The guard guarding the door saw that his face was not good, and asked, "What happened?" ”

Father-in-law Fang's voice was vague: "No...... Nothing matters. ”

"Why is it so noisy?" There was a question from the lord of the kingdom.

Father-in-law Fang was frightened.

He walked in quickly and said, "There are many birds flying in the sky, and the palace people think it is rare, and they accidentally disturb the lord of the country. ”

"A hundred birds and a phoenix?" The lord pointed to the peacock and said with a smile, "Isn't this peacock transformed by a phoenix?" ”

The officials chimed in: "The wonder of the birthday is an auspicious omen." ”

The lord of the country: "Let's go, go out and have a look." ”

Father-in-law Fang watched the lord step out of the threshold, knowing that he couldn't stop it, he closed his eyes, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, his face was dead.

After struggling repeatedly, he also followed.

Outside the porch.

The lord of the kingdom looked around, and there were indeed many birds and birds above his head.

The flock of birds circled in the sky for a while, and then swooped down and crashed into the frozen lake, leaving the ground with a blur of flesh and blood.

One after another, birds flew in, still crashing into the ice lake, as if they were going crazy.

Master Kongjing couldn't bear to look at it anymore, he folded his hands and recited the mantra: "Nam no Amitaba night, Dortagada night ......"

The lord of the country sank his face and ordered someone to deal with it.

A few guards ran to the ice lake, and when they got closer to the center of the lake, countless corpses of birds and birds were everywhere, mottled with blood, and it seeped into people when they looked at it. They had to bend down and pick up the bodies one by one into cloth pockets.

After picking it up for a while, the guard noticed a dark shadow under his feet, which looked different from the others.

He simply lay on his stomach, looking at the place carefully, and the more he looked at it, the more he felt that something was wrong.

Someone with sharp eyes saw that there was a very shallow crack in the ice, mixed with the blood of birds, and penetrated under the ice, so he drew his saber, pressed against the crack, and pried it out.

Others are not good at standing too close so that the ice can't bear it.

After a while, the crack was pried open, revealing a gray-white thing in the form of a lotus stem.

The guards stared at it, it was a human finger bone.

In the winter, he broke out in a cold sweat behind his back.

There was a sound of urging from the side, and the guard simply raised his knife and continued to smash it down along the surrounding area until a hole was smashed and the ice chips rolled down.

He followed the hole and saw what was in the water......

The lord of the kingdom did not say a word by the lake, and in the middle of the night, the guards hurried to him and explained the situation in his ear.

The lord of the country frowned slightly, then turned around and said loudly: "There is a layer of ice on the surface of the lake, and it is really heart-wrenching to accidentally injure these water birds. If it's getting late today, go back and rest. ”

The chamberlain received the order and invited the envoys of various countries to rest, and the rest of the officials also returned to the palace one after another.

Liu Ruyan, as an invited artist, was settled in the teaching workshop.

When the crowd dispersed, the lord glanced at the guards, who found tools and went to the lake to retrieve the corpses.

The lord of the country usually does not like to show off the dew, but that does not mean that he does not act.

On the day of his birthday, he bumped into the sunken corpse, which was regarded as unknown, and he left Master Kongjing, Ming Juezi, and several officials of Dali Temple.

The guards searched the bottom of the lake with a long pole attached to the fine net, scooped up some bones, and they put the human bones on the cloth, and counted them carefully, and there were about twenty pieces, and the rest were scattered all over the bottom of the lake, and it was difficult to find them all for a while.

The lord of the country believed in Buddhism, and he left the master of emptiness to perform a ritual for the deceased.

Ming Juezi had nothing to do, so he simply stood aside and watched the people in Dali Temple busy.

Among these remains, the only ones that are best preserved are the leg bones and skull, which are preliminarily judged to be female. But because it was too long, for a while, the identity of the deceased could not be found.

