At times like this, smart girls usually wouldn't speak. They would just lower their heads shyly. Smarter girls would probably take the opportunity to snuggle into a man's arms. Only overly smart girls would ask that question: Do you mean the flowers are prettier, or am I prettier?
Sangsang would not ask such a question. She did not show any shyness on her face, nor would she snuggle into Ning Que's arms. She acted as if she had heard nothing and went straight to the other side of the cliff yard.
Ning Que was a little disappointed. But he felt very satisfied and happy when he saw the small white flower on her temple gently trembling in the evening wind and noticed that she did not want to take it off.
"Have you seen my Second Brother?"
He pushed away the dense green vines and chased after Sangsang to ask. In his opinion, Second Brother should be meditating on the Dharma on the peak or somewhere in the Commandment Yard. Sangsang should have seen him when she was looking for Buddha.
Sangsang did not turn around. She kept walking with her hands behind her back and said, "Idiot."
Ning Que could not remember how many times she had called him an idiot. His anger had long turned into numbness. He shook his head helplessly and realized that he was really an idiot when he saw the scene below the peak.
As dusk fell, the giant sinkhole surrounded by the cliff became extremely dark. Only the field near the peak could be vaguely seen because of the reflection of the yellow temple roof.
There were countless black spots moving slowly in the field below the peak, looking like diligent ants. Ning Que knew that they were the farmers that he and Sangsang had seen before.
That year at the edge of the giant sinkhole, Ning Que estimated that there were more than a thousand monks in Xuankong Temple and at least a hundred thousand people living in the field to maintain this Buddhist country. Now that he came to the Xuankong Temple, he found that there were countless temples on this mountain, and the number of monks they supported was far beyond his imagination. There were at least tens of thousands of monks, which meant that there were millions of farmers who had been living in the dark underground world for generations.
In order to maintain the existence of Xuankong Temple, the monks had to drive these farmers like livestock. In this sense, those farmers were more like serfs that had long been abolished in the Central Plains.
The more difficult the place was, the stricter the social class was. Ning Que looked at the black spots moving slowly at the foot of the mountain and understood that those serfs must be carrying out daily offerings to the monks. His expression gradually became solemn, as if he had seen those tragic scenes that he had not really seen.
At that time, he and Sangsang only took a glance at Xuankong Temple and left quietly. At that time, he thought that if he was a man of great wisdom and courage, he might climb down the cliff and secretly go to the miserable world under the clouds to launch a rebellion among the serfs and overthrow the deformed Xuankong Temple. But he was not.
Someone was wise and brave.
That person was naturally Second Senior Brother Jun Mo.
Jun Mo left Chang 'an and traveled thousands of miles to Xuankong Temple to cultivate Buddhism. However, with his temperament, how could he cultivate Buddhism after seeing the real situation of Xuankong Temple?
Practicing Buddhism was not worshipping Buddha. Jun Mo saw that the world was so miserable. Not to mention kowtowing in front of Buddha, he would definitely draw his sword in anger and kill the monks and Buddha in the temple first!
Ning Que searched for Jun Mo in the Xuankong Temple. No wonder Sangsang called him an idiot.
"Senior Brother must be down there." He looked at the gradually darkening miserable world at the foot of the mountain and said, "I'm going there to see him. Do you want to go with me?"
Sangsang came to Xuankong Temple to find Buddha. He thought that she would not be willing to spend time with him to find Second Senior Brother, but he did not expect that she would agree.
Climbing the peak last night and descending the mountain tonight, the yellow temples and palaces along the way were naturally different because of their different moods. In Ning Que's eyes, there was no difference between them and the White Bone Mountain in the Front Gate of Devil's Doctrine.
When he climbed the mountain last night, he saw the magnificent and solemn temples and thought that it was natural for Xuankong Temple to be the holy land of Buddhism. But now he knew that it was not the case. Xuankong Temple was isolated from the world, but it could be so magnificent. It must have absorbed the marrow of the serfs at the foot of the mountain. The more magnificent the temple was, the more miserable the world under the mountain was.
Walking down the giant peak and away from the ancient temple of Buddha land, they came to the real miserable world. The green and joyful field in his eyes yesterday now looked so gloomy in the night.
The night could not completely blind Ning Que's eyes. He and Sangsang moved forward in silence, and his eyes slowly swept across the field. He saw fields with different kinds of rice, underground rivers with hot steam, and even a few mountains. But these mountains were too inconspicuous compared to the giant peak, just like mounds of earth.
At the bend of the river, he saw the place where people panned for gold. He also saw many arms cut off by sharp weapons. Behind the hill, he saw gems and emeralds in the grass. He also saw the corpses that were eaten by vultures. Occasionally, he could hear the strange cries of birds.
The field was not completely dark, and he could see many bonfires emitting light. Tents and yurts were scattered on the ground. Nobles who were as fat as pigs wore all kinds of gem necklaces, held wine utensils made of skulls, and stepped on girls' naked breasts with their muddy feet.
