The rivers and lakes are full of vests

Since there was a thunderstorm at midnight last night, the weather today is much cooler, and the sun is warm and bright, shining on the houses and bluestone roads in the small town.

Today is the day for the town to go to the market. The morning food hawkers on the street have already stacked several big steamers, the covers are steaming, and the vegetable farmers and hawkers are shouting along the street, which is very lively.

The boy in the inn was cleaning the lobby with a broom. It was still early, the shopkeeper hadn't got up, and he was the only one in the empty lobby.

He hummed a ditty and swung the broom vigorously. After a while, he heard a sound coming from the stairwell. He heard the sound and looked around, and found that it was a handsome young man who had stayed overnight walking towards the lobby.

"Guest officer, why did you get up so early? What would you like to have for breakfast? I'll go and tell the kitchen to make it." The boy said, put down the broom, and patted the ashes on his hands.

Fu Peibai looked exhausted, as if he hadn't slept well, "Just a bowl of porridge and pickles, thank you."

"Okay, you sit down first, I'll come later."

Fu Peibai chose a seat by the window and sat down, staring at the noisy street in a daze. After a while, footsteps sounded in the quiet lobby. She thought the servant had come back. Turning her head, she found that it was Sang Yunshi walking from Down the stairwell.

She was a little surprised and said, "Miss Sang? Why did you get up so early?"

Sang Yunshi walked across to her and sat down, looking sleepy, "Did Mr. Fu wake up so early?"

Fu Peibai didn't answer, and said with a dry smile, "Look, what do you want to eat?"

"Porridge and side dishes are fine."

Fu Peibai nodded, got up and walked to the back kitchen, and asked for another serving of porridge. When he returned to the lobby, he found that Lu Qingwan had also come down, but the other party was sitting alone at the other table with a listless face.

"Second miss, you..." When she approached, she saw that Lu Qingwan's eyes were red and swollen, which was obviously the sign of crying.

"Leave me alone." Lu Qingwan turned her head away, her voice a little cold.

She was stunned for a moment, and she didn't know where she had provoked the other party. She had always had nothing to do with this perverse and arrogant second lady, so she could only sit back in her seat and asked Sang Yunshi in a low voice: "Miss Sang, what's wrong with the second lady?" gone?"

Sang Yunshi raised her eyes and glanced at the haggard girl over there, and said lightly, "I don't know."

Fu Peibai shrugged helplessly, and called the servant over to give Lu Qingwan a bowl of porridge as well.

Then three bowls of hot porridge came to the table, accompanied by appetizing and refreshing side dishes. It was supposed to make people's index fingers move, but all three of them looked sombre and tasteless.

When Shiqi came downstairs, he saw this scene. The three people in the hall were silently scooping up the porridge in the bowl, eating every mouthful, and their faces were full of thoughts.

She walked up to Fu Peibai and sat down beside him, raised her eyebrows and asked, "What's wrong with you? You look bad, didn't you sleep well last night?"

The three of them put down their spoons together, "No."

The sound is uniform.

The three of them immediately lowered their heads again, and continued to eat porridge in a disguised manner.

Shi Qi chuckled lightly and called the boy to order breakfast.

After eating, the few people took advantage of the high weather and clear weather today, which was a good day for traveling, so they drove their horses and left the town.

The four of them had nothing to say along the way. In the past, it was Lu Qingwan and Sang Yunshi who bickered, and Fu Peibai and Shiqi chatted. When they came across some beautiful scenery, they would stop and watch for a while. Today, the four of them were silent and the atmosphere was gloomy.

After a short rest at noon, they continued on the road. According to the plan, today they could continue along the official road to the next city. Unexpectedly, in the middle of the journey, officers and soldiers appeared in front of them. , the mountain wall collapsed, the road was damaged, and it was impossible to pass.

They are now faced with two choices, one is to go south, but this route is too long to detour and delay the journey, and the other is to go north, but this route faces the towns that have no place in front of them, so they can only go in the wilderness. Make do with one night in the countryside.

Fu Peibai himself had nothing to do with it, he just felt that it was not good for Shi Qi and the others to live and sleep like this, so he was a little entangled for a while.

Finally, after discussing with Shi Qi and the others, they unanimously chose to go north to save time.

The four of them were about to set off when a young monk about twelve or thirteen years old came out from a side path and stood directly in front of Fu Peibai's horse.

