When the ancient bell rang loudly, the glazed tiles of Jinming Temple ushered in not the first rays of sunshine in the morning, but a thick layer of frost and snow.

Changfeng was like a bored child, listlessly beating horses from the solemn eaves, a few snowflakes inadvertently flew out, fluttering, whereabouts unknown, after a moment of stillness in the sky outside the temple gate, it seemed that it could not compete with the high existence in the main hall, and in an instant swooped into the snow, and finally turned into a grain of dust.

Breaking the dead silence is the initial whispering that gradually evolves into a boiling voice. At this time, outside the main hall and on the long steps, there were rows of crooked columns.

Obviously, these teams of refugees are larger than they used to be, and in addition to some old people, there are also some new faces.

"Why hasn't this temple started to set up a tent to give porridge today! At this time in the past, I had already drunk a mouthful of hot porridge. ”

An old woman, who was poorly dressed, finally ran out of patience, began to whisper in the crowd, and when she heard the cry, she withdrew her gaze that had fallen in front of the temple, lowered her dry eyes, and looked at her somewhat restless child in swaddling clothes, frowning and trying to soothe her.

This old woman is a refugee behind the mountain, on the bank of the Qinhuai River under the Li Min Mountain, she had a thatched hut to live in, a few days ago, because Li Min Mountain did not know what the reason began to massacre the enemy people, in the face of such a situation, can you eat a bite of food for the time being, just to be able to keep the three-month-old child in her arms, she was helpless, forced to force the mountain Li Min Mountain, found a broken temple and settled down temporarily.

Like most refugees, she rushed from the back mountain before dawn to take up a good position, just to get a mouthful of hot porridge from the temple in the morning.

It's just that today seems to be a little abnormal, it's already in the middle of the day, and at the door of this immeasurable treasure hall, there is neither a monk who gives porridge nor a porridge bucket.

Soon someone stepped up the steps of the treasure hall, stood on it and shouted inside, "Why don't you give porridge today?" We're going to drink porridge! We're going to drink porridge! ”

In an instant, someone below chimed in: "Yes - we want to drink porridge!" Give us porridge! ”

At this time, a scholar in cloth clothes turned as gray as his face, and he brushed his sleeves out of the noise, and recited a sour sentence in his mouth: "A gentleman is bound not to eat the food that comes to him!" ”

With a cold snort, he gave up, hurriedly lowered his robe, and walked out of Jinming Temple without looking back.

For a while, outside the treasure hall, the sky was boiling and the shouts were endless.

It seems that he can't withstand the turmoil of the porridge and the people's rebellion, and in the treasure hall, there are finally monks who come out one after another.

The noise quietly died out, a pair of slightly bright eyes, suddenly became dim, there was no porridge bucket, no soup kitchen, only rows of monks crossed the threshold of the treasure hall, gradually lined up on both sides, it seems, this is not like a soup kitchen!

Shocked by the momentum of this slaughter, no one dared to raise their voices anymore, and soon two monks dressed in extraordinary clothes came out, one with white eyebrows and long beard fluttering in the wind, obviously drooping and old, and looking like he was about sixty years old; One has white temples, deep eyes, eyes like torches, and is about fifty years old.

Looking at the gloomy faces below, the white-eyed old monk opened his mouth lightly: "There is no porridge in the temple today, please go back!" ”

Hearing this, the strange gaze of the old monk standing on his right suddenly fell on him, his dry lips rose slightly, and he was about to secretly remind something, when the pot exploded below.

"Elder Tang, why is this, the big guy has been waiting here all morning, just to be able to eat a mouthful of hot porridge, how can this porridge not be given!" A strong man standing in the front row said excitedly.

"That's right! How can this porridge be said not to be given! The soup soup has never been cut off these days, so why don't you give it today? The big guys are waiting! The companions echoed in unison, and other voices of opposition followed.

Seeing that Elder Sun wanted to argue, Elder Tang choked it with one hand, shook his head at him secretly, and then explained to everyone: "Everyone, there is no porridge cooked in the temple today, so you can't give porridge, I'm sorry everyone, please go back!" ”

I only felt that Elder Tang's words were flickering, blindly perfunctory to everyone, and there were more and more voices of dissatisfaction, and the momentum spread like fire.

"Why don't you give porridge! Why! If we can't give everyone an explanation today, we won't leave! ”

"That's right! Don't go! ”

"A few days ago, Zhang Bang told everyone that he opened a warehouse to give porridge, but today he broke the porridge for no reason, and Jinming Temple did not keep his promises! Shameful! ”

"Shame! Can ......"

