People are people, lamps are lamps, how can they be the same thing
And flame and ember...
Hmm, is there a big difference
After hearing Jianchou's words, Randeng Tongzi blinked blankly, feeling that the simple idea in his little head was suddenly confused by her.
It’s wrong to think this way, and it’s also wrong to think that way.
"What are you talking about? You, she, Yan, Jin, are you speaking human language? I don't understand..."
Its speech is ignorant and its expression is confused, which is really interesting.
Jianchou immediately laughed out loud.
But she had no intention of explaining it clearly. Although all living things in the world can always empathize and understand each other when they encounter the right opportunity, it is obvious that for the boy who burns the lamp, the time has not yet come.
She stretched out her finger, gently tapped its head, and said, "I hope there will never be a day when you will understand."
"ah?"
This is getting more and more outrageous.
The little person lying on the edge of the lamp immediately became unhappy. Her face wrinkled into a small ball and she stared at him with wide eyes, as if she had said something unforgivable.
But he didn't take it to heart.
In her eyes, this boy was like "a young man who does not know the taste of sorrow", so she was very tolerant towards him.
Looking around at this moment, I saw the moonlight setting, and the galaxy in the sky, which seemed to be painted by someone with a large brush, gradually lost its light and became dim.
There was already a faint glow of pale sky between the mountains in the east.
God, it will be dawn soon.
The oil in the lotus lamp had become much lighter, and the bottom was barely visible.
Under the gradually brightening light of the sky, the originally dim lights swayed and trembled like a lone boat floating on the river.
The boy who burns the lamp looked a little sleepy, so he rubbed his eyes and yawned.
"I have to go now."
As Jianchou spoke, he stood up and stood on the higher peak, looking down at the Zen temples and monasteries below. The clean and simple walls and tiles were all wrapped in a thin mist, silent in the dim morning light.
After all, I have been trapped in the Sumeru mustard seed for too long.
In a flash, another twenty years passed by. The situation in the Nineteen Continents and the Polar Regions changed again. People in Yashan must be worried about her safety. Although they probably knew that she had escaped safely, it was better for her to go back earlier.
This matter should be resolved as soon as possible.
"Are you leaving?"
The boy named Ran Deng suddenly came to his senses. Although he had not spoken a few words to her the whole night, he was reluctant to let her go, perhaps because she was who she is now.
Jianchou nodded, and was quite open-minded: "Thank you for the lotus lantern tonight."
"Will you come again in the future? What about her?"
When the boy named Dipankara saw that she was about to leave, he hurriedly asked again.
Jianchou paused, pondered for a moment, and replied, "Whether I come or not depends entirely on fate; whether she comes or not depends entirely on her choice."
Fate, choice
Why don’t you understand
The boy who burns the lamp was a little angry, his cheeks puffed up, and finally he stopped asking her out of spite. Like a child who didn't get any candy, he just watched her walk away slowly.
All enlightenment happened overnight.
As for how to deal with the banshee, Jianchou was no longer confused and had made a clear decision.
Bidding farewell to the boy with the burning lamp, she walked in the gradually brighter light of the sky, along the mossy path with cracks in it, left the ashes pool that contained all the love, hatred and entanglements of the world's past, and went down the mountain holding the burning lamp sword.
Halfway through the journey, we have not yet returned to the Zen temple.
A snow-white figure suddenly appeared on the narrow and steep mountain path ahead.
Is a monk.
The angular face was filled with the cool morning mist, and his slightly closed eyes revealed a sense of loneliness. He was dressed in a snow-white monk's robe, looking like a natural person, with apathy and indifference, as well as a calmness without sadness or joy.
But those eyes and eyebrows hide a kind of affectionate yet ruthless silence...
You can’t tell his cultivation level at all, but he doesn’t look like an ordinary person at all either.
Jianchou didn't expect to meet someone on this mountain road at this time. He felt a little curious and surprised for a moment.
The monk also saw her, but he didn't react much, either because he already knew about it or because he was indifferent.
The two men approached and met each other.
Jianchou didn't know how to address the other party, and he had a feeling that he shouldn't speak at the moment, so he paused for a moment, bowed to the monk, and kowtowed.
The monk looked at her, returned the greeting, and then walked away from her.
The corners of the snow-white monk's robe had been wet as it brushed against the grass, trees, and flowers in the mountains, but the monk seemed not to notice, or perhaps he simply did not care about such a small matter.
He does not have these external things in his heart.
The pace was neither fast nor slow, and soon he disappeared in the winding mountain road.
Going to Emberpool too
Jianchou didn't know much about the eminent monks in the Zen sect, but the only one who could completely match the monk he had just met was the legendary Zen Master Xuelang, who had the highest level of cultivation among the three masters.
People outside always call him: the love monk.
