Aoyama

Chapter 342 Forty-Nine Heavens

Chen Ji is gone.

Everyone looked at Chen Ji and the little monk talking and laughing, and they wanted to talk about it. They wanted to ask Chen Ji to talk about the debate just now. Why can evil people become Buddhas? Did you think about having a second debate with Wu Zhai? Did you prepare in advance?

But before they could think it through, Chen Ji had already gone far away.

Qi Zhenwu stood in the Mingse Building and looked back at the half-extinguished candle in the main hall: "Today's incident has become a big deal. Brother Chen Ji has cut off a path for cultivation in Yuanjue Temple."

Qi Zhaoning asked doubtfully, "Brother, that's not the case. I just lost a debate."

Qi Zhenwu shook his head: "As long as the 'selflessness' remains unchanged, this way of debating scriptures can be practiced by everyone in the world, except for Buddhists."

Shen Ye sat behind the desk and laughed: "Master Qi, this is because the Buddhist sect has set itself too high, but it is lonely at the top. Although my brother Chen Ji did not leave any poems at the literary gathering today, this debate is enough to make this literary gathering famous through the ages. When people in the future talk about it, this will be the Mingse Tower case."

Lin Chaojing didn't want to continue listening to Chen Ji's story, so he sat back at the table and said, "Don't worry about them, let's continue the literary gathering. Who's going to write a poem now? Should we also restart the poetry clock?"

But Shen Ye picked up the rice paper he had written on and stood up: "Everyone, enjoy yourselves. I will take my leave now."

Lin Chaojing tried to persuade him, "Brother Shen, why don't you stay a little longer? We are only halfway through the literary gathering."

Shen Ye laughed: "Buddhists have said that literary gatherings are 'covering the truth with the vulgar'. How can I have the face to do such vulgar things again? I will no longer participate in literary gatherings in the future. Let's just drink wine and not write poetry."

Lin Chaojing looked a little embarrassed but still tried to persuade her to stay: "Then let's just drink."

Shen Ye shook his head: "I still have to rush to Wenyuan Bookstore to print the process of the debate, so that everyone in the world will know about this grand event. It is better to share the joy with others than to enjoy it alone!"

After saying that, Shen Ye left without looking back, and most of the southern scholars who followed his lead also left, leaving Mingse Tower empty.

Qi Zhaoning stood at the threshold and looked at the secluded path in the distance. Only then did he come to his senses and look at Qi Zhaoyun: "Sister, is he really Li Changge?"

Qi Zhaoyun said helplessly: "You should just call him Chen Ji, he has his own name."

Qi Zhaoning became interested: "Then you say, if there is a sequel to the Four Dreams of Bianliang, won't I also appear in the play? Last time, Li Changge and the princess..."

At this point, she suddenly realized that there was another protagonist in the story of illegitimate son Li Changge in the Four Dreams of Bianliang.

Li Changge held the reins and walked through the long dark line of sky in Luhun Mountain Villa, through the heavy snow and wind, which was very moving. The reason why Li Changge debated was to seek the elixir of Huangshan Dao Court for the princess.

And she, Qi Zhaoning, even if she appears in the new story, is just a bystander.

Qi Zhaoning whispered, "Princess... Prince Jing is clearly guilty of treason, why didn't His Majesty just sentence her to death and let her live? Sister, as long as she is alive, Li Changge will only have her in his heart, right?"

Qi Zhaoyun's expression changed, and his tone became stern: "Zhao Ning, a matter of life and death cannot be decided by one person's likes and dislikes. That is a human life."

Qi Zhaoning rolled his eyes: "They wanted to rebel on their own, not me."

Qi Zhaoyun said helplessly: "Zhaoning, don't be willful. Since he is the one you like and grandpa likes him, you just need to let nature take its course."

Qi Zhaoning said angrily, "When did I say he was the one I loved? He is him, and Li Changge is Li Changge. They are different! Moreover, he has done so many things for the princess, but he has done nothing for me. Why?"

Qi Zhaoyun glanced at her and said, "Then let Zhenzhu get engaged to him."

Qi Zhaoning raised his slender eyebrows and said subconsciously: "Why did Qi Zhenzhu... I won't say it anymore. I won't participate in literary gatherings in the future. They are all vulgar poems."

At this time, Lin Chaojing was about to make a toast when he saw Qi Zhaoning holding up her pink skirt and leading the maid out of Mingse Tower. Qi Zhaoyun and Huang Que looked at each other and left Mingse Tower one after the other in tacit understanding.

The literary gathering ended in a bad mood.

……

……

In the winding path of the Qi family bamboo forest.

Qi Chenzhuo said with great interest: "Master, you actually have this skill!"

"Just now I thought you were going to lose the debate, but Wu Zhai spat out a mouthful of blood and actually fell from the Xundao realm to the Xiantian realm. This is the first time I've seen an official fall in realm!"

