Mysterious Martial Arts: The Record of the Swordsman

Chapter 209

On the way back to the mountain, the little monk Pinzhao followed Jiang Wen eagerly, as if he wanted to learn his "supernatural powers" from Jiang Wen, especially when he saw Jiang Wenfu subdue two very different Yunnan horses as soon as he stretched out his hand At that time, the little monk almost changed his court on the spot.

When several people returned to the mountain gate, it was already scorching sun at noon, and Pin Zong took the two of them back to Xitan Temple according to the abbot's order, and the little novice finally changed his attitude, as if he had just remembered that he was actually a monk.

"Uh, two benefactors, the abbot Hongbian seems to be out, and the little monk still has some things to do in the Keliao, so let's go first..."

Seeing that the little monk ran away quickly and escaped from the persistent entanglement of the other party, Jiang Wen breathed a sigh of relief and looked around.

The abbot’s meditation room is also called Zhang’s room. It is the place where the abbot and abbot of the temple preach scriptures. Originally, it should be a square in length, width, and sides, which is a small room of less than ten square meters.

The interior of the house is spacious and bright, the furnishings are antique and fragrant, and the scent of incense is lingering. Although the objects in the house are old, you can see that they are extraordinary just by looking around. Splashed ink is full of freehand brushwork.

Jiang Wen originally wanted to take this opportunity to show Luo Shuang'er the level of appreciation of calligraphy and painting, but unfortunately his hobbies are only in the textual research of ancient books and documents, and the purpose of art creation is just like that, so after watching it for a long time, he can't tell what is good about it. It is only slightly discernible that there are "Wu", "Dong", "Qian", "Li" and other surnames in the inscribed inscriptions. If you think about it, you should have visited the calligraphy left by the giants in the literary world of Xitan Temple.

At this time, the shadows of pine and bamboo outside the meditation room are shaking, there are rustling sounds in the empty corridor, and there are layers of shadows in the miscellaneous trees. shade.The extremely empty and dusty atmosphere lingered in his ears. No matter where Jiang Wen looked at at this time, he could see a quite Zen-like scene, which slowly resolved the anxiety that had been waiting for the abbot Hongbian for a long time.

Luo Shuang'er was also sitting quietly at the side, but her demure expression was more like a middle school girl who was forced to travel by her parents. After wasting her precious life waiting for no reason, she finally spoke to Jiang Wen:
"...The abbot hasn't come back yet, can we go back to the living room and wait?"

"Of course it won't work. The most important thing in walking the rivers and lakes is faith."

Jiang Wen sat on a low-backed chair, leaning back slowly, without arrogance or impetuosity, "Since the abbot is in a hurry to find us, it means that he has something important to discuss, so naturally he can't delay a second..."

"Is that so? But why do I feel that you have other intentions?"

Luo Shuang'er looked sideways at Jiang Wen, and the corners of her brows and eyes often showed a graceful look, which made Jiang Wen feel that Ningdie should spend more time with such a little girl.

Jiang Wen said with a helpless smile: "It's not for you that I tried my best to find medicine and medical treatment. Since you saw it, why didn't you mention it?"

"Oh, but you obviously don't trust the abbot very much."

Luo Shuang'er lay down on the table bored, her cheeks puffed up, and asked in a low voice, "The old abbot trusts us quite a bit, and I don't feel any malice from him..."

Jiang Wen laughed when he heard this sentence, and said in the tone of an elder introducing his life experience: "You have lost all your martial arts now, and you can no longer see people clearly, so you have to think about other people's thoughts and minds in order to distinguish Right and wrong, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, once negligent, there may be disaster."

He turned his head and pointed to a pair of regular and clumsy plaques in the room. The two plaques on the left and right totaled eight characters, which were "Miaoben Hongda, Pin Liuxing".

"Look, this is the calligraphy left by the former abbot of Xitan Temple. These eight characters are pre-arranged as the character generation, so that later monks can choose the name of the Dharma in order to determine the number of generations of Dharma descendants."

Luo Shuang'er looked up at the plaque, and immediately understood what Jiang Wen said. Now the monks in Xitan Temple are counted from Abbot Hongbian, and the monks behind are indeed composed of the "Da" and "Pin" generations. The fifth generation is also in line with the history of temple construction during the Wanli period.

"When Abbot Hongbian became a monk, he worshiped Benwu Zen Master as his teacher and received 250 precepts. It stands to reason that his disciples should also use the word 'Hong' as their dharma name. But now there is only one of his peers in Xitan Temple. An Ren, the identities and situations of the two are very different, have you ever thought about the reason for this?"