She didn't know what kind of story this Zen master had, but she guessed that there were many different kinds of beings in this world, and there were many that could be seen through, but there were even more that could not be seen through.
In fact, it doesn’t matter whether you see through it or not...
None of it matters. What matters is to see your true heart clearly amidst the fog.
So even though he felt that this encounter was very strange and the other party's identity was a mystery, Jianchou did not think too much about it. He just quickly retracted his gaze and continued down the mountain.
On the way, you can faintly hear the sound of flying flower jade flute.
It's coming from the mountain. Maybe it's the monk playing it
The sound of a jade flute is playing in the dark, spreading into the spring breeze all over Luo City.
This tune is filled with endless tenderness and love...
She went down the mountain listening to the tune.
At this time, a red sun just showed its outline from between the mountains. The crimson glow decorated the entire Zen temple. From the bell and drum towers on both sides of the Heavenly King Hall, the sounds of morning bells and evening drums echoed leisurely.
The sea in the distance also began to surge.
The Thousand Buddha Hall is located behind the Lixue Pavilion. It is a large hall located at the back of the main Zen temple. Countless large and small Buddhas are enshrined in it. At this moment, it is holding the female demon that emerged from the ashes pool.
When Jianchou arrived at the palace, the sound of bells and drums had just stopped.
She also stopped walking.
She thought she would be the first one to arrive here after coming down from the mountain, but she didn't expect that someone would arrive here earlier than her.
With a sarcastic smile on his lips, Jianchou walked over again and stood beside the man. Together with him, they looked up at the plaque hanging high in the hall in front of them.
"Fellow Daoist Xie, you've been here for a while, right? Why don't you go in?"
Xie Buchen had indeed been here for a while.
He was dressed in a clean blue robe, with his head slightly tilted back and his eyes raised. The profound elegance and refinement in his facial features, blended with the nobility in his meaning, were not diminished in the slightest by his overly dull expression.
He heard Jianchou's words, but said nothing.
At this time, the sky was not yet fully bright. Although the door of the hall was open, it was dark inside. Only the dim candlelight could be seen, and no human figures could be seen clearly.
Although Xie Buchen didn't say anything, how could Jianchou not know the reason
The existence inside is certainly an evil spirit different from humans, but it is also the past that she has left behind.
Even she herself took a long time to accept it, and only this morning did she suddenly realize it and dare to come here. How could Xie Buchen be free of grudges for the time being
Jianchou knew it in his heart, but at this moment, he pretended not to know. He actually waved his hand at him, smiled, and said, "Please—"
Xie Buchen finally turned around and looked at her.
Between her delicate and tranquil eyebrows, there was only a deep and calm calmness. No deep hatred or deep resentment could be seen, only that kind of calm and rational, deeply hidden disdain and disapproval.
The sorrow we feel now is not the same sorrow we felt in the past.
This obvious difference and division suddenly emerged in my mind at this moment.
Xie Buchen recalled the various situations he had seen with the demon yesterday, and his usually clear mind suddenly became confused. In the mustard seed of Mount Sumeru, for Jianchou it was four hundred years of lonely cultivation, but for him it was five hundred years of cultivation and five hundred years of torture.
Just because she was cruel to him, but he still loved her.
The more time you spend together, the more affection and love you have.
During these five hundred years, his inner demons grew as much as his cultivation level improved.
So during those five hundred years, he had a strange doubt in his heart.
The trip to the Snow Region, obtaining the Nine Doubts Cauldron and entering the Xumi Mustard Seed, was indeed full of opportunities, but also full of dangers. Especially his inner demons...
Master Hengxu, did you really not notice anything at all
Xie Buchen turned his gaze away and suppressed the extremely tormented feeling in his heart. His steps were as calm as his face, and after Jianchou said "please", he stepped in.
It looked dark outside the hall, but once you stepped inside, it became bright.
Jianchou was not far behind and walked into the hall together with Xie Buchen. After just a blink of an eye, he had adapted to the light inside the hall, which was a little darker than outside.
The hall is not flat. There are seven steps at the front, which symbolizes the seven-story pagoda in Buddhism.
Seeing sorrow, the witch sat cross-legged on the cushion at the top of the steps.
People cannot see their own backs.
It was also the first time that Jianchou saw “himself” from behind.
She looked slightly slender, but her back was straight, so she looked particularly tall. The flickering light and shadow in the hall, reflected on her back, added a kind of psychedelic isolation.
On the surrounding walls, colorful paintings are winding and thousands of Buddhas are surrounded.
She sat cross-legged under the gaze of thousands of Buddhas, without moving an inch, just like the other Buddha statues in front of her, like a lifeless withered statue.
Solemn, without any trace of evil.
There were no complicated formations or talismans on the ground, only a simple golden circle, which was not particularly round and did not have the feeling of striving for regularity.
But precisely because of this, there is a sense of Zen in watching it, as if it is understanding the mysteries of nature.
