Chapter 26: The monk seeks the Buddha and does not shy away from the world
After crossing the wilderness, you can see the village ahead.
There were cries carried in the early summer wind, mixed with the smell of blood.
The monk walked against the wind in the bloody direction. The farmland crops on both sides of the road were scattered here and there. It could be seen that they were planted absent-mindedly and there was no maintenance in the later period. Now they are trampled by the hooves of people and horses. This year's harvest will not be harvested.
The path at the end of the farmland turned into a main road leading to the village.
The road surface is smooth and smooth, not inferior to the official road where troops can move, horses and carts rolling. You can imagine the wealth of this village.
There is a boundary monument erected on the road. The stone is complete and the carvings are exquisite. The three characters of Dingjiazhuang are simple and vicissitudes of life.
The monk stopped and sighed from under his bamboo hat. He burned the tree demon to death two years ago, but it still failed to prevent the disaster from coming to the village.
The whole Great Xia was in chaos, how could a small village be spared.
The monk tapped his bamboo stick across the stone monument and walked into the village. Whether it was a brick house or a mud house with thatched roof, it was all turned into ruins and black and scorched. From time to time, corpses were seen lying among them.
The monk searched for the cries and found a dozen survivors, most of whom were young children who had been hidden in the cellar by their families and escaped.
Because the heyday was so long, many families did not build cellars, or the cellars were small, so they could only put the young children of the family in them.
When the children saw the monk's robe, even though it was stained with blood, everyone rushed towards them as if they were seeing gods, crying and shouting for help.
The monk comforted them and checked the village to confirm that no one could live here for the time being.
"Let's go to Yunmeng Mountain." He said, holding the two young children in his arms.
The other children helped themselves, the older ones with smaller backs, the uninjured ones helped the injured ones, and the group stumbled forward following the monk.
Yunmeng Mountain is as high as ever and densely forested, with no traces of fire or trampling. However, no birds can be heard and no rabbits or pheasants can be seen in the forest. It has become a dead mountain.
The Taoist temple is still there, the door is closed, branches and leaves are scattered in front of the door, and grass grows on the door wall, making Qingfeng Temple less immortal.
The monk knocked on the door for a long time, and the children also begged to open the door before they heard footsteps inside. They peeked inside to make sure they were not soldiers and thieves, and then the door opened with a creak.
"Amitabha." The monk held two young children in his arms and could not take off his bamboo hat. He only leaned forward and saluted.
The old man who opened the door looked at the big round bamboo hat with surprise on his face: "Master Mu! You are here."
After hearing Master Mu's call, several Taoist priests hiding behind immediately rushed out, as happy as if they had seen an immortal.
The monk and his entourage were welcomed in, and the child in his arms was taken away. He reached out and took off his bamboo hat, revealing a delicate, clean and resolute face in the sunlight.
An old Taoist looked at this face and shed turbid tears: "Master Mu, I haven't seen you for two years, but your description remains the same. It's great."
Monk Mu said: "Where is the Fifth Taoist Master? Is he okay?"
The old man's tears flowed more violently.
Monk Mu's heart sank slightly, could it be...
"The master of the temple left when the rebellion first started." Old Taoist cried. "He said he wanted to go deeper into the mountains to find a way, and he would return ten years later."
Monk Mu's heart returned to its original position, and he knew that this old Taoist was most afraid of death, so he ran away first.
"These are the survivors of Dingjiazhuang. Please take them in," he said.
When the monastery leader was there, Monk Mu was the master of their monastery. Now that the monastery leader was gone, Monk Mu was even more the master of everyone.
It's nice to have a master here.
The Taoist priests happily took the children, took them to wash and bandage their wounds, and made a fire to cook.
Monk Mu went straight into the room of the Five Taoists. Although the Five Taoists left their disciples and ran away ruthlessly, the room was still kept tidy and clean. There were no melon and fruit scented candles in front of the statue of Sanqing, and there was clear and fresh mountain spring water.
The wooden monk sat on the mat with his back to the statue and began to meditate. The sunlight crawled onto his face from the window and then slid down reluctantly. The room was lively and everything seemed to be still.
