The ethereal chiming of bells echoed slowly throughout the mountains and forests.
Monk Xumi walked step by step from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain.
It has been many years since he returned to Damitao Temple.
Under the cover of clouds and mist, the ancient mountain temple remains as sacred, ancient, majestic and full of mystery as ever.
Among the woods on both sides of the road, you can often see some Buddha statues of different shapes.
Most of them have compassionate faces and low eyebrows.
But there are also some who show angry and ferocious expressions.
The monks who practice at Damitao Temple spend their days in the mountains and forests, selecting stones that suit their liking and carving Buddha statues.
What they carve is the stone in their hands, but what they form is the Buddha in their hearts.
When the Buddha statue in your hand is perfectly carved, the Buddha in your heart will also be perfect.
Xumi's return this time was not just to revisit his old place.
Back then, a fellow disciple he met had his Nirvana Ceremony today. And Xumi happened to have a whim, and after some calculations, he returned to Damitao Temple to meet his old friend.
Taoism cultivates this life, Buddhism cultivates the next life.
For Taoists, the qualifications for cultivation are critical and important.
Unless there is an expert who is willing to pay the price to change the fate of someone with mediocre qualifications.
Therefore, practitioners who are not qualified enough should not enter the Taoist sect, so as not to waste years and only draw water from a bamboo basket in vain.
But Buddhism is different.
They pay more attention to practice, and understanding should come first, but perseverance and determination are also crucial.
If there are people with poor talents, they will focus on practicing Buddhism to strengthen their spirit, and then enter reincarnation under the protection of Buddhism in order to seek the next life.
On the Dharma Propaganda Square on the top of the mountain, an old monk with a fluttering white beard, a cassock and a treasure was sitting solemnly on a pile of firewood.
Surrounded by a large number of fellow monks and believers.
Xumi was also among the crowd, and he did not hide himself.
But when he doesn't want to be known, no one can see his true face.
The old monk's Dharma name is "Xuxing", and he is the same generation as Sumeru.
A hundred years ago, everyone was young.
A hundred years later, Xumi still looks like a young man, with unparalleled grace.
But his former fellow disciple has grown old.
He sat on the pile of firewood, his eyes cloudy.
He has no hope in this life.
Because of his poor qualifications, it has always been difficult to get started in the art of Qi training. He has only mastered some superficial body-building techniques. For more than a hundred years, he has lost both Qi and blood, and his days are numbered.
As for the essence of Buddhism... these are too nihilistic. No one knows whether they can really protect the original mind and not be confused in the next life.
Xumi just looked at him from a distance.
In a dazed moment, he even felt that the monk sitting on the pyre... was him.
If he changes places, will he be the same as Xuxing a hundred years later?
Thinking of this, Xumi felt a strange throbbing in his heart.
His eyes flashed across the huge crowd of believers.
Then, under the stimulation of his true energy, layers of mist filled with golden light appeared on the Propaganda Square.
Originally, his eyes were cloudy and he could no longer see clearly the human figure three meters away. Suddenly, his eyes became clear and bright.
His aging body also had an inexplicable vitality.
In the hazy fog, he vaguely saw a woman holding incense and worshiping.
Her appearance may not be amazing.
Vaguely...but she looks very much like the girl from the house next door before he got tonsured.
Those memories that had long been forgotten under the increasing polish of Buddhism suddenly came to mind like morning dew, morning breeze, starry night and moon shadow.
The long-lost throbbing made his heart beat wildly.
The thick fog gradually dispersed under the strong wind.
The sound of drums and bells came from the top of the mountain.
The warrior monk, with a strong build and thin clothes, walked to the firewood pile with a torch in his hand.
Then pass the torch to Xuxing.
He still needs to light this fire himself.
Xu Xing stretched out his hand.
But he suddenly took his hand back.
The monk who handed over the torch had a cold look in his eyes.
The eminent monk sitting down and holding fire for nirvana is just a joke to a real great practitioner.
However, it is still very effective for the people to popularize the law and to win over believers.
Xu Xing stretched his somewhat numb legs.
Then he stood up from the firewood shivering.
He lifted up his clothes and walked slowly down the Nirvana stage.
"Master Xu Xing...why are you doing this?" the monk asked, standing in front of the old monk Xu Xing.
There was an inexplicable excitement in Xu Xing's expression, and a strange vitality seemed to suddenly burst out of his aging body.
"I don't want to die, I want to live."
"I not only want to live... I also want to return to secular life." Xuxing said.
"Master Xu Xing! Do you know what you are talking about?" The monk sneered and asked, staring at Monk Xu Xing.
Monk Xu Xing said: "I said... I want to live, I want to practice, and I want to return to secular life."
"The mage has gone crazy?" the monk asked.
It's not just the monks nearby at this time.
Even the ordinary people who were worshiping in the distance noticed the abnormality and made buzzing comments one after another.
The eminent monk passed away and passed away in Nirvana!
The publicity to the outside world is that the meritorious deeds have been completed and that one will soon travel to the west for bliss.
That was about to meet the Buddha.
That's why there are so many ignorant believers who come to worship and pay homage. Even in order to have their "wishes" taken to the Western Heaven and known to the Buddha, they are willing to spend a lot of money to buy golden lanterns near the Nirvana Platform.
At this moment, if Su Xing does not reach nirvana.
How should we explain this to those believers?
"My mind has been moved, and my delusional thoughts have arisen. Even if I sit down and achieve nirvana, there will be no future life, and I will not see the Buddha." Xu Xing stretched out his hands like dry tree bark and clasped his hands in front of his chest and said.
"Have you broken the precepts?" The monk's eyes became colder and colder, and the bright and mighty Buddhist essence was already echoing in his sleeves.
Xu Xing said without any abnormality or guilt: "It's broken! Although the body is rotten, the mind is unruly. Hundreds of years of practice are all gone...!"
When he said this, there was no hint of sadness or loss in his tone, but rather joy.
The monk's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he was about to take action, secretly controlling everything.
But I saw the thick fog rising again.
When the monk came to his senses, the old monk Xu Xing, who was still close at hand, had disappeared.
A thousand miles in an instant, but only one breath.
Although Xu Xing barely understands spiritual practice, he has seen the world.
Knowing that at this time, someone with great supernatural powers took him away from the temple.
But I don’t know who he is, who has such courage to rob people at Damitao Temple.
When he saw the face of the person in front of him clearly, a strong sense of familiarity came over him.
"But...but Senior Brother Xumi in person?" Xuxing asked excitedly.
When they were both young monks, they had a close friendship and once lived in a Zen room.
It was only later that Xumi's talent for cultivation was discovered and he directly became a direct disciple of the inner courtyard of Damitao Temple.
However, he had no qualifications for practicing Buddhism, so he could only ring the bell at the outer door every day, chant sutras, and study Buddhist scriptures diligently, in order to understand the truth from the Buddhist scriptures and escape from the sea of suffering.
"Tell me... a hundred years of practice, a hundred years of purification, a hundred years of perseverance... why are you willing to give up?" Xumi did not exchange words with him, but asked directly.
When the thick fog lifted, Xumi did use some methods.
But this method is only a hint and guidance, not direct control.
Right now, he needs to get an answer from Xuxing that he has never understood.