Picking Hibiscus in Shejiang River

Relic clasped his hands in front of his chest, silently allowing the old monk to pluck off his temple hair.

The bell outside the temple has already rang, and the rustling of the pine leaves in the breeze is particularly ethereal in this clean place.A bit of the cold fragrance of wind and frost floated over, Sakyamuni opened his eyes from meditation, stood up and looked at the stunned person behind him, his originally clear eyes were empty.

Che Lian looked at him, the longing and enthusiasm in his heart slowly faded away, his unbelievable eyes trembled over his ocher monk robe, clasped palms, and the top of his head where all the hair had been shaved off. .After a long time, he said with difficulty:

"Ming'er... what are you... doing..."

He took a step forward and looked into those calm starry eyes, and asked: "You said that as the young master of the Yue family village in this life, you still have parents who need to take care of you, and you have to marry a wife and have children to succeed the village master. But how can I enter the empty door again?"

Chelian's voice trembled, and she couldn't hide the anger and fear in her heart.

Sakyamuni actually abandoned him just like that, abandoned his parents who still don't know why in Yuejiazhuang, shaved his degree in this desolate mountain in northern Shanxi, and became a monk; he gasped oppressively, closed his eyes and slowly Unfolding it slowly, standing beside him is still his lover in a monk's robe, not his illusion.

Sakyamuni bowed slightly to him, with his hands still clasped in front of his chest, and said in a flat voice: "The reincarnation of the two lives has been erroneous, and now I can climb to enlightenment; the poor monk has gone through two love calamities, so Today, if you truly attain the Tao, the four elements are empty. For the rest of your life, you wish to serve the World Honored One with the body of Bodhi, that’s all.”

His indifferent eyes fell on Che Lian's different attire from the past, he seemed to be surprised for a moment, but he quickly recovered his calm, still bowed, and planned to follow Ajali back to the meditation hall .

Che Lian stopped his way, pointed to her worldly attire and her black hair that had already fallen on her shoulders, and said with a wry smile: "I have torn up the certificate for you, took off the monk's clothes, and decided to return to the world to be your young master Ma'am, are you going to punish me with such a naughty joke?"

After hearing this, Sakyamuni sighed insignificantly, and still stared at him quietly. The ghostly candle shadow behind him jumped, and the faces of all the arhats also changed slightly, and their eyes focused on the Buddhist altar. On the two of them, it seemed like a silent ridicule.

Che Lian finally faintly flustered, stepped forward to hold his hands still clinging to the relic, and pleaded in a hoarse voice: "Ming'er, I know I was wrong... All this is due to me, it was my fault earlier. Don't Stop quarreling with me, how about we go find a place more beautiful than Xiaotaoshan to live in, and still live the fairy life in the illusion?"

Shi Jiayu frowned and glanced at the hand held by him. Although he didn't struggle, Che Lian could clearly see the indifference in his eyes.

So after all, he slowly let go of the hands that had lingered on his body, and slowly took a step back, forcibly suppressing the zhenqi rushing through his meridians, and swallowed the blood that welled up his throat.

……

He once thought that the Yueming River was a catastrophe of love that he could not survive, but he did not know that he was a catastrophe on the way of Sakyamuni to seek Buddha.

Now Sakyamuni has finally seen through his last obsession in the world of mortals; from now on, Chelian will no longer be his soul and dream, no longer his heart and soul, and will eventually become an ordinary person. Passing by his karma is as important as the sentient beings he needs compassion for.

But Chelian understood that all this was his own fault.After all, I was the one who failed to cherish the sincere affection of the boy at the beginning, and I was the one who chose to abandon him in the illusion.

"I still remember what you said that night in Canghaiju, the world is all vain, and only I am your infinite Buddha, your gentle hometown." Thinking of the young man who also hugged her and confessed her love, Che Lian, who fell into memory, seemed to be She smiled and said in a low voice, "...but you don't remember?"

Sakyamuni just listened silently, there seemed to be a gleam in his eyes, but he was quickly submerged in the tranquility of sedation, and finally said: "Amitabha." It seemed that he was just listening to other people's stories.

Che Lian stared at him for a long time, finally sighed softly, lowered her eyes in compromise, and pretended to be relaxed and said:

"Okay, after all, I was stupid back then and ignored you for ten years in Xiuning Temple; now I don't believe that you can let me go easily, it's just a punishment for me. You accompany me in this Sanbao Temple Buddha, I will stay with you under the Ridge of Twilight, waiting for the day when you change your mind."

After finishing speaking, he stopped looking at Sakyamuni's expression, turned and left Sanbao Temple, which was sunk into the desolate night.

……

That year, Che Lian really thought that Ming'er was just angry with her for a while, and that one day she couldn't hold back the boring life of a monk and came down the mountain to reunite with herself.

But I didn't know that we had been separated for ten years.

