Fox Song

Chapter 73 Guigu Wangxu
No one is allowed to go up the mountain?
The middle-aged man looked up at the group of people. Linyin Temple was not big, so these people must be almost all of the temple.
But there is no reason to drive them all away, right?
“It seems that your abbot… is a little abnormal. Beating the drum to gather you together is to drive you away. Is there water in his brain…” the middle-aged backpacker laughed.

"Shut up!" the old monk's face darkened and he shouted.

He had been in Linyin Temple for many years and was considered a veteran. After so many years, the abbot was like a god in his heart, omnipotent and able to predict everything. Moreover, the abbot always cared about the temple and the monks. Because of this, he never dared to be disrespectful to him, let alone insults from outsiders.

This time, the abbot said that something big had happened and asked them to stay away for a day and go up the mountain tomorrow. They did not dare to disobey him in the slightest.

When the old monk shouted, the middle-aged man's heart trembled suddenly. He felt a powerful pressure coming towards him and could not help but take two steps back.

He was shocked, it seemed that this old monk was not simple either.

"Donor, please come down the mountain together!"

The old monk raised his hand and pointed down the mountain, saying lightly.

The middle-aged man's face was gloomy and uncertain. Finally, he sighed, turned around and walked down the mountain in a huff.

The old monk in the lead looked normal. He looked back at the Linyin Temple on the top of the mountain again and led everyone down the mountain.

……

Linyin Temple.

Half an hour ago, the temple was still filled with the sound of chanting and people were walking around from time to time. But now, the temple gates are closed and all the halls and rooms are empty.

There is a Bodhi tree planted in the front yard of Linyin Temple. It is unknown how many years old this Bodhi tree is. According to historical records, it existed before the temple was built. It is tall and green, and lush and verdant.

Throughout history, Linyin Temple was built and destroyed, and then rebuilt again due to forest fires, wars, or other reasons. The same is true for this ancient Bodhi tree, which has been burned, chopped, and struck by lightning, but has always stood firm.

At this time, an old monk in gray robes was sitting cross-legged under the ancient Bodhi tree. His face was covered with wrinkles like the gray-brown bark of the tree. His eyes were slightly closed and he was motionless, as if he was part of the Bodhi tree.

If Zixuan and others were there, they would be able to recognize at a glance that the old monk in meditation was the abbot of Linyin Temple, Master Zhiyuan.

The sky is clear and cloudless.

A flock of birds flew together in the azure sky. When flying over Linyin Temple, some of them landed on the Bodhi tree.

The treetops are like a canopy, bringing cool breezes. The birds are delighted, some perch on the branches, preening their feathers, some hop around, and some fly and circle among the trees, chirping non-stop, making the scene lively.

After a long time, the old monk suddenly opened his eyes, smiled and said: "Since you are here, come down!"

Just as he finished speaking, a few oval-shaped Bodhi leaves from deep in the crown of the Bodhi tree passed through the playful birds and fell down.

The old monk stood up and looked ahead with a smile. The leaves in front of him fell, and a breeze blew past him, and a green figure suddenly appeared.

The person who came was a middle-aged man, dressed in a green robe with wide sleeves fluttering in the wind. Standing there, he gave people a feeling of being ethereal and immortal.

He looked to be no more than 40 years old, tall with a long beard, but there were four moles on his forehead that made it difficult to look directly at him.

"Xuan Ji, how are you?"

The man in blue had a kind smile on his face and bowed gently.

"My Buddhist name is Zhiyuan, not Xuanji!" Zhiyuan clasped his hands together lightly and smiled calmly.

"You became a monk and changed your name to Zhiyuan? I'm still used to calling you Xuanji. Haha, in fact, whether you change it or not, you are still where you are, no increase or decrease." The man in green was stunned, then laughed.

“The name didn’t change, but the heart did!”

Xuan Ji laughed and said, "That makes sense! Wang Xu, you are still as interesting as ever!"

The man in green chuckled and flipped his right hand, and a white jade wine jug appeared in his hand.

"It's so boring to stand and talk like this. Let's go drink." He raised the wine pot in his hand, pulled Zhiyuan and said, "Monkey wine, it's the best wine, I won't give it to ordinary people..."

After saying that, he pulled Xuanji towards the right corner of the temple. Not far from the Bodhi tree, there was a stone table with four round stone pillars around it.

The sunlight filtered through the leaves of the Bodhi tree, spreading across the ground like gold and filling it with warm imagination.

