If I don't have money to go to college, I can only go to slay the dragon.

Lingyun Temple.

Li Xingchu stood at the foot of the mountain gate again. The distance between Peiyuan Clinic and Lingyun Temple was not far. It was less than 10 kilometers away. Running a night marathon was not considered a warm-up. In addition, he came here by motorcycle. The eldest brother was driving so fast that he was thrown to the foot of the mountain in a short while.

The motorcycle's master was touched by his sincerity in coming to worship Buddha at such a late hour, and insisted on waiting for him at the foot of the mountain before sending him back, but he still had to pay for the return trip.

Li Xingchu said a brief goodbye to his master Mo and then climbed up the mountain path of Lingyun Temple. Walking the same road again, his mood was different. At night in the mountain forest, the roadside was lit with Lingyun Temple's special stone lanterns, and the warm yellow fire illuminated the mountain path. The stairs and the gurgling sound of the river outside the forest also make people feel calm.

When he reached the stone carving that read "Return to the shore", Li Xingchu stopped and watched for a moment again, just like Li Muyue had stopped every time he came here several times before.

Maybe Buddha's fate really favored Li Xingchu, and he suddenly understood the meaning of these four simple words.

Buddhism says that there is no limit to the sea of ​​suffering, but when you turn around, you will reach the shore. He and Li Muyue had been in the sea of ​​suffering for so long. During this time, the boundless sea of ​​suffering made them unable to see the way forward and forward. They were confused countless times whether the choices they had made were correct and whether the love they pursued could really yield good results.

Therefore, the real misery lies in the fact that whether you are walking forward or backward, you cannot know whether the path is correct. Those who cannot turn back do not mean that they do not want to turn back, but that it is difficult to distinguish how to turn back and cannot find the way to turn back. "The way back", how can we strengthen our determination to turn back and escape from the sea of ​​suffering and reach the other shore?

Maybe I have always been on the right path, or maybe I am on the way back.

"What the hell, am I really destined to be with Buddha?" Li Xingchu muttered in a low voice and quickened his pace.

Before taking a few steps forward, he suddenly saw a figure in front of him with his back to him. The light of the stone lamp illuminated the gray monk's robe on the figure. Looking at the figure, Li Xingchu immediately recognized it. This is the little monk who took them up the mountain that day.

"Little master, what are you doing standing here?" Li Xingchu smiled and walked up to say hello, but received no response from the other party.

He walked behind the young monk and reached out to pat his shoulder, but the other man stood there like a stone pillar. Looking from the side, Li Xingchu was stunned to find that the young monk was clasping his hands together and closing his eyes to guard his heart, as if he was in trance. He remained motionless, with a nice smile hanging on his lips.

"Little Master?" Li Xingchu patted the young monk on the shoulder again. He was still motionless. He was breathing on the tip of his nose and his eyelashes were trembling slightly. This made him feel strange.

Are you practicing some kind of practice? Something like closed-mouth meditation, where no one can disturb you until you finish practicing?

The light of the stone lamp shone on the young monk's face, and Li Xingchu saw only tranquility and peace. The young monk seemed to have gained some key points of Mahayana Buddhism in his trance, and was falling into epiphany by chance.

Li Xingchu tried calling a few more times without getting any response, so he had no choice but to give up.

"Young Master, are you busy? I came to say goodbye to Master Yuncheng. If you are not free, I can go up by myself." He was a little puzzled and strange, but when the other party didn't respond, he had no choice but to give up and continue walking forward, turning back during the process. After another glance, in the light of the stone lamp, the young monk was still as meditative as a stone statue.

Strange things.

Li Xingchu thought to himself, and quickened his pace, and soon reached the top of the mountain. Lingyun Temple was unusually quiet tonight, with no chanting or the ringing of the prayer bell. The giant Buddha slept in the night, and the river flowed under its feet. And passed into the eyes of the bottomless abyss.

Li Xingchu walked towards the main hall of Lingyun Temple and saw two figures in front of the temple. Under the illumination of the stone lamp, he could see clearly that they were two monks in common clothes. They were standing in front of the stone steps of the temple door with their hands clasped together, their eyes closed and their heads lowered. Their movements were similar. His posture was exactly the same as that of the little monk on the mountain path, his eyes showed peace and kindness, without any pain or struggle.

