The Monk

Chapter 778: Seeking the Way

Zhang Ai was secretly happy to see this, but the scholar was straightforward and thought to himself: Kong Buer has a strange name. It can be compared with the Bu Kuang Tui he met a few days ago. I was thinking wildly, but I didn't mind that Kong Buer had used the gourd first, lifted it up and took a sip.

Kong Buer was very happy to see him doing this, and laughed and said: "The hero is really straightforward. It is fate that you and I are saved by the hero today. I wonder what the hero's name is?"

Zhang Ping smiled and said, "My name is Zhang Ping." "Oh? But does it have a nickname?" The scholar became interested and asked seriously.

Before this era, men's names had only one character. When two people met, they could not call each other by their first names unless they had great hatred. Otherwise, it would be disrespectful to each other. This is the origin of the name taboo. However, there are many Taoist cultivators on the mainland. This group of people regard defying heaven as their virtue. Of course, they don't care about how they should be named or how they should be called, so they can be called anything.

The power of this group of people is so great that the imperial courts of all countries must rely on them to survive. They also learn from them, and they can be named casually. Only a scholarly family would follow the ancient etiquette and choose a name carefully.

Zhang Wen listened to Kong Fuji's question and said with a smile: "It's just a name. You just need to know who I am. Why do you want to describe me? Your name is also very interesting. Fuji, do you have an origin?"

Kong Buer took back the wine gourd, took a sip of wine and said, "Of course there is an origin. I want to live a vigorous life. As a man, I can tell you that this is the origin of my name."

Zhang Ain joked: "You can call Kong Shuiyi." Kong Buer shook his head: "The momentum, Shuiyi is far inferior to Buer."

Zhang Wen just smiled: "You took it yourself, right?" Kong Buer's face darkened, and he spoke loudly: "I took it myself. My father kicked me out of the house, so I gave my name back to him. From then on, I , it’s called non-duality, it’s useless to say anything, I just say the truth about what I’m sure about.”

This person is quite interesting. Zhang was afraid that the originally boring night would be a little more joyful. He picked up the dried meat and chewed it slowly: "Why did your father kick you out of the house?"

"Actually, it's nothing. My father was angry when I resigned and divorced my wife." Kong Buer was stunned for a moment and said slowly.

Fierce man! Is it still a big deal to resign and divorce your wife? For ordinary people, the goal they pursue in life is nothing but money, power and beauty. Once you have an official position, you will have money and power, and naturally you will also have beauty. This guy who always talks about everything just lost it all at once. What a courage!

He looked at Kong Buer and saw that his expression didn't seem to care, so he asked a series of questions: "Why did you resign and divorce your wife? Which country are you from? What are you doing in Shiwan Mountain?"

Xu Shi didn't speak for a long time. With the help of wine, Kong Buer briefly recounted the matter.

He was born into a family of officials and was very talented. He passed the exam and gained fame, so the imperial court appointed him as an eighth-grade official. The old boy went to hang out for a while, and somehow he became an irresistible friend with a Taoist priest. The two of them drank and talked nonsense when they had nothing to do. The Taoist told him the allusions in the family and the rumors he heard from many places as true stories. When the old boy heard this, he thought, people in the world still have such a way of life?

He had read a lot of books, including stories about gods and ghosts, and he started to think about it. He used to listen to legends and stories, but now he met a living Taoist and thought that there was indeed a way to live forever. Why should I cling to mundane things? During this period, he vaguely became interested in cultivating Taoism. He bravely resigned from his job, divorced his wife, and went to seek immortality. Of course, the ending was tragic. His father kicked him out of the house, so he changed his name to Fu Er, which means that he will never waver in what he wants in his life.

After being kicked out of his home, he became more determined to practice Taoism and decided to go out to visit a teacher. Generally speaking, Masters often live in seclusion in famous mountains, and they want to search for them in famous mountains.

His family lives in Pingxi County, which is the westernmost county of Qi State, and further west is Yan State. In these two places, Zhang was afraid that he had been struggling for a while. The only thing to blame is that the mainland is too small and not open enough to worry about the trouble.

Kong Buer was going to visit his master in famous mountains, but Longhu Mountain was too far away, and the closest mountain range to Pingxi County was Shiwanda Mountain. He asked his close friend who encouraged him to practice Taoism. The fake Taoist said: "There is no other way to practice in Shiwanda Mountain, and it is no weaker than Longhu Mountain." So, Kong Buer went to the mountain.

The journey was very hard. It took more than a month to cover more than 800 miles. I saw some high and low mountain peaks. I didn't find any gods, but I found many wild animals. However, he was lucky and had practiced martial arts to keep fit, so he persevered to save his life. Then he met five wolves and was rescued by Zhang Ai.

Zhang was afraid that he wanted to laugh when he heard this. This guy is so naive. His close friend dared to instigate others even though he didn't understand what was going on, and the smart Kong Buer actually believed it. After eating the dried meat, he clapped his hands and said, "Get some rest. I'll send you out tomorrow. You wandering around here is no different than seeking death."

He had good intentions, but Kong Buer didn't do it, and said stubbornly: "I will never leave the mountain, I will definitely visit the Master, and I will be like one heart."

Zhang Ping offered more advice: "Go further in, and it won't be as simple as five wolves. Are you here to learn Taoism, or are you here to be food for wild beasts?"

