Looking at the sky, a fiery red sun gradually sinks into the horizon. The clouds in the sky reflected by the setting sun seem to be on fire, rolling with the wind like waves.
Under the flaming red sky is an old mountain forest, with a winding mountain stream trickling down. The mountain spring is clear and translucent, and the sound of its gurgling water is as clear and sweet as its gurgling water, flowing all the way to a small village at the foot of the mountain.
Not long after, a figure sprang out from the forest, rushed to the edge of the mountain stream impatiently, buried its smooth head directly into the spring water, and drank heavily. After a while, he stood up happily, shaking his head. , water droplets on the face.
Taking a closer look, he saw that it was a young, fat monk wearing gray monk robes. On his round face, a pair of small eyes revealed his novelty to the outside world.
A pair of big fat ears, especially the earlobes that are very big and thick, a round belly protruding from the round waist, and a smile that never breaks at the corner of the mouth, make the whole person look naive. It looks a bit like the legendary Maitreya Buddha.
His name is Wufan, he is a young novice monk in Lingjue Temple and an outer disciple who has just started teaching for two years.
This time is once every two years in Lingjue Temple, the outer disciples enter the world and practice for one year.
After two years of hard training in the temple, Wu Fan could no longer hold back his restless mind. When the elder of the outer sect first made the announcement, he left the temple alone overnight and drove all night to reach this mountain.
"ah!"
At this moment, a scream suddenly came from the forest. When Wufan turned around in surprise, he saw an old woman in coarse linen clothes falling out of the forest. Then, with a roar, a spotted head The tiger jumped out and charged at the old woman.
Frightened and unable to run any longer, the old woman subconsciously turned over and hugged a medium-sized bamboo frame tightly, which contained only a few herbs and mud.
"You evil beast, don't hurt anyone!"
At the critical moment, Wu Fan jumped forward and hit the tiger's hind paw with a palm in the air. With a howl of pain, the tiger fell away and could not get up for a long time.
After settling down, Wu Fan came back to his senses and looked at the tiger, only to find that the tiger was as skinny as the old woman, and there were several wounds on the tiger's body, which he had slapped on its hind paw. , there were even two wounds, which had burst open at this time, and blood flowed all over the ground.
"Amitabha, sin! Sin! Leave quickly!"
Looking closer, he saw that the tiger was still breastfeeding. Wu Fan couldn't bear it. He clasped his hands and chanted the Buddha's name. Maybe the beast was extremely hungry and was injured, so he couldn't hunt normally, so he set his sights on the old woman. OK That palm I just wanted to save people, I never thought about killing.
Xu Shi gasped for breath, and the tiger stood up tremblingly, not caring about licking and scratching the wound. After looking at the fat monk with a fierce look in his eyes, he got back into the forest.
"Donor, get up. The monk has driven away the beast." Looking at the direction in which the tiger was leaving, Wu Fan sighed secretly and helped the old woman stand up.
"Thank you Lord Buddha for the rescue...Thank you Lord Buddha for the rescue..." Holding the bamboo frame tightly in her arms, the old woman kept thanking Wu Fan.
"The young monk is just an outer disciple of Lingjue Temple. How can he deserve the title of Buddha? The young monk is called Wu Fan. The donor can just call me Wu Fan."
Wu Fan awkwardly touched his round head and smiled sheepishly: "It's getting late, so let's let the monk take the donor down the mountain. It just so happens that the monk also wants to find a place to stay overnight."
"If you don't mind, Master Wu Fan, please come to my house and stay overnight, so that I can repay my kindness for saving my life." After coming back to her senses, the old woman pointed to the village down the mountain and said, "That's where the old lady is at the bottom of the mountain. Village.”
"In this case, I will disturb the donor." Wu Fan did not refuse and followed the old woman down the mountain.
Chatting on the road, Wu Fan learned about the old woman's situation. The old woman's surname was Lin, and she was over sixty this year. I collected some herbs in the mountains every day and sold them to the Zhang family in a town thirty miles away to make a living.
The master of this house is also a well-known benevolent person within a hundred miles. He runs a medicine hall. Anyone who has money will give money to anyone who wants to see a doctor or take medicine. If he has no money, he will not refuse to give it. In the future, he will give it. Or just pick some herbs and send them over. If you really can't afford it, just treat it as a free clinic and send medicine without taking any money.
The villagers in more than a dozen villages within a radius of a hundred miles also thought of Mr. Zhang's kindness, and never deliberately coveted it. If they had any money left, they would return it to Mr. Zhang, but most of them were like the old lady Lin who went into the mountains. The medicine collected can be deducted from the medical expenses.
Naturally, the villagers also know that there are many wild beasts in the mountains. Most of them go out together as a village to collect herbs and hunt. Very few people go into the mountains alone like the old lady Lin.
This mountain top is just a fringe area, where only mortal beasts live. Monsters can only appear in the depths of the mountain. If Old Lady Lin had encountered a monster this time, she would definitely not be alive now.
Of course, the tiger encountered this time was in extremely poor condition, which allowed Old Lady Lin to run outside the forest.