After listening to Jiang Wen's alarmist words face to face, Luo Shuang'er raised her face and thought for a long time, then shook her head and did not speak.

"Then let me ask you another question."

Jiang Wen didn't answer, but changed his sitting position and continued: "Last night, Xitan Temple was attacked, the lights were all bright, and the noise was loud. There is no reason why people don't know it. The temple on Jizu Mountain has heard of chickens and dogs, but there is no school. When people came out to visit, it made us feel like we were in an empty mountain, what do you think is the reason?"

When things go wrong, there must be monsters, so Jiang Wen also made his words very clear, "Speaking of some people, they seem to be highly respected, and no one is dissatisfied on the stage, but they may not be able to act brightly. son……"

Luo Shuang'er opened her almond eyes slightly, and asked abruptly, "Why do I feel... are you alluding to my father?"

"Uh, Sister Shuang, you think too much, why would I deliberately make up his old man?"

This time, without waiting for Luo Shuanger's answer, Jiang Wen whispered in a pretentious and mysterious way: "In my opinion, this abbot Hongbian may not be as thorough as he appears on the surface, maybe he offended so many people on the mountain. It's because the abbot is small-minded. You see, how dangerous it is to offend people with a few words when walking outside. It's better to find a backer and join our Wuyi faction earlier..."

Jiang Wen was talking happily there, trying to intimidate this little girl who lacked experience in the world, but she forgot the principle of not talking about people behind her back and only being a master.

The wooden screen in the abbot's Zen room creaked open, revealing a side room hidden deep in the house, and an old monk with a benevolent face and a gloomy complexion turned out silently, facing him directly. Jiang Wen had a dazed expression.

Jiang Wen: "..."

Hongbian: "..."

The scene was a little awkward, only Luo Shuang'er stood up and greeted the old monk with a normal face: "Abbot Hongbian, we have been waiting for you for a long time."

"Amitabha, what the two benefactors said is correct. This old monk is just a mortal body, and his mind, eyes and capacity are naturally no different from ordinary people."

Abbot Hongbian walked past the two with lowered eyebrows, sang a Buddha's name in a low voice and said, "Just as the Vimalakirti Sutra says, the bedroom of Vimalakirti Layman is one foot square, but it can accommodate the public, even There are 3 Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and when the old monk cultivates more and more, he will naturally be reborn."

The old abbot is also a wonderful person, he was able to find the steps to go down by himself without being surprised, then he smoothed the corner of the monk's clothes with both hands, and sat back on the meditation chair with a wooden rosary in his hand, reappearing an indifferent and compassionate demeanor, if he hadn't He was so hungry that his face changed, and Jiang Wen was almost overwhelmed by his untouched appearance.

Jiang Wen coughed lightly, pretending nothing happened just now, spread the seized old book on the table, and said straight to the point.

"Abbot Hongbian, this is what you want to get back. It's lucky that Jiang did not disgrace his life by defeating a powerful enemy."

Abbot Hongbian looked at the old books on the table in a daze for a moment, and as the rosary turned, he seemed to be gradually calming down, and spoke slowly.

"Thank you Tanyue for taking this thing back, otherwise there would always be a hundred people in the old man's temple who could do nothing but watch the thief leave. Hey, do you know what book is in front of you?"

Jiang Wen frowned slightly: "After a rough review, it seems to be a description of a scholar's travels. But I have never been able to figure out why it was hidden in a monk's bone-removing pagoda."

"Now I don't hide anything anymore, let me explain the reason for you two."

Abbot Hongbian nodded slowly, stood up again with difficulty, and took out another bound book from the secret room.

"What they were looking for was actually this. It was only because Junior Brother Anren sacrificed himself to protect each other that night that the other party failed to get it. Instead, they wanted to search around the mountain."

Jiang Wen and Luo Shuang'er looked intently, and saw that the four volumes of books had been properly preserved in the secret room, and the covers of the paper pages were not even stained with dust, but were slightly yellowed due to the passage of time, which also made the winding handwriting appear a bit thicker.

The two of them looked at the cover in a logical manner, and also naturally saw the title of these volumes - "Jizu Mountain Records".

"Tanyue, the incomplete manuscript you have recovered and this Shan Zhi are actually written by the same person. The old monk vaguely guessed that the other party came for this reason, and the people of King Pingxi could not find it in the Fayun Pavilion. , so that they would dig graves and expose corpses regardless of their status."

