No one knew what Helian Mingyue was thinking, not even Yun Qingjiao, not even the woman who had been with her for countless years.
She wrapped her thoughts in a thick cocoon.
The woman just knew that the leader was waiting for people from the Meng family to come and pay New Year's greetings to her on the third day of the Lunar New Year.
Only then will Helian Mingyue show a faint smile and change from the frosty appearance of the past.
After a moment of silence, the woman sighed and said, "Since the leader has thought about it for so long, why not wait until spring and go to the East China Sea? It doesn't like mortals there, but that doesn't mean the leader..."
After sighing, Helian Mingyue waved her hand and said, "Let's wait until spring begins."
The woman wanted to speak but stopped.
After a while, Helian Mingyue smiled faintly and said quietly: "When the saint can take on the big responsibility, I will also go to find my own opportunities. I can't stay trapped in this imperial city forever..."
At this time, the scene of the old man Gongyang Bo in the forest appeared before her eyes.
She doesn't want to look like an old man in another ten or twenty years. She wants to find a higher opportunity and break through the limitations of this world.
However, she has been to the east, west, south, north, and even to bitter cold places like the extreme north countless times, but she has never been able to find an opportunity that would allow her to break through.
In this way, just as the woman said, she had only the East China Sea to go to.
The woman's heart trembled when she heard this, and she vaguely felt something, but she said no more.
In her opinion, the big deal was that she would just follow Helian Mingyue wherever he went. She didn't care about the Holy Religion.
Like she didn't care who made the saint.
"To be honest, I'm tired of seeing this world..."
Helian Mingyue sighed faintly and said, "If we can't ascend, we will eventually die in this world. I don't want to die here."
Li Xiuyuan, who was far away in Furong Town, didn't know that Helian Mingyue was thinking about him.
After a hurried farewell in the mountains and forests, he originally thought that they would meet again in Furong Town, so that he could return the jade pendant transformed by the strange beast to her and settle a cause and effect.
But because he slept in the inn for a few days, he missed two women.
On the night of New Year's Eve this year, nothing memorable happened on the mountain. As a master and husband, he played the song "Happy Flowers and Full Moon" for the three of them.
Li Xiuyuan, who was playing the piano with both hands, sang a prayer and made the wind and snow in Furong Town stop, revealing a crescent moon.
Huajiao was also very happy. She had just broken through and saw the miracle of her husband when she was helping the old man up the mountain.
However, Ximen Mengdie told her that the master was probably chanting sutras with his junior brother in the main hall and did not see the scene in the sky at all.
Listening to this, Huajiao couldn't help but yearn for it. What would it be like to leave this world with her husband one day?
That night, Ximen Mengdie told Huajiao a secret that shocked her extremely.
But it was Ximen Mengdie who told him that her master had many friends, including her parents, who wanted to follow her on the road to heaven, but they were all rejected by the master.
Only then did Huajiao realize that it was not easy for her husband to accept her.
On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, God took pity on the villagers who wanted to go up the mountain to see the Buddha, and half of the warm winter sun was revealed.
The entire Furong Town, which had been gloomy all winter, was suddenly bathed in golden light and looked particularly festive. There were even more interesting children who went out early, clamoring to go up to the mountains to play.
After breakfast, Li Xiuyuan asked Huajiao and Xiaodieer to go down the mountain, and stayed at the foot of the mountain to persuade the old man who insisted on coming up the mountain.
At this time, the old man Gongyang Bo also came to the foot of the mountain.
Looking at several old men and women, they persuaded them: "The stone steps are being built here as soon as the weather is over. Don't go up the mountain today, the snow is still there."
After repeated persuasion by the old man and Huajiao, a group of old people temporarily gave up the idea of going up the mountain.
He said he was waiting for spring and the stone steps up the mountain to be repaired before coming back.
After all, there is still thick snow on the mountain road, and the old man does not
I want to cause more trouble for my children.
Instead, a group of young and powerful men and women carried their children on their backs and headed up the mountain, just to see the newly built temple and the gods in the temple.
Just when Gongyang Bo was about to go up the mountain, Old Meng, who had been here yesterday, came again with his wife.
