Hearing Da Tou's shouting, Changsheng put down Si Zhi who was reading, stood up and walked outside the house. The reason why he was not anxious was because he could hear there was only surprise in Da Tou's voice, not panic.
It was already dawn, and it was already slightly bright outside. Datou's voice came from the east. After coming out, Changsheng walked eastward along the snake path, "What's wrong?"
"Come and see where you are." Big Tou's voice came from the mountains to the east.
Due to the heavy humidity in the summer morning, there was mist lingering in the mountains. Changsheng could not see his head and could only determine his general location based on the sound.
Worried that Changsheng would not be able to find him, Big Head loudly pointed the way, "Always follow the snake path."
"What did you find?" Changsheng asked casually.
"There must be something wrong with this place." Datou replied.
Datou said so nonsense that Changsheng didn't bother to ask. He walked quickly eastward along the snake path and came to the east edge of the square. There was a stone road leading to the forest. It was dilapidated due to disrepair for many years.
Since Wuxiang Temple has been abandoned for many years, the trees in the mountains have not been pruned. They have grown very tall, blocking out the sky and the sun. In addition, there is mist lingering in the mountains. After entering the woods, although it is not impossible to see all the fingers, you can only see two or three. Scenery within ten feet.
Not far away, Changsheng saw a pagoda. Before Buddhism was introduced to China, there were no pagodas in China. The original pagodas were all pagodas, and pagodas were not places to enshrine Buddha statues, but to The place where deceased monks are buried is, to put it bluntly, the monk’s grave.
After walking a few feet, I saw a similar pagoda. Different from the common folk pagodas nowadays, the pagodas where monks are buried are all stone pagodas, and they are not large in size. The highest is only two or three feet. Since the remains of monks are buried in The ones below the tower, so the towers on the ground are only used for signs and are mostly solid.
Seeing two pagodas in succession, Changsheng knew that this place was the pagoda forest of Wuxiang Temple, which was used to bury the tombs of monks who passed away.
If there were no snake paths on the ground, it would be easy to get lost while walking in the foggy forest. However, even if he followed the snake path, Changsheng had to walk for a long time before he found Datou. Firstly, the location of Datou was very remote. Secondly, the snake path It's not a straight path, but a complicated circuit from the Tallinn.
There is also a pagoda where the big head is located. Its size and style are not much different from those seen on the way here. However, this pagoda is located on the hillside in the northeast of Tallinn, far away from other pagodas.
Pines and cypresses are usually planted around the pagoda, but there are large peonies growing around this pagoda. Due to their age, several peonies have even grown into tall peony trees. The pagoda is surrounded by large peonies. , at this time some peonies are blooming, colorful and fragrant.
"Sir, look, there is a hole there." Datou pointed to the south side of the pagoda.
Even if Datou didn't remind him, Changsheng also discovered that there was a one-foot-wide hole close to the ground on the south side of the pagoda. That was also the end of the snake path. The black snake was not around the pagoda at the moment. It had undoubtedly crawled into the hole. went.
"This should be the resting place of its owner." As Chang Sheng spoke, he looked at the peonies around the pagoda again. It was obvious that these peonies were planted artificially, and most of them were rare varieties. Some flower branches had buds on them, and some flower branches had buds on them. There are seeds, and some are blooming. This shows that the people who planted them spent a lot of time, aiming to have peonies blooming around the pagoda all year round.
"How can any monk plant flowers on the cemetery?" Datou was puzzled. "Isn't that a flower monk?"
"It's unreasonable," Chang Sheng nodded, "but not all monks can build pagodas after their death. Only eminent monks can have this treatment. This person is qualified to enjoy the pagoda, which means that he must have had someone else in his life. place."
Datou took a deep breath and sniffed vigorously, "It smells so good. This monk likes peonies so much. He probably didn't follow the rules and regulations during his lifetime."
"Shi Xuanming also doesn't abide by the clear rules and precepts, but this does not affect his devotion to Buddhism," Changsheng said casually, "Besides, Buddhism originally did not have so many clear rules and precepts. They were all added by Buddhists gradually, such as eating meat. Let’s face it, Buddhism has never said that people should not eat meat. This is the practice of some believers who sacrifice themselves for the sake of the end and resort to self-abuse.”
"Your Excellency is truly knowledgeable about the past and present..."
Before Datou could finish speaking, Changsheng waved his hand and interrupted him, "Stop shooting. I know how much I weigh. How long has the black snake been in there?"
"It didn't take much time to get in," Big Head said. "This tomb is too big. It swam very slowly, and it took a long time to get here."
Before Changsheng came, Datou did not dare to act rashly. After Changsheng came, he felt confident. After saying that, he jumped onto the pagoda and looked around the pagoda.
Chang Sheng knew what Da Tou was looking for, "Don't look at it. Monks are different from lay people. There will be no inscriptions on the pagoda recording life deeds and merits."
"Sir, this tower seems to be solid." Big Head said.
Changsheng said, "After the death of great eminent monks, they are often cremated. If there are relics left, they are usually placed at the highest point of the pagoda."
