In the northeasternmost part of Shangqi, it is only five or six days of good horse riding from Beiyanze. Not to mention the gloomy sky, there are only a few birds in the forest. They fly south to spend the winter early and stay here. There are very few birds and animals.
Thousands of miles of cedars, thousands of miles of lonely mountains, endless.
A car tent moved slowly.
"Master, the heavy snow is coming now. Why are we here in this area? I heard people say that the Northern Territory of Shangqi has not been peaceful these years. Even if we travel all over the world, we should choose a better area. When the spring comes next year, the scenery will get better. It's not too late to come here and take a look." There was a young coachman sitting in front of the carriage. Although he was not very old, there was an air of maturity between his brows. He did not have the bravery of a Jianghu man, but he had a bit of a scholar. Fengyayi.
"When the snow falls in winter, you can see pines and cypresses the most. Whenever you encounter adversity, you can see the sages. Have you swallowed all the principles I taught you through food?" In the car tent, an ugly-looking man The man opened his mouth. The blame was false, but the teasing was true. He put his palms into his cotton robe and said with a smile, "On the way, I saw many people who were proud of the spring breeze and had weak hooves. But the luck is not good, and they are still worrying about just one meal." Yes, I still have too little experience. Now I will show you around, and I will do my best to help others, which can be regarded as washing away some of the sins in the early years."
Hearing this, the coachman lowered his eyes and no longer advised his master to turn around and return. Instead, he picked up his riding whip and lightly swept the back of the horse pulling the cart twice. The horse's hooves sped up two minutes, and the heavy snow in the forest fell on the horse. Back, slowly falling.
The master who redeemed himself from the shopkeeper didn't seem to be like this when he was young. According to the master's words, he did a lot of wrong things and was ashamed of the bad articles in his heart, until he met two people. A swordsman, he changed his appearance and became his own teacher.
Whenever this matter is mentioned, the ugly-looking literati will sigh and say that the sword in the sword fairy palm is clearly a bamboo board that my husband had when he was studying. He suffered a lot of humiliation due to his ugly appearance, but the most humiliating thing was that he realized the truth. After the clouds cleared and the fog cleared, and the sun shone brightly, he felt that his whole body was filthy.
The master has something on his mind, and so does his disciple.
Only the horses are stupid and only care about treading the vast snowy road.
This area is called Wentai. Although snow has fallen in the rest of the country in autumn and is covered with ice and snow all year round, all tree species except cedar are extremely rare in this continuous mountain. All animals in the mountain are also silent. Except for the squirrels that occasionally climbed trees and passed by, there were no live fish.
It is said that the heavy snow is silent, but it is not bad at all.
Fortunately, the two of them were fully dressed. Even if there was a cold wind floating in the carriage from time to time, they did not feel too chilly. They were walking on the mountain road and still wanted to watch the snow. "Master, look ahead." Not long after Li Dengfeng closed his eyes, the driver poked his head out of the curtain at the front of the car and called softly.
The horse stopped, and the scribe got off first and looked towards the front of the car.
But there was a small stone bridge in front of him, no more than forty or fifty steps long. On the bridge, amidst the heavy snow and dust, stood a child. He was grabbing a broom half as tall as a man with his hands that were red from the cold, and laboriously Sweep the snowdrifts away. It was snowing in the middle of winter, and the pen hanging could be condensed, but the child was only wearing a very thin cotton sweater. The north wind was coming, and the child was not strong enough to withstand it. He had to struggle to grab the bamboo broom that was level with his forehead and push it through. Cool north wind.
Li Dengfeng looked downcast.
Then the child saw a scribe slowly stepping down from the carriage and shouted loudly, "Baby, is that Nanheguan in front of you?"
The child hesitated. After all, no one came to this hot spot on weekdays. Every year and a half, if you could see a lost hunter or a few pilgrims going up the mountain to offer incense, it was already very popular. How could it be so popular in such a snowy season? Someone would come to the Taoist temple, but even though he was a little suspicious, the child patted the snow on his clothes and replied, "The one ahead is Nanhe Temple. The donor came here in the snow, but what is the important matter?"
The scribe smiled, walked a few steps, took off his cotton robe, and put it on the child's shoulders without any explanation, "Li Dengfeng came here to pay homage to the mountain. I brought a few sticks of incense with me. Please help me lead the way."
Along the way, the child repeatedly wanted to say something, but finally looked at the clothes of the scribe opposite and the furnishings in the car tent, but finally did not say anything out loud.
