Mysterious Martial Arts: The Record of the Swordsman

Chapter 171

After the natural monk left, Jiang Wen and Fan Xinghan squeezed into the vacant seat left by him, and began to contemplate with his father, eye to eye, but failed to understand what the master meant, and the three of them were silent for a while. Trapped by the machine front.

Like this kind of catch-up talk, seeing the Zen machine, using the space in the words to teach the mind, and even deliberately setting up the machine front, it will make people feel enlightened afterwards. Therefore, after the Song Dynasty, literati and inkmen love to practice Zen for fun. They all thought that they were touched by the Zen style and were secretly happy.

Jiang Wen thought that he had talked a lot just now, and even happened to catch up with the words and blocked the natural monk once, which was far less ingenious than what he just did - the other party just pointed a finger at the sky and threw four A big character, and the witty cryptic language in it, is enough to give them headaches for a while.

"This natural Zen master, how come he is so aggressive?"

The atmosphere was a bit silent, Jiang Wen asked a question knowingly, Yan's father looked back as a matter of course, and the meaning was very clear, only Fan Xinghan was still lost in thought, looking out the window for a long time without any response.

"Hey, Master Fan, why don't you speak?"

Jiang Wen turned away from looking at Yan's father, but spoke to Fan Xinghan who was in a daze.

"It's okay, I just suddenly remembered something messy."

Fan Xinghan bypassed this topic with a foolish smile, bowed his head and ate the rice quickly, eating a sumptuous vegetarian meal.Seeing this, Jiang Wen also closed his mouth, concentrated on the food in front of him, and secretly sighed in his heart. Sure enough, half of what he said had to be the monks.

The so-called Huatou Zen and Dajifeng refer to the quick answers when Zen masters or scholars debate each other and receive guidance, bringing out some profound truths.In Southern Zen, this has almost become the main teaching and practice method.This kind of teaching or practice method often violates the normal logical relationship and forcibly reverses the direction of the discourse information, which makes people feel abrupt and surprised, but often suddenly realizes it at the turn of the road.

For example, the natural monk's sentence "heavy rain is coming" just now seems to have no causal relationship with the current situation. There is neither heavy rain nor such a thing coming, but in the unknown state of the future tense, careful consideration can Out of thin air, I noticed a smell of "the mountain and the rain are about to come and the wind is full of the building".

Before coming here, Jiang Wen had already inquired about the royal tree used by the natural monk to practice Zen, and today he deliberately squatted there to test him, in order to dig out more clues about Southern Shaolin.And could the other party also know his purpose of coming, so he was ambiguous about what he wanted to express?
Jiang Wen came here with a scheming heart, and at this time it was like shouting into the cave, and the echoes echoed unstoppably, and a stone plunged into the water to shake off thousands of waves, making him instantly feel that what the natural monk said was also true. testing him.

What is heavy rain?Where does the rain come from?Could it be that a major event like a torrential rain is about to happen?
How long will it be?And why is it coming?What exactly is next year, tomorrow, or the next hour?
Thinking about it further, assuming the above is true, then the hidden purpose of the entire South Shaolin is to brew this storm! ?

After such a deep thought, Jiang Wen instantly felt uncomfortable sleeping and eating. Even the temple halls of Guangxiao Temple with Danying carvings and the streets and alleys of Guangzhou City full of flowers and brocades made people faintly terrified, as if they were restless under their feet. Under the earth, in the dark and dark deep sea, there is also some kind of indescribable existence, which is slowly opening its huge mouth, allowing countless yellow springs to pour in, waiting forever without knowing what to eat. with prey...

"Master, why don't you eat? What's on your mind?"

At some point, the three apprentices also gathered around the table with their rice bowls in their hands.Fu Ningdie poked her head around and saw her master in a daze, and began to gossip.And Xiao Shitou has always been more considerate. Seeing that Jiang Wen had no appetite to eat, he even took the initiative to say, "Master, if you can't eat anymore, you can give me the food."

Hearing this, Wending silently put down his rice bowl, pushed most of the leftover vegetarian bowl in front of Xiaoshi, and said proactively.

"Brother, I can't eat anymore, these are for you."

