Mysterious Martial Arts: The Record of the Swordsman

Chapter 207

Xitan Temple was originally quiet at night, but suddenly felt like being thrown into the still water of raging charcoal fire. Flames and noise came and went one after another, all surrounding this small wooden scripture building, and the inscription "Fayun Pavilion" was also illuminated under the firelight. wooden plaque.

There were figures like flowing flames, but the monks holding the torches just stopped under the wooden building, lest someone should miss a moment and burn all the scriptures to ashes. In the end, there were only a few eminent monks The Zen master came hand in hand with the light of the fire, turned around the wooden ladder and appeared in front of Jiang Wen.

"Amitabha, why did the almsgiver break into my Buddhist scriptures in Fayun Pavilion late at night?"

Monk Dajing put his palms together and recited the Buddha's name, bowed his head and said to Jiang Wen, his voice was melodious like singing, but he could hear countless confusions.

And just when the old monks went upstairs, Jiang Wen had already tied the Hanwang Qingdao around his waist again, and stepped forward to stop Luo Shuang'er. replied.

"Several masters, I'm afraid that what happened tonight will take a lot of talking, and I don't want to babble here right now, just finish a few words."

Jiang Wen looked at the old monks with a serious expression, and the contrast between the tall and straight figure and the crooked figure was instantly sharp, "Just now a man in black broke into the temple intending to commit a crime, but I ran away in embarrassment after being knocked over by me, which triggered a scene. Fighting. It's just that the Fayun Pavilion you're talking about smells like blood, and I don't know if someone was killed."

The expressions of several old monks gradually became serious when they heard the words, as if they also sensed the strange smell in the air, but they didn't dare to challenge Jiang Wen with the weapon in hand, so they announced in low voices. After chanting the Buddha's name, he stood where he was and did not leave, turned around and ordered people to search around in the three-story wooden building.

At this time, the sutra shelf was tilted here and there, the sutra books were flying in all directions, and the scent of rue was mixed with the vague smell of blood. At this time, in the eyes of everyone who was nervous, the image of the Tathagata in the middle of Fayun Pavilion and Leba Kuo seemed to be quietly revealed. A ferocious and terrifying wrath appeared...

The timing of Jiang Wen's appearance is not very good. The man in black forcibly escaped, which means that everyone only witnessed Jiang Wen appearing here alone. The head is on.

More importantly, the men in black fled away, making all clues blurred. At least Jiang Wen couldn't guess at this time whether they were calling for a thief or not.

As time passed bit by bit, paradoxical things appeared.Several dispatched monks searched up and down the wooden scripture building in a big circle, even pulling away the spider webs to look carefully, but they still didn't find any strong clues.

After many comparisons, it was only confirmed that the second floor where Jiang Wen and the others were located had a particularly strong smell of blood, and several other monks also went back and forth, reporting to the eminent monks that the monks in the temple were not missing, and no one was seriously injured. fatal situation.

"Hey, it seems that you don't believe me, so Jiang won't stay here to make people bored, so let's just leave."

Jiang Wen took the opportunity to leave, but several elderly Zen masters stood in front of them without saying a word.

"Why? What do the masters have to say? Could it be that not only do you not believe me, but you also want to ask for an explanation?"

It's not that Jiang Wen looked down on these old monks. Naturally, there are old and powerful people in this world, but these people look haggard and have sloppy footsteps. At first glance, they look like eminent monks who don't care much about their skin.

As people who practice martial arts, one can tell at a glance that their veins are out of flow, their blood is weak, and the setting sun is gradually declining with age. It can be interpreted as fearless.

"Amitabha, don't blame the benefactor, all things are entangled, please ask Abbot Hongbian to make a decision..."

Zen Master Dajing said, he didn't talk too much, but insisted on waiting for the abbot to come. At least there is no difference in etiquette, and it is easier to accept.

Jiang Wen thought for a while, and stood in place with Luo Shuang'er and did not leave. He also wanted to see what kind of medicine these monks sold in the gourd. Now that neither the murderer nor the victim was found, what are they thinking? Head Koan.

