In the late winter morning, there were many quiet places in Chang 'an, such as the quiet alleys between the markets, in addition to the bustling places.
Ning Que and Chen Pipi walked in the narrow alleys, and no one spoke for a long time. Chen Pipi looked at him with a complicated expression, which was hard to describe in words.
"What do you want to ask? Just ask."
Ning Que rubbed his pale cheeks to dispel some of the tiredness in his body.
Chen Pipi shook his head.
Ning Que suddenly asked, "Don't you want to know what the word 'Mu' means?"
Chen Pipi shrugged and said indifferently, "Manipulator behind the scenes? I don't care about it anyway. "
Ning Que suddenly stopped and looked up at the gray sky that was cut into pieces by the branches of the winter trees. Chen Pipi's expression was slightly strange. He also looked up at the sky, but did not see anything strange.
Ning Que looked at the sky in silence for a long time, and suddenly laughed. He looked at Chen Pipi and said, "I've joined the Devil."
Chen Pipi did not look at his eyes, but still looked at the sky and said sarcastically, "This joke is not funny."
Ning Que looked at his round face and said seriously, "You know it's not a joke."
Chen Pipi said, "But I still think it's a joke."
Ning Que did not flinch at all. He stared at him and asked, "If it's not a joke, what are you going to do with me?"
Until now, only Sangsang knew that Ning Que had fallen into the Devil's Doctrine by cultivating the Great Spirit in the Front Gate of the Wilderness. Eldest Brother of the Academy might have vaguely known it, but he had never pointed it out.
Ning Que had once discussed the Devil's Doctrine with Chen Pipi. In that discussion, Chen Pipi did not hide his disgust and even disdain for the Devil's Doctrine.
But Ning Que still confessed to him under the winter sky, because Chen Pipi had been very kind to him before he became his Twelfth Senior Brother. He was his closest companion in Chang 'an besides Sangsang. After Chen Pipi had vaguely guessed the truth, he could not continue to hide it, and he really wanted to know how Chen Pipi would treat him.
Chen Pipi's response to this was very simple. After a moment of silence, he began to pretend to be stunned. "I didn't hear what you said."
Ning Que got close to his ear and shouted, "I am possessed by the Devil!"
Chen Pipi was startled and quickly covered his mouth with his hand. He looked around nervously and scolded, "It's not something to be proud of. Do you want the whole Chang 'an to hear you shouting so loudly?"
Ning Que said, "I just want to make sure that you can hear me clearly."
Chen Pipi picked his ears and said in annoyance, "The blood that the warrior monk spat out just now went into my ears. My ears are a little uncomfortable now, so I can't hear clearly today."
Ning Que walked in front of him and began to tell him the story of Youngest Brother joining the Devil.
Chen Pipi was not willing to look at his lips and hand gestures. He closed his eyes tightly and frowned deeply.
Ning Que reached out to lift his eyelids.
Chen Pipi was finally driven mad by him. He flew into a rage and roared, "Why did you let me know about this! If you don't say anything, I'll just pretend that I don't know anything. Don't tell me you want me to kill you with one slap? "
Ning Que said shyly, "How could I bear to do that?"
The two stared at each other and then couldn't help but laugh.
They both knew in their hearts that this matter was really over.
Walking out of the side alley, there was a teahouse by the street. Ning Que was already exhausted after a night of hunger and thirst. He was seriously injured in the instantaneous battle with the middle-aged monk and was on the verge of collapse. Seeing the big teapot outside the teahouse and smelling the dim sum coming from it, he could no longer walk.
Sitting at the table by the railing on the second floor of the teahouse, Ning Que cleaned up all the food and tea on the table and began to stare blankly at the city of Chang 'an in the morning through the window, just as he had done for a day and a night.
