Luoshui Dongliu

When it was almost dawn, the little novice in the White Horse Temple swept the courtyard and opened the gate of the temple.In the midst of war, the Jalan Treasure Temple may not be able to be preserved.Emperor Ai of the former court saw that Luocheng would be lost, and he did not want to be humiliated by foreign enemies, so he climbed the high tower in Yongning Temple and set fire to himself.Once the wooden pagoda of the nine-level pagoda was burned, the smoke rose like mist and lingered for several months.When the smoke dissipated, all the high pavilions and halls were gone.The soldiers and civilians of Luo City watched this scene without exception crying with grief, and the besieging army also felt frightened when they saw the thick smoke rising into the sky in the city.After the city was broken, Taizu, who was still General Dayan at that time, led his troops to the ruins of the pagoda temple. The majestic eaves and eaves of the base can be seen. In the ruins, there are exquisite clay sculptures. Only the head of the flying sky is still smiling.

The magnificent Yongning Temple built in the former dynasty has been burned down, while the Baima Temple built in the Eastern Han Dynasty has been devastated by wars and disasters. Although the temple has been damaged and rebuilt many times, it still survives today, which is extremely rare.Fear and panic is a big taboo for monks in their practice. The monks in the temple must chant morning and evening lessons as usual, but everyone can feel anxious and worried.

One young novice whispered to the other when he removed the latch: "Brother, have you heard any news from the city?"

The other one didn't look sideways, but said: "Don't always think about poking around. I need the six senses to be clean, so don't keep disturbing my practice."

The young man raised his eyebrows and said: "You really practice well, how can you be afraid of disturbance, after all, you are also flustered."

The two murmured softly and pushed the mountain gate away.Seeing that there was no one in the street outside the temple, and the autumn wind was bleak, the older young monk suddenly felt that there was nothing in his heart, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Suddenly I heard the little junior brother say: "Why is there someone in front of the door?"

A figure was seen outside the threshold of the temple, his face was unclear, and his white clothes stood out in the dim light.

After some foreign affairs, the senior brother took a step forward and saluted, "Where did the benefactor come from?"

The man bowed his head and saluted, saying: "Come from here."

The voice is not high, although it is hoarse, it is not concealed.Seeing his calm demeanor, the little novice thought to himself that this man seemed to have some intentions after hearing his answer.It's just that when there is no one in the morning, who is this person?When I was thinking about it, I heard the little junior brother whispering from the side: "Could it be that you came here to sacrifice your life to become a monk?"

His senior brother pondered for a while, but also felt reasonable, and said: "Did the benefactor come to vote in my temple?"

The man seemed to be taken aback when he heard the words, and was about to speak, but he heard someone in the courtyard calling: "Qingming, Qingyuan." The two young monks looked back, and it was a deacon monk who came, and hurriedly stepped back and whispered something in his ear.

When the monk heard the words, Jishou only asked "The benefactor..." but stopped.This person came alone, his identity and whereabouts are unknown, and he did not dare to be careless during the war, so he hesitated.Unexpectedly, before asking the question, the outsider said with a smile: "I pass by the treasure temple, I don't dare to bother, I just want to ask for a sip of water."

The deacon monk saw that he had been refusing to raise his head, and seemed to be extremely humble, but he did not dare to be contemptuous when he looked closely at his behavior, so he could not help secretly speculating: "The city has been besieged for so long, so it must not be outsiders. Whose family's lord, you are wandering in such a desolate way." For a moment, a heart of compassion arose, and he said, "The benefactor, come to the temple, I will eat with you, or you can wash up a little bit." He raised his hand to lead the way: " please."

The man gave a deep bow, said "Thank you", and then stepped into the gate of the temple.

When he stepped into the temple, he also stepped into the morning light.The breeze blew past, only the clothes were thin, the deacon monk glanced at him, but gasped in shock, the two young novice monks behind him were so shocked that they almost fell to the ground.

I saw that the black hair was neatly brushed over the temples on the forehead, and the skin beside the hairline was white and moist like ivory, and the long eyebrows that slanted into the temples on one side fluttered like emerald feathers; while the other half of the face seemed to be fresh. Burned by the flames, the red and white intersect, but you can't see the real face, like a war horse's iron hooves trampling across the ground, falling to the ground.

