The Path Toward Heaven

Deep in the backyard of Guocheng Temple, the quiet Zen room is covered with winter snow outside, and there is a small clay stove inside, and taro is boiled in the pot, exuding a faint food fragrance.

Zenzi was sitting on the couch, reading a book by the oil lamp.

He held two volumes of books in his hand, one was the anthology of the late emperor's poems, and the other was the half-garden menu.

No idea how he was able to read two very different books at the same time, or why he needed lights.

Zenzi suddenly felt something, and looked up at the oil lamp.

The next moment, a tiny flower suddenly burst out from the perfectly cut, not too short, not too long twig of the oil lamp.

Although tiny, it is still beautiful and moving.

The goddess scattered flowers?

Zenzi was thinking in a strange mood, could it be that some uncle came out of the Pagoda Forest to give lectures to his disciples?

He has a very high seniority in the Zen sect, not to mention the Guocheng Temple, but even looking at the seventy-two ancient temples in the Chaotian Continent, there are only a few who are qualified to be his uncles.

He suddenly thought of the letter written by Zhao Layue, and sensed that it should be in the direction of the vegetable garden, his expression changed slightly, and he summoned the monk Duhai to the meditation room.

Apart from him in Guocheng Temple, only Du Haiseng, the head of the law hall, knew Liu Shisui's origin.

You go to the vegetable garden to see for yourself...

Zenzi thought for a while and said, Don't disturb that little guy.

...

...

Liu Shisui walked out of the house and saw Xiao He wearing a single jacket standing in the cold wind, staring blankly at the pile of cabbages in the corner, and asked, What's wrong?

Seeing that he woke up, Xiao He said with some anxiety, Yin Fu hasn't come to pick up the food for three days.

Liu Shisui asked in a daze, How long have I been in samadhi?

Xiao He said, Three days.

For great virtuous and eminent monks of Zen Buddhism, it is normal for the time of entering meditation to be long or short.

Liu Shisui remained silent.

A few days ago, he was all focused on explaining the scriptures, so he didn't pay attention to many things. Looking back at this time, he naturally knew that something was wrong.

Even if this is Guocheng Temple, it is impossible for the handyman in the kitchen to have such profound Buddhist knowledge.

Naturally, Yin Fu couldn't be a real handyman, so who is he?

When I was a child, I often followed my grandma to listen to the stories of Buddhist scriptures told by masters. In those stories, eminent monks often transformed into old women to enlighten the lost world.

Xiao He was a little uncertain and said: That...could it be the eminent monk in the temple?

Liu Shisui had also read many similar stories in Buddhist scriptures, and thought that if this was the case, Zenzi treated him very well, and was very moved.

To prove this, he left the vegetable garden and went to the monastery.

The front yard of Guocheng Temple often communicates with people, and visits are not prohibited. Moreover, the Zhike monk knew that he was a farmer in the vegetable garden, so he naturally did not stop him.

Liu Shisui walked through many palaces and came to the kitchen, and found that the place that was usually full of heat was especially deserted today, so he murmured, What's wrong?

A fat monk sweeping the floor said, Today is Chinese New Year.

Liu Shisui asked in a daze, Does the great monk also celebrate the New Year?

The fat monk said angrily: Of course we can't do it, but those helpers are going to celebrate the New Year!

There was a faint sound of firecrackers in the distance outside the temple, presumably the tenant workers were drinking.

Liu Shisui thought that he and Xiao He had different ideas, and Yin Fu just went back to celebrate the New Year, so he asked.

The fat monk wanted to chase him away with a broom, and said, Go, go! We don't have such a person here, why are you playing around with me!

Liu Shisui thought it was true.

Thinking of the secret care taken by the eminent monk of Guocheng Temple, he would naturally not be angry because of the fat monk's rudeness, and said with a smile: Master, don't get angry.

The fat monk said angrily, You have pork to eat when Butcher Zhang died, but what about us? We can only eat the leftover steamed buns from last night! How can we not be sad!

...

...

Back in the vegetable garden, Liu Shisui was about to talk to Xiao He about getting some delicious food for Chinese New Year today, when he found that she had already prepared the dishes.

One plate was the lightest boiled cabbage leaves, without even a drop of soy sauce, and only a small plate of spicy fermented bean curd was placed beside it.

There is a large bowl of the most oily braised pork knuckles. It should be the best soy sauce, the sugar is also boiled very well, the color is perfect, and it is even more delicious.

There is also a pot of sauerkraut and mutton vermicelli soup, yellow and white.

The most beautiful thing is the red tripe tripe, with dozens of green onions sprinkled on it, which looks extremely attractive.

Liu Shisui likes to eat onions very much, but his favorite is tofu mixed with shallots.

Ascetics prefer to eat light food.

