Lin Manliu and Jiang Yanlin were walking on the mountain road, but they encountered light rain not long after walking. It happened that there was a temple that looked like it had been in disrepair on the road we were passing by. The boy in a short shirt was going to take shelter from the rain and make some repairs.
After the two placed the horses, they sat side by side on the stone steps and watched the rainwater pouring from the tiles until it fell into the temple courtyard.
Jiang Yanlin suddenly said: "Since meeting Brother Liu again, Yanlin has never been afraid again..." Lin Manliu didn't look at him, still staring at the rain falling on the eaves.
"You're just not familiar with these areas, but I'm just the opposite. I've walked through them several times in the past year." Jiang Yanlin looked sideways at the boy in a short shirt, then rested his head on his knees and looked up at him. Brother Liu.
"Brother Liu has now taken Yanlin on a journey. If he comes again in the future, it should be smooth!" Lin Manliu hummed and asked Jiang Yanlin to rest first, and he was going to find some fodder to feed the horses.
"I won't go far. If anything happens, just call me loudly!"
"Understood! Brother Liu, feel free to go ahead!" After the boy in a short shirt closed the temple door, he began to pick up grass and young leaves nearby.
As a result, Jiang Yanlin was left alone in the dilapidated temple. Originally, he was casually looking at the furnishings in the house, including chairs, stools and futons covered with cobwebs, as well as incense ashes scattered on the ground that had not been cleaned...until he glanced at the statue that had faded or been stolen. When removing the gold foil.
A sense of panic suddenly emerged in Jiang Yanlin's heart. He just stared at it for a moment and quickly looked away.
The statue in the temple is a willow Guanyin... holding a broken pure vase in one hand, and holding up a broken willow branch in the other hand. There is no gold foil on the body, and even some of the clothing carvings are on the verge of damage.
But this still cannot hide his solemn expression, and his face is like a small moon, and his eyes are like twin stars.
The moment Jiang Yanlin looked at the Dharma image, it seemed as if the Bodhisattva image was also looking at him. The appearance of a person emerged from deep within his heart, almost identical to the face of the Dharma in front of him.
In his impression, that person was born that way
The bodhisattva's appearance of "a jade face born with joy and a red lip". But his person, behavior, and style were completely opposite... Jiang Yanlin did not dare to look at the Dharma image anymore, and quickly covered his eyes with his hands, trying to erase all the scenes that had entered his eyes before.
But the more this happens, the clearer his previous memories become. The painful memories of a few months ago began to emerge from his dusty heart and began to erode his consciousness wantonly.
"No...please...don't..."
"I will study hard...don't..."
"I don't dare anymore...I don't dare anymore..." Jiang Yanlin's whole body trembled and he sobbed unconsciously.
At this moment, his head was filled with the image of that person. He didn't know what to do and started beating his head with both fists.
One punch, two punches, three punches... But these pains had no effect at all, just when he wanted to hit his head directly on the ground.
Suddenly someone shouted: "Yan Lin! Yan Lin, what's wrong with you!" Then the person who spoke grabbed his arms and helped him back to the stone steps to sit down. Those shouts still lingered in Jiang Yanlin's mind. ear.
He saw clearly the appearance of the person who came, it was Lin Manliu. He finally came to his senses and said with trembling lips: "Brother Liu..." Lin Manliu put his hands on both sides of the boy's forehead and helped him rub it gently.
After Jiang Yanlin gasped several times, his breathing finally calmed down. The boy in a short shirt handed him some water, and Jiang Yanlin grabbed the water bag and drank it in one gulp.
Lin Manliu asked: "Is it better? What happened just now..." After Jiang Yanlin heard the sound, his head tilted slightly, as if he wanted to look behind him, but he immediately stopped moving.
The young man in short shirt understood immediately and looked at the worn statue in the temple. Nothing weird?
Maybe being alone on a rainy day reminded him of the days when he was walking alone before, and he was a little frightened? Lin Manliu joked: "You are so old, you are just like a child, but you just took a nap and dreamed about bad things!" After hearing the joke of the boy in a short shirt, Jiang Yanlin felt much better.
He immediately followed Lin Manliu's words and said, "I feel too comfortable, so I think of what happened before..."
"
"Then when the rain subsides, we will continue on our way!"
"Okay!" Not long after the two of them spoke, the sky gradually cleared up. So under the leadership of Lin Manliu, they prepared to continue heading south.
As the two of them rode along the mountain road, Jiang Yanlin noticed that there were more figures in the forest, but looking at their clothes, he knew they were nearby villagers.
He asked curiously: "Brother Liu, what are they doing?" Lin Manliu glanced at them to confirm, and then looked at the horse-riding boy behind him.
"Considering that it rains a lot now, mushrooms will grow in the forest every time after rain or in the morning here."
"What is that?"
"Mushrooms are made into soup and juice in southern Xinjiang. They are very fresh... If you have time, I can make some for you!" Jiang Yanlin became more and more curious. He watched the farmers digging around in the mountains and fields, and soon they An unknown object was put into the backpack.
He saw some vegetation growing on the roads that some villagers were walking on that he had not mentioned before. Some look bright red in color, and some look like blue waves in the lake. They are really exotic flowers and plants.
"But those rotten trees and those under the trees?" Jiang Yanlin raised his finger and pointed over as he spoke. Lin Manliu looked at the appearance of the person behind him and couldn't help shaking his head and laughing.