"Two masters, it's almost night. May I ask if Master Yuncheng has rested?" Li Xingchu approached, his face gradually fell into calmness, and he greeted as softly as possible.

But his greetings were not answered. The two monks seemed to be in trance and had no reaction at all to the outside world.

"I'm offended." Li Xingchu stepped forward and touched the wrist of one of the young monks. Judging from the pulse, the young monk's vital signs were completely normal, the pulse was stable, and he was a little too healthy. But for some unknown reason, he was just for... Li Xingchu didn't respond to his call. He just closed his eyes and fell into meditation, with a peaceful face and even a smile on his lips.

Li Xingchu let go of the young monk's hand and looked at the open main door of Lingyun Temple. His face gradually darkened. He walked lightly into the darkness where the stone lamp could not illuminate, and walked into the door of the main hall little by little.

In the Heavenly King's Hall, Li Xingchu saw several monks sitting on futons. They knelt with their hands clasped and sat on the golden and jade Maitreya statue made of white marble. Like the people outside, they were all in a state of trance, with the same weird smile hanging on their lips. The statues of the four heavenly kings on the side are still glaring with anger, but their anger seems to be a bit more angry than usual. I don't know if it is caused by the flickering candlelight.

Li Xingchu passed through the Heavenly King's Hall and continued deeper, and then he saw a scene that made his heart sink to the bottom. In front of the main hall, countless monks from Lingyun Temple stood neatly in the open space. Under the flickering candlelight, they clasped their hands in piety. Entering concentration, with a smile on his face, as if he had attained enlightenment.

Li Xingchu's face gradually darkened, and he quickly walked to the side door next to the Main Hall. This was the fastest way to leave Lingyun Temple. Master Yuncheng took them through it last time. After leaving here, they followed the stone road and passed Master Haitong's cave. You can reach a stone bridge. After the stone bridge is the Plum Garden, which is the fastest way down the mountain.

The entire Lingyun Temple fell into deathly silence. Li Xingchu ran wildly on the night road. From time to time, he could see monks who were in meditation all around. They had smiles on their lips and clasped their hands. Some of their heads were tilted to one side as if they were thinking about some kind of Zen idea. Without stone lamps, It looked extremely scary under the moonlight.

Just when Li Xingchu walked to the Meiyuan and was about to take the path down the mountain, he suddenly heard a gasping sound. A violent gasping sound came from the Meiyuan. Just out of curiosity, he took one more look, and then he couldn't walk at all. On the way.

In the plum garden, a familiar figure stood in the sea of ​​flowers. That was Master Yuncheng. The plum blossoms were blooming at his feet. The plum blossoms blooming proudly in the biting cold wind were stained with blood and sticky like Master Yuncheng. The heavy blood failed to suppress their blooming branches, which still stood erect in the moonlight against the howling winter wind.

Li Xingchu hid outside the wall of the Plum Garden. Through the hollow carvings on the wall, his eyes were fixed on Master Yuncheng's abdomen. There was a cut in the golden-red monk's robe, and not only was it flowing out from inside, There was blood and pink intestines. At this moment, it was completely dependent on Master Yuncheng's left hand to support him from falling to the ground. The vajra bell and pestle held in his right hand had been broken in half, and the lotus base disappeared. trace.

In the sea of ​​flowers, three corpses were mangled in the moonlight, and their identities could be vaguely identified from their remaining blurry faces.

The current host of Wuyou Temple is Kong Miao.

The current host of Fuhu Temple is Miao Hai.

The current host of Wannian Temple is Haixu

The bodies of the three hosts died, and their bones were not yet cold, but still warm.

A bone-chilling cold climbed up his spine. In the reflection of Li Xingchu's pupils, around Master Yuncheng and at the four corners of the plum garden stood four dead figures, standing in the darkness like ghosts, with blood-red pupils. Looking straight ahead, looking at the struggling prey in the cage.

Under the moonlight, the four black figures were wearing black official uniforms and pale human bone masks on their faces. They were silent, ominous, and terrifying.

