Zhongnan Mountain, "Chang'an County Chronicles" recorded: "Zhongnan lies in the south of Guanzhong, starting from Qinlong in the west and reaching Lantian in the east, which is 800 miles away. In the past, people said that the mountain was big, and it was too far away, and it was better than the end of the south. This mountain is also known as "Earth Lung Mountain", full of spiritual energy, making many hermits in the south of the past dynasties.

At dusk this day, Mo Yan and the small mountain ghosts rushed to the foot of Zhongnan Mountain.

As the sun sets, looking at the mountains that stretch for hundreds of miles shrouded in smoke and mist in front of him, where can he find them? Moreover, since Elder Fang wants to hide in this Zhongnan Mountain to practice, he wants to avoid the attention of the world, so he will definitely try his best to hide his whereabouts, so it will be even more difficult to inquire and find them.

The two found an inn at the foot of the mountain to stay, and after washing, they went downstairs for dinner. There are already a lot of people sitting in the lobby, most of them are some wandering monks and Taoist priests from afar, some of them are vegetarians, some are happy to drink, and the noisy sound is endless. The two picked an empty table in the corner and just sat down, and the attentive shopkeeper Xiao Er immediately ran over.

"The guest officer also went up the mountain to watch the debate, it was about to be the 15th of February, and it was very lively on Zhongnan Mountain. Xiao Er said enthusiastically.

Mo remnant stayed in the Zhenwu Taoist temple and knew that the consecration festival was the birthday of Lao Tzu, the ancestor of Taoism, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty surnamed Li, claimed to be a descendant of Lao Tzu and respected it as the holy ancestor, Tang Xuanzong Kaiyuan three years edict to February 15 for the Xuanyuan Festival, after the Tang Dynasty Wuzong for the consecration festival, since then, the Central Plains Taoist Temple has held a grand commemorative ceremony every day on this day.

"Did a group of red-clothed heads pass by here not long ago?" asked Mo Yan.

Xiao Er thought for a while and said: "There are a lot of wandering monks in threes, threes, twos, twos, but the red-clothed head Tuo that the guest officer said has never seen it. His eyes glanced at the masked mountain ghost.

The two hurriedly ate and went upstairs to the guest room to rest.

Mo Yan practiced for a while at night, and since taking the elixir refined by the Black Bat Demon Pill, the true qi waves emitted by himself had increased significantly, and now he could heat a basin of cold water to the point of hot hands.

The next morning, the two of them settled the bill and left the inn, and prepared some food in the basket.

"Dongdong, let's just go to those places with high mountains and dense forests and sparsely populated to see how lucky we are. Mo Yan and the little mountain ghost carried the bamboo basket on their backs and searched all the way up the mountain road at the northern foothills.

In the early spring, the wild apricot blossoms in the mountains have budded and are ready to be released, the grass on the roadside has been green, there are sporadic wandering Taoist priests and monks along the way are also climbing the mountain, the debate meeting of the Laozi Temple has attracted monks and Taoists from all over the Central Plains. Mo Yan decided to go to the scripture platform first, maybe he could find out the clues of Elder Fang.

After walking for more than half an hour, several temples appeared under the ancient cypress tree in front, and the top of the blue glazed tile mountain was very magnificent, which was what people said Lao Tzu Temple. From afar, I saw that there were already a lot of monks and Taoist people in buns gathered in front of the hall, and there were some plainly dressed hermits in the mountains, according to the shop Xiaoer, there were about 10,000 hermits in the whole territory of Zhongnan Mountain.

Lao Tzu said that the scripture platform is the place where he taught the Tao Te Ching, the main hall has Lao Tzu Temple, the Dou Mu Palace, the Relief Hall and the Lingguan Palace, and the side hall is the Taibai Hall and the Four Temples. On both sides of the mountain gate, there are two floors of bells and drums, and the stone steps in front of the door meander to the top of the platform, and there is a stone spring pond not far away, which is called "Shangshan Pond".

It turns out that a few days before the Holy Day every year, there are monks from all over the world who come here to debate the scriptures on the scripture platform of Zhongnan Mountain, and their words are sharp, but often the result is unhappy.

Mo Yan stood under the eaves, his eyes searched the field, the little mountain ghost was still masked, carrying a bamboo basket and carrying a bow and arrows on his shoulder, like an authentic person in the rivers and lakes.

A middle-aged Taoist priest in a gray robe was talking, and when he talked about the excitement, he burst into tears, which aroused Mo Yan's curiosity, so he listened closely.

"Tao Jingyun, 'Lao Tzu out of the west, the Tianzhu Luo Weiguo, the king's wife name is Jingmiao, Lao Tzu because of its day and sleep, by the Jing into the mouth of Jingmiao, the following year in the first half of the eighth night of April, cut the left armpit and born, fell to the ground that is seven steps, so Buddhism flourished. As the so-called 'seven-step lotus', if there was no Lao Tzu to turn into Hu, where would Sakyamuni come from, there would be no Tianzhu Buddhism, and the Central Plains only had the art of Huang Lao. ”

"Yes, 'Lao Tzu entered Yi Di as a floating slaughter' and turned Hu into a Buddha, it is really a beautiful talk for the ages. The Taoist priests chimed in.

A long-bearded old monk shouted with a red face: "The donor is a big mistake, and the error is a thousand miles. The Buddha was born on the right side of the eighth day of the fourth month by a white elephant with six tusks, entrusted to Mrs. Maya. At the beginning of the fall to the ground, he walked seven steps around, giving birth to lotus step by step, pointing to the sky and pointing to the ground to look around, making a lion roar and saying, 'Heaven and earth, for me alone.' 'It has nothing to do with your Lao Tzu. ”

"Amitabha, my Buddha is compassionate. "There are many monks who chant the Buddha's name in unison.

