ps: Thank you Yi Feng, zps364 for the reward, and thank Yi Feng for your monthly vote.
Houlu came up with a brilliant idea. He ordered people to go to Western Liaoze to beg Guru Shanneng and come to Raole Mountain to pray for rain. Houlu admired Guru Shanneng’s power very much. What happened to the people of the tribe? The guru can easily expel evil spirits. Not only that, the guru can predict the future and predict misfortune. Hoelu remembers that before he went to Dayakou to attack the Xi people, he once asked his guru about good or bad luck. At that time, the guru shook his head and said nothing. , with evasive eyes, Huolu didn't understand until this moment that his master was not optimistic about his expedition! The facts confirmed the master's prediction, so Huolu thought that even good and bad fortunes could be foreseen, and it must be difficult to pray for rain. Don’t fall for the master.
Today is the day when the guru arrives. In order to show his respect, Huolu went ten miles away to greet him. He hoped that his sincerity would move the guru and let him bring a heavy rain to the Khitan people.
The bell rang, the chimes melodious, and a cavalry team came from the distance. Dozens of cavalry surrounded a cart. There was a mage sitting on the cart, it was Shanneng. Shanneng sat down with his eyebrows lowered, making seals with his hands, and murmured Reciting softly, the golden flags of the treasure boy on the car and the canopy of celebrating clouds look like a great virtue and power!
Hoelu quickly stood up and greeted him. He said respectfully in front of the chariot: "Master, Hoelu has come to greet the chariot. Hoelu really feels sorry for having to work so hard for the master to travel such a long distance."
Shanneng recited the Buddha's name from the mouth of the car and said softly: "I've been waiting for you for a long time, layman. The poor monk is chanting sutras and praying for rain. It's inconvenient to get out of the car. Don't be surprised, layman."
Huolu said happily: "You don't have to get off the car, the master is just chanting sutras... Well, Huolu will lead the way for the master." After that, he jumped on his horse and was the first to clear the way.
Monk Huiyuan, who was sitting behind the car, whispered: "What? Is your health bad after sitting in the car for too long?"
"My legs are numb..."
Abaoji heard that Huolu had invited Master Shanneng to the army, so he came over to meet him, chatted for a few words, and then left. His respect for Shanneng was only based on Buddhism, and he did not think that the master could really be like Huolu. Lu Suoyun prayed for heavy rain, but he did not mention this in the conversation. He just said a few polite words and rushed back to handle military affairs, leaving only Huo Lu here to serve diligently.
"Master, I wonder if this prayer for rain will be successful?" Huelu asked with great expectation.
"The poor monk will try his best. But the Buddha's teachings contain the power of Buddha. The power of Buddha is the gathering of believers from all directions. How sincere the thoughts of the believers are, the power of Buddha will be great."
How could Shanneng pray for rain? He and Huiyuan were half entangled and half forced into the car by the personal guards sent by Huolu to welcome him. Even here, he could only play tricks and calculate the cost of praying for rain with the so-called " The meaning is very clear: I can come and help you pray for rain. But don’t blame me if you can’t pray for rain. That’s because you Khitan “believers” don’t have enough faith!
Shan Neng's explanation made Huo Lu confused, and he couldn't quite understand it. But when he heard that Shan Neng would try his best to pray for rain, he put his worries aside and ordered his bodyguard to take care of him. He went back to organize his armor and prepare for the rain. Next, he launched an attack.
As soon as Huolu left, Shanneng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and looked at each other with Monk Huiyuan, speechless for a long time.
After being silent for a while, Shanneng finally said: "What should we do? If it doesn't rain, will Huolu kill us two?"
The biggest worry in Huiyuan's heart was revealed by Shanneng. Her heart suddenly jumped: "How about we escape?"
"How to escape? There were Khitan people guarding us along the way, and when we got here we were surrounded by a large army..." Shanneng looked frustrated.
"Didn't you say it all before, 'The more sincere the thoughts of the believers, the greater the power of the Buddha'..." Huiyuan swallowed.
"Is it useful? Just this explanation? If it really doesn't rain, will Huolu let us go in a rage?" Shanneng asked Huiyuan. At the same time, he was also asking himself.
Huiyuan was speechless. He didn't dare to put his life on such an unreliable excuse. After thinking about it, he suddenly had an idea: "How about you say that the landscape and feng shui here are not good, and let's find a good place.
Pray for rain at the Legislative Forum?”
Shanneng hesitated and said: "Huolu will send people to keep an eye on it..."
After finding the light, Huiyuan's thinking also opened up: "Whether you let him send people or not is not a matter of your words? Just say that you should not disturb him when praying for rain, and that ordinary people should retreat ten miles away to prevent the Buddha's power from being contaminated.
"
Shanneng's eyes lit up: "What a good plan! Well, it's absolutely possible. Where do you think we should set up the altar? To the east, right? Buyeo City is more than three hundred miles away and is the nearest refuge. We only need to prepare three to four
It’s enough to eat food for the whole day. This is also easy to handle, just ask Huolu to send it over, just say it. There are also horses, which must be prepared. It’s best to have two horses per person, so that’s four horses... By the way, you
Do you want to take Zhao San with you? This guy is very smart and has been serving me very attentively these days."
"It's up to you, take it with you if you want. But I don't think it's a good idea to escape to Buyeo. We'd better go back to Yongxiang Temple or Liucheng..."
"Why? It takes five to six hundred miles to go south. Even if we don't lose our way, we have to run for five or six days in a row..." Shan Neng was puzzled.
"For more than five or six days, we cannot go south in a straight line. We must find water sources along the way. It is best to walk along a stream. Otherwise, it will be a lot to carry drinking water. The horses are too heavy and we will run very slowly.
