Chapter 207 When the pepper flowers fall, the miasma rises

On the way back to the mountain, the young monk Pinzhao followed Jiang Wen eagerly, as if he wanted to learn his "magical powers" from Jiang Wen, especially when he saw Jiang Wenfu subduing two different Yunnan horses with just a hand.

At that time, the young monk almost had to change the door on the spot.

When several people returned to the mountain gate, it was already scorching hot at noon. Pinzhao took the two of them back to Sidan Temple according to the abbot's instructions. The little novice finally changed his attitude, as if he had just remembered that he was actually a monk.

"Well, two benefactors, Abbot Hongbian seems to have gone out. The young monk still has some things to do in the guest house, so he will take a step forward..."

Seeing the little monk running away quickly and getting away from the other party's persistent entanglement, Jiang Wen breathed a sigh of relief and looked around.

The abbot's Zen room is also called Zhang's room. It is the place where the abbot gives lectures and sermons in the temple. It was originally supposed to be one foot long and four sides square, just a small room less than ten square meters. However, Abbot Hongbian's Zen room is obviously larger than this size.

The house is spacious and bright, with antique furnishings and the lingering smell of incense. Although the objects and furnishings in the house are old, you can see that they are extraordinary just by taking a quick look at them. The inscriptions on the four walls and the bamboo paintings are even more exquisite because of the carelessness.

The splashed ink is full of freehand writing.

Jiang Wen originally wanted to take the opportunity to show Luo Shuang'er his appreciation of calligraphy and painting, but unfortunately his hobbies were only in the textual research of ancient books and documents, and the purpose of art was just that, so after looking at it for a long time, he couldn't tell what was good about it.

I can only slightly discern the surnames "Wu", "Dong", "Qian", "Li" and so on in the inscription. I think I must have visited the calligraphy treasures left by the literary giants in Sidan Temple.

At this time, the shadows of pines and bamboos outside the Zen room are swaying, there are rustling sounds on the empty corridor, and the miscellaneous trees are casting shadows in layers. The slightly hot mountain wind passes through the gaps in the trees, and the monastery under Shigu Peak is quietly flowing.

The cool and especially empty dusty atmosphere lingered around his ears. No matter where he looked at this time, Jiang Wen could see a rather Zen-like scene. This slowly relieved his anxiety of waiting for Abbot Hongbian to arrive.

.

Luo Shuang'er was also sitting quietly aside, but her demure expression was more like that of a middle school girl who was forced to go on a trip by her parents. After wasting her precious life for no reason while waiting, she finally spoke to Jiang Wen:

"...The abbot hasn't come back yet, can we go back to the living room and wait?"

"Of course it won't work. The most important thing in walking in the world is integrity."

Jiang Wen sat on a low-backed chair and leaned back slowly, appearing neither arrogant nor arrogant. "Since the abbot is in a hurry to see us and expresses that he has something important to discuss, naturally he cannot waste a single second..."

"Is that so? But I feel like you have other intentions."

Luo Shuang'er looked sideways at Jiang Wen, her brows and corners of her eyes often showed a graceful look, which made Jiang Wen couldn't help but sigh, Ning Die should spend more time with such a little girl.

Jiang Wen smiled helplessly and said, "It's not just for you that I spent so much time looking for medicine and treatment. Why didn't you mention it since you saw it?"

"Oh, but you obviously don't trust this abbot very much."

Luo Shuang'er lay on the table boredly, her cheeks pouting, and asked in a low voice, "The old abbot trusts us quite a bit, and I don't feel that he has any ill intentions..."

Jiang Wen suddenly laughed when he heard this, and said in the tone of an elder introducing life experience: "Now that you have lost all your martial arts skills, you can no longer see people clearly, so you have to think about other people's thoughts and thoughts in many ways before you can distinguish them clearly.

Right and wrong, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, if you are careless, you may be in disaster."

He turned around and pointed to a formal and clumsy plaque in the house. The two plaques on the left and right added up to eight characters, which read: "Miaoben Hongda, quality flow and shape".

"Look, this is a calligraphy treasure left by the former abbot of Sidtan Temple. These eight characters have been pre-arranged as the characters for generation, so that later monks can choose the names of Dharma in order and determine the generation of Dharma descendants."

Luo Shuang'er looked up at the plaque and immediately understood what Jiang Wen said. The current monks in Xitan Temple, starting from Abbot Hongbian, are indeed composed of the "big" generation and the "pin" generation. They have just passed down the inheritance.

To the fifth generation, it is also consistent with the history of temple construction during the Wanli period.

"When Abbot Hongbian became a monk, he worshiped Zen Master Benwu as his teacher and received 250 full precepts. Logically speaking, all his junior disciples should also use the word 'Hong' as their dharma name. But now in Xitan Temple

There is only one Anren in the same generation, and the status and circumstances of the two are completely different. Have you ever thought about the reason for this?"

After listening to Jiang Wen's alarmism in person, Luo Shuang'er raised her face and thought for a long time, shook her head and said nothing.

"Then let me ask you another question."