Chen Pipi imitated Eldest Brother and slowly picked up the screw-meat marinated in spicy sauce. He could not help but worry when looking at Ning Que's expression. He wondered if Youngest Brother's sense of perception was seriously injured in the battle with the middle-aged monk and turned into a fool by the Buddha's will in the pure land of lotus.
"Senior Brother, can you do something for me?"
Ning Que turned his gaze away from the window and looked at Chen Pipi, pleading with him seriously.
Chen Pipi was startled and asked, "What is it?"
"It's like this …"
"What art?"
"That's what it means."
"How many and how many?"
"Three and seven."
…
…
As the two Academy Brothers were engrossed in their discussion, footsteps came from the stairs of the teahouse. The two tacitly stopped talking and looked at the stairs in silence.
He Mingchi walked up with a yellow oiled-paper umbrella under his armpit. He was slightly hunched and looked like a teacher in a private school in the countryside with a ruler and a scroll under his arm.
Two monks from the Yuelun Kingdom died mysteriously on the street in the early morning, which naturally alarmed the officials of the Tang Empire. The Chang 'an Local Government had no clue about it and did not know who did it. However, it did not take long for the Imperial Center Administration to confirm the situation and find the culprit.
Ning Que invited He Mingchi to sit down and poured him a cup of tea. He said, "I remember that the law of the Tang Empire always respects the opinions of both parties as much as possible when it comes to challenges."
He Mingchi cautiously greeted Chen Pipi and said after a moment of hesitation, "But the law of the Tang Empire does not allow a life-and-death duel, and the duel must be recorded by the government."
Ning Que said, "How can we be sure about this? As for the record, can I file it with you now?"
He Mingchi smiled bitterly and said, "I'll go back and ask the office to file the duel this morning."
Ning Que toasted him with tea instead of wine and said with a smile, "Then why did you come to us?"
He Mingchi put down the teacup and sighed. "The problem is that you were too ruthless."
Ning Que said calmly, "If I wasn't ruthless, I would be dead now."
He Mingchi held the teacup and said after a moment of silence, "But the middle-aged monk is not an ordinary person."
Ning Que and Chen Pipi were silent. They had already guessed that the middle-aged monk had an extraordinary background and was most likely from the Xuankong Temple. But knowing and confirming were two different things.
"Daoshi is indeed not famous. Even the Imperial Center Administration doesn't have many records about him. After he entered Chang 'an a few days ago, if I hadn't checked some old files out of curiosity and asked about the news from the Yuelun Kingdom, I would probably have thought that he was a nameless monk from the White Tower Temple."
He Mingchi looked at Ning Que and said, "Many years ago, the Elder of the White Tower Temple found an abandoned baby outside the temple. The Imperial Center Administration felt that it was a bit strange because the White Tower Temple was too close to the imperial palace and was heavily guarded. It was difficult for someone to put an abandoned baby there. That abandoned baby was Daoshi."
"Rumor has it that monk Daoshi is related to some nobles in the Yuelun Royal Palace. We found out that he has been reading scriptures and cultivating Buddhism in the Xuankong Temple for the past few years, which indirectly proves the rumor of his origin. Everyone knows that although the aunt is detestable, she has a high status in the Buddhism Sect and has been secretly connected with the Xuankong Temple."
"Moreover, monk Daoshi's temperament is not similar to Aunt Quni Madi's. Although it hasn't been long since he returned from the Xuankong Temple, he has already gained great respect in the Yuelun Kingdom. This morning, Mr. Thirteen not only killed him but also beheaded him. I'm afraid that it will anger the Yuelun Kingdom and the Buddhism Sect at the same time."
Ning Que said, "I have been facing a very troublesome matter these two days. It involves the destruction or rebirth of my world. At this time, not to mention that the middle-aged monk might be Quni Madi's illegitimate son, even if the old woman Quni Madi comes herself, I will still go to hell."
He Mingchi sighed and said, "But his Senior Brother is Qi Nian."