"The Taoist Master has something to say, but there's no harm in saying it. There's no need to hide it." Li Dengfeng raised his eyelids slightly and spoke to the child sitting across from him.
"Pilgrims who come to pay homage to the mountain all say that at Nanheguan, a Taoist temple in a remote and remote area, even three sticks of incense are not effective. The Taoist temple has been in disrepair for a long time, and even the golden body of the Taoist ancestor inside is somewhat dilapidated. "I have worked so hard to come to Wentai. I must have something important to ask for, but I am afraid that I will come here in joy and return in despair." Although the child was young, his words were very measured. After he finished speaking, he scratched his head and said, " Besides, the director asked me to clear the snow on the bridge, but it hasn’t been done yet.”
The scribe smiled and did not comment. He just smiled and said, "When I go down the mountain, I will sweep it for the little Taoist priest. It will be regarded as the toll to enter the mountain. There is no need to worry about it."
As soon as the driver and Li Dengfeng entered the Taoist temple, they realized that the Nanhe Temple was indeed in disrepair as the children said. Even the top of the loess wall was partially crushed by heavy snow. From the outside, it looked very shabby. The courtyard was even more deserted, with almost nothing else except the water tank.
But there was a sound of reciting sutras in the temple.
Li Dengfeng stepped into the door of the Taoist temple first, but saw dozens of children in the temple, all shaking their heads and reciting Taoist scriptures, and their clothes were all thin. "Donor, don't disturb the disciples in the temple while they are practicing. If something happens, you can follow me to the back hall."
Li Dengfeng turned around and saw an old woman wearing a Taoist robe with her hair tied up in a bun. She subconsciously bowed and saluted, "Junior came to worship the mountain and violated the rules. I hope the Taoist priest will not blame her."
The old woman shook her head, "Old man, this Nanhe Temple is deserted, and few strangers come to visit. How dare you be surprised? Just come with me." Then she said to the child who came with the car tent, "I'll clear the snow later. I'll just go and warm myself up in the house as soon as possible. If I catch the wind and cold, I'll have to drink some soup for a few more days."
The three of them walked to the back hall, and the old woman took out three old futons, placed them tremblingly on the ground, and said kindly, "We are poor in the mountains and can't provide any tables and chairs for the guests. Don't blame me."
"Taoist Master, you're welcome," Li Dengfeng smiled, "My disciple and I passed by here and originally planned to come here to offer a stick of incense, but now there is something that makes me a little curious. Could it be that the dozens of children in the house are all Taoists? Disciple under the chairman’s seat?”
The old woman seemed to have returned not long ago, and her body was covered with unmelted snow. When she heard the scribe speak, she couldn't help but laugh and said, "No, no, there are a total of seventy-two children in this Taoist temple. They are all disciples of the poor Taoist. They are poor children."
"The two children brought back by the car were abandoned at the gate of the Taoist temple when they first met. There were five copper plates left in the swaddling clothes. The poor Taoist named him Jilai. In the temple, he was reciting scriptures and sitting on the golden body of the Taoist ancestor. The girl in front of me had one of her ears broken by the cold when she was abandoned by others. The poor Taoist named her Duwen. The seventy-two children in this Taoist temple were all abandoned by others. They were picked up by the poor Taoist and raised with money from incense. It’s hard to make a living by collecting medicines and money, so how is it different from your children?”
The scribes were solemn.
Speaking of this, the old woman sighed a little, "It's strange to say that there is an old cicada in the back mountain. When he goes out, he often returns to his nest to see what's wrong with his own children. How can the biological mothers of those abandoned children bear it? Leaving children in the mountains and forests.”
"I don't understand, but I can't let a living person die in the wilderness. Even Taoist ancestors don't want to see such a thing. It's more difficult and tiring, so I'll naturally get used to it."
The scribe finally burned three sticks of incense, secretly left a bag full of silver coins, and took the driver down the mountain.
Although the money was a little dirty, if it could help Nan Heguan, the money that was robbed was just money and not dirty.
When it was time to go out of the mountain, Li Dengfeng looked at the unmelted snow on the mountain and said to himself.
"At home in the world."
Who dares to say that the golden body of the Taoist ancestor in Heguan, Yunnan is ruined, and the Bodhisattva is at home in the world.
The Taoist priest's surname is Chen and his first name is Guangjing.