Gongyang Bo was shocked and refused to let the two old people go up the mountain. He said that he would wait until the road was repaired in a month.
Old Man Meng took Gongyang Bo and Huajiao's hands and murmured: "I'm telling you, the Bodhisattva on the mountain has appeared. My wife and I have had leg pain for decades..."
"My wife still has low back pain. I don't know how much medicine he has taken... But since he came back from the monastery on the mountain yesterday, when he woke up today, his waist and legs no longer hurt..."
The two old men had to go up the mountain to kowtow to the Bodhisattva. Ximen Mengdie smiled and said, "It's okay. I'll go back and tell the master and ask him to read one more Buddhist scripture for you."
The same goes for Huajiao. After persuading the two old men for a long time, he spent some time and sent the two old men back home.
On this day, Li Xiuyuan read half a volume of the Hua Dharma Sutra for the villagers who went up the mountain to see the Buddha.
By the time the old man, Yang Bo, and Hua Jiao came up the mountain, it was almost noon.
The old man followed the two girls and distributed the vegetarian cakes he had ordered before to everyone.
The old man smiled and said, "Everyone eat slowly. If there is not enough, I will order some more. From the first to the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, there will be food in the temple."
Ximen Mengdie said with a smile: "That's right, from the first to the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, the master will recite sutras for everyone. Except for the elderly and children, everyone can come up and play."
At noon that day, Li Xiuyuan told the old man Gongyang Bo about the need to build several new Buddha statues.
The old man thought for a moment and replied, "You have to go to Wanping Town to hire craftsmen to come to the temple to do this. There are no such craftsmen in Furong Town."
Li Xiuyuan nodded and replied: "Then invite them to the temple. The craftsmen will start work in a few days."
"How about building the stone steps up the mountain first?" the old man asked.
Li Xiuyuan sighed and said, "Since the villagers want to go up the mountain to see the Buddha, they naturally have to build the road first."
From the second to the fourth day of the lunar month, villagers came up the mountain every day to listen to Li Xiuyuan recite scriptures and preach to everyone. The old man asked the villagers in the town to make some vegetarian cakes and deliver them to the temple every day.
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, a group of craftsmen couldn't sit still.
They came to the temple one after another, and under the arrangement of the old man Gongyang Bo, they began to dig the frozen soil up the mountain.
Fortunately, the beginning of spring is just around the corner. The ground that has been frozen all winter is getting easier to dig day by day, which saves the craftsmen a lot of work.
The villagers in the town saw that the teenagers on the mountain really started to build roads, and the number of people going up the mountain gradually decreased. Everyone did not want to cause trouble to their relatives.
After all, most of those craftsmen are craftsmen in the town. Who doesn’t have a few relatives?
So everyone hopes that the stone steps going up the mountain will be repaired soon, so that everyone will finally have an extra place to go after dinner.
Li Xiuyuan on the mountain was looking forward to the craftsmen hired by the old man from Wanping to come to the temple early so that he could start shaping a golden body for Ksitigarbha and the Bodhisattva he met in the purple bamboo forest.
Create several Arhats to accompany the Buddhas of the three generations. In this way, although the main hall of the temple is small, there is a world of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Starting from the first grade of junior high school, he spent an hour every afternoon carving "Ksitigarbha Sutra" on the first floor of the Drum Tower and on the surrounding iron-wood walls.
For the evening drums and morning bells upstairs, the old man must be invited back from Wanping Town.
When there are monks practicing here in the future, they will have to ring the morning bell here according to the rules of morning and evening classes.
From the first to the fifteenth day of the junior high school, every night after dinner, after Ximen Mengdie washed up, Li Xiuyuan would chat with her for a while.
Huajiao and Crow were also with me, just wanting to hear how my husband taught my senior sister how to practice.
What the two of them didn't expect was that Li Xiuyuan just asked Ximen Mengdie every day if he had helped the villagers who came up the mountain and if he had taken care of the children who were playing around.
Whose child fell in the mountains? Is there any bleeding or injuries?
