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Outside the Kushan envoy's post house, the triple encirclement surrounded the post house to the fullest, and the innermost layer was the Kushan's escort group, more than a hundred Kushan warriors surrounded Ma Ming's room in the middle, they were armed with weapons, their expressions were vigilant, and some of them still had tears in their eyes. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info Deputy Envoy Kebrado is also a monk, is Ma Ming's descendant disciple, now he is standing under the corridor with his palms together, with tears in his eyes, looking at the Yue Wang Bu who is walking quickly.

Outside the Kushan warriors, there are guards arranged by the king of Axum, Warrag, these guards were originally arranged to be responsible for the peripheral security of the Kushan envoys, usually because there is nothing to do, they are a little lazy, but now, they are all widening their eyes one by one, raising their attention to the highest level, for fear that they will accidentally lose their heads.

On the outermost floor, there were about 2,000 people of the Yue Guards that Xiahou Rong had just arranged, surrounding all the Axum guards and Kushan warriors in the middle, and isolating them from all kinds of people who came to inquire about the news. Ding Feng personally led the team and strictly ordered all the soldiers and no one to enter or leave without the permission of the king, and violators were killed on the spot. In order to prevent misunderstandings, Xiahou Rong arranged for interpreters who were fluent in various languages to keep shouting on the side, and at the same time posted signs on the main streets, announcing that because of the death of Venerable Ma Ming, martial law would be imposed in the nearby area to avoid being disturbed by people with ulterior motives.

Ma Ming died suddenly in the post house, and this matter suddenly spread throughout the not very large city of Axum, although the city of Axum, like Rome, mainly believed in the polytheism of the Romans, but there were also many Buddhists, and as soon as they heard the news, they quickly gathered here. When Sun Shao's chariot arrived, dozens of people had gathered, they didn't know what the reason was, they wanted to come to inquire, but they were blocked by the Yue soldiers, they couldn't help but be a little anxious, I don't know who said something, several monks shouted loudly, they waved their arms, and shouted loudly at the Yue Wang Bucha who had just stopped.

Sun Shao heard the shouts of the monks, he stopped, turned his head to look at the monks who were a little excited, and turned his head to Xiahou Rong to give an order, Xiahou Rong immediately walked over with a few guards, and bowed to the two monks led by him: "Are you here to visit Venerable Ma Ming?" ”

The interpreter who followed him immediately translated his words. The two monks listened and glanced at each other, and one of the older ones put his hands together and bowed: "Exactly, we heard that Venerable Ma Ming died suddenly, and we were very surprised, so we came to inquire, but the soldiers of your country blocked us and did not let us in." We have great respect for Venerable Ma Ming, he suddenly ascended to heaven, we are very sad and indignant, we hope to recite a sutra for him, and ask the general to allow us to enter. ”

Xiahou Rong saluted again: "Your respect for Venerable Ma Ming, my king is very moved, but Venerable Ma Ming has just passed away, and some of the circumstances are unknown, maybe there are some conspiracies hidden in it, if you make noise here, it may affect the judgment of my king, maybe there will be wicked people who escape." Please understand the hard work of my king, and don't be bored. Venerable Ma Ming is a guest invited by my king, and he passed away unexpectedly here, and it is my king's responsibility to find out the facts, and I ask for your cooperation. ”

Those monks listened to Xiahou Rong's words, and saw that he bluntly said that Ma Ming's death was not normal, so they couldn't help but look at each other, discussed a few words, and the monks at the head shook their heads, comforted the people next to them a few words, and then said to Xiahou Rong: "Since the general said so, then we have to go in and have a look." It's not that we don't believe in kings and generals, it's just that we really want to know how His Holiness died. He turned to the growing number of monks and said sincerely, "General, if we don't get the right news, I'm afraid there will be rumors to deceive people. ”

Xia Hourong nodded: "It's not that I won't let you in, I just hope that everyone can be quiet." The king has an order, and he is inviting relevant people to be present, but if you don't come, the king will also send someone to invite you. It's just that there is a limited space inside, and it is impossible to accommodate all the people, so please nominate a few people to go in and check it out. ”

The monk listened, nodded again and again, turned around and discussed with everyone, the monks also agreed, they calmed down, and quickly recommended a few people to follow Xiahou Rong in, and the others consciously sat down on both sides of the street, sat cross-legged, closed their eyes and chanted, and the sound of detailed and solemn chanting spread next to the post house, gradually suppressing the noise, and shrouded the whole post house in a state of sorrow.