Originally, Jiang Wen thought that the man in black was a character in Xitan Temple, but now it seems that he might really be a murderer from outside, but he happened to bump into him, and the two sides fought a lot. Make these troubles.

But if it is all a coincidence, it may not be all a coincidence, at least if a master like the man in black appears in Xitan Temple, it will definitely not be as simple as going to the wrong door.

"Abbot Hongbian!"

Calls came one after another from the wooden building, and it was as lively as a shopping mall, and then a series of hurried and fast footsteps came, and they stepped directly on the second floor of the Buddhist scripture wooden building. Before Shao's old monk had time to report the situation to him, he saw Abbot Hongbian passing through the crowd like a gust of wind, his cassock rushing towards the depths of the scriptures.

The belated abbot made Jiang Wen a little suspicious, wondering whether he might be the man in black who was injured by him. At this time, he appeared on the stage after a makeover, but Jiang Wen quickly ruled out this possibility. Because if the other party had been hit by his ecstasy palm, it was absolutely impossible for him to still have such agility.

What's more, the weirder and weirder Abbot Hongbian's posture is, the more he ignores others, the more it proves that he is not here to play a show, but has a more important purpose.

Jiang Wen stared into the darkness, and saw that Abbot Hongbian came straight to the Buddha statue on the second floor of the Buddhist scriptures wooden building with the smell of blood, stepped on a floor three times, and a mechanism suddenly protruded from the sutra stand, Push it in as an armrest, and a secret room suddenly opens in front of you, which happens to be hidden in the gap between the Tathagata Buddha and the scripture frame.

Several old monks showed astonishment in their eyes, obviously even they didn't know there was such a place in the wooden scripture building, but what Jiang Wen was more concerned about was that after Abbot Hongbian did something, he quickly got out of the closet. He carried out a black old monk covered in blood.

"How could it be Zen Master Anren!"

Monk Dajing exclaimed, "Shouldn't he be practicing meditation on the mountain!"

The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned. Only Abbot Hongbian, relying on his extraordinary meditation skills, commanded the novice outside the building to quickly bring medicine stone acupuncture, and then went down the mountain to invite a doctor. The old monks in front of him just bowed their heads. Chanting the Buddha's name, he recited the "Amitabha Sutra" and "Infinite Life Sutra" to save the souls of the dead, and his face was extremely sad.

The reason for their grief is obvious. The strong smell of blood came to the nostrils. Naturally, it had lingered in the closed room for a long time, and the old monk's two shoulder blades were folded back, and his chest was deeply sunken. Eyes, ears, mouth and nose were covered with dried up blood, apparently beaten to death by a master outsider after his muscles were dismembered.

This sinister and hot move is very consistent with the man in black who fought Jiang Wen before, but there are obvious doubts on the timeline.

Jiang Wen had originally bumped into him on the stone path outside the mountain gate, and followed all the way into the Fayun Pavilion, but judging from the injuries on the old monk's body, it was natural that he had been trapped in the closed room for a long time, and now the only explanation is , that is, the man in black sneaked in to kill first, and then was bumped by Jiang Wen. He wanted to escape into the Fayun Pavilion to hide, but he didn't expect Jiang Wen's lightness kung fu to be extraordinary, so he bit his tail tightly and chased him up.

It is speculated that the other party's ability to enter the temple and kill people without anyone noticing must be due to his extreme confidence in his own lightness kung fu.

"Sister Shuang, how did you find this place?"

Jiang Wen asked softly.

"I noticed that someone approached the guest house just now."

Luo Shuang'er frowned lightly and replied, "I chased him after he was far away, and I heard the sound of you guys fighting here."

When the two were talking, the old monks also looked at each other, not knowing what to do.One of Jiang Wen's hands was still hanging in front of his chest due to a broken bone. Obviously, he couldn't bend his limbs to such an extent. The suspicion of murder has been greatly reduced, so Jiang Wen naturally entered the mode of watching a movie.

The pale moonlight shone into the Fayun Pavilion, and quietly climbed onto the side of the old monk's face, revealing a tragic death, his limbs seemed to have been stiff and rigid, and only the few spots on the corpse could be completely judged as dead.

