"You may be seated, you're welcome," the two men were about to get up, when the old monk stopped them and stopped in front of them with a smile.

Shen Ruoyu hurriedly apologized to him: "The two of us are just ...... Some are too tired, and there is no sense of disrespect, so don't be surprised by the master. ”

The old monk smiled and said, "A Buddha who really has a Buddha's heart doesn't care about these pretentious rules. ”

Shen Ruoyu's face immediately turned red. Nightshade also blushed, bowed her head and asked, "Master, have you been behind this tower all along?" ”

The old monk nodded and smiled, "Not bad; The old man heard the conversation between the two benefactors. ”

Shen Ruoyu looked at the old monk, and suddenly a trace of doubt suddenly appeared in his heart. He walked around this Qingshou Temple for a long time, and the monks he saw were all dressed extremely plainly, but the old monk in front of him was dressed gorgeously, as if a peacock flew into the chicken nest, which looked out of place. He carefully observed the strange old monk in front of him; The other party is about the age of a sixtieth birthday, with triangular eyes and a sick face, although he has a smile on his face and a kind tone, his appearance is really not so amiable, but a little intimidating.

The old monk obviously noticed Shen Ruoyu's silent observation, still in a kind tone, and asked with a smile:

"It's the first time the two donors have come to my Qingshou Temple, right?"

Ye Laixiang said: "Could it be that the master is the abbot of this temple?" ”

The old monk smiled, but did not answer her question, and said, "Can the young benefactor recognize this tower?" ”

Nightshade shook her head.

The old monk said, "These two pagodas were built for the two deceased abbots of this temple. This nine-level tower commemorates Master Haiyun, who is the master of Liu Bingzhong, a famous monk in the Yuan Dynasty; This seven-level tower, commemorating Master Ke'an, is Liu Bingzhong's senior brother. Most of this temple still retains the appearance of the Golden Period, and the two of you will come with me. ”

Shen Ruoliao and Ye Laixiang got up from the ground and followed the old monk around the temple. Everywhere they went, the old monk would explain to them the name, history, and stories of the place. The monastery is very quiet; When they walked to the two abandoned stone bridges, they met a monk who was carrying water, and when they met the old monk, they unloaded the water burden from their shoulders and respectfully folded their hands and said:

"Master!"

"Fa Yan, you go and tell Shen Chu to let him prepare a meal for three people in my room, and I will entertain these two young donors."

The monk took the order and left. The old monk turned his head, looked at the stone bridge, pointed to the two stone tablets and said:

"Do you know the two young donors, who is the inscription of this inscription?"

The two men shook their heads.

"This is Jin Zhangzong's imperial pen of Wan Yan Jing. He can also be regarded as the most literary emperor of the Wanyan family, and he writes well; It's a pity that he is only a scholar, and he can't save his ancestors, but it's a bit like Song Huizong, who was robbed by his ancestors. In the Jin Yuan era, the water under this bridge was still alive, and it was a beautiful scenery. Now, this Beiping City is far from catching up with that time, and the connected Huihe River is close to drying up. ”

Wan Yan Jing is still much stronger than Zhao Ji, at least he is still concerned about what he should do. Shen Ruoyu thought to himself a little unconvinced, but did not say anything.

The old monk turned his head, looked at Shen Ruoliao, and said with a smile: "The young donor is also a person who has read books, and he seems to have a heart for the merits of Han Wu. His Royal Highness King Yan mentioned you to me, and praised you very much, saying that you are a malleable material. Fang Caishao's words before the main tower confirmed that what the prince said was true. ”

"Master? ......" Shen Ruoyu looked at him in surprise.

The old monk stared at him, his smile meaningful. "The young benefactor is the famous young man Shen Ruoyu in Beiping City, the old man should not admit his mistake, right?"

"Yes, I'm Shen Ruoliao. But I've never seen you. ”

The old monk smiled and said, "Actually, the old man has never seen you. But in front of the prince, your name is a frequent visitor. Just now, when I heard the name of the benefactor, I knew who was coming. ”

Shen Ruoyu was a little embarrassed and said: "That's not a glorious thing, the master made fun of me." ”

The old monk smiled and said, "Two donors, why don't you go into the house and talk." The old man has already asked someone to prepare a meal, and if the two of you don't dislike it, we can have a cup of tea and chat. ”

"Buddhism is quiet, we laymen have been disturbed for a long time."

"You're welcome; Shen Shaoxia, you can never be called a layman. ”

The old monk led the two of them through the dense monastery of pine and bamboo, and entered a meditation room; On the low table in the center, the three meals have been set up in a proper manner. The old monk beckoned the two of them to sit on the floor and have eaten fast. The little monk who was waiting on the side brought tea and withdrew.

The old monk picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, and said with a smile:

"Two donors, please use tea, you're welcome. This is the tribute Longjing rewarded by the prince; In this temple, Lao Qu just entertained the two of them with a little tea, and he smiled. ”

As soon as he said this, the two teenagers didn't dare to touch the tea bowl. Ye Laixiang said: "Master, you are too polite; We were flattered. ”

The old monk smiled and said, "The old man never sees outsiders on weekdays. However, meeting Shen Shaoxia today is really fortunate in three lives. After the twin towers, he overheard the conversation between the two donors, and was very ashamed; Lao Wei found that Shen Shaoxia was completely different from what I imagined. ”

Shen Ruoyu was a little surprised. "What's the difference?"

The old monk said together: "Amitabha; If the young man is not surprised, the old man has a word to persuade him. ”

"Master, please speak."

