"Um?"

The young monk seemed to feel that the young Taoist's eyes were on him, and he was puzzled and said:

"It's me."

A question and an answer, the answerer has no intention, but the questioner has intention.

Then the young Taoist smiled slightly, his eyes were gentle, and he said: "I am a poor Taoist Bodhi."

The young monk hurriedly returned the greeting and said, "My name is Wuming."

The young Taoist muttered to himself.

Wuming, Wuming, my name...

There is no coming from anywhere and no going to anywhere. Just as you came from, you will go as you came from.

He looked at the ignorant child in front of him. This child was the reincarnation of the Buddha, but he was no longer him. The Buddha had returned to the void and would never look back. This child was just the soul of the monk, a new life, just like two similar waves rising in the vast ocean.

Is he him?

So Bodhi had some sadness in his eyes and said gently, "What a nice name."

A bright smile appeared on the little monk's face.

The young Taoist originally planned to kill the god and demon and then ascend to heaven to send the iron of the Zhenhai Divine Needle he found in the East China Sea to the Tushita Palace for recasting. But now he was in no hurry to go there. He smiled and asked, "Master Wuming, and this master, where did you come from and where are you going?"

The old monk thought for a moment, clasped his hands together, and answered in all seriousness: "My master and I have been out there for so many years, sleeping in the open air and practicing. We plan to go to the nearest city and look for a place for the old monk to stay."

The young monk widened his eyes, stretched out his finger to pull the old monk's clothes, and asked in a low voice:

"Teacher, teacher, we just came out not long ago. It's just that the weather is a bit hot at this time. We spent all our money on a few good meals before, so we went back and planned to shamelessly ask Uncle Master for some money before going out again?"

The serious old monk was exposed by his disciple, but he remained calm.

The young Taoist smiled slightly and said, "Since you are going into the city, you may encounter some monsters along the way. I happen to have some time, so I will send you two off."

The old monk always suspected that the young Taoist was planning to steal his disciple.

However, he really couldn't refuse the conditions proposed, so he had to say:

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Master."

The old monk was suspicious in his heart, but the young monk did not have as many thoughts as him. He just felt very happy that this young Taoist who gave him a sense of familiarity was walking with him. The old monk led the way in front, and the young Taoist walked behind with a sword on his back. All the plants and living creatures were not afraid of him, and two birds even landed on his shoulders.

The little monk followed him, happily asking questions and talking about what he saw and heard on the road.

The little monk was born in an ordinary family and had a miserable life. His village was attacked by demons. Although the demons were quickly strangled and all kinds of pensions and compensation were paid out according to the rules formulated by a gentleman named Master Xun, there was still only a little baby left in his family.

He was originally going to be taken away by the academy to be raised, but he was met by a monk who was not that old at that time.

At that time, the old monk touched his head, with a compassionate look on his face, and asked him if he wanted to see his parents again one day.

The child nodded and followed the old monk. He was not yet a little monk at that time.

This story about seeing his parents was not nonsense. The old monk blushed and used his magical powers to communicate with the underworld to allow the child to see his parents for the last time. When the souls of his parents saw that the child was still alive, their eyes immediately turned red. After saying goodbye, they took the child to the old monk and asked the child to become his disciple.

After that day, the child became a little monk.

When the old monk pulled him away from the Nether Spring, he turned around to watch his parents go away and whispered:

"Goodbye, Daddy."

"Goodbye, mother."

The old monk touched his head and pulled him back to the human world step by step.

Then he became a little monk.

They were on their way that day, and the young Taoist did not use any great magical powers of teleportation. He just walked slowly with them. There was a temple in the mountains, so they simply stayed in the temple for one night. The child was frightened today, and seeing the Taoist was happy, he was already sleepy after walking all the way. The old monk found some haystacks, made them soft, and let the child curl up and sleep on them.

It's March now and the cold hasn't dissipated yet.

The old monk put his monk's robe on the child and used it as a blanket.

How well he treated this little disciple today? He didn't even let him attend the evening lessons.

