Xuanyuan Jue

Chapter 155
With a vigorous kick by Lu Ban's head, the crown of the tree also trembled, and with a few soft crackles, two or three green walnuts were shaken down.

Hongzhi was puzzled, "Why does the team leader have trouble with this old tree? Could it be that he was annoyed that it had dropped fruit before and smashed people?"

"I'm not so free," Lu Bantou picked up the green walnuts one by one and put them in his arms. "Bring a few back to confuse my men, hehe, see if they can tell it's a walnut."

Hongzhi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "The head of the team really has a good temper."

Feng Shen knew very well that Lu Bantou was a man, so he didn't talk too much at the moment, he just smiled knowingly.

"Okay," Lu Ban said, throwing his head and hands, "Go back, great monk, and we two brothers will go down the mountain now!"

"Forgive the poor monk. The mountain road is rough, and the two benefactors should be careful."

Feng Lu nodded, turned and left.Hongzhi watched them off for a long time, until he could no longer see the two of them, and then slowly returned to the temple.

After a few sticks of incense, Feng Shen and Lu Ban headed down to the middle of the mountain, seeing a new moon rising in the sky, they untied their horses and rode on, and continued on their way.

The evening breeze was blowing, bringing a little bit of coolness.After passing the dangerous section, Lu Ban rubbed his sore neck. "It's been a waste of time today. I thought I could find something from the Cliff Temple, but there is no abnormality in the temple..."

"Nothing unusual?" Feng Shen asked back, "Didn't Big Brother notice anything wrong?"

"What?" Lu Ban's expression tightened, "What did you see?"

Feng Shen said: "Brother, you might as well think about those dumb arhats."

"Dumb arhat?" Lu Ban thought hard, "They are all the same except that they are arrogant... Eh? No! No!"

Feng Shen smiled and said: "It seems that the elder brother has thought of it too."

"Well," Lu Ban nodded, "their heads are all gone, only those few dots are missing!"

"A little bit?" Feng Shen asked in a daze, "What a little bit?"

"It's those little dots." Lu Ban gestured on his head, "What's it called? Oh, incense scars! They don't have incense scars on their heads, so they must not be real monks!"

"So that's what elder brother said." Feng Shen shook his head and said, "However, based on this alone, it is still inconclusive. Burning that kind of incense scar is only for the identification of whether one has received precepts or not. It was not the golden rule of the Zen school. In today's temples, It is not uncommon to see monks who take refuge without burning. Moreover, even if they receive precepts, they may not necessarily be placed on the top of the head. According to the Shurangama and Lotus Sutras, burning the body, burning the arms, burning fingers, etc. are all precepts. The place where the dumb arhat received the precepts is separated by clothes, so outsiders can't see it."

Lu Ban scratched his head and said, "Then I really can't find anything wrong..."

Feng Shen reminded: "There is an old saying called 'ten deaf and nine dumb'."

"Ten deaf and nine dumb?" Lu Bantou urged, "Oh my brother, don't be fooled, talk about it quickly!"

Feng Shendao: "Ninety-nine out of ten people who are born with aphasia are deaf, not unable to speak. They can't hear the sound when they are young, so naturally they can't learn to speak."

Lu Ban hurriedly said: "And then? Brother, you can continue."

Feng Shen said again: "In front of the mountain gate, that group of dumb arhats were facing us, but Hong Zhi yelled at them from behind, and they all stopped and looked back. If they were really deaf, how could they Hear movement behind you?"

Lu Ban frowned and said, "Then they are pretending to be deaf and dumb?"

"I'm afraid that's the case," Feng Shen said, "and Hongzhi's explanation of their life experience is far-fetched. Even if it is a coincidence, it is impossible to find a dozen deaf-mute people of the same age who are all displaced, right? Not to mention taking them all in, it’s hard to meet them when you wait.”

"That's right!" Lu Ban nodded, "It's really an outrageous coincidence. Alas, I just treat everything as usual, and I don't want to have such omissions."

"This is not the only doubtful point," Feng Shen said again, "I remember that before entering the Ksitigarbha Pagoda, Hongzhi opened the door with a key from the outside, and judging from the words and deeds of the two people after entering the pagoda, I feel that the abbot It’s not like retreating, but it’s a bit like being imprisoned.”

"Impossible?" Lu Ban nodded, "If the old monk was really locked up in the pagoda, why didn't he ask for help when he saw us? Listening to his tone, he is still protecting the Cliff Temple everywhere."

"This is also what I don't understand." Feng Shen paused and said, "In short, although there are two abnormalities in the temple, it doesn't explain anything. After thinking about it carefully, it is the old woman in the village that makes me care more. .”

Lu Ban nodded, "The old lady?"

Feng Shen nodded and said: "What Hongzhi said is not unreasonable. If you really want to capture the villagers into the temple, why do you keep her alone?"

"Well," Lu Bantou also said, "We also searched the temple, but we didn't find any villagers at all. It seems that there is something wrong with the old lady!"

Feng Shen said: "For the present plan, the only way is to go to Fengluotan again."

"Okay," Lu Ban said, "forgive her for being a half-blind woman, but she won't be able to make any monsters!"

