My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 4 The Monk and the Relic

Compared with the front mountain where incense is flourishing, the back mountain of Tianjie Temple is relatively secluded.

Zhu Zhanhe followed Yao Guangxiao to a garden where there were many stone pagodas, and it turned out to be the cemetery of Tianjie Temple. Of course, all the eminent monks are buried here, ordinary monks are not qualified to enter here.

In the deepest part of Tallinn, there is a small cliff where more than a dozen monks have gathered.

What Zhu Zhanhe didn't expect was that there was a stone platform built on the cliff, and there were nine layers of firewood piled on the platform. An old monk with twelve ring scars burned on his head was lying flat on the woodpile, his pale skin With a bit of black and blue, it looks like he should have passed away.

"Is this... going to be cremated?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked in surprise.

When two people in the later generations met for the first time, if they chatted speculatively, it was very common to go to have a barbecue. Fortunately, Yao Guangxiao brought himself to burn people for fun when they first met!

"That's right. Brother Guangshan is on the stage. He has been doing good deeds all his life. Last year, after the flood in Anqing Prefecture, there was a great epidemic. Brother Guangshan ran around, raising food and medicine to send to the disaster area. He himself entered the epidemic area to save people. Countless, but he suffered from serious diseases due to overwork, and passed away after struggling for a year."

Yao Guangxiao sighed at the end, and his expression was quite sad. It can be seen that he has a lot of friendship with this master Guangshan.

Zhu Zhanhe was also in awe when he heard the words. Originally, he didn't have a good impression of Buddhism, because he knew too many scum who used the influence of Buddhism to do evil.

Of course, where there is evil, there is good. There must be some virtuous monks who are compassionate and compassionate in Buddhism. The Master Guangshan in front of him is obviously one of them.

"Brother Daoyan!"

A dozen or so monks who had arrived earlier stepped forward to salute Yao Guangxiao.

"No need to be too polite, are you all ready?"

Yao Guangxiao asked in a heavy tone.

"It's all ready!"

The leading middle-aged monk looked very sad.

Yao Guangxiao nodded, and then said to Zhu Zhanhe: "My son, this is Master Guangzhi, the abbot of Tianjie Temple, and also Senior Brother Guangshan's junior."

"Zhu Zhanhe met Master Guangzhi!"

Zhu Zhanhe also stepped forward to salute very politely.

It's just that people didn't expect that as soon as the words "Zhu Zhanhe" came out, Guangzhi and the dozen or so monks behind him took a step back. Although they were in Buddhism, they had already heard about the notoriety of the son of the King of Han.

But Guangzhi quickly realized that he was afraid that Zhu Zhanhe would get angry, so he smiled awkwardly and stepped forward to salute: "The son is a man of gold, it is really an honor for the poor monk and others to come to the small temple today!"

"Master, you can really speak!"

Zhu Zhanhe said speechlessly, how bad was the reputation of his predecessor, that even monks are afraid of him?

"Okay, let's start now, don't miss the hour!"

Yao Guangxiao interrupted everyone.

Strictly speaking, Yao Guangxiao is not a monk of the Tianjie Temple, but an order in the temple, but who makes his status too special, so the entire Tianjie Temple is headed by him.

"Senior brother Daoyan said that the senior brother practiced the Bodhisattva precepts hard all his life, and made countless good deeds. During his lifetime, he was enlightened by the Buddha and left his last words. After passing away, colorful relics will be condensed. Don't miss the time!"

Guangzhi became more and more excited as he talked, his chubby face flushed with excitement.

Although Tianjie Temple is known as the best temple in the world, it was actually built for a very short time, less than a hundred years ago. It was burned down again during the Hongwu period. The current Tianjie Temple was rebuilt by Zhu Yuanzhang, which is less than 30 years old.

Therefore, compared with those famous temples and ancient temples that have been around for hundreds of thousands of years, Tianjie Temple is obviously lacking in heritage, but if it can burn the legendary relics, Tianjie Temple will really stand upright in Buddhism.

"Master Guangshan said that he wanted to keep the relics. Can this kind of thing be foreseen?"

Hearing Guangzhi's words, Zhu Zhanhe couldn't help asking Yao Guangxiao.

"That's right. A few days before his passing away, Senior Brother Guangshan dreamed that the Buddha put colorful relics into his chest. That's why he left such last words."

Yao Guangxiao replied very solemnly.

As a good friend of Guangshan, Yao Guangxiao knows that the other party is superb in Buddhism and has done countless good deeds throughout his life. If he can't bear relics, no one in the world will be able to bear relics!

"But... I'm afraid I won't be able to burn relics like this!"

Zhu Zhanhe hesitated for a moment and finally opened his mouth and said, as for the so-called relics given by the Buddha, it might be the hallucination of Master Guangshan who became ill and confused at the end.

As a result, as soon as his words came out, Guangzhi and others immediately glared at them. If they were not afraid of Zhu Zhanhe's identity, they would definitely let the other party know why the cassock on the Buddha was so red?

"Your Majesty, be careful!"

Yao Guangxiao also gave Zhu Zhanhe a displeased look, but as an elder, he didn't say anything else.

Zhu Zhanhe pouted secretly, obviously what he said was the truth, but these people didn't listen, so he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

The time had come, Master Guangshan's cremation did not have any complicated rituals, Guangzhi led people to sit in a circle around the stone platform, and then everyone chanted sutras in unison.

