Dark clouds were looming over the city. The air in Hanyang County was damp and stuffy, filled with a tense atmosphere that was about to explode. There was a dangerous sense that a storm was about to come.
While Ah Hua was washing clothes by the river, she heard a neighbor lady saying to someone, "It looks like the wheat harvest is almost here, the barbarians will definitely come over to rob us."
Ah Hua was startled and her face turned pale. "Our county has paid protection fees, why would barbarians come here?"
Their Hanyang County was just a small county under Beihuang City, with not many soldiers stationed there. In order to ensure safety, the county magistrate would collect an extra tax every year and hand it over to the barbarians in exchange for the safety of the entire county.
The old lady looked at her and said with a wry smile, "Girl, do you remember what happened to Widow Li's family in the front street after her husband died?"
Ah Hua had seen this with her own eyes. She immediately said angrily, "It was said that Widow Li had no son, so her husband's relatives started to eat up the whole family. Not only did they empty their house, they also kicked Widow Li and Sister Li out!"
The old lady sighed, her face expressionless: "To the barbarians, our county is a barren land without men. What's the point of giving them more money? People are greedy, and they want to empty our county."
Ah Hua forced a smile and said, "How can our county be the same as Widow Li's family? It's not like we don't have men! There are tens of thousands of troops stationed in Beihuang City, but how many barbarians are there?"
The old lady sneered, "It's the same whether you have a man or not. How many barbarians have come here in recent years? Although there are tens of thousands of troops stationed at the border, a few thousand barbarians can still come whenever they want."
Ah Hua was speechless.
Every time, after the barbarians had done their harm, the Northern Wasteland City would send troops to go over slowly to make a show of it. It would be worse if there was no army at all! That's why the barbarians were so bold, coming every autumn and winter to rob food, livestock, and women.
Ah Hua whispered again, "In the past, the barbarians always went to nearby counties to cause trouble! Our county is close to Beihuang City, so the barbarians dare not come."
The old lady sighed, and this time the woman who had been talking to her before took over the conversation, "I heard from my relatives in Lin County that because the barbarians robbed so fiercely last year, many people from those counties fled. In addition, there is a severe drought this year and the harvest is poor. If the barbarians can't rob enough, won't they come to our county?"
Ah Hua's face turned pale, her lips trembled and she couldn't speak.
Although their taxes were high in recent years, compared with the tragic situation in other counties where barbarians were wreaking havoc, Ah Hua and his men were particularly willing to pay taxes.
But is it useless to pay taxes now?
"The barbarians are coming! The garrison has fled! Everyone, run!!"
"The city is broken, run!!!"
Suddenly, voices came from all directions, and for a moment it seemed that countless people were running around to tell each other.
Ah Hua was frightened by these earth-shattering shouts. She looked at the old lady blankly and asked with a trembling voice: "Auntie, did I hear it wrong?"
"The city was breached? That's impossible. How could the city ..."
"Girl! Run!" The old lady pushed him hard and yelled, "Hide!"
Ah Hua staggered and turned to run towards her home. The old lady behind her shouted, "Don't take the things! Your life is at stake!"
Ah Hua didn't even turn around, "My parents are in the house!"
Almost at the same time she threw open the door of her house, the sound of horse hooves and the crying and screaming of neighbors were heard outside.
Everything that happened next was an unforgettable nightmare for Ah Hua.
Three barbarians broke into the room on horseback with a fierce grin on their faces, speaking in bird language.
The first to die was the youngest brother.
Perhaps because his crying was too loud, the barbarians swung their sabers and chopped off his head.
He is only five years old this year, so his head is also very small. When he fell to the ground, he was as lively and cute as everyone else, jumping and falling to a far place, just like the little cloth ball he loves to kick the most.
The next to die was Dad.
Because his younger brother died, my father rushed forward, so the barbarian raised his saber and stabbed him through the heart. The saber stabbed, pulled out, and stabbed again... blood spurted out in streams, as if it would never stop flowing.
Ah Hua vaguely recalled that when she was a child, her father took her to the river and taught her how to fish with a spear. At that time, she and her father would never have thought that one day, her father would also become a fish caught by a spear.
Then it was my brother who died.
Because my brother wants to save my father.
So the horse raised its hoof high and kicked his head to pieces.
Her upright brother was lying on the ground with his eyes open, his head was rotten, and white brain and blood were all over the ground. Ah Hua suddenly remembered that every time the family bought pig offal, her brother would give the pig brain to his younger brother, so that he could improve his brain and pass the imperial examination in the future. Did her brother know? He was also made into pig brain by the barbarians?
Ah Hua stood there blankly, the cries of her sister-in-law and mother coming closer and farther in her ears. Her eyes were sore from opening, but she found that she couldn't close them. She opened her mouth, but could only make quick, hoarse sounds.
