The air in the old temple was very fresh in the spring rain. The huge cliff stones that had crushed the back temple into ruins gave off a sense of dilapidation, and the drizzle also became dreary.
Because of Sangsang's identity, monk Guan Hai did not dare to let the other monks accompany him. He walked in the rain with Ning Que and Sangsang. When they reached the Tianyin Hall, a monk hurried to report.
"The cavalry of the West-Hill Divine Palace has arrived at the foot of the mountain."
The monk's face was a little pale. He did not know what had happened. Why did the cavalry of the West-Hill Divine Palace suddenly appear in front of the Lanke Temple? What did Haotian Taoism want?
Monk Guan Hai guessed that the cavalry of the West-Hill Divine Palace was related to Ning Que and Sangsang, but he had misunderstood the cause and effect. His expression became a little solemn and nervous.
Ning Que said, "Don't worry, they won't enter the temple."
Although he said so, monk Guan Hai could not really rest assured. The Lanke Temple was surrounded by the cavalry, which was a sign that the temple would be destroyed and the monks would die. The other side would definitely want them to hand over Sangsang.
"They are not here to catch a fugitive."
Ning Que was a little embarrassed and said, "Just think of these cavalry as her bodyguards."
Monk Guan Hai came to his senses and thought, "I see."
Seeing that he was still a little uneasy, Ning Que let him go to the front temple to deal with the affairs.
Monk Guan Hai said, "The distinguished guest has come from afar. As the abbot of the temple, of course I have to accompany her."
Ning Que said, "A husband and wife stroll in the rain while a big bald head stands by the side. What is this?"
Monk Guan Hai said, "The back temple is broken and it is not easy to walk."
Ning Que said, "You are joking again."
Monk Guan Hai laughed and thought that his words were indeed unreasonable. There was no difficulty in the world that could stop Ning Que, not to mention that Haotian was by his side.
The big black umbrella was like a black lotus, blooming in the drizzle.
The big black horse did not have an umbrella and was a little embarrassed by the rain, so it was naturally angry.
Ning Que did not care about its feelings. He held the umbrella and walked around the temple casually with Sangsang.
That autumn, they had lived here for a long time and were very familiar with everything in the old temple. Even though the misty rain obscured their eyes, they would not go the wrong way.
Ning Que first went to the pagoda forest and stood quietly in front of the moss-covered tomb for a while. He said "long time no see" to the dancer in the tomb who had completely changed the situation of the cultivation world.
Next, he passed through the roofed corridor and came to the meditation room where he used to live. Then he went to the side hall and pondered over the stone statues of the Venerable Ones. Finally, he walked toward the ruined halls in the back of the temple.
The main hall of the back temple of the Lanke Temple had completely collapsed. Moss had already grown on the cliff rocks. Broken Buddha statues could occasionally be seen among the rocks, giving off a sense of vicissitudes.
Standing in front of the dilapidated old temple and looking at the boulders all over the mountain, Ning Que was silent.
After entering the Lanke Temple, Sangsang had not spoken a single word, whether it was in front of the tomb, in front of the hall, or in front of the mausoleum-like hall.
The Lanke Temple had changed the fates of Ke Haoran and Lian Sheng, as well as Ning Que and Sangsang.
In the autumn of a few years ago, he had brought Sangsang here to cure her illness and learn Buddhism. Sangsang's identity was exposed and she became the Daughter of Yama, who the world wanted to kill.
They had escaped from here through the Buddha's chessboard to the Xuankong Temple, to the Yuelun Temple, and then to the Eastern Wilderness. They had met the Headmaster of the Academy and gone out to sea on a boat. Now they were back here again.
Too many things had happened in these years. Ning Que looked at the ruined hall and recalled what they had done here. His emotions became very complicated.
The thousands of miles of escape and the life and death together were all fake. It was just a trap set by Haotian. This trap deceived him, the Headmaster of the Academy, and even she herself did not know it.
Standing in front of the hall in the rain, Ning Que thought of the conversation with Master Qishan. He subconsciously looked at Sangsang beside him and thought, "Heaven's will is indeed unpredictable."
They left the back hall through the gap in the giant stone. They walked past the broken temple wall of the Lanke Temple and came to the depths of the Wa Mountain. They walked along the mountain path, passed the chessboard under the tree, crossed the bridge over the stream, looked at the trees in the rain, and came to the meditation room on the mountainside.
The furnishings in the small courtyard were still simple and clean. The cotton mattress on the bed was still soft. There was a fan-shaped stone window on the garden wall. Standing in front of the window, one could see the Wa Mountain in the misty rain.
At that time, Sangsang was seriously ill and coughed on the bed. She said many things to him and told him many of her last words. He stood in front of the stone window and kept silent for a long time.
He stood in front of the stone window as if it had happened again.
Sangsang walked to his side and coughed softly.
Ning Que turned to look at her and said, "Do you want to wash your feet with hot water?"
Sangsang was silent.
It was not that she was lost because of the past, but because she was really ill.
This illness was called weakness.
Since she came to the human world and woke up among the broken peaks, she had been getting weaker and weaker. Her body became heavier and her Divine Power became less and less.
This was the human world full of the red dust, not the cold and objective Divine Kingdom. The longer she stayed in the human world, the weaker she would become.
