After packing everything up, I walked out of the Incarnation Kiln and walked slowly along the corridor.
Chuanling Temple has seven courtyards and six courtyards. The lilacs in the courtyard are blooming all over the courtyard, blooming like purple mist. They are also related to the towering ancient locust trees in the temple, the fragrant orchids in the stone basins in the corners, and leisurely running under the locust trees. The lively released animals together create a tranquil scene of paradise.
But now that I am the only one left in this ancient temple, it is inevitably lonely.
After passing the bells and drums and turning around the cloister, I felt something in my heart and looked towards the mountain gate again. This time, I actually saw a vague figure walking slowly from the thick fog on the mountain road...
As soon as the young disciple left, there was no guest monk in the temple. I personally greeted him. The figure gradually passed through the mountain fog. She was an old woman who looked to be over sixty years old.
I have seen many youthful faces, but this was the first time I faced this face.
This old woman wore a green skirt and plain clothes, and her long hair mixed with some silver threads was neatly tied behind her head. She walked slowly, without any stoop in her body, and she brought with her a light soapy fragrance. Although the bones of his face show signs of age, there are very few wrinkles on his face, especially his eyes, which are clear and bright without any turbidity.
The old woman looks like a snowy plum in the mountains. The beauty on her body has been accumulated and polished by time, making her appear more mellow and quiet. When she was young, she must have been a peerless beauty.
When I was stunned, the person had already walked up to me. She first looked at the empty temple around her, then turned her head and said in a calm and polite voice without feeling strange:
"Mage, I would like to request a longevity tablet for my family."
"Amitabha." I chanted and waved my arms slightly in one direction: "Layholder, please follow me to the Ksitigarbha Hall."
"Master Lao is here..."
Her eyes were staring at me, as if she was hesitating to ask something, but before she could speak, I turned around and led the way, leaving her behind.
The entire journey was silent.
In the Ksitigarbha Hall, candlelight flickered.
I prepared my pen and ink, took out the wooden sign and red paper, and sat at the desk. During this period, the female lay practitioner was walking around the hall, looking up at the lotus thrones enshrined in the hall to pray for immortality or to pray for death. The expression is serious.
"Buddha's Light"
I wrote four words on the top of the red paper, and then wrote on the bottom:
"The throne of immortality"
A blank space is specially left in the middle to fill in the place of birth and surname of the person being worshiped.
At this time, I heard her suddenly ask: "Master, why are these tablets in red and yellow?"
I explained patiently and reminded:
"Because this is the difference between immortality and past life. The red is the longevity card, which is sought by the living people in order to hope for wealth and health in the present; the yellow is the past life card, which is sought by the deceased in order to hope for success in the next life. Layman, card Is the person above still alive?"
She was stunned for a while after hearing this, lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then walked over, without directly answering the question of whether she was still alive, but said:
"Please give me the longevity card."
I nodded, held my pen and asked again:
"Businessman, how do you want to write?"
She thought about it again, with a look of reminiscence on her face, and whispered:
"Just write... The He family of Hong Kong is blessed by nature, and my wife Cao Aiqing worships her."
Her voice was not loud, and even sounded a little sad. When it rang in my ears, the name in her words immediately rang like thunder. My body couldn't help but stiffen a little, and I couldn't hold my pen. Steady, a drop of ink fell on the red paper...
I raised my head and stared at her old face, her face, her eyebrows, her eyes...
"Mage...are you okay?"
Her words of worry instantly stopped the turmoil in my heart.
"..."
I lowered my head and slowly put down the pen. I took away some ink-stained red paper on the table and replaced it with a brand new piece of yellow paper. I gathered my energy and slowly suggested:
"Since he is blessed by the spirit, layman Cao might as well ask for a rebirth tablet..."
Unexpectedly, she shook her head and muttered:
"Master, I believe my husband is still alive. I think he should live freely in another world. I hope he has a good life. I just... can't see him anymore and miss him a little... Please help me once." , just use the longevity card to write it..."