The deacon monk only felt his forehead thumping, tried his best to calm down and said tremblingly "Goodness", but the man smiled lightly and sighed, "I offended everyone by disturbing you."

The abbot of Baima Temple sat in the monk's room, and when the little novice took off the stained white towel and went out, he put a bowl of ointment on the opposite side and said: "I have asked the monk in charge of medical affairs in the temple, this ointment is frankincense, Gypsum, Cortex Phellodendron, and Coptis chinensis, mixed with oil, can clear away heat and poison and relieve pain. Just leave it to the benefactor for daily use.”

The man bowed slightly and said, "Thank you, Master." He added, "The Master gave me a monk's room to treat me. I would never dare to do it."

He said this because he knew that most people in the temple treated foreigners in the living room, but the abbot laughed and said: "There are many people coming and going in the living room, and it is inconvenient. The benefactor does not know how many red tapes there are in my Buddhist school. In fact, it is not important."

When the man raised his wrist, his long fingers appeared, and his nails were neatly trimmed, but his knuckles turned white when he clenched his fist hard when he was cleaning the wound and applying medicine.These hands are definitely not for rough work, and the thin white calluses on the fingertips are naturally the result of holding a pen and ink all year round.When the abbot saw it, he thought more about it.Early this morning, he heard that the deacon monk came to inform him of this person, and he felt that it must be unusual.Before the Xiyan army completely encircled Luocheng, all those who had a little place to go in the city were already persuaded to go out, and those wealthy merchants from high-ranking families were no longer in the city.The abbot thought for a while and asked, "Dare to ask about the origin of the benefactor?"

The man said: "My surname is Yuan. I have been displaced here because my house caught fire and I have nowhere to live."

The abbot smiled and said: "Almsgiver, don't lie before the Buddha." Seeing the man stunned for a moment, he continued, "If there is an accidental fire, how can you not stretch out your hands to cover your face when it is hot? Apart from the damage on the face, the almsgiver also has his hands, The skin on the neck is intact."

Hearing this, the man lowered his eyes and shook his head with a smile, and said, "Master is wise. It was only in vain to take care of him, but he couldn't answer the master's question truthfully." After saying that, he bowed his head and said, "Please forgive me."

The abbot saw that although his face was damaged, but just by looking at his facial features, he could tell that he was elegant in the past, and his words and demeanor seemed to show firmness here, and he was even more curious about who this is and why he made such a decision to self-destruct his appearance things come.After pondering for a long time, he couldn't help it, and said: "Buddhism doesn't study past lives, it's okay." But he couldn't help but said, "Don't do self-harm anymore."

The man straightened up and said indifferently: "Why does the mage say so, all the eminent monks tortured their bodies to seek enlightenment, and even sacrificed their bodies, why?"

The abbot clasped his hands together and said, "If the benefactor seeks enlightenment through ascetic practice, then the first step is to get rid of worldly thoughts. Has the benefactor passed this threshold?"

The man seemed to move, and bowed his head for a while and said: "I made a slip of the tongue, Master forgive me."

The abbot looked at him for a while, then smiled and said: "I have a good relationship with the benefactor. If the benefactor has nowhere to go, he can stay in this temple." After saying that, he raised his hands and said, "The benefactor, please rest in peace. There is no need to send gifts to each other." .”

The man got up to return the salute, and watched the abbot leave the room.At this moment, his face was like thousands of steel needles stabbing, with only a light touch, he hastily frowned and withdrew his hand.He couldn't help but smile bitterly, at this moment he felt impatient, but how did he bear the severe pain when the fire burned his skin in Zhao Shen's tent the night before yesterday.

Lu Youzhi—now that he is completely different, there really is no such person in the world.

Zhao Shen stood on the top of the city overnight, watching the moon shadow turn around for a long time, it turns out that waiting for night to go and day to come is actually so long.

The officer who led the soldiers on night patrol at the head of the city said: "I will watch with wide eyes, the general will go to sleep."

Zhao Shen said: "I don't worry about it, I just don't want to sleep."