The old monk smiled and said, "Young man, what is more important in the past, present, and future?" ”

Shen Ruoyu recalled what he had said to Ye Lingxiang in front of the tower. He said, "Master, your question can be replaced by: Who is more important, conscience or happiness? Atonement or forgetting, who should be chosen? ”

"So to speak. Shaoxia's opinion is——? ”

"What does the master think?"

The old monk smiled and said, "When the conscience is settled, there will be true happiness; Only when sins are atoned for can they be completely forgotten. ”

Shen Ruoyu was slightly stunned, and his eyes flashed. "Master......?"

The old monk said, "However, things in this world are often like this: once the conscience is in pain, it is difficult to settle down again; The sins that can make you linger are often the ones that cannot be atonemented for a lifetime. ”

Shen Ruoyu glanced at Nightshade uneasily, and asked softly, "What should I do?" ”

The old monk smiled and said, "Has the young man discovered that he can actually be two people?" ”

"Two people?" Shen Ruoyu and Nightshade were both slightly taken aback.

"I ...... I don't really understand. ”

"Just like Shaoxia himself said, the real Buddha doesn't care about these pretentious rules. Rules are not pretentious, they are often necessary; However, there are many times when exceptions can be made. Everything in this world is the same, there are no absolutes. It's the same with people. Many times you will find that you will have completely contradictory thoughts and behaviors at different times. Otherwise, the young man would not have the wisdom of criticizing martial arts under the pagoda at the same time, and the pride of praising martial arts in the palace of King Yan. You just don't realize that you can be multiple different people at the same time. You can let one self bear all the sins and conscience pain, and let the other self start over and be a perfect person. ”

"This is impossible," Shen Ruoyu said, "I admit that people will have contradictions. But there is only one conscience, which cannot be divided, because it is symbiotic with memory. You can't be yourself and forget the sins of your other self completely. This is completely different from other things that can be contradictory. ”

The old monk bowed his head slightly and smiled: "The young man misunderstood; The old man didn't say that you should learn to forget. Remembering one's sins is the rarest virtue of a human being. However, you must not lose sight of the present and future life because you remember your past sins, which is also your conscience and responsibility. You can't change the past; But you can still control the future. Most importantly, you need to understand that remembering the past does not guarantee that the mistakes of the past will never be made again. If you let guilt and self-blame drown you out, you will lose your sobriety and alertness, and you will only end up repeating the same mistakes again and again. The right thing is always positive. You have to look at and know yourself with a good heart as you know others; Seeing your progress and achievements cannot change the past, but it can make up for the regrets of the past, make you realize your own value, make you full and happy, and let you truly get a new life. ”

"Master, but," Shen Ruoyu's voice was very low, "Do you really think that people can control their own future?" Do you really think that the right thing is always positive? Do you really think—" he paused for a moment, "you just said that nothing is absolute. So what is true of what you are saying? Do you really think that there is a standard of right and wrong in this world? ”

The old monk looked at him contemplatively for a long time.

"No, I don't think so." Finally he smiled and spoke. In fact, in this world, there is no such thing as right or wrong, the so-called past, present and future, and therefore there is no so-called conscience and forgetfulness, the so-called self and others. But - Shaoxia, even this, is not so absolute. Zhuangzi said, 'If there is something because it has, then there is everything, and because there is nothing because it does not have, then everything is nothing; Because it is so, all things are not; Because what is not is not, then all things are not.'" If you want to, you will do it. After all, you never know what will happen tomorrow. So, you will always have hope. ”

Shen Ruoyu was slightly taken aback; Two years have passed, and he is about to forget the famous passage of Zhuangzi quoted in "Autumn Water Returns to the Heart".

"The master is a disciple of Buddhism, but he quotes Taoist sayings?"

Dao Yan smiled faintly and said: "Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are one, how can they be separated?" ”

Shen Ruoyu smiled in disbelief: "The master is a person who has escaped into the empty door, and he still believes in hope?" ”

The old monk bowed slightly: "Only hope is the reason for everything." ”

Shen Ruoyu was a little overwhelmed. He looked at Nightshade, and she was just as dazed and confused as he was.

They sat for a while, then got up to take their leave. The old monk sent them out of the monastery, and when they arrived at the door, he suddenly asked:

"Does Shen Shaoxia know that three days ago, the third brother of the prince, King Jin, fell ill in the Taiyuan fiefdom?"

Shen Ruoyu looked at the old monk in a daze for a long time; It was a bit of baffling news for him, and he didn't know what it all had to do with him.

He asked, "If you are disrespectful, you don't dare to ask the master for the Dharma name?" ”

The old monk smiled slightly: "The poor monk is called Daoyan." If the young man sees Lord Yao, please ask the old man to say hello to him. ”

Sure enough, it was him. Shen Ruoliao was a little frightened, hurriedly lowered his head, and respectfully folded his hands and said, "Shen Ruoliao has eyes and doesn't know Mount Tai." In front of the prince, I also asked the master to give more comfort, and asked the prince to be sure to mourn. ”

Master Dao Yan narrowed his eyes, smiled slightly, and said lightly: "Shaoxia walks slowly, don't send it." ”

Out of the gate of Qingshou Temple, two people stood outside the door, as if their thoughts were still in the temple, and they didn't know where to go for a while.

Nightshade asked, "Do you want to go out of town, or back to the hotel?" ”

Shen Ruoyu took a deep breath and said softly:

"Go out of town. Since I still have the ability to rescue you from the second prince's fast horse, I should not be willing to be decadent and sink into the past failures and not be willing to extricate myself. If you can't even grasp the present, how can you talk about the past and the future? Xiang'er, I want to start over and practice hard, as if I had never learned before, not to recover, but to start everything from scratch, and I must practice until it is even better than the original, and I must practice until it is as good as my father. ”

Nightshade threw a sweet smile at him and said:

"Hope alone is the reason for everything."