While Zhang Shaofei was preaching in Huixing Temple, the two killers walked towards Guangxi for most of the day and stopped at a roadside restaurant. One of them, "Little Zhuge" Guan Zhaoyun, had an idea and wanted to return home, so he took the opportunity to say : "Brother Tianlei, maybe that Zhang Shaofei didn't go to Guangxi at all. He is a well-known filial son, and he may have sneaked back to his hometown."
"Yes, that area is dotted with temples and jungles, making it a good place to live in seclusion." Wang Tianlei, who was tired of running around, agreed.
So they returned all the way north.
They searched for several days in Qiu County, Handan, but still found nothing.
Wang Tianlei was extremely frustrated and asked to return to Guan Mansion to resume his life, but he did not want Bai Huahua's bounty.
"Oh, could it be that Mr. Zhang flew into the earth and into the sky? Otherwise, I would have caught him long ago after searching like combing my hair for the past few months." Guan Zhaoyun had no choice but to agree to go back to Guan Mansion to recover.
Coincidentally, they took the same route that Zhang Shaofei took back to his hometown - passing through Handan and entering Qiu County.
On this day, passing by Qiu County, the two thirsty killers walked into a teahouse to buy tea to quench their thirst.
Zhang Shaofei was not found, and the sweet dream of receiving a bounty was naturally in vain. Wang Tianlei and Guan Zhaoyun were listless, taciturn, and just drank tea. At this time, the conversation between two people at the next table caught Guan Zhaoyun's attention. He pricked up his ears and listened carefully.
A Confucian scholar wearing a turban said: "The world is full of wonders. Have you heard of it? Zhang Shaofei from Taizhen Village is actually proficient in magic and can subdue a fierce dragon."
The old man sitting opposite him responded: "Are you talking about Zhang Shaofei, the governor of Zhongzhou who was demoted to Lingnan by the imperial court?"
"Exactly." The Confucian scholar affirmed, "If we talk about this person, he has a great background. This morning, I heard him lecture on Buddhism at Huixing Temple. He was really clear-headed and spoke lotus flowers. Not only that, but listen to It is said that he is also proficient in Confucianism, Taoism, and medicine. It is really strange that he is only in his twenties. Even if he started studying from his mother's womb, he would not have such extensive knowledge."
The old man whispered: "It is said that the reason why he became self-taught without a teacher is because he received the true transmission of the Sixth Patriarch of the Great Bodhisattva. Therefore, you must not speak evil words, be careful of retribution..."
"..."
Guan Zhaoyun quietly said to Gui Jianchou: "Now that we know the whereabouts of Zhang Shaofei, we took him by surprise and went to Huixing Temple to kill Zhang Shaofei and go back to collect the reward."
At night, people rarely go out, making it increasingly quiet. The daytime lectures and Dharma meetings came to an end, and the Huixing Temple seemed tired after a busy day. It lay quietly in the night, letting the wind blow gently.
The night was clear, the Buddha was in concentration, and the stars were sparse and high in the sky. Two dark mysterious figures wearing night clothes quietly approached Huixing Temple.
In the guest room of Huixing Temple, under the dim light, Zhang Shaofei sat cross-legged, deep in meditation. When in deep meditation, the human mind is in a state of bright and intuitive intuition, which is connected and corresponding to all things in the world, so the various senses are extremely sensitive. The ancients called it "the autumn moon in the clear pond is bright and clear". In other words, whether it is distracting thoughts in the mind or movements in the outside world, one can clearly detect everything.
While Zhang Shaofei was meditating, he vaguely felt someone approaching Huixing Temple quietly. Just at this moment, a faint, intermittent, drifting chanting sound came. He opened his eyes and listened:
The cicada-noisy forest becomes quieter, and the bird-singing mountain becomes more secluded. If you go back to this place, everything will be auspicious.
Zhang Shaofei understood this and left.
Guan Zhaoyun and Gui Jianchou touched the door of the guest room of Huixing Temple. Guan Zhaoyun suddenly waved his hand, and the wooden door was kicked open. Gui Jianchou rushed in first...
However, Zhang Shaofei's figure was nowhere to be seen, only the fully open rear window clanked in the wind.
Guan Zhaoyun shouted: "Zhang Shaofei is running away! Light the torch, light the torch quickly! Spread out and look for him, be sure to catch him!" Gui Jianchou held the torch high and ran around in the temple.
At this moment, in the Main Hall of Huixing Temple, Zhang Shaofei calmly offered incense to the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni, kowtowed, and then clasped his hands together.
He stood in front of the futon and said softly: "My disciple is being hunted, so I'm going to stay away for the time being. I'll come back to worship my master one day."
There was a buzz of people outside the main hall, and the lights inside the hall were brightly lit. The golden statue of Sakyamuni Buddha closed his eyes and lowered his eyes under the flickering lights, smiling mysteriously, as if he had foreseen all this.