Shapur and Valag, who had just been invited to get the news, saw this situation and glanced at each other invariably, Waragher looked nervous, cold sweat flowed, Shapur was expressionless, but the corners of his eyes couldn't help twitching. Instinctively, they quickened their pace, passed through the monks, rushed behind Sun Shao, and bowed.

"You two came so quickly." Sun Shao smiled faintly, the smile flashed from his face, replaced by a heavy and angry face: "King Axum, the Kushan envoy died violently in the post house, we, as the master, have an unshirkable responsibility, as the king of Axum, you are the first person responsible, I have ordered the post house to be surrounded, you now immediately call all the relevant responsible persons here, I want to ask them in front of all the kings to find out their respective responsibilities." ”

Warag trembled and wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, and in response, he walked up to one of the Axum guards and shouted a few words, and the guard listened, prostrated again and again, and then got up and flew up.

Only then did Sun Shao turn around and bend over to Cabrador and saluted: "I am very sad about the death of His Holiness, and as soon as I heard the news, I immediately rushed here. Please rest assured, I will definitely give you a deal and will not let His Holiness die wronged. ”

Corbrado is really uncomfortable, Ma Ming is a very deep Buddhist, he is not only profound, but also very honest, never quarrel with people, even when negotiating, everyone disagrees, he is also very gentle and reasonable, not even spoke loudly, after returning from the negotiation today, he meditated in the room and did his homework, it has always been very normal, who knows that he didn't come out when the time came, when he went in to see, Ma Ming had fallen to the ground, no breath, his eyes were open, Judging by his usual demeanor, he seemed to have seen something very terrifying.

As soon as Corbrado saw this scene, he immediately felt suspicious, and he immediately notified the royal palace. King Yue was not in the palace, Xiahou Rong received him, and after hearing his report, the first thing Xiahou Rong did was to order the Praetorian Guards to surround the post house, and no one was allowed to enter or leave. Cabrador was very angry and felt that Xiahou Rong had not handled it properly, and Sun Shao had not shown up since then, which made him even more unhappy. Originally, he planned to vent as soon as he saw Sun Shao, but now that Sun Shao admitted that he was responsible as soon as he opened his mouth, and promised to give him a satisfactory explanation, he had no intention of shirking responsibility at all, and he was a little embarrassed.

As soon as the "Great King......" Corbrado opened his mouth, tears fell: "His Holiness has devoted his life to the Buddha and has never done evil things, but he did not expect to pass away in this way, which is really sad. ”

"Pray the messenger for his condolences." Xiahou Rong also persuaded: "The most important thing at the moment is to find out how His Holiness died, whether it was for the sake of annihilation, or for other reasons. The envoy must also know that His Holiness is not only your master, but also the messenger of Kushan, and he has come to the city of Axum to bear the high hopes of the King of Kushan. If his death affects the friendly relations between Guishan and our country, he may have fallen into some tricks to destroy people. ”

Kebrado nodded, he didn't know this, but he was disturbed by Ma Ming's death, and now listening to Xiahou Rong's reminder, he already understood that Xiahou Rong arranged people to surround the post house out of malice, and the resistance in his heart naturally went, and he was a little grateful for Xiahou Rong's arrangement.

Cabrador invited Sun Shao in, but Sun Shao shook his head: "I'm going to invite the Roman Emperor to come, and then we'll go in together." This incident makes me so angry that I want to find out the real reason for His Holiness's death in front of the people of Shikoku. ”

When Corbrado heard this, he couldn't persuade him, but fortunately, Alexander arrived soon, he looked at Sun Shao with a surprised face, and asked what was going on with his eyes. Sun Shao shook his head slowly, indicating that he didn't know. Alexander glanced at Shapur and Warag next to him again, Shapur looked sad, but Warag couldn't hide his nervousness, he couldn't help but snort, and entered the inner courtyard side by side with Sun Shao.

