"I saw Chen Jing at the foot of the mountain when I came here."
Pilgrims were coming in and out of the temple, walking under the old pine trees beside the gravel road. There were stone tables and stone benches with steam rising from the tea. A portly monk put down his broom, sat down opposite the scholar who was talking, and without any formalities, reached out to grab the tea, took a sip, and put it on the table. The empty cup slowly filled up by itself.
Fa Jing smiled, raised his seal and bowed slightly towards the opposite side.
"Thank you, Lu Dao. I'll treat you to tea."
The monk was of a free and easy nature. He thanked casually and then started to laugh. He looked across the iron chain bridge on the cliff, watching the pilgrims and tourists winding their way up the mountain, and then he responded to what Lu Liangsheng had just said.
"That donor, Chen, came to the Wanfo Temple five years ago. He originally wanted to become a monk, but was rejected by the abbot. He had not yet given up his worldly desires and his troubled mind, so he could not enter the Buddhist door. So he lived at the foot of the mountain, carrying goods for others every day, and did not take any money. One time, I went down the mountain late at night and saw him sitting alone on a dead tree, looking at the night sky in pain and crying. I thought he was a sentimental person, so I told people at the foot of the mountain not to disturb him. Carrying goods with others and sharing worries is just a way to atone for his sins."
"I see."
Lu Liangsheng nodded, put the teacup to his lips, and looked at the figures coming and going on the hillside opposite the cliff. He roughly guessed that Chen Jing had been imprisoned for fifteen years and was released. He also knew that the girl named Xiaoxue turned into the Sky-Repairing Stone to tell him what path he should take instead of thinking about revenge all day long.
"Everyone has his own destiny in this world. Since Chen Jing chose the Wanfo Temple, he must have his own thoughts. Just let him be. It's good to look at the sky occasionally. There is always a place in your heart where you can rest your mind."
The fat monk nodded, agreeing with the scholar's words, but since one of them was a Buddhist monk and the other was about to leave the world, they sighed for a while and decided not to dwell on the matter anymore.
"Master." Lu Liangsheng was happy to see that his old friend was safe and sound and was living happily in the temple. However, he had to leave since he was about to leave, so he still had to say goodbye to him.
“… I will be leaving soon.”
The word "leave" was pronounced heavily, which was inconvenient to say, but the monk's mind was as clear as a mirror, so how could he not hear it? After a moment of silence, Shuyin lowered his head and said "Amitabha." A smile was forced on his chubby face.
"I am here to congratulate you, fellow Taoist Lu."
"I just came from Hangzhou. When I was leaving, I met your junior brother Fahai." Lu Liangsheng chuckled and took out the map he had drawn on the boat from his sleeve pocket and put it on the stone table. "Tell him to go west and spread Buddhism in China. Master, do you think your junior brother will go?"
Fa Jing was stunned for a moment, looking at the scroll on the stone table. The smile on his face turned into a bitter smile, but he still reached out to take the painting. "Daoyou Lu has spoken, why? He even asked me, I'm sure he will be tempted to go there. I will send this map to him. I think he will come to Wanfo Temple to ask for it in less than half a month."
Having said what he needed to say and met the person he wanted to meet, Lu Liangsheng stood up to say goodbye and walked towards the chain bridge. Suddenly, Fajing behind him called him. Looking back, he saw the monk clasped his hands together and bowed down to worship the Buddha.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, take care!"
"Take care of yourself!"
Lu Liangsheng let go of the reins, folded his hands and bowed. After this meeting, he was afraid that they would never have the chance to meet again. He slowly stood up, gathered his thoughts, and walked away to the sound of Buddhist chanting, all the way down to the foot of the mountain. He originally wanted to see Chen Jing, but he didn't know whether the other party was hiding himself or was somewhere else. He didn't see him when he came down.
Looking at the soft soil under the tree, the cicada pupa breaking through the soil and slowly crawling on the tree trunk, struggling to shed its heavy shell, Lu Liangsheng smiled and looked back at the seemingly endless winding mountain road, "It doesn't matter if I don't see it, so I don't have to worry. I still have to walk the road ahead!"
Bowing towards the mountain, the scholar pulled the old donkey and turned to squeeze into the noisy market at the foot of the mountain. The slanting sunlight shone on the noisy market at the foot of the mountain. In the nearby woods, behind the scattered trees, a man with a clean face and a short beard, wearing a linen short jacket, looked at the scholar and the old donkey walking through the crowd in the market. He walked two steps, then stopped, slowly raised his hands that were holding the tree trunk, folded them together and bowed, squeezing out a sound with difficulty from his lips.
"Sir, Jing greets you..."
Ding ding ding…
When the sound of bells came faintly from the light curtain outside, a familiar voice suddenly rang in my ears: "Jing'er, fifteen years in prison have passed. You must find a way to live in the future. Don't bury yourself in the past."