Guan Zhaoyun and Gui Jianchou broke into the smoke-filled hall, but Zhang Shaofei had mysteriously disappeared. They didn't dare to make any mistakes, so they walked lightly and searched under the altar table and behind the Buddhist niche.
The small door behind the main hall is not closed! Guan Zhaoyun shouted: "Zhang Shaofei has run away! Zhang Shaofei has run away from the back mountain!" The ghost saw and heard the sound and passed through the hall, climbed over the wall, and chased towards the back mountain...
The mountains behind Huixing Temple are densely forested and grassy, and the mountain roads are rugged. Zhang Shaofei ran in front, while Gui Jianchou and Guan Zhaoyun were chasing closely behind.
Getting closer and closer, the figures on both sides can be distinguished. Guan Zhaoyun shouted: "Stop, Zhang Shaofei, you can't run away!"
"Stop, Zhang Shaofei, I'll take your life!" Gui Jianchou followed and shouted.
Zhang Shaofei ignored him, left the path, jumped deep into the woods, and hid in a tree hole.
Guan Zhaoyun noticed that Zhang Shaofei was missing and shouted, "He's hiding in here!" Gui Jianchou held a torch and lit up the dense forest where Zhang Shaofei was hiding.
Guan Zhaoyun sat on a stone and said proudly: "This time, I think you can't fly!"
Gui Jianchou searched in the woods, but did not find Zhang Shaofei's hiding place, so he said to Guan Zhaoyun, "I searched every corner of the woods, but I couldn't find where he was hiding."
Guan Zhaoyun gritted his teeth and said viciously: "Burn, burn the mountain! Use fire to force him out!"
Gui Jianchou said: "Yes, if he doesn't come out, he will be burned to death!"
Ghosts see sorrow and set fire to the mountains. The waist-deep thatch had long since dried, and the dead leaves all over the mountains and plains were also good firewood. In an instant, a raging fire burned in the woods.
The night wind blew strong, and the fire took advantage of the wind, and the wind assisted the fire. The fire burned more and more fiercely, and even the branches and trunks burned. Each tree turned into a huge torch, and the whole hill became a sea of fire...
A thick smoke burst into the tree hole where Zhang Shaofei was hiding. He coughed a few times and got out of the tree hole. Fire was coming at him from all directions, and the acrid smoke filled his vision.
Zhang Shaofei rushed left and right, but was blocked by the fire. He raised his head and sighed: "Do I really want to die here? Alas - old man, no, Sixth Patriarch Master, I, Zhang Shaofei, have failed you, old man, my great road has not been expanded, all sentient beings have not been saved, and I am buried in a sea of fire..."
Zhang Shaofei stopped running around and sat quietly on a big rock waiting to die.
Rustling... Zhang Shaofei opened his eyes and saw a hare and a squirrel that were cornered by the fire and ran to him. They cuddled tightly next to Zhang Shaofei, as if begging for his protection.
He lovingly picked up the two small animals and said to them in disappointment: "How can I save you in such a big fire?"
The two little animals seemed to feel very safe, lying quietly in Zhang Shaofei's arms.
The trust of small animals inspired Zhang Shaofei's desire to survive. For them, I must survive this disaster!
Zhang Shaofei hid the two small animals under his clothes, clasped his hands together, and sat in lotus position with a peaceful expression, entering deep meditation.
Oh my god, with incredible concentration, his body slowly disappeared into the boulder...
…
Hundreds of miles west from Huixing Temple, Jiming Temple was sitting indoors when Yiming suddenly seemed to hear the faint sound of chanting.
The aura of sound is still in my mind. People in the mountains and forests go there and never return.
Yiming pushed open the door and walked out. Outdoors, the bright moon rises in the east, and the wind blows in the trees. Where is the sign of anyone? So, was it just an illusion or an echo from the bottom of my heart?
When you feel it, you respond immediately, the bright moon thousands of miles away shines with the same light; it is inorganic and indestructible, and a Zen heart is dust-free. Yiming was walking in the forest, and the mottled moonlight on the ground became lively due to the disturbance of his footsteps, like a group of naughty elves, jumping around his feet, hiding, and it seemed that they could hear the cackling sound...
The night is as quiet as water. As a result, his mood gradually calmed down. He clasped his hands together, faced the mirror-like moon, and murmured to himself like a prayer: "My heart is like the thread in the hand of a loving mother. Junior Brother Shaofei, you know..."
In the dark, Zhang Shaofei, who was deep in the big rocks at the back of Huixing Temple, seemed to hear someone calling him. So, he slowly woke up from his meditation. He slowly pulled himself out of the stone. It was already early in the morning, and most of the flames on the mountain had been extinguished. The surroundings had returned to calm, except for the lingering smoke still rising in some places.
Zhang Shaofei walked to a place where there was no fire, put down the little rabbit and squirrel in his arms, watched them disappear into the grass, and said to himself: "You are free, it's time for me to leave."
He straightened his clothes, bowed in the direction of Huixing Temple, then turned and left.