Wang Xu took out two wine glasses from his pocket like a magic trick and gently placed them on the stone table. Then, he poured a glass for each person.

"Good wine! It's worthy of being called monkey wine!" Xuan Ji took a sip from the wine glass, then couldn't help but drink it all in one gulp.

"Of course, I have treasured this thing for a long time. It is hard to find in the world!" Wang Xu smiled with some pride and filled his glass again.

"You have been the abbot, so you probably haven't drunk alcohol for a long time, right? Today I can make an exception! Wine and meat pass through the intestines, but the Buddha remains in the heart. But don't drink it like water, that would waste my wine!"

Hearing this, Xuanji smiled and nodded. He no longer drank the next cup impatiently, but savored it carefully.

No wonder Wang Xu was so pleased with himself. This kind of wild wine was a coincidence, because real monkey wine is worth a fortune.

It is said that monkeys in the mountains picked hundreds of fruits in a tree hole to store them for the winter. If there was no shortage of food for the winter, the monkeys would forget about the hundreds of fruits they had stored in the hole, and the fruits would gradually ferment and become the hundreds of fruits wine.

To make monkey wine, the monkeys choose hollow trees to store the fruits. They must be trees that can ensure that the fruits will not rot during the winter. How many such trees are there? Moreover, they must be hollow and sealed... So, this kind of wild wine is hard to come by.

The two of them took turns drinking, and after a few drinks, they gradually started to talk less.

"Cheers!" Wang Xu raised his glass, clinked it with the cup, and took a sip.

Then, he continued slowly: "Xuan Ji! In this small world, the alliance has already sent someone to replace you. Do you still need to haggle with them? Since you can let the monks in the temple leave safely, you can also leave!"

Xuan Ji chuckled, "What's the point of living two more years? My spirit will dissipate sooner or later, so I might as well do something meaningful."

Hearing this, Wang Xu shook his head and laughed, "You said you entered Buddhism from Taoism, and you thought you were detached. In fact, deep down, you are still like a scholar in the world, and you want to take the world as your responsibility and support the country!"

"You hit the nail on the head!" Xuan Ji smiled bitterly and said, "I can't change this bad habit of mine! But why did you come here today?"

Wang Xu was stunned and sighed, "Do you even need to ask this? You should have expected me to come here, right? Although your brother forced me to go down to the lower world, no matter what, we came down from the upper world together, so we have to share the joys and sorrows together!"

"Alas, I did let you down back then!" Xuan Ji said with a gloomy look, "But today, you should have figured it out. Since you are involved in this matter, you will not be able to escape..."

"Where you came from, where you are going, isn't that better?" Wang Xu patted Xuan Ji's shoulder and laughed, "You left, and I stayed here alone. It's a bit lonely."

"It seems that you have made up your mind! No matter what, I promise you that I will send you back to the world!" Xuan Ji was quite moved, and then said seriously.

"It doesn't matter!" Wang Xu laughed, "After all these years, I think it's worth it."

"Haha! That's true. You have left your name in history here! Back then, not long after you came here, the world was in turmoil because of you. The disciples you taught casually, such as Sun Bin, Pang Juan, Su Qin, Zhang Yi, etc., were just a few people, but they made a great name for you in China as Guiguzi!"

Xuan Ji recalled the past and couldn't help but sigh, "After that, you practiced incognito and stopped teaching. Hundreds of years later, you changed your appearance and traveled around the East and the West, traveling around the countries, being a civilian, a businessman, a pirate, a general, and even an emperor... You played around with the East and the West, which was worthy of my Zongheng Valley!"

"I can't hide it from you, brother!" Wang Xu laughed, "My trick is just a trick. I'm sorry to make you laugh!"

"It's not a lie. Although you are the incarnation of a fairy grass, your intelligence is unimaginable!" Xuan Ji shook his head and said, "It's just that the spiritual energy of the small world is not as good as that of the big world, so it's hard for you to make any progress in your cultivation. It's a pity!"

"How can there be anything perfect in the world? I am already very satisfied." Wang Xu smiled indifferently and said indifferently.

"You are more open-minded than me!" Xuan Ji thought for a moment and said with a smile.
"Do you still remember how you transformed into a human form?"

I have always admired Gai Nie. I followed an episode of "The Legend of Qin" this afternoon, so I intend to let Guiguzi make a cameo appearance tonight. I hope you don't mind. Haha

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(End of this chapter)