But the dark old monk who died tragically was put on a stretcher. Even though no one thought he was still alive, Abbot Hongbian still insisted on not letting others move the body, and even refused the respect of other monks. The doctor came to see him.

"Abbot Hongbian, the dead are dead, and the living are like this. Jiang actually has a little knowledge of medical skills. Why don't you let me feel the pulse of this master. If things go wrong, I hope I can go to the earth as soon as possible and live in bliss."

Jiang Wen volunteered to speak, but was stopped by Abbot Hongbian.

"There is no need to bother the benefactor with this matter..."

But Jiang Wen seemed to want to get away from Xitan Temple as soon as possible, and repeatedly asked himself to feel his pulse. This kind of delay made Dajing monk and the others dumbfounded. Instead, people opened their mouths to speak for Jiang Wen—since everyone is dead, what difference does it make to feel the pulse?

Taking advantage of Abbot Hongbian's inattention, Jiang Wen, who was in charge after the request, bypassed the barriers and put one arm of the corpse, sticking it against the icy cold skin, but he didn't expect that after a convenient pulse diagnosis, he jumped like an electric shock. stand up.

There were shadows in Fayun Pavilion, and because it was inconvenient to light lamps and fires, they could only rely on the cold moonlight for illumination, but under this period of obscure moonlight, two shadows suddenly stretched and elongated until they reached the feet of several old monks. Stop at the end!

One is naturally Jiang Wen's figure jumping up, and the other jumping up with Jiang Wen turned out to be an old monk who was lying on the ground and bleeding from his orifices just now. The monks can also vaguely see a shadow!

The Fayun Pavilion was filled with blood, and the old monk's corpse stood up suddenly, almost rubbing the tip of Jiang Wen's nose and sitting up, his old melon skin-colored face was lifeless, his eyes were fixed on the front like a dead fish, only The shoulder blades that were folded back were still trembling, and there seemed to be a sneer in the gloomy appearance.

"Cheat corpse!"

"Run!"

I don't know who yelled, and the monks downstairs, whether they saw or heard it, ran away as if they had seen a ghost. In an instant, the wooden scripture building changed from overcrowded to empty, with only a few elders left. The monk still hesitated to stand where he was, at least he didn't lose his composure suddenly, but the appearance of the two battles was far from enough to be called stable.

"Let's go back first, too."

Abbot Hongbian sighed, and let several eminent old monks leave together. At this time, only himself, Jiang and Luo were left in the Fayun Pavilion.

"Amitabha, why does the donor act like this?"

Abbot Hongbian looked calm, stroking the old monk's stiff and straight body with his hands, sighed slowly and looked at Jiang Wen, and he could clearly see his smile that couldn't be hidden.

"Sorry, abbot, I also guessed that you had to wait until the doctor because you wanted to perform a 'rejuvenation', but I think it would be a good time to 'resurrect the soul' again today."

Jiang Wen gradually faded his playful expression, and said with emotion: "I never thought that this master could practice meditation to such an extent that he would almost cut off the attachment to life and death."

The zombie thing in the world may not be groundless, but the old monk who seems to be dead in front of him is a matter of course. Although his injuries are serious, he just survived the dangerous period by relying on the method of tortoise breathing and suspended animation, and even cheated the pain The man in black who killed the killer saved his own life - this kind of kung fu is not everywhere in the world, but it is by no means rare.

Just now, Jiang Wen just injected an internal force into him, turning the old monk who was feigning death into a fake corpse. At this time, he recovered from the dead state as if he had thawed out. It is no wonder that Abbot Hongbian would prohibit others from approaching. On the one hand, he was so determined to invite the doctor to come.

Abbot Hongbian, with his beard and hair all white, continued to support the old monk's back and said, "Master Anren has cultivated the internal strength of the Cold Mountain to such a high level that one day he might be able to attain the Arhatship and cut off all doubts. Almighty Master, there are no outsiders here now. You If you have anything to say, just say it.”

