After walking for a day in the long yellow sand, the people and horses were so sleepy that even the horses lay on the ground panting.
Even Sanzang's face could not help but look a little tired even after he was on the road, but the young monk, who should have been sleepy, regained his energy and stayed aside to watch Li Xiuyuan make soup.
Li Xiuyuan let Xiao Shang and Sanzang eat dry food first, and then went to feed the horses some bean cakes and water.
Then he came and sat down in front of the fire, closed his eyes and rested his mind, and from time to time released his consciousness to pay attention to everything around him. On a night like this, there would be no wild wolves.
I was afraid that the bandits would find a place to spend the night just like the three of them.
The little monk asked excitedly while nibbling the cake in his hand: "Amu, how long will this soup last? I can't wait."
Li Xiuyuan looked at him, smiled, and asked, "Have you ever thought about what you would do if one day your realm is higher than that of the old monk?"
The young monk shook his head and said, "I don't know...if Wuliang were to reach the master's age and level, he would probably accept a young monk as his disciple."
"Have you ever thought about returning to secular life one day, marrying a wife, having children, and living like a common person?"
Many years later, Li Xiuyuan couldn't help but ask the young monk the same question again. In his opinion, if Wuxin hadn't entered the world back then, he probably wouldn't have had as many insights as he did later.
But he also understood that some people were born to be Buddhas, like Tripitaka.
But the young monk may not, just like when he finally brought the curious Wuyou back to the Nangong family from Prajna Temple.
The young monk shook his head: "Wuliang doesn't know. Now I just want to follow my brother and follow him out of the eight hundred miles of desert." Sanzang ate dry food and drank water.
After gathering his mood, he looked at the two of them and said with a smile: "Amu is right. If you, junior brother, want to return to secular life one day, Sanzang will allow you on behalf of the abbot."
"Excellent, Tripitaka, you are the Bodhisattva walking in the world."
Li Xiuyuan made a bowl of soup for each of them, then took the pot off the fire and put it aside to let the night wind blow by. After letting it cool down, he went to feed the horses.
The young monk was stunned when he saw it.
Looking at Li Xiuyuan, he asked: "Amu, you have worked hard for so long, why don't you drink it? Is it possible that the rest will make me and my senior brother unable to eat it tomorrow?"
Sanzang was moved and couldn't help but said: "Donor, are you going to feed the horse some?"
"Because there's no use for me to drink it. It's just a waste."
Hearing what the young monk said, Li Xiuyuan was not angry. Instead, he explained seriously: "Give the horses some food so that they can gain more strength and walk out of the long desert."
"Hey, I told you to listen carefully, that kid doesn't care about your elixir at all."
On the terrace beside the lake, the Bodhisattva sighed quietly.
Said: "He would rather feed it to the horses than take a sip himself. It seems that he really doesn't need your elixir practice."
"It's a pity. I'll give him a hard time if I get the chance in the future."
The old Taoist priest looked at the stars in the night sky and said, "This kid is really messing around. He took the precious elixir to feed the horses."
"Because he knows that Sanzang and the young monk have enough to drink from one bowl."
The Bodhisattva said gently: "Didn't you listen to what he said? He wanted to give those three horses a chance to get out of the eight hundred miles of desert. This is true compassion. He is much better than you."
The old Taoist priest shook his head.
"Amu, why do I feel like there is a fire burning in my stomach?"
Looking at Li Xiuyuan who was lowering his head to feed the horse and drink soup, the young monk yelled: "No, Wuliang's stomach is going to be on fire. Where are you, Brother Sanzang?"
At this moment, Sanzang had put down the wooden bowl in his hand, sat down on his sleeping bag, and quietly recited the sutra.
"This light shines in the east, the land of eighty thousand Buddhas, showing all sentient beings the retribution of their karma in life and death..."
A faint Buddha's light emerged from Sanzang's body, but it was the Bodhisattva's nectar plus the elixir brewed by Li Xiuyuan that took effect at this moment.