"If I had known there was such a good show, I should have called my brother-in-law and the others to watch it together!"

Qi Zhuozhuo chattered non-stop on the secluded path of the Koi Garden. When he got excited, he even stopped and imitated Chen Ji's words just now and whispered, "Put it down."

Chen Ji looked at it helplessly: "That's enough."

Qi Chenzhuo laughed: "I will teach my brother-in-law and the others later. By the way, I have also heard the story told by the storyteller in the teahouse. That day you really led the princess's horse..."

Having said that, Qi Chenzhuo gradually stopped smiling and finally realized that he had said the wrong thing.

Chen Ji stopped beside a bamboo forest and said to Qi Chenzhuo, "You go drink first. Yunzhou Buddhist and I have met again after a long time, and I want to talk to you alone."

"Oh, okay, okay, I'll go drink first," Qi Chenzhuo turned around and fled.

After Qi Chenzhuo left, Chen Ji turned to look at the little monk and asked, "Are you used to living in Yuanjue Temple?"

The little monk complained, "I can't get used to it. There are too many rules in Yuanjue Temple. I have to get up at 3 p.m. every day to attend morning classes in the Great Hall. I have to stand according to my monastic age. If I stand in the wrong position, I will be punished. A large group of monks have to chant together for an hour before I can eat. After eating, I have to copy scriptures. After copying scriptures, I have to sit in meditation for two hours. After sitting in meditation, I have to recite scriptures. If I recite them wrong, I have to kneel down all the time... It's not like when I was in the palace. No one would care if I stayed in bed."

Chen Ji laughed and said, "You are a Buddhist from Yunzhou, do you want to be the same as them?"

The young monk lowered his head and muttered, "That's what I said, too. But every time I say that, the old monk tells me that all beings are equal, and I can't win the argument with them...why don't you go and help me argue with the old monk? He will definitely not be able to win the argument with you."

Chen Ji laughed: "I'm afraid that when I get to their territory, they won't be able to argue with me and will beat me up."

"That's true," the little monk muttered, "but Buddhism emphasizes sudden enlightenment. How can you achieve sudden enlightenment when you're still asleep in the early morning? And I don't have many friends in Yuanjue Temple. I don't even have anyone to talk to."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Is it because your telepathy can see the evil in their hearts that we can't be friends with them?" The little monk shook his head, "No, they are afraid of me, so they don't want to be friends with me."

Chen Ji understood.

The young monk looked at the moon above his head and said with emotion: "How many people's hearts can stand being looked at directly? A while ago, an official brought his family to Yuanjue Temple to burn incense. The official hoped that his wife would die soon, and his wife also hoped that the official would die soon. Do you think this couple is strange? The monks in the temple have a heart for wealth, and those who kill people like crazy come to the temple to ask for blessings from the Bodhisattva."

Chen Ji stopped talking and just stood by the bamboo forest under the moonlight, listening quietly to the little monk's complaints. He turned his head and looked at the innocent little monk beside him, and felt that he was in a quagmire of purgatory.

Being able to see into other people's hearts is also a kind of trouble.

The young monk sighed in a low voice: "I wish I didn't have telepathy."

Chen Ji suddenly asked: "Little monk, what is the evil in my heart?"

The young monk looked at him and said, "What is in your heart is not evil, but suffering."

Chen Ji was stunned.

For some reason, when Chen Ji's inner thoughts were mentioned, the little monk's innocence disappeared, as if he had grown up in an instant.

He stared into the distance and said in a trance, "You just told Wu Zhai to put it down, but you are carrying a mountain as big as Mount Kailash. Benefactor, if the mountain is too high, even eagles will not fly up. There are only gods on the mountain, not people."

Chen Ji remained silent for a long time.

The little monk looked back at him and said, "Why don't you let it go?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "If I could let it go, I would become a monk too."

The young monk shook his head: "Many people become monks because they can't let go. If they can let go easily, why would they become monks?"

Chen Ji pondered: "Should I really become a monk?"

The little monk thought for a moment and said, "Then why don't you come to Yuanjue Temple? You are brave and you can take me to climb over the wall secretly in the middle of the night to play."

The two looked at each other, and then suddenly laughed out loud together, unable to stop laughing. They themselves didn't know what they were laughing at.

However, the little monk gradually stopped smiling. He pointed at Chen Ji's heart and said seriously, "Donor, that's not all love."

Chen Ji listened to the rustling sound of the bamboo forest, and after a long while he said softly, "I know."

He found a patch of grass beside the bamboo forest and sat down. He looked up at the little monk and changed the subject: "Why don't you move out of Yuanjue Temple? The east and west wing rooms in my yard are still empty."

The little monk's eyes lit up, then dimmed again.