These words are not lies, as soon as he closed his eyes, he felt a heart empty and restless in the darkness, the more things he didn't want to think about, the more they came to his mind.For a moment, he was full of depression and anger and wanted to find someone to confide in, but there was no one to complain about.He endured this depression and tossed and turned in the middle of the night, and when he finally became a little confused, a flame ignited in front of his eyes.Through the heavy curtains, he saw the figure of that person, but when he broke into it, suddenly there was a wind, and there was no dust around him.Zhao Shen's heart was startled, he almost blurted out the person's name, but he opened his mouth, but no sound came out of his throat.His whole body shook in desperation, but he woke up.When I opened my eyes, I saw that the night sky was dyed with ink, and the moon was bright and clear, but it seemed that it had lost a bend and was no longer full.

He stared at the moon for a long time.The moonlight was like water, extinguishing the fire of ignorance in his chest like a wild horse, and clearing away the chaos that had been stagnant in his heart for the past two days.When he came back to his senses, Fang seemed to realize that Lu Youzhi was really not here anymore.

He suddenly heard that the camp was on fire a few days ago, as if he had been hit in the head with a club.Now that the mind is ignorant, it regains its clarity, and the dull dull pain suddenly became sharp and clear, as if the flesh and bones crushed and flattened by the boulder regenerate and become conscious, and then they are suddenly cut off at the root by a sharp knife.He gritted his teeth for a long time, and suddenly found it ridiculous.Wasn't he also the one who made up his mind to send Lu Youzhi away from this wrong place?That being the case, it doesn't matter if it's his cherished farewell or his leaving without saying goodbye.Even though how many words he has at this time are stagnant and there is no place to speak in his heart, but if they really want to be in the entanglement scene of one step and three considerations, how can they deal with themselves?If this is the case, the two of them will no longer be bound by each other, and it will be considered as a perfect relationship.

He explained himself for a long time, and finally felt a little lighter in his heart.At that time, I didn't feel sleepy at all, so I simply walked to the top of the city.It was quiet at night, and the footsteps of the patrolling soldiers at the top of the city seemed to have traveled far.Zhao Shen took a quick look and saw that the defenders on the mound below the city were burning torches all night, illuminating the front of the formation brightly.Before I knew it, the sky was already white.

Zhao Shen suddenly felt the light of the torch reflected in his eyes flickering, he couldn't help but let out a long breath.He has no chance of fulfilling the promise of "never lose" to Lu Youzhi, and the only thing that can live up to it now is Lu Youzhi's consideration for him.He tried his best to open his eyes against the wind, until there was no more moisture in his eyes, and his mood returned to calm.

At this moment, the pale white of the sky seemed to be dyed with a little warm color, Zhao Shen blinked slightly, in the east facing sky and earth, the sun should have just risen.

When the sky was half-bright, shadows seemed to float in the sky from outside the city to the sky above the city.The soldiers patrolling the city hurriedly set up their arrows and shot them down. It turned out that they were all bound paper crows, but they didn't know what mechanism they touched. When the paper crows fell, there were also countless paper notes scattered.Not only in the barracks, but also in the city.

A guard picked up a busy present and presented it to Zhao Shen, and reported, "It was outside the city... to persuade him to surrender."

Zhao Shen opened his eyes and glanced over, and saw the words "food and grass are exhausted" and "the flood has passed", and he couldn't help but snorted coldly.He also heard the guard say: "Now these things are scattered everywhere, I'm afraid..."

Zhao Shen closed the paper, and said calmly: "Afraid that the army's morale will be disturbed?" He said again, "Forget it." Seeing his face sinking into water, the guard didn't dare to say any more, only heard Zhao Shen say coldly: "It is ordered to raise the account at Maoshi, All generals above Dubo in the army need to be present."

At that time, all the people came together, and seeing the solemnity in the tent, they knew that there must be a big announcement today.This morning, everyone in the city has seen the flying papers outside the city, and each has their own thoughts in their hearts.When the time was over, everyone stood upright and held their breath, all looked at Zhao Shen.

Zhao Shen glanced over, and saw that the military appearance was still serious and neat, but there were already a few familiar faces missing from the seats.He withdrew his gaze and didn't mention what happened earlier in the morning, but said in a deep voice: "Now the situation of the city defense, I don't need to repeat it to you."