Venerable Ma Ming had been laid flat on a silk carpet, his eyes were still wide open, looking straight at the blue-black roof, his mouth slightly open, as if he was telling something. Sun Shao saw it, bowed slightly, Alexander and the others also expressed their sorrow, the representatives of the monks stepped forward and circled around the body of Venerable Ma Ming twice, the older monk looked at the body of Venerable Ma Ming, but he was at a loss, he talked softly with those monks, and then walked straight to Corbrador, and whispered something. Cabrador nodded repeatedly, seemingly agreeing with him. The monk walked back and sat cross-legged with a few companions beside Ma Ming's body, forming a mudra and chanting softly, in harmony with the Sanskrit sounds outside.

"Your Excellency, have you checked His Holiness's body and do you know how he died?" Xiahou Rong took a step forward and asked in a harmonious voice.

Cabrador frowned, hesitated for a moment, and slowly shook his head: "I don't know." ”

Sun Shao was a little surprised, since it was said that Ma Ming's death was abnormal, why didn't he know the cause of death? He glanced at Corbrador, and felt that there was something strange about him, as if he knew something, but he wouldn't say yes. He thought for a moment, then turned to Alexander and the others and said, "Your Majesty the Emperor, Your Royal Highness the Prince, please come forward and check it out to see if there are any suspicious traces on the body of Venerable Ma Ming." ”

Alexander nodded, stepped forward without thinking, leaned over, and examined it carefully. Shapur hesitated a little, and then stepped forward to take a look, Warag was about to go up, but Sun Shao grabbed him, and said solemnly: "My King Axum, you must know that this is the land of my Yue Kingdom, and it is also the capital of your King Axum, the venerable Ma Ming suddenly died here, if there is indeed any conspiracy, you have the responsibility to expose the conspiracy, and prove to me that you have the ability to manage this land, and the ability to ensure the safety of our guests, do you know?" ”

Varague couldn't help but raise his arm, wiped the sweat that hadn't stopped since he had come here, nodded apprehensively, then stepped forward, looked carefully, then closed his eyes, bowed to Ma Ming, muttered a few words, and reached out to turn him over. Kebrado frowned, and was about to step forward to stop him, but Xiahou Rong stretched out his hand to stop him: "Your envoy, please believe that King Axum did not mean to offend, he did this to find out the truth." ”

Cabrador nodded helplessly and turned his head away, unable to bear to look at it again.

Warag looked at it carefully for a long time, and then walked back, looking at Sun Shao's eyes a little wandering, obviously puzzled and nervous.

"How?" Sun Shao looked at him, then at Alexander and Shapur: "Do you see what's wrong?" ”

None of them spoke, Shapur tugged at his beard and kept silent, his eyes staring at the body on the ground, not knowing what he was thinking. Alexander thought for a moment and opened his mouth directly: "King, I think it's very strange, there is no scar on the body of His Holiness, and there is no sign of being killed, but his expression is terrifying, and he clearly saw something that made him very afraid, is it...... Could it be that he was scared to death? ”

Before his words fell, Corbrado snorted and interrupted him: "Venerable has cultivated to a high level, how can he be scared to death? Please be cautious and do not insult His Holiness's reputation. ”

"What does the envoy think is the cause of His Holiness's death?" Xiahou Rong immediately asked.

Corbrado was speechless, moved his lips a few times, and shook his head helplessly: "I really don't know. ”

"Just because there are no injuries doesn't mean there aren't injuries." Shapur said suddenly.

Everyone turned their eyes to him, and Shapur bowed to Corbrador, and said respectfully: "Forgive me for offending, I just guessed that there was a possibility, and I didn't want to belittle His Holiness's cultivation. ”

Corbrado snorted unhappily. Shapur didn't have to speak, he knew what he wanted to say. As soon as he saw Ma Ming's face, he felt strange. Ma Ming died, but there was no external injury at all, in his understanding, there are two ways to cause such a death, one is poisoning, there are many jungles in the north of Tianzhu, poisonous snakes are infested, poison is not rare, but he can confirm that Ma Ming did not die of poison, because the person who died of poison can be seen from the appearance. Then there is only one left, and that is the forbidden spell.

