Because of a fish in the lake, Li Xiuyuan, who was confused, had to invite Ksitigarbha out.
It seemed to him that only Ksitigarbha could understand the troubles in his heart, so he no longer asked the old Taoist master for instructions, and he did not dare to go to the Bodhisattva he was not familiar with.
But Ksitigarbha allowed him to see the difference between Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism from a fish.
It turns out that I have been wandering between these two kinds of Buddhism.
After three days of rest by the lake, Sanzang regained his energy and stopped talking nonsense.
The young monk's understanding of swordsmanship was getting deeper and deeper. He would pester Li Xiuyuan to fight with him for half an hour every day, saying that he wanted to learn his skills well.
In case you encounter bandits in the future, you won't be able to defeat him and you won't be able to protect Sanzang.
When the three of them headed west and finally stepped out of the 800-mile desert, it was already late autumn and it was about to snow.
When Li Xiuyuan and the young monk were making tea at the Gaochang Kingdom Inn, snowflakes were already falling in the sky.
When Sanzang passed by Yiwu Country, he was invited by Qu Wentai, the king of Gaochang.
In this way, Li Xiuyuan and the young monk were temporarily quiet.
The young monk now spends two hours every day practicing swordsmanship. Since Sanzang is not around, he can ask his brother for advice as much as he wants.
He even pestered Li Xiuyuan to spar with him in the backyard of the inn.
Li Xiuyuan also tried his best to meet his request, hoping that the young monk's cultivation would reach a higher level before arriving at Suiye City.
After finally waiting for the snow to fall, Li Xiuyuan told the young monk all his insights on Tianshan Mountain, hoping that he would understand what Zhan Xue meant.
These days, besides reading and writing, the little monk goes to the yard to watch the snowflakes.
Try to find the traces of falling snowflakes and use the sword in your hand to cut the snow.
Those traveling west continue their own spiritual practice.
Emperor Taizong of Chang'an Imperial City continued his plan to conquer the Turks.
In November of the third year of Zhenguan, the Eastern Turkic generals Yalkin and Ashinadur led their troops to harass Hexi.
Zhang Shigui, the defender of Suzhou, and Zhang Bao, the defender of Ganzhou, joined forces with each other to form a cornering force. They strengthened the walls and cleared the fields, and used the city to block the Turkic cavalry.
In the end, the Turkic army returned without success. This provided an excuse for Emperor Taizong to send troops to the Turks.
Zhang Gongjin wrote to Emperor Taizong and listed six reasons for sending troops to the Turks.
Taizong used the Turks' attack on Hexi as an excuse. On the 23rd, he ordered his troops to be divided into six groups to destroy the Eastern Turks.
Li Jing, the Minister of the Ministry of War, was the general manager of the march on Dingxiang Road, and Zhang Gongjin was his deputy, leading the central army.
Xu Shiji, the British governor of Bingzhou, was the general manager of the march to Tongmo Road, and led the main force from the east road to directly attack the hinterland of the Eastern Turks.
Huo Guogong Chai Shao, the governor of Huazhou, was the general manager of the Jinhe Road march. He marched along the Yellow River on the west road, echoing Li Jing and Xu Shiji from a distance.
The Minister of Rites appointed Li Daozong, the king of Chengjun, as the general manager of the Datong Road march, and Zhang Baoxiang as deputy, advancing from Lingzhou to the northwest.
Wei Xiaojie, the governor of Youzhou who inspected the school, was the general manager of the march on Heng'an Road, guarding the Yanyun area to prevent the Turkic troops from escaping eastward.
Xue Wanshu, the governor of Lingzhou, was the general manager of the Changwu Road march. He used the northeast route to attack the Turks' rear and monitor the Tuli Khan.
The army of more than 100,000 people was under the control of Li Jing, and they were divided into six groups to attack the Turks.
Everything was as expected by Emperor Taizong and the generals of the dynasty, who were just waiting for the snow to melt in the coming year to launch an attack on the Turks.
The wind and snow were still blowing in front of No. 47 Gate, and there were more pedestrians than in previous years.
Because of the opening of Hongchen Inn, the old man even made a few percent more wine. Fortunately, he asked a waiter to help, and Qin Xiangyu didn't have any ideas about the master.