No matter which tribe it was, there were always a lot of valiant men standing next to the nobles. Those men held whips and sharp knives in their hands. Sometimes the whips fell on the cows and sheep, but more often on the female slaves. The sharp knives were sometimes used to cut the mutton, but more often they were stabbed into the chests of the men or the fathers of the female slaves. Blood and wine mixed together. The nobles seemed so happy, while the cowardly and numb serfs could only keep kneeling in front of the temples on the mountain peaks, like useless ants.
It was understandable that they were cowardly and numb. However, when those serfs used their hands to offer the most precious gold and silver and the most chaste daughters to the monks, they looked so happy.
There were not many monks in the field, but they had a status that even the nobles could not imagine. They sat in the warm yurts, and their palms gently fell on the heads of their believers or on the girls who knelt beside them. The scene was a little weird. It was a mixture of holiness and obscenity, very mysterious but still dirty.
Ning Que looked at the tent in the distance and listened to the chanting and moaning coming from there. After a moment of silence, he shook his head and said, "It's really ugly."
The small white flower in Sangsang's hair gently trembled in the night wind.
He looked at her and asked, "Why?"
Ning Que had a very deep understanding of the ugly and tragic side of the human world. He did not know how much he had seen since he was a child. However, he could not understand why such an extremely unstable social structure could last for so many years, and why people living here could endure for so many years and even seemed very happy.
"As I said, this is a well."
Sangsang looked at the cliff in the distant night sky and said, "They are like frogs in a well and can't see anything. When they see the monks on the mountain, they think they are real Buddhas. And Buddhas are the most deceptive."
Ning Que thought for a moment and said, "Second Brother is right. All monks should die."
Sangsang said, "The Academy has always only looked at Heaven, not the human world."
She did not show any sarcasm on her face, but Ning Que knew what she wanted to say. However, even someone as unreasonable as him could not defend himself after seeing this miserable world.
"You are right."
He said, "But since Second Brother is here, the Academy will definitely take care of it."
Ning Que and Sangsang walked a little slowly because they wanted to see. They did not walk until the next morning. The morning light illuminated the Xuankong Temple between the peaks, but they were still a long distance away from the cliff.
The closer they were to the cliff and the farther they were from the peak where the Xuankong Temple was located, the lower the temperature was, the poorer the crops were, and the more enslaved the serfs were and the more miserable their lives were.
The agricultural products in the field gradually became scarce, and the cold-resistant weeds gradually became lush. Cows and sheep with their long gray hair walked slowly in the meadow. There were piles of stones in the grass, and tattered banners were hanging on them.
Ning Que had seen some piles of stones and banners the day before yesterday, but he did not pay much attention to them. Now when he walked closer, he found the scattered black blood and a faint smell of blood on the stones.
As they moved forward, he and Sangsang saw more disabled serfs who had been tortured. Some had their tongues cut off, some had their ears cut off, and some had their calf bones smashed. They were in all kinds of miserable and miserable states. They looked so miserable and ugly that he couldn't bear to look at them anymore.
Ning Que knew that his Senior Brother must be in the most miserable place, so he knew that he was on the right path. Sangsang could not find the Buddha, but it was not difficult to find someone. So he took him to the depths of the meadow.
Cattle and sheep were scattered on the meadow, as beautiful as clouds, but the color was a little out of place. Not far from the sheep, there must be a shabby yurt. Behind the yurt, there was often a lake. The lake water was blue, salty or sweet.
A large area of wetland was formed naturally by the lake water, and the aquatic plants were extremely abundant. A little girl in a dirty old leather coat was waving a small whip to drive her four lambs.
Ning Que and Sangsang looked at the little girl and subconsciously thought of Tang Xiaotang.
It was probably the first time for the little girl to see strangers, but she was not afraid at all. She smiled and waved to them. The smile on her dark face was so clean, and her teeth were so white that it made people dizzy.
Ning Que looked at her and smiled.
The little girl drove the four lambs to them. Without saying anything, she took Ning Que's hand and led him and Sangsang to the yurt, meaning that they would be guests.
This field was deep underground, isolated from the world, and outsiders could not find it. But it was still the human world.
Ning Que thought of the cruel scenes he had seen that night, and then looked at the little girl holding his hand. Suddenly, he thought of the ruined City of Wei and the young men and women dancing around the bonfire outside the City of Wei.
Hell and heaven were both in the human world.
Sangsang said, "Ignorance is naivety, and naivety is cruelty. Can't you see through it?"
Ning Que said, "Even so, there is no need to say it."
At this moment, he saw the scene on the other side of the lake.
There was a crowd of people kneeling on the ground, surrounding a monk.
The monk was wearing a dirty khaki robe, and the sleeve of his right arm kept swinging in the wind.
If it was someone else, it would be very ugly. But with his solemn and elegant demeanor, it looked so proper and proper, and no one could find any fault with it.
…
…
(Chapter Three, and, before twelve o 'clock, come out, Chapter Four. Hell and heaven are both in the human world. This is the lyric of Dou Wei's song, which was used when Lotus was born. A few days ago, a reader @ me on Weibo. I saw it, but I didn't reply. Then, I suddenly realized that it was a good use here.) (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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