【Wine Ci】Ksitigarbha Statue

Chapter 15

A little monk plays with a bead.

Made of ebony wood, it was originally a string of Buddhist beads, which have been handed down in the hands of several abbots for countless years. Generations of powerful masters turned it day and night, recited it, and used it to cross people. Seek to cross oneself.Sandalwood Buddha beads have become extremely smooth after thousands of times of rubbing.Only when it was handed down to the abbot of this generation, the Buddhist string was inexplicably broken, and several Buddhist beads were lost, which could not be reused as a ritual vessel.Later, the abbot became the master of the little monk, so he picked up a Buddhist bead, tied it with a red string, and let the little monk wear it next to his body-maybe no one can tell what the use of this bead can be, but like all the futile worries As with expectations, give them something to cling to, and a prayer to follow.

He tossed the bead high, and stretched out his hand to catch it.

The sunlight pierced through the gaps between the leaves, like shining needles, wrapped in sandalwood beads that were thrown high and shone.The little monk subconsciously blocked it, and this time the beads fell to the ground.He didn't pick it up, but sharply looked up in that direction.

The golden morning light outlines the emerald green leaves, blending out a hazy but surprisingly beautiful color.

It was empty and silent.There is nothing there.

The little monk leaned over, hooked the side of the red rope with one finger and pulled the Buddhist beads out of the grass.He hooked his knuckles and twirled it carelessly; the beads were spun out and pulled back again, circling around the little monk's fingers.

The monster is not here now; the little monk thought he would not care too much.After all, he didn't believe anyone before, yet he came here alone like this.But the boredom came earlier than expected, and he even began to calculate when the monster would come back.

He often plays this game when he is so bored that reciting Buddhist scriptures can no longer polish the pale sky.There are too many things that can be used to speculate and deduce, the four seasons, the weather, the moon rises and the stars fall, and the deeds of monsters; but the most interesting and hateful thing is of course the human heart-there are too many examples to ponder. Ordinary people who read Buddhist scriptures, mages or onmyojis from other temples who come to discuss Buddhist scriptures with the abbot, fallen nobles who offer sacrifices to the temple to gain support, those who ask for power to curse spells and enemies, those who pray for Dharma to lift the curse, those who died in vain Seek salvation, those who are alive seek liberation.In this glamorous and unpopular temple, people read scriptures and talk about Buddha, but they are still ordinary people; their desires are no less than those who struggle to survive in the world, but because of this thin layer of Buddha's light, they seem to be in harmony with each other for a long time , It's like a vortex under a very calm river that chooses to eat people.

He can often see clearly, but not always calculate correctly.For example, this time, the little monk expected that Guan Chan would not let go of this rare opportunity, and he would definitely come after it; but he didn't expect them to come so soon.He underestimated the importance of the "Son of God" to the entire Echigo Temple, and it wasn't just the group of people who came to track him down; his senior brother contacted the master and the Echigo Temple with righteous words at about the first time.The monster soon smelled the scent of humans following in the wind.They tried to speed up to get rid of those people at first, but those guys were always chasing in the right direction like fortune tellers who had some kind of efficacious divination.A lot of people came, maybe his master has also gone down the mountain; they may imagine that "God Son" was threatened by a big demon, or that "God Son" learned some yin and yang techniques to raise monsters-but the aura of shikigami and ghosts is completely different, " The "Son of God" fell, or something worse, so they were ready.It is difficult to get rid of them, and it is not something to be optimistic about actually encountering them.The little monk was tired of explaining, why did he have to explain?The clue is hidden by the lake not more than a few hundred miles away; but most of those people don't want to let him go, and the little monk doesn't want to completely tear his face off these guys yet.

The monster immediately chose to be a bait to lure the tiger away from the mountain. The little monk had no time to stop him, so he could only wait where he was.He casually wondered whether the monster would kill someone this time, and at the same time calculated the time when the monster would come back.

When the wind blows, the shadows and light spots under the trees sway like the surface of water.

The shadows of a few birds flitted across the surface of the lake composed of light and shadow, like the sleeves fluttering when a monster steps on a treetop and quickly transforms into a ghost.The halo flashed, it was his silvery white hair that was so dazzling.

The little monk twirled the Buddhist beads that were wandering around, and suddenly found something that was not pleasant to him—the chasing soldiers were strong, but he never thought that the monsters were not trying to lure away the pursuers but to betray him. and go.He didn't pay attention to this possibility at all, as if he was full of malicious speculation and doubts about this big ghost a few days ago, but in a blink of an eye, he gave all his trust without realizing it.

This discovery made him uncomfortable.The little monk held the beads tightly and said coldly: "Don't hide, come out."

The leaves swayed like a breeze.

"If you're not good enough, you want to be arrested?"

The wind seemed to condense into a solid body, and a child slowly appeared on the branch.The child was translucent, jumped from the treetops, and then gradually turned into a solid body.He looked about three or four years old, his skin was white and shiny, he was wearing a double bun, and his pupils were also strangely white. He looked very timid, hiding timidly behind a tree, stretching out half of his body and looking at him like a small monk.He looked urgent, and his white pupils seemed to be on fire, staring at the little monk very anxiously.It was as if he was going to jump in and pull someone to run away in the next second, but he just dared to watch and couldn't take an inch.

The little monk wrapped the beads in his palm.He said coldly: "Little devil, what do you want to tell me?"

The pale boy opened his mouth wide in vain.He began to speak, speaking quickly and urgently, tears were about to come out in a panic; his lips opened and closed quickly, but what came out was only a series of unspoken, intermittent howls with different tones.

"I don't understand." The little monk said.