Jiang Wen shook his head slowly: "Abbot Hongbian, you haven't explained clearly to us during the day, shouldn't it be better to be open and honest first?"

Abbot Hongbian was silent for a while without speaking.

"Abbot, then I might as well just say it straight. Jiang heard the head monks on the beam today saying that the warehouse of Xitan Temple is empty. Oh, yes, the two of them seem to say they want to eat us."

Abbot Hongbian raised his head in embarrassment, showing a look of embarrassment: "Hey... this is a disrespectful statement by the monk, but our temple has no intention of embarrassing you two... Xitan Temple is now at the end of its rope. The monks had no other choice, so they only wanted to solicit good karma..."

Jiang Wen said in disbelief, "Xitan Temple has come to such a field?"

Abbot Hongbian sighed, and covered his face with the sleeve of his cassock: "It's ashamed to say, but now Xitan Temple fasts for a month and only eats one meal a day, which is a last resort. If there is no way out, why are you so close Favor?"

Jiang Wen also thought of the wild vegetable dumpling and rice soup at dinner, and said bluntly, "It's really unbelievable. May I ask that your huge temple is backed by the Mu family and has [-] acres of temple property. How could it fall like this for no reason? Where?"

Abbot Hongbian lowered his eyebrows and bowed his head, chanting scriptures to himself. Luo Shuang'er originally couldn't bear Jiang Wen's pressuring the old monk so much, and wanted to stop her, but before she could speak, she turned around and Jiang Wen mentioned it again. , it seems that I really can't figure this out.

This strange action made Luo Shuang'er instantly contemplate, and muttered to herself, "I seem to understand..."

Jiang Wen nodded with some relief, and said to Luo Shuanger: "Of course you should understand, basically you should understand, if my head is not full of messy thoughts, I should have guessed the problem long ago!"

There are two to three hundred monks in Xitan Temple. The storehouse should be rich and abundant. Even if it is used to give out meals, you can ask the Mu family to reimburse these expenses at any time. It is impossible for all members to fast. Hunger and suffer.

So Jiang Wen made the most unconstrained explanation, that is, the grain of Xitan Temple was used in a place that "cannot be advertised to the outside world" and "cannot be explained clearly"-for example, there are hundreds of rice buckets that can eat and drink suddenly. He ran to the temple and ate up all their meals.

"It turned out that the abbot of Southern Shaolin was helping you. Jiang was really unexpected..."

If it wasn't for Jiang Wen's inexplicable arrival in Yunnan from the South China Sea, if he hadn't known about the unexplainable existence of Wuyang Secret Dao, if he hadn't been curious about Xitan Temple out of an inexplicable sense of sight, he would never have "funded the rebellion" Abbot Hongbian's head was suddenly charged with the crime.

Abbot Hongbian was startled when he heard the words, but the old face gradually revealed the meaning that it was so true, and the eyes he looked at Jiang Wen were also mixed with vigilance and sudden surprise.

"Amitabha."

The breeze in the fields and the bright moon in the sky suddenly settled down again at this time, the silence speaks louder than the sound, Abbot Hongbian didn't say much, he said everything in just one sentence, Jiang Wen also smiled and shook his head without saying a word, and turned to He looked at the old monk who was about to wake up.

"I have heard about the Hanshan Neigong practiced by this master. It is said that it was created by Master Hanshan. Although his skills are superb, his successors are on the verge of extinction. More than ten years ago, he was introduced into the Taiyi Gate by Tie Songzi, the master of Wudang. , but I didn’t expect to see it here, and the fusion with the four dhyana and eight samadhis is so seamless.”

Jiang Wen commented on the martial arts of the old monk in front of him, and another burst of true energy helped him regain consciousness, but at this time he never mentioned the matter of Nan Shaolin, as if he was not the one who was aggressive just now.

"Benefactor, Master Zhi Shan told the old monk that someone would come, and the sudden appearance of the two of them naturally made the old monk speculate, but now to be honest, I don't want you to come."

