A Luan was frightened by the sound.
"What are you doing? It's scary. Get up soon!"
Shanhai wiped his temples and they were covered in sweat. As soon as I sat up, I felt that all the joints in my body were hurting. I must have caught a cold.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this coolness that it reminded him of his childhood. The dream was so real that he felt dazed even when he woke up. It is not easy to struggle in the quagmire of memories. After all, they are too heavy for him. Especially Ji Yuejun's last voice seemed to be him whispering in his ear.
What a nightmare.
Early in the morning, the old man went out and talked about exorcism, and the neighbors gathered in front of Butcher Chen's house. When Shanhai squeezed through the crowd, he saw a little devil tied to the tree at the door like a dog.
It looks similar to the one I saw yesterday, but it's not exactly the same. This hungry ghost is smaller, with a layer of rough and unkempt dead hair covering his head, his face is twisted, and he has a ferocious expression. It was like a vicious dog, grinning at everyone. If it hadn't been trapped by the rope, it would have jumped up and bit people.
A group of people formed a large circle, and mountains and seas were drawn into an array with talisman water. In the array, damp toona trees were placed, and they seemed to be arranged in a special pattern. He lit a yellow charm, stretched out his hand, and let it float into the pyre in the wind. Then, he waved the fly whisk and muttered something.
He has always had a good memory, and he has memorized all the spells passed down from master to master in those years.
Aluan stood aside, fanning the black smoke rising from the wet firewood towards the hungry ghosts.
The open space was filled with smoke and mist, and everyone covered their noses, wondering what kind of medicine the Taoist priest was selling in his gourd. But after a while, the hungry ghost who was snarling in the black smoke actually became a little quieter. Like a furious dog that saw meat, it pounced on the smoke and kept grabbing the air and sending it to its mouth.
Everyone else looked dumbfounded.
This spell can teach smoke to become food that can be swallowed in the eyes of hungry ghosts. Although it cannot save them, it can alleviate their pain.
This little devil ate at the smoke for half an hour, while a group of people just stared at it blankly. Finally, it seemed to be full, lying in the center with its round belly. Butcher Chen walked over and tugged on its rope, but it didn't resist and just dragged it for a distance like a dead dog.
People were talking a lot, praising Taoist Master Lin for his profound teachings. But Shan Hai was still worried. He didn't know whether such methods would be effective on the evil child. After thinking about it for a while, a middle-aged woman wearing a headscarf rushed forward and knelt down at the feet of Shanhai, crying and saying something vaguely.
He understood that this must be the widow the old man mentioned. What she said must also be about Shuanzi.
He also knelt down and tried to persuade Shuanzi's mother.
"I've heard about your son. But I'm not completely sure, so I can only give it a try. Besides, I came in a hurry and didn't make any preparations. I have to go back to my residence to get some Tools, buy some things and come back."
"Taoist, Taoist, you are true to your word. You must come back... you must!"
It took a lot of effort from the group of people to persuade Shuanzi's mother to take her hands off Shan Hai's clothes. Someone lent them an old horse to go back to the city, but the horse was indeed old and would stop and go, resting for a while and eating grass for a while. It took them twice as long to get from Southwest Club to Yu'an Restaurant in the northwest.
I didn’t have a good rest, plus I was doing alms so early in the morning, Shanhai was indeed a little bit weakened. Aluan could see that he had been taking the initiative to carry Shanhai's baggage, which made him very happy. Returning to the restaurant, he led Aluan up to the third floor and knocked on the door of Yuan Pei's residence.
There was still a lot of fun and debauchery inside the house.
Shan Hai and Aluan's expressions were not very good-looking, but Yuan Pei obviously didn't notice it. While drunkenly inviting the two of them to sit down and drink, he boasted to the two gorgeous girls about the great Taoist priest in front of him.
Practitioners should not use vulgar language, Shan Hai advised him in his heart.
He reported to Member Pei what he had seen and what he had done. He and several girls sometimes looked frightened, sometimes extremely surprised, as if listening to a book, and even made noises at every turn.
Aluan couldn't stand it any longer, frowning and looking at the mountains and sea. He grabbed her clothes under the table and motioned her to keep quiet.
"Then hungry ghosts, why can't they eat human food?" A girl stuffed snacks into Yuanwai Pei's mouth, and he puffed his cheeks and asked.
"There are many reasons. What we see is that the food becomes inedible in front of their eyes or in their stomachs due to the karma of previous lives."
"Can I just eat cigarettes?"
"...So be it."
"Can the Immortal Master give a live demonstration to open our eyes?"
A Luan was just about to reach out to pull Shan Hai's clothes, but he took the first step and saluted with his fists, and stood up from the stool, his wooden legs making a clicking sound on the ground.