The Taoist temple became noisy because of the number of children. The Taoist priests were walking around, the children were groaning in pain, and they were crying about missing their relatives. None of this disturbed Monk Mu.
He did not come out to see how the children were being treated, and the Taoist priests did not come to disturb him. They only came in quietly and placed a bowl of mountain spring water in front of Monk Mu.
Monk Mu didn't finish his meditation practice until three days later. He walked out of the house and stood in the early morning sunshine. A layer of green stubble appeared on his face, but his eyes were brighter, and his long eyebrows were slightly wrinkled.
"Master Mu, what's wrong?" the old Taoist asked carefully from outside.
Monk Mu looked at the rising sun and said, "The way of heaven remains the same, but something seems wrong."
The old Taoist practice is too short to understand the master of the contemplation, let alone this monk who is afraid of the master of the contemplation. When he hears that something is wrong, he doesn’t know what to say. He stands aside muttering in panic. The whole world is wrong.
The red sun was dazzling, making people dizzy. Monk Mu closed his eyes, opened them again, looked back, picked up the wooden stick by the door and stepped forward: "I'm leaving."
The old Taoist was startled: "Where are you going?" Do you want to leave too and go to the deep mountains and forests to find Buddha?
Monk Mu said: "Go to the nearest Jiangnan Road first."
The old Taoist reached out and grabbed his monk's robe: "Master, in the north, Madam Chu and Ma Jiang fought fiercely on Huainan Road. Ande Zhonglian captured the thirteen cities in the southeast. Jiangnan Road is already in danger. We have just passed through the rebels here, but they are
The safest place.”
Monk Mu smiled and said, "I am different from the Five Taoists. He retreats from the world to seek the Tao, while I enter the world and seek the Buddha."
He stretched out his hand and pointed in a direction with his wooden stick.
"The peaceful and prosperous times are Buddhas, and the raging wars are also Buddhas."
When there is peace and prosperity, there will be chaos and war, and when there is chaos and chaos, there will be peace and prosperity. Everything is caused by cause and effect, and everything is the order of heaven.
The old Taoist knew that he could not stop Monk Mu from leaving, just as the master of the temple could not stop the monk from entering for food and accommodation, so he had to send him off with tears in his eyes, and everyone else followed.
"Master, how can we live?" A child asked the Buddha in tears.
Monk Mu turned around and said: "Live at the expense of life, die in hope of life."
The children did not understand the Buddhist teachings of Zen, just as they did not understand how the day had turned out like this, but they knew that nothing could stop it. They could only watch the wooden monk float away with his staff, like an immortal walking on clouds in the dense forest in the morning light.
Immortals come and go without a trace, so they cannot be by your side forever.
One child wiped his nose and said blankly: "I heard from my parents that Mrs. Chu from Guangzhou Prefecture in Huainan Road is an immortal. She guards Huainan Road and protects everyone who comes to her."
At that time, my parents were hesitant to go to Gwangju, but after all, it was hard to leave their homeland, so they always thought that disaster would not come, but in the end...
The child covered his face and cried.
...
...
In Gangneung Prefecture, not only children were crying, but adults were also crying. Every house was closed, but the streets were full of people, bumping into each other like headless flies.
"You can't leave the city. The rebels have already attacked. If you go out, you will die."
"The rebels are coming. If you stay in the city, you will die."
Going out of the city or hiding at home seems to be a dead end, leaving people with no choice.
The Li family mansion was also in chaos.
"What's going on? What's going on?" Mrs. Li hurriedly walked out of the back house surrounded by a group of women without using a cane, "Why aren't you leaving?"
Li Fengchang was surrounded by a group of housekeepers and servants who were in chaos. When he heard his mother's question, he squeezed over and answered: "Mom, wait a moment, our soldiers and horses haven't come back yet."
Mrs. Li stamped her feet and cursed: "God damn Jiangling Mansion, how can you borrow our soldiers and horses! Are our soldiers and horses used as cattle and horses for others!"