The master comes down the mountain: I don’t want to be a son-in-law

Tianzhu Temple is on the mountain northwest of Qiantang Lake, and the mountain gate is halfway up the mountain.

Li Muchen climbed up the stairs and saw Monk Wuhua standing outside the mountain gate in the distance.

"Almsgiver Li, you are fine."

The temperament of Monk Hua today is completely different from that of a year ago, and he has a certain demeanor of an eminent monk.

Li Muchen smiled and said, "Are there any flowers in the temple?"

Wuhua clasped his hands together and said with a smile: "If there is anything in the donor's eyes, it is there; in the donor's eyes, there is nothing."

Li Muchen nodded and said, "I'm here to see Master Zhiren."

"Master knew that the donor was coming, so he specifically asked me to wait here. Donor Li, please!"

Wuhua stepped aside to get out of the way and made a gesture of invitation.

Li Muchen followed Wuhua into the temple.

The temple is small, surrounded by green trees, and very quiet.

Wuhua did not lead Li Muchen to the living room or the abbot's room, but to a high slope in the backyard of the temple. The slope is covered with sweet-scented osmanthus trees, and there is a pavilion high up. Sitting in the pavilion, you can see the panoramic view of Qiantang Lake.

Zhiren was sitting in the pavilion. When he saw Li Muchen coming, he stood up, saluted, and said with a smile:

"Donor Li came at just the right time. The osmanthus flowers in this temple are in full bloom. Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it is a rare long holiday every year. There will be more people coming to burn incense and enjoy the flowers. If you had come a day later, there would not be such tranquility. .”

Li Muchen glanced at the Wuhua monk next to him, laughed, and said: "The last time we said goodbye to the Huxin Pavilion, it was still midsummer, when all the flowers were blooming, but now there is only the fragrance of osmanthus left."

He stole a glance to see Zhiren's expression, but Zhiren always smiled, his eyes were like an ancient well, without any ripples.

"Every year of flowering, every year of human life, the cycle of heaven and earth, it is difficult to cross this body, why don't you follow me into Buddhism and cross to the other side together?" Zhi Ren said.

"Does the great monk always seize the opportunity to kill people like this? Does he want to trick me into the sea of ​​suffering and hell?"

"This life is a sea of ​​suffering, why should I lie to you?"

"Then why is the monk still here?" Li Muchen asked with a smile.

Chi Ren stood up, walked to the pavilion, and looked into the distance.

Qiantang Lake lies like a piece of green emerald surrounded by mountains. To the east of the lake is a bustling city with high-rise buildings spreading out like a carpet to the east.

Chi Ren's eyes fell on the path in the lake.

"If you stay here, you will never become a Buddha. But if I become a Buddha, what will you do? The world will be safe and sound, and I will live up to the Tathagata and you."

Although Li Muchen had long expected that there was a story about Zhi Ren, he was still curious as to what could this highly accomplished monk not let go of?

"Didn't the master say he had a story to tell me when we said goodbye last time?"

Zhiren turned around and said with a smile: "Donor Li is not here to listen to stories today, is he?"

Li Muchen knew that if he didn't listen to the story today, he might not be able to borrow money from Wang Gong, so he said, "But it doesn't hurt to listen."

Zhi Ren nodded and said: "Donor, please sit down and let me make tea for you. Please listen to me slowly."

Wuhua and Shang helped bring a small stove and tea set.

Chi-nin started telling a story while making tea.

"At the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, not long after Lingyin was first opened, there was a young novice monk named Yixin in the temple. He devoted himself to worshiping the Buddha, and followed the abbot's requirements every day, sweeping the floor, carrying water, and digging stone walls. One day, he knocked open a rock At that time, I found a frozen white snake. The young novice was compassionate, so he warmed the white snake with his body temperature, and then took it back to feed."

"In order to let the snake survive, Yi Xin broke the killing rule, secretly caught a rat, killed it and fed it with rat meat. After a few days, the white snake returned to normal. The snake was very spiritual and knew that Yi Xin was its savior. He is very docile and obedient. But keeping snakes in the temple is not a monk's practice, so he only plans to release the snakes into the forest."

