Zhang Mo had not yet entered the main hall on the north side. When he saw the hunchbacked old man suddenly kneeling down, he hurriedly turned back and stood beside Chang Sheng.
The hunchbacked old man knelt down and kowtowed to the two of them. At the same time, he said sadly, "I did hide something before, but I didn't mean to fool him. It was really out of necessity. I hope you will show your kindness and show mercy."
Zhang Mo heard what Changsheng had said to the hunchbacked old man before. When he saw the old man kneeling down and admitting his mistake, he answered, "What on earth is going on? Let's recruit him truthfully."
Since it was Zhang Mo who had taken action earlier, the hunchbacked old man was more afraid of Zhang Mo than Changsheng. Hearing her speak, he felt frightened in his heart and told her eagerly, but not everyone can be as concise and concise as Changsheng. This hunchbacked old man was afraid of Zhang Mo. The old man talked for a long time, and the two of them just sorted things out.
What happened seems to be very tortuous, but in fact it is very simple. The old man with a hunchback turned into a spirit from a locust tree. The reason why he became a spirit is because this place was originally a mass grave with a strong yin energy, and the locust tree is a yin tree. The wood grows in the mass graves and absorbs the yin energy here all year round. Over time, it finally gives birth to spiritual consciousness and survives the tribulation and becomes a spirit.
Since mass graves are places where corpses are dumped, the locust tree not only absorbs nutrients from the corpse but also communicates with the aura of the corpse. The nutrients and yin energy contained in the corpse invisibly extend the life of the old locust tree, and the existence of the old locust tree also So that the lonely ghosts whose corpses have decayed can survive forever.
The old locust tree and the lonely ghosts here have been living together in peace for many years. However, a group of monks came here a hundred years ago and found that the yin energy here was very heavy and many ghosts gathered here. The temple tries to liberate the lonely ghosts here.
It has to be said that these monks do have good intentions, but they ignore that the lonely ghosts here are connected with the old locust tree. As long as the old locust tree is still there, they cannot be saved. The most important thing is that they cannot be saved. I don’t want to be saved.
The biggest common problem in the world is to do to others what you want. To put it bluntly, they always like to impose their own preferences and judgments on others, forcing others to do what they think is right. This group of monks made this mistake back then, because These lonely ghosts do not want to be saved. From the perspective of an outsider, since they are dead, it would be great to be reincarnated as soon as possible. But this is not the case from the perspective of the authorities. Lonely souls and wild ghosts are very afraid of being saved, because in their view, after reincarnation, the memory of the previous life will completely disappear, which is equivalent to complete death. They have already died once, so for them, There is a deeper fear of death.
The monks who lived in Lingkong Temple at that time could be said to have never forgotten their original intentions and worked tirelessly to redeem themselves. However, the existence of the old locust tree made everything they did in vain. During this period, some monks also discovered that the reason why these deceased souls could not be saved was probably related to the old man. It is related to the locust tree, but in the eyes of monks, vegetation is also a living being, and the locust tree cannot be cut down in order to save the souls of the dead.
It was precisely because they never attacked the old locust tree that they were able to save their lives. Because the old locust tree had become a spirit and possessed Taoism, it was easy to kill those monks.
This stalemate lasted for many years. In the end, most of the monks in the temple passed away, and only a few monks left wandered elsewhere. Before leaving, they carved scriptures on the mountain tops around the temple to save the souls of the dead, trying to use the scriptures and The long years have gradually worn away the resentment of these ghosts.
After listening to what the hunchbacked old man said, neither Chang Sheng nor Zhang Mo answered. Changsheng recalled the details in his mind. When the hunchbacked old man appeared, he did say that Zhang Mo should raise his noble hand and let the souls of those children linger here. Compare the before and after, The words of the hunchbacked old man are quite credible.
Seeing that the two of them were silent for a long time, the hunchbacked old man became more and more nervous, "Two real men, everything the old man said is true, and there is absolutely no lie. These old men and those miserable children live here and have never killed anyone. It has not harmed the monks in the temple or passers-by. If you don't believe it, you can ask around."