Jiang Wen did not answer, but changed his sitting position and continued: "Last night, the Sidtan Temple was attacked. The lights were bright and the noise was loud. There is no unknown reason. The chickens and dogs in the temple on Jizu Mountain heard each other, but no one sect

When people come out to visit us, it feels like we are in an empty mountain. What do you think is the reason?"

When things go wrong, there must be monsters, so Jiang Wen said it very clearly, "Speaking of some people, they seem to be highly virtuous and respected, and no one on the stage is dissatisfied with them, but they may not always be able to act openly and above board, and they like to be cold and stumbling.

son……"

Luo Shuang'er's almond-shaped eyes opened slightly, and she asked coldly: "Why do I think... you are alluding to my father?"

"Uh, sister Shuang, you're overthinking this. How could I deliberately arrange for him to be a good person?"

This time, without waiting for Luo Shuang'er's answer, Jiang Wen already whispered in a mysterious manner: "In my opinion, Abbot Hongbian may not be as thorough as he appears. He may have offended so many people on the mountain.

Just because the abbot is petty-minded. You see, it is so dangerous to offend others with a few words while walking outside. It is better to find a backer and join our Wuyi Sect as early as possible..."

Jiang Wen was talking happily there, trying to intimidate this little girl who lacked experience in the world of martial arts, but he forgot that only by not talking behind people's back can you be a master.

I heard the wooden screen in the abbot's Zen room creaking open, revealing a side room hidden deep in the house, and an old monk with a kind face and a bleak complexion quietly turned out and faced him.

Jiang Wen had a stunned expression.

Jiang Wen: "..."

Hongbian: "..."

The scene suddenly became awkward. Only Luo Shuang'er stood up and greeted the old monk with a normal expression: "Abbot Hongbian, we have been waiting for you for a long time."

"Amitabha, what the two donors said is correct. I am just a human body, and my mind, eyes, and abilities are naturally no different from those of ordinary people."

Abbot Hongbian passed by the two people with lowered eyebrows, chanted a Buddha's name in a low voice and said: "It's just as the "Vimalakīrti Sutra" says, Vimalakīrti's bedroom is only one foot square, but he can accommodate a large number of people, and even accommodate a large number of people.

Thirty-two thousand Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, when I practice deeply, they will naturally be reborn."

This old abbot is also a wonderful person. He found the steps to go down without being surprised. Then he smoothed the corners of the monk's clothes with both hands, sat back on the Zen chair with a wooden rosary in his hand, and reproduced a calm and compassionate demeanor. If not

He was so hungry that his face changed, and Jiang Wen was almost impressed by his appearance of not touching the mortal world.

Jiang Wen coughed lightly and pretended that nothing had happened. He spread out the old books he had taken back on the table and said straight to the point.

"Abbot Hongbian, this is what you want to retrieve. Jiang is lucky to have defeated a powerful enemy on this trip."

Abbot Hongbian looked at the old books on the table and was stunned for a moment. As the beads turned, he seemed to be gradually calming down and slowly spoke.

"Thank you Tan Yue for taking this thing back. Otherwise there would be hundreds of people in Lao Na's temple who would be unable to do anything. They could only watch the thief succeed and leave. Hey, do you know what kind of book is this in front of you?"

Jiang Wen frowned slightly: "I have browsed through it briefly, and it seems to be a description of a literary tour. But I have never been able to figure out why it is hidden in a monk's bone tower."

"Now I won't hide it anymore. Let me explain the reason to you two."

Abbot Hongbian nodded slowly, stood up with difficulty, and took out another bound book from the secret room.

"This is actually what they were looking for. It was only because Junior Brother An Ren sacrificed his life to protect each other that night that the other party failed to succeed and instead wanted to search everywhere in the mountains."

Jiang Wen and Luo Shuang'er looked closely and saw that four volumes of books were properly kept in the secret room. The paper covers were not even stained with dust. They were only slightly yellowed due to age, but it also made the handwriting appear a bit thicker.

The two of them naturally looked at the cover, and naturally saw the names of these volumes - "Jizu Mountain Chronicles".

"Tan Yue, the incomplete manuscript you took back and this mountain chronicle were actually written by the same person. I vaguely guessed that the other party came here for this reason. King Pingxi's troops could not be found in Fayun Pavilion. "

Jiang Wen's expression suddenly dawned, and he suddenly understood why Fayun Pavilion was in such a mess, but the masked man suddenly left and came back.

Abbot Hongbian then said that Master Anren was on guard duty in Fayun Pavilion that night, and saw through the other party's intention at a glance. However, after the fight, he realized that it was difficult to win, so he pushed down the scriptures on the second floor to confuse the audience, making the masked man mistakenly believe that this "Chizu Mountain Chronicles" is hidden among them, wasting time and energy in vain.

When the masked man was nowhere to be found, he wanted to move elsewhere, but luckily with the blessing of the Buddha, he was bumped into by Jiang Wen by chance, so he seized the last moment and rushed back to Fayun Pavilion, still trying to find what Master Anren was desperately guarding. , only then will they return without success after a fierce fight.

At the end of the night, although the two men's martial arts were very different, the man in black had completely fallen into the psychological trap set by Master Anren during the battle of wits.

