I really don't want to be a teacher

Lian Ge looked at the ghost messengers, nodded, and didn't say much.

"Zen Master, we are ghost messengers from the underworld, here to pick you up for the last journey, come with us."

The leading ghost messenger turned to look at the old monk and said.

"Amitabha, please benefactors."

Hearing the words, the old monk clasped his hands together, his eyes were calm, and after answering,

Turning his head again, he looked at the body under the tree, at the cicada on the monk's robe,

After a moment of silence, the old monk turned around again, clasped his hands together, bent down and said to Lian Ge,

"...I don't know if I can trouble Master Lian any more. Bury the skin of the poor monk."

Lian Ge heard the words, glanced at the old monk, turned his gaze back,

"Where does Zen Master Jiekong want to be buried?"

"It can be buried anywhere, and there is no need to erect a monument or raise a grave."

The old monk agreed.

Hearing this, Lian Ge looked at the old monk again and nodded.

"Thank you, Lord Lian."

The old monk clasped his hands together, bowed towards Lian Ge and recited a long sentence.

……

"... Zen master, let's go."

On the side, the waiting ghost messenger came up to the old monk, but he didn't reach out to catch the old monk, but just said aloud.

"Thank you for your trouble."

With clasped hands, the old monk bent slightly.

"...Master that day, I will take this Zen master down first."

The underworld ghost messenger bowed and said respectfully to Lian Ge.

Hearing this, Lian Ge nodded and said nothing more.

Immediately afterwards, several underworld ghost messengers took the old monk back a few steps, and then disappeared suddenly.

Under the tree, it became more and more quiet.

……

Seeing the figures of the ghost messenger and the old monk disappear from sight, Lian Ge turned his gaze back to the body of the old monk under the tree, the Luo Chan on the monk's robe, the luggage on the side, and the root branch,

The skirts of the monk's robe and the wings of the cicadas still trembled and swayed slightly with the breeze, as did the drooping branches and leaves hanging in front of the old monk.

Luggage, branches, lying quietly on the side, the bark on the branches has been worn away a lot, some open bags, revealing a corner of the yellowed scripture, the monk's robe with the traces of mending, and some cracked porcelain bowls side.

After a pause, Lian Ge turned his gaze away,

Looking up slightly, looking behind the tree, on the top of the hill in the distance, there is a temple with scales and horns emerging from the dense branches and leaves.

"Let's go."

After a pause, Lian Ge waved his hand, took the bag containing the monk's clothes, bowls and chopsticks, scriptures, the branches with faded skin, the cicada, and the body of the old monk, and walked towards the temple on the top of the hill .

"Squeak, squeak..."

The little white mouse squatting on its shoulders turned its head and let out a sound.

The breeze blew again, and the branches and leaves hanging under the tree were still swaying and shaking slightly.

……

"... crunching..."

Along the somewhat winding path, one person and one mouse walked to the top of the hill, in front of the temple gate.

The red paint on the temple gate has faded, and the ash on the courtyard walls extending along both sides of the temple gate has also peeled off, making it look mottled.

The temple door was ajar, Lian Ge waved his hand, some old wooden doors opened inward,

Moving away, Lian Ge stepped into the temple gate.

Entering the temple gate is the front yard of the temple. The yard is a compacted mud floor, without bricks or bluestones.

Next to the front yard, a tree was planted, and its dense branches and leaves covered a corner of the front yard. There were not many fallen leaves in the yard.

Not far from the tree, there is still a water tank. On the water tank, there are some traces of cement smearing and repairing.

The front yard is facing the past, and there are several brick houses covered with black tiles, and the door of the opposite one is open.

Through the door, against the inner wall of the room, there are several statues of gods. In front of the statues, there are still a few unburned incense sticks,

The candlelight was swaying gently with the breeze, swaying the dim light, dispelling the night in the house.

Glancing at the courtyard and the open room, Lian Ge looked away, and put the old monk's body, together with the bag, branches, and the cicada, against the front of the hall, and put it down.

Moved away, stepped over the threshold, and stepped into the hall lit with candles.

In the main hall, it seemed a little empty, under the statues of gods, there were a few futons made of straw,

Next to the statue, against the wall on the other side, there is an altar. There are several tablets on the altar. In front of the altar, there are also candles and some burning incense.

The lacquer surface on the altar had faded a bit, but not much dust had accumulated.

Not far from the altar, by the open door, there is still a broom leaning against it,

Like the yard, the furnishings in the house are a bit old, but not dilapidated.

……

"……You are?"

At this moment, the temple door was pushed open again from the outside,

A man with the appearance of an old farmer, holding a burning scented wax in one hand and shielding the wind with the other hand, walked in from the temple gate cautiously.

Stepping into the main hall, raised his head, and noticed Lian Ge, the old farmer was a little puzzled, and couldn't help saying,

"I'm a passer-by. I heard that there is a temple here, so I went in to have a look."

Lian Ge turned his gaze, glanced at the old farmer, and replied with a slight smile,

"Is that so..."

The old farmer raised the candle, looked at Lian Ge again by the light of the candle, and then came closer.

"Young man, why did you come up at this time? It's late at night, and the mountain road is not very easy to walk."

