Chapter 11 The Bells of the Ancient Temple

Poria Mountain was still shrouded in a mist, as if a sleepy baby had been reluctant to open its hazy sleepy eyes for a long time. A thin layer of mist wafts out from the dense woods in the mountains www.biquge.info the brush, like a white veil, gently caressing this ancient and vicissitudes of land.

The eastern sky has turned white, and a new day has begun......

"Knock-"

A melodious bell echoed in this silent land, waking up all the beings who were sleeping within a radius of dozens of miles. The ancient bells are melodious and long, as if they are about to take advantage of the silence before dawn to reach farther places.

"Knock-knock-"

The bell rang twice again, completely waking the nearby residents from their sleep, and the people who woke up rubbed their hazy sleepy eyes, and their mouths must have been complaining.

"This group of monks, they get up so early all day, we can't sleep well because of the noise!"

The morning bell in the Jietai Temple only strikes three times, if the first one is to cleanse the sins of the world, and the second is to purify people's souls, then the third one is to wake people up.

Jietai Temple is located in the north of Yangzhou, surrounded by small rural towns, and although the villagers who were woken up were complaining, they were already used to the sound of the bell in the morning. In ancient times, there were no advanced timekeeping tools, and there were no people in remote rural areas who worked at night, and it was this melodious bell that started their day's work.

A touch of warm sunlight shines on the bell tower of Jietai Temple, and the weeds that grow on the eaves of the building also stretch under the kiss of the sun, this is a bright morning, this is a new beginning.

As the saying goes, when a monk strikes a bell for a day, but the one who strikes the bell today has been in the Jietai Temple for 16 years.

I don't know what the reason is, Zhiqing got up much earlier today than usual. He wanted to call his second junior brother Zhizhi to hit the bell together, but when he saw Zhizhi sleeping like a dead pig, he couldn't bear to wake him up. There is no fixed point for ringing the bell in the temple, whoever gets up early will ring the bell, and it is said that the person who rings the most times will be appreciated by the Buddha, and the merit will be completed in the future, and he will be able to become a Buddha as soon as possible.

Zhiqing didn't know if he would be able to become a Buddha, but he was a "bell ringer" who fell in love with the sport from the moment he was eight years old when he was able to move a bell hammer. In addition, he has always had the habit of getting up early, and almost all the bell striking work in Jietai Temple in the past few years has been arranged by him.

"Oh, Zhiqing, this rabbit cub, as soon as he comes back, he makes us can't sleep well!" Uncle Hui, who has always loved to sleep lazily, couldn't stand this the most, and as soon as he heard that someone had struck the bell so early, he immediately guessed that this kid Zhiqing had done it. But the dream had already woken up, and there was no going back to sleep, so the monks of the whole monastery got up in a rush of abuse.

Every time the bell is struck, Zhiqing will always look into the distance from the high bell tower. Looking at the river towns in the distance and the countryside and mountain villages nearby, an inexplicable sense of accomplishment arises spontaneously. Yes, waking so many people from their dreams at the same time is indeed quite fulfilling, but this "sense of achievement" is based on the "pain" of others.

Zhiqing came down from the bell tower, and hurriedly went to the well to fetch water to wash his face, and after washing his face, he hurried to the wing room in the front yard, because the Ziyun sister who came yesterday was arranged in the wing room in the front yard.

"Zhiqing, what are you doing?" Uncle Hui, who had already gotten up, was moving his muscles in the courtyard, and he saw that Zhiqing was in a hurry to rush to the front yard, so he hurriedly stopped him behind his back.

"Uncle Shi, I'll go to the front yard to have a look!"

"Look at the front yard? What to see in the front yard! Monk Huifa asked knowingly.

"I'm going to see ...... Hey... Nothing, just a casual look! Zhiqing saw that his uncle came to ask, and hurriedly smirked.

"What's there to see in the front yard? You have lived in this temple for so many years, which horn has not been seen by you? Go, fetch me a bucket of water, I haven't washed my face yet!" ”

"Huh? ……”

"'Ah' what'? Uncle Shi has loved you for so many years, shouldn't you let you fetch me a bucket of water? You kid can't be ungrateful, I want to ...... when you urinated on the kang back then."

"Oops... Don't talk about it! I'll fetch water for your old man! Zhiqing saw that he was going to mention the ugly thing about the urine kang back then, so he hurriedly agreed to fetch him water, not wanting to listen to him nagging here.

Zhiqing ran to the well with the bucket, skillfully put the bucket into the well, and made a bucket of clear and sweet well water, and then hurriedly walked to the door of his second uncle with the bucket, and when he returned to the door, he saw that Huifa was not waiting for him in the same place. "Where's Uncle Shi? I guess I'm in the house, leave him alone, and put the water at his door. ”

"Second uncle, I put the water here for you, don't forget to wash your old face!" Zhiqing stretched his neck and shouted in the house, and then quickly left the backyard.

Last night, after the deliberation of several elders in charge, it was decided to temporarily arrange Miss Ziyun in the wing room in the front yard, because the wing room was originally a place to entertain pilgrims, and since Ziyun was a guest and a girl's house, the temple must not be neglected.

The enthusiastic elders brought some clean bedding, and cleaned up the basins, hangers, and dressing tables used to entertain female pilgrims in the past. ”

Ziyun was really moved to see the masters so enthusiastic, although she didn't like the taste of the dog skin plaster, but when she saw Master Huifa's enthusiasm, she had to smile.

Zhiqing pushed open the courtyard door and quietly walked to the wing where Ziyun lived, at this time, he didn't know why, he just wanted to see the clever and lovely female benefactor.

"I don't know if she's used to sleeping here? The night on the mountain is much colder than in the city, I don't know if she is cold at night? By the way, she still has injuries on her feet, although Uncle Shi gave her a dog skin plaster, I don't know if she will use it, and if there is any effect on the sticker? ”

Zhiqing was full of worries and questions, always wanting to see this sister who had only known him for a day as soon as possible, he took a quick step and came to the door of Ziyun's room without a sound.

Zhiqing stood in front of the door and looked closely, but saw that the door was closed. "Huh? Isn't she awake yet? No, my alarm clock is loud enough, half of the people in the entire Jiangdu County are awake, how could she not wake up? Oh, I see, I guess I'm getting dressed in the house, so I'd better call the door first. ”

"Female benefactor! Female benefactor, are you awake? Can a poor monk go in? ”

Zhiqing screamed so obscenely, but no one inside answered, didn't she hear it, or did she not want me to call her a "female benefactor"? Forget it, let's call her "Ziyun".

"Purple Cloud Girl! Purple clouds! Are you awake? I'm Zhiqing, come and open the door! ”

Zhiqing's shout not only changed his name, but also increased his volume a lot, but there was still no sound in the room. Now Zhiqing was in a hurry, he didn't know what happened to that girl.

"Oh no, she's not going to die, is she? It must be my Uncle Hui's dog skin plaster that is poisonous, his plaster is okay for men, how can it be used for women? Damn Huifa, I'm not done with you! ”

Zhiqing hurriedly pushed the door in, but when his fingers just touched the door panel, he heard a "squeak" and the door opened. It turned out that the door was not bolted, and the room was empty.

……

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