After reciting the sutra for a while, he put down the magic weapon and said to the lord of the country: "The female benefactor has died unjustly, and she refuses to be reincarnated for a long time, and I hope that the lord of the country will give her justice." ”

The lord of the country looked at Dali Temple, and the people over there just shook their heads.

Things get tricky.

"When a person dies like a lamp goes out, how can he talk about reincarnation?" Ming Juezi took a step forward and said to the master of the void purity, "Heaven and earth are one breath, and all things are born and destroyed, all of which are done by the Great Dao." After death, the spirit returns to nothingness, and the body returns to the earth, all of which are in nature. ”

Taoism cultivates this life, and Buddhism cultivates the afterlife.

Before Buddhism was introduced to the Central Plains, there was no theory of reincarnation, only the two worlds of yin and yang. The ancients celebrated burials and sacrifices, believing that after death, they would go to the underworld and be worshiped by the yang world to bless future generations.

The lord of the country has believed in Buddhism for many years, cultivating the afterlife, and talking about cause and effect. He heard that the dead did not enter the reincarnation, and he was afraid that retribution would come to him.

As he meditated, he remembered a man.

"Quick, pass on Painter Gu!"

At the invitation of a friend, Gu Tian came to Jinling to play.

On the way, I heard that there is a kind of Chengxintang paper, which is like an egg membrane, as clean as jade, and it is the top grade in the paper.

How many literati and scholars did not hesitate to spend a lot of money just to buy a few good pieces of paper.

Gu was not entangled much, and he was fascinated by Chengxintang paper, so he sold paintings along the way, hoping to meet one or two generous buyers.

By coincidence, his painting fell into the eyes of the lord of the country.

The lord of the country was willing to exchange 100 pieces of Chengxintang paper for the portrait of Guanyin, Gu was overjoyed, and entered the palace by order.

It was cold today, and Gu Tian went to bed early.

Just became confused, and was suddenly woken up by someone knocking on the door, and then the two strong men were on the side, holding his arm, and "invited" Gu Tian all the way to the Huxin Palace.

Gu Tian was helpless, but fortunately, he didn't meet a few pedestrians on the road, so he didn't lose face.

In the hall of the lake, the lord of the country has been waiting for a long time.

"Painter Gu arrives—"

I don't know where this painter is sacred, and now that the lord of the country is urgently summoned, he must have some ability to solve the urgent need. As the doors of the temple opened, everyone turned their heads together.

saw that Gu Huashi was driven by the guards left and right, his nose was red from the cold, and he was still holding a hand warmer in his hand.

Gu Tian saw that pair of eyes that were either inquiring or stunned, his old face was hot, and he was simply embarrassed.

He motioned for the guards to let go.

"I don't know what happened when the lord of the country summoned him in the middle of the night?" Gu asked with a grimace.

"There is a problem at the moment, and only Gu Painter can solve it." The lord of the kingdom ordered the remains to be presented, and at the same time prepared the supplies for the study, "to draw a picture of her appearance before her death." ”

Portrait of the dead?

Dali Temple Qing Yuansheng, has judged countless cases, and has seen a lot of misdeeds, but I have not heard of anyone who can restore the appearance of the deceased.

Isn't Mo a liar?

"I'll give it a try." Gu Tian said, striding towards the bookcase.

He picked up the skull and gently touched it with his hand. From the brow arch to the jaw, from the parietal bone to the occipital bone, nothing is missing. This is followed by leg bones, ribs, phalanges, ......

Gu Tian looked at it again and again, drawing with his right hand towards the void, but he didn't pick up the pen for a long time.

In order to be accurate, Gu leaned to the guards to inquire about the whole story. He ran to the top of the ice lake, carried a lantern, and squatted for a long time.

"It's just a portrait, and you still run to the lake and squat?"

"Let's see."

More than halfway through the day.

Gu tilted back to the bookcase, he spread out a roll of Chengxintang paper, pressed it with the paperweight, dipped the tip of the pen in ink, and began to put down the pen.