The young Taoist was used to practicing, and he was still breathing in and out. When he opened his eyes at night, he saw only a flickering candlelight. The old monk was sitting cross-legged in front of the statue, squinting his eyes, holding a needle, and mending clothes for his little apprentice with the candlelight in front of the statue.

Today, he was chased by the demon and was frightened. His clothes were torn in several pieces. The old monk noticed that the Taoist had woken up. He smiled and nodded, but did not say anything. He was afraid of waking up his apprentice, so he just bit the thread with his teeth and sewed up the holes in the clothes.

The old monk nodded apologetically and said with a smile: "The master has awakened."

"Did the old monk make too much noise? Did he wake up the real person?"

The young Taoist said gently, "I practice breathing exercises every day and always wake up at this time. It's not because of the master."

The old monk smiled and said, "Yes, the name of the real person penetrates the six realms, and the state of mind is naturally perfect."

He folded the clothes and put them aside, looking outside. The sky was already turning pale. According to previous days, it would have been time to pick up the child and let him recite scriptures, but after what he had experienced yesterday, the child was exhausted and always sleepy, so the old monk just let him sleep and quietly watched the clouds outside.

Bodhi accompanied them for a day, and today they were actually not far from the city. After walking a little further, they came to the place protected by the great formation of human destiny. Once they entered the great formation of human destiny, they would be immune to all evil spirits. Even if the old monk and the young monk had some differences and abnormalities in their physiques, those evil spirits would not risk being killed by the master and chase them.

A young Taoist and an old monk were chatting casually under the warm morning light. The old monk no longer suspected that the Taoist was chasing his disciple. Instead, he let down his guard and spoke in a much more relaxed manner.

He casually talked about the past, saying that he came from an ordinary family and was not well behaved when he was young. He didn't want to study, and didn't want to practice martial arts. He just wasted his time. Once, when his family was in trouble, he was still gambling in a gambling house, and he gambled away his ancestral home. In the end, his father was angry to death, and his mother became ill and eventually passed away.

It was snowing on the day of his death. He had lost all his money and was stripped naked and thrown to the ground. When he returned home, everyone was laughing at him. Only then did he find that his mother's body had already become cold and stiff.

The old monk shrank back and whispered, "I deserve to die."

"I was already dead by then. A wandering monk pawned his Zen staff and exchanged it for three taels of silver and six hundred and thirty-two coins. Only then did he buy some coffins to bury my mother. At that time, I said I wanted to become a monk, but he told me that becoming a monk was not a place to escape from. I was seriously ill and he could not accept me."

"He let me walk in this world, save a hundred good people, and stop a hundred people from being addicted to gambling."

"It took me twenty years to do all this before I realized that he had saved me. That day I found a razor blade and shaved my head. Later, by some coincidence, I found a small temple and found my home. Yes, I did not become a monk. People in the world have it wrong. I did not become a monk because I was restless. I became a monk because I was at peace and had figured things out."

"What temples and Taoist temples are not pure lands. They just provide you with shelter, but what about your heart?"

"Only you can make your heart at peace. Even if you are standing in the Buddha's kingdom, if your heart is not at peace, it will still be at peace."

The young Taoist said in a gentle tone: "Master, your Buddhist teachings are profound, but much simpler."

The old monk said softly, "I just did some ridiculous things in the past, and I only woke up at the end. Maybe I never woke up, but was just avoiding it, thinking about whether I could atone for my sins. But how can I atone for what happened? I owe my parents too much."

The young Taoist said gently: "Do monks also think about their parents?"

The old man sighed, looked into the distance, and said softly: "We are mortals, who wouldn't want to?"

"Don't you want to, Great Immortal?"

Bodhi was quiet for a while, then said softly: "...I miss my teacher."

"The underworld is filled with terrifying gods. Anyone who wants to enter it must pay a huge price. Those who do not have enough merit will be left there. Even if they succeed, they will lose more than ten years of their lifespan. Master, please be merciful."

The old monk smiled and said:

"It's just a matter of life. If I can help this child, it will be worth it."

