"Are you sure someone would build a monastery on this barren hill where birds don't?"

Owen asked dejectedly as he looked at the mountain peaks that seemed to reach the dome in his hand.

I reined in my horse and instructed a few soldiers to clear the mess of the bushes, revealing a stone statue hidden by weeds, the carvings of which were almost indistinct because of its age, but the direction of his finger could not be wrong.

"God always gives guidance to the lost lamb in the dark, and whether or not he can perceive the revelation is not whether he is superior in intelligence or high or low, but only needs to use his brain with piety." I jokingly knocked on the door of my head, sarcastically mocking the annoyed Owen.

"Your Excellency, when will you have something to say, yes! I don't want to fight with you, it's important to hurry. He pretended to be impatient and hit the horse first, causing everyone to laugh again.

The mountain road leading to the monastery is usually not visited by many people, and the priests rarely descend the mountain, so it is in a state of near ruin, and if you do not carefully look for the stone statue of the guide hidden in the grass, there is a good chance that outsiders will get lost.

I sat on horseback and bent over the low-hanging branches, glad that I had visited the priest in charge of the monastery and knew some way to find my way, otherwise I would have wasted my eyes.

The team searched and opened the way, but fortunately the forest on the mountain was not lush, which saved us a lot of effort, and when the exhausted people finally climbed the winding mountain road to the top of the cliff, they were blocked by a bottomless abyss.

"Wouldn't it, there's no way?"

Owen was tired and sweaty, but compared to exhaustion, his face was more impatient and desperate:

"What's going on?"

"Don't worry, we're here."

I comforted the rampaging knight, and with a slight leap of time I dismounted, and the breeze rising from the abyssal canyon puffed up the big haze on my body, as if to welcome guests from afar.

The scenery of the lonely peak opposite is very different from the peak we are in, and the hardy spruce neatly covers the entire mountain, as if someone has deliberately arranged it, reflecting a rigorous logical beauty, which is refreshing.

"Arrived, where is the road?" Owen asked anxiously.

I walked to the edge of the cliff and searched intently for the spruce forest.

"Over there, do you see? The tallest tree in this spruce forest. ”

Owen leaned over, narrowed his eyes and glanced, and shook his head suspiciously:

"It's not a cedar tree, it's the spire of the monastery, the monastery of Montibas, here we are."

"Enjoy, my friends from afar."

The benevolent gaze of the presiding priest of the Monastery of Montibas swept over the prayerful crowd.

"May God be with you, Amen!"

"Amen!"

Everyone hurriedly drew a cross on their chests, and whispered in unison, for these proud knights, the only thing that could make them bow their noble heads, except for the beloved girl, was the priest of the soul of the hunter, one of the two was about love, the other was about faith, all of them were indispensable in their lives.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Dean."

As the Guest of Honour, I was invited to sit in the honorable seat of the priest's right hand.

"It's a privilege to dine at the same table with you."

"Lord Duke, we are all equally humble and equal before God, giving to others as the left hand helping the right."

The abbot took the bread from the plate and gently broke it into small pieces:

"As a mortal who shares the blessing of the Lord, mutual help is self-help, you say?"

"We eat at the same table, brothers who share the flesh and blood of Christ."

I held a glass full of wine in one hand and a whole grain bread in the other, raising my voice to attract everyone's attention.

"Raise your glass and praise Christ! Praise God! ”

"Praise Christ! Praise God! ”

For a while, the cups and plates collided, and the atmosphere of the banquet reached a small high court, and people began to eat happily.

Like all the abbots in the story, the priest in charge of the monastery of Montibas is also a kind old man, his flabby muscles are piled up in thick folds around the eye sockets, like folded old blinds, but they still can't hide his eyes full of wisdom.

"The last time we met, I didn't think it had been two years, and time was really the most mischievous elf, taking pleasure in playing tricks on vulnerable humans."

I dipped the torn bread cubes in the wine, careful not to let the soup water sink into my cuffs, and I couldn't help but be cautious in my every move next to the respected abbot.