"Don't take it lightly," Feng Shen said with a stern expression. "Like those sticky gangsters, they will use some disguises. We need to be careful, that old woman is a villain in disguise!"

After the discussion between the two, the horse was caught in the belly of the horse, Yue Yun and Huang Piao hissed together and galloped forward.

The further you go down, the wider the mountain path will be, but after all, they are riding the horse at night, and the two of them cannot avoid some bumps.Feng Shen held the reins firmly, but his heart fluctuated with the horse's body.The purpose of coming to Pinggu this time is to track down the clues left by the dying man. I don’t want one wave of unrest to arise again, and various confusing incidents follow one after another, which makes people feel exhausted...

By the time Erqi crossed the Cuohe River, it was completely dark.Looking at the dense crops in the field by the river, Lu Ban was furious. "Damn it, the crops have obviously not been moved. Look at that Lou!"

Feng Shen looked around and said, "I don't see any of them nearby, so they should have left."

"If you run away from the monk, you can't run away from the temple." Lu Ban poked his horse's head angrily, "I'm going to the county government to beat him to vent my anger!"

"Brother!" Feng Shen hurriedly stopped him, "It's a small matter to get angry, we have to go to the village to investigate first."

"I'm so confused," Lu Ban said angrily, "but with this punch, that Lou will not be able to escape! Let's go brother, let's go into the village and have a look."

After speaking, the two were afraid that the sound of the horse's hooves would be loud, so they found a place to tie the horse, and sneaked into the village.

By the moonlight, the two found the small courtyard where the old woman lived.Standing outside the door, Lu Bantou suddenly said "Hey", "Why is there no light in the yard? It's not time to sleep this time... Well, I really can't turn my broken head, she is a half-blind woman What lights are there?"

Feng Shen whispered: "Appearance can be faked, and blindness is naturally easy to fake. After entering the hospital later, we have to be careful."

Lu Ban also lowered his voice: "Then don't call the door at all. I will push the latch from the outside and let's sneak in?"

Feng Shen thought for a while, then nodded. "Also."

Seeing some dead branches and dry firewood piled up in the corner of the wall, Lu Ban went to break off a slender one. He was just about to push out a gap so that the twigs could be poked in, but he didn't want the closed courtyard door to open again. .

The hearts of the two tightened, and they continued to walk towards the courtyard.The small courtyard was dark and oppressive, and the silence was scary.Lu Ban tried his best to identify the direction, and then quietly went into the house.

As soon as he pushed open the door, Lu Ban felt his head tripping. He thought there was an ambush, so he was so startled that he ran away.

Hearing that something was wrong, Feng Shen hurriedly asked, "Brother, what's the matter?"

Lu Ban panted his head and said: "There is something at the door of the house, and it is still fleshy when you step on it."

The situation changed, Feng Shen didn't care about it, he hurriedly took a torch from his pocket and blew it on, and moved closer to the door to take a picture.

Under the photo, both of them were dumbfounded.It was the half-blind old woman who stood at the door.Her neck was twisted, her face was tilted to one side, and her cloudy eyes were open angrily, obviously she was dying.

Feng Lu looked at each other in blank dismay, his mind was at a loss.After a long time, Feng Shen finally calmed down. He found some lamp oil for the stove, lit it with a thick lamp, and began to examine carefully in the house.

The furnishings in the house are as usual, except for the dilapidated ones, it doesn't look messy.Touching the old woman's face, I found that it was genuine.Presumably, the murderer must have martial arts skills, taking advantage of the old woman's unpreparedness, he easily broke her neck bone with the capture technique.One move can kill a person, so there are no traces of fighting or struggling in the house.

In his mind, Feng Shen flashed a few hypotheses.But after much deliberation, the suspicion of the Cliff Temple has become the biggest again.

"What else are you thinking?" Lu Ban said angrily, "What the old lady said before must have been the truth, and the thieves must have come here to silence her because they were bald. Arhat disappeared, such a long time is enough for them to commit murder!"

"I'm afraid it's not the case," Feng Shen shook his head and said, "Fengluotan is the only way down the mountain. Even if they really want to attack, they will at least wait for us to leave the village. Besides, before entering the seven-story pagoda, those dumb arhats ..."

"Brother, wait first," Lu Ban interrupted, "What seven-story pagoda? I counted it, and it's only six floors!"

Feng Shenqi said: "Brother, did you remember correctly?"

"It can't be wrong!" Lu Ban said firmly, "I counted it twice before and after, and it must be the sixth floor!"

"That's weird," Feng Shen frowned, "Why did I count seven floors?"

"There are only a few floors in total, and you can count them with your fingers." Lu Ban nodded, "How did you count, brother?"

Feng Shen said: "I'm not counting towers, but shadows."

"Shadows?" Lu Ban was startled, "How do you count shadows?"

"Brother, listen to me," said Feng Shen, "when we left the temple, the shadow of the Ksitigarbha Pagoda was just cast in front of the Bufo Hall, making the outline of the pagoda clearly visible. I have noticed that there are a total of seven places in the shadow of the Pagoda. It is prominent, which means that there must be seven disks on the top of the top. Such an arrangement also coincides with the rules of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva."

Seeing that Lu Bantou was still full of confusion, Feng Shen had no choice but to explain.

(End of this chapter)