Jiang Wen's expression was stunned, and he suddenly understood why there was such a mess in Fayun Pavilion, but the masked man suddenly left and returned.

Abbot Hongbian immediately said that Master Anren was on guard at the Fayun Pavilion that night, and he saw through the opponent's intention at a glance, but after the fight, he realized that it was difficult to win, so he pushed down the scriptures on the second floor to confuse the audience, making the masked man mistakenly believe that this "Jizushan Zhi" is hidden in it, wasting time and energy for nothing.

When the masked man couldn't find it and wanted to go elsewhere, and was blessed by the Buddha, he was bumped into by Jiang Wen by chance, so he hurried back to Fayun Pavilion as soon as possible, still trying to find out what Master Anren was desperately guarding , Only then will they return without success after a fierce fight.

After this night, although the martial arts strength of the two were very different, the man in black had completely fallen into the psychological trap set by Master Anren during his journey of wits.

However, the other party’s trick was based on the fact that An Ren would use his life to win each other, and it was only to confuse himself. If he was not worried that more monks would be killed, An Ren would not have made such a bad plan. Thinking of his junior brother who is still alive and dead at this time, Abbot Hongbian sighed deeply , stretched out his hand and closed the window in the Zen room next to the corridor to prevent the sound from going outside.

"Abbot Hongbian, what is so unique about this "Jizu Mountain Records", why did the Pingxi Palace spend so much time trying to snatch it?"

Jiang Wen asked puzzledly, "You also mentioned earlier that there are many ancient books in the Xitan Temple, and there are countless ancient books that are cherished, lonely, lost, and scattered. Why do you all think that the Pingxi Palace is Is it for it?"

Facing Jiang Wen's question again, Abbot Hongbian quietly twisted the rosary and said in a low voice.

"After all, this book is the only one that Layman Xu compiled and collected news on the mountain in the past three months..."

Afterwards, he opened the cover of "Jizu Mountain Records" with his wrinkled and old palm, revealing the author's name.

——Xu Hongzu, Jiang Zuo Xiake.

Jiang Wen stared blankly at the four volumes of ancient books in front of him, his expression suddenly became very lively, and he had already grasped the Zhishu in his hand in an instant, so frightened the old abbot thought that the other party was about to suddenly suffer from a serious illness.

"Unexpected, really unexpected! This is the posthumous work of Mr. Xu Xiake, Jiang Mou is so lucky to be able to see it..."

Jiang Wen happily opened "Jizu Mountain Records", and rubbed the paper with his still healthy left hand, his eyes were full of joyful scenes. Although there are only four volumes of paper volumes on scenery and specialty tower tombs, it has already included the scenic spots and cultural landscapes of Jizu Mountain, which is enough to witness the energy expended by the predecessors.

Abbot Hongbian saw that Jiang Wen's serious illness did not intensify, and saw that he was devoting himself to it. Although he was a little confused, he only guessed that the other party might have a habit of collecting books, so he almost lost this book before it was published. books burst with such enthusiasm—

But what he never expected was that Jiang Wen's "three lives are lucky" is not just a description.

Xu Hongzu, courtesy name Zhenzhi, nicknamed Xiake, was a geographer, traveler and writer in the Ming Dynasty. This may be just a name that appeared in books, and he was famous all over the world with "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes".

Jiang Wen was very envious of the old monk in front of him, because now the horses and horses are very slow, and he will never encounter a few psychopaths in his life. However, before he traveled, the technology was advanced, and he would meet stupid people thousands of miles away without leaving home.

Jiang Wen, who was forced to become a knight, once traveled to Lijiang and learned about related stories on Jizu Mountain. He clearly remembered that the last part of Xu Xiake's ten-thousand-mile journey ended here.After Xu Xiake climbed Jishan, searched for his hometown and revisited the scenic spots, he was stationed in Xitan Temple from September to the first month of the following year and devoted himself to compiling. Unfortunately, the final four volumes were completed and stopped due to illness.

Seeing that Jiang Wen was immersed in it, Abbot Hongbian explained to Luo Shuang'er kindly.

"This benefactor is really knowledgeable and knowledgeable. That's right, this is the mountain chronicle that Xu Zhenzhi wrote in Jizu Mountain for several months at the request of Mu Zeng, the hereditary local magistrate of Lijiang, Yunnan, in September of the 12th year of Chongzhen."

There was light in Jiang Wen's eyes, and the movement of turning the pages of the book did not slow down. He even resorted to Shaolin's unique skill of stretching fingers, just to avoid the friction of fingers and palms from hurting the fragile pages.