She was still very strong now, more powerful than all the cultivators in the human world combined. But compared to her in the Divine Kingdom, she had become much weaker. Because of her weakness, she began to be sentimental.
They left the courtyard and came to the top of the Wa Mountain.
The stone statue of Buddha that used to reach the clouds was now only left with a small part of its body. Traces of the flowing clouds on the kasaya could be vaguely seen. Most of it had been cut into stone by Jun Mo's sword.
Sangsang looked at the sky quietly with her hands behind her back.
There used to be the merciful and calm face of Buddha, but now there was nothing but the rain.
But she still looked at that place quietly, as if she was looking at Buddha's face. No one knew what she was thinking.
Ning Que felt a little uneasy and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Sangsang looked at the empty face of Buddha in the rain sky and said, "I have seen him."
Ning Que thought that Buddha was one of the most powerful people in countless Samsara. Since you were Haotian, you would naturally have a relatively deep impression of him, just like how you had seen the Headmaster.
Sangsang knew what he was thinking and said, "No, I have seen him."
Ning Que was a little confused and said, "Of course you have seen him when Buddha was alive."
Sangsang said, "No, Buddha did not dare to let me see him when he was alive."
Ning Que frowned slightly and asked, "Then when did you see him?"
Sangsang said, "Just a moment ago."
Ning Que was silent for a long time and said, "When you saw this broken Buddha statue?"
Sangsang said, "I saw him before I looked up at him."
Ning Que did not understand what she meant, but he vaguely inferred a very shocking fact from her words. "You mean … Buddha did not really reach Nirvana? He is still alive? "
Sangsang said, "He is dead, but he is still alive."
Ning Que felt that what she said was too profound.
Sangsang looked back at him and said, "Or, he is alive and dead at the same time."
Ning Que looked at the broken stone statue of Buddha and at the place where there was nothing in the rain sky.
The big black umbrella tilted backward because of his movement. The rain fell on his face, which was a little wet and cold. He seemed to see Buddha smiling in the rain, and his compassionate face was full of tears.
He said, "I still don't understand."
Sangsang walked behind the lotus seat of the Buddha statue and said, "It is the cat you mentioned."
Ning Que recalled that many years ago in Min Mountain, there was a night when he was too bored and she refused to sleep, so he told her a terrible story.
The protagonist of the story was a cat with the surname Xue.
For him, the living and dead cat was just a little puzzling, but for a three-year-old girl, it was natural that she felt it was very scary.
Ning Que looked at the non-existent Buddha statue in the rain sky and suddenly felt scared.
…
…
The spring rain unexpectedly became heavier, and the mountain road became wet and slippery. Ning Que took Sangsang into the cave at the back of the mountain to take a rest.
"The rain came at the right time."
Ning Que put away the big black umbrella and sat on the futon beside the stone table. He looked at the mountain vines above his head, which were hit by the rain, and said, "I planned to take you here to see."
The cave was the residence of Master Qishan. He and Sangsang had once played a game of chess here. They used the chessboard of Buddha and put down a black chess piece. There were countless tribulations in the game.
"Why did you bring me to the Lanke Temple?" Sangsang asked.
Ning Que said, "I wanted to take you to see the old temple and solve some problems."
Sangsang sat in front of the table and said, "Continue."
Ning Que said, "You were emotional by the South Sea, which made me very nervous. I can't imagine how you would deal with the situation if you were disappointed and angry with the whole human race."
Sangsang said, "When human beings need me, they worship me like a god. When they don't need me, they abandon me like grass. If you were in my position, how would you react?"
"I don't know. After all, I am not Haotian. I have not experienced the countless years of incense in the human world. Naturally, I can't understand the anger of being betrayed."
Ning Que said, "What I want to tell you is that human beings are not as cold and heartless as you think. You still have countless devout believers in the world."
Sangsang said, "That's because believing in me is good for those human beings."
Ning Que said, "Not all human beings only think from the perspective of interests. We are also affected by many other things. We are not born evil. We always have a kind heart to ourselves and the world we live in. I brought you to the Lanke Temple because I want you to see that kindness."
Sangsang said, "What kind of kindness do you want me to see?"
Ning Que said, "Master Qishan is the simplest and cleanest kindness of human beings."
Master Qishan was the most respected Bhadanta of the Buddhism Sect. He used his lifetime cultivation to exchange for the safety of the people in the torrential flood. He once took Lotus in and also wanted to cure Sangsang.
In terms of morality, the Master was the most impeccable person. For Ning Que and Sangsang back then, he was a kind teacher, whether it was in Buddhism or other aspects.
Sangsang agreed with Ning Que's view, but she did not agree with him.
"Qishan is good, but the starting point of his kindness is still the interests of human beings. Whether it is taking Lotus in or using the Buddha's chessboard to help the Daughter of Yama escape from the world, it is all the same."
Ning Que said, "Isn't this a great kindness?"
Sangsang looked at the peak quietly and said, "Buddha wants to deliver all living beings from suffering. All Buddhist disciples are diligent in their cultivation. But I am not among all living beings. How can Buddhism save me?"
…
…
(This is a good story. Again, although I may not have written it very well, in my heart, Jiang Ye should be over 80 now. The next chapter will be later, around midnight.) (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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