"Yes, those are mushrooms... But if we eat these, we can lie down in the coffin early!" After hearing the words of the boy in a short shirt, Jiang Yanlin felt like he was struck by lightning.
He asked: "Then why do these people go to the mountains to pick? Can't they be used in soup?" Lin Manliu responded: "You see, they don't pick these brightly colored ones, they only pick the ordinary ones. Oh!" Jiang Yanlin suddenly realized, and then said: "Brother Liu, I understand, the more peculiar the appearance of these things, the more untouchable they are!" The young man in short shirt nodded with a smile, and whispered in his mouth, "In Fengcheng, I often hear children humming
"Scary nursery rhyme". Red umbrella, white pole, we lay down together after eating. They lie down on the board, sleep in the coffin, and then bury them together in the mountains.
Buried in the mountains, crying and shouting, the whole village came to eat. When we have a meal, we have umbrellas and we all lie down together.
We lay down together on the boards, no one buried the mountains, and the whole village dried them together in the sun, hoping that red umbrellas would grow again next year. Listening to Lin Manliu's cheerful tone, talking about these words of burial and coffin, Jiang Yanlin felt a chill running down his spine, until finally he had to cry out and ask his brother Liu to stop singing.
"Okay! I won't tease you anymore, let's leave early!" Lin Manliu said. Jiang Yanlin responded and immediately followed the pace of the boy in short shirt.
But just as they were getting ready to ride their horses, they happened to pass by two village women. The two village women seemed to have just entered the mountains, and the backpacks on their waists were still empty.
However, the two of them did not blame each other for coming late, but whispered some gossip in a low voice. When Lin Manliu and the others passed by, they seemed not to notice.
"I heard before that someone in the next village died early this morning..."
"Is that Hehua Bay? I just heard my old man say that he was kicked to death by those officers and soldiers!"
"What's going on this early in the morning..."
"It's like those officials came to find someone, but the man didn't say anything, so he was dragged away alive, and finally kicked to death..." Lin Manliu heard the words of the two people and stopped. the steps forward.
Jiang Yanlin naturally heard it, but his first reaction was to leave on horseback as soon as possible. He turned to look at the boy in a short shirt next to him and called out softly: "Brother Liu...why don't we leave?"
"Lin Manliu just said: "Yanlin, wait a moment..." Then the boy in short shirt walked back to the two village women, then clasped his fists and saluted them.
"Two aunties, after listening to what you said earlier, can you tell me the details?" They were blocked by the unidentified young man. Both of them were elderly women, so they could not help but be a little frightened.
Looking at the strange weapon Lin Manliu was carrying behind him, one person fell directly to the ground and started to use the backpack to protect himself.
"Don't come over! Don't come over!" Lin Manliu hurriedly clasped his fists and apologized again, and continued: "The boy just wanted to ask about what the two aunts said before, and I didn't mean to offend..." The other person was a little calmer, After seeing the face of the boy in a short shirt clearly, I felt that he was not a treacherous person.
Then he said, "It was my old man who told me when he went out that a young and strong man died in Hehua Bay this morning. His impression was that he was a long-term laborer in the inn in that village..." A young and strong man, an inn, a long-term laborer. ..These keywords were spinning rapidly in the mind of the boy in a short shirt, and a person's name actually sounded in his heart.
But Lin Manliu never dared to think in that direction. He never thought that something really happened... The officers and soldiers who were questioning him should be looking for him and Jiang Yanlin.
And who else could be the young and strong man beaten to death, it would only be Brother Dong. The young man in a short shirt staggered a little and almost fell backwards before losing his balance. Jiang Yanlin saw this and hurriedly stepped forward to help him.
The two women looked at his strange appearance, quickly picked up the backpack and ran away, for fear that Lin Manliu would do something evil later.
Lin Manliu looked at the person beside him and was silent for a long time. Finally he spoke out: "Yanlin, I need to go back..." Jiang Yanlin said in confusion: "Didn't everyone say that officers and soldiers went there? What are we going to do when we go back!" The boy in a short shirt said again. : "It's me! I need to go back... Before that, I will place you in a safe place..." Jiang Yan grabbed Lin Manliu's arms tightly before shaking his head, trying to get him to take back what he had said before. words.
"Brother Liu...don't abandon me...don't abandon Yanlin..." Lin Manliu sighed, seeming to have calmed down.
Looking at Jiang Yan, the boy in a short shirt had a serious expression as he spoke word by word.
"I have to go back about Lotus Bay. Just wait for me to come back! I told you that I will bring you back to Jiangnan safe and sound!" Jiang Yanlin then removed the force on his hand, breathed several times and turned to the young man in short shirt in front of him. Nodding in response.
"Also, I will ask you about some things when I come back. Don't lie to me!"
"I know...Brother Liu..." Lin Manliu and Jiang Yanlin wandered around the mountain path for almost a stick of incense, and finally found a secluded cave entrance.
The boy in a short shirt handed all the dry food and drinking water he had prepared to Jiang Yanlin before getting on his horse.
When he looked at Jiang Yan in the cave, his eyes became a little complicated.
"It's happened at Hehua Bay. I will come back as soon as possible. Don't go too far!" Seeing Jiang Yanlin nodding in agreement, Lin Manliu immediately pulled the reins in his hand and turned the horse's head in the direction of Hehua Bay.
