Due to the distance, Nanfeng subconsciously looked at the clothes first, then the reflective bald head caught his eye, and the last thing he looked at was the appearance.
In fact, before looking at the monk's appearance, Nanfeng had already guessed who the monk was based on his voice, and looking at his appearance was just for confirmation. As he expected, the monk was one of his sworn brothers who was separated from Chang'an back then. After the incident, he became the monk's fat man.
The fat man's appearance has not changed much. What has changed a lot is his body shape. Not only has he grown taller, but he has also grown thicker. He is now taller and stronger. He was wearing a shabby gray cloth cassock, carrying a large baggage behind him, holding a big-bellied alms bowl in his left hand, and waving it at him with his right hand.
Nan Feng was overjoyed to meet an old friend from a foreign land and waved in response, "Fat man."
The fat man didn't seem to like his old nickname. He tilted his head and curled his lips when he heard the sound, but the smile on his face remained and he never lowered his waving right hand.
Not long after, the ferry docked, and the fat man jumped onto the shore from the bow of the boat, punching the south wind, "Hahahaha, I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it."
The fat man was over seven feet tall at this time, probably more than 180 kilograms if not two hundred. This punch was very powerful, and Nan Feng staggered back, but Nan Feng was not angry. He took two steps forward and punched the fat man's chest. A big belly is a slap in the face, "Fat man, such a fat man."
The languages of the three countries in the Central Plains are slightly different. Liang Guo retained the accent and pronunciation of the Han people in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The fat man was a little joking and contemptuous, but the fat man did not understand and only heard it as "fat la". He was more than Nanfeng was half a head taller, and reached out to grab the Taoist bun on Nanfeng's head, "Oh my, you really have become a Taoist priest."
Nanfeng had never been one to suffer. He raised his hand to touch the fat man's bald head and said, "What a bald donkey."
"You're so awesome, how dare you scold Buddha?" The fat man grabbed Nan Feng's bun and lifted it up.
"You damn bald donkey, let go of your Taoist master!" Nanfeng took a series of shots of the fat man's bald head.
At this time, the ferry had docked, and people crossing the river came ashore one after another. Everyone who passed by them looked at them with curiosity. The Taoist priest and the monk belonged to different sects. On the surface, they were in harmony, but secretly they had many differences. It seemed that the two were so close and playful. Rare.
Although the fat man held Nan Feng's bun without exerting any force, Nan Feng slapped him on the head really hard. After two slaps, the fat man couldn't bear it anymore and let go first, "It's not light or heavy. My forehead will definitely be red." ”
"I can still make it purple." Nanfeng smiled and slapped her again.
The fat man couldn't stand the south wind and was afraid that he would hit him again. He took two steps back and said, "Amitabha, Amitabha, I have long heard that Taoists have ruthless worldly hearts. The rumors are true."
"Infinite Heavenly Lord, Immeasurable Heavenly Lord, I have long heard that monks eat well and are lazy to cook. The rumors are true." Nanfeng caught up and patted the fat man's belly.
"Go as you go, go as you go, I won't mess with you." The fat man was not as brave as Nanfeng, nor as good at arguing as Nanfeng, so he had to admit defeat and stop fighting.
At this time, the people waiting from the south bank had already begun to board the ship. Nanfeng did not bother to reminisce with the fat man and asked eagerly, "Fat man, what are you doing in the south?"
"Walking around, observing various situations in the world, and honing your heart toward Buddha." said the fat man.
Nanfeng laughed loudly when he heard this, "Where did you learn these two elegant sentences, and you are still wandering around. You must have been kicked out. Walk around, monks are not welcome in the South Country, follow me back to the North Country .”
"Ah?" The fat man grinned, "How unpopular are you?"
"It's very unpopular. Don't go. Come back to the north with me." Nanfeng stretched out his hand to drag the fat man.
"I just got here." The fat man didn't want to leave.
The fat man was very heavy. He didn't want to leave, and the south wind couldn't drag him away. Seeing the boatman urging him, he boarded the boat first, "Are you going to leave or not?"
"If I go with you, what will I do if you go back to the mountain?" The fat man hesitated.
"I am also traveling down the mountain. I am not going back to the mountain. Come quickly." Nanfeng waved again.
When the fat man heard this, he beamed with joy and strode to the bow of the ship, "Were you kicked out too?"
The fat man was not very scheming and confirmed Nanfeng's guess with every word. Nanfeng laughed and said, "Were you really kicked out by someone?"
"Nonsense." The fat man tilted his head guiltily.
There are many taboos on the ferry, and making loud noises is one of them. After the boatman stopped them, the two lowered their voices and sat on the bow of the boat talking quietly, talking about their respective experiences after being separated.
The fat man first said that Nanfeng had known about his worship of Buddhism for a long time. He and Tian Yuanzi met him on the way to the cemetery in the west of the city. Afterwards, the fat man followed the group of people to a temple called Longkong Temple. The temple is located in the southwest of Wei State, more than a thousand miles away from Chang'an. Due to the hard work and strict rules and regulations, most of the people in the group ran away before they reached the end of the field. A total of more than a dozen people, including the fat man, rushed to Longkong Temple.