Fu Peibai pulled the rein and controlled the restless horse, "Little Master? What are you?"

The little monk had delicate eyebrows and eyes, folded his palms together, bowed slightly and said: "Amitabha, the little monk has met Master Fu."

Fu Peibai was surprised that the other party recognized her, she got off the horse, and made a respectful Namaste to the other party, "Does little master know me? But what do you want me to do?"

"The little monk came to welcome Master Fu into the Prajna Temple under the order of Master Kuchan of Prajna Temple."

"Master Kuchan? I have only met the mage a few times, and I am not familiar with it. May I ask my little master, why is the mage looking for me?"

"I don't know the little monk, but the mage just told me to come here to welcome you."

Fu Peibai was full of doubts, what could this Kuchan Master seek her for, and he still knew that she was able to travel here today, as if he had already known it.

"Sorry, little master, I am waiting to go down the mountain to go to the southwest for training. The journey is long and the time is tight. We need to go north to cross this road. I can't go to the Prajna Temple to pay homage to the master today. I hope my little master will pass it on. I'm going to pay a visit, and I hope the Master will forgive me."

The little monk's face remained unchanged, and he said calmly: "Master asked me to make it clear that I implore the benefactor to go to the Banruo Temple. It will not delay you too much time. After going south to the Banruo Temple, the Master will point out a way to the southwest for you. Come on the path so that you can set off afterwards."

"This......"

Fu Peibai was still hesitating, but Lu Qingwan immediately became impatient, "What does this old bald donkey want to do, we don't know him well, so we have to go to his territory to do anything, and he is so secretive."

"Second Miss!" Fu Peibai frowned and said loudly, and turned to apologize to the little monk: "Don't blame the little master, since the mage invites you so kindly, then I won't bother you, please lead the way."

"Ape!"

Regardless of Lu Qingwan's objection, Fu Peibai drove his horse and followed the walking young monk to the path to the south.

Lu Qingwan's fingers holding the rein of the horse turned slightly white, her heart was full of anger, but Sang Yunshi's faint words came from behind her, "Let's go, Second Miss."

This was the first conversation between the two since last night. Lu Qingwan snorted coldly, pulled the reins, and followed.

An hour later, several people climbed up to the Banruo Temple located on the mountainside. The temple occupies a large area and covers the entire mountainside.

The entire temple was filled with a faint fragrance of Buddha. Even though it was almost sunset, there were still crowds of pilgrims coming in and out. Fu Peibai couldn't help sighing that Banruo Temple deserves to be the number one ancient temple in the Central Plains, with exuberant incense.

Outside the mountain gate, there was a tall sweeping monk sweeping the fallen leaves after the rain. When he saw Fu Peibai and his party, he nodded slightly and clasped his hands together in salute.

Fu Peibai quickly returned the salute, and then followed the young monk through the mountain gate to the Heavenly King Hall. There are bell towers and drum towers on both sides of the hall, which are used as morning bells and evening drums.

Then pass through the Daxiong Hall, where there is a huge incense burner tripod, where many pilgrims offer incense and pray for blessings, and the three Buddhas and eighteen arhats are enshrined in the hall.

A group of monks sat in the hall with their eyes closed, chanting scriptures neatly in their mouths, and beating wooden fish in their hands, as if they were holding some Buddhist activities.

Seeing this solemn and solemn scene, Fu Peibai couldn't help feeling respectful, and silently recited a sentence of Amitabha, then followed the young monk and continued to walk to the back of the temple.

"Benefactor Fu, Master Kuchan is waiting for you inside." The little monk said and turned to Lu Qingwan and the others, "The three female benefactors, come with the little monk. The mage has already arranged accommodation for them."

Lu Qingwan left first, and then Sang Yunshi Shiqiu also left with the little monk.

Fu Peibai knocked on the door, and a moment later, a vicissitudes of old voice came from the room, "Come in."

She pushed open the door and entered, and saw two people sitting at the table in the room, the one on the left looked much older, with gray beard, cloudy pupils but eyes like torches, the middle-aged monk on the right had kind eyes, he was Master Kuchan.

She took a few steps forward to salute, "Your junior has seen the abbot and Master Kuchan."

The older monk stood up and smiled kindly, "How does Benefactor Fu know that I am the abbot of this temple?"