Because in later generations, "Jishan Zhi" compiled by Xu Xiake painstakingly has long been lost, and only three volumes of mountain annals excerpts remain in "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes" handed down in later generations, namely "Jishan Zhimu" and "Jishan Zhilue One". And "Jishan Zhilue II", so that future generations can barely get a glimpse of the original book.

If you think about it seriously, if you don’t count the book “Xu Xiake’s Travel Notes” recorded by Xu Hongzu for many years, then this “Jizu Mountain Chronicle” should be Xu Xiake’s last work in this life. It’s a pity that Xu Xiake’s original manuscript was destroyed during the Shunzhi period. Before the woodcut could be published, it was suddenly attacked by soldiers, and there were only remnants of the chapters for the reference of those who compiled the annals later.

While flipping through the pages, Jiang Wen suddenly remembered that the "Jizu Mountain Records" compiled by Xu Xiake was destroyed in the Shunzhi period, and the time when the mountain records were compiled for the second time was the current spring of the 17th year of Shunzhi (1660)—— In other words, as history rolls forward, this book is likely to be destroyed by the dispute between the Lijiang Mu family and the Pingxi Palace. Now there is no need to think about it, it is what they are going through right now.

The most effective way to destroy a cultural foundation is to destroy its ancestral temples and burn its books.

In the Song and Ming dynasties, official revision and official engraving was the main way to present local chronicles, and official officials in prefectures and counties were the leading force in the writing of local chronicles. The "Jizu Mountain Chronicles" edited by Mu Zengrang's close friend Xu Xiake is likely to be the In order to ask Shan Zhi to write the family history, record the inheritance in an unofficial name, and leave the history that I want to remember, now that the Mu family blocks Wu Sangui's way, this book will naturally be burned clean.

As for this matter, Xu Xiake himself is well aware of it, but he has always been straightforward and never concealed what he has seen and heard during his travels, so he has a clear conscience for what he has done.

In his travel notes, he wrote that the Mu family's "the beauty of the palace is like that of a king", so that although the chieftain of Mu treated Mr. Xu as a distinguished guest and treated him grandly and warmly, he was not allowed to visit Mu's mansion. Xu Xiake still used the spring and autumn brushwork to write "the palaces and pavilions are extremely prosperous, and there are many arbitrariness, so I don't see guest clouds here", which can be called a big pen.

"Abbot Hongbian, just now you said that these two books originated from the same person, which is why they attracted covetousness. Could it be that this incomplete book with no beginning or end was also written by Mr. Xu Xiake..."

But thinking of this, Jiang Wen's expression gradually returned to calm, and he stretched out his hand to the manuscript he had taken back earlier - the incomplete manuscript left by Xu Xiake.

You must know that from September of the ninth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty to June of the 13th year of Chongzhen, that is, when Xu Xiake was over fifty years old, he realized that the pain he had accumulated over the years became more and more serious, so he decided to conduct the longest and longest journey in his life. This trip is called "Wanli Ya Zheng".

During Xu Xiake’s trip to Southwest Yunnan, his body was already seriously damaged. Xu Xiake came to Jizu Mountain on August 12, 22th year of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty. When he is in good times, he will visit the monks in the mountain temple.

We must know that the "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes" of later generations was compiled based on his diary manuscripts.

According to the diary left by Xu Xiake, during the last lingering time of this trip, Xu Xiake spent more than half of his time recuperating in Xitan Temple, bathing, reading scriptures, tasting poems, and enjoying flowers every day, and nearly three-quarters of his time was active. In Xitan Temple, the editor appointed by Xu Xiake said that "since September 12th, [-], there is no small record", that is, after September [-]th, Xu Xiake's diaries were all terminated.

But the "literati manuscript" in front of me, which doesn't even have a cover, is dated from September 12th of the [-]th year of Chongzhen to the first month of the following year, which happens to be a time that has never been recorded in Xu Xiake's diary!

Comparing the handwriting of the two books, there is almost no doubt that the incomplete manuscript in front of me is the rare travel notes in history that should not be handed down to the world, and relying on this diary is enough to reproduce Xu Xiake's last years in the legendary story!
In the abbot's meditation room, the sound of needles falling could be heard, and only Jiang Wen's uncontrollable excitement remained. It seemed that the back figure of the blue sea and the twilight, carrying the luggage, eating the wind and drinking the dew, appeared in front of his eyes.

The man was in the deep forest, but he looked up at the mist in the sky, with a quilt on his shoulders and an oil umbrella in his hand. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed that Jiang Wen could only see his shambling back without a stick or a heroic figure. , the road under your feet will never come to an end...

