Led a stagecoach out of the post house, Zheng Yan looked up at the still somewhat dull lead-gray sky, this time is close to noon, the surroundings are no longer as cold as in the morning, and even have some moisture, the autumn wind is full of yellow leaves, there should be a lot of freezing rain; there are obviously a lot fewer pedestrians on the road, Zheng Yan no longer stays, whip up the horse to the north, since you want to run faster, you have to run faster, leave their sight and then think about how to change the way, think about it is quite exciting.

These days have not been less delayed, there are probably more than 200 miles to reach Pingyang Pass, out of Pingyang Pass villages and towns are even less, sometimes more than ten miles can not see one, and the population size is also very small, a town in the pass is at least one or two hundred thousand people, more than 1,000 people outside the pass are considered big towns, the real sparsely populated.

Pingyang Pass is also known as "Pingyang Three Passes", it is composed of three Xiongguan that are arranged in the direction of horns, Pingyang Pass in the middle, Suolong Pass in the north of the east 20 miles, Baijian Pass in the north of the west 20 miles, the three Xiongguan city walls and other fortifications are all made of stone pouring, after thousands of years, the scale is very large, once it also evolved into a border market, prosperous and noisy for many years;

In fact, the first line of Binh Duong Pass is not a dangerous area, and an east-west hilly belt is said to be an artificially built rammed earth mound, and a rammed earth wall is built on the rammed earth. In the middle of the Yin Dynasty, there was a legendary demon king in the Taihua Mountains, who established a relatively loose court based on the power of the human race, and united with the Yudanzhou group that was at its peak at that time to march south, and the troops were directed at Luoyang.

The emperor of the Yin Dynasty ordered the ancestors to live on the bank of the Luoshui, and the Zheng family, who had been so strong that they threatened the status of the imperial court, moved north to resist the invasion of foreign enemies.

Later, after operating on the front line of Pingyang Pass for nearly a hundred years, after accumulating enough strength, he continued to go north to regain the lost territory, until the two forces were driven back to his hometown, and the imperial court ordered the Zheng clan to permanently guard the Yiwang Mountain, which can be called the throat of the Taihua Mountains and the head of Yudanzhou, which is now the Zheng clan land, and several other families were also arranged to different places, and the Zheng family later established the twin cities of Yiwang and Baoyue at the foot of Yiwang Mountain.

Speaking of which, this Pingyang Pass has been abandoned for nearly a thousand years since the war, until the thousand-year-old bloody war when the princes fought for hegemony and the Zheng clan went south, some princes in the pass were re-repaired and used again to enable these three passes, and then Emperor Wu Dingding Da Zhou territory, these three passes, including all the passes on the east and west lines, have been abandoned until now, and there are sporadic repairs, but they are not very serious.

I remember that every time I passed by Pingyang Pass, the grandfather would live for a few days, there were very few people in the city, less than 10,000 people, you must know that the circumference of the whole city is nearly eighty miles, you must know that Luoyang City is the largest city in the world, and the circumference of the city wall is only one hundred and fifty miles, the scale of Pingyang City is comparable to the state capital, and it is not many times larger than the general pass, and I don't know why the ancestors of the Zheng family built such a city, and the grandfather guessed that he might want to settle here, after all, the situation in Middle-earth was very turbulent at that time.

All the way to the north is a horse whip, and finally arrived at Pingyang City after dark, looking at the dark and quiet city wall like a giant beast crawling, and the tall city gate like a giant beast opening its huge mouth, Zheng Yan was a little nervous, held the long sword and drove the horse into the city.

The city wall of Pingyang City is more than ten zhang high, the female wall arrow tower enemy Taiwan urn city and other facilities are still sound, and there are only some decay of wind and rain erosion, no one guards the city, there is not even a light at the head of the city, the city gate has long been lost to where it went, all the way nervously into the city only to see the post lamp of the post station not far away, Zheng Yan did not relax the mind, looked back at the city, and found that there were two figures standing on it, and it was going to rain again at night, this behavior was very suspicious.