Speaking of which, it is said that the mother and son collect herbs to make a living, but it is only the old lady Lin who collects herbs. Wu Yun, the only son in the family, is only two years away from turning 40. He has been studying the books of sages all his life, just for the sake of healing. Get a reputation.
However, in the scientific examination that is held once every ten years, since the age of eighteen, he has failed twice and failed to obtain merit. The court also stipulated that those over forty are not allowed to take the scientific examination again. In other words, this autumn's major examination, it is Wu Yun. last chance.
In order to allow her only son to study with peace of mind, Mrs. Lin never allowed her son to go into the mountains to collect herbs. This time, she went to the mountains to collect herbs every day to make up for the expenses incurred in taking the exam, which led to what happened today.
Fortunately, although the herbs collected this time were not many, only nine, as long as they were sent to Zhang's house tomorrow in exchange for some money, they would be able to make enough money.
Along the way, Mrs. Lin's thin face was full of hope and happiness, whether she was trying to escape death, collecting enough money, or thinking that her son would definitely win the lottery this time.
As if infected by the old lady Lin, Wu Fan also laughed happily, happy for Wu Yun who he had not met yet, happy to have such a person who always thinks about him, and who still risks his life and death for him at such an age. The mother was delighted by the danger of going into the mountains to collect herbs.
While he was happy, Wu Fan discovered that a few herbs in the bamboo frame were bent due to the fall of Old Lady Lin. He didn't know if Mr. Zhang would take them away or if they would affect Old Lady Lin. Transportation required.
When it got dark, the two finally arrived at this small village with only a few dozen households. As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the village, the village chief and dozens of elderly people stood at the entrance of the village and looked around. Seeing that Mrs. Lin had returned safely, they all gathered around Coming up, it can be seen that Mrs. Lin's popularity in the village is still very good.
After some explanations, everyone thanked Wu Fan again and again, and then the village chief let everyone disperse, and the two returned to a simple earthen house at the end of the village.
A bowl of porridge and a plate of green vegetables. Maybe he was hungry. Maybe this simple meal came from the hands of a selfless and dedicated mother. Wufan, who had no father or mother since he was a child, ate very well.
During the meal, Wu Fan also met Wu Yun. He had been studying since he was a child, which gave this thirty-eight-year-old man a bit of a scholarly air. He seemed incompatible with this kind of rural village. It was just his poor family background that made him feel like a scholar. Somewhat frail and thin, with a sallow complexion.
However, he was very energetic and talkative. After learning that Wu Fan had saved his mother, he immediately kowtowed to Wu Fan three times regardless of Wu Fan's attempts to stop him.
"Now that I have received three bows from the benefactor and accepted the Wu family's hospitality, the kindness between me and the benefactor is over. If the benefactor can reach high school in the future, I hope that the benefactor will be an honest official and considerate of the people." Helped Wu Yun to stand up, Wu Fan bowed his head and said sincerely.
"Don't worry, Master Wufan. If ordinary people are lucky enough to go to high school, they will serve the people wholeheartedly and benefit the people, and live up to the upbringing of my mother over the years." After making the promise, Wu Yun left and went back to the inner room to read.
There were three earthen huts, and Mrs. Lin and Wu Yun each occupied one. Originally, Mrs. Lin asked Wu Fan to go to her room, but Wu Fan refused. He was a practitioner and would not care about this, so he I meditated in front of the dinner table.
At midnight, thinking about the tiger, Wu Fan quietly left the village and went straight to the mountain from where he came. Following the blood stains along the way, he found the tiger's hiding place outside a secret cave.
But at this time, the tiger died outside the entrance of the cave, along with the bodies of two tiger cubs. Both the older one and the younger one only had one head left, and there were still some remaining bodies around. It was obvious that the injured tiger had returned here. At that time, he encountered other ferocious beasts, and even his own children were killed.
"Amitabha! It is the natural law of survival for wild beasts in the mountains to hunt each other. But in the end, it was because of the little monk's palm that you were in trouble. Without the little monk's palm, perhaps at least the cub could have survived."
With a sigh, Wu Fan sat down on the ground, read the scriptures, and saved them. It was not until dawn that he buried the big one and the two little ones on the spot.
Looking at the newborn Chaoyang, Wu Fan felt a little confused in his heart. After experiencing the world of mortals, he didn't expect that the first confusion would be such a simple and normal situation.
Is it wrong to hunt wild animals for food?
That's right, not to mention it is a beast that has been hungry for a long time and needs to raise children.
Wild beasts are not like the monsters in the mountains. They are uncivilized and rely only on instinct to survive. Do you think they are wrong just because they attack humans?
Of course not!
So was he wrong to save people?
That's right, no matter whether he is a good person or an evil person, Wu Fan will not think that his action of saving people this time is wrong. What's more, as Buddhists say, saving one life is better than building a seven-level pagoda.
So what's going on with this confusion in my heart?
If you change places and encounter a human being hunting this beast this time, will you save the beast and hurt the human?
Buddhism often says that all living beings are equal, but why is my answer just to come forward and persuade, instead of directly rescuing him?