He ignored his moon-white cassock and sat on the grass like Chen Ji: "No, I am a hostage of the Tantric Buddhism in the Ning Dynasty. It is not up to me to decide where to live. If the abbot can't see me one day, he might ask the court to issue a warrant to arrest me. After coming to the capital, I wanted to go back to Luocheng every day, but before I could go back, I heard some bad news... It's hard for you."

Chen Ji looked up at the moon in the sky: "It's okay, it's not that hard."

The young monk was puzzled and asked, "When I first saw you, I thought you had already cut off greed and anger. My master said that it is great for a mortal in this world to cut off one of them. But now that I look at you carefully, I find that you are incomplete. It seems that you were born without greed and anger, and only stupidity remains. Stupidity is obsession. The word "obsession" is the most taboo for Wuzhai. But you only have the word "obsession" left in your life... It cannot be cut off no matter what."

Chen Ji laughed: "If you can't kill them all, then don't kill them. If you kill them all, won't it be inhuman? By the way, can you tell me what Prince Jing was thinking when he was alive?"

The little monk shook his head and said, "You can't tell me. My master said that even if there is a karmic relationship in the past life, you can't tell the third person the name of another person's thoughts, otherwise it will be contaminated by karma. This kind of naming does not mean hiding the name, but as soon as I tell you, you will know who it is, and there will be cause and effect. There was a monk in the Western Regions who abused his telepathy and was poisoned to death. This is karma. Moreover, Prince Jing also has purple air lingering outside his body, which cannot be seen through."

Chen Ji also said simply: "Then I won't ask."

The little monk smiled happily, "You are different from the big monk in Yuanjue Temple. Every time the officials come to burn incense and worship Buddha, they want me to hide in the side hall of the Great Hall and secretly see what those officials are thinking. It was like this when Lord Xu came, and it was also like this when Lord Chen came, but the elders had purple air lingering outside their bodies, so they couldn't see anything. Later, they were unwilling to give up, so they wanted me to see the officials who were neither big nor small. I didn't want to say it, so they deliberately forced me to attend morning classes and copy scriptures, and said that as long as I was willing to help them see people's hearts, I could be exempted from these trivial matters."

Chen Ji frowned and said, "I'll find a way to help you leave Yuanjue Temple."

The little monk's eyes lit up: "Really?"

Then, the little monk's eyes darkened again: "Farewell, you have enough on your shoulders, don't bother me anymore. I'm not being polite to you, I'm a hostage, I can only practice in Yuanjue Temple."

Chen Ji glanced at the little monk and stopped nagging about it: "You are from the Forty-Ninth Heaven, can you tell me about the Forty-Nineth Heaven?"

This was the moment when Chen Ji was closest to the Forty-ninth Heaven. He could not ask anyone else but this little monk.

Since he came into this world, the Forty-Nine Heavens have been like a curse haunting him day and night, but the place he came from is clearly not like the Forty-Nine Heavens that people talk about.

The young monk touched his bald head and told Chen Ji: "Everyone says that I came from Tushita Heaven, but I have not yet been enlightened. I can't remember where I came from, why I came, and where I am going. I asked my master, but he told me to come to the Central Plains to find the reason myself."

Chen Ji was surprised. He picked up a weed from the ground and rubbed it in his hand: "How can I find it in such a vast sea of ​​people when I don't know anything?"

The young monk said awkwardly, "That's what I thought, too. But the master said that if I can't find it in this life, I should continue looking in the next life until I find it. He also said that I have been looking for three lives. If I still can't find it in the third life, then I should look for it in the fourth, fifth... tenth life. I will definitely find it."

Chen Ji felt strange: "Strange, when will this search end? Will everyone lose their past memories after coming down from the forty-ninth heaven?"

The young monk corrected him quickly, "No, no, no, only reincarnated Buddhists would be like this. Brother Xu Shu is not like that. He remembers it clearly. The old monk from Yuanjue Temple advised him to practice well every day and return to the Forty-ninth Heaven as soon as possible. He said yes, but in his heart... he almost let it slip. I can't say it. Anyway, not only does he not want to go back, he also advised me not to go back."

Chen Ji didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Wait a moment, you can't call him senior brother from now on, you have to call him uncle, otherwise you will be a generation older than me."

The little monk said, "Okay."

He is very receptive to advice.

Chen Ji asked in confusion: "You two both came from the Forty-Ninth Heaven, why does he have memories but you don't?"

The little monk said frankly: "I envy him too, so I asked him about this. But he said that the world is fair. Although he has memories, he does not have innate magical powers. Although I have no memories, I have magical powers, so I don't need to envy him."

Chen Ji lowered his head to think, Xu Shu had already pointed out the difference between the two. The other party also seemed to have pointed out that there was more than one way to come down from the forty-ninth heaven.

But why was Xu Shu unwilling to return to the Forty-ninth Heaven and even advised the little monk not to return?
(End of this chapter)