Late at night, the main hall of Hanshan Temple is brightly lit.

The statues of the Buddha of various colors in the hall stand quietly all around, the incense lamps of the worship are lit in front of the Buddha statues, the weak but flexible candle flames are shaking silently, in the wide and far-reaching hall, a figure sits quietly cross-legged on the futon in front of the Buddha and meditates and recites the scriptures, solemn and solemn, and the artistic conception is far-reaching.

A small sound came, and then a slender and elegant figure wearing a silver-pink cloak appeared at the entrance of the main hall. Su Mi took off the hat of the cloak, brushed her hair, and looked at the withered leaf Zen master who was sitting in the hall, unheard of her appearance.

In this empty hall, time seemed to stand still, and only the gentle and long chanting echoed in the hall without interruption.

Su Mi listened quietly for a moment, and suddenly asked, "I don't know what the scriptures the master reads?" ”

"The poor monk recites the mantra of great compassion, compassion for the suffering of the world, and hope for the compassion of my Buddha." The long chanting stopped, the body of the meditated body did not shake in the slightest, and the withered leaf Zen master replied with a bit of leisure.

"Mercy?!" Su Mi sneered with a bit of sarcasm: "If a few Buddhist mantras can save all sentient beings in the world, why is there so much suffering in this world, the master is a contemporary monk, why can't he understand this?" ”

"What the donor said is very true, Buddhist scriptures are just written by mortals, read by laypeople, and are no different from the classics written by the hundreds of schools of thought. I waited for it to read aloud, and there was no difference between the foul language of ordinary pawns and the scolding of folk women. When a poor monk reads Buddhist scriptures but only asks for peace of mind, how can he expect to save the world with the sound of the Buddha's name? Hearing Su Mi's provocative and mocking tone, the withered leaves were not moved in the slightest, and said slowly.

The withered leaves so calmly admitted the uselessness of the Buddhist scriptures that Su Mi didn't know what to say for a while.

"Does the donor also read Buddhist scriptures?" Withered Leaf suddenly asked.

"The little girl has shallow knowledge and never dares to read Buddhist scriptures." Su Mi smiled: "It's just that the little woman has always had a question in her mind, and the master hopes to be able to solve Su Mi's doubts in order to become a monk." ”

"Please make it clear to the donor."

"The Buddha said that there are seven kinds of suffering in life, birth, old age, sickness, death, resentment, love, parting, and unwantedness, and those who sink are infinitely suffering, and those who are detached have to be reborn. So what does the master think of all kinds of suffering, and how can he get rid of it? But do you want to 'practice the precepts diligently, fix the wisdom, and extinguish greed and hatred'? Su Mi asked with a smile.

"The so-called diligent cultivation of precepts and wisdom, extinguishing greed and hatred is nothing more than ascetic practice, not cultivation of God, for the daily practice of monks such as us. The donor is such a red dust person, and all he pays attention to is to let go in time. Withered Leaf said.

"Let go in time?!" Su Mi's tone suddenly sharpened, "The master is really a monk who has attained the Tao, a light and fluttering let go, and all the feelings that have passed away have disappeared, leaving no trace." ”

"The world is bustling, and everyone wants something; The world is crowded, and there is no way. How can I not let go? ”

Su Mi breathed a sigh of relief and said coldly: "It seems that I am destined not to have this opportunity to study Buddhism, and I don't want to slander the gods and Buddhas here." ”

"The donor doesn't read the Buddhist scriptures, but I'm afraid that the donor is not afraid of polluting the Buddhist scriptures, but afraid that the Buddhist scriptures will mistake you, right?" Su Mi was just about to turn around and leave, and the voice of the withered leaf Zen master came from behind him, which was different from the calm and indifferent just now, and the voice trembled slightly, and it sounded like there was a trace of concern in it: "The donor's temperament is persistent and difficult to move, you must know that the most bitter thing in this world is the word 'persistence', and the donor's obsession will sooner or later destroy others and hurt himself." ”

Su Mi's body shook for a while, I don't know how long it took, Su Mi suddenly chuckled, suddenly changed the topic, and asked with a long smile: "The Buddha often said that the family does not speak. Today, the master has broken the precepts. It's just ......" Su Mi glanced up at the back figure, and said in a sarcastic and acrimonious tone: "Why does the master want to lie for Su Mi?" The master is detached from the red dust, is it also nostalgic for the old feelings? ”

"People are not plants and trees, how can they be ruthless?" Withered Leaf replied calmly.

"Since the master can't let go of his obsession, how can he persuade others?"

"Amitabha!" The withered leaves pronounced a Buddha horn, finally stood up, turned to face Su Mi and stared at him for a moment, Su Mi was stared at by his eyes, only felt a trace of cowardice, and then there was a kind of unwillingness and resentment welling up in his heart, and he looked back at the withered leaves without showing weakness.

