Zuo Shaoyang smiled: "If you ask the master this question, the master will definitely say yes." ”

"Why?" The big-breasted woman asked.

"The master believes in the Buddha, and if there is a Buddha, there will naturally be demons and monsters, otherwise how can the Buddha descend demons and eliminate demons?"

Liao Chan said with a smile: "Zuo Gongzi is really smart. -- When we arrived, there was a suspension bridge in front of us. ”

Everyone looked in the direction of Zen's fingers, and sure enough, a suspension bridge could be faintly seen stretching out from the clouds and mist, ethereal, like a ladder to the sky. It's just that the lower end of the ladder is hidden in the clouds and mist on the opposite side.

The soldier was dumbfounded and said, "Master, why do you want to make a drawbridge and pull it up?" Are you afraid that people will go up and disturb your cultivation? ”

"Not really." Zen smiled, "Originally, it was not a suspension bridge, but a wooden bridge, there are fierce beasts on this mountain, often along the wooden bridge to the peak, this is how the two junior disciples of the old man were bitten to death, the monks are compassionate, can not be killed because the beast hurts people, so, this suspension bridge is installed." And it's usually pulled up. ”

"I see, the master is thinking about the beast. If this drawbridge is not put down, how can we get there? ”

"Wait a minute, the old man will put it down immediately!" Zen climbed up a big tree on the edge of the cliff, untied a rope tied to the tree, and the rope tied to the suspension bridge, and slowly fell.

The drawbridge was slightly wider than a person's shoulder, and there were two thumb-thick chains hanging from each side as guardrails. The mountain wind is blowing, and it is very scary to shake it.

Zen got down from the tree, walked onto the suspension bridge, and turned back and said, "Everyone, please come with me." With that, he stepped onto the suspension bridge, took a few steps, and turned back and said, "Everyone, come up, no problem!" ”

Everyone looked at each other, Zuo Shaoyang glanced at Zen, and said, "There is a master here, what are you afraid of, I'll come first!" "I'm on crutches to come forward. Miao Peilan said: "Brother, this bridge is too dangerous, your leg is injured, I will carry you over." ”

"No need to ......"

Miao Peilan couldn't help but say that she put Zuo Shaoyang on her back, walked on the suspension bridge steadily, and followed Zen to the opposite side.

The soldier and the two women followed boldly as well, grasping the strings on both sides of the rope and slowly moving to the opposite side.

Although there is a cliff below, but because of the clouds and mist, there is no cliff scenery, but it is not too terrifying, the mountain wind blows, the drawbridge sways with the wind, the two women want to scream.

Finally, I crossed the suspension bridge in fright, and then Zen pulled the suspension bridge up again. Lead the people to continue their journey up the mountain.

The clouds on the mountain peaks are slightly lighter than those below, and you can see the scenery dozens of steps away, but the scenery farther away is hidden in the clouds and mist again.

The snow was deeper, and from time to time small animals such as hares ran past them, startling the two women from time to time.

Miao Peilan had already put Zuo Shaoyang down and walked, looking for it along the way, but still didn't find the purple-backed geranium.

After climbing up for a long time, Zen finally said, "The small temple has arrived!" ”

Everyone was so tired that they were panting, and the flat-nosed girl screamed: "Master, it should have reached the peak, right?" ”

"Almost, probably dozens of feet away, it's the peak."

"Oh, your temple is too high, how can you build it to the top of this peak?"

"It's convenient to clean up here."

When everyone looked up, they saw a few wooden houses hidden in the mist. When I got closer, I saw that the wooden houses were built on a gentle slope, and they were surrounded by a half-human high fence.

Zuo Shaoyang's eyes lit up, and he found that inside and outside the fence, there were indeed some purple-backed geranium seeds growing.

Zuo Shaoyang pulled one out and picked it up and took a look, that's right. happily said to Miao Peilan: "Found it!" I didn't think that it would grow until I reached the peak, so this time I had to pick some more and go back to prepare, and it was best to transplant it to the garden, so as not to climb up the mountain again when I wanted to, and I was tired to death. ”

Miao Peilan smiled: "I don't think, it's okay, if it's really used up, I'll climb up and pick it alone, and now I know this medicine." This medicine is really not available in the mountains of our Laohuai Village. I've never seen it before. ”

Liao Chan came over and said, "Two, it's getting late now, the two of you will stay in the small temple for a while, and you can pick medicinal herbs tomorrow morning and go back." ”

There are clouds and mist all around, and I can't see the sun, but I feel that the sky has really darkened, this mountain peak is steep, there are cliffs, there is snow everywhere, the so-called up the mountain is easy to go down the mountain, and his leg is injured, it is too dangerous to go down the mountain in the dark at night, so he said with one palm: "Since this is the case, then thank you!" ”

"Alright, please come with me."

Zen pushed open the fence gate and stepped into the courtyard.

The yard is not large, the size of a basketball court, the ground is relatively flat, with a thin layer of snow, and in the corners of the houses on both sides, there is a large pile of snow. Apparently it was the snow that the Zen master had swept away in the courtyard before going down the mountain. But there were small snowflakes in the sky, and a thin layer of white snow was covered.