Sharp-eyed Li Xingchu discovered that the missing Vajra bell and pestle base was inserted into the heart of one of the black figures' official uniforms, but no blood flowed from it.

Under the moonlight, the cold wind blew apart the plum garden, and the petals danced into the sky.

"Amitabha." In the sea of ​​flowers, Master Yuncheng suddenly chanted the Buddha's name.

His eyes widened with anger, and the smiling Maitreya's face suddenly turned ferocious. A "wave of air" erupted from his body, and golden dazzling light swept across the sea of ​​flowers. There was a vague sound of roaring dragons rising into the sky, and in the light In the middle, cyan lines appeared all over Master Yuncheng's body, like a dragon moving on his bulging body!

But the next moment, four black chains shot out among the dancing petals. The golden light was suddenly shattered by the chains like egg shells, and penetrated Master Yuncheng's limbs easily with the cold sound of the chains vibrating. Pulled by the huge force, Master Yuncheng collapsed to the ground, and his limbs were stretched into a "big" character!

The tightly held vajra bell and pestle fell out of his hand and fell into the soil in the flower field. All the sounds and power were in vain.

The chain shook slightly, and the four black figures linked to it had blood-red pupils and were dead silent.

At this moment, Li Xingchu realized that he had reached the end, and the shocking transformation of Lingyun Temple with blood as ink finally came to an end.

"Life is so joyful, and death is so painful." Master Yuncheng's voice rang out in the sea of ​​flowers, causing Li Xingchu, who was trembling all over, to listen carefully.

"The evil thing has been sent away long ago, and you can't get it from me."

The four black figures in black official uniforms did not speak or move. They seemed to be just dead people.

"The first is to kill karma. It will cause external retribution. The earth is salty and the herbs are powerless." Yuncheng said, "I can die, but please let go of those who have nothing to do with it."

The chains that locked Yuncheng became tighter and tighter, and Yuncheng on the ground was gradually pulled into the air by the force exerted from all sides. The tearing pain spread to his limbs, but his blood-stained face was like Maitreya. Still maintaining peace.

"That's fine," he said, followed by a sigh.

Li Xingchu could clearly hear the breaking of bones and the slow sound of tearing muscles. He stared at the cruel scene in the plum garden and held his breath, looking at every detail, as if he wanted to engrave this scene in his mind.

Suddenly, Master Yuncheng turned his head and looked at a corner in the darkness, where Li Xingchu was hiding.

Their eyes met in the air, guilt? sigh? Pray? Li Xingchu had never seen such complicated eyes, which were the expectations of the dying, the hope for a glimmer of hope.

Then he heard Master Yuncheng's last words:

"Donor, there is no arrogance. Strength comes from the outside, but the master is from the inside. When moving, it is strong, and when it is strong, it responds. It is the destiny of heaven to be upright. If there is evil, there will be evil, and if it is unfavorable, there will be danger. Where there is no arrogance, What’s the matter? If God’s destiny doesn’t bless us, then it’s OK. If God’s destiny doesn’t bless us, then it’s okay. If God’s destiny doesn’t bless us, then it’s fine.”

The last three repetitions were louder than the first. Indignation, lamentation, regret, too many mixed emotions resounded throughout the plum garden.

Then there was the sound of flesh and blood exploding in the plum garden, and a large amount of blood spilled out, like a heavy rain pouring on the plum blossoms, and also on the corpses of the three dead hosts.

Everything fell silent again.

The chains that fell to the ground hung in the flower field, retracting in the direction they came from, leaving deep ravines in the ground.

Outside the plum garden, the place where Li Xingchu had been hiding was already empty.

—

Wuwang Gua is fundamentally prosperous and conducive to adhering to the right path. If it is not correct, there will be disaster and it will be difficult to go there.

Obtaining very prosperous and smooth results with integrity is in line with the law of heaven. If you cannot stick to the right path, there will be disasters and it will be difficult to go there. Where can we reach if we act blindly? If God doesn't protect you, why go there?

Back to shore.

—

He rushed into the cave, pushed open the stone bed with all his strength, and saw the treasure box hidden in the secret compartment.

He opened the treasure box, and inside it was a black heart that had long since withered and shrunk like a nut.