If they were injured, did Ximen Mengdie bandage the children's wounds and call their parents back to take the children away.
As for trivial matters, the master asked carefully, and Ximen Mengdie answered clearly.
On the other hand, Crow and Huajiao were confused and couldn't help but ask, "Sir, is this considered practice?"
Li Xiuyuan smiled and replied: "If you get tired of it over time, it is not considered practice. I want Xiao Die'er to see all living beings in the temple on the mountain, and then think about yourself through the people."
Ximen Mengdie thought for a while and replied honestly: "Xiaodie'er has been with them for two days. I am really tired. If the master was not in the temple, I would have run away long ago."
This was what she was saying. From the little girl's point of view, this was much harder than when she practiced with her grandmother in Fucheng.
After all, she is just a little princess in Fucheng, so there is no need to send people up and down the mountain?
Huajiao sighed: "Fortunately, the mountain is not high, otherwise I'm afraid senior sister and I really wouldn't be able to persevere."
Li Xiuyuan nodded, pointed in the direction of the main hall, and said seriously: "What you are doing now is not human affairs, but doing things for Bodhisattva, do you understand?"
Ximen Mengdie thought for a while and replied: "After spring, Xiaodie'er will go out with junior sister to play. Master, do you want to come with us?"
Huajiao knew that the outside mentioned by senior sister meant larger towns outside Furong Town.
He immediately smiled and said, "This requires your consent, sir. When the time comes, let Senior Brother Crow come and play with us."
The crow flapped its wings and said with a smile: "The crow wants to go out to play. I want to buy beef jerky and come back to eat."
There is no such thing in Furong Town. Ever since Li Xiuyuan bought it, Crow has been fond of eating such snacks.
Li Xiuyuan smiled and said: "Then it's the tenth day of the Lunar New Year. Before the New Year is over, Huajiao, you take them out for a walk, and senior and I will just stay in the temple."
Ximen Mengdie chuckled and said, "Xiao Dieer also bought some new clothes for the master."
The tenth day of the lunar month is a good day.
Huajiao bought enough firewood, rice, oil, salt and food and piled them in the temple for fear of starving her husband.
Then he took Wu Wu and Ximen Mengdie with him, rented a carriage, and headed to Dongfang County near Tianshui. On the way, he passed Niulu Town and several small villages.
Further east is Tianshui, which Zhao Hu has been to before. This kind of trip is what Ximen Mengdie likes.
The three of them can first take a boat down to Tianshui, and then go from Tianshui to Dongfang County. On the way back, they can pass by Niulu Town, which is a big circle.
There is an old man Gong Yangbo accompanying Li Xiuyuan in the temple, and Ximen Mengdie is not afraid that his husband will encounter any danger.
However, Li Xiuyuan repeatedly warned Huajiao, Ximen Mengdie and Crow not to cause trouble when they went out. Even if something happened, they would return to Furong Town first, just like last time.
There is no shame in coming back alive.
On the eleventh day of the first lunar month, after getting up early in the morning, Li Xiuyuan listened to the tinkling sound of craftsmen, and without the noise of Xiaodieer and the noise of crows around him, he suddenly felt a lot cooler.
Fortunately, villagers still came to the temple to see the Buddha at the foot of the mountain, which gave Li Xiuyuan something to do.
As usual, the old man distributed plain cakes to the villagers who came up the mountain to see the Buddha. Li Xiuyuan chanted sutras to the Buddhas and listened to the visitors and a group of craftsmen.
From the fifth day of the Lunar New Year to today, nearly half of the stone steps going up the mountain have been paved. A group of craftsmen said that they will strive to repair the more than 100 stone steps by the fifteenth day.
Li Xiuyuan felt the hard work of the craftsmen, and a group of craftsmen felt the compassion of Li Xiuyuan.
After all, they made money on the one hand, and on the other hand, they also had an extra place for their family to go in the future. This was killing two birds with one stone.
Just when the old man Gongyang Bo thought that life would be like this.
Little did they know that Duanmu Qingyun, who had been dormant for half the winter in the Meng Mansion, had already left the imperial city with a group of forbidden troops.