"I need to go there again tomorrow, and I need to make some preparations. It's not advisable to stay here for a long time, so I'll leave first."
With that said, he turned and left. Aluan was stunned for a moment and glanced at the confused member Pei, as if he didn't know why there was such a fire in Shanhai. She hurriedly chased after him, leaving Mr. Pei and the girls accompanying him to look at each other in confusion.
Why not eat minced meat?
Shan Hai leaned on the railing and watched the people coming and going downstairs. The men's fuss and the women's laughter were endless. He frowned, but he didn't know what to say.
Maybe there are some things he doesn’t need to say. That's how it is in this world.
Aluan gently pulled his long hair from behind, but he didn't look back.
"What are you going to do?"
"Force it."
"If you are really unhappy about doing this, forget it. No one will blame you."
"...But I would blame myself."
Lin Shanhai really couldn't live a heartless life. He is so easy to be soft-hearted, and he has heard about the suffering in the world since he was a child. When he grew up, he also saw it.
His master, Aluan's ancestor, the master of Linxiaoguan, had a young friend. He is dressed in a green and black cassock, always holding a Zen staff and Buddhist beads hanging on the other hand. But if he is a disciple of Buddhism, he has long hair like a waterfall under his old hat. He is really a weirdo.
When he had nothing to do, the man often came to the temple to chat with him. At that time, Shanhai was still small, so I just did some work of serving tea and water. When I walked out of the door, I occasionally heard the whispers of my brothers.
"That false monk is here again."
"Yes, it seems that you are not sincere to the Buddha. What are you doing when you come to our Taoist temple?"
"Don't say that. I heard that he and Master have been friends for many years."
Children are naturally outspoken. He heard these words and took them to heart. Finally one day he had the opportunity and asked the sect master about the monk.
"Buddhism and Taoism are different, but they lead to the same goal. I believe that Buddha and Taoism are not superior and inferior, but should seek common ground while reserving differences. This is the principle behind everything in this world. Although your master-uncle leads the practice, he has already implemented the truth of heaven and earth. I still want to ask him for advice on some things."
I originally thought that asking such an unreasonable question would cause Master's dissatisfaction. Unexpectedly, the master was not annoyed. He just unexpectedly put down the serious face of the past and talked to him kindly and calmly.
Speaking of which, the hexagram Huo Zezui that he had not yet finished explaining to the disciple of the Xue Yan Sect had some similarities in the differences.
He still remembered that when he was a child, he questioned his master like this.
"Then...what's the difference?"
"Buddhists use their bodies to redeem the world, and aim to save all sentient beings and help the world. I, the Taoist, cultivate his moral character and cultivate his nature. If he wants to save others, he should save me first."
"Together and in the same place——"
"The great road is invisible and all living beings suffer."
All living beings suffer.
Thinking of the hope in the eyes of those ordinary people, Lin Shanhai had to force himself to cheer up. He took a deep breath, pinched the bridge of his nose, and straightened himself up again.
Aluan came around to his side and blinked, as if she had something to say to him.
"If you want to say something, just say it."
"...Ah, it's nothing. It's just that I just heard the waiter chatting and said that there is a Jacques living upstairs. He was there a few days ago. He said that he was not interested in beautiful girls or fine wine, so he summoned the top geisha. , just playing the piano to him all day long. From the location, it seems to be right next door to our house..."
Without saying a word, Lin Shanhai ran upstairs with three steps at a time and two steps at a time. Aluan originally wanted to divert his attention so that he would not think about things that existed or not, but he never thought that he would be very interested in this kind of news. She chased after him and found that Shanhai had opened the door of the neighboring house uninvited, and she followed him in.
Immediately, Aluan froze at the door.
Sitting in the room, besides a young woman who was frightened when her performance was interrupted, there was also someone she was somewhat familiar with.
The man was dressed in fluttering white clothes, with green ribbons embroidered on the edges. The outer flap is made of black silk, embroidered with dark patterns, and the inside is pure blue lining.
Although the attire was different from before, she would never mistake that face.
"Jiyue Lord?!"
A Luan exclaimed.
He was not wearing the black curtain in front of him, but those clear eyes were exactly what she thought.
Lord Jiyue waved her hand, and the woman playing the piano bowed, hugged the piano and left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Why are you always staring at me? It's so hard to let go."
He said with a smile, his eyebrows also curved. However, the color of his eyes was very light, with a light that seemed blue but not green, which made her feel very unnatural. What's even more strange is that between the pupil and the white of the eye, there is a trace of arc-shaped golden traces, which are unevenly thin and thick, and are not completely closed at the end of the slender ring - just like the crescent moon.
She moved her palms up and down in front of him desperately, as if to confirm whether he was really blind.
"Stop shaking, he really can't see."
Shanhai said gloomily, sitting opposite him and pouring tea.
