Sorry, don't read this chapter yet, let me change it...
Taku.
Chaoyin Temple.
The temple is built halfway up the mountain and requires a total of ninety-nine steps.
Tong Tong walked halfway, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said: "The weather is too hot... Mrs. Xu, let's take a rest?"
Mrs. Xu smiled and said: "If you sincerely worship Buddha, you have to walk the ninety-nine steps in one breath. You can't give up halfway like you."
Tong Tong looked up and saw that no one was taking a rest in the middle. He couldn't help but sigh and said, "Oh, the ninety-nine steps, when will we reach the end..."
Mrs. Xu said: "As the saying goes, a lazy man's eyes are like a lazy man. As long as he takes steps, he will reach the end soon."
"Okay...it's strange to say, why do you have to study at level ninety-nine? Isn't it better to just round up the whole number?"
"Buddhism emphasizes the Nine-Nine Return to True Truth, which means that everything returns to the starting point and then repeats its path, endlessly, over and over again. This is the way of heaven and earth."
"Mrs. Xu, what you said is so good!"
"I also heard what the mage in the temple said..."
"Actually, I didn't quite understand it. It was too convoluted, like a tongue twister."
"..."
"I can't walk anymore, rest for two minutes, just two minutes." Tong Tong walked a few steps and sat down on a bluestone stool by the roadside.
Mrs. Xu had no choice but to sit down with her and said, "Miss Tong, you should be more sincere in praying for your family."
Tong Tong took out his handkerchief and kept fanning his face. He looked at the faithful men and women passing by and said, "I am very sincere. From Hongqiao to Dagu, I took the tram, the rickshaw, and then climbed the mountain."
, I was delayed for more than an hour on the road..."
A young man walked over, and Tong Tong immediately stood up and said to Mrs. Xu: "Okay, enough rest, let's go."
The young man's name is Liu Song, and he is a member of the Youth League - Cui Duo once met him at the entrance of the Chinese Grand Theater.
Jiang Xinyu described Liu Song's physical features in detail last night, and Tong Tong recognized him at a glance.
Jiang Xinyu knew that anyone Cui Duo had secret contact with might be a lurker. As long as Liu Song agreed to join, he would definitely attend spy training.
Recently, Liu Song frequently traveled between Hongqiao and Dagu. Jiang Xinyu followed him twice and found that he went to Chaoyin Temple each time.
There are many inconveniences for Jiang Xinyu to appear in Chaoyin Temple. If he encounters a spy, as the captain of the operation of the Secrecy Bureau, what will he do to go to the temple in broad daylight?
Mrs. Xu is a frequent visitor to the temple, so Tongtong will look more natural if he goes with her.
Chaoyin Temple is composed of four parts, divided into four cross-courtyards from east to west, north and south, a three-story main hall, and eight side halls. It is dedicated to a total of 14 Buddhas including Guanyin of the South China Sea.
In the main hall, Mrs. Xu burned a stick of incense, knelt down on the futon devoutly, closed her eyes and prayed silently in her heart.
Tongtong followed suit, burned a stick of incense, and bowed several times to the Buddha statue. When she turned back, Liu Song, who was among the many good men and women, had disappeared.
…………
Chaoyin Temple is also called Shuangshan Temple because the mountain is named Shuangshan.
As the name suggests, Shuangshan means two peaks close to each other. Looking from a distance, the two mountains are connected and form an M shape.
The front mountain is called Chaoyin Temple, and the back mountain is called Liuxian Pavilion.
The so-called Liuxian actually refers to snakes.
Before the Manchus entered the country, they mainly believed in shamanism, and snakes were a magical symbol in shamanism.
Kangxi was a devout Buddhist. He once visited Chaoyin Temple in person and saw many exotic flowers and plants in the back mountain, so he said: "Everywhere you look is a fairyland, but there is no place for a shaman."
He just lamented for a moment that shamanism had long been declining. Except for a few believers in the Northeast, few people in other regions mentioned it.
After saying this, Kangxi drove back to Beijing without taking it seriously at all.
However, it has been the same from ancient times to the present. There are many people who are good at guessing the holy will. When the officials who followed him heard this, the emperor sighed that there was no shamanism in Shuangshan.
It took about half a year to build a Liuxian Pavilion in the back mountain.
Although it is called a pavilion, it is actually very grand with its carved beams and painted columns. Like the front mountain, it is also divided into four cross-courtyards: east, west, north and south.
After Liuxian Pavilion was built, some ministers invited Kangxi to come and see it, but Kangxi never went to Shuangshan again. As for why he didn't go, there is no historical record.
From then on, the local government no longer allocated funds for repairs, leaving Liuxian Pavilion to become dilapidated day after day year after year.
During the Guangxu period, finally, during several consecutive days of heavy rain, the East Cross Courtyard collapsed and turned into a pile of ruins.
After entering the Republic of China, wars continued for years, and the government had no energy to take care of these things. Liuxianting, which received little attention, could only continue to be deserted.
Dagu locals with high moral character and respectability launched a call, and the wealthy gentlemen responded one after another, donating money and materials, and finally the Liuxian Pavilion was repaired.
Liu Song left the Main Hall and walked along the winding bluestone road towards the back mountain.
He was not the only one on the road. In addition to burning incense and making wishes, many devotees who came to Shuangshan would stop by to visit Liuxian Pavilion.
Liu Xian Pavilion can only visit three courtyards. After the collapse of the east courtyard, the government sent people to put a seal and a warning sign was posted at the door: This place is dangerous and entry is prohibited!
Liu Song turned around and looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he ducked under the ruins.
Pushing aside the weeds and thorns, I came to the door of the side hall of the east cross courtyard and knocked on the door rhythmically, "Tuk, Tuk, Tuk, Tuk, Tuk, Tuk, Tuk!"
The door opened immediately, and Liu Song stepped in.
Compared with the dilapidation outside, the inside of the side hall is truly unique. The hall is clean and tidy, with brand-new desks and chairs placed in an orderly manner.
There is a blackboard standing on the offering table of "Liu Xian", and a table is placed in front of the blackboard.
The tables, chairs, and blackboards are all made from local materials and are made of wood from Liuxian Pavilion. Although they look a little rough, it definitely does not affect the use.
There were at least forty people in the side hall, most of whom were between twenty and forty years old, and there were five or six women among them.
With so many people, you can never hear the commotion.
If someone happened to pass by the door, they would think that there was no one in the side hall.
In fact, ordinary people can't come in, and people have been arranged to guard the outside.
The person standing in front of the blackboard was Cui Duo. He glanced at Liu Song and said, "You are ten minutes late."
Liu Song bowed and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch the tram."
Cui Duo said: "As a special agent, you must be mentally prepared for this kind of unexpected situation. There are many ways to avoid it. The simplest one is that you can go out earlier."
Liu Song bowed and sat behind a nearby desk.
Cui Duo didn't say any more, picked up the seal and wrote a few big words on the blackboard: Makeup.