Longkong Temple is a small temple. Unlike other sects in the Three Qing Dynasties, which received subsidies from the imperial court, the incense is not very prosperous. Life in the temple is very poor. In addition to chanting sutras, practicing Zen, farming and working, we often have to go down the mountain to beg for alms. Three months later, not a single one of the dozen or so people was left. No, to be precise, only one was left. There is a Kung Fu in Longmen Temple called Prajna Magic Kung Fu. The fat man coveted the magical Kung Fu and gritted his teeth and persisted.
After Fatty entered the restaurant, he was assigned to the dining hall. In fact, they hired him just because they wanted him to be the cook, which fulfilled his wish. He worked very hard in cooking and making porridge. Buddhism has a rule of not eating after lunch, that is, only eating one meal a day. Fat people eat a lot, and they are growing up. They will definitely not be full after one meal. If they are not full, they will sneak extra meals. Later, they were found out. After being admonished, I no longer dared to cook secretly, and only binged on the morning meal.
Later, he was admonished that the monks had a certain limit of grain and rice for each meal. If he ate more, others would not have enough.
In order to ensure the weight, the fat man added water to the porridge after eating secretly. In his own words, 'the porridge and rice were a little too thin.' Seeing that the rice in the porridge was getting less and less, the other monks were not happy, so he started again was reprimanded by the elders.
It is very annoying to refuse to change despite repeated admonitions. The elder wanted to transfer the fat man elsewhere, but he could not do anything. He could still do some work in the dining hall, but he could only eat rice for free if he went elsewhere.
Even though he often stole food, life in the temple was still very miserable. His seven-foot-long intestines were idle for five and a half feet, and starvation was common. But the fat man was very perseverant and gritted his teeth and persevered.
He persisted, but Longkong Temple could no longer hold on. Buddhism was compassionate and tolerant, and could not expel him from the sect, so he was asked to "travel around, observe the various situations in the world, and hone his heart towards Buddhism."
"I followed my master to the Kingdom of Liang and became a Taoist priest. I didn't like the life in the mountains very much, so I left my master and went down the mountain to travel." Nanfeng said.
"Is it over?" The fat man stared blankly. He kept talking during the ferry, and he kept talking for half an hour after walking five miles ashore. It was Nanfeng's turn to speak, and that was it.
"It's over." Nanfeng nodded. If Taiqingzong wanted to kill him and silence him, the best way would be to secretly manipulate him when he was crossing the river. If he could cross the river safely, it meant he was completely safe.
"You haven't said how you were kicked out yet." What the fat man wanted to hear most was this.
"I was not kicked out. I left on my own initiative. I can go back at any time." Nanfeng didn't lie. He could indeed go back at any time, but only if he had the courage to go back.
"Then you tricked me into not going back to the mountain?" The fat man stared at Nanfeng dissatisfied.
"I can go back, but I don't want to go back. From now on, you can follow me and go wherever I go." Nanfeng said.
"I'm older than you, why didn't you follow me?" The fat man didn't want to suffer a disadvantage, so the seven of them became sworn brothers. He was the third child and Nanfeng was the sixth child.
"I can take care of your food and clothing." Nanfeng smiled evilly.
The fat man was dubious and looked Nanfeng up and down.
Nanfeng opened the bag and took some rice cakes and handed them to the fat man, "I have a lot of money. It will not be difficult to eat for a few years."
The fat man didn't take the rice cakes, but tilted his head and looked at the sky, "It's late, we can't fast."
Nanfeng didn't force himself on him, he retracted his hand and said, "If you don't want to eat, I will fall down."
"It doesn't matter if you eat too much, it doesn't matter if you eat less." The fat man snatched all the rice cakes.
"Here, here are these coins for you." Nanfeng took out some broken silver and copper coins from his arms. He and the fat man were brothers, not masters and servants. It was okay to joke, but he couldn't let the fat man feel that he was using money to pressure others.
The fat man was about to eat the rice cake. When he saw this, he put down the rice cake and shook his head, "Amitabha, it won't work. I have the precept not to catch money, so I can't take money."
"Don't pull him down." Nanfeng wanted to take back the money.
When the fat man saw that he really took it back, he was very reluctant to give it up and hurriedly grabbed it, "You won't be able to catch more, but it won't matter if you catch less."
"A guy like you can't become a monk, so you should return to secular life." Nanfeng said. When a monk walks with a Taoist priest, he always makes passers-by stop and watch. He won't return to secular life, so he has to persuade the fat man to return to secular life.
"That's not possible." The fat man shook his head seriously.
"Why?" Nanfeng asked.
The fat man stuffed the rice cakes and the alms bowl into his baggage, leaving a big mouth for chewing, "I am devoted to the Buddha and cannot give up halfway."
"Tell the truth." Nanfeng frowned.
"Master said that people are like grass and trees, they will die eventually. I don't want to go to hell after death. I have to find someone to protect me. I can't be a Taoist priest. Gods will naturally not care about me. I can only find Buddha to protect me." The fat man said.
"Being a monk can't marry you, so you have to think about it." Nanfeng continued to encourage.
"It doesn't matter if you marry too many, it doesn't matter if you marry too few." The fat man was very shameless.
Seeing that Nan Feng was about to make fun of him, the fat man quickly changed the subject, "Where are we going now?"
Nanfeng was stunned when he heard this, yes, where are we going now...