Customers who want to drink will come to the wine shop to buy it themselves.
There was wine to drink when the old man was there, but when the old man went to the mountains, they had to buy wine elsewhere.
Snowflakes were falling, and Qin Xiangyu was sitting in the shop at No. 47. The old man lit a pot of charcoal fire, looked at the pedestrians coming and going on the street, and thought about Li Xiuyuan and the others heading to the Western Regions.
"Master, where do you think Li Xiuyuan and Sanzang are now?"
Qin Xiangyu looked at the snowflakes falling in the sky and said quietly: "It's very cold during the winter vacation. They are afraid it will get even colder on the road."
The old man disagreed.
I wonder if Li Xiuyuan led a group of monks to explore the Tianshan Mountains in the prehistoric world when it was snowing heavily?
The wind and snow in the world in front of him really meant nothing to him.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile lightly: "Don't be afraid, they went west to practice, not like us enjoying the blessings in the imperial city."
Qin Xiangyu curled his lips and shouted, "It would be fun if Juier stayed in the imperial city for the winter."
The old man was stunned when he heard the words. He remembered what Li Xiuyuan said to him and couldn't help but reply: "As long as you keep doing business in the imperial city, there will be many opportunities in the future."
Now, the old man finally understood why Li Xiuyuan did not want to accept Jui'er as his disciple, but wanted to do it for him.
It turns out that even Li Xiuyuan doesn't want to be involved in the secrets of this world.
And I don't belong to this world, even if there is cause and effect, it won't fall on me, let alone having a powerful master.
After thinking about it, the old man sighed: "Perhaps it is the wisest choice for him to accompany Sanzang to the Western Regions to learn scriptures."
As long as he is not in the imperial city, Li Xiuyuan cannot see everything that happens in the imperial city.
Not to mention that he would not take action against Jui'er or Qin Xiangyu because of a moment of weakness.
Qin Xiangyu took a sip of hot tea, looked at the old man and said, "Master, let's go to the snow mountain to stay for a few days tomorrow. I want to pick these plum blossoms and learn to fry a spiritual tea tomorrow."
…
"Where can I find the cold fragrance of winter plums? There is a dark fragrance filling my sleeves..."
Sitting in the living room in the backyard of the inn, Li Xiuyuan looked at the empty branches in the yard. There was no winter plum tree here for him to enjoy.
The young monk practiced sword practice for two hours. After lunch, he went into his room to dream.
Alone, Li Xiuyuan was guarding a pot of spiritual tea, but he thought of the plum trees on the snow-capped mountains.
It’s almost blooming, right?
Afraid that the little monk would cause trouble and that they themselves would get into trouble, the two of them basically didn't come back to each other these days.
Fortunately, the young monk was quiet. As long as he didn't starve, he would focus on practicing with him and wouldn't bother to buy food.
However, there has been no news about Sanzang who entered the palace, which made him a little worried.
With nothing to do, I went to the palace with my spiritual consciousness and saw Tripitaka giving a sermon to a group of monks.
The Tripitaka on the Buddhist altar is just like Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, with solemn treasures all over his body.
Word by word, he spoke slowly and without the slightest hint of boredom.
In his opinion, perhaps only people with great aspirations like Tripitaka can have all sentient beings in mind and one day be able to practice Mahayana Buddhism.
The young monk's swordsmanship has improved by leaps and bounds these days, and Li Xiuyuan no longer needs constant guidance and correction.
Li Xiuyuan even told the young monk that as long as he continued to practice hard like this for three years, he would be able to kill three or two snowflakes with one sword.
However, what the young monk cares about is how many years it will take to reach the level of the master, the old monk.
Li Xiuyuan sighed, looked at him and smiled bitterly: "If you practice hard all the way, you find that you are about the same age as Sanzang, but you have already seen the realm of the old monk."
"At that time, do you still want to continue practicing and move forward?"
Touching the little monk's head, Li Xiuyuan said seriously: "Wuliang, you are much luckier than my younger brothers."
The young monk was shocked when he heard this and couldn't help asking: "Brother and younger brother? Where are they?"
"They... they went to a far away place, a place that even I can't go to for the time being."
Li Xiuyuan sighed and said: "Remember, your path is at your feet, and your practice is not for the old monk."