"Time is God's measuring stick, and it is easy to distinguish between a person's devotion and a piousness."

The priest, who was close to his prime, stroked his silver-white beard that hung down to his belt, and enlightened me with a calm face.

"There is no distinction between good and bad, good or evil, but only the difference in the order of enlightenment, some people are obsessed, some people pray devoutly, and when the final judgment comes, God will judge justly."

I pouted secretly, but my face pretended to be listening attentively, and I had always accepted the incompetence of these old pedantic and mysterious teachings.

"This monastery is a marvel of historical architecture." Looking around at the high dome above my head, I deliberately changed the subject.

"The ancestors planted trees, and the descendants just enjoyed the shade."

The thick old folds at the corners of the abbot's eyes resemble yellowed file bags, and they are full of fascinating legends.

"If the persecuted Christians had not had perseverance, they would not have chosen to dig this temple of faith on the top of the rocky mountains, and every generation of successors from the fall of the first hammer of St. Varna to the present day has not given up the faith in the boulder."

Speaking of Motibas's long history, the dean always felt a sense of pride from the bottom of his heart: "Do you remember the suspension bridge that entered the mountain? How difficult and dangerous! The pioneers made great sacrifices and used their lives to build bridges between the two sides. ”

I put down my glass, and the solitary spruce peak and the scene of the day came to mind.

"My lord, I saw it, but we don't have wings, how can we get there?"

The anxious Owen scratched the back of his head and asked at a loss, "Could it be that the ascetic of the monastery really has wings?" ”

"Where's the herald?"

Instead of answering his question, I instructed the soldiers who came in a hurry: "Blow the horn in a rhythm of three long and one short." ”

"Toot-toot-toot, woo!"

The muffled sound of a horn echoed through the canyons, amplified by the craggy rock faces, startling a flock of unknown birds beneath the cliffs.

The aftermath passed away, everyone's eyes were focused on Gu Feng, everyone was very curious about the Duke's intention to do this, but time passed minute by minute, and there was no response from the other side for a long time.

"The monks are not asleep, are they? Or, fluttering wings and flying to God to repent? ”

Owen's slightly teasing joke caused everyone to laugh, but when they saw the seriousness of my expression, they had to shut up.

"Someone's coming!"

The group behind was noisy, as if they had discovered something, and after a moment, two soldiers approached with a scrawny old man.

"May God bless you, honorable guest, for the dust cannot hide the search for the truth, and what is it that knocks on the sacred door of Montibas?"

The old man slowly withdrew his hood, revealing a fair forehead with age spots, apparently caused by years of lack of exposure to sunlight.

"I'm Randy, Duke of Nijmegen, and I've just come back from the Vatican, and I'm passing by, and I'm here to disturb the dean, and I hope to extradite us."

The identity of the old man can be judged by the other party's dress and demeanor, and the uneducated tavern owner will generally say: "Guests in a hurry, do you want good ale?" ”

The old man squinted his eyes and looked at me from top to bottom, and his eyes were as calm as water, and he couldn't distinguish any inner thoughts:

"The gates of Montibas are always open to the Lamb of God, but the monastery is a pure land for the pious to cleanse their souls, and no one is allowed to enter with weapons."

The old man is not tall, but his eyes seem to be connected to 10,000 volts of high voltage, and his scalp is numb:

"Are you going to go in alone, or with everyone here?"

"I've come to visit the dean before, and I'm an old acquaintance, so let's go over to him alone to explain the situation, what do you think?" I stopped Owen, who was about to snatch white, and replied politely.

Perhaps it was my modest attitude that satisfied him, and the old man beckoned with a smile: "Please follow me, Lord Duke, the road is this way." With that, he walked through the crowd as if no one was around, and walked away first.

"A bunch of weird old guys who are stupid in chanting scriptures!" Owen scolded in a low voice, of course he didn't dare to say this to his face, so he could only take advantage of the fact that others were not nagging to relieve his hatred.

"Don't complain, the army is in a hurry to travel lightly, the food is running out, the soldiers and horses are tired, and they are still counting on someone to take us in, the abbot is a kind elder, and it is estimated that there will be no problem in negotiating."