Another monk in a yellow robe spoke: "It's ridiculous, the Buddha was born in the thirtieth year of King Xiang of Zhou, and Lao Tzu was born in the first year of King Ling of Zhou, fifty-one years later than the Buddha.

The middle-aged Taoist priest then argued: "The exact date of birth of Shakyamuni Buddha is not clearly recorded in the ancient Tianzhu classics, and there are 60 kinds of sayings, a difference of as many as 100 years. In the "Records of the Sacred Points" of the "Good Seeing Vinaya Vibhasha" translated by the Southern Qi Sangha Bhadra, it has been confirmed that the Buddha was born in the seventh year of King Zhou Ling's heart, died in the third year of King Chu Hui, and died seven years before Confucius. ”

"Hahaha," the white-bearded old monk laughed, "even so, Lao Tzu is seven years older than the Buddha, how can he ride a green ox out of Guguan and rush all the way to Tianzhu? ”

The monks smiled happily when they heard this, and each nodded yes.

"No, no, the "Historical Records" records that Confucius made a special trip to Zhou to ask Lao Tzu about ancient rites when he was thirty-four years old, and it was deduced that Lao Tzu's birthday would never be later than six years of King Jian of Zhou, that is, at least fifteen or six years older than the Buddha. A Taoist priest quoted scriptures and retorted.

"Could it be that you came out of the customs to Tianzhu at the age of fifteen or sixteen?" said the monk.

"Lao Tzu is a saint, and at the age of fifteen or sixteen, what is so strange about knowing the affairs of men and women?" replied the Taoist priest.

As soon as these words came out, people laughed, and the people on both sides of the Tao immediately argued with red faces.

The first time Mo Yan heard the allusion of "Lao Tzu's nonsense", he felt very novel.

An old Taoist priest interjected: "Now you Buddhist disciples are uneven, according to the Buddhist scriptures, when the Buddha was arguing about foreign teachings, the brahmins said to him, 'At this time, I have nothing to do with you, but after a thousand years, my disciples and demons will put on your clothes, take your scriptures, your mantle, and blend into your ranks to completely destroy Buddhism.'" When the Buddha heard this, he was silent and wept. It is said that the monks present here only know that they are talking here, but they do not share their worries for the Buddha, which is really humiliating. ”

"Good, good. A monk recited.

At this moment, a black-haired old hermit stepped forward to play a round and said: "'Lao Tzuhua nonsense' has been debated for more than a thousand years, and it is still said that there is still no conclusion on it. In the old man's view, Buddhism was attached to the Yellow Emperor and Lao Tzu from the beginning of Tianzhu's introduction to the Central Plains, and he also preached the homology of Buddhism and Taoism and the reincarnation theory of Lao Tzu. At that time, the Taoist Huang Lao technique was deeply rooted in the Central Plains, and in order to get the Han people to accept Buddhism from other races, it was really a last resort to create this theory, but it proved to be very effective, and Buddhism was able to spread rapidly among the people after that. The so-called Lao Tzu went out of Yangguan in the west, arrived in Tianzhu through the Western Regions and incarnated as a Buddha to educate the Hu people, there is really no evidence, although Lao Tzu's whereabouts are unknown, but it is impossible to confirm that he himself is Shakyamuni Buddha. ”

There is some truth to this. Someone approved.

At this time, people's conversation turned to Lao Tzu's final whereabouts.

"Historical Records" records that Hangu Guan ordered Yin Xi to ask Lao Tzu to write a book, so Lao Tzu wrote a 5,000-word "Tao Te Ching" and then went out of the west and disappeared. Some people speculate that he went to the Western Regions, and some people say that he went into seclusion, and if it can be figured out where he went on the green ox, the theory of 'Huahu' can have a final conclusion. The black-haired old hermit continued.

There was a lot of disagreement.

"To the spirit realm, of course. Someone in the crowd said, although the voice was not loud, but everyone was shocked, and all they could see was the back of a young man leaving.

Mo Yan blurted out at the time, and then turned around and walked away when he felt that something was wrong, and climbed along the mountain road with the little mountain ghost.

"Little brother, please stay. Someone chased after him.

Mo Yan looked back and saw that it was the black-haired old hermit.

The old hermit stepped forward to look at Mo Yan and asked, "The little brother is not very old, but his words are amazing, the old man wants to ask again, what evidence do you have for saying that Lao Tzu went to the spirit world?"

"Lao Tzu was a person more than 2,000 years ago, at that time the earthly aura was far more abundant than now, the history books record that he lived for more than 200 years, if he can't go to the spiritual realm for such a long time, wouldn't it be in vain to call the Taoist ancestor?

"Haha," the black-haired old hermit laughed when he heard this, "The little brother has a unique thinking and is interesting, the old man is nameless, how about making friends?"

"My name is Mo Remnant, and I came to Zhongnan Mountain to find friends. ”

"Zhongnan Mountain is hundreds of miles in radius, there are no less than 10,000 hermits, but there are not many real cultivators, Laofu has lived in seclusion in the mountain for decades, but anyone who has a little Taoism knows a little bit about it, I don't know which one to look for?"

"I just came to Zhongnan Mountain, maybe Mr. Zhen won't recognize it. ”

"Well, there are more than 100 hidden valleys here, and finding someone is like looking for a needle in a haystack, why don't you go to the cold house to stay first, and wait for the old man to find a way to help you find someone?"

It makes sense for Mo Yan to think about it, otherwise he will wander around in the mountains without a goal, and the hope of finding it is very slim.

"It's okay to disturb Mr. Zhen. ”

The two of them followed the black-haired man into the mountains. (To be continued.) )