relieved, and finally miserable. He stood up and walked out of the hall. The short old man in ragged clothes was full of momentum as he walked. Fierce, like a tiger descending a mountain or a dragon crossing a river. But despite his amazing momentum, the old man's body was still extremely weak.
It’s just that the tiger will not fall until it dies.
The old man walked out of the temple and looked up. He was speechless for a long time, and in the end he was just disappointed.
The monk whispered: "All sentient beings are suffering."
The old man did not look at the monk, and sneered: "Suffering is what suffering! I am happy! How can you be a heartless and stoic immortal?" Are you free? Bullshit, you are always looking at yourself, everyone is aloof, and you only remember the immortals and forget about the people... Haha, if the common people forget their roots, they will be struck by lightning. Only when the gods forget their roots can they be considered gods. It's ridiculous..."
The middle-aged monk said again: "All living beings are suffering."
The old man was silent, sitting cross-legged, clenching his fists on his knees, and mocking himself: "It feels like a lifetime ago."< /p>
At dawn, the old man who had fallen asleep suddenly woke up. His eyes were cloudy again, and he continued his hazy day.
More than a month passed like this. On a Mid-Autumn Festival night with a full moon, the old man finally regained consciousness, but this time his energy was not as good as before, and he was getting old.
He sat in the corridor under the eaves with the monks, looking at the bright moon. The old man said to himself, "My grandson is very smart. He is the smartest scholar in the world. It's a pity that his last name is Cui is already unfortunate, but meeting a grandfather like me is even more unfortunate. It shouldn’t be like this, it shouldn’t be like this..."
The middle-aged monk was silent.
Someone from the Cui family of Baopingzhou once said: There is a temple without monks, the wind sweeps the floor, there is incense but no fire, the moon lights the lamps.
After winter, there was heavy snowfall. The old man slept in the temple. His teeth were chattering and his face was ashen. As if he could not survive the cold winter, the monk came in asking for an alms bowl and handed the old man a warm dry biscuit. After taking the hand, he suddenly threw it on the ground, his eyes regained some clarity, and then looked at the monk who picked up the dry biscuits again, and once again reached out and handed over the dry biscuits. The old man shook his head and said: "I just want to see my grandson once in my life, otherwise I will I can't bear to die with my eyes closed, I can't swallow this breath, I can't let it go! I want to say sorry to him, it's grandpa who is sorry for him... I can't go crazy, I want to wake up, monk, please save me!"
The old man is dead! He tightly clenched the monk's arm and said, "Monk, as long as you let me wake up and see my grandson, it doesn't matter if I work as a cow or a horse for you... I will kowtow to you right now.I'll be your apprentice! Yes, yes, yes, you, a monk, have great supernatural powers, you can definitely help me escape from the sea of suffering..."
The old man who woke up this time, his spiritual energy was as dry as rotten wood, and there were signs of exhaustion of oil and lamp, and his consciousness It’s no longer clear.
The monk said calmly: “Why can’t you let go of your obsession? Even if you see him, what can you do now that the matter is over?
The old man looked miserable, "How can I let go?" It's not my business alone. If I can't let it go, I won't let it go in this life. "
The middle-aged monk thought for a while, "Since you can't let it go, pick it up first. "
The old man asked foolishly: "How to get it? "
The monk replied: "Go to Dali. "
The old man nodded and said: "Yes, my grandson is in Dali. "
The monk shook his head and said: "Your grandson is in Da Sui, but your grandson's husband is in Longquan County, Da Li. "
The old man fell into panic, stepped back, leaned against the wall, shook his head vigorously and said: "I don't want to see the Literary Saint..."
After a while, the old man suddenly became furious, "If you want to harm me, just beat me to death. If you want to harm my grandson, I will punch you to pieces!" Even if your Buddha comes, I will still punch you! ”
After speaking, the old man struggled to stand up. His momentum was as strong and majestic as the two pure warriors who fought in the Lizhu Cave.
But it was just There was only a little bit of bravado left.
The monk looked calm and stared down at the iron bowl in his hand. There was clear water in the bowl, "Buddha sees a bowl of water containing eighty-four thousand insects."
The old man frowned and said, "Bald donkey, don't try to fight with me!" "
The monk turned his head and gently lifted the iron bowl, "This is the most interesting thing about your grandson. He saw the 'little', so the poor monk thought he could tell his husband about it." "
The old man's eyes were firm, "Monk, your plan is very big, and I will never agree to it. "
The monk sighed, "Grass without roots. ”
The monk just stood up and left.
The old man took the time to sit cross-legged and began to breathe. His skin, which was originally dead, slowly shone with golden light.
Then he carved the words "Dali Longquan County" with his fingers on the palm of his hand. His flesh and blood were blurred, and he kept telling himself, "If you go here, you must go here. I only see and tell, don't ask and don't do." His heart was filled with excitement. , engraved in his heart.
The old man returned to the temple and fell asleep.
The snow outside the temple became more intense, but the cold air melted away as soon as it approached the temple gate.