This pagoda has three floors. After hearing Changsheng's words, Datou jumped to the second floor. Looking up, he found that the top of the pagoda was also carved from bluestone and could not hide anything at all.
"Sir, the relics are treasures, so they are unlikely to be placed on the top of the tower, right?" Big Head asked.
"For Buddhists, it is a treasure, but for those who do not believe in Buddhism, it is just ashes," Changsheng said. "And the truly virtuous and eminent monks do not care about the human body. To them, it is just a rotten skin."
Datou jumped down lightly, shook his head and said, "It may be buried underground, but not above."
Changsheng nodded.
Datou said again, "Sir, the fact that this monk was able to subdue this giant python during his lifetime means that he is capable of magic. There may be something we need in the grave."
"This is a giant snake, not a giant python," Changsheng corrected, "and the Buddhists don't know magic, they practice Buddhist magical powers."
"That's probably what you mean," Big Tou pointed at the hole on the south side of the pagoda, "Sir, I can get into this hole."
"The black snake is inside now, aren't you afraid?" Chang Sheng asked with a smile.
"I've fed it, so it probably won't bite me." Big Tou said with a smile.
"It depends on whether you threaten its owner," Changsheng said. "It may not hate people, but it will never recognize you as its owner just because you have fed it, like this cold-blooded snake. It’s the hardest to tame.”
"It makes sense," Datou nodded repeatedly, "This snake is indeed very affectionate. Its owner has been dead for so many years, and it still stays here."
While Datou was talking, Changsheng had been looking at the peonies that had grown into trees. It was not easy for peonies to grow into trees. According to the tree circumference, these peonies should have grown for decades. If they were planted when the tomb owner died, , it means that the owner of the tomb passed away decades ago, and Wuxiang Temple was already in decline at that time and no longer glorious in the past.
In addition, this black snake had previously been lying in the corner of the Dharma platform of the Main Hall. That position was the position of the person who lectured or led the singing. The person who lectured or led the singing in the morning and evening classes was usually the abbot. Or the abbot serves.
The black snake often stays there, which means that it has always been coiled there when the owner was alive. If there were other people in the temple at that time, or there were foreign pilgrims, the black snake would definitely scare them. This shows that during the last time Emperor Wu destroyed the Buddha After that, all the monks in the temple were forced to return to secular life, leaving only the owner of the black snake living here alone with it.
While Chang Sheng was observing and thinking, Da Tou was not idle either. He ran to the cave entrance on the south side of the pagoda and looked inside, "Sir, that's not right. It doesn't seem like it dug this hole."
"What do you mean?" Changsheng asked casually.
Datou pointed to the entrance of the cave and said, "This cave is surrounded by stones, except for this one hole. This hole should be deliberately left for the giant snake to enter and exit."
Changsheng frowned slightly when he heard this. The owner of this pagoda behaved very differently from ordinary monks. However, since this person passed away decades ago, he must have nothing to do with the famous Zen Master Xu Yin who conquered demons and slayed demons three hundred years ago. , but someone else.
"Sir, there are some things you can't do but I can do." Datou said.
"No, it's too dangerous." Chang Sheng sternly objected.
"Then dig it out." Big Head said.
"Not even good," Chang Sheng waved his hands repeatedly, "It's okay if a Taoist priest digs up a monk's grave and spreads the word. My reputation is not good to begin with, and more people will scold me."
"I'll dig it," Big Head said.
"Who doesn't know the difference between you digging and me wearing a pair of pants?" Changsheng shook his head.
The speaker is careless, but the listener is moved. Hearing the words of Immortality, the big head is so moved that he arches his back and wants to get in, "I'm going in!"
Before Chang Sheng could say anything to stop him, Da Tou stepped out with a loud cry, "It's out."
Worried that the black snake would suddenly attack, Changsheng immediately braced himself and secretly took precautions.
The huge snake head immediately poked out of the hole in the ground. Its movements were very slow, and it didn't seem like it wanted to attack or hurt anyone.
At the same time that the snake's head appeared, the two of them noticed something in the black snake's mouth. Since the thing was held in the mouth of the black snake, they couldn't see it completely, but from a rough inspection, it seemed to be a black bag.
Da Tou was near the entrance of the cave. Black Snake poked his head out and put the black bag next to Da Tou.
The black bag was a very common money bag. After asking Chang Sheng's opinion with his eyes, Da Tou picked up the black money bag. Since it was not very old, the money bag had not yet decayed. Da Tou opened it and inspected it, "They are some broken silver. Good guy, you are so sensible, and you know not to suffer our consequences in vain."
After Datou finished speaking, he walked over and handed the money bag to Changsheng. Changsheng looked at it and found that it was indeed some broken silver, including some copper coins. He picked up one and found that it was indeed a coin from Emperor Wu's era.
"Sir, what should I do next?" Big Head asked.
Changsheng handed the money bag to Datou and said, "Return the money bag to it."
The big head is confused and tilts his head in confusion.
Changsheng explained, "There is an underground palace down here. There must be other things in the underground palace. Return the money bag to it and see what it will do next..."