Fu Ningdie carefully protected her bowl, and even pushed back Hong Wending's bowl.

"Brother, he hasn't finished eating his own, what are you going to do for him?"

Then remove two circles of oil gluten from the bowl.

But from the beginning to the end, Xiao Shitou was staring at Jiang Wen's action of pulling the job bowl blindly, without moving his eyes for a moment, and then said to Hong Wending firmly, "It's okay, don't worry about me, I'll just wait for Master's meal."

"Can you think about it in your head, you are sure about Master, right?!"

Jiang Wen was furious when he heard this, and unceremoniously hit Zhong Xiaoshi on the head with the end of his chopsticks, and then made a move.

"Eat your own food, and go to line up for food when you're hungry. Didn't you see the monks in the kitchen dozing off?"

Xiao Shitou nodded silently when he heard the words, and continued to speed up the speed of grilling rice. After a meal, he brought rice bowls that were cleaner than washed, and squeezed into the queue for cooking.

Fan Xinghan watched from the sidelines and laughed, and Jiang Wen also laughed secretly, and he could only admit that some things were really difficult to guess.

Huatou Zen and Dajifeng, in the final analysis, are nothing more than "the way is realized by the heart, not in words; why do you seek it from the outside for your own treasures", both of which are rooted in the Buddhist law of "the three realms are only the mind, and all dharmas are only consciousness".

Just like the advocate of Huatou Zen, Zen Master Dahui Zonggao in the Song Dynasty, his original intention was to develop a new way and method of enlightenment in the form of language for the rigid and mixed Zen at that time. The origin of this way. The "Tan Jing" records that Huineng passed on the secret to his disciples when he was dying, saying: "If someone asks the Dharma, he will speak both words, and he will take the correct Dharma. Come and go will cause each other, and the two Dharma will be divided, and there will be nowhere to go." Obviously, it is the use of language skills. embodiment of Zen philosophy.

"Forget it, you will understand it when you are destined. And if the natural master just said it casually without any specific meaning at all, am I not disturbing myself?"

Jiang Wen slowly figured it out while talking to himself, so he ate down-to-earth.He waited for his apprentices to finish finishing the vegetarian food in the bowl, and then walked out of the dining hall with a full belch. He decided to use the time to visit the famous Guangxiao Temple, so he didn't worry about the opportunity of "heavy rain is coming" It's up.

After the meal, the group walked out of the Zhaitang, walked west along the small road, passed the Prince Siddharth Hall and the Lunzang Hall, and visited various historical sites.According to "Guangxiao Temple Records", Guangxiao Temple was originally the former residence of Nanyue King Zhao Jiande.During the Three Kingdoms period, when Yu Fan, the state of Wu, was exiled to live in the South China Sea, this place was called Yu Yuan in the world.

Yu Fan gave lectures in the garden and planted many Pinpo trees and Cortex trees, which are also called "Karen Forest".After Yu Fan's death, Shi Zhai was converted into a temple, named "Zizhi Temple".Subsequent renovations in successive dynasties, today's Guangxiao Temple has a majestic architectural scale and is already the crown of Lingnan jungle.

But when they walked to the empty place between Jietang and Fengfantang, it suddenly started to rain from the sky.

Before a few people could react, the rain became heavier and heavier in the blink of an eye, and there were continuous thick raindrops falling from the sky. All they could hear was the sound of tiles and stone slabs frying beans, crackling and crackling. The tourists and laymen in the temple were also in a mess and hid in the main hall to avoid the rain.

However, the few people who encountered the sudden change of weather had no time to dodge, and the location was relatively remote. It was not safe to stand under the tree under the thunder and lightning. They had to follow the unique pattern of the eleven halls, six halls, and third floors of Guangxiao Temple to the west. He ran to the place where the eaves and roofs were hidden, desperately looking for a place with a roof to hide.

It didn't take long to come to the nearest meditation room to the west, and a few people crashed into the outside of the mottled and peeling-off meditation room, and finally got rid of the baptism of the heavy rain.