In this long yellow sand, help the Buddha walking in the world to break through.
The young monk narrowed his eyes and murmured: "Brother Sanzang has become a Bodhisattva on the Buddhist altar, brother."
After saying this, he stopped yelling because he felt a pair of hands behind him helping him refine this huge medicinal power. He knew that this was his brother helping him.
The moment the little monk closed his eyes, he saw that the horses that had drunk the medicinal soup also glowed faintly.
Feeling something in his heart, he followed Sanzang in reciting Buddhist sutras.
…
It wasn't until the horse was lying on the ground and dreaming, and looking at the little monk and Sanzang getting into their sleeping bags, that Li Xiuyuan made a pot of spiritual tea by himself.
He looked at the sky and smiled: "They say raise a cup to invite the bright moon. Bodhisattva, do you and the Taoist want to come and have a cup of the spiritual tea I brewed?"
After enduring it for many days, finally, on such a wonderful night.
After witnessing Sanzang and the young monk breaking through the realm one after another, and seeing the horse falling asleep after drinking the elixir, Li Xiuyuan regained his temperament.
After all, as soon as he makes tea, he is afraid that the clever Sanzang will see through his trick.
The Bodhisattva's voice came from the void: "I admire you very much. It is very rare for a teenager to be able to deal with things without panic and to be compassionate."
"Bodhisattva, you are too generous. I will not be soft on killers and bandits."
He poured a cup of spiritual tea and put it in front of him, watching the faint fragrance of tea rise, and said calmly: "And if you encounter a monster that wants my life, you won't be polite."
The spiritual tea in the cup slowly became lighter, and Li Xiuyuan added more.
He smiled quietly and said, "When I return from Suiye City to Chang'an of the Tang Dynasty, I will welcome the Bodhisattva to the hut on the snow mountain as a guest."
"This tea has the aroma of winter plums."
There is a cool breeze blowing in the night wind, carrying a faint fragrance of cold plums. It is a unique style in this desolate desert.
The Bodhisattva smiled lightly and said, "How much ingenuity does it take to grow such a magical tea?"
Li Xiuyuan smiled and replied proudly: "Because I like it, I want to plant it; because of the gift of heaven and earth, there is such a spiritual tea."
"Is this tea famous?"
The Bodhisattva thought for a while and asked: "Or, this tea has a beautiful story. Tell it."
"This tea was originally called Hanmei Lingcha, but it was grown by the female saint of the Xuanwu Continent. It was just a coincidence that I drank the Lingcha planted by the saint's hands..."
Li Xiuyuan smiled lightly: "I don't have the ability to go to that world. It seems that the God of Destiny has arranged for me to go and experience it. I'm not afraid of making the Bodhisattva laugh."
"Meeting a saint in Niujiao Town and making plum tea skillfully with bare hands, your opportunity is truly enviable!"
After drinking two cups of spiritual tea, the Bodhisattva disappeared into the vast night, leaving Li Xiuyuan sitting alone for a long night.
The starlight is still as old, shining faintly on the vast desert, and also shining on the wanderers in the sky.
The old Taoist by the lake had a trembling beard and said in a daze: "When did this kid meet a saint? Bodhisattva, do you believe the lies he told?"
"Why don't you believe it?"
The Bodhisattva looked at the stars in the night sky and said faintly: "Didn't you see that the horse that drank the elixir will also become a divine horse?"
…
A sudden breakdown overnight allowed Sanzang and the young monk to sleep for an extra hour.
Even the horse didn't whimper a few times until around midnight, telling his master that he seemed to be getting stronger.
He looked at the little monk who got out of his sleeping bag and rubbed his eyes.
Looking at Monk Tripitaka who was sitting down and chanting sutras after getting up, Li Xiuyuan said sincerely: "Congratulations to both of you for listening to the Tao and breaking through the realm overnight. You have gained a little more ability to protect yourself."