Descent

……

……

It's midsummer again, and the weather in northern Shanxi has been smooth and rainy for days, and the world is at a time of peace.In the past ten years, there have been national policies in central Beijing to benefit these remote places, and the villages in Mulingxia have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and the Sanbao Temple hidden in the barren mountains has also flourished with incense. It is rare to send some monks to the nearby Township to practice.

At noon, the sun was in full bloom, Sakyamuni was carrying a banana leaf, holding a Buddhist staff and walking along the steep mountain road with the monks, his eyes fell on the houses at the foot of the mountain from time to time, and he remembered the desolate northern Shanxi when he first went up the mountain It looks like, I feel a little emotional in my heart.

This is the first time he has gone down the mountain in ten years; in just ten years, the world is already a different scene.

The neighboring town is not too far from the Rumu Ridge surrounded by pines, so they didn't rush on their way, they walked down the mountain leisurely on the loess gravel, and rested at the herbal tea shop on the outskirts of the city.

Sakyamuni took the iced oolong tea from the doctor of tea, stared at the face of Huiseng in the tea bowl as silent as water, looked at the row of lush longevity bamboos in the corner as if thinking of something, and came back to his senses with a wry smile. After all, he finished his sip without saying a word, and followed the resting monks to stand up.

"Hey, old man!"

There was a stagnant muffled sound in his ear, and Shakya turned his head, only to see a gray-haired old woodcutter staggering out of the low bushes on the roadside, and fell at the feet of the monk at the end of the line. The straw sandals were covered with shocking blood.

Several monks around hurriedly helped him up, checked the injuries on his legs and feet, and then asked Dr. Tea for a bowl of white water, and carefully fed him to drink.The old woodcutter swallowed unconsciously, but he didn't say thank you, he just stared in the direction of Sakyamuni, his withered face covered by the straw hat was trembling, and after a long while he finally got up with difficulty, as if he wanted to move towards Sakyamuni. he comes.

"……Amitabha."

Sakyamuni took a step back calmly, and said to the young monk behind him, "Let's take out two taels of silver and give it to this benefactor."

The young monk nodded, counted out two or two ounces of silver from his luggage, and solemnly handed it to the poor old woodcutter, and said a little bit to Sakyamuni, which sounded like Buddha's light After hearing Du Zhiliu's empty talk, he said goodbye to him, and continued on their way together.

Sakyamuni looked at the string of relics that had been soaked in sweat in his hands, and there seemed to be an unknown emotion in his eyes for a moment, but he quickly returned to calm, stepping on the ground with the monks without saying a word. The green mud road in the countryside is very steady.

More than half an hour later, the young monk who had given the money to the old woodcutter suddenly looked back, leaned into Sakyamuni's ear and whispered: "Master Jiayu, the benefactor just now seems...seems to have been follow us."

Sakyamuni paused for a moment, then said in a flat voice, "What's so strange about this? It's just that they are going the same way."

"But……"

"Amitabha. Let him go."

The young monk frowned, obviously feeling that something was a little strange; but seeing that the old woodcutter was dressed in commoner clothes, he didn't look like a villain, he just followed the monks in a panic, and there was no danger at all. Then he didn't make another sound, and let Master Jiayu walk faster and faster, as if he really wanted to get rid of this person.

The Sanbao Temple has always rarely gone down the mountain, but once in a while it was really bad luck. The original shortcut was interrupted by the mountain bridge under construction, and we had to take a detour to enter the city from the remote north side of the jungle.When Kankan reached the gate of the city, it was getting dark and the monks were exhausted, so Sakyamuni did not insist on rushing, and found a deserted earth temple to teach them to rest for the night.

……

In the middle of the night, Sakyamuni woke up in the slightly cold dew, glanced at the warm thatch that was covered on his body at some point, and looked at the round moon outside the window. After a long silence, he finally put on his clothes and got up , walked out of the earth temple.

The moon is bright and the stars are rare.During the day, the old woodcutter who silently followed them was standing under an old pagoda tree, staring at him from a distance, his withered but not stooped figure trembling slightly, as if he wanted to walk towards him, But after all, he just shrank in place.

Sakyamuni stared at him for a long time, his veins bulging in the hand that was holding the relic tightly, and then quickly stepped forward and pulled him past, until he reached a dilapidated thatched hut behind the Earth Temple, and pushed him down. Among the messy haystacks, bully pressed up and asked:

"Why do you grow up like this? What about the half-volume photo book? Was it snatched away by some reckless villain?"

Hearing the voice of her beloved again after a lapse of ten years, Che Lian gasped for breath and tried to calm down her mind, staring at the too illusory handsome face in front of her, reaching out her hand to caress his brows and eyes as if fascinated, before saying in a hoarse voice for a long time : "No, it's just that I... didn't practice it..."

Sakyamuni frowned and said: "Why don't you practice? You are only one step away from breaking through the seventh layer of eternal youth. Why bother to waste all your previous efforts after revenge? There are so many people in the world who yearn for eternal life, but you don't know how to cherish it."