(12)
When the fake seems real, the real is also fake. The most powerful scam in the world can deceive oneself.
The old abbot has been staying in the temple for decades. Unless necessary for official duties and giving lectures to nobles of the time, he almost never leaves the temple. Who would have thought that his identity would be discovered by an unknown girl? Not only would he lose his face, but he would also put the future of the temple and the monks at risk.
"What if we really let those officials know that the abbot of the temple was once a thief who blocked the road?"
The old abbot was sitting in front of his desk, holding a Buddhist scripture in his hand, squinting his eyes, and his thoughts were wandering between the lines of the words, as if he had traveled through time and space, and suddenly remembered the past.
He can no longer remember his previous name because he has no name. For as long as he can remember, he has been stealing and robbing in the streets and alleys of the town. When his childhood companions saw that he had a pair of big ears, they nicknamed him the "big-eared thief". It wasn't until he met a wandering monk that he got his current name - "Empty Self".
After meditating for a while, several heavy knocks on the door suddenly sounded outside the Zen room. Monk Kuuga just woke up from his fugue and shouted to the visitor outside the door: "Come in!"
The visitor was a young monk, probably in his early twenties, about the same age as the young swordsman. He walked forward, knelt down on the ground, and said helplessly: "Old abbot, what do you want from me? I have been immersed in work these days, and I have never been greedy to steal anyone's property! "
"Liu Aqi, have you ever said secretly that I was not good at it?" Monk Kuuga asked.
"I didn't, absolutely not!" Liu Aqi bowed again, kowtowed a few times, and then said: "Abbott, you treat me like a new parent, how can I be ungrateful?"
"Then do you know why I kept you in the temple and ordained you personally?"
"The villain is scared...the villain is stupid...the villain doesn't know! The villain accidentally killed someone outside. If the old abbot can't keep me, then the villain really has no choice but to die!"
"It's because you let me see my past self... When I was your age, I was a gangster who was being hunted by the government. But on the way to escape, I met a wandering monk who said that he was a gangster. He was a farmer who sold all his belongings to get an ultimatum and was about to go to the temple to practice cultivation. At that time, my six sense organs were not purified. Seeing that the monk was weak, I took the ultimatum away from him when he was not prepared, and then I was able to come here. Inside the temple, evade capture.”
Liu Aqi was extremely shocked by this and replied: "Old abbot, don't you want to keep this secret in your heart and not let others know?"
"Among the young monks in this temple, you are the only one who knows about it. The remaining three old monks were entrusted by the former abbot, so they will always keep this secret in their hearts."
Monk Kongwo put down the scriptures in his hands, walked up to Liu Aqi and called him up, and continued: "The old abbot knew that I was a man who did all kinds of evil, but he finally decided to hand over the temple to me. When he was dying, he said, 'Only Kongga Only a monk can save the temple from being destroyed in the war.' So, in order to thank the old abbot for his kindness and patronage, I have been pretending to be an eminent monk - sparing officials at the top, appeasing the people's hearts at the bottom, and tried my best to save the temple. After that, I thought It took me a long time to finally understand why.”
"Why?"
"Alas! How can you withstand the burning fire of just talking about Buddhism? Most monks rarely interact with outsiders in their lives and have no understanding of the ways of the world." Monk Kuuga said sadly and said: "After many years of practice, I thought I was about to forget everything. Duan Chen Yuan. I didn’t expect that that little girl would be revealed again today!”
"Little girl? But who are the guests that the old abbot invited today?" Liu Aqi said thoughtfully, "Does the old abbot want me to go and dissuade them and let them know that this matter is related to the survival of the temple?"
"No, I just need you to pay more attention to them when you are doing things. If there is anything strange, come and tell me immediately. Remember, don't cause more trouble." After that, Monk Kuuga returned to his seat and kept reading. Read the Buddhist scriptures, trying to find a solution to the problem, and at the same time, prepare for the next time I face the pilgrims on the lotus terrace.
Monk Kuuga sat in the meditation room for the entire day, often falling asleep while sitting on the Buddhist rug. But tonight, he couldn't sleep at all. The secret that had troubled the abbot of the temple for many years was still a dead end after all.
"As of now, the only way seems to be to agree to the girl's request. But who knows what kind of things she will do?"
Questions like this pop up in this old head again and again.
The bean-shaped lampstand burned with a dim light, getting smaller and smaller as time passed. After a while, there was a noise of fighting outside the door.
As if Liu Aqi had done something wrong, he was caught by his senior brother, grabbed the clothes from his back and took him to Monk Kuuga's meditation room.
"Old abbot, this new junior brother is really naughty. He stole the belongings of his fellow disciples and pilgrims before, and just now he was asked to be caught by me. He was actually peeping at the female benefactor taking a bath in the temple!"
"oh?"
"Old abbot, I know I was wrong! This is not your order. When I was cleaning the courtyard, I heard an inexplicable singing voice coming from the bathhouse. It was the voice of the girl. I remember that she often chanted Buddhist scriptures in the side room. ! Then, I took a few secret glances..."
"You still say that? You shameless guy!" The senior brother was about to slap him, but Monk Kuuga stopped him.
"Stop, please let go of Liu Aqi first and let me ask."
Liu Aqi was thrown to the ground, lowered his head deeply, and muttered: "This is not... the first time I see a girl's body, I will inevitably feel curious..."
Seeing that he was still defending himself, Monk Kuuga couldn't help laughing and said, "My child, what did you see?"
"I saw that Mrs. Xiang was so pitifully thin that she seemed to have only a pair of bones left! Her maids were pretty in costumes, but they were not as good-looking as the singing girl! Unexpectedly, she wore The veil actually hides such a beautiful face!”
When the senior brother saw Liu Aqi speaking vividly, he became angry and kicked him again. Then he said to the abbot: "Old abbot, how can such a lecher stay in the temple?"
"I'm not a thief!" Liu Aqi continued to argue.
"Hahaha, it seems that what Mrs. Xiang said is true, they do have their own difficulties."
"Abbot?" Liu Aqi was puzzled and asked, "What do you think those girls are worried about?"
"They are the same as us. Due to special reasons, they had to disfigure themselves in exchange for this opportunity to pray in the temple!"
After listening to the two disciples in front of the Zen room, the old abbot waved his hands happily, as if the huge stone blocking his chest was instantly lifted. He happily let Liu Aqi come to his side, gave him corresponding punishment, and calmed down the war between their brothers. , this interesting thing just got a good result.