Arrived at the post station and handed over the horse and left, bought a few big buns at the bun stall on the street and bought a roast chicken and a roast leg of mutton, and then turned into the streets and alleys with memory, in fact, in addition to the inhabited places near the post station, the other houses basically collapsed almost, occasionally you can see a few still complete, probably a few years after the owner moved away, some people in the customs will come here to live in seclusion, people outside the customs will also settle here first, these people will give themselves a place to live here;

Once the imperial court also renovated a summer palace here for summer vacation, and also wanted to build Pingyang City into a Zhongdu comparable to Luoyang, the Chinese military tent of the Xuanwu Army was also located here for a time, but later with the personnel changes have changed, but the summer palace and the Chinese military tent have always been guarded and maintained, Zheng Yan is not going to go there, the reason why he turned into the alley is just to confirm whether he is being followed, and then jumped out from the northwest city wall, there is a deserted village five miles north of the city, I have seen it when I looked at the city head before, and I spent the night there tonight。

After some confirmation, no one followed, and it seemed that he had indeed dumped those guys, so he could only say sorry to Xingshuang.

Jumping off the city and starting to run quickly, choosing more places to walk in ravines, running for a while and lurking to observe the movement, confirming that there is no problem before continuing, so I finally arrived in the village all the way, found a fairly complete house to settle in, never thought that I could be so cautious.

A light rain began to fall at night, Zheng Yan couldn't help but be awakened by the cold, looked outside and found nothing, wrapped his cloak tightly and continued to sleep, he didn't dare to make a fire for fear of being discovered, the grandfather probably knew that the sixth uncle would come to pick him up, so he didn't send someone to follow, but he definitely didn't expect that the sixth uncle almost didn't care, but he had some experience of his own meaning, could it be that they discussed it?

Yun Xuanmo said that there might be people from the Zongren Mansion following in the dark, and the old man said that the people from the Zongren Mansion would only follow half, that is, Yun Xuanmo and Qin Su, well, just treat it as if there is no one, in this case, it is best to anticipate the worst situation, so that you can make the most secure and comprehensive plan on your side.

I got up early the next morning and found that it was still raining, and after eating the cold meat left over from last night, I got up and left, and then I didn't go on the post road, but I just walked or ran all the way to the north, fighting and killing people can't compare to you, playing hide and seek, we have our own skills, and you have specially trained this, right?

In this way, I walked for another three days, getting closer and closer to the clan, and estimated that there were about seven or eight hundred miles, and then one or two hundred miles to the north, there should be few killers who dared to move, let alone fight their own ideas, the reputation of the Zheng clan is not something that a few killers dare to provoke, in the final analysis, it is just a killer, no matter how superb the assassination skills are, the cultivation and qualification talents are bound to be much worse, and there are few monks who have a bright future on the road of cultivation and will be killers.

The freezing rain has been falling intermittently for three days, with occasional sleet, and the feet are full of mud, coupled with the killer who will appear at some point, it really responds to the sentence "The wilderness is not ice and rain, and no one else is difficult to walk". Zheng Yan has excellent patience, and he didn't have a little irritability and frustration all the way down, and even enjoyed it a little, thinking of those pampered and well-pampered powder-faced boys in Luoyang City, he felt a little funny, and he cried and grabbed the ground when he punched him in the face, and was full of grief and hatred, not to mention any accumulation of temperament, that kind of bearing and self-righteous self-esteem have a half-penny relationship with a grand temperament! Zheng Yan told himself that he would never be such a person.

When it was almost dark again, the rain seemed to have a tendency to stop, and the clouds in the sky began to become pimple, no longer the previous flattening, Zheng Yan was looking for a place to stay, just hit a hare on the road, and when he rested, he had cleaned up, just waiting for the fire to be baked, and suddenly saw a place in the northwest where the pines and cypresses were shaded by the courtyard wall of the house, and there was a faint bell ringing, it was actually a temple.