But the other party fell into the trap because he didn't expect that Anren would sacrifice his life for the sake of confusing himself. If he hadn't been worried about more monks being killed, Anren wouldn't have had to take this tactic. Thinking of his junior brother who was still alive and dead at this time, Abbot Hongbian sighed deeply. , reached out and closed the window in the Zen room near the corridor to prevent the sound from spreading outside.

"Abbot Hongbian, what's so unique about "Jizu Mountain Chronicles" and why did Prince Pingxi go to such lengths to snatch it away?"

Jiang Wen asked in confusion, "You mentioned before that there are many ancient books stored in the Sidan Temple. They are treasured, scattered, and lost. There are countless scattered ancient books. Why do you brothers and sisters choose to identify Pingxi Prince's Palace?" Are you here for it?"

Facing Jiang Wen's question again, Abbot Hongbian quietly twisted his rosary beads and lowered his voice.

"After all, this book is the only one that Xu Jushi personally compiled and gathered in the mountains and wrote it over three months ago..."

Then, with his thin, wrinkled and old hands, he opened the cover of "Chizu Mountain Chronicles" and revealed the author's name.

——Xu Hongzu, a Xiake from Jiangzuo.

Jiang Wen stared blankly at the four volumes of ancient books in front of him. His expression suddenly became particularly vivid. In a blink of an eye, he had already grabbed the book of records in his hand. The old abbot was so frightened that he thought he was about to suffer a serious illness.

"I can't believe it, I can't believe it! Jiang is lucky enough to be able to see this posthumous work of Mr. Xu Xiake..."

Jiang Wen opened "Jizu Mountain Chronicles" with his eyebrows flying, and rubbed the paper with his still healthy left hand. His eyes were filled with overjoyed views. He browsed through the book list and listed the mountains, rivers, Buddhist monks, famous officials and local sages, and supernatural beings. Although there are only four volumes of the paper volume on Scenery and Specialty Pagoda Tombs, it already includes the scenic spots and cultural landscapes of Jizu Mountain, which is enough to bear witness to the energy expended by the predecessors.

Abbot Hongbian saw that Jiang Wen's illness was not getting worse, and saw that he was fully devoted. Even though he was a little confused, he just guessed that Jiang Wen might have a hobby of collecting books, so he was almost lost without publishing this book. books burst out with such enthusiasm——

But what he never expected was that Jiang Wen's "three lives of good fortune" was not just a description.

Xu Hongzu, also known as Zhenzhi and Xiake, was a geographer, traveler and writer in the Ming Dynasty. This may be just an ordinary name that appears in books. He is famous all over the world for his "Travel Notes of Xu Xiake".

Jiang Wen was very envious of the old monk in front of him, because nowadays the carriages and horses are very slow, and he would never encounter a few lunatics in his life. However, before he traveled through time, technology was so advanced that he could meet fools thousands of miles away without even leaving home.

Before he was forced to become a knight, Jiang Wen once traveled to Lijiang and learned the relevant stories on Jizu Mountain. He clearly remembered that the last part of Xu Xiake's thousands-mile journey ended here. Xu Xiake climbed Jishan Mountain to search for his old hometown and revisit the place. After visiting the scenic spots, he stayed at Sidtan Temple from September to the first month of the following year and devoted himself to editing. Unfortunately, the final four volumes were completed and the work was stopped due to illness.

Seeing Jiang Wen immersed in it, Abbot Hongbian explained to Luo Shuang'er with a kind look on his face.

"This benefactor is indeed very knowledgeable. Yes, this is the mountain chronicle that Xu Zhenzhi wrote in Jizu Mountain for several months at the request of Mu Zeng, the hereditary prefect of Lijiang, Yunnan Province, in September of the twelfth year of Chongzhen."

There was light in Jiang Wen's eyes, and his movement of turning the pages of the book did not slow down. He even used Shaolin's unique technique of twisting his fingers to avoid damaging the fragile pages of the book.

Because in later generations, the "Jishan Chronicles" compiled by Xu Xiake with great pains has long been lost. Only three volumes of excerpts of mountain chronicles remain in the "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes" circulated in later generations, namely "Jishan Chronicles" and "Chishan Chronicles" and "Chishan Chronicles II", allowing future generations to barely get a glimpse of the original book.

If you think about it seriously, if you don't count the book "Xu Xiake's Travels" recorded by Xu Hongzu for many years, then this "Jizu Mountain Chronicles" should be Xu Xiake's last work in his life. It is a pity that Xu Xiake's original draft was destroyed during the Shunzhi period. Legend has it that Before the woodcut could be published, it was suddenly destroyed by war, and only the remaining chapters were left for later compilers to learn from.

As Jiang Wen was flipping through the pages, he suddenly remembered that the Jizu Mountain Chronicle compiled by Xu Xiake was destroyed during the Shunzhi period, and the second compilation of the Mountain Chronicle was in the spring of the 17th year of Shunzhi (1660). - In other words, as history moves forward, this book is likely to be destroyed by the disputes between the Mu family and the Pingxi Palace in Lijiang. There is no need to think about it now, it is what they are experiencing right now.
To be continued...