The child panicked, dancing and gesticulating.He yelled and gestured, pointing to the sky and himself.The little monk frowned, and took a step ahead of him; but the kid backed away again and again, almost falling over.The little monk could only stop, but the child's movements froze suddenly, blood and tears flowed from those white pupils that were so evil and terrifying, he opened his mouth wide, glared, and tilted his head forward, roaring silently.

"Little friend."

The little monk suddenly turned his head, only to see that the monster came back at some point, his voice was slightly hoarse, and his white hair was stained with a touch of beautiful blood.The little monk recognized the person, and when he turned his head to look again, there was no trace of the strange child standing there.The little monk frowned, and then asked the monster, "How is it?"

Ibaraki said: "There were too many people, I accidentally killed a few."

"If you kill him, let's kill it." The little monk said indifferently, "Since the people have been distracted, let's continue to Changbin."

Ibaraki said good, and then looked behind the little monk.The little monk asked him: "What's the matter?" He hesitated for a while, and said: "Why did you go there first and stare...?"

The little monk raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Didn't you see it before?"

"I don't feel anything wrong, it's just a little strange. My friend said so, is there anything there?"

The little monk glanced at that position, shook his head: "No...it's true that there is nothing. Let's go."

The sunlight penetrated through the whirling woods and projected onto the empty grassland unharmed.

In the deserted wilderness, there may not be many monsters that rely on popularity to eat, but there are the most vegetation spirit monsters.They walked all the way, but the little monk saw even less than what he saw in a mountain range of Mount Ibuki.Probably because they smelled the breath of the big ghost from a distance, they fled and hid one after another.Unlike man-eating monsters, elves are mostly afraid of people; pure and good things are always more afraid of evil.

This vast jungle continued to the rolling mountains, deep and light green interrupted by a flash of blue.From this vast lake, there is a human settlement; further back, there is this uninhabited land, which is not considered a wilderness. The wind goes along the jungle to the mountains, and the place is a circle in a few breaths. In the shallow valley, the rocks are exposed, and there are large pools of red and black blood on the bare brown rock formations.

The sun quietly spread over this bloody tragedy.

A few monks were turning over the dead and examining the wounded to see who was still alive.Wounds polluted by miasma were seriously injured, and it was difficult to recover after purification. The wounded leaned against the big stone or lay down, even moaning in pain.A monk came forward and checked one by one to see who was still alive and who was hopeless. He whispered a few words to them, and took a dagger to snap off the throat.

The first old monk, who was purifying the miasma for those who were less infected, could not bear to hear the sound of gasping for breath but was stopped. He chanted a Buddha's name in compassion and turned his head away.

A monk who was in charge of examining the dead and injured came over with a pale face, and whispered to the head old monk, "The Gua Xiang master is dead."

All the living people looked a little bad.Losing the hexagram master also means that they have lost the direction they are looking for.It's too scary, for everyone, the unknown, death and betrayal that can be expected - is the monster next to the son of God?Is the child of God related to the attacking youkai?What does he want to do?Did he kill those people?

Guan Zen is extremely embarrassing.The panic on his face has not completely dissipated.It was almost a game of extremely different strengths—they had never met such a powerful ghost.Fear penetrated into his lungs all-pervasively, making his blood cold.For a moment he backed down; but fear also brought other things, such as hatred, jealousy and ambition.What did he think of? Obviously, this thing became his life-saving straw and gave him great courage and support.

He took a step forward and said, "Master, if we can't find the younger brother...I think what he has done is enough to convict him. We have to remove him and report to Kokubunji Temple and Yinyang Office. We have to make him pay his debts." The price should be paid. He deserves atonement."

The Zen staff held by the old monk stomped heavily on the ground.It's like a foot stepping on the ground, gnashing its teeth and hating iron for being weak.

"No." He said, "This child is the 'Son of God', even if it is punishment, there must be proof."

"Master! I think it's enough...!"

"Guan Chan." The old monk looked over, and Guan Zen bowed his head and fell silent for a moment.The old monk said, "If this is the case, Echihou Temple will personally punish and kill him."

There was silence all around.Only the heavy and difficult breathing of the wounded echoed.

After a while, the old monk said: "Such a powerful ghost... I have never seen it in my life. It is also rare for the great mages who came to Liyan Temple in Mount Hiei to fight. Ah Chan, I don't think your junior brother has such a supernatural ability to drive him now." .”

Everyone did not speak, including Vipassana.No matter how angry people are, they agree with the words of the abbot.The son of God is extremely specialized in all things, and his attainments in Buddhism are also called geniuses.But at the same time, they also understand the nature of demons and ghosts. The stronger they are, the more unruly and moody they are.

The old monk sighed: "But we can't catch up now. There are too many wounded among us, and we need to repair. This place is far away from Mount Ibuki, and the surrounding area is also very desolate. I don't know where else we can go for a while. rest--"

"Master." Guan Chan said suddenly, "This is very close to my elder brother's residence. He is currently in charge of Changbin. That house is enough for all of us to rest."

Guanzhen, who was giving medicine to his companion on the other side, suddenly said: "Brother, you often mention it, and the brother who often sends you letters with vegetarian dumplings?"

Guan Chan nodded and pointed forward: "Just go over there. Brother is a very good man, you have seen Master, he came up the mountain to visit me a year ago."

The old monk looked around.The monk had finished his work, and stood aside with his head bowed, shaking off the blood from his fellow disciples on the dagger.The spiritual power of the young monks who purified the old monk's Dharma was almost dry, and their faces were pale.And the dead.Their bodies have only undergone a simple coffin, the blood is still there, and the pain has not yet left.

He lowered his eyelids, turned the beads in his hand, and said, "Then go. Ah Chan, you lead the way."