He reached out his hand, took a branch, broke it off, put it away, and said:

"The world is like a sea of ​​suffering. The sea is not bitter, but people's seven emotions and six desires and all kinds of attachments are mixed together, which is really too bitter. Sometimes when these thoughts come up, a person gets stuck in a dead end and can't figure it out. At this time, there is another person who carries him through this sea of ​​suffering."

"You carry me on your back this time, and I'll carry you next time."

"If you do this time and again, maybe you can reach the other side. Even if you can't make it, you won't be alone."

As they chatted, the sun gradually rose higher. After all, the child had practiced for a long time, and his body had gotten used to it. Although he still wanted to sleep, he woke up instinctively, greeted his teacher and the young Taoist over there, rubbed his eyes as usual, and turned over the package, and then suddenly shouted in surprise:

“Master, Master!!”

"What's wrong? Why are you shouting so loudly?"

"Look, my clothes have improved!"

The young monk came running over holding his robes, his eyes sparkling, showing his new clothes and saying happily, "Look! This one and this one are all new!"

The young monk showed his clothes, and the old monk sat there, smiling and nodding.

Finally, Wuming held up his clothes and said happily, "Yesterday I made a wish to the Bodhisattva, saying that I hope my clothes can be better. The Bodhisattva has answered my prayer! Now I can still wear them and don't need to make new ones."

The old monk reached out and touched the young monk's head, and said gently: "I told you, Wuming is a good boy. Practice well, and the Bodhisattva will reward you."

The young monk nodded vigorously, clasped his hands together and said, "Then I hope the Bodhisattva can bless my teacher with better health and watch me become a great monk! Old monk!"

Bodhi saw a complex smile in the old monk's eyes that he could not describe in words in his life.

He didn't say anything, just touched the little monk's head and said hello.

This place was very close to the human city, and the young Taoist accompanied them for another half a day, sent them into the formation, and did not go in himself. He had a different identity and was too famous. He had killed many people for hundreds of years, and if he went in, the contemporary master would probably come to see him. So he watched the two monks walk away in front of the post station.

The young monk had walked too far in recent days, and his feet were covered with calluses. When he came here, he felt relaxed and didn't want to walk anymore. The old monk had no choice but to squat down and carry the child forward. He turned around and nodded goodbye to the young Taoist, feeling emotional.

"Thousands of years ago, this teacher beat the gods of the four directions so hard that they dared not speak. This person has beaten the descendants of the innate gods and demons so hard that they cried for their parents in the past three hundred years. But I don't know what kind of terrifying killer embryo this disciple must be to be worthy of this lineage."

He thought about it, but also felt that this famous lineage had nothing to do with him and his disciple. They might make a big splash or cause a huge disaster, but it would not be his turn to worry about it, nor would it be the turn of the little guy behind him to clean up the mess. So why think so far ahead?

He shook his head and walked towards the human world with his disciple on his back.

Midwinter had just passed.

The trees were bare, but new buds were sprouting. Finally, there was some welcome vitality from the cold and harsh autumn and winter seasons. Old age and new life, all things in nature, are always like this. The young Taoist watched them go away, and the old monk carried the young monk on his back.

The human world is like a sea of ​​suffering, but in the six realms of practice, where is there no desire, and where is not a sea of ​​suffering?

In the ancient times, cicadas chirped in front of the Buddha; in this mundane world, an old monk carried a young monk forward.

You saved me in my previous life, and I will save you in this life.

But what about the next life?

The young Bodhi had a gentle look.

This great immortal who moved the world turned around, his sleeves fluttering, and walked away against the crowd and the world. The young monk behind him was clamoring to eat candied haws, and the old monk had no choice but to smile and agree. On both sides there were the sounds of people talking, hawkers selling, and the sounds of the world. They walked farther and farther away, and gradually disappeared in this world.

Eight hundred and thirty years later.

In the Buddha's country, there are monks who have ascended to the Great Stage.

Buddha's name is Sakyamuni.

World name, Posa.

Another two thousand five hundred years.

There was a monk who ascended to the Great Stage.

Buddha's name and the merits of sandalwood.

The name of the world, pure.