After reading this bizarre and inexplicable story, Song Xiance finally breathed a sigh of relief, as if just by doing this, he could share the long-standing confusion in his heart equally and kindly with everyone present.
In the past, Song Xiance also turned his hands to make clouds and rain in this world. He was so angry that the princes were afraid of living in peace and the world was extinguished. He was at war for many years, and the world did not even understand his origin.
Therefore, he, who regarded himself as a mastermind, immediately fell into inextricable thinking when he saw that this letter seemed absurd and full of doubts.
He was convinced that there must be a hidden and unknown truth behind this story waiting to be unearthed, but it was funny to say that the thousands of words in the letter, which made people feel confused, actually became an obstacle to his search for clues. Barrier.
The other party was able to send the letter to his desk through untraceable means, and within a quarter of an hour while he was having breakfast, the letter was placed safely and neatly on his desk. The energy was enough to make him sweat. He put the knife on his neck almost half threateningly and half jokingly, and then asked him, "Sir, do you think our army is strong?"
Song Xiance closed the letter. He understood that this was a provocation and an offense to himself, a wise man of the world.
This comical story ends abruptly, deliberately stopping at the moment before his appearance is revealed, just like its gratuitous beginning.
But as long as someone looks through this letter, they will find that the writing is copied in dense and extremely neat regular script. Every word is written with no distractions and no fireworks. Song Xiance believed that he had only visited Qingdeng Ancient Buddha. I have seen it in the writings of lay Buddhists who have been copying scriptures for decades.
But, but...
But such deeds of slandering the Buddha and slandering the saints are almost exposed in Spring and Autumn writing style. I wonder which layman who practices fasting can write it. Could it be that all the fasting meals for decades have gone into the belly of a dog?
Then Song Xiance turned his attention to the kind-faced but burly monk Sande next to him. He wanted to hear the opinions of this man who had eaten the most food in the room. Perhaps he had been immersed in Buddhism for many years and could see through the strange things with his discerning eyes. .
The frowning monk Sande was also thinking. Unfortunately, his words completely disappointed Song Xiance.
"Amitabha, the story told by the benefactor of the Song Dynasty has never been heard by the poor monk. He only heard that the characters and customs in it do not seem to be fake, but more like real things that happened in Tibet."
The benevolent sees the mountain and the wise observes the water. Monk Sande did not put his mind behind this story. Instead, he was deeply puzzled by the specious content. Naturally, he had also heard some anecdotes about Tantra. However, because Tantra in China has been discontinued for a long time. , and I have been in Fujian for a long time, so I naturally have no chance to find out.
"The 'Fortune Sumeru Temple' and 'Xuji Feilai Temple' mentioned in the letter actually do not sound like the Tibetan names. Perhaps they were free translations by the author of the letter. When the poor monk returns, he will report to our teacher Zhishan Abbot, maybe you can get some clues..."
The surprise in the heart of Monk Sande was not actually caused by Song Xiance. Although the Tang Mi inheritance had been cut off in China for a long time, the turmoil it caused in the hundreds of years of Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties was not as calm as they seemed.
In the fourth year of Kaiyuan, Master Shan Wuwei, the first ancestor of Tang Mi, arrived in Chang'an with an unnamed Buddhist scroll. Xuanzong, who originally worshiped Taoism and suppressed Buddhism, not only immediately consecrated Master Shan Wuwei as his national teacher, held a large Buddhist banquet to honor Shan Wuwei, but also set up a special inner dojo. , respecting goodness and fearlessness as the leader. In addition, Xuanzong's sons Ning Wang and Xue Wang all knelt down and held the utensils to receive the initiation from him. For a time, the government and the public were in a commotion.
More importantly, Monk Sande once read the secret scrolls of the Zen forest hidden in the Shaolin Temple.
A certain Zen master who had been deeply rooted in China during the Kaiyuan Dynasty once met with the Shanwuwei master in front of the imperial court. The Zen master only said that the Tianzhu master had a weird tone and slang words, and he held his own The seven-volume "Vairochana Northern Heaven Secret Transmission Sutra on Enlightenment of the Buddha" translated from a certain Buddhist collection is presented.
The two masters' remarks about Buddhism broke up unhappily because Master Shanwuwei swore that he had traveled with Patriarch Bodhidharma on the westward journey, but was trapped in the wind and sand and therefore fell behind and arrived late. Later, he showed various changes in Buddhism. He was still so tall that he was not like a mortal. Yu Lin's army slashed him with swords, and his limbs were not damaged. The one who wielded the sword only heard the sound of copper.
Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was overjoyed and ordered the establishment of an initiation ashram in the palace, and all the Buddhist scriptures he had received were translated. Soon after, he secretly performed many initiations of the Embryo Realm Dharma in the palace, with the intention of entering the unspeakable void Dharma Realm. For this reason, he almost lost his country and died, and even when the Yulin Army in front of Maweipo was about to rebel. , he also prayed to a certain protector in the post to climb out of the grave, once again show his incredible power, and annihilate the Anshi rebels who were close at hand...
"Uncle Sande, do you need me to go back and report to the abbot immediately?"
Seeing that Monk Sande was lost in thought, Hong Xiguan immediately spoke. He seemed to feel the subtlety of the situation, but Monk Sande stretched out his thick arm to block the way.
"There's no rush. Since there are still a few unread letters here, we might as well wait until we have a long-term plan before we go back and trouble the abbot."
Hong Xiguan nodded and stepped back. Although there are many Southern Shaolin disciples fighting inside and outside Guangzhou, there are only a few people who really know the location of Zhishan Zen Master. He truly lives in seclusion and his whereabouts are unpredictable.
Official Hong Xi knew that his Buddhist giant acted like this out of helplessness. After all, the current appearance of Abbot Zhishan...
"Okay, now that I've finished reading the letter I received, it's your turn now."
Song Xiance broke the suffocating tranquility with some impatience. The delay in making a breakthrough in information made him feel anxious again, as if something was slowly going off the track, but he didn't know it. .
Having lived deep in Luofu Mountain to practice Taoism and watched the world with cold eyes for twenty years, Song Xiance thought that the time to leave the mountain was just right. However, it was only when he set foot on the mountain again and tried to muddy the quagmire that he discovered that the surging water under the water was still too high. beyond his imagination.
Monk Sande nodded slightly and motioned to Hong Xiguan, who was about to leave, to come forward and read the contents of the letter. However, they suddenly heard the sound of soldiers coming and going outside the house, and their steps were not as heavy as usual when going out for battle.
Every day from early morning to noon, Shang Kexi would order the Qing army to besiege and use strict marching military formations to deal with the elusive martial arts people. This was also to deal with the intrusion of the rebels and at the same time, they used the strategy of tiring the enemy and trying to Slowly consuming the shaky morale in Guangzhou.
Therefore, at this time every day in the city, Li Dingguo led his soldiers and Huashan bandits to the city tower with newly recruited rebels to defend against the enemy. But listening to these footsteps today, it seems that the Qing troops withdrew much earlier to avoid fighting.
Everyone looked at the dense lead clouds in the narrow sky in the courtyard, and watched countless raindrops change from swaying to falling. A thick rain curtain finally trapped the city of Guangzhou again, and a thick white steam rose from the ground, and suddenly it melted again. The mist fills the sky, swaying maliciously around everyone, spying.
Only Hong Xiguan's clear and beneficial chanting voice was left in the room, but for some reason, there seemed to be a faint and dark sigh in the air...
…………
The low firewood shed was filled with firewood that had been soaked by rain and fog and could not burn. There were always drops of rainwater falling mischievously from between the gaps in the tiles, forming winding creeks on the muddy ground, gurgling. Flowing towards the outside of the house.
In the only dry place in this narrow space, a sloppy and bulky body lay reclining, peeping at the sky outside through the small window with great melancholy, and there was a continuous heavy sigh in the chest.
Festering wounds, tense nerves, depressing atmosphere, and dirty environment all tortured the sloppy man's mind and body. He wanted to test his limits, but he relied on his stubborn tenacity. , and persisted all the way until now.
"Sister-in-law He, are you going to see your wild man again?"
A malicious joke sounded outside the house, interrupting a series of tiny footsteps, but elicited a vicious response.
"Go away and play with your eighty-year-old mother!"
The rogue's footsteps left in a somewhat embarrassed manner. The woodshed opened and a woman with a round waist walked in. Her appearance was as strong as her figure. She was holding a wooden basin for washing clothes in her hand, with food wrapped in oil paper.
"Here, eat quickly. Anyway, they all know that I raise men, and they won't come in to find anything unpleasant."
Although the woman was stout, her feet were limping and swaying when she walked. She could not take long steps. When she saw the sloppy man looking over again, she put the washing tub to the side with a thud and put the Strange-looking legs stretched out like bamboo shoots.
"What, haven't you seen bound feet? Do you want to see them?"
After saying that, he laughed rudely, and the slovenly man turned away in annoyance, not even having the appetite to eat the steamed buns on the side.
The slovenly man never imagined that as the prince and royal bodyguard of a feudal lord, he would be molested by country women and eat food that no dog would even eat every day, transforming himself from a noble son into a beggar on the street.
That's right, the man lying in the woodshed and dying is Shang Zhixin, the prince of Pingnan who has been living in Guangzhou city for a long time and has not been heard from for a long time.