"Master Su Shi is blaming the resentful poor monk?"

"The master enjoys the worship of the Great Qi and is the supreme national teacher of the Great Qi, how can Su Mi have a sense of resentment?"

"Well," Withered Leaf sighed, "whatever you think in your heart, I always resent myself. ”

He shook his head, hesitated for a moment, and finally looked at Su Mi and said, "Why don't I want to save him." When he accepted Qingting as a disciple, he saw that he was upright by nature, too rigid and easy to break, but I was afraid that he would not enjoy his destiny. ”

Suddenly hearing his father's name being mentioned, Su Mi's heart ached as if he had been pricked by a needle.

The withered leaf Zen master in front of him is her father Gu Qingting's teacher, Gu Qingting traveled to the rivers and lakes when he was a teenager, and was fortunate to bow down to his door, all the martial arts are taught by him personally, but the whereabouts of the withered leaves are ethereal, Gu Qingting is introverted by nature, and it is not good to show off his own master, and the withered leaf Zen master has a relationship with the Qi country, as a guard general, rashly mentioned it, it is inevitable to let the people in the court gossip, so this period of master-apprentice relationship is rarely known. But as a daughter, Su Mi certainly knows.

"The master is for the sake of the interests of the Qi country, and the righteousness is at present, so do you care about the small sections?" Su Mi said calmly.

Withered Leaf stared at her face, and suddenly smiled bitterly: "You still resent me, but this kind of hatred is really not worth mentioning compared to your resentment towards Daqi." ”

"I remember that when you were born not long ago, I also went to Weiguo to see you, but I didn't expect that it was only more than ten years of hard work to be a person, I once thought about persuading your father not to be too persistent, it is better to return to the countryside, but ......" Speaking of his apprentice, the withered leaves also had a moment of gloom: "I thought that even if he suffered misfortune, but his family could be preserved, I didn't expect Ni Yuan's hatred to be so deep." ”

He looked at Su Mi, who was standing in front of the threshold, and asked, "Do you hate Qi Guo?" ”

The air around her suddenly froze, Su Mi stood silent, silent for a moment, she raised her feet and stepped over the high threshold, and entered the main hall, where many Buddhas were either solemn, or hideous, or majestic, or solemn, all looking down at all kinds of worshippers.

Su Mi stared at these clay statues unmoved: "Does the master believe that there are really gods and Buddhas in this world?" ”

"Of course I do." Withered Leaf said.

"So can the master tell me where the gods and Buddhas are? Why do these gods and Buddhas in the heavens only know how to enjoy the offerings and offerings of the world, and have no compassion for the world, so that this earthly world is full of suffering and twists and turns? ”

"Compassion is at ease in people's hearts, so why bother to look for it in the gods and Buddhas?"

"Compassion, if I have compassion for others, who will have compassion for me? Since the magic power of the gods and Buddhas is boundless, why don't I see a trace of rain and dew coming to me, but because I don't worship the Buddha and don't respect God? ”

"Buddha statues are just clay statues, dead things, how can they really bless people?" Dead Leaf Road.

"Then why does the Master revere these dead creatures?" Su Mi immediately asked without giving an inch.

"There is a Buddha in the heart, there is naturally a Buddha in this world, if there is no Buddha in the heart, it is difficult to see the slightest miracle even if you look for this red dust. Although the Buddha statue is a dead thing, the human heart is alive, and the dead Buddha statue enters the living human heart, and it is naturally alive. What I revere is nothing more than the gods and Buddhas in people's hearts, and the compassion in people's hearts. ”

"The master should really go to the government to choose the government, instead of lecturing on the scriptures and the law here." Su Mi shook his head and said, "Although I don't understand the advanced theory, I also understand the meaning of the master's words, and what the master said refers to the people's hearts." I wonder how the master determined the hearts of the people? Su Mi asked softly, she knew that the withered leaf Zen master chose the Qi country to support, but what was the reason for saying that the Qi country was the desire of the people.

Withered Leaves looked at her, suddenly shook his head, turned to look at these gods, and asked, "Donor Ming Shi knows the rites, do you know how many years have it been since the collapse of the Zhou rites, the overthrow of the Han family, and the invasion of Hulu?" ”

Su Mi was slightly surprised, and replied: "It has been more than 200 years since the rebellion of Emperor Mourning led to the forced entry of prisoners. ”

"As of this year, it's exactly two hundred and eighteen." A hint of heaviness appeared on the face of the dead leaves: "Then does the donor know what kind of life the people have lived in the past two hundred and eighteen years?" ”

Su Mi smiled sadly and said, "Although I don't know much, I also know that it is nothing more than a situation where the countries are strife, and the people are not living well. ”