Several knights drove their horses to follow, but I waved my hand and said, "The monks are harmless to people and animals, you can rest assured if you stay here, let everyone rest for a while, and I will go and go back." ”

As the old man walked along the path, and finally went down to the halfway point of the mountain, a hidden cave appeared in front of him, and the ashes of the bonfire remained at the entrance of the cave, and some daily necessities were placed in the corner of the corner, which should be the usual residence of the gatekeeper.

"Are you afraid of heights, Lord Duke?"

The old man pushed aside the weed-covered stone pier, and a rope the thickness of an adult's arm was firmly tied to it, "Ah, you said you had been here before......"

As he spoke, he pulled out the worn rigging like a trick, skillfully tied it for me, and at the same time checked the rope on the stone pier, and motioned for me to close my eyes after confirming that it was safe.

"Close your eyes? It's okay, it's much more terrifying than that! ”

I patted my chest unashamedly, in fact, I was so scared that I didn't even dare to look out at the four-story balcony of my house before, and I was afraid of heights.

"Well, then, good luck, Lord Duke!" The old man's eyes narrowed into slits, and the warm smile made me let my guard down, and with a sudden push of my hand, I sent the rigging into the chute.

"Ah......h

The screams of me, who claimed not to be afraid of heights, filled the valley, startling more birds than before.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency?"

The abbot called softly, dragging my mind back to reality:

"Thanks to the natural danger of Lone Peak, generations of monks of Montibas have been able to avoid natural and man-made disasters, continue their own research and exploration without disputing the world, and preserve many precious ancient manuscripts."

"The sage is alone, and the world outside is no longer a matter of people when he pushes the door open."

I quietly covered up the previous distraction faux pas:

"In order to save all beings, Christ willingly put on heavy chains to atone for the sins of the world. With all due respect, Lord Dean, although it is possible to escape from the chaos and mundane world, it is against God's original will to abandon the responsibility of hunting lost lambs and fallen souls. ”

"Hehe, your sophistry and philosophical thinking have improved a lot, Lord Duke, I still vaguely remember the panic and confusion in your anxious eyes when you came last time, I guess you have experienced a lot in the past time." The abbot looked at me with the look of an adult seeing through a child's tricks, and strangely enough, I didn't find it annoying.

"Have you ever heard an ancient poem from the East? The words blocked his throat, and before he could speak, tears flowed down first. ”

I rarely let go of my defense, choked up and said, "It's hard to say a word......"

"God is our refuge, our strength, our ever-present help in times of trouble."

The abbot placed a quaint wood-carved cross in my hand and pointed to a small door next to the hall:

"There's a secluded confessional room, go and tell God what you want to say."

If God could really hear it, would he still let it happen? I pinched the rounded edge of the cross and smiled wryly without squeaking.

"Would you like some more nuts, Lord Duke?"

The abbot carefully picked out the largest one from the plate full of walnuts and handed it over:

"Eating more can enhance intelligence, and many generations of old priests in charge have relied on it to delay aging, and I am also addicted to it, and I have to eat two meals in the morning and evening."

I took the walnut and put it on the table, picked up the dagger at my waist, and slammed it with the end of the metal.

"Bang!"

The walnut flew out unharmed, and after touching the wine glass of the person next to it, it spun in place, like a spinning top with full strength, and the person who was talking to his friend coughed in surprise.

"It's a damn little thing."

I shrugged my shoulders helplessly and smiled to myself: "Do people eat walnuts because they resemble the folds of the brain?" ”

"People eat walnuts because they're delicious and filling."

The abbot fumbled in his cuffs, and in a moment he pulled out a delicate gadget, and I recognized at a glance what it was.

"The truth of God hidden in all things is so simple, but it is a pity that the world is always speculating and thinking, but it is unfathomable, so they use it to grab power and wealth, and make the world into a miasma."

He put the walnut into the groove of the gadget, gently and firmly squeezed the handles at both ends, and with a click, the hard husk cracked.

(End of chapter)