"
"Then you still choose to go south?"
"Don't forget our identities. If we go to Buyeo and are recognized, wouldn't it be exposed? Can Gaodu Yu spare us?"
When Huiyuan mentioned this matter, Shanneng was stunned for a moment, and suddenly said: "You said... if we run away like this, does it count as being AWOL? Will Gao Duyu spare us? For
Gao Duyu and his colleagues at the top and bottom have worked very hard to set up this site..."
Huiyuan took a breath of cold air and patted his forehead: "It doesn't matter if you run away, or if you don't escape... Do you really have to wait for God to rain? If God doesn't rain, will we just wait to lose our heads?"
Shan Neng said with a bitter face: "But have you ever thought about it? If it really rains, it will be very detrimental to our Yingzhou Army. Governor Li will be trapped in the opposite circle by the Khitan people..."
Huiyuan snorted coldly: "Raining? Is it possible? It hasn't rained in the whole autumn! Look at this day, it's clear and cloudless, where did you get the rain from? Don't think about this now, think about it first.
What to do? What are your plans?"
Shanneng spread his hands and said: "I don't know either..."
After many discussions, there was no result. The two could only wait and hope that an opportunity would appear. For example, if the Yingzhou Army had a rapid victory in the past few days, the problem of praying for rain would be automatically solved. But such an opportunity did not appear.
The two armies are still facing each other at the foot of Raole Mountain. If you don't fight me, I won't fight you, so Shanneng and Huiyuan can only worry.
But Huolu didn't give them any time to wait. He rushed to Shanneng and Huiyuan's camps all day long.
"Master, what's wrong?"
"Layers, please be patient and don't be impatient..."
"Master, how are you today?"
"Layers, please be patient and don't be impatient..."
"Master, my army is ready. Will it rain today?"
"Layers, please be patient and don't be impatient..."
"Master, how long do we have to wait? The army really can't wait any longer!"
"Layers, please be patient and don't be impatient..."
"Master, if it doesn't rain again, don't blame Holu for being upset! Everyone must look bad!"
"Layman...layman, please don't be upset. It seems that the feng shui and mountains and rivers here are not suitable for me as a poor monk. I need to choose another place to build the altar."
As Huo Lu gradually showed his impatience, Shan Neng could no longer withstand the pressure. No matter what, he tried to save his life. As for the future, he couldn't care about it now.
Shanneng delayed for two days, slowly walking around Raole Mountain, mumbling words and making various incomprehensible gestures. Finally, he chose a high slope fifteen miles away due south, and set off on a high slope.
The various magical instruments brought with the car were arranged properly, and an altar was set up.
In accordance with Shan Neng's repeated instructions, Huo Lu had to evacuate the Khitan cavalry. Before he left, his doubtful eyes stared directly at Shan Neng's face, which made Shan Neng's scalp explode.
The two of them sat at the "Dharma Altar" for a whole day. In the evening, Huiyuan left the "Dharma Altar" and went south. At night, he returned dejectedly and sat down on the edge of the "Dharma Altar".
Then he fell to the ground on his back, and all the strength in his body seemed to be drained away.
"What's wrong?" Shanneng was anxious and pushed Huiyuan hard.
Huiyuan looked sideways at Zhao San who was still cleaning up the bonfire in the distance, and said with a wry smile: "We can't leave. Huolu has arranged a lot of rangers in all directions in the south. I made an excuse to check the Feng Shui, and they let me back. These
The rangers are all used by Huolu to protect our safety. They said that there is chaos in the southeast, and Aping is encircling and suppressing the Huaiyue coalition forces..."
Shan Neng was dejected: "Huo Lu is the only one who doesn't trust us..."
Huiyuan sighed: "Tomorrow I will go to the west and east to see..."
Shanneng didn't say anything. He felt weak all over and fell on the grass, looking up at the vast starry sky.
Shan Neng raised his eyes in confusion and counted the stars. Pictures jumped in front of his eyes from time to time. The war-torn grassland, the screams that were close to his ears but far away, and the curses of Gao Duyu roaring at him.
, a series of vague Buddhist names, and then he seemed to see Huo Lu roaring ferociously at him, and a sword as high as a mountain suddenly struck his forehead...
Shan Neng was so frightened that when he closed his eyes, everything went dark. When he opened his eyes, he realized that it was just a dream. He turned around and saw that the bonfire lit by Zhao San in the distance had only a few embers and a faint glow.
It was swaying in the night and seemed to be extinguished at any moment. There was a continuous snoring sound coming from beside me, but it was from Huiyuan.
Shan Neng took a deep breath to calm down his heartbeat caused by the nightmare. He was stunned for a long time and looked at the night sky again, only to find that all the stars in the sky seemed to be hiding, and there was only deep and low darkness in front of him.
A faint breeze blew across his cheeks, and Shan Neng smelled a fresh breath in his nose. He quickly sat up with his hands on the ground, and at some point the felt blanket covering his body was lifted by him, and he held his breath
, raising his neck high, as if he wanted to send his entire face into the unknown night.
Bit by bit, drop by drop, string by string, piece by piece, Shanneng greedily raised his hands and hugged the air.
"What's wrong?" Huiyuan jumped up and looked around in disbelief.
"It's raining..."
At the same time, in Changdian, more than two hundred miles away to the southeast, Aping stood blankly outside the camp, looking at the raindrops falling all over the sky. The depression of the whole army being in trouble due to the tragic defeat during the day was swept away. Gao Gao
The voice said: "Come here! Order the warriors to get up, we are preparing to break out at night! Let Chitai and Wen Jin come to my big tent to discuss matters!"