At that time, half of the autumn season had already passed, and Luocheng had been besieged for nearly half a year. The food and grass in the city were almost exhausted, and there were less than four thousand soldiers.Although the enemy army besieging the city had many casualties, they were numerous after all.The defenders in the city occupy the earthy hills in front of the formation. Needless to say, during the day, even at night, the fire is brightly lit for warning, forcing the Xiyan army to temporarily avoid the front; Just waiting for another autumn rain, it will flood the city.The tit-for-tat confrontation between the two sides is really the moment when a close call is at hand.

Seeing that everyone heard the words, Zhao Shen nodded silently, and continued: "The enemy outside the city is relying on the power of Luoshui, and they are determined to win Luocheng. Now when the road reaches a fork, I don't force you, but I just want to explain something clearly. : If you have any reluctance in your heart, please put it in front of your face, let the king come and go, I will never stop and blame; but if you don't say it, you are determined to guard the lonely city with me, and you will never regret it in the future."

Everyone didn't want him to say this, Li Shoude said loudly: "How can the general say such morale-destroying words!"

There was no trace of joy or anger on Zhao Shen's face, he just said: "I am definitely not trying to provoke the general. The situation is at this point, if you stick to it, there will be no way out. You don't have to think about slowing things down. It is destined to be a life-and-death decision. Some of you have stayed here for generations, and some have come from other places. But no matter what, you don’t owe me anything, and I have no intention of forcing others to accompany you.”

After saying that, he didn't look around any more, and there was silence in the tent.

After a while, a person slowly stepped out of the ranks. It turned out to be a general under Gao Youan.

Li Shoude, Cheng Chude and the others squinted slightly, and sighed in their hearts. It turned out that it was always difficult for these foreign generals to get along with each other; but thinking about how many troubles these Gao's subordinates had seen in the past few months, now they are in danger and stay behind. It is also difficult to ensure that there will be no more chaos in the city, thinking about what Zhao Shen said today, it is because of this; if they leave at this time, it may not be a bad thing.

Zhengdu was thinking about it secretly, but he heard the general say: "No matter what others do, I would like to follow the general." Before he finished speaking, he saw a few more people coming out, and they were all the generals of the Gao family.Several people said one after another: "I am willing to follow the general."

Zhao Shen raised his eyebrows slightly, and said: "How many of you heard what I just said clearly?"

The leader said: "General, don't think that we are taken by the general's power, or that we are duplicity. We and the general are half-way generals, and we dare not compare with the spirit of the general's former headquarters in Luocheng. It is the general's great honor, We also have a plan in our hearts. Even if we talk about life and death, when the general dealt with Gao Huai that day, he heard the enemy's shouting and said clearly-everyone in the city would be killed; even if he said to surrender now, Don’t you still let others slaughter you when you lose your hands. Anyway, the worst is death, so why send yourself to the door to suffer that humiliation.”

Another person on the side said: "Even if they are Jinnah, how can we be seen by them. I am afraid that we have no money to cheer up, our bones are weak, and we are despised by others. How can we have anything?" A way out. Besides, at that time, I didn’t know where they would send me to be cannon fodder. I left my hometown and had no way of life, so it’s better to fight here and have a good time.”

What they said was not evasive and vulgar, and what they said was very frank, but because of this, it was obvious that they were expressing their hearts.Li and Cheng were stunned for a moment, Zhao Shen also felt that it was unexpected.Suddenly, Yuan Gui laughed loudly and said: "Yes! That's true. At this point, there's no need to talk about integrity. I just talk about it for my own enjoyment!"

His voice was broad and loud, echoing in the tent, even the previous dullness seemed to be shaken away, and he turned to Zhao Shen and said: "General, if I hold a spear and you hold a bow, you can fight thousands of troops, it still counts. of!"

The corners of Zhao Shen's lips twitched slightly, but his eyes twitched, and he said in a deep voice, "I said back then that I would take care of the future of the brothers, and that's what I meant!"

All the people in the seat had already straightened their armor and shaked their robes, and said in unison: "I will definitely not regret it!"