Abbot Hongbian was still hesitant at first, but when he saw that Jiang Wen was able to speak out the martial arts practiced by Master Anren, he finally let go of his guard and said to the two, "The purpose of meeting today is to test the benefactor, but now Xitan Temple is in great trouble. I don't want to drag the two of you down anymore..."

Abbot Hongbian stood up and pointed to the old monk who was seriously injured and dying: "Do you two benefactors expect who did this?"

Jiang Wen shook his head: "I'm not sure. I was in a hurry just now when we fought, and I couldn't find out the opponent's background."

"Amitabha."

Abbot Hongbian turned his back to them and said with a wry smile: "Even though the identity of the murderer is mysterious, the old monk knows that he was sent by Wu Sangui, King of Pingxi..."

As soon as King Pingxi uttered the three words, Jiang Wen's heart skipped a beat—how could he deal with these hapless vassal kings wherever he went?
Previously, he was involved in the affairs of Prince Jingnan's Mansion in Fuzhou, and then he was involved in the plans of Prince Pingnan's Mansion in Guangzhou. Now that they have all gone to the deep mountains and old forests, they still stand in front of King Pingxi?Could it be that Wu Sangui already knew that Xitan Temple sheltered Southern Shaolin and participated in the Guangzhou Rebellion?
But after listening to Abbot Hongbian's explanation, Jiang Wen could only helplessly express that there is something wrong with his system, which is unlucky wherever he goes.

In fact, this matter has little to do with Xitan Temple, and more importantly, it is caused by Dali chieftain Mu's family.

In the 16th year of Shunzhi last year, Wu Sangui led the Qing army into Yunnan. The prefect Mu Yi "scrambled to be the first to surrender", and the following year, he was approved to "continue to assume the post of local magistrate and manage the original place". Logically, the transition should be smooth and safe.

However, Wu Sangui's thinking is exactly the same as Shang Kexi's. He wants to use the place where he resides as his throne and enjoy the treatment that Mujiayong was in Yunnan at the beginning. Therefore, after he has dealt with Hong Chengchou, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, he will naturally point the finger at Dali. Well established wood home.

Half a month ago, when the news of the Guangzhou Rebellion came out, Wu Sangui summoned Mu Yi, the current local prefect of Dali, in the name of "joining the military". Forcibly taking away the golden seal given by the Yuan Dynasty and the Mu family's control of the frontier, and by the way, putting Mu Yi, the contemporary patriarch, under house arrest.

The Mu family has no leader, and Xitan Temple, as the family temple of the Mu family, naturally cut off the supplies and fell into a difficult situation.Wu Sangui would not directly deal with Xitan Temple, but the men and horses of Pingxi Palace were eager to make contributions, but they also wrote to ask for the engravings of scriptures collected in Xitan Temple. The spiritual pillar, the effect is as insidious as digging people's ancestral graves.

If the scripture engraving is given, Xitan Temple will no longer have a foothold on Jizu Mountain, and this imperial gift Zen forest will become a joke, but if it is not given, the Pingxi Palace will naturally have countless swords and dark swords against them , will be a dead end in the end.

When Abbot Hongbian said this with a wry smile, he was naturally lamenting the truth of karma and retribution. He secretly cooperating with the rebels did a perfect job, but he couldn’t escape the retribution of the Mu family’s solidarity. Xitan Temple will eventually fall under the karma in its own cycle.

Abbot Hongbian thought that Jiang Wen and the two would leave after he finished the details. After all, it was Xitan Temple and monks like them who had been enshrined by the Mu family for decades. There was no need for other people to get involved with this However, Jiang Wen chatted about other things without realizing it.

"Abbot, looking at your current appearance, you must be starving to death before the Pingxi Palace has opened the door. You might as well listen to my subordinates. At least when the other party comes to the door, you have to break your wrists at the Pingxi Palace. .”

Abbot Hongbian asked Jiang Wen in disbelief, "What does the benefactor mean?"

Jiang Wen smiled while talking, "Jiang means that the most dangerous place is the safest place. I couldn't catch up with the bustle of Guangzhou City, and the fun here is so much fun for King Pingxi." Never miss it again..."

(End of this chapter)