"gentlemen?!"
Chen Jing suddenly raised his head and saw no one around. He hurriedly took two steps and came to a high place. In the distance, he saw a man and a donkey standing by the river. They seemed to see him and waved towards him.
"gentlemen!!!"
The man forgot the noisy market below for a moment. He ran a few steps, looked at the figure getting farther and farther away, and suddenly knelt on the ground, his face full of tears, and kowtowed heavily.
"Jing, you must live your own life from now on!"
…
Wow~~
The sound of water rushing southward was heard. Lu Liangsheng scooped up some river water to wash his face, looked at the Buddha Mountain lying in the distance, and snapped his fingers at the old donkey that was nibbling on the grass.
"I'm leaving."
We have seen the canal and met old friends. The only place left for us to go is Chang'an. As for Zuo Zhengyang and Yan Chixia, we probably won't be able to find them. Given their personalities, they have probably traveled around together, exorcised demons and monsters, and have no fixed place to live in the past twenty years. It would take a lot of effort to find them.
But I don’t have much time left in this world.
He went west to Taiyuan. Li Yuan was no longer the governor there. He had been stationed in Chang'an for twenty years and his whole family stayed there.
Soon, they left Taiyuan and headed southwest across the Taihang Mountains. With their current skills in shrinking the earth into an inch, it was no easy matter to travel a thousand miles a day. In less than half a day, they had arrived at the capital and could see the huge city of Chang'an in the distance.
On the bank of the Jing River, villagers were working in the fields. Thin ditches diverted the river water to irrigate the fields. In the distance, there were temples on the river bank with strong incense. Before I got there, halfway through, a middle-aged man in a robe and with a long beard stood by the river, looking at the scholar coming over, with a smile on his face.
He stepped forward and raised his hands: "Jinghe Dragon King, I pay my respects to the Imperial Master!"
In the past twenty years, he has been canonized by the emperor and obtained the status of a god. He accompanied Lu Liangsheng all the way to Chang'an and told him some things. The evil gods at that time also had their own temples and went to various places to govern the local ghosts and demons. Except for the natural disasters necessary by heaven, he would block the floods in the Chang'an area for the people.
Walking along the river, thousands of ships from various rivers come to Chang'an and gather at large and small docks. The waves push the densely packed ships in the river up and down. On the docks, there is a noisy crowd, and sweaty workers are shouting slogans loudly, carrying goods from all over the place in and out of the cabins.
Entering the city, it was a bustling scene. On the long street with people coming and going, the sound of Hu music was heard in the air. Hu girls twisted their waists and danced Western dances, ringing bells. Merchants from afar threw money generously and were greeted with seductive glances. An old man waved a whip when a donkey cart passed by, and smiled as he took his wife to the market. He pointed at the colorful cloths on the street and said something, which made his wife punch him.
"The half-immortal's fortune-telling is really accurate!"
"That's right. He calculated that I would have a son in my old age, so he happily rushed back from the north. Sure enough, my concubine, whom I haven't seen for a year, brought me a chubby boy!"
Amid the sounds of street talk, Lu Liangsheng listened to the two people walking by talking, and walked with them to the so-called half-immortal place, crossing half of the street, in front of a nearby neighborhood, there was a long queue. From afar, he saw an old man with white hair, half-closed his eyes, touching a woman's wrist, gently and slowly pinching it, then reluctantly letting go, and saying something that made the woman nod repeatedly, and then pointed to the building behind him.
"Don't panic when you see anything in there. Just light some incense and show your kindness. I will make sure nothing goes wrong at home."
This Cheng'en, at this age, is still setting up a stall to tell fortunes.
Lu Liangsheng laughed. This eldest disciple had inherited his ability to observe qi, so he naturally would not fool others. He was just curious about what was in the building. He asked the Dragon King of Jinghe River to wait for him outside, hid his body, and walked in with Hong Lian. Then, he almost laughed out loud.
Ma Liu was seen sitting on the altar, wearing red clothes and colorful decorations, holding a few sticks of incense in his hands. He nodded to the people who came to worship sincerely, and said some words such as blessing.
"Sir, I'm afraid that these four people did not go to the court, but instead started a business with Cheng'en." Hong Lian couldn't help but covered her mouth and laughed out loud. The figure sitting on the altar over there seemed to have heard the words and turned around quickly. Just as he was about to take a closer look at the corner of the empty space, there was suddenly a noise outside.
"Hurry up, Banxian, my wife is dying... You have to go over and help deal with the funeral. Hey, don't ask, it's the Min Mansion in the Northeast."
Lu Liangsheng, who was about to show up, frowned, looked at Banxia, who was hurriedly left being carried by two servants, walked out of the building and followed them.
As the sky gradually darkened, lights were lit in the city, and in the distance on the long street, a white flag was hung on a house.