"Heaven and earth are unkind, and lives are miserable. In the past two hundred years, there have been several heroes who have risen up and hoped to dominate the world, but they have only repeated to bring about a new round of wars, the former Liang State, and then the earlier Great Zhou, Great Jin, and Great Qin. After a hundred years of conquest, the people are not able to make a living, and the bustling city is also a man as a slave, a woman is a prostitute, and the ordinary countryside is even more empty than ten rooms and nine empty, and there is no smoke for thousands of miles. Until recent years, the rise of Great Qi. ”

The withered leaves looked into the distance and said word by word: "The people of this world can no longer wait. ”

"Now the Northern Liao is eyeing the tiger, the soldiers are strong and strong, ready to go south at any time, once the pass is broken, then it will be a tragedy of five nonsense, only let the world unify as soon as possible, let the Central Plains get rid of the war as soon as possible, in order to resist the strong enemy outside, and repair the national government internally, so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment. Supporting Daqi is really for the sake of the world and the people, so Lao Gao thinks that this is the will of the people. ”

"The donor just asked what is the heart of the people, what the people care about is to end this troubled world as soon as possible, whether it is Qi or Nanchen, or defending the country, as long as they have the ability to unify the world as soon as possible and let the people get out of the sea of suffering, it is where the people's hearts are."

Su Mi's body shook, she felt that these words were reasonable, but it made her heart heavy, there was an indescribable grievance, she wanted to say something to refute, but in the face of such a righteous and awe-inspiring statement, she couldn't find the slightest reason.

"Then why should our family be a victim on the road to the reunification of the Great Qi and suffer such an encounter? What's wrong with me getting revenge? Su Mi shouted, they took care of themselves to fight for their world, and I took care of myself to avenge my family, and the two had nothing to do with it.

"The country is hated by the family, and the donor naturally has the right to take revenge, but is it really Daqi who hurts the donor's family and causes the donor's country to be ruined?" Withered Leaf suddenly raised his head and asked: "The country is weak and the lord is mediocre, even if there are loyal ministers and good generals, but they can't use it, sooner or later they will be merged by a strong country, either Daqi or Nanchen, or Northern Liao." ”

"It doesn't have to be like this......" Su Mi struggled.

"You're right, of course it's not necessarily a thing." Withered Leaf said calmly: "It is also possible for the country to become strong, and it is also possible for your father to lead the army to attack other people's countries, slaughter other people's cities, and destroy other people's families, so that the country can be strong, and rely on other people's blood and hatred to ......"

"Father wouldn't be ...... like that," Su Mi retorted.

"In the troubled times, it is such a rule of survival, if you don't devour others, others will devour you," the withered leaves smiled sadly and said: "It is not Daqi or Ni Yuan who destroys your homeland, it is just war, and it is this troubled era that lasts for more than a hundred years." ”

Su Mi's body trembled, only to feel that her head was painful and confused.

"Now that the donor is deep in the court, I am afraid that this truth is clearer than others. Does the benefactor not have the blood of innocents on his hands, and does not bear the hatred of innocents? Withered Leaf asked, staring into her eyes.

Su Mi suddenly thought that Imperial Physician He, as well as the palace people who originally served Zheng Guifei in Caiwei Palace, although they were not killed by themselves, what was the difference between them and their own hands?!

"These people don't have relatives and friends, parents and children? How will they feel? ”

She felt like her mind was about to explode, and a voice swirled in her head, what is the difference between yourself and these people?! It's all just killing! It's all about ruining other people's families!

But no, I'm taking revenge and avenging my family......

But are all your enemies you kill? They are all innocent implicated, they are all unknown, just ordinary people who work hard for three meals and one night, and live in peace.

Su Mi's face became paler and paler, and he was dazed.

"Amitabha!" Suddenly, a Buddha horn slammed into her eardrums like a morning bell and hit her heart.

Su Mi raised his head blankly, and the withered leaves were staring at him, with pity and care in his eyes.

Su Mi's body shook and calmed down, "The power of the Master Buddhism's Pure Heart Exorcism Spell is really extraordinary." It's just a waste of time to use it on me, right? ”

"The donor's serious illness has not healed, and his mood is unsettled, and he is almost demonic in his body just now, so it is better to rest early." Withered Leaf said: "If the donor has the heart to participate in Zen, you might as well comprehend these Buddhist teachings slowly." ”

Su Mi didn't speak, she walked to the door, and suddenly asked: "Since the master knows that I have bad intentions for Daqi, if I am stubborn and hateful, can I reveal all the secrets of my life experience, and remove my hidden danger for Daqi and the world?" ”

The dead leaves stood silently behind him, but the complexity in his eyes was indescribable.

Su Mi's distant figure seemed even more lonely and cold on this lonely cold night. Watching the white shadow drift away, there was an indescribable bitterness in the dead leaves.

Based on Su Mi's last sentence alone, he knew that Su Mi was still unresolvable.