I stopped trying to persuade her. After dipping the brush in ink and replacing it with red paper, I kept my eyes fixed on the paper and stopped looking at her. I hesitated for a moment and then said:
"...On the longevity card, it is difficult to be born or die. Is Master Cao sure?"
"No need, since it is a longevity tablet, let's just write today's date..."
Regarding my lack of embarrassment, there was a bit of joy in her calm tone, and when I started writing, she specifically added:
"Master, please write down 'On the seventh day of April in the forty-second year of innocence'."
"Innocent... Bai... forty-two years?"
"Um."
Faced with my surprise, she, who was no longer young, suddenly felt a little embarrassed. When talking about this matter, she smiled and recalled:
"This is a past incident between my husband and I when we were young. At that time, he did something wrong and always wanted to make it up to me. In fact, I had already forgiven him at that time, but I was ashamed to talk about this kind of thing, so I took advantage of the opportunity to joke and named that year 'innocent', hoping that he would understand what I meant. Unexpectedly... more than forty years have passed since that afternoon in the library..."
Her eyes seemed to reflect a ray of setting sun on a leisurely evening, so that the light was reflected in the depths of my heart that had long been calm in thousands of reincarnations.
She was still so obsessed with that moment of eternity.
I couldn't bear to think about how she came to be over the years. I just caught a glimpse of a smile on her face and the corner of her mouth.
These were her forty-two years of innocence and dust...
According to what she said, I handed over the longevity tablet that I had written. After she took it, she looked at it carefully and looked at it again. She looked at things and thought about people, and tears slowly filled her eyes. Then, intensified, tears streaked across her eyes. Past her thin cheeks...
She folded her hands and hugged the tablet tightly in her arms, as if she finally had a chance to hug a long-lost lover.
"I miss you so much..."
She vaguely expressed her longing that she had repeated many times in the past forty years, but the wooden sign could not speak. Only tears fell on it, mixing with the ink that had not yet dried up.
At this moment, I suddenly realized that there seemed to be no difference between the thousands of reincarnations that I was witnessing in front of the ancient Buddha of Qingdeng, and the forty years that she spent with a snap of her fingers...
Loving others is like worshiping Buddha. I saw all the prayers and friendship in her.
I didn’t want to speak out to disturb the emotion at this moment. She finished crying alone and vented her accumulated longing. She silently wiped away the tears, apologized, and bowed to me and said:
"I'm sorry, Master, I'm a little out of control..."
I shook my head with a smile and said, "It's as it should be if it's true love. Don't worry about it, Master Cao. I'll take you to enshrine the tablet."
I stood up and took two steps, and was about to leave the desk when I was suddenly stopped by her.
"Mage, wait a moment..."
"Um?"
"Could you...please take the trouble to write down another set of longevity cards?"
This suggestion made me slightly stunned, but I soon felt relieved after hearing her addition. I saw her staring at the wooden sign in her hand, hesitating for a moment, then looking at me again, and continued:
"I want to enshrine the two Immortality Cards together."
I nodded and promised that regardless of whether they live forever or in the afterlife, it is normal for husbands and wives to enshrine their wealth and status together to show their love and affection and to hope for a better relationship in the next life.
But this time, I guessed wrong again. When I sat down again, took the new paper and wooden sign to write, she said:
"This time, it is enough to write the word 'Wenliang' for the name of the worshiper. As for worshiping in Yangshang, don't write it."
My eyes were full of horror, I looked at her in disbelief and asked:
"Who is this……"
"One, an old friend." She answered.
I couldn't help but advise: "Businessman, as the close relative and wife of this congratulatory donor, you can write down your name. No one is more suitable than you..."
Hearing this, she fell silent.
A candle in the Ksitigarbha Hall burned out, and a faint wisp of blue smoke floated out.
"My husband has always wanted a family, but there is nothing I can do...
Therefore, I also hope that I can arrange a good home for him in another world. "
Her voice echoed in the Ksitigarbha Hall for a long time, lingering...
(End of chapter)