Buddhism does not believe in forbidden mantras, when the Buddha was alive, he said many times not to believe in forbidden spells, and he also used his own experience to explain that forbidden mantras are invalid, because Buddhism was founded, and there are not a few people who want him to die, including many Brahmins who are famous for their mastery of forbidden spells, and he is safe and sound. However, with the increase of Buddhist sects and the complexity of the teachings, some Buddhists began to believe in forbidden mantras, and they explained that the Buddha was not afraid of forbidden mantras because his Dharma was profound, so whether he could resist the harm of forbidden mantras was also one of the reasons for whether the practice of Buddhism was profound.

Kushan is a multi-religious country, in addition to Buddhism, there are also Christianity, Brahmanism and many other sects, including the original trust of the Otsuki people witchcraft, although Corbrado does not forbid spells, but is no stranger to forbidden spells, in the case of Ma Ming, the biggest possibility is to die of forbidden spells.

But Corbrado can't admit that Ma Ming died of the forbidden spell, Ma Ming is a famous venerable, his cultivation is profound, his status in the Kushan country is respected, and it is also one of the symbols of trying to ensure that Buddhism can gain a foothold in the Kushan country, how can such a person be injured by the forbidden curse? If this is the case, doesn't it mean that Buddhism is inferior to other religions, and at least it will affect Ma Ming's reputation. As Ma Ming's descendant disciple, he would never allow such a thing to happen.

Although Shapur saw that Corbrador's face was not good, he continued: "For example, in my Zoroastrian religion, there is a spell that can burn the heart with holy fire, and the flesh and skin are not injured, and the dead often have strange looks due to pain. He bowed to Corbrado again, shook his head, and said, "But Venerable Ma Ming's cultivation is profound, if you want to hurt him, it is not possible unless the high priest of my temple comes." Moreover, the person who was injured by the Holy Flame's heart, although he could not be injured externally, but his face was blood-red, as if he had been roasted and moxibusted, and Venerable Ma Ming's face was pale, which was obviously not the case. ”

Kebrado's eyes flickered, he was originally most suspicious of Shapur, because Guishan currently has two enemies, one is Yue Guo, the other is Sasan, the strength of Yue Guo is not as good as Sasan, and now in order to contain Sasan, he is trying to win over Guishan, and it should be said that he will not attack Ma Ming at this time. And if the Sassanids kill Ma Ming here, it may cause Guishan and Yue to become hostile, not only can they not cooperate with Yue to contain Sasan, but they may also become Sasanian's allies. Overall, Shapur's suspicion was the greatest, but Shapur's initiative to tell the secret that the Zoroastrian sect had a forbidden spell of the Holy Fire Heart, but his suspicion was shaken. He hadn't heard of such a thing as the Holy Flame Burning Heart, thinking that it was a high-level secret of the Zoroastrian Sect, and if Shapur didn't say it, he would definitely not think of going to that aspect, and Shapur took the initiative to say it, which means that he was very open.

Shapur saw the change in Cobrador's face, smiled slightly, turned his head and said to Sun Shao: "The Han Dynasty in the distant East has more profound knowledge, so I think there must be this kind of secret method, right?" ”

The corners of Sun Shao's mouth twitched, and he guessed Shapur's psychology clearly, he deliberately told the secret of the Holy Flame Burning Heart, and then denied it himself, first put himself aside, and then pointed the finger at him, such a trick seems to be very clever, but for the next person who has never been afraid to treat people with conspiracy, such a trick is simply untechnical at all. If Shapur didn't behave like this, he might just be suspicious of Shapur and not sit down, and now, he has to say that Uncle Sun is very angry, and the consequences are very serious.

"Yes." Sun Shao said bluntly: "Moreover, I will have one." ”

Everyone was stunned, and Corbrador's eyes widened and he looked at Sun Shao in surprise.

(To be continued)