The moats and moats were filled with new corpses, and the ladders were constantly falling.

The rain of arrows on the city became scarce, but it continued, and the soldiers in armor on the city kept appearing, one layer was smashed down by arrows and stone bullets, and another layer poured up, boiling logs and stones mixed with the juice of feces and urine.

The rebels, who had easily climbed the city wall, were surrounded by soldiers in armor, whose swords and spears were very rusty, and whose fighting was disorderly.

The rebels who went up to the city wall fell into the muddy water, less and less, and the muddy water was boundless and unreaching.

The rebels charging under the walls were getting slower and slower, and climbing past the dead and wounded had taken a great deal of effort.

The morale has been exhausted, and the pale adjutant general looks at this scene, this is his subordinate, and it can't all be lost here...... To be compromised, everyone should be depreciated together.

The adjutant general closed his eyes and muttered a few times, then opened his eyes again: "Retreat." ”

The horn sounded, and the rebels outside Gangneung Mansion retreated, and this time they left more corpses and wounded, not afraid of the rain of arrows that would come from the city wall, they themselves had no intention of taking them.

The sound of fighting dissipated, and the setting sun spread over the city, making the bloody scene even more tragic.

The retreat of the thieves led to another victory in defending the city, but there was no joy of victory.

The streets were littered with the dead of the wounded, the sound of cries and moans was diffuse, and the survivors looked sad but kept walking, some were treating the wounded, some were collecting the dead, and some were carrying buckets of rice and grain, as well as oil-scented meat.

Whether the city is rich or poor, everyone takes out all the rice and meat in the family, not only the rice, but also the people and the houses.

Constant coming, young and old, took the armor from the dead and put it on, picked up the scattered weapons, clenched them in their hands, and lined up under the city gates.

There was a commotion in the city, and the houses were being pushed in, and the masonry and wood were put in frames and pushed into the walls of the city walls.

There are dozens of cauldrons boiling in the streets, and old people and children carry all kinds of buckets to put the dirt aside.

Everyone did not rest, preparing for the next defense of the city.

Among these people were also monks.

The monks of the Dajue Temple in the city all came out, but after listening to the chanting of the wooden monk, Huiming of the Dajue Temple said that Master Youmu alone arrived at ten thousand monks, and they did not sit behind him and chanted together, but went to do other things, demolishing the house, boiling water, and collecting feces, urine and feces.....

In fact, if they sit behind Monk Mu and chant sutras, it is okay, Monk Mu will not drive them away.

In the peaceful and prosperous times, these monks lived a life of immortals, and the prefect knew it, enjoying countless incense offerings, and was more pampered than those young ladies, and his fingers did not touch the spring water.

It seems that the preaching of the wooden monk also made these monks obey, and obeyed the call of the Buddha to devote themselves to this human purgatory, doing these hard and dirty things.

The prefect looked under the city gate, the sunset glow and blood stains were all over the mess, and the wooden monk sat on the ground, the monk's robe on his body, like his face, seemed to have been stained with dust, but it was not stained again.

There was a low and distant chanting in his ears, and he fell into the world with the afterglow of the setting sun.

This scripture talks about the suffering of all beings in the world, suffering at this moment, suffering endlessly, but the footsteps do not stop, the practice does not stop, until the lotus flowers bloom under your feet, and the white lotus flowers will lift you up and leave the suffering realm.

Thinking about that beautiful scene, thinking that since everyone is destined to live so hard, everything seems to be less painful now.

After listening to this, the prefect and the generals only felt physically and mentally exhausted, and they had enough strength to deal with the next rebel siege.

"Master Mu, you can eat something." The prefect walked over and whispered, looking at a clay pot beside Monk Mu, which was only clear water.

Monk Mu shook his head and said no.

Since the rebels besieged the city, Monk Mu has been sitting under the city gate, in addition to treating and comforting the wounded and the dead, that is, chanting, or standing or sitting, the sound of chanting has not stopped day and night, echoing in everyone's ears.

He doesn't eat rice grains, only drinks water, if he is not a true immortal, how can he do it!

