Walking by the Luxi River, Du Wei suddenly seemed to remember something, raised his hands, touched his head, and then said seriously: "During my time in Xinzhou, I heard the legend that the six ancestors Hui can show Zen traces!" ”

Zhang Cambodia looked at Du Wei with interest, "Oh, there is also the legend that the six ancestors Hui can show the traces of Zen?" Tell me about it! ”

Du Fu also urged on the side: "Tell me quickly." ”

"Good!" Du Wei cleared his throat, put his hands on his waist, looked at the Longshan Guoen Temple in the distance, opened his mouth, and poured out the legends and storylines he heard about the traces of the Six Ancestors Hui Neng Xian Zen from the chatterbox, just like the flowing water of the Luxi River, telling the story-

It is said that the five ancestors of Dongchan Temple in Hubei Province have a wise eye for talents, and after several investigations, they taught the true method of Zen Forest to Huineng overnight, and advised: "If you live here, someone harms you, and you must go quickly." ”

When parting, he also sent a deep witty verse to Huineng: "When you meet, you stop, and when you meet, you hide." ”

Huineng followed the order to "send to the south", took the ancestral robe and gold bowl, went through thousands of hardships, crossed the Great Yuling, passed through Meiguan, and came to Caoxi Baolin Temple to live temporarily, but was chased and killed by Shenxiu's men. In the raging fire, Huineng was spared death because he hid in the crevice of the large rock behind the temple.

Huineng judged the situation and knew that he could no longer settle down in Cao Xi. In order not to affect other monks, in order to develop and promote the Zen method of the ancestors, Huineng left Caoxi alone, walked through dense forests, crossed valleys, climbed mountains and waded through rivers, and continued to run south. These experiences are clearly recorded in the "Altar Sutra" and various classics. But in the next fifteen years, Huineng's trace was like a mud cow entering the sea, and when he re-emerged from the mountain, he was like a hidden dragon out of the abyss, and a strange person fell from the sky. His enlightenment has reached the peak of the Zen world, and Huineng has become a generation of grandmasters who carry forward the great cause of Zen Buddhism.

Where did Huineng go in those fifteen years? There have been many controversies in the Buddhist academic circles from ancient times to the present, but as the years passed, the fog gradually dissipated, the mystery was gradually solved, and the answer surfaced: he hid in Huaiji and Sihui, which were under the jurisdiction of Zhaoqing, and practiced in seclusion.

Since Huineng escaped the catastrophe and left Baolin Temple to run south, he didn't know how many times he had walked and came to the foot of Dengzhan Ridge at the junction of Sihui and Qingyuan, at the foot of a village called "Shanglinpu" at the foot of Longfu Town.

Huineng is a sincere and friendly person, often working for the villagers, hard work, and the local people not only do not resist this outsider, but get along with him very well, often sending him some grains and sweet potatoes and other things.

With the help of the villagers, Huineng built a small mud house (later generations called it "Liuzu Nunnery") on the flat part of the mountainside with fir tiles. Surrounded by a few stout green trees, this small mud house is both shady and secluded.

Huineng often traveled to Qingtang, Longtou, Taotang, Luohu and other places, on the one hand, to understand the people's feelings, and on the other hand, to promote the Zen of the Dun School. After staying for a while, Huineng took a small raft tied with bamboo and went up the river stream.

One day, Huineng came to a small county town, and when he saw that it was dusk, the birds returned to their nests, so they left their rafts, landed on the south side of the river, and came to a hut. This is next to the boring cover of Huaiji County.

The farmer, who was repairing the shovel in front of the door, saw a stranger coming, asked the reason, and learned that Huineng wanted to stay here, so he welcomed him warmly into the hut, and said, "You must be very thirsty because you are sweating profusely and your lips are chapped." Come, drink a bowl of water. After that, he picked up the big bowl and scooped a bowl of water into the water tank and handed it to Huineng.

Huineng, who was tired all day, took the big bowl, took a sip, and felt that the water was extremely sweet, like drinking nectar elixir, so he raised his head and drank the bowl of water, and asked, "Where is this water?" ”

The farmer pointed to the rushing river outside: "This is the water in the Nanxi River." ”

"Ah, it's like holy water." Huineng remembered the magical legend about Cao Xishui that he heard in Buddhism that day: in the first year of Emperor Wu of Liang (502 years), there was a high monk from Tianzhu Zhiyao Zen Master, who passed through Caoxi Kou on the way to the north, and felt that this was as sweet as nectar when he drank water. That is, go up the stream, go to the Baolin Temple to see the mountains and rivers surrounding, the peaks and peaks are wonderful, and sigh: "It's like the Shamen Monastery." He also predicted that a hundred years after the temple was built, there would be a bodhisattva in the flesh to open a feast here.