All kinds of ugly words flooded up, almost drowning Jinming Temple.

"Elder Tang—"

At this moment, the voice of an old man suddenly came from the crowd, and the old man's voice was like an ancient chime bell, low and deep, revealing the vicissitudes of time.

I only hear his voice, but I don't see his people. The noise of the crowd gradually fell, and they followed the voice.

Slowly, under the push and avoidance, a white-haired old woman walked out of the crowd, the old woman was holding a dead branch, her movements were a little trembling, and her slow pace stopped less than ten feet away from Elder Tang.

The old woman opened her eyes as if she had closed her eyes, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were closely connected with the wrinkles on her cheeks, like an ancient well that had dried up for thousands of years.

"Elder Tang. The old body is a half-buried person, and he shouldn't have appeared here to cause trouble for the big guys. Now that the soup soup is in trouble, the old body sells his old face and comes out to say a few words for the big guy. ”

The old woman bent her back and spoke quietly with her crutches, her voice becoming more and more hoarse.

"When the national disaster is at the head, the people are not living, the treasure temple strictly follows the Bodhisattva's will, at this critical juncture, opens a warehouse to overcome the difficulty, sets up a porridge shed, and gives two porridges a day, saving the people of one side. At present, refugees are pouring up the mountain like flowing water, and this relief will inevitably fall into the dilemma of more monks and less porridge. Everyone is a clear-eyed person, and they all know that it is not easy to treasure the temple, but ah, I am not afraid that the porridge in the treasure temple is less, but I am afraid that the treasure temple will not give porridge! "Funny

"The Bodhisattva said well, saving a person's life is better than building a seventh-level floating slaughter. Elder Tang, if you can save a life, you can save a life! Even if the big guy's mouth is only stained with a grain of rice and a mouthful of paste soup, the big guy still has hope in his heart! If the treasure temple doesn't give porridge, it will really cut off the life of the big guy! ”

Looking at Elder Tang's benevolent face of all sentient beings, the old woman's emotions became even more intense, and her voice trembled a little.

Shocked by Grandma's heart-piercing words, Elder Tang lowered his old eyes, couldn't speak for a while, his lips and teeth were tightly closed, and it was difficult to say all the bitterness in his heart.

The crowd was silent, some with their heads bowed and secretly wiping away tears, while others kept watching, expecting the elders to give a reasonable explanation.

What a rake! Make black white! The mouthful of knives sprayed one after another on the good guys, this is really a big joke!

Elder Sun couldn't bear it anymore at all, took a step forward, swept the four directions with a stern gaze, and said sharply: "It's not that my temple has lost its conscience and destroyed its reputation!" But there are some of you who have evil intentions and have started the rooster and dog thief! If you can't get in line, you can't drink porridge, so you start stealing! If you can't steal porridge, you will steal food! It's not enough to steal food, but also to steal incense money! ”

As soon as this remark came out, it immediately caused an uproar below, everyone looked at each other, I don't know why, everyone disagreed, and there was a wind of suspicion in the temple.

"The number of refugees fleeing to the mountains is increasing day by day, but the storage in the temple is decreasing day by day. You are good, you will take revenge, you don't know what is good or bad! What kind of heart is it for each one! ”

This intention was difficult to settle, Elder Sun insisted on saying it, at this time, Elder Tang knew that it was difficult to recover the water, he silently closed his eyes and sighed secretly.

At present, all living beings are in trouble, but this kind of thing has happened, if this matter is told and the truth is explored, it will only fear that people will be panicked and cause trouble to many innocent people. However, paper can't contain the fire after all, and now, it can only let everyone know the truth.

Elder Tang opened his eyes in the chaos, and raised his voice in a positive voice: "This kind of thing happens at this time, it is not good for everyone, my temple was unwilling to worsen this matter, but the matter has reached this point, then let's open the skylight and say something!" ”

"Yesterday afternoon, half a liter of food was lost in the backyard of our temple, including sesame oil, white salt and five other spices. Thefts in the backyard are common, but this is the first time that a lot of food has been lost in an instant! ”

"Until the evening, the internal inspection of the temple was fruitless. After checking the granary, the granary was not stolen, so I simply stopped pursuing it, and the right to do so was the internal negligence of our temple. But just an hour ago, the merit box in the treasure hall was stolen, and half of the savings in the temple were gone. The case of theft in the temple, one after the other, is closely related, which is really chilling! ”

"Now that the granary is about to run out, the refugees are piling up, and it is the time when money is needed to fill the granary, and the thieves are ruthless, but it makes my temple difficult! After discussion in the temple, the warehouse will not be opened for cooking grain in the near future, and no more porridge will be given. After the real murderer is apprehended, let's do this good again! ”

When Elder Tang finished his last sentence, tears were already forming in the corners of his mottled eyes.