World Wayfarer of the Buddhism Sect, Qi Nian, the eldest disciple of the Chief Preaching Monk of the Xuankong Temple.
Chen Pipi was silent because he had heard this name many times when he was young. Moreover, this name came from the proud Senior Brother of West-Hill, so he knew that Qi Nian was very strong.
Ning Que was also silent. The reason for his silence was simple. It was because Chen Pipi's silence reminded him of who Qi Nian was. He also had a better understanding of what kind of opponent he had angered by killing Daoshi.
"I'm not in a good mood today."
Ning Que finally concluded, "He ran into my blade, so he was unlucky."
…
…
On the streets of Chang 'an.
A pair of hands held the head on the ground.
This pair of dark hands had once held a food bowl, once prostrated before the Buddha, once stroked a tree silently, and more often than not, they held an iron staff and walked the world with their fluttering monk robes.
This pair of hands belonged to an ordinary sadhu of the White Tower Temple.
The sadhu held the head with trembling hands and knelt in front of the headless monk's corpse in front of the bun shop. It took him a long time to put the head and the body back together.
The skinny warrior monk's corpse had also been found. It was placed next to the middle-aged monk's corpse. His intestines had been stuffed back into his abdomen. His chest, which had been pierced by the Talisman Arrow, looked extremely horrifying.
The sadhu held the iron staff and knelt in front of the two monks' corpses. He slowly lowered his head.
On the street, more than ten sadhu from the Yuelun Kingdom also knelt down and put their palms together.
The early winter wind blew from the other end of the street, causing their monk robes to flutter. More than ten sadhu's dark faces revealed a sorrowful expression, and then gradually became sorrowful and indignant.
The sound of chanting rose with the wind and floated in the morning street.
Many people of Chang 'an City were watching from both ends of the street. As the chanting sounded, they all lowered their heads.
Snowflakes fell and covered the bodies of the two monks outside the shop, as if trying to cover the blood stains on their necks and bodies. This was the last snow in Chang 'an City this winter.
…
…
Decades later, the elder of the Yuelun Kingdom's White Tower Temple pushed open the door in the morning and saw a baby on a stone outside the temple. The elder bent down and looked at the baby for a long time. He smiled and asked the baby where he came from. The baby's eyes were like lacquer, peaceful and soft. His tender lips slightly opened and he answered softly, "I came from". The elder was shocked and gently waved his sleeves to carry the baby into the temple.
The elder gave the baby the name Daoshi, thinking that he had innate wisdom and would become a Bhadanta of the Buddhism Sect in the future. Unexpectedly, as he grew older, the baby became mediocre and unknown. However, he was often taken care of by the nobles in the palace.
The monk Daoshi diligently cultivated and left the temple at the age of twelve to travel. At the age of sixteen, he returned to the capital and looked at the imperial city in front of him from the slums of the city. He gradually entered the lotus pure land, but he still remained unknown.
One year later, the monk Daoshi was guided by the nobles and resolutely went to the Wilderness to enter the Xuankong Temple. He studied under the Chief Preaching Monk and cultivated Buddhism. However, he was still unknown in the world.
Another year, the monk Daoshi heard of something and his Zen heart was slightly moved. He left the Xuankong Temple and returned to the Yuelun Kingdom. He traveled to 480 temples in the misty rain and became famous in the Buddhism Sect.
From the Xuankong Temple to the secular Buddhism Sect, there was Master Lotus decades ago. More than ten years ago, there was Master Huang Yang, the younger brother of the Tang Empire. Today, there was finally Master Daoshi in the Yuelun Kingdom.
One day, the master went to Chang 'an City because of something in the Wilderness, something in the secular world, and something in the Buddhism Sect.
He met Ning Que, Mr. Thirteen of the Academy, by the side of the long street and passed away.
…
…
(Hmm, I wrote the last paragraph very happily. Maybe it's my bad taste to kill a master who was supposed to be great in history when he was unknown?) (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian.Com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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