The past events are vivid in my mind, and time goes back to the day of Luo Yuantong's rebellion. Shang Zhixin was held hostage by the martial arts people, which became the key to the exchange terms between the two parties. As a result, when the martial arts people evacuated from the Wuyang Secret Road, the martial arts people who finally evacuated There was an obvious dispute among people about how to deal with Shang Zhixin.
Some people believe that Shang Zhixin is the lifeblood of the old thief Shang, so he must not be left to the old thief. It is better to continue to hold him hostage until he escapes, and it can also be used as an effective life-saving talisman.
Others believe that as the prince of Pingnan, Shang Zhixin is also a popular person in the Tatar court. Now that he is useless, it is better to chop him into pieces with a knife and hang his head on the city tower to teach these traitorous purge dogs a lesson.
Shang Zhixin, who was pretending to be unconscious next to him, was so frightened that his liver and gallbladder split apart when he heard this. His hands and feet were trapped, and he was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. At this time, he could only secretly lean on the ground while the crowd was arguing. Rocking, speeding up trying to cut the rope.
After deep wounds were made on his hands and feet, he finally got the chance to escape. He broke the rope with all his strength and ran out. All the martial arts practitioners also knew that no matter whether they were catching or killing, there was no option to let him go. , so he followed closely behind.
Shang Zhixin ran away nervously in the secret passage. Suddenly, at the corner of the road, a figure holding a knife appeared. Under the influence of adrenaline, his natural power took effect, and he broke his body just by looking at him. The other person's neck.
But after he killed the killer in the dim environment, Shang Zhixin discovered that the man at the scene of death seemed to be wearing the clothes of a Qing soldier...
The people who came after hearing the sound were naturally wearing the clothes of Qing soldiers. They happened to witness the tragic scene of him fighting with bare hands. They didn't wait a moment before they came to kill him with a knife...
Shang Zhixin was lying in the woodshed, and he couldn't help but feel angry when he thought of this.
He obviously just accidentally killed a pawn, but his own soldiers from the Shang family came shouting to kill him, which wasted time, so that the martial arts people on the other side also chased after him, and it turned into a melee in an instant.
The extremely slovenly Shang Zhixin clenched his fists so tightly that his wounds almost burst open. He was so frightened that Mrs. He moved her gaze to the side.
At that time, Shang Zhixin quickly shouted that he was the prince of Pingnan. The soldiers on the opposite side did hesitate for a moment when he heard this. But what he didn't expect was that the martial arts people behind him also followed the same example and shouted that he was Pingnan. Prince Wang, and then took advantage of the soldier's hesitation to kill him with his sword.
In this way, the shouting and chaos, without distinguishing the truth from the false, and what was said in the secret passage were useless, and it instantly turned into a desperate fight.
Shang Zhixin, who was attacked on both sides, could only fight and retreat. Neither side could figure out his position. He helped the exhausted Qing soldiers to repel the martial arts warriors, and then followed the martial arts warriors to kill the Qing soldiers. The basic purpose was to get closer. At the entrance of the secret passage, hurry back to the city.
In this way, Shang Zhixin, who suffered countless injuries, relied on his martial arts to finally escape the pursuit and ran back to the Luo family's mansion. However, he fainted in a side room because of his injuries.
He originally thought that he would be safe hiding here. As long as the people of the Shang family occupied this mansion, someone would definitely come to identify him and save him.
But Shang Zhixin, who woke up after being comatose for a day, later discovered that not only was there no one to save him, but the entire city of Guangzhou had fallen into the hands of the rebels, and his father could only lead his troops to retreat. Outside the city!
Shang Zhixin could only be thankful that he had been sent to the imperial court for education and had only been back in Guangzhou for a short period of time. Therefore, unless someone very close to the royal family could recognize him, it would be extremely difficult for him.
He had no choice but to sneak into the city and want to be a beggar, but because of his unknown origin and lack of organization, he was squeezed out and bullied. He almost starved to death on the street. Finally, in desperation, he struggled to crawl outside the door of a low house to beg for food with his seriously injured body. He fainted when he was taken to this woodshed.
"I know, you are also a rebellious person. Since you said you have enemies in the city, you can live here with peace of mind. I will help you find a way to cure the knife wound..."
The woman known as Mrs. He pointed at the wounds on Shang Zhixin's body, and then lowered her voice and said, "I have seen these wounds on your body when I was mending their clothes. Don't worry, we are all ordinary people. Saving one life is the best thing." Build a seven-level pagoda, and who will win and who loses in the battle..."
Sister-in-law He showed the cunning wisdom of a common citizen and looked at Shang Zhixin with a look at her, "Forget it if you don't want to talk. Just don't tell me about it when you recover from your injuries. You know, my family lacks a man who can take charge... …”
While talking ramblingly, Mrs. He looked at Shang Zhixin with a look that made her scalp numb. Shang Zhixin also knew that the other party had intentions. Otherwise, how could he hide this suspicious man at home and go out to clean the rebels every day? How about mending clothes to help him make ends meet?