While packing his luggage, the young monk chuckled and said, "Thank you, Brother Amu, for bringing Wuliang closer to the master's realm."
Li Xiuyuan was speechless for a moment. For the young monk, the old monk under the snow-capped mountains was his father.
It is also a beacon of light on his path of practice. He is chasing the old monk in Buddhism and his own practice.
Thinking about the young people in Fengyun City back then, they regarded their husband as a light for their future.
With something in mind, he looked at the young monk and said with a smile: "As long as you are happy on the way forward, the old monk under the snow-capped mountains will be happy."
"It's so good. Unexpectedly, the benefactor has such profound wisdom, my junior brother and I are really happy."
After reading the sutra for a while, Sanzang said quietly.
Just when Li Xiuyuan was about to reply, the young monk shouted: "Senior brother, there is a caravan over there, coming to us."
Li Xiuyuan looked up and saw a long caravan coming slowly from the opposite direction to where the three of him were.
It seems that these businessmen should be heading to Guazhou or Liangzhou City.
With a slight smile, Li Xiuyuan looked at the young monk and said, "I didn't expect that after one night, Wuliang, you have cultivated your spiritual consciousness. It is really gratifying."
The horse team was almost a mile away from the pedestrians, and there were uneven piles of sand in the middle. Naturally, the young monk could not see it with the naked eye.
The young monk was startled, turned to look at Sanzang and asked, "Senior brother, now that Wuliang has spiritual consciousness, can he practice the Eye of Wisdom and the Buddha's Eye?"
Sanzang was stunned when he heard this. He remembered the scene in the hut on the snow-capped mountains that day and learned to see the world with his heart. He couldn't help but smile.
He replied to the young monk: "When you get out of the 800-mile desert, I will teach you how to see the world with your heart."
Li Xiuyuan was secretly happy in his heart. He didn't expect that the young monk had already developed spiritual consciousness before he reached the Nascent Soul realm.
It seems that this opportunity is probably due to the mercy of the Bodhisattva.
The three of them had eaten dry food and fed the horses. When they were about to set off, they saw that the clock was running out.
The long caravan has also arrived in front of the three people.
A middle-aged businessman from the Western Regions who was leading the team stepped forward to salute Sanzang and asked, "Master, where are you going?"
Sanzang clasped his hands in return and replied quietly: "Crossing the Mohe Yanqi Desert to Tianzhu."
The businessman was horrified when he heard this. He looked at Sanzang and shook his head: "Master, you must not take this road. This is an eight-hundred-mile desert with no human habitation. If you can't find that water source, I'm afraid..."
Sanzang returned the gift again and said quietly: "The three of us have made up our minds. Thank you for your kindness. Moving forward, you still have two to three days to go before you have water."
From Sanzang's point of view, Wang Xiang of the First Beacon Group would not make things difficult for these passing businessmen.
Even if we have to defend ourselves, we have to defend ourselves against the Turkic army.
"In this case, the mage must be careful and find the water source."
The businessman sighed and said with a wry smile: "I went through it once before, and I don't want to go through it again. It's a place of death."
Sanzang looked back at the calm eyes of the young monk and Li Xiuyuan, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The businessman and his companions clasped their hands together and prepared to leave, saying, "So, I wish you, the donor, a smooth journey..."
"Whoosh!" sounded!
Suddenly, there was a sound of arrows in the wind, flying towards the caravan and Li Xiuyuan, interrupting Sanzang's unspoken word "wind".
With a sound of "ding!", Li Xiuyuan instantly took the Zen staff from Sanzang's hand and knocked the flying arrow to the ground in the midst of lightning and stone fire.
He said coldly: "Don't be afraid, these guys are bandits."
An arrow in the wind is a common tactic used by bandits to warn the cavalry in front not to resist.
The little monk took out his iron sword with a clang sound and took a step forward.
He looked at Sanzang and said, "Senior brother, don't be afraid. Brother Wuliang and Amu will protect you."