The farther away from the Tang Dynasty, the closer to Suiye City. Li Xiuyuan has always hated experiencing the pain of separation.
It's coming soon.
And right now he can't do anything.
At least during this winter, Sanzang was still preaching sermons to the King of Gaochang in Gaochang City and to the monks in the monastery here, so he could postpone this day for a while.
Day by day, the young monk practiced his sword silently in the wind and snow, waiting for Sanzang's return.
The sky was full of snowflakes like fallen leaves. After practicing hard for several days, he finally found a trace of the falling snowflakes. For this, he was very happy.
Li Xiuyuan was sitting in the living room, with a pot of tea on the table and a book in his hand, waiting.
However, the comfortable days seemed not to have much fate with him. Before the two of them could wait for the New Year, it was on the winter solstice.
Li Xiuyuan waited for the bad news.
In the afternoon of that day, Li Xiuyuan put down the book in his hand, tried to find Sanzang in the palace, and asked him if he wanted to celebrate the New Year with him and the young monk.
But he saw Sanzang and King Gaochang face to face, and the two had a dispute.
There is no other reason than that King Qu Wentai, the high-spirited king, was grateful for Tripitaka's compassion and made a great wish to support Tripitaka throughout his life.
He also asked monks and people in monasteries across the country to believe in Tripitaka and regard the three monks as the greatest kings.
But Sanzang Buddha has a strong heart, and in his heart there is only Tianzhu in his dream.
He told Qu Wentai that he would go to Tianzhu despite thousands of mountains and rivers to retrieve the true scriptures for all sentient beings in the Tang Dynasty.
When the two got into trouble, one refused to let go and the other refused to stay.
In the end, Tripitaka had no choice but to go on a hunger strike in order to realize his perseverance and devotion to the Buddha.
Today, the winter solstice, is the third day of Sanzang’s hunger strike.
Li Xiuyuan was dumbfounded when he saw it. He didn't dare to tell the young monk, for fear that this guy would break into the palace and cause trouble.
I had to wait until it was late at night and the young monk went back to his room to sleep.
I brewed a pot of spiritual tea and respectfully placed a stick of incense on the table.
He looked into space and asked, "Bodhisattva, what should I do? Should I break in and bring Tripitaka back, or should I wait?"
There was a flow of light and shadow, but a faint fragrance rose, and a figure appeared quietly in front of him.
Li Xiuyuan was stunned. He originally wanted to ask Ksitigarbha to help him solve his doubts, but unexpectedly he invited the Bodhisattva from Zizhulin instead.
After bowing and offering spiritual tea.
Li Xiuyuan looked at her and asked, "Please Bodhisattva relieve my worries."
The Bodhisattva picked up the spiritual tea in front of him, took a sip, and replied: "Is this the first time Sanzang has encountered trouble?"
Shaking his head, Li Xiuyuan replied: "No."
He knew that if we count Tripitaka's sufferings, when the Tang Dynasty emperor did not allow him to leave Chang'an, not issuing a customs clearance document was the first suffering.
Not to mention that Sanzang followed the victims and slept in the open all the way. Only when he arrived in Liangzhou did he meet the young monk and himself in the form of ebony.
The Bodhisattva nodded: "If he can survive in the eight hundred miles of death desert, he will not die in this wealthy country."
Li Xiuyuan shook his head. He smiled bitterly and said: "You can't go to the palace to snatch him out, right?"
After discussing the Dharma with Ksitigarbha, Li Xiuyuan understood Ksitigarbha's dedication to Buddhism.
According to Li Xiuyuan's idea, the worst case scenario was that he would enter the palace invisibly, take Sanzang away from Gaochang Kingdom overnight, and leave as soon as possible.
Sanzang also had compassion and wanted to save all the living beings he met along the way, even the king of Gaochang, Qu Wentai, was no exception.
Thinking of this, Li Xiuyuan smiled bitterly and said, "Even if this junior goes to the palace, I'm afraid Sanzang won't leave with me."
The Bodhisattva nodded slightly, looked at him and said quietly: "Sanzang is not trying to show off his temper with King Gaochang, he is trying to influence him with his perseverance."
When Li Xiuyuan heard this, he became anxious and shouted: "If the two of them continue to be in such a stalemate, Sanzang will probably starve to death in the palace."