Shang Zhixin could only cry without tears. He turned his head away from Sister-in-law He and let out a long sigh facing the hazy sky...
…………
During the torrential rain, all the Chinese military tents were filled with cautious and serious expressions. Those lined up in two rows were Shang Kexi’s most confidant civil and military supporters. As the army was temporarily withdrawn, everyone gathered here with expressions on their faces. Extremely nervous.
These generals of the Prince of Pingnan who were looking at them with wolf eyes looked at the people outside the tent with murderous intent. The bloody aura emanating from their bodies was enough to make the old soldiers responsible for interrogation and execution feel heartbroken.
"Report...report to the prince!"
The executioner stabilized his tone before finishing his sentence, "So far, a total of thirteen people have approached the Chinese army's tent during the Pingming Dynasty, and all of them have been tortured and executed."
He paused for a moment, lacking confidence.
"Still nothing..."
The cold wind roughly pushed open the felt door of the big tent, revealing the dead bodies hanging in a row not far away. They were all naked and covered with bruises. Their pink and white belly and intestines were exposed in the air, and blood was flowing down the rain. It kept dripping on the ground of the torture rack.
But both Shang Kexi and the retainers turned a blind eye to such human tragedy, but their expressions became more serious.
"This... all the suspected persons have been tortured and killed, but there are no clues... Is it possible that there is really someone in this world who can appear and hide under the eyes of the army and deliver letters to the Chinese army's tent?"
A staff member whispered to the people around him, but he couldn't escape Shang Kexi's ears.
Hearing this, he suddenly became erotic, the indigo armor on his body clanged, and he drew a knife and stabbed him to death on the spot.
"Hmph, today I can deliver the letter to the Chinese army tent without anyone noticing, and tomorrow I can take away my head in broad daylight. Do you think I will let this matter go?"
Shang Kexi narrowed his eyes into a straight line, glanced at everyone present with a ruthless gaze, and then said sternly.
"If the crown prince cannot be found and the city of Guangzhou cannot be recaptured, you all should be beheaded! Don't think that since you are a close servant, I will give you some immunity! In terms of closeness, which one of you can get closer than Li Xinghe back then?"
Shang Kexi looked outside the tent. There was still a head with all the facial features gouged out, but looking at the big black mouth, Shang Kexi always felt that this madman was still sneering at him contemptuously even after his death. .
Shang Kexi is about to celebrate his 60th birthday. He has spent almost all his years fighting in the army. From a soldier in Denglai to a general in Liaodong, then to a battle in the Central Plains and a bird's eye view of Guangdong and Guangxi. He believes that in this world, whether he is a peddler or a nobleman, There is no one who is not afraid of death. In the face of the threat of death, weak people will be obedient, while tough people can only choose to shut up. This is also his method of conquering and governing Guangzhou City.
In his opinion, death is the correct and only answer in this world, and the dead are the people who reassure him the most. Therefore, Shang Kexi spent the first half of his life accompanied by fighting and massacre, stepping on countless corpses to reach this position step by step.
But the appearance of Li Xinghe broke the truth he insisted on.
Because Shang Kexi discovered that he had never seen through this sycophantic clown. Until his death, Li Xinghe still watched the pain and death of his body with cold eyes, laughing at Shang Kexi's short-sightedness and ignorance. This madman with ulterior motives is not even willing to reveal what he believes and thinks. It seems that he has already given up his skin and transformed into a noble immortal standing above the nine heavens. He is about to ride the wind and leave at any time.
The more Li Xinghe behaves like this, the more Shang Kexi believes in the elixir of immortality left by the South Vietnamese King Zhao Tuo, and the more he doubts the loyalty of these people under his command!
He knew that his outburst today was just an inevitable trend. He could no longer tolerate others keeping secrets in front of him. He should be the omniscient and omnipotent true immortal standing in the clouds!
Crazy thoughts lingered in Shang Kexi's mind, causing him to choke his throat with some suffocation, and hurriedly searched for the items on his body until his dry fingers skillfully opened the chiseled silver pill box, and quickly took the pill, his face covered with black spots. King Pingnan was pleased to see that he once again regained his heroic appearance.
The rain is getting stronger, the wind is howling, and he can occupy the top of the mountain like a majestic rock.
As the dying wails in the Chinese army's tent subsided and order returned, Shang Kexi glanced at the whole place with satisfaction, and then slowly opened the letter - just like Shang Kexi didn't know that the prince was left behind in Guangzhou, Song Xiance and the others didn't know that part of the story would be lost here... (End of this chapter)