The young master never said this to him, he learned it secretly.

Xiao He was already a fan friend before living with him, so she naturally knew his preferences, and she was not disappointed when she saw him sitting directly in front of the tofu, carefully rolled up her sleeves, and prepared to pick up the whole pig's trotter in the bowl with her hands and gnaw it happily.

Liu Shisui signaled her to wait a while, turned around and entered the kitchen.

Xiao He was a little surprised, she didn't know whether to let go of her raised hands or just wait.

After a while, Liu Shisui came out from the kitchen, put two sets of bowls and chopsticks on the table, and picked up the jug to fill up two small cups.

Xiao He understood what he meant, and quickly helped to straighten the chopsticks, and then asked if he wanted to serve rice.

Liu Shisui said to let them drink two cups before eating.

Xiao He responded with a good voice, deliberately making her voice clear and delicate, just to make him feel better.

Then they started eating and drinking. Liu Shisui and Xiao He added vegetables to the two bowls from time to time.

After several times, Xiao He finally couldn't bear it anymore and asked, I know this must be Mr. Yan, so this...

Liu Shisui said, He is the grandson of the Western King.

The atmosphere suddenly became a little gloomy.

The two continued to bow their heads to eat.

The room was silent for a long time.

I don't know whether Mr. Yan and Xi Wangsun have eaten these dishes.

Xiao He ate very delicately, she didn't even use her hands to hold the pig's trotters, but poked slowly with her chopsticks.

The atmosphere was a bit depressing, not like Chinese New Year at all.

She raised her head and looked at Liu Shisui, thinking of saying something to make him happy.

During the festive season, we must miss our relatives.

From Xiao He's point of view, Liu Shisui should miss Jing Jiu a little, so he deliberately said, I don't know how Shenmo Peak is doing today.

Well... the young master is not a year old.

Liu Shisui remembered very clearly that when Jing Jiu was celebrating the New Year in the village, everything was very novel.

Apparently that was his first experience with this kind of thing.

He seldom thinks about Jing Jiu, because Jing Jiu must be living well, just like he doesn't worry about his parents, who are always in good health and eat delicious food.

The sound of firecrackers in the distance sounded again, and the night fell.

Liu Shisui thought of that senior with the pseudonym Yin Fu, and suddenly missed him, and didn't know when he would meet again by fate.

...

...

In the most remote place of the law hall of Guocheng Temple, there is a meditation room called Baishan.

Yin San and Patriarch Xuanyin wore monk clothes, sat on the futon, listened to the sound of firecrackers outside the temple, and looked at each other, both feeling a little bored.

For some reason, they did not leave Guocheng Temple, but hid here disguised as monks in the temple.

In order to teach him to read the scriptures, he was almost discovered. Why are you doing this, real man?

Patriarch Xuanyin looked at him and said.

Yin San smiled and didn't explain anything.

He has been suffering from being a teacher all his life.

He is the most outstanding teacher in the practice world, he personally taught three Tongtian, but they all betrayed him.

He has not taught anyone for many years, so it is inevitable that he misses it. Once again, rationality was overcome by sensibility, so there are lectures these days.

Perhaps this is the chance between Liu Shisui and him.

It is a pity that the Buddhist scripture Liu Shisui learned was about emptiness, but what he wanted to learn was birth and death.

There is a black bronze Buddha statue in the Baishan room, holding all kinds of magic tools in his hands, with a solemn and mighty aura.

If ordinary people looked at this Buddha statue, they would naturally feel awe, but Yin San and Xuanyin Patriarch would naturally not feel this way.

There are no offerings in front of the Buddha statue, only three bowls filled with clear water.

The bowl was made of some sort of skull-inlaid silver, and it smelled mysterious.

As the night gradually deepened, the sound of firecrackers sounded again, followed by distant bells.

Guocheng Temple is not a new year, but the monks ring the bell every day, and the bell announces the arrival of the new year.

Yin San opened his eyes, got up and walked to the Buddha.

Patriarch Xuanyin followed.

The bells kept ringing.

That is the sound of time.

Yin San said with emotion: The dead are like this.

Patriarch Xuanyin said sadly: So I don't give up day and night.

Yin San said: You must have fun.

After saying this, he picked up the water bowl and drank it down in one gulp.

Water splashed and wet the skirt of the clothes.

Like wine.

...

...

(Ze Tian Ji also wrote two lines of dialogue with similar meanings, which were said between Qiu Shanjun and Chen Changsheng.

Reluctant to give up day and night these four words are my QQ signature in recent years.

In the past two years, he often thought about certain things, although he knew that Sangsang must be laughing at that time.

Qiu Shan and Chang Sheng are both young, but Yin San is old.

The three words he said are the answers I can think of now, and I hope there will be more answers in the future. )