The prefect and the generals were full of admiration and gratitude, the troubled times collapsed, the people had no expectations, and abandoned their faith, but if there was a truly convincing master, the people would be extremely trusting and abandon their lives to believe.

The prefect believes that Monk Mu is here, and even if there is one person left in Gangneung Mansion, he will defend the city calmly and resolutely.

When faced with life and death, peace is more rare than bravery.

The prefect does not want to be able to defend the city endlessly, three months is enough, even if three months can't wait for reinforcements from the southeast Huainan, the rebels will be boiled away.

"Master Wood." The prefect gave a sincere salute, "You have worked hard. ”

The generals also followed the ceremony, so that the people of the city became brave soldiers, this is something they can't think of and can't do, this wooden monk chanted the scriptures and did it, this is the legendary beans into soldiers, right?

The wooden monk bowed to them and looked up at the sky, the afterglow of the setting sun dissipated, and the night was covering the earth.

"There will be strong winds tonight." He said.

The prefect was shocked and asked, "Benefiting us or altruism?" ”

Monk Mu said: "Benefit us." ”

The prefect breathed a sigh of relief, and the generals also looked happy.

"Hurry up and get ready."

"Then if there is a siege tonight, we can use fire."

"Quick, let's prepare more wood and oil."

Everyone discussed and immediately began to get busy, and did not forget to give another salute to Monk Mu when they left, and when the rebels wanted to take advantage of the fatigue of the night attack, when the battle started, the originally calm summer night suddenly rolled up a strong wind, and countless rockets flew out of the walls of Gangneung Mansion at once, and the catapult threw no longer stone bullets, but wood, wrapped in oilcloth.

The fire oil sprinkled in the trench in advance rose up, and a raging fire ignited outside the moat of Gangneung Province, devouring the rushing rebels, and the rebels retreated one after another, and the wind swept the fire and licked their hair, clothes, skin and flesh under their armor, turning them into fireball rockets and spreading to the four fields......

In the battle tonight, it didn't take any effort, the prefects and generals standing on the city wall laughed heartily, and then looked back at the city, and the people preparing for war under the city gate took turns to keep in line, demolishing houses, boiling water.... At night, the street is brightly lit, and the figure of the wooden monk sitting alone is a little quiet in it.

There was a low chant in the wind, this time it was not a story, it seemed to be singing, singing about spring flowers, summer rain, distant hometown and beautiful girls.

In the bloody night after the war, it was particularly intoxicating.

Hu Zhifu sighed: "Master Mu knows astronomy and geography, and can know the wind and rain, and now that he has started singing, we can sleep well tonight." ”

The wind blew all night, and I had a good night's sleep, but after dawn, the wind stopped, and the sky became gloomy.

The prefect stood under the city gate and looked up at the sky: "It looks like it's going to rain." Then he commanded the surroundings, "Quickly hold an umbrella for the master." ”

The entourage around him immediately wanted to obey the order, but Monk Mu stopped them.

"No need." He said, standing up, holding his staff, and looking up at the sky.

The prefect looked at the young monk and seemed to see his face clearly for the first time, his face was angular and the graceful jawline could be seen when he tilted his head.....

"Master." The prefect shook off the messy thoughts, "How is the sky?" ”

The wooden monk raised the wooden staff, and at the same time, a bright light flashed in the dark sky, and with a boom, the sky seemed to be split.

The ground trembled, and the people in the streets screamed.

What a big thunder!

The prefect's heart was beating rapidly, his ears were buzzing, and his soul was unstable.

"Master, what does this thunder mean?" He couldn't help but ask.

Monk Mu retracted his gaze and looked around, and the people around him also flocked to him, waiting for his verdict.

"The Great Murderer." He said, "Gangneung Mansion can't hold it. ”

My day! The prefect has seven souls and six spirits out of his body, master, are you a god or a demon?

The most important thing needed before the life and death of the war is to strengthen confidence and avoid panic, and it is this that Gangneung Mansion can successfully defend the city for more than ten days.

The prefect has always thought that this is what Monk Mu has to do.

Monk Mu told the people that the world is suffering, but as long as you persist, you will be able to be happy, and he comforted and encouraged the people to sacrifice their lives and forget death, and devote themselves to the battle of defending the city, because as long as they do this, they can finally get rid of the pain and get victory.