Looking at the rabbit in his hand and then at the temple in the distance, Zheng Yan was a little entangled, and suddenly thought about how the temple could appear here? Buddhism needs to develop, believers need incense, and pay attention to a universal sentient being, so the temple is mostly built in the city or not far from the town, no matter how you look at it, there should be no temple here, is it a Hinayana monk?

Curious to climb the temple next to a small mound planted with pines and cypresses, only to see that the temple scale is very small, into the main gate more than ten zhang distance is the Buddha Hall, the courtyard in front of the Buddha Hall is planted with some pines and cypresses, the farthest place on both sides is a simple two-story bell tower and the same drum tower, there is a row of side rooms near each side, probably the scripture hall, there is a seven-story stone tower on the side of the Buddha Hall, it may be the place where the scriptures are hidden, just hang a lot of prayer flags, it is rare, behind is a small courtyard, probably the place where the monks live, see the scale at most there are more than ten monks.

There is also a large courtyard behind the small courtyard, only the fence and a lonely low house, the key courtyard is planted with peach trees and ginkgo, among which a few ginkgo trees obviously seem to have a lot of ideas, and now the golden ginkgo leaves are still hanging on the trees, and they look extremely beautiful from a distance, these monks are so elegant.

There are still some fruit trees and fields that have been harvested not far away, Zheng Yan noticed that there is no incense burner in the courtyard in front of the Buddhist hall, self-sufficient without incense, it is indeed a Hinayana Buddhist temple, think about it or not to enter, so as not to disturb other people's practice, was about to leave, suddenly saw a tall middle-aged monk in a blanket walking behind him, walking in the cold rain alone but peacefully, thinking that he had already practiced.

"If you're not in a hurry, you can go in and rest," the middle-aged monk said with a smile as he approached.

Zheng Yan bowed slightly, since people didn't put their hands together, they would be automatically exempted, and at the beginning, he hid the rabbit in his hand a little back, "It seems that your temple is not subject to incense, and it is not good to disturb, for fear of delaying the cultivation of the masters."

The middle-aged monk smiled and shook his head, "Outside the bleak wind and cold rain wilderness, there is no reason to turn away guests at the door, the little monk Juechen, Tian is a guest of the Pure Ring Temple, and also has a deputy temple, but there are few small monks in the temple, so everyone has something to do, the abbot is the master Dingzhen monk, and there are several other uncles and brothers, a total of eleven people in the temple, not to talk about bothering",

Zheng Yan thanked him and was ready to go in with Juechen, but he was sure to dispose of the rabbit in his hand, and was stopped by Juechen when he was about to throw it, "We avoid meat but not fishy, and occasionally go to the city to buy some pigs, mutton and chicken, and the son can go to the back kitchen for a while to let the fire head do it, and the junior brother Juese's craftsmanship is very good."

Looking at Juechen's calm and peaceful smile, Zheng Yan was a little unnatural, so he had to carry the rabbit and follow him down the mound.

Juechen took Zheng Yan into the backyard from the back door, handed the rabbit to the fire head who was responsible for cooking, Juese, the monk looked solemn, perhaps because of the physiognomy of the relationship looked a little wooden and generous, and then Juechen took Zheng Yan into a plain guest room, Zheng Yan knew that the Hinayana monks paid more attention to cleanliness, and cleaned up outside before entering, Juechen waited with a smile at the door, and then sat for a while before Juechen left.

After eating, Juechen came to sit for a while, said some of the rules of the temple, and talked about the general situation of the Jingjie Temple, it turned out that this inconspicuous small temple has a history of more than 3,000 years, has experienced countless wars and natural disasters, and the peach forest and ginkgo forest behind it is the place where the abbots and monks of the past dynasties passed away, Juechen said that the Buddha and the ancestors were blessed, Zheng Yan felt that the monks in this temple were not simple.