The hunchbacked old man finished speaking, and without waiting for the two to answer, he hurriedly said, "The sudden fall of the plaque on the door was indeed their fault, but they didn't mean to hurt anyone, they just wanted to scare you two away. If we are really harmful to anyone, How can I scare you two away if you have such a strong heart?"
Changsheng glanced at the hunchbacked old man, then asked, "Why do you want us to destroy the salvation scriptures left by those monks?"
The hunchbacked old man said, "Those transcending scriptures wipe the sun and work day and night. I am old and have a body of yin wood. The existence of the scriptures will not only mess up my aura, but also make those poor children wither away."
"You should get up first, stop kneeling, let us think about it before we talk." Changsheng said to the hunchbacked old man.
The hunchbacked old man did not try to kidnap the two of them morally. Changsheng asked him to get up, and he stood up tremblingly and stopped kneeling.
Chang Sheng did not shy away from the hunchbacked old man, and turned to look at Zhang Mo, "What do you think?"
Zhang Mo did not answer Chang Sheng's words, but said casually, "It is getting late, and we are not in a hurry to hit the road. Let's stay in this temple for one night."
Changsheng knew that Zhang Mo wanted to think carefully before making any calculations, so he nodded in agreement.
When the hunchbacked old man saw that the two of them wanted to stay in the temple, he was very happy to know that things might turn around. "All the houses in the temple can be settled, but no one has come here for many years, so it is not wet and cold."
Changsheng nodded to the hunchbacked old man. The reason why the tree demon emphasized that all houses can be settled was to prove to the two of them that what it said before was true and that it was not afraid of the two of them searching and verifying it.
The temple is not big, so the two of them went to the main hall first. Since the temple has been abandoned for many years, the window paper has been broken, and even the window lattice is damaged. The main hall is full of dust and fallen leaves, and the gold paint on the Buddha statue has long been mottled and peeled off. However, the whole The furnishings in the main hall are very neat, and all kinds of utensils are placed where they should be.
The two of them were Taoist priests and did not worship Buddha. After a short stay in the main hall, the two of them checked the left and right wing rooms. Like the main hall, although the wing rooms were dilapidated, they were not messy. This shows that what the hunchbacked old man said before was indeed true. It's true. After the monk left, no outsiders came here. If they had the intention to harm people, they would definitely lead passers-by into the ruined temple instead of scaring them away.
Seeing that the two wanted to take a break in the east chamber, the hunchbacked old man and the little ghosts brought dry branches and firewood for the two of them to make a fire to ward off the cold.
At this time, these little ghosts no longer looked as ferocious as before. Zhang Mo had killed several of their companions before, so these little ghosts were very afraid of her. Although they came to deliver firewood, they did not dare to look directly at Zhang Mo.
"How old are you?" Changsheng stopped a kid who was peeking at him.
The kid didn't expect Chang Sheng to talk to him. He was so frightened that he didn't dare to speak.
Upon seeing this, the hunchbacked old man hurriedly stepped forward to encourage him, and then the kid lowered his head and said, "He's nine years old."
"How many years have you been here?" Changsheng asked.
"Many years," said the kid.
"Do you want to be reincarnated?" Changsheng asked again.
This time the kid didn't answer immediately. He hesitated for a long time before asking in a low voice, "Can I see my mother after reincarnation?"
As soon as the kid said this, it was Changsheng's turn to be silent, because the soul needs to take Mengpo soup after going to the underworld. By then, he will forget who he is, and how can he remember his mother.
According to what the kid said, Zhang Mo was sure that they were not threatened by the tree demon, so he waved his hand to them and asked them to leave first.
After the hunchbacked old man and the kid had left, Changsheng lit a bonfire and sat back next to Zhang Mo, "It probably didn't lie. What do you want to do?"
"What do you want to do?" Zhang Mo asked casually.
"I don't know much about them, so I'll listen to you." Changsheng said.
"The burden of heaven has its own destiny. If you don't kill or help, just let them go..."
