The wind and sand blew across the tip of Lou Yunchun's nose, and he sneezed loudly. Then he pulled Mi Li up to cover his mouth and nose.
Old Duan caught up and was about to speak when he was gulped down by a mouthful of wind and sand. He spat for a long time before clearing it up. "Sir, two of our brothers can't hold on any longer. Let's find a place to rest for the night before we continue."
After traveling for two days and two nights, even he felt exhausted, let alone the wounded soldiers.
Lou Yunchun glanced back and saw that everyone looked tired and numb, so he nodded, "Okay."
Hearing his hoarse voice, Lao Duan asked worriedly, "Sir, how are you?"
Lou Yunchun walked in front with his back straight, making people forget that he was also injured, and the injuries were serious.
"I'm fine." Lou Yunchun looked into the distance and saw the half-sunken golden wheel and the pagoda reaching the sky. "Let the brothers hold on for a while. The East Fantasy Buddha City is ahead."
Old Duan blocked the light with his hands and took a look. Seeing that there was indeed a temple, he immediately showed his joy, hurriedly pulled his horse back and told everyone the news.
When everyone heard this, they immediately perked up, whipped their horses, and rushed towards the Buddha City against the wind and sand.
Donghuan Buddhist City is where Zen Master Donghuan preached in Liangzhou. It was built for him by the local royal family of the previous dynasty. It is magnificent in scale and solemn in appearance.
It covers an area of nearly 300 acres, is surrounded by city walls and has four city gates. There are two main streets in the city, one east-west and the other north-south. At the intersection of the main streets, a high platform was built to build the Donghuan Temple.
With the temple as the central axis, there are more than ten halls distributed around it, including the Bell and Drum Tower, Vajra Hall, Three Treasures Hall, etc. The rest is farmland for monks.
This Buddhist city had gone through several wars in the previous dynasty and was burned, killed and looted by the rebel army. Monks died or fled, and it was once reduced to a deserted city.
Later, Dasheng made great efforts to set up a governor's office in Liangzhou, streamlined the government to please the people, stabilized the situation, and finally brought it back to life.
The Governor's Office set up this place as a meeting point to attract merchants from all over the country to trade.
Where there is business, there must be money. Donghuan City was rebuilt with funds donated by merchants. The rebuilt Buddhist city became more prosperous and glorious than the previous dynasty, and its incense became increasingly popular.
Because of the establishment of a meeting point, there are many merchants and travelers coming and going. In addition to the Buddhist temple, there are also trading markets and hotels here to facilitate merchants to buy, sell and stay.
Lou Yunchun and others entered the city as the drums sounded, signaling the closing of the city gates. They were on official business and would not stay in a hotel, but in a temple.
The monk guarding the city led the group to the temple. Halfway there, Lou Yunchun suddenly heard a shout.
“Brother Lou!”
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a bearded businessman waving at him. He stopped his horse and took a closer look before recognizing that the man was Ilale, whom he had not seen for a long time.
But he had to lead the team to the Buddhist temple for rest and could not delay any longer, so he waved to Ilale and pointed to the temple.
Ilaer understood and hurriedly shouted, "I'll come to the temple to find you later."
Lou Yunchun nodded, then led the team further towards the temple.
Donghuan Temple was built on a high platform with gates on all four sides, guarded by monks holding sticks.
When they arrived at the mountain gate, everyone dismounted. After Lou Yunchun landed, he showed his pass and talisman.
After the leading monk negotiated with the gatekeeper monk, he summoned two monks and took the soldiers to send horses.
Lou Yunchun, Lao Duan and the escorting sergeant of the Hexi Army entered the temple first.
The three of them climbed up the stairs, and Lou Yunchun didn't step firmly and almost slipped.
Old Duan and Captain Wu quickly supported him. Only then did they realize that Lou Yunchun's face looked strange. They then hurriedly half-supported and half-carried him into the temple.
The monk hurriedly led the two men to take Lou Yunchun to the meditation room, and then called two young monks to invite the abbot and the medical monk respectively.
Old Duan and Sergeant helped Lou Yunchun to the bed, undressed him and took off his boots. The monk poured him some tea and fed him some water.
After a while, Lou Yunchun regained his breath, propped himself up on the bed, and waved, "I'm fine."
"You're still saying you're fine!" When Old Duan was undressing him, he noticed several wounds on his body that were lacerated and bleeding. He didn't care about hierarchy and shouted angrily, "If you keep trying, you'll only be able to go back with your mouth open."
Everything else turned to ashes and soil, but the mouth remained hard.
Lou Yunchun looked at him, and he shut up again in embarrassment. Just then, the medical monk arrived, and he quickly invited the medical monk in to see Lou Yunchun's injury.
After examining Lou Yunchun's injuries, the medical monk told him that they were not serious, but that his internal organs were overly strained and he needed more care.
After the medical monk changed Lou Yunchun's medicine, he told him to rest first and then asked Lao Duan to go with him to get medicine. After the martial monk settled the man, he dismissed the others and took his leave.
There was a sudden silence around him, and Lou Yunchun was overwhelmed by fatigue and soon fell into a dream.
He dreamed that he was searching for Xu Jiang in every street and alley on a snowy night, but he couldn't find her even after searching every street and alley. His heart was burning, and the wind and snow lashed his face, but he didn't feel cold.
Finally, after he returned to the bookstore, he saw her squatting at the door.
His worry turned into anger, and he was about to ask her where she had been running to, but he saw her looking up helplessly, her usually cheerful face covered with tears.
His heart felt like it was being pierced by needles. He quickly squatted down and carefully held her in his arms, and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
Her voice was as light as snowflakes falling on branches, melting at the slightest touch. "I can't go home."
His heart ached, and he wrapped her tightly, "No, I'll take you home."
But she kept murmuring, "I can't go home."
"Don't be afraid, I have the key and I will take you home." He kept comforting her and wiping away her tears.
She stared at him blankly.
He lowered his head and pecked her between the eyebrows, "I'll take you home."
But she shook her head, and then shattered into pieces of snow.
Panicked and at a loss, he reached out to hold her, but the broken snow was swept away by the strong wind and lost in the vast cold night. He ran after her, but his mouth was full of choking snow, and his soul seemed to be torn apart, and the pain made him tremble all over.
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