At this moment, the door of a nearby wooden house was pushed open, and two men came out, one was an old man, fifty or sixty years old, and the other was a half-old child, only fourteen or fifteen years old.

The old man saw the towering breasts of the big-breasted woman at a glance, and his small squinted eyes suddenly lit up, and he secretly swallowed saliva.

The young man looked at Zuo Shaoyang and nodded, and smiled.

Seeing his expression, Zuo Shaoyang seemed to know him, and couldn't help but feel a little strange. Just as he was about to step forward to ask, a man and a woman came out of another adjacent room, two young people, these two people were gorgeously dressed, and the man was wearing a blue jade wrench on his middle finger, and he looked dignified, quite handsome, but he had a vegetable on his face, and it seemed that he had escaped from the famine.

When they saw Zuo Shaoyang and the others coming up, they didn't even smile, as if they were afraid that someone would compete with them for food, so they turned around and went into the house.

Zen said: "Let's go to the main hall to worship the Buddha first, and by the way, take a look at the granary of the small temple, so that everyone can rest assured." ”

Zuo Shaoyang said: "There is a lot of grain in the granary of your temple, right?" ”

"Hehe, it's okay, it's all over the years that the old man and your brothers have come to the fate, and there are also some donors who are kind and charitable, and the current war is in chaos, and the sky does not fulfill people's wishes, so I am afraid that there will be a famine and the people will suffer, so save more food, and if necessary, I can help the people. It's just that I didn't expect that there were so many hungry people this time, and the grain in the small temple was really a drop in the bucket, and the old man didn't dare to carry the grain down the mountain, for fear of being robbed by the rogues, so he could only follow the fate, and those who were destined for my Buddha would be led up the mountain to relief. ”

Zuo Shaoyang said: "The master is really a bodhisattva. ”

"Where, the donor praised it. - This way, please! ”

The group came to the outside of the main hall, only to see a dilapidated plaque hanging above the gate, the font is quite old, but it can still be vaguely recognized as written: "Guigu Temple".

Miao Peilan felt a little hairy, her hand holding Zuo Shaoyang's arm tightened, leaned against him, and said in a low voice: "Brother, how can this temple be named like this, it's so scary." ”

Zuo Shaoyang said with a smile: "This temple is on the top of the Ghost Valley Peak, so it is natural to take this name." ”

As he spoke, he stepped into the main hall.

It was already dark outside, and the hall was even darker, and he tried to keep his eyes open before he could see the situation in the hall clearly. I saw that the entire body of the Buddha enshrined in front was covered with a piece of black silk, and Zuo Shaoyang said strangely: "Master, how do you cover the Buddha, how do you worship here?" ”

Zen sighed and said: "The small temple is dilapidated, in disrepair, the Buddha statue has collapsed, the old man has raised a sum of money, and he will choose an auspicious one in the spring, and ask the craftsman to go up the mountain to repair, but unfortunately caught up with this war, so he put it aside." So cover it with black silk first. ”

"I see."

Zuo Shaoyang didn't believe in Buddhism, so he stood aside, but Miao Peilan respectfully knelt down on the grass futon in front of the offering table, folded her hands, whispered words in her mouth, and then kowtowed a few times.

Several others also knelt down and kowtowed.

Zuo Shaoyang took out the money bag, took out ten cents, and let Miao Peilan put it into the donation box in front of the table. Others also invested some money to a greater or lesser extent.

Zen Heshi thanked: "Everyone, please come here, let's go and see the granary of the small temple." ”

The big-breasted woman pointed outside: "Do you want to call those in the room just now to take a look?" ”

"No, they had already seen it when they came. But all those who brought them up to help them, the old man told them to see the food, so that they could live in peace. ”

Zuo Shaoyang said with a smile: "Master, isn't afraid that someone will have bad intentions and steal your grain?" ”

"But I am not afraid, firstly, this grain is meant to help the hungry, and it is okay for the hungry to steal it, and secondly, the granary of the small temple is in the cellar where the old man lives, and it is not easy to steal it. Hey hey"

"Oh? Presumably the master is a martial arts master and is not afraid of thieves? ”

Liao Chan smiled: "Where, the reason why Lao Qu Shicai said that he is not afraid of thieves stealing grain is because Lao Qu has a senior brother who is good at civil engineering institutions, and he built this cellar, and there is a mechanism at the entrance, which was used to prevent rogues and robbers from hiding and taking refuge when they looted the temple." Before the drawbridge was repaired, it was also used to prevent attacks by fierce beasts. ”

"Hehe, I see."

He led everyone to a meditation room next to the main hall and said, "This is the old man's residence, and the granary is here. ”

The meditation room is very simple, with a hard bed by the window and a thin futon. There was not even a pad of straw. On one wall stands a Buddhist shrine. In front of the shrine is an incense burner the size of a footbasin, on which are scattered with some burned incense sticks.

Zen stepped into the room, moved a round table in the room, and uncovered a wooden plank underground, revealing a sloping hole in the ground. There is an iron fence gate at the entrance.

Zen lit a small lantern in the room, then took out a bunch of keys from his waist, opened the iron door, and said, "Don't worry, the mechanism inside has been closed, even if you go in with the old man, there is no danger." With that, he led the way in with the lantern.

(To be continued)