Hiding under the eaves, several people knocked on the door and no one answered.Jiang Wen looked inside through the damaged window paper, and saw that there was no Buddha statue in the meditation room, only a portrait of a monk with shaved hair and black clothes on the altar. fade.There are not many beds in the meditation room, only some dismantled and replaced column bases are left side by side, apparently left unused for a long time, and even used as a utility room.

Seeing that there was no one inside, Jiang Wen unceremoniously grabbed the brass lock on the door, lowered his head and fiddled with it twice, the lock snapped open and fell to the ground, and the old wooden door opened slowly.

Jiang Wen walked in without any hesitation, and found that there was not much dust in this West Meditation Room, and it was obvious that someone often swept the dust.

"Good guy, it turned out to be such a 'heavy rain is coming'!"

Fan Xinghan looked at the bad weather and sighed.

Father Yan was still a bit apprehensive and unwilling to go in, but Fan Xinghan was not so particular. He took off his weird hat and wiped the water off his body while muttering, obviously thinking about what Monk Tianran said just now.

The other two looked at each other when they heard the words, only then did they realize that they might really be thinking too much.The natural monk may really just want to tell them that it is going to rain outside soon, and let them go back quickly.

Jiang Wen felt that it was outrageous. Is this monk a fortune teller or a weather forecaster? How can it rain when it rains?It was clear and sunny just now, and the people who went out didn't think of bringing an umbrella. How did the natural monk know that it was going to rain?

"Master Fan, take it easy, you should be glad Zen Master Tianran didn't say 'winter is coming'."

Jiang Wen twisted the water stains on his clothes, and looked at the more violent precipitation outside, "Anyway, we won't be able to leave for a while, why don't we just rest here for a while, and leave when the weather clears up, what do you think?"

Fan Xinghan walked around the rivers and lakes as a beggar on weekdays, and naturally he was used to whatever he encountered, and he didn't care about the quality of the surrounding environment. He just sat on the plinth in the Zen room, and casually brought small stones, expressing that he would use this spare time to teach him Dragon Claw Grabber.

In Jianghu, there are not only well-known masters and apprentices, but also informal teachings. The purpose is to spread the reputation and avoid losing it. First, Fan Xinghan confessed that Xiaoshi's dragon claw grasping hand is his family's martial arts and cannot be passed on. , began to teach him how to use the orifice to hit the acupoints.

Falsely passed on thousands of volumes of books, and the real one was passed down, and two people, one big and one small, taught and practiced there twice. Fan Xinghan's expression was filled with surprise, and he couldn't help but admire Xiao Shitou's eyes, as if he liked him. It was a surprise that he was able to get through at all.After all, Xiao Shitou has already learned moves, and now that he has mastered them a little bit, it will be like a tiger with wings added.

"Master Jiang, if you hadn't been the first to step in, I, Fan, would abduct this child as my apprentice no matter what I said today."

Fan Xinghan sighed regretfully, and patted Xiao Shitou's seemingly weak body vigorously, "How did you find such a good seedling?"

Jiang Wen laughed. Naturally, he would not reveal to him the inside story of Xiaoshitou's experiential learning method. Instead, he said curiously, "Master Fan, I have been a little curious since the gate of Guandi Temple. Among the few disciples, you seem to favor me very much." This big apprentice?"

Fan Xinghan was taken aback when he heard the words, then rubbed his palms, and watched Xiao Shitou walk to Jiang Wen's side with a little disappointment.

"Hey, I think this kid is quite similar to me when I was a child, so I love talent a little bit. Don't look at him with a dull appearance, but in fact he has a clear heart. When he grows up, he must be more promising than me."

Jiang Wen laughed again, waved to Fu Ningdie and Hong Wending, and said to Fan Xinghan: "Since Master Fan has the talent of Bole, why don't someone help me see how good these two apprentices are?"

"Fan doesn't know how to know people. It's just that he had a few good brothers in his early years, and they look similar."

The rough-looking Fan Xinghan remained silent, raised his eyes deliberately for a long time, and then said half-clearly: "I think the two disciples of your sect are also extraordinary. Smart and witty, full of wit. With these three people standing together, as long as the master is a bowl of water and the feelings of the same school are harmonious, the Wuyi School has no worries about its great achievements."

