North of the Great Zhou and west of the Kingdom of Chen.

Another vast expanse of land.

Two hundred years ago, the invincible Great Chu Kingdom fell apart and became three kingdoms. The Central Plains is Zhou, the northeast is Chen, and the northwest is Bactria .

Great Xia is still martial, over the years the border wars are mostly provoked by Great Xia, during which there have been many majestic kings, hard work, and now the Great Xia Dynasty can be called the head of the three kingdoms of Xia, Zhou and Chen, and the two countries of Zhou and Chen have to join forces to compete with Great Xia.

But it is strange to say that in such a martial Great Xia Dynasty, the national teacher was actually a monk.

However, this position has been vacant for more than a hundred years, and no matter how majestic the kings of each generation of the Great Xia Dynasty are, they dare not set up another position for the vacant national teacher. Some people say that it is to worship the ancestor who opened up the Xia Dynasty with the ancestors, and some people say that it is because the national teacher is still alive, but he doesn't know where to travel.

It's just that no matter what the truth is, if the emperor doesn't open his mouth, everyone shouldn't criticize it.

Therefore, in the Great Xia Dynasty, there was a topic about the national teacher, and everyone had always kept it secret.

As the state religion of the Great Xia Dynasty, the status of Longyin Temple is naturally rising, but the daily pilgrims are enough to make this splendid temple the richest place in the Great Xia Dynasty.

It stands to reason that there is such a temple, and ordinary temples have to be avoided, after all, monks also have to eat, and without incense money, wouldn't the monks all have to starve to death?

But on the top of a hill only fifty miles away from Longyin Temple, there is a dilapidated temple.

The monastery is very small and very old.

So much so that the handwriting on the plaque at the entrance of the courtyard was also corroded and blurred, and only the word Xuantian could be faintly seen.

There is an old tree in the courtyard, I can't name it, but it grows very strong, and now it is winter, and the leaves on the tree fall to the ground, spreading all over the Zen courtyard, but no one takes care of it.

"Two hundred years ago, a high monk stood in front of the statue of the Buddha after witnessing the chaos of war and chaos. ”

He made a big promise. ”

"If the Buddha doesn't come from the east, I will go west. ”

At this moment, the old man's voice sounded from the temple, hoarse and low, like the sound of stepping on a pile of dead branches in the dense forest.

In the temple, a little monk with thick eyebrows and big eyes looked at the old monk with half-squinted eyes in front of him, and then looked at the only Buddha statue in the temple and asked.

"Hmm, what is he doing in the west?"

Seeing the Buddha asked. The old monk responded.

"Has he seen the Buddha?" the little monk asked again.

"Hmm. ”

The old monk's eyes were half-squinted, as if he was asleep.

"Then in the end, did he benefit all sentient beings?" the little monk asked again, his head tilted, and the expression on his face was extremely serious.

"Hmm. The old monk replied again.

The eyes still didn't mean to open.

"Liar!" At this time, the little monk's brows suddenly furrowed, his pink cheeks bulged, and he shouted in his pink voice with a look of disgrief.

"Huh?" the old monk's eyes opened, as if he had been awakened from some kind of deep sleep, and looked at the little monk with a puzzled expression.

"There are obviously 100,000 mountains in the west, and there are demons there, where did the Buddha come from!"

The little monk asked indignantly.

"Whatever he does. The old monk waved his hand happily, stretched out his chopsticks and picked up the food on the table, which was the best chicken, boiled over a slow fire, and tasted extremely delicious.

"There are not many pilgrims in this courtyard, what does it matter to you whether the story is true or false? You have to write down this story, and when Lao Tzu dies one day, you have to rely on this story to continue to cheat the incense money, otherwise, you still want to starve to death. As he spoke, the old monk put the chicken into the little monk's bowl.

"Hmm?" the little monk was stunned, he picked up the chicken and put it in his mouth, only to feel that his lips and teeth were fragrant.

"That's right. ”

He nodded contentedly, but quickly shook his head again.

"When you're gone, I'm going to get out of here and go outside. ”

As he spoke, the little monk's eyes showed a look of yearning, and he seemed to be a little impatient for the flower world outside.

"What are you doing here?" the old man's hand holding the chopsticks trembled imperceptibly, and then asked quietly.

"Subdue demons and subdue demons, and purify all beings. The little monk tilted his head and replied without thinking.

"What's good outside, isn't it good to accompany the Buddha in this temple with the ancient Buddha of the green lantern?" The old monk twisted up a piece of chicken, and a golden light that ordinary people couldn't detect at all swept out of his body at that time.

The little monk's body paused, and his expression suddenly became a little dazed.

For some reason, the idea that had just arisen seemed to be less important at this moment.

"That's good, then I'll stay. The little monk nodded.

......

The old monk is already very old.

No one can say how big it is, and even the old monk himself can't tell one, two, three.