The sound of chanting quietly sounded, and Abbot Hongbian was closing his eyes in the "Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra", urging stories that have not been recorded in history to gradually appear. Jiang Wen saw that the abbot's expression gradually eased, and suddenly guessed why the old monk in front of him was so precious. The most important thing.

"Abbot Hongbian, have you met Mr. Xu Xiake in person?"

In order to compile "Jishan Zhi", Xu Xiake made a hard and serious field investigation. On the one hand, he "explored all the quiet rooms in the forest, the clouds and the green gaps, everywhere", on the other hand, he visited all the elders in Jizu Mountain, In order to seek the "old relics in the mountains", among them, the Jizu Mountain monks helped a lot. According to the age of Abbot Hongbian, it is very likely that he met Xu Xiake!
"Amitabha Buddha, just as Tanyue expected. In the 11th year of Chongzhen, the benefactor Xu was ill for a long time and his feet were both disabled. It was the old monk and his younger brother Anren who went to the Jiguang Temple to invite him to move to Xitan Temple for cultivation."

Jiang Wen was still fluctuating in his mood, and he didn't notice Abbot Hongbian's abnormality. Only Luo Shuang'er turned his head slightly, but said nothing.

Abbot Hongbian chanted the Buddha's name in a low voice, and the low voice came out of his throat, but he seemed to be unable to control the trembling in his voice, and he couldn't even control the palm that twirled the prayer beads, as if he could reach the past with a slight stretch. , but he deeply restrained the thought of recalling.

Later, the editors who published "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes" deleted, edited and revised the strange things such as fox monsters and wild monsters in the original diary by changing the order and shifting the time, etc., leaving only a vague paragraph on this matter. Clear records.

[Diary of Yunnan Travel Thirteen, 29th.Yu Xianyi has been wriggling in miasma for a long time, with rashes on his head, face, and limbs, numerous clumps on his skin, his left ear and left foot appear to be wriggling from time to time...]

At that time, only Master Hongbian, who went to greet him in person, knew that Xu Xiake's illness was a terrifying malaria that had never been revealed in the world.

On that day, under the terrified gazes of the monks in Jiguang Temple, Hongbian and Anren, who were still in their prime, walked side by side to the room half-closed with the chaimen, followed the strange smell and the darkness of the Zen room, and gently opened the door. What came into view was a vague shape hiding under many quilts and shivering with chills.

Layers of quilts almost buried the person on the bed. At that time, Hongbian thought that the other party was suffering from the wind and cold, so he was so afraid of the cold as soon as autumn began. .

He thought that the other party Su Xing was about to step forward to ask questions, but his junior brother An Ren stretched out his hand to stop him, his face was full of vigilance.Hongbian also faintly sensed that something was wrong at this time, and gradually heard the voice under the quilt, which was actually a sticky and weird voice with deformed language and abnormal speed, which was completely different from the elk they knew who was on the left side and couldn't look away. The guest of the instant haze.

Monk Anren took the first step to block the front, and the two monks had already discovered more strangeness from the outline revealed by the quilt.

Under the many quilts, there seemed to be two legs bent in one place strangely, the heels were stuck together, and a pair of arms were also pressed by invisible force, and the posture on the side was extremely unnatural—— The person under the quilt seemed to have lost control of the body due to a serious illness, and was unable to make movements that conformed to ordinary people's cognition.

In the narrow and dark meditation room, the breathing of the two of them was unknowingly soft, and the original colors of the surrounding scenery began to fade and dim, as if they had been melted invisible.

But the arrival of Hongbian and An Ren still disturbed the existence under the quilt, Hongbian grabbed the corner of the monk's robe tightly, and Anren also tensed up and opened his eyes wide.

That day, they widened their eyes together, and saw the dormant bulge hidden on the bed, barely moving slowly with their torso, unable to distinguish the position of the front chest or the back, and it seemed that occasionally there were a few irregular bulges emerging .

The monks of Jiguang Temple, who were frightened before, must have put on quilts out of extreme fear and anxiety, trying to restrain some ominous things from appearing.But now, there seems to be no "person" between the bed and quilt, only a mass of putrefaction mold quietly growing, which may break through the "seal" at any time...

　I'm too hip this month, I'm sorry to ask for a ticket_(`"∠)_
I hope you will support the "Notes on Kraft's Anomaly" written by the book friend. I originally wanted to give him a first order to help him...

　
(End of this chapter)