People in sedan chairs carried people, Fan Xinghan praised the three apprentices so much, Jiang Wen happily acquiesced, and backhanded he also took the initiative to praise the various righteous deeds of the Xinghan Beggar Gang in Hanyang area, giving the other side enough face, the two of them Only then continued the chat.

Fan Xinghan chatted excitedly, so he secretly took out a jug of wine from his arms, and stretched out his hand to conjure up a pair of wine glasses.The two of them hid in the meditation room like this, and you drank one cup after another.

"Good wine. Master Fan, how did the name Xinghan Beggars Gang come about? Could it be your name?"

As the number of topics increased, Jiang Wen couldn't help gossiping again.From the very beginning, he felt that this gang name was a bit outrageous. It was the same as Shaolin and Wudang changing their names to Dharma School and Junbao School. Doesn't the leader feel that being talked about by others would give him goosebumps?
Fan Xinghan was embarrassed when he heard the words, and quickly waved his hands as a signal.

"I misunderstood the head of Jiang! The word 'Xinghan' of the Xinghan Beggar Gang refers to the orthodox meaning of the Han family. It was called so a hundred years ago. It has nothing to do with Fan. If I really want to say it, it is Fan’s name was borrowed.”

Fan Xinghan made it very clear when he said this. In fact, the word "Xinghan" of the Hubei Beggars' Gang was used first, and he named himself last, and he still deliberately changed it to this name, obviously trying to cover up his original name and surname. , in exchange for some convenience in walking the rivers and lakes.

But falling into the beggar gang can be said to be one of the most unbearable among the three religions and nine streams. Fan Xinghan's martial arts are also considered outstanding, and he has a unique martial art handed down like dragon claws, but now he regards himself as a beggar without any complaints. Jiang Wen was curious about the reason behind the fact that he was not young enough to start a family or accumulate property, so he couldn't help but ask a few more questions.

Fan Xinghan took a sip of his wine, stared at the three children who were chatting and fighting in silence for a while, apparently not intending to explain why he fell into the beggar gang, Jiang Wen changed the subject, and asked him about his intention to go to Guangzhou.

"Master Fan, Jiang feels that it is inappropriate for you to come to Guangzhou City so rashly this time. Even if General Wu Liuqi really intends to abdicate, I don't think the Shang family will agree to it—this city is very windy. It’s still raining, after all, it’s up to the Shang family.”

The wind and rain were still swaying outside the door, and a few eucalyptus trees trembled in the torrential rain. The oval-shaped leaflets were absent in winter, exposing the bare trunk. Green, obviously deeply ingrained and unshakable, the two have braved the wind and rain to come to a conclusion.

The raindrops danced wildly outside the window of the meditation room, Fan Xinghan nodded silently, then shook his head suddenly, pointed out of the meditation room and said, "Master Jiang, the Shang family is naturally a giant, but do you know who Shang Kexi is afraid of?"

Jiang Wen stroked his chin and pondered for a while before saying, "The Qing court? The Zheng family? Emperor Yongli of Yunnan? Please advise."

Fan Xinghan stroked the rough plinth, but shook his head slowly when he heard Jiang Wen's answer.

"To the Qing court, the Shang family is like a baby meeting its parents. To the Zheng family, it is like a dog meeting a wolf. To Yongli, it is like a rich man meeting his poor relatives. In the final analysis, it is all due to power, not fear."

Fan Xinghan used a series of weird metaphors, which opened Jiang Wen's eyes.

The Qing court's beating of Shang's family was indeed an adult beating a child. After all, everything Shang Kexi made a fortune was given by the Manchus, which is no different from parenting.The Zheng family, entrenched between Fujian and Guangdong, is like a hungry wolf waiting for an opportunity. At any time, it will aim at the rich land under Shang Kexi's jurisdiction and take a bite, which will make his heart ache. Life and death, mutual checks and balances.

In the end, Emperor Yongli of the Southern Ming Dynasty who traveled thousands of miles and hunted far away in Yunnan, his life and death has little to do with Shang Kexi—it is Wu Sangui’s business to be responsible for chasing and killing Yongli, as long as Yongli is not the same as it was a few years ago To send someone to attack him, Shang Kexi would never have any intention of taking the initiative to attack.