"Who is so mad that he has done such a thing of a rooster and a dog thief at this critical juncture! For his own selfishness, he filled his own pockets and cut off everyone's way of life, and we will never leave him a way to live! ”

The strong man standing in the front row rushed into the sky with a vicious fist and shouted to the crowd, his sharp eyes were shocking and powerful, daring to regard everyone in his eyes as a thief.

The companions rushed into fists in unison and echoed in unison: "Yes! The real culprit is bound to be arrested! Never leave a way for the rooster and dog thieves to survive! ”

Immediately afterwards, the echoing voice was like thunder, and every sentence was earth-shattering!

The strong man turned to the two elders and said, "The two elders just rest assured, we will definitely work together to catch the thief who stole it, and we will not tolerate it!" ”

"The donor has this thought, which is the blessing of our temple. It's just that to find the real culprit in this sea of thousands of people is tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack, and it is as difficult as climbing to the sky! Elder Tang let out a long sigh, his tone full of sorrow.

The strong man's heart jumped like thunder, he quickly turned around, and walked towards the crowd, "Everyone, as the saying goes, everyone gathers firewood and the flame is high, and a pair of eyes can't see the real murderer, but there are always people in the eyes of hundreds of people who can see it, you might as well tell what you heard and saw yesterday and today, suspicious things, suspicious people, let's put all the clues together, and naturally we can find out the real murderer!" ”

The strong man circled around the crowd over and over again, his eyes sharp as a mirror, examining the look on everyone's face.

Suddenly, his eyes turned sharply and fell on a man with a yellow and thin face, the man buried his head, his ten fingers intertwined, and his lips were about to be revealed, but all his thoughts had been written on his face.

The strong man stepped forward and lifted his shoulder without saying a word, and asked, "What do you know?" Say-"

Caught by him by surprise, the man who had no power was frightened, and he was stared at by his fierce gaze and never dared to raise his head.

"Sneaky, I think you're the real murderer!" The strong man threatened.

"No, no, no!" The man was so frightened that he hurriedly argued, no longer entangled in his heart, and explained: "A few days ago, a couple of men and women came up from the mountain, and they were a little outstandingly dressed, so I paid more attention. Yesterday afternoon, when I found that they had made a fire in the wasteland and roasted wolf meat, the fragrance of which was fragrant for ten miles, I wondered how the two of them could roast the wolf meat so delicious, which was already scarce on the mountain. Wolf meat, I have tasted it myself, it is moderately salty, and there is cooking wine to remove the fishy, and there are star anise condiments, in short, all five flavors. At that time, I was just about eating, and I didn't think much about it. Now that I think of the theft of food in the backyard of the Treasure Temple, I think of this matter......"

"It's also strange to this pair of men and women, living by the cliff, going out early and returning late, haunted all day long, very mysterious."

The man added, and with this, the fear in his heart also dissipated.

"Elder, among the stolen food in the backyard, there are exactly star anise!" Hearing the key clues, a young monk who was burning a fire in the backyard immediately stepped forward to remind the elder.

"That star anise is a spice treasured in my temple, and in the cold winter wax moon, it is difficult to find a flavor of star anise all over the mountain." Elder Tang secretly looked up at Cangshan from afar, his eyes were full of gloom, and his voice was very low.

"Who can prove that what you say is true?" The strong man withdrew his gaze and lowered his head to question the man.

"There are at least twenty people present, who have tasted the roasted wolf meat of the man and woman." The man hurriedly pulled up the familiar people around him to corroborate.

The strong man's gaze swept with the man's gaze, and he found that someone nodded in a low voice one after another, he thought for a moment, suddenly let go of the man, and let out a long roar: "It seems that there is a chance that this real murderer is this pair of men and women!" Good! Then let's go and catch the real murderer! ”

The strong man spoke, and the cry collapsed like a mountain. The indignant refugees, those with knives, and those with sticks, all marched towards the back mountain.