So, three days later, when the old monk was lying in bed and couldn't stand up, all this seemed so natural.

"Are you going to die?" asked the little monk at the bedside looking at the old monk whose eyes were getting dimmer and dimmer.

There was no sadness on his face, only a deep incomprehension.

Of course, he knew that people die.

But die for this kind of thing.

What it was, he couldn't figure out.

"Hmm. I'm going to die. The old monk nodded with difficulty, and his tone was flat, as if he was stating an inconspicuous matter. But his eyes looked straight at the boy in front of him, with a complicated expression, as if he was worried and reluctant.

"Are you afraid of me?" the little monk seemed to understand a little bit of the old monk's expression, and he frowned puzzled.

"Underneath is Yama, with a god above his head. Walking in the world, everyone is enough to be in awe. The old monk said miserably, his voice was hoarse, and even the expression on his face gradually became trance.

The little monk frowned again, the old monk always likes to say something inexplicable, but he always doesn't understand.

He just thought that if the old monk left, he would be the only one in this Zen temple.

What should that look like?

The little monk thought about it and felt that it should be very lonely.

And what he hates most is loneliness.

So after a slight hesitation, he still opened his mouth and asked, "Old fellow, can I leave here after you die?"

When people die, everything is empty, and it stands to reason that the freedom to come and go at that time was the final decision of the little monk himself.

But for some reason, he felt that he had to get the approval of the old monk before he could leave here.

The old monk was already dying, the expression on his face was almost dull, and the light in his eyes gradually faded.

Scenes of the past came to his mind, and they passed his eyes like a shadow.

He had lived so long that much of what he had experienced had become obscure.

And only at that moment the picture can still be in his heart, where he remembers what every flower, every grass, and even every breeze looks like.

There, a young monk dressed in a red and gold-rimmed robe rode on a white horse toward the west.

On the city behind her, a woman with a peach blossom face cried like a tearful person.

Before his back disappeared into the horizon, she couldn't help but shout: "Brother Dongjun, if there is an afterlife, it is good for you to marry me!"

The monk heard her words, but he did not look back, nor did he dare to look back.

He was afraid that if he turned around, the Buddha would not see me, and sentient beings would not be able to make the pursuary.

And this parting is a full 200 years.

And this answer was two hundred years late.

But it did come anyway.

So the old monk who was on the verge of death suddenly smiled like a spring breeze on the corner of his mouth.

"Good. ”

An equally dry voice spat out of his dry throat, and then he closed his eyes with some satisfaction.

The little monk smiled when he heard this.

He dug a pit next to the old tree in the Zen courtyard, buried the old monk in it, and erected a stone tablet, wanting to write the name of the old monk, but suddenly sounded as if he never knew his name, so he simply waved his hand, went to the house to clean up his own little salute, and jumped out of the Zen courtyard.

Strange to say, the little monk had only walked out of the Zen courtyard a few steps, and he was greeted by a middle-aged man in a black robe with a resolute face.

"Where is the little master?" the man was not surprised to see the little monk, but asked very familiarly.

The little monk glanced at the man and felt that he was somewhat familiar, as if he was one of the few pilgrims in the Zen courtyard.

"Outside, subdue demons and eliminate demons, and purify all beings. The little monk tilted his head and responded.

"Which side is out there, and what kind of demon is it?" the man asked again.

The little monk was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that he seemed to have nowhere to go, so he stretched out his hand to make a lotus shape, and spit out a few jerky and incomprehensible dark words from his mouth. Then his face was happy.

"Yes, Da Zhou Linglong Pavilion, there is a big demon, I'm going to descend him!" the little monk said excitedly, and then he didn't look at the man, and was about to leave on the road.

The man didn't stop him, but when the little monk was about to walk away, he suddenly asked.

"I haven't asked the little master for his name. ”

"The surname is Guanglin, and the single name is a ghost word. The little monk said loudly without looking back, and his body had already disappeared into the mountains and forests.

When the man heard this, he smiled slightly, then turned around again and walked into the Zen courtyard.

......

The man silently looked at the dilapidated Zen monastery, at the fallen leaves on the ground, at the yellowing Buddhism, and looked solemn, as if he was worshipping the sages.

And finally his eyes fell on the wordless tombstone next to the old tree.

He sighed, thought for a moment, and made it to the tombstone.

Then he stretched out his hand and pressed it on the tombstone, and a strong handwriting suddenly appeared on the tombstone.

The stele reads.

The holy monk of Great Chu, the national teacher of Great Xia, the tomb of Li Dongjun.

It was December 21.

Since ascending the throne, he has been diligent in government affairs, and Li Yulin, the emperor of Great Xia, who has never been slack, surprisingly did not go to the court today.

The minister who had something important to report asked after a while, and the emperor left the palace early this morning.

He was in a hurry, dressed in black.

It seems to be going to see off someone.