After talking, the old farmer took a candle and walked carefully to the statue, and put the candle in front of the statue.

Going to the side again, he took out some incense candles from the bag hanging on the wall,

"Isn't the old man coming up at this time too?" Lian Ge responded with a slight smile,

"Hey, old man, my family lives at the bottom of the mountain. In that village, the young man must have passed by when he came here... I happened to be free after dinner, so I came up to take a look."

The old farmer responded, lit the scented wax,

"...Recently, my daughter-in-law is pregnant. Both of them are outside, so I thought of coming up to worship the Bodhisattva, and let the Bodhisattva bless their mother and child safe..."

The old farmer babbled, talked, paused, bowed in front of the statue, and inserted the incense into the incense burner in front of the statue.

"Young man, do you want to come to worship too?"

Turning around, the old farmer looked at Lian Ge and asked,

Hearing this, Lian Ge smiled and shook his head,

Seeing this, the old farmer didn't ask any further questions, turned around, walked back to the bag containing the scented wax, took the scented wax,

"...By the way, let's take a look at some masters."

The old farmer was talking, holding the scented wax, and walked towards the altar beside him.

Chapter 370 Burial

"Is this a monk from this temple?"

In the main hall, the candlelight dispelled the diffuse night, reflecting the shadows of people.

Looking at the old farmer, Lian Ge said calmly.

"That's right, this offering is for the original masters in this temple."

The old farmer was at the altar, lighting scented wax, answering the words,

"...When I was young, these masters were still there. They all knew some medical skills. Usually, if someone in the village had a headache, when he went to the temple, the masters would show him. I will give some herbs I picked myself."

Looking at the memorial tablets on the table, the old farmer said,

"...The people in the village are cured of the disease, and they give money to these masters, but these masters don't want it. It's useless to say that monks have money. It's just that sometimes the villagers bring some rice noodles and ask for it..."

While talking, the old farmer paused, somewhat respectfully, first inserted the lighted wax into the incense burner on the altar table, then held the incense, bowed to the memorial tablet, and inserted the incense into the incense burner,

In front of the altar, kowtowed a few times towards the memorial tablet, and then stood up again with some effort,

"...Masters bless you, keep my son and daughter-in-law safe outside, and protect my daughter-in-law, mother and son."

Putting his hands together and muttering a few words, the old farmer turned around again, walked to the side door, picked up the broom leaning against the wall by the door, and started sweeping the hall little by little.

"...In those few years, there was a severe drought first, followed by floods and natural disasters. The grain in the field was not harvested, and the people in the whole village had nothing to eat. They wanted to pull up the grass on the ground and cook it. At this time, several masters in this temple gave all the food that the villagers had saved before, on weekdays, in order to thank them for what they had given, and what they had also cultivated before, and gave them to the villagers.

This allowed the people in the village to survive, and no one died of starvation. "

The old farmer was talking, sweeping the ashes in the hall, then turned his head to look at the tablet on the altar table,

"... A few years ago, these masters got old and went away, and they didn't confiscate a single apprentice, so the temple is empty..."

As he spoke, the old farmer was silent for a while, and then laughed again,

"...Speaking of which, when I was young, I even ran to this mountain and said that I would become a monk with a few masters.

However, they did not agree and persuaded me to go back.

They say that if parents are still alive, filial piety is practice, and if you have a wife and children, raising children is also practice.Parents, wives and children always have smiles on their faces, which is the paradise on the other side. "

The old farmer smiled, paused again, looked at the tablets,

"... In our village, except for some young people, they have no education and don't know any Buddhist rules. After a few masters went there, the villagers discussed it and set up this tablet in the main hall and offered it together with these Buddha statues. .

Usually, every now and then, we come up to see these masters, and clean the temple by the way.This temple is where several masters live, so we can't let him be abandoned, right? "

While talking, the old farmer continued to sweep the dust in the temple with his broom.

Listening to the old farmer's narration, Lian Ge glanced at the memorial tablets on the altar table, then at the body of the old monk leaning outside the main hall, looked away, and didn't say much.

……

"...Young man, do you have a place to stay in the middle of the night?"

The old farmer shoveled up the ashes, put them in a bag, raised his head again, looked outside the main hall, turned back to Lian Ge and asked,

"It's near here, just our village at the bottom of the mountain. It's late at night, and there is no car on the road. Why don't you come with me to the village to rest overnight."

"Thank you, old man, I won't bother you anymore." Lian Ge smiled slightly and shook his head.

"What are you bothering about..."

The old farmer tied up the plastic bag containing ashes, lifted it up, and waved his hand,

"...How about, young man, you can rest in this temple overnight."

The old farmer stood up and said,

"The road at night is not easy to walk. When the masters are still there, it will be convenient if it can be done. If you don't mind, young man, there is a room next to the main hall. On weekdays, people from the village come up to help When taking care of the temple, sometimes I will rest overnight in the temple, and there are quilts and mattresses in the cabinet next to the bed, and you can sleep after taking out the bunk."

"That's annoying."

"Don't bother, don't bother," the old farmer smiled, and waved his hand again,

"That's fine, young man, you can rest in the temple, old man, I'll go to the village first."

The old farmer smiled and said something to Lian Ge, then turned back to look at the tablet on the altar table,