"This is the abbot's room, so it's naturally the abbot's residence. There are only two people in the room. Apart from Master Kuchan, the senior is naturally the abbot Mingwen of Banruo Temple."

Mingwen stroked his beard and nodded with satisfaction, "Benefactor Fu, I have admired your name for a long time, and today I saw him, he is indeed a young man with an extraordinary appearance."

"Don't dare to be, don't dare to be, I don't know the abbot, what is the so-called mage asking for the junior?"

Mingwen smiled without saying a word, and asked other questions, "Does Master Fu have faith? Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, which school do you follow?"

Fu Peibai was a little ashamed. Although the emperor of this dynasty respected and believed in Buddhism and vigorously promoted Buddhism, she was born in a rural area, and their area was remote. The people worked hard every day and had no faith at all. There were many temples in a radius of dozens of miles. nor.

"The juniors don't believe in gods and Buddhas, they only believe in themselves."

Mingwen was stunned for a moment, and then laughed heartily, "Sure enough, it is the unique arrogance of young people, Fu benefactor, and come with the old monk."

Fu Peibai raised his leg to follow Mingwen's footsteps, and the two left the husband's room and entered the side hall.

There are two bright yellow futons in the hall, and there is a small table in the middle. Incense is wafting from the side of the table, and the whole room is filled with the unique smell of Buddhist incense.

"Benefactor Fu, please sit down."

Fu Peibai sat cross-legged on the futon with her back straight. Although she was wondering what Abbot Mingwen was going to do, she still maintained a calm and calm look.

Mingwen poured two cups of hot tea, twirled the Buddha beads with his hands, and said with a peaceful face, "Although Master Fu doesn't believe in Buddhism, the old monk sees you have a deep connection with Zen. Donor is willing to talk about Buddhism and Zen with the old monk."

"Naturally, the abbot please speak."

"The old monk asked the benefactor, what is a Buddha, what is a demon, and what is the difference between a Buddha and a demon?"

Fu Peibai pondered for a moment and said: "Buddhas are for the salvation of all living beings, and demons are for disasters."

"Buddhas have the heart of demons, so they will bring disaster to the common people. Demons have the heart of Buddhas, so they can save all living beings. Why?"

"Buddha and demons are two theories. Those who have the heart of a demon are not Buddhas, and those who have the heart of a Buddha are definitely not demons."

Mingwen smiled and shook his head, "Then today there is a swordsman who used money from others to sacrifice his life for others. His sword beheaded wicked people and murderers, and he was also stained with innocent blood. However, all the money he got was donated to the refugees and beggars in the city, saving thousands of lives. The benefactor considered this man a god." For the devil?"

Fu Peibai was speechless for a while, and said in a deep voice: "If this person has good intentions, how could he kill innocent people? The two actions are contradictory."

"No, this is true. The swordsman is unknown. A year ago, he wandered in Fancheng at the foot of the mountain, collecting money from people and eliminating disasters from others. Then he converted to our sect and shaved his hair to become a family. Donor Fu should have seen him just now. Besides, the sweeping monk is this swordsman."

Fu Peibai was a little surprised, with a puzzled expression on his face: "Then why did he..."

"The reason, only he himself knows, the old monk just wanted to tell the benefactor that everything cannot be seen from its appearance to see the inside, what you see is good and evil, right and wrong, gods and demons, but in an instant, the two phases are reversed , there are few black and white things in the world, and good and evil often accompany each other, one ebbs and another grows."

"Then according to what the abbot said, there is no one who is pure and kind in the world?"

"The most pure and good people are only babies who are just born in the world, and as people grow older, they are born in this world, and they are also contaminated with the seven emotions and six desires of the world. .”

Mingwen paused for a moment, looked straight into Fu Peibai's eyes and said, "However, there are times when good and evil are good and evil, but how to choose is up to the individual. When you think about gods and demons, you can feel free in your heart."

Fu Peibai opened her eyes slightly, frowned and pursed her lips. After a while, she seemed to have realized something, and thanked solemnly: "Thank you, Abbot, for your guidance. This junior has been taught."

Mingwen seemed to be relieved, and smiled kindly, "Donor Fu, let's go, Master Kuchan still has something to talk to you."

Fu Peibai stood up, bowed to leave, and then returned to his husband's room.

In the side hall, the old white-bearded monk stared at the young man's leaving back with heavy eyes and murmured, "I hope you are really that person."