Naturally, the wine was left to the old man, and a group of us got on the boat.
From leaving the village yesterday afternoon to getting on the old man's boat this morning, it took less than a day, but it felt like years had passed. However, the road ahead was still as difficult, and it would be How long
Under the purple-red sky, there was a trace of pressure in my heart unconsciously, and my eyes fell on the mysterious old man.
He rowed the boat calmly, and Hui Gen'er sat cross-legged next to him. He didn't look at Hui Gen'er, nor at us. He only occasionally pushed away the wreckage of the ship and the breeze brought by it blew away the wreckage. On top of the clothes that have long since decayed, his eyes would show a trace of pity, but it would only be fleeting.
The sound of the boat breaking the water, and occasionally the old man sighing contentedly after taking a sip of wine, everything was so quiet under the purple-red sky, and the gray boundary monument was getting farther and farther in the eyes...
"Brother Chengyi, do you think the old man who rowed the boat was a monk?" Chengyuan sat next to me, covering his mouth and nose gently. Perhaps the decaying smell brought by the boat wrecks all over the lake is the youthful life. The unbearable smell will be gone after this period of time when the water surface is gone.
"I don't know, but I think in my heart, I guess so." Worldly people don't care so much about the three thousand trouble threads on their heads. There is only one kind of person who insists on shaving them off, and that is the monk. No. For nothing else, just for the respect for the faith in my heart.
"Then why does the monk want to drink?" Chengyuan asked me in a low voice.
A monk drinks? The monks I know are not always so serious. Uncle Hui who eats eggs and occasionally drinks alcohol, Hui Gener who eats cakes, Jue Yuan who loves beauty... But how should I answer this question
"There are too many things that need to be given up to show the purity of the six roots. I am a Buddhist. But giving up forcibly and letting go on your own are probably two different things! You can't let go because there is bitterness in your heart. Take a sip It may not be that he is willing to fall, but at least he has shown sincerity in front of the Buddha. Maybe one day, under some suffering, the person who is a good drinker finally puts down the drink, which probably means he has really quit. Let it go." The conversation between Chengyuan and I was very quiet, but at this moment, the old man seemed to be talking to himself and said something that fell on our ears.
Chengyuan blushed slightly, after all, it is always not good to talk about others like this.
But it suddenly dawned on me that what the old man said was essentially the same as Master's saying that you can only put it down after you pick it up, but the meaning of vicissitudes in it was heavier than Master's.
"What are you worried about?" Hui Gen'er suddenly spoke.
The old man didn't answer Hui Gen'er's question, and didn't even look at Hui Gen'er. He took another sip of wine, narrowed his eyes in contentment, and suddenly said to us: "The flowers on the hillside are all over the field. , does it look good?”
No one answered. You say the red and white flowers are beautiful, but they are filled with a tragic smell of death. As long as there is life and no special hobbies, who can appreciate it
We didn't answer, but the old man kept to himself and said: "In the legendary hell, flowers of the other shore bloom along the way. Some people say that the flower of the other shore is the amaryllis of this world. That is nonsense. The real flower of the other shore should be after death." , brought into the underworld and watered by the last drop of reluctant heart blood."
What kind of crazy talk is this? Why do I think this is nonsense
"Here, there is a being who wants to turn it into a real hell, and also wants to bloom flowers from the other side along the way, so he uses the decayed blood of living people to irrigate it, but in the end, this kind of strange flower blooms. On top of the pale white, a drop of Red, pale means loss of life, a drop of red is the last blood that spreads. Can you smell the temperature of the flower? Just like human life, what a sweet smell, it is the sweetness brought by the body that fills the whole life, But it also carries a pungent smell of blood. It is the smell that blood emits when it is decaying, and it is also the smell that fills the throat when it is painful." The old man said quietly, but there was an inexplicable feeling on my back. Goosebumps arose.
What is the connection between this kind of fragrance and life? Or, this is also a question that all of us have, but the old man quickly answered us: "Life is always accompanied by various desires. The simplest food, clothing, housing and transportation bring you enjoyment, satisfaction, and sweet tranquility. But life is also Along with all kinds of pain, birth, old age, illness and death, human beings have always done this to cover up the pain of birth, old age, illness and death with sweet **, so this kind of flower bloomed."
"It's just that when you say it this way, isn't it a little simpler and a little empty? Sex and pain, but no spiritual fulfillment and indifference? That's because many people have forgotten their own souls, so this flower is pale and feeble. The sky cannot bloom into more beautiful colors. What I see here is not all kinds of things in the world, but all kinds of things in the ghost world. I want to save souls and let the flowers of life bloom more beautifully, but I find that my dreams are too big. The power is too small. Little monk, tell me, if one day all the people in this world die, will the world be filled with red and white flowers? Are there other colors?"
The old man's words were crazy enough, and there was a hint of despair in them, but Hui Gen'er stood up and simply said: "Flowing things, if you look at them, they are boring, but they are meaningless."
"Huh?" The old man narrowed his eyes, waiting for Hui Gen'er's explanation.
"Just like people, whether they are moving forward or retreating, they are always moving. Maybe today, the only things that are wasting away in life are lust and pain. Tomorrow, this may not necessarily be the case. Maybe in the long future, People will pay more attention to the heart and soul. This pale flower is just a temporary thing. Why should you be obsessed with it and suffer from it? How can people in Buddhism have this kind of obsession? No matter how big or small your strength is, just do it. Yes. Saving people is never a temporary achievement." Hui Gen'er replied calmly.
After hearing Hui Gen'er's words, the old man's eyes lit up and he suddenly asked: "What is your Dharma name?"
"Hui Gen." Hui Gen'er replied simply.
"Hahaha... Sure enough, it is such an arrogant name. However, it is not worthy of the name! Okay, okay... In fact, I am not suffering from this. I just want to see from you, what is the human nature? Not standing still." After the old man finished speaking, he suddenly drank several sips of wine happily.
Then he waved his hand and said: "Come back safely, I will leave a drop of blood with you."
Hui Gen'er looked at the old man without speaking, his eyes full of doubts, but in the end, under the indifference of the old man, he stopped talking and asked nothing. In the end, he sat quietly beside the old man and fell silent. .
Under the purple-red sky, Hui Gen'er's figure sitting cross-legged and the old man rowing a boat in the background are like a deep silhouette. Maybe this is Hui Gen'er's opportunity
When I was thinking wildly, the old man suddenly said: "We're almost there."
I raised my eyes and saw that the layer of fog that we could not see through on the hillside was suddenly in front of me. In the distance, the boundary monument had shrunk to a straight line that was about as small as my index finger. I looked at it with nostalgia. A glance at the boundary monument revealed that the boat had quickly entered the mist.
As soon as I entered the fog, I felt irresistibly confused. Everything in front of me became a bit real and illusory. In fact, the scenery did not change much in the fog. The sky was still purple-red, and it was still purple-red. It's a lake, but there is a flat reef about the size of a house in the lake. On the edge of the reef, there is a protruding reef that stretches out like a road.
There is nothing, this is the new city? In this unconscious confusion, I couldn't help but think this, but I also felt that something was wrong with this confusion. I looked at everyone on the boat. Except for the old man, everyone had a trace of confusion in their eyes, half-opening. Closing your eyes feels like you are about to fall into a deep nap.
The slight shaking made us slightly awake, but even more dazed.
The old man said calmly: "We're here, why don't you get off the boat?"
Reached? Where have you been? I suddenly discovered that the boat was parked next to the reef. In the mist, I could no longer see the hillside, the flowers of death all over the mountains and fields, and the boundary monument that warmed my heart.