Then a young monk lit the firewood on the stone platform, and the fierce fire ignited, surrounding Master Guangshan's body.

The nine-layer firewood looks very thick, but the wood is not very resistant to burning. After about half an hour, the firewood has almost burned, and the remains inside have also turned into coke.

Zhu Zhanhe and Yao Guangxiao stood at the upper air outlet, but they didn't smell anything strange.

Monk Guangzhi was impatient, so before the ashes in the fire were completely extinguished, he went up to the stone platform himself, and used an iron rod to scrape the ashes away, trying to find the relic.

When Guang Zhi picked up the ashes again, his eyes almost fell out, but he still didn't find the legendary colorful relics, only some unburnt remains.

Although some people in Buddhism use remains as relics, they are not as convincing as real relics after all.

"No! How could there be no?"

Unwilling to pick it up again, Guangzhi muttered with a dead face.

The other monks also looked at each other in blank dismay. As the saying goes, as much hope comes, there is as much disappointment, and it is even more serious. If they can't find the relic, some beliefs in their hearts may be shaken.

"how is this possible?"

Yao Guangxiao in the audience also had a look of disbelief at this moment, but then he turned around abruptly, staring at Zhu Zhanhe like a torch and asked, "Why do you know that you can't burn relics?"

"Young Master, do you want to hear my explanation, or do you want to see the real relic?"

Zhu Zhanhe looked like he had known this before, and then asked Yao Guangxiao back with a smile.

"What do you mean, now that everyone is burned out, how can there be relics?"

Yao Guangxiao was taken aback for a moment, then asked again.

"Don't worry about it, anyway, I have a way to burn out the relics, should you listen or not?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked again with partiality.

"listen!"

Yao Guangxiao was worthy of being Zhu Di's number one counselor, so he made a decision immediately.

Zhu Zhanhe had already guessed that the other party would agree, and immediately stepped forward, and whispered a few words in Yao Guangxiao's ear.

"So simple?"

Yao Guangxiao had a look of disbelief after hearing this.

"It's that simple!"

Zhu Zhanhe smiled slightly.

"Okay! Come on! Go to Xiangji Kitchen to bring some carts of charcoal!"

Yao Guangxiao gritted his teeth, and immediately ordered loudly.

The young monk who brought them here before immediately agreed and trotted away.

After a while, several carts of charcoal were pushed to the cliff, and then all fell on the stone platform under the astonished eyes of Guangzhi and others.

The embers on the stone platform were not completely extinguished, and the charcoal was very flammable, so it burned again quickly. The fiery red charcoal piled up together, like a burning tomb.

"It's not enough, let people fan them like crazy!"

Zhu Zhanhe was filial to Yao Guang again.

Yao Guangxiao nodded, he is now a dead horse as a living horse doctor, so he can only trust Zhu Zhanhe completely.

Following Yao Guangxiao's instructions, a few monks with big arms and round waists stood at the top of the wind, holding big fans and desperately fanning the fire. The flames of the charcoal also turned from red to white, and finally even turned blue.

"Master, what are you doing?"

Guangzhi and the others finally came to their senses at this moment, and immediately ran over to ask Yao Guangxiao.

"You don't need to ask too much!"

Yao Guangxiao waved his hand and didn't want to explain, of course he couldn't explain clearly if he wanted to.

The charcoal burned faster, and Zhu Zhanhe was afraid that it would not be safe, so he had more than a dozen carts of charcoal transported in the middle, and continued to add to the fire.

The fanning monks changed for a few rounds, and each of them stuck out their tongues and panted heavily. If they continued to fan the wind, they would go to the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss with Master Guangshan.

Finally, someone brought over the bellows from the kitchen fire, and only then did the monk who fanned the wind be replaced.

It burned like this for nearly two hours, until it was almost dark, and the fire was slowly extinguished.

"Are you sure you can burn relics?"

Yao Guangxiao looked at the fading flames, and asked Zhu Zhanhe worriedly again.

"It might work."

Zhu Zhanhe stroked his chin and replied.

"Should? You are not sure yourself?"

When Yao Guangxiao heard this, his triangular eyes stared into perfect circles.

"Theoretically, there is no problem, but this is the first time for me to burn relics, so of course I dare not guarantee it, but don't worry, as long as I burn it a few more times, after summing up my experience, I will definitely burn one in the future! "

"Bastard, relics are the most precious treasures of Buddhism. They must be owned by eminent monks. How can they be burned casually?"

No matter how well cultivated Yao Guangxiao was, he was scolded angrily at this moment, and then called out "sin" inwardly. It's a pity that he has kept the precepts for decades, but today he was scolded by Zhu Zhanhe for breaking the precepts angrily!

"Young master, don't scold. If you like relics, I will burn as much as you want in the future."

Zhu Zhanhe was not angry either, he took the iron staff from Guangzhi next to him, and walked up to the stone platform.

Yao Guangxiao also wanted to know if the relics had been burnt, so he followed him up to the stone platform. Guangzhi and the others looked at each other and followed.

Only then did Zhu Zhanhe realize that the solid stone platform had been burned, which gave him some confidence.

Weighing the iron stick in his hand, Zhu Zhanhe used the iron stick to push away the ashes in the fire, revealing the stone that was almost burnt below, and among the ashes on the stone, there were a few small beads shining colorfully of light.

(End of this chapter)