But what's going on now? How could he tell the culprit in public? This is something that will frighten everyone, and words can shatter it with a single blow.

Even if it's really a big murderer, you can't say it in public.

The people around them froze, and they didn't seem to react.

The prefect looked at the wooden monk who was covered with dust again in front of him, perhaps, the master has another mystery? Like what......

"Master Wood." The prefect asked in a trembling voice, "Can this murder be solved?" How do we do it? ”

He asked if it could be solved, and the master would say that as long as everyone worked together without complaining or repenting, the lotus flowers would bloom in the Shura land, suffering would be transcended, troubles would be eliminated, and sentient beings would be liberated.

Then everyone will continue to move forward step by step with sorrow, not afraid of life and death, and not afraid of danger.

Expressing suffering can sometimes stir up people's morale.

Monk Mu looked at the prefect and shook his head without hesitation: "Incomprehensible." All I can do now is open the gates and surrender, and I will go to the rebels and maybe convince them to do less murder......"

The prefect was dumbfounded, his ears were buzzing, and all those immortal Zen sounds could not be heard, and in an instant, the lotus flowers under his feet were shattered and returned to the world.

"He's a spy!" The prefect shouted, stretched out his hand and pointed at Monk Mu, "Arrest him for me!" ”

The generals who came to their senses rushed up, and at the same time, the people in the streets also came to their senses and screamed.

Some fainted, some fell to their knees, some fled, some cried.

The queues waiting for the battle broke up, boiling pots were hit, and boiling water mixed with the dirt of wooden barrels flowed across the street, and the stench was stinking.

The city under the cover of dark clouds cried like hell for a moment.

"Don't be afraid! It's fake! This is a demon monk's gossip to confuse the public! ”

"It's just thunder! You see, the clouds have dispersed. ”

The prefect ran around the city with officials to announce pacification, but how pale and powerless, the person who was regarded as an immortal Buddha a moment ago became a demon in a blink of an eye, who can accept it? Not to mention this kind of time.

"Master Mu obviously sent down the blessing of the Buddha sound with us, why is he a demon?"

"That's what he is trying to confuse people!"

"He tricked us into defending the city."

"That's an illusion, he's gaining our trust, and then for today!"

"Is Gangneung Mansion really undefended?"

"Don't listen to demons! It was because he saw that our Gangneung Mansion was unbreakable, so he was so demonic to confuse the public! ”

Desperate and blank questioning, helpless forced explanations, the Gangneung government officials will try their best to stabilize the people, but after all, it is different.....

"Are there rebels coming to attack the city again?"

The prefect and the lord dragged their tired bodies up the city wall, asking in a hoarse voice, while looking out of the city.

There seemed to be a dark shadow moving between the dark heaven and earth, and there seemed to be none.

"My lord, this time is different." The lieutenant general of the garrison said in a trembling voice.

What's the difference, they are all rebels, more and less are the same, the prefect looks blank.

"The sentry said, yes, Chengqing is here." The adjutant said in a dry voice.

......

......

The long axe swung and three human heads fell to the ground.

Chengqing raised his foot and stepped on the blood stains, and then looked back at the soldiers and horses standing densely behind him, and the soldiers and horses looked afraid.

"Waste." Cheng Qing scolded, "You can't even take a small Jiangling Mansion, what use does the Metropolitan Governor want you!" ”

The soldiers and horses hung their heads, and Chengqing pointed to the three lieutenants who stood up and asked them to pick up the banner of the decapitated lieutenants.

"Their horses and horses are yours, and their riches and women are yours." Chengqing said.

The three newly promoted lieutenants could not hide their joy and thanked them loudly.

Cheng Qing stretched out his hand and pointed to the distant city in front of him and said to the soldiers and horses: "The gold, silver, treasure, and women in that city are also yours." ”

The soldiers and horses roared in unison, and even the horses under them were restless.

"But you have to remember." Chengqing pointed to the three corpses on the ground again, and said coldly, "Everything you have now will also become someone else's." ”

The lieutenant generals were silent.

Chengqing's long axe dragged on the ground with a screeching sound.