It was like drawing a circle on the ground to form a prison, enclosing all seven levels of stairs.
The demon girl Jianchou sat in this "prison" and could not take a single step out.
When Jianchou and Xie Buchen arrived, she had already noticed them. She just raised her head and stared at the statue in front of her for a long time before she stood up and turned to face them.
They stood on the left and the right, with a clear distance between them, as if no one had anything to do with the other. But in her eyes, this scene was an infinite irony.
Simply because their calm yet complicated expressions are so similar.
"If it weren't for the deep hatred, the two of you would indeed be a perfect match made in heaven. Equally ruthless, equally conceited..."
The demon girl's gaze shifted from Jianchou to Xie Buchen, and she suddenly smiled.
"I am everything she has abandoned and given up, old feelings, old love, old ties. Now when you look at me, do you feel your heart broken or your lungs torn?"
Her gaze was too direct and sharp, like a knife. And this knife was stabbed right into Xie Buchen's heart.
He closed his eyes.
It seemed that this would allow him to calm down, feel at ease, and not be bothered by the surroundings. But he heard footsteps beside his ears, and then a slightly cold fingertip reached out and touched his chin.
"You came here just to see clearly, didn't you?" A light laugh sounded, it was the same voice as Jianchou, the demon girl Jianchou, who had actually come to him, "Why are you closing your eyes?"
The coolness at my fingertips penetrated into my heart almost instantly.
Xie Buchen opened his eyes.
The face of the witch Jianchou, who looked exactly like Jianchou, was very close. Unbeknownst to him, she had walked down from the highest step and stood on the lowest step, looking at him with eyes that seemed to be filled with affection.
Seems affectionate.
That's all.
"Actually, I have always had a question that I would like to ask a wise man like you."
Her voice was very low, and her eyes were very shallow, as if you could see through it at a glance. But when you really look inside, you feel that it is a vast ocean and an abyss.
Xie Buchen didn't blink and saw it all clearly.
He still looked calm, but his heart was withered. There were no more green mountains and clear water, lush branches and leaves, only thorns everywhere, yellow sand in the Gobi Desert, and desolate weather.
Only he knows how he feels at this moment.
The banshee saw sorrow and leaned forward, approaching him.
The slender index finger was still pointing at his chin, and he actually lowered his head and gave a kiss as soft as snowflakes, like a drop of water.
It should have been full of affection, but her posture at the moment seemed to be looking down and superior.
So, such a kiss actually looked like a casual gift, or even alms!
Xie Buchen's standing figure suddenly froze for a moment.
Storms of emotion instantly arose in his heart, and he tried his best to suppress them, but they were so violent and scorching that they almost burned through his entire chest!
Although his face remained calm, the sudden coldness in his eyes revealed that he was facing a formidable enemy!
However…
When he raised his eyes slightly and met the gaze of the banshee Jianchou, everything froze again in an instant, and the sharp blade pierced him through without reservation this time!
There was no tenderness or love in her eyes.
What he did have was merciless sarcasm, seemingly compassionate sympathy, and all kinds of ridicule. There was no need to say a word, the look alone was enough to make it clear.
She did it on purpose.
Xie Buchen has always been an extremely calm, even cruel person.
He can clearly separate his love and hate from the truth, and he can measure all the strategies, desires, and human hearts that can be measured at any time and anywhere. Even if he knows that losing will make him painful, once he needs to make a choice and give up, he will cut it off mercilessly.
Reasonable, as always.
But this does not mean a complete separation.
His love for Jianchou could not be extinguished because she still existed. He could clearly and indifferently feel the torment and pain of his body and even his soul...
Burning coldly, madly rationally.
"Pathetic and hateful..."
The banshee's gaze seemed to be able to penetrate his body and see everything deep in his soul. She seemed to feel a little happy, and she laughed and asked the question she wanted to ask before.
"Xie Buchen, tell me, which me do you love more, the present or the past?"
"… "
Jianchou, who was watching coldly, finally couldn't help but raised his eyebrows slightly.
She hadn't sensed any demonic aura from this witch before, but her words and actions were indeed full of the arrogance and evil that only a demon could bring.
That action just now was obviously a bit offensive...
It can be seen that Chou felt a little appreciative of her attitude of not taking it to heart at all and of doing her a favor.
Just at this moment...
The question she raised, under this circumstance, really revealed a complexity that was so extreme that it was difficult to describe.
The demoness Jianchou just stared at Xie Buchen.
He remained silent for a long time, the smell of blood rising up in his throat, and he closed his eyes slightly.
In fact, the witch felt that she knew the answer, but she thought that he would not answer.
But unexpectedly, the moment she laughed and turned away, Xie Buchen's eyes, which contained endless changes, opened again, and his eyes were clear.
When he opened his mouth, he answered calmly and firmly, "It's not you."