"That day he released the snake in the back mountain of Lingyin and returned to the temple. But when he woke up the next morning, he found the snake sleeping peacefully beside his pillow. After releasing it several times, the white snake would come back. Isshin knew that the white snake I regard him as my family member, but he is actually a little reluctant to let go."

"So, he left the white snake in the temple, but he was careful not to let others find it. Fortunately, not long after Lingyin was first built at that time, Qiantang Lake was still connected to Haize. There were very few pilgrims going up the mountain and even fewer monks in the temple. No one noticed that he had raised a white snake. In this way, the white snake was raised in the temple for many years, and Yishin grew from a young novice to a monk."

"Yixin was brought into the temple by the abbot since he was a child. He has pure wisdom and is not stained by the secular world. The abbot trained him as his future successor, so he attached great importance to his full ordination. On the day of his ordination, the abbot also invited several Buddhist monks to come over and also invited Pilgrims from the city came to support us.”

"The ordination ceremony was very rigorous and took a long time. The little white snake couldn't bear to return, so it wandered out and went to the front hall. The ceremony happened to have ended at that time, the monks gathered together to talk about Zen, and the pilgrims went to the hall to offer incense. One day When a female pilgrim knelt down, she happened to crush the white snake hidden under the futon. In desperation, the white snake bit the pilgrim."

"The story of Yixin raising snakes was exposed like this. This made the abbot very embarrassed. In anger, he drove Yixin out of Lingyin Temple. The rich lady who was bitten by the white snake sent many servants to the mountain to hunt the snakes. I went through Feilai Peak and killed several sacks of snakes, big and small."

"Yixin felt very guilty. He always felt that those snakes died because of him, and he was worried about the safety of the white snake. After he came down from the mountain, he had nowhere to go. He had become a monk since he was a child and knew nothing except Amitabha. He carried water and cooked. Yes, but no one wants to recruit someone who has been kicked out of the temple to return home. Qiantang was still a small community at that time, and his story has long been spread."

"He just begged for alms all the way. He said it was alms, but in fact he was begging for food. In less than half a year, he had turned into a sallow, skinny, half-human, half-ghost. Once he fainted in the countryside of Qiantang and woke up. When I found myself lying in a hut, it turned out that I had been rescued."

"The one who saved him was a girl. He was soaked all over, but the girl didn't mind. She brought him water and medicine, and saved him from the Lord of Hell. The girl asked him if he wanted to stay and work, and nothing else. , providing two full meals a day. It’s not easy for someone to take her in, and of course I’m willing to do it.”

"In this way, Yixin settled in the girl's house, worked in the fields every day, and helped fetch water for cooking when he came back. He had not accomplished anything else in the temple, but his hands and feet were diligent and he did the work carefully. The girl was very satisfied with him. The only bad thing is that I look worried all day long.”

"The girl asked him, why do you never smile? Is there anything bothering you? He immediately talked about the White Snake. He was worried all day long whether the White Snake would be beaten to death by the servants, and if he escaped, would he go there? Are you looking for him? If you can’t find him in the west, will you run back to Lingyin Temple to wait for him?”

"After listening to Yi Xin's words, the girl suddenly smiled and transformed into a white snake. Only then did Yi Xin realize that the girl was transformed into a white snake. While he was shocked, his heart dropped, and his mood dropped. It was great immediately. They settled down to live in this shabby hut in the countryside, living a simple but satisfying life."

"Not long after, the girl became pregnant, and her belly was getting bigger day by day. Of course Ishin was happy, but White Snake was in a low mood. Ishin asked her what was going on, and she said that being together with a demon is against the laws of nature. I don’t know what kind of monster the child will be. Isshin doesn’t think it’s okay. Monsters are monsters, as long as they are happy.”

"But what Ixin didn't expect was that there was no child in the girl's belly at all. On the day of delivery, she only gave birth to a ball of black energy and flew into the sky. Then, an old man came down and without any explanation, dropped a talisman and the girl died. It showed its original shape and turned into a thick and long white snake, and then was cut into two pieces by the old Taoist sword."