Drinking the "holy water that purifies the heart and moistens the lungs," a strange feeling tickles Huineng's heart. This Nanxi water is as clear and sweet as Cao Xishui. A hazy feeling gripped him.

After talking carefully, Huineng knew that the farmer was guarding the water next to the boring cover, and every morning before dawn he had to climb the back mountain to divert water to irrigate the farmland. If there is a severe drought, the fields south of the Huaicheng River will crack, and the rice harvest will fail. Here, it has not rained for more than a month, and there is not much water in the pond in the back mountain, and now the land in the fields has begun to dry up.

The farmer said with a sad face, "It seems that the people in this neighborhood will be starving this year." ”

Huineng asked: "There is not much water in the back mountain, can't you find a water source near the field?" ”

The farmer sighed, "It would be great if we could find a source of water in the fields, but I think it's just a vain idea." ”

After hearing this, Huineng frowned and fell into deep thought.

Huineng stayed in the small hall of the old farmer's house that night, and heard the long sighs of the farmer who couldn't sleep well all night.

The next day, Huineng followed the farmer to the field and saw that the tail of the seedling was beginning to burn yellow. Climb to the back mountain to draw water, and see that the mountain pond is almost bottoming out.

After living with the old farmer for nearly a month, one night the farmer sat in front of the hut, looking up at the starry sky in a daze, sighing from time to time.

Huineng patted him on the shoulder with his hand and said, "Don't worry about the lack of water for irrigation. I think I'll find water in the fields. ”

Farmer: "Don't comfort me. ”

Huineng: "I'm not trying to comfort you. Recently, I have made some new discoveries. ”

Old farmer: "What new have you discovered?" ”

Huineng Zhengse said: "On the first and fifteenth day of the new year, there are light spots flashing in the southwest and northeast of the field. I once went to the field to pay close attention to the grass, and the grass in that place was very green, and I took the soil under the grass and looked at it carefully, and I found it very wet. When I was in my hometown, I used to dig wells with the older generation and listened to them tell me about the signs of finding water. It seems that if you dig down in that place, a spring will gush out. ”

The farmer was overjoyed: "If it is really as you say, I can avoid the trouble of drawing water after climbing." Today happens to be the first day of the new year, so I'll go outside with you to see if it's really what you said. ”

"Okay." Huineng promised.

So, Huineng and the farmer came to the field, looked in the southwest direction, and sure enough, they saw a shimmering white light, and then turned their heads to look in the northeast direction, and they also saw a flickering white light.

The farmer was still a little puzzled: "If you dig in that place, you will really see the water source?" ”

Huineng said confidently: "In my opinion, I am sure. ”

The farmer said, "Well, I'll decide on that location tonight, and I'll go to that place tomorrow and give it a try." ”

The next day, the farmer and Huineng took the shovel to the fixed location southwest of the field.

Huineng started first, picked up the shovel and dug down, and after digging only two shovels, he saw that the soil under the grass was obviously much wetter. The farmer took the shovel and dug harder, and the more he dug down, the wetter the soil became. When it was dug to a depth of one zhang, a clear spring gushed out.

The farmer was dumbfounded at first, then slapped his hand on the melon in the head, and cried out in ecstasy: "This time I have found a treasure!" Dig up the treasure! Then he threw the shovel into the field, pulled his legs and ran, and went back to the village to tell him.

When the villagers heard the good news, they came with farm tools one after another. Some are digging wells in the northeast, while others are digging canals to divert water to irrigate the fields.

Seeing that the parched fields were filled with water, the villagers gathered around Huineng and gave him a thumbs up, praising him for doing a great deed for the people.

Since then, the boring cover has become a fertile field for drought and flood protection.

People call the two wells next to the boring cover the "Six Ancestral Wells", and the wells have been preserved to this day.

Later generations also built the "Six Ancestors Nunnery" at the site of the farmer's thatched hut where Huineng stayed next to the boring cover to commemorate it.