"Even if the beast is ferocious, the student has not died yet, right? I firmly believe that all the sufferings in the world are tests. As long as my heart is consistent and sincere to heaven and earth, there will be immortals who will show my sincerity and accept me as my disciple." This guy is going crazy. ah.

Zhang Ain curled his lips and said: "Do you think Taoists are so free? Do you still have time to care about whether you are sincere? Stop dreaming."

"Dreams are for dreaming. Not only do you want to dream, but you also have to turn your dreams into reality." Kong Buer meant what he said, regardless of whether it would come true in the end. He would not let go once he said it.

"Okay, then you can do it. Where do you want to go tomorrow?" Seeing how stubborn he was, Zhang was too lazy to persuade him anymore and asked casually after lying down.

"I don't know, so I will go to the highest mountain. Every time I go to the peaks, I will always encounter immortals."

Zhang Ai couldn't help it anymore and tried to persuade him again: "Don't you know that Shiwandashan is the place where foreigners live? You are at odds with the Han people in life and death, so you come to them to become their disciples? Aren't you afraid of being killed?"

"I have thought about this question. I think that immortal cultivators are transcendent from the world. How can they stop the world from seeking Taoism because of the prejudice of ethnic groups? Why don't you come with me? Let's worship together and learn from each other. Cultivation." Kong Buer looked over with two big shining eyes.

Okay, you win. Zhang Wen completely gave up the idea of ​​persuading him and closed his eyes and stopped talking.

The night passed quickly. After dawn, Kong Buer took out a piece of dry food, broke it into two halves, and handed one half to Zhang Awei: "Eat breakfast first." Then he asked, "Where is there water nearby?" Zhang Awei shook his head and said nothing. , pushed back the dry food, stood up, stretched his waist, swayed his body from side to side, and then said: "Fifteen miles east, there is a river."

"Huh? So far?" Kong Buer sat down and said, it was too far and he didn't want to move.

Zhang Ain followed and said: "There are snake dens by the river and bear caves nearby. I advise you not to go there." Just now, he scanned the surroundings with his spiritual sense. The river he mentioned was considered the safest in terms of distance. . If you are not afraid of distance and go around twice as far to find a water source, it will certainly be much safer, but thirty miles? Those who climb mountains and go into the woods have to wait until dark.

Kong Buer shook his head, took out a kettle from the rattan basket, opened it, took a careful sip, and handed the kettle over: "Drink."

Zhang Wei smiled and refused: "I'm not thirsty." Kong Buer didn't believe it: "How can I not be thirsty? How can anyone not be thirsty?"

Zhang was afraid that he would not explain, so he moved his body slightly and sat down again. Seeing his resolute attitude, Kong Buer took back the kettle, plugged it with a stopper, put it back in the rattan basket, and asked, "Where will you be going later?"

Zhang Ping said: "Come out of the mountain." Kong Buer did not give up and continued to encourage: "Follow me and follow me to become a disciple. It will be so majestic to become a god in the future." Zhang Ping said with a smile: "Who did you listen to? Yes, are there gods in this world?”

Kong Buer said: "How could it not be possible? Without gods, where would the sun, moon and stars come from? Without gods, how could mountains and rivers appear? Without gods, how could the oceans and continents be divided? If there were no gods, not even day and night, so what? Will there be you and me?”

Zhang Wen had heard a little of these legends and stories in the market before. Later, in order to entertain his children, he even found a book of fairy tales to read. At the end, he didn't know whether those stories were true or false, so he just treated it as a joke. .

Let's just say it's a lie. What's going on with these cultivators? Let’s be honest, even cultivators can’t see the magical methods. How can ordinary people see them? So I just read it as a story and didn’t care whether it was true or false. Hearing what Kong Fuji said was true, Zhang Wen became interested: "According to you, there were gods before you and me. Do you know why gods created you and me?"

"Maybe he is lonely." The storybook said so. Although Kong Buer felt something was wrong, he couldn't find the reason and had to forcefully fool around. "Can gods be lonely? Haha." Zhang Ping laughed.

"How come the gods are not lonely anymore?" Kong Buer argued: "It is because of loneliness that the gods gather together to eat, have fun and wander around."

Zhang Ying was curious when he heard this: "Where did you hear that the gods drink and have fun and wander around?"

"The book is extremely detailed. There are even stories about the Battle of Gods and the Beginning of Heaven and Earth. There are also many ancient books handed down. You don't know about it?" Kong Buer said, pretending that you really have no knowledge. .

"What is the Battle of Kaishen?" Although Zhang Wen also temporarily studied some mythological stories, he did not have a wide range of knowledge and was not as expert as Kong Buer.

"The war between the founders of the world. At that time, there was no sky or earth, only a piece of wonton. These sub-gods were wandering around and found that this place was good. Well, it was a good place. They wanted to build a world, but there were other people who were also optimistic about this place. , just fight, it’s a mess, this is the battle of Kaishen,” Kong Buer said.

Zhang was afraid that he was stupid. He had been practicing for a long time, but he had never thought about the origin of heaven and earth, and no one had ever told him about it. Now when this crazy scholar said, "Yes, I know how I came to be." But where did heaven and earth come from?

At that time, when I was chasing the Ghost Emperor, I still thought about flying up to see how high the sky was and what was outside. But after a lot of trouble, I forgot about this idea.