Fan Xinghan raised his head slowly: "Wu Liuqi also lived in the beggar gang at the beginning, and had friendship with many brothers. One day, someone found me and said that the person Shang Kexi feared the most was in his hands. He planned to talk about it. Conditions, give Xinghan Gang if he gets benefits, so he can take the opportunity to get away from Emperor Guan."

"I see. Who is Shang Kexi afraid of?" Jiang Wen asked earnestly.

Fan Xinghan was silent for a long time, and finally shook his head, which completely confused Jiang Wen.

"Wu Liuqi didn't tell me at the beginning, and I was still guessing who this person is. When I came to Guangxiao Temple today, I wanted to ask Zen Master Tianran about this matter, and maybe he would know Wu Liuqi's whereabouts—it's a pity that Abbot Tianran obviously unwilling to speak."

Fan Xinghan said slowly.

Jiang Wen frowned slightly: "You mean, Zen Master Tianran knows who is said to be lovable and fearful?"

A message that can be used to threaten Shang Kexi, or exchange terms with Shang Kexi?This was something Jiang Wen hadn't thought of.Could it be that Wu Liuqi knew too much and was silenced by Shang Kexi?But this reason seems to also explain why the natural monk dared to sympathize with and shelter the Ming Dynasty anti-Qing people.

The drunk Jiang Wen couldn't help but wonder if he could use this method in exchange for Shang Kexi's support for Geng Jingzhong.But does such news really exist?

Facing Jiang Wen's doubts, Fan Xinghan said with incomparable certainty: "Not only did he know, but he also knew about it earlier than Wu Liuqi. There is no doubt about it."

According to Fan Xinghan, the Manchu Qing army arrived in Guangzhou in October of the sixth year of Shunzhi, besieged the city for 10 months, and finally captured the city. After King Shang Kexi of Pingnan and King Geng Jimao of Jingnan led the Qing army to capture Guangzhou, the city was massacred for ten days. Everywhere, it is said that Zen Master Tianran went alone and persuaded Shang Kexi to stop the killing.

And the large-scale massacres after the capture of Guangzhou, it is said that Shang Kexi, the maker of this disaster, has fallen into endless nightmares since then. He has no peace all day long, and often hangs around various temples and Taoist temples in an attempt to obtain peace of mind.

And according to Wu Liuqi, it was in this Guangxiao Temple that Shang Kexi met the abbot at that time, Monk Tianran.Under the instigation of the natural monk, Shang Kexi came to his senses. He followed the persuasion of the natural monk and took the lead in expanding the temple to save the souls who died in the ten-day massacre.

The natural monk also took advantage of Shang Kexi's support to form good relationships and mobilize more people to raise donations. There was a wave of fundraising inside and outside the government, and even Shang Kexi's wife, Princess Shu, donated to build the Daxiong Palace. Donate money to build Weituo Hall and Jialan Hall, Governor Liu Bingquan of Guangdong donates money to build Shanmen...

If what Wu Liuqi said is true, the reason why the natural monk can make the murderous Shang Kexi accept the teachings of Buddhism depends on the news in his hands, which is enough to make Shang Kexi sleepless and fearful of those who worry.

All of this is too unreasonable, but there is a trace of logic in the completely unreasonable, and people can't help feeling that there is a lot of mystery in it.

After drinking the wine, the rain outside the door gradually stopped.

The leaden sky showed no signs of clearing up, and the layers of thick clouds seemed to drip water at any time, hanging high above people's heads, brewing the next heavy rain that might come at any time.

Perhaps this is the coming of the heavy rain, and the people trapped in the temple can only walk through the knee-high water together with anxiety, and go home.

"The wind blew this door open? It's a good thing I found out, otherwise Master will blame me again..."

The little novice monk passed by the west meditation room, saw the door was open and hurried up to close it.

The little novice’s footsteps were hurried and muddy, but when he saw the portrait of the monk with shaved hair and black clothes, he hesitated for a moment, saluted respectfully, and then locked the lock again, and the deserted Zen room returned to silence. Gradually disappear into the dark night.

(End of this chapter)