"Now in this world, in this world, for us, there are only two pursuits in life, enjoyment or death, and there are only two things to do, kill or be killed."

He paused to look at the generals.

"Let me hear, what kind of life do you want to live, what kind of things do you want to do?"

The soldiers and horses raised their weapons and roared in unison.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

A smile appeared on Cheng Qingbai's face, and he pointed at Gangneung Mansion with a long axe: "I, don't see Gangneung Mansion with living people. ”

The lieutenant generals roared in unison, mounted their horses, and the horses, which had long been eager, fell their hooves heavily on the ground, making a vibration, rumbling like thunder and spreading on the ground.

......

......

Compared with the chaos in the city, the prison cell of the government office is the cleanest place, and the prefect dragged his tired body into it and looked at the wooden monk sitting in the cell.

"Are you Seungqing's internal response?" The prefect asked.

Monk Mu raised his head: "Of course I'm not." ”

The light in the cell was dim, but the prefect didn't feel that he couldn't see Monk Mu's face clearly, it was no different from outside, although he was frightened by Monk Mu's words, when he answered, the prefect still felt that his words were true.

"Master, since you are not Chengqing's internal response and not a rebel spy, why are you doing this?" The prefect sat down and asked helplessly and anxiously, "You are going to destroy Jiangling Mansion and kill everyone, master, obviously you have been trying to save us." ”

Monk Mu said: "I have always been here to save people. ”

The prefect half-got up and grabbed Monk Mu's arm: "Master, then you go with me now and tell everyone that we will definitely be able to defend the city, as long as we work together, just like we did before." ”

Monk Mu sat upright and did not move: "Now you can't save people by doing this, it will only kill everyone, and this city can't be defended." ”

The prefect was furious: "If you can't keep it, won't you keep it?" If you can't do something, don't you do it? If you can't live, do you have to wait for death? Is this what the Buddha taught you? ”

Monk Mu looked at him with a calm expression: "What the Buddha taught me is to transcend life and death and suffering, cut off all troubles, obtain ultimate liberation, and try my best to live when I can live, if life and death cannot be crossed, then accept it calmly, so that I can get eternal life." ”

The prefect flicked his sleeves and was furious: "Fuck your mother's eternal life, I just want everyone to live now." ”

Monk Mu was not angry, and said: "If you want everyone to live, you must open the city gate and surrender as I said." ”

He looked at the prefect with a pair of discerning eyes.

"My lord, you know very well whether this city can be defended now."

The prefect smiled miserably: "It's Chengqing who came, Chengqing will inevitably slaughter the city, we will die if we surrender, and if we don't surrender, we will die, since we are all dead, why don't we fight to the death?" ”

"Because that's meaningless." Monk Mu said, "The troubled times collapsed, Chengqing these fierce generals, after the rebellion with Ankang Mountain, the most animalistic side of human nature was released, and became the vicious dogs of hell, they have no humanity, no courtesy, righteousness and shame, put all their energy on biting, and ravaging and devouring other people's flesh and blood, but also provided him with a steady stream of energy, now is their most vigorous time, your resistance is useless in front of them." ”

The prefect looked a little confused: "Then you can only watch them commit murder, is there nothing you can do?" ”

"The day has not yet come." Monk Mu said, "Just like weeds growing wildly, spring and summer, but you can't escape autumn and winter, just like there is a good year and a disaster year, just like there is a long time, the sun rises and the sun sets, the stars move and the four seasons are reincarnated, everything is a fixed number." ”

Everything is a certainty, so those rebels don't deserve to die now, can it only be them? This is the will of heaven, and the prefect is a little tired: "I can only die." ”

Monk Mu withdrew his arm from his hand and picked up the wooden staff: "So stop resisting now and open the city gates, and let me talk to them, maybe I can convince them to ......"

The prefect's eyes lit up with hope: "Do you persuade them to put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot?" ”

Monk Mu shook his head and extinguished hope: "Of course not. ”

The prefect sat back in a daze: "Then what are you going to talk about?" ”

"I can't convince them to put down the butcher's knife, but maybe they can kill fewer people, save some people, a dozen, a few people." Monk Mu stood up, "Even if it's one person, it's to save people." ”