I slept all night, my clothes were dry, and I didn't know how much I was comfortable to wear, and suddenly there was a chanting sound outside, Zheng Yan was a little puzzled, it was already dawn at this time, it should have been past the morning class, and it was not time to listen to the scriptures, I went out to see that Jue Se was sitting on the kitchen steps not far away and chanting the scriptures, Zheng Yan smiled slightly and did not disturb, ready to go to the Buddhist hall, and Jue Se's voice came from behind, "Childe eat some breakfast first, everyone else has eaten."

The two sat at the dining table and ate the food in their own bowls, Zheng Yan didn't know why Juese only ate now, and after eating a few bites, he couldn't help but smile and said, "I haven't seen several other masters yet, everyone is working hard."

Juese glanced up at him, and Mu Ne said, "If you're not good at dealing with people, you won't come out."

Zheng Yan couldn't help but secretly said: Is there anything worse than Juese that you are not good at dealing with people?

He Juese finished cleaning up the dishes and chopsticks and walked forward, and saw an old monk sweeping the floor in the courtyard in front of the Buddhist hall, the old monk saw Zheng Yan nodded, Zheng Yan bowed and saluted, I wanted to say something, the old monk has begun to continue to sweep the floor again, Zheng Yan is not surprised, there are obviously few people here, just like Juese said, it is normal for everyone to not communicate with strangers, thinking about it, he arrived at the treasure hall, and the golden statue of the Buddha is enshrined in the middle, which is not tall, but very solemn, not the kind of kindness seen in ordinary temples, Zheng Yan feels that it seems to have some majestic taste。

An elderly monk in a jade-colored monk's robe was chanting a sutra while knocking on a red lacquered wooden fish, Zheng Yan stepped over the threshold and lightened his steps, to be precise, he no longer made any sound, and began to look at the entire hall at will. There is no other statue of the Buddha in the main hall, the Bodhisattva naturally will not have it, and there is not even a Dharma protector, Zheng Yan felt strange and walked into the side hall next to it.

The side hall is a little dim, there is a very high small window in the front, and there is a skylight on the top, which is also not big, a little adapted to the light Zheng Yan finally saw the situation in the side hall, in addition to the door, there is a god platform on the other walls, and the god platform is not dedicated to the protector Arhat, but to animals, no, it is the protector of the law, but in the form of animals, peacocks, Dapeng, phoenixes, winged birds... , the closest to Zheng Yan at the door is a pitch-black crow.

The nine statues in the entire side hall are all protectors with wings!

Thinking of this, Zheng Yan suddenly realized what was in the side hall on the other side, it must be nine Dharma protector statues such as dragons, lions, white elephants, and cows, and was thinking about withdrawing to verify it, when suddenly the eyes of the nearby crow statues seemed to move, Zheng Yan looked back at the old monk who was still sitting upright and chanting scriptures, hesitated for a moment, and approached to check it, and always felt that the whole temple had a strange smell.

Just as Zheng Yan was approaching the crow, he suddenly saw a black shadow flash out of the statue, and suddenly got into his eyebrows, and he didn't even have time to react, and then the crow statue began to shatter, some pieces fell to the ground, the material of the floor tiles was a little peculiar, and there were a few crisp knocking sounds, the sound that should have been nice sounded so harsh at the moment, Zheng Yanxin twitched and retreated to the door, looking at the old monk who had stopped outside to look at this side with an embarrassed face.

The old monk was kind and kind-eyed, and he was looking at Zheng Yan with some surprise at the moment, Zheng Yan wanted to apologize and explain first, and then see if there was any way to remedy it, the old monk had already sat up and walked over, looked Zheng Yan up and down, raised his hand to stop his words, nodded and smiled after a while, "It seems that it is fate, the son does not have to worry, let alone blame himself, let alone explain carefully."