In a trance, she seemed to be pulled away from her mother's arms, and then pushed to the ground. Someone was pressing on her and pulling her clothes.
She turned her head slightly and saw her sister-in-law lying on the ground with a big belly and being stripped of clothes by the barbarians not far away.
How could that barbarian suppress my sister-in-law? My sister-in-law is eight months pregnant and will give birth soon. Now she lies in bed every day to take care of the baby and doesn't even walk much.
Her sister-in-law's shrill cry was like a basin of cold water poured over her head. She suddenly woke up, and her consciousness, hearing, vision, pain, and the sadness in her heart all returned.
She cried loudly, her voice was so shrill that it didn't sound like a ghost.
"Beasts! You beasts! You will not die a good death! You will be punished! Ahhhhhhh!!! God! Open your eyes and look! Please send down thunder and kill these beasts!"
The barbarian who was on top of her slapped her hard, then pinched her throat fiercely. Ah Hua rolled her eyes and her consciousness became increasingly blurred.
Is she going to die too?
She is also the daughter of an honest family. Why should she be abused and humiliated to death by them?
The wind was blowing hard, countless green leaves were dancing in the air, dark clouds were rolling, the sky was visibly darkening, the sun disappeared, and faint thunder was heard in the distance.
Giant purple thunder passed through the dark clouds, making a deafening roar, like a huge battle axe, about to split the world in half.
Amidst the thunder and lightning, a voice suddenly rang out from all directions and reached Ah Hua's ears clearly. The voice was solemn and sacred, repeating over and over again:
"Do not do evil, practice all good, and purify your mind. This is the teaching of all Buddhas."
"Do not do evil, practice all good, and purify your mind. This is the teaching of all Buddhas."
"Do not do evil, practice all good, and purify your mind. This is the teaching of all Buddhas."
The barbarian on Ah Hua stopped violating her, raised his saber, and shouted in stiff Chinese: "Who is it? Get out! Stop playing tricks!"
The downpour came roaring in, and the dense rain curtain blurred everything around them. In the black rain, a bright yellow ball of light walked towards them slowly.
The barbarian rolled off Ah Hua, tightly gripped the saber in his hand, and stared at the bright yellow light ball that was getting closer and closer. "Who? Speak!"
The ball of light was getting closer and closer, and slowly a vague human figure was revealed.
The torrential rain blurred Ah Hua's vision. She squinted her eyes with great effort and barely made out the identity of the visitor - a monk in bright yellow robes. He walked slowly towards her. In a trance, Ah Hua seemed to see lotus flowers blooming under his feet, a faint fragrance floating in the air, and golden light behind him transforming into all kinds of magical illusions, as if a god had come to the world, walking in the bloody hell, and saving the demons.
She blinked again, only to find that the illusion had disappeared. The black rain continued, the purple thunder roared, and the monk was standing alone, like a small boat in a rainstorm, not knowing who to ferry out of the sea of suffering.
The barbarian asked suspiciously, "A monk?"
The monk said: "Amitabha, all sentient beings in the world want to do evil. The strong subdue the weak, and then they defeat each other. They kill and injure each other, and devour each other. They do not know how to do good, and will suffer punishment in the future. This is natural between heaven and earth. Although there is no immediate violent retribution, good and evil will be punished."①
Ah Hua couldn't see his face clearly, but she could feel his gaze, as hot and pure as a torch, as if it wanted to burn away all the injustices. Then she heard a sharp shout like thunder: "Donor, why don't you put down your butcher knife and kowtow to repent?"
Another streak of purple lightning streaked across the sky, briefly illuminating the small courtyard. The barbarian who had just violated Ah Hua raised the blood-stained saber in his hand and smiled ferociously, like a demon from hell. "You Han people just talk too much nonsense. You are talking nonsense. You still want me to kowtow to you? I want to see which is harder, my sword or your head!"
He swung his knife and was about to chop at the monk.
The monk sighed with compassion, clasped his hands together, and said, "People in this world suffer from pain and suffering. Buddha is merciful and will save them all. I have received the Buddha's important instructions and will not dare to disobey them."②
A huge shadow condensed from golden light appeared behind him. The giant black dog had a ferocious and angry look on its face. It howled towards the sky and easily bit the knife-wielding barbarian in half.
The other two barbarians screamed and staggered to run away, but were easily caught up by the giant dog, which then killed them one by one in one bite.
The giant black dog looked at the monk deeply, and the monk nodded imperceptibly. Then the giant black dog rushed out of the courtyard without looking back, and rushed towards other places where people were screaming and crying.
Ah Hua sat up from the ground, staring at everything blankly. It felt like a dream and it wasn't real. Is this the end?
All the people who harmed her family are dead?
Is this retribution?
"Is the donor injured?"
Ah Hua turned her head and looked up, meeting a pair of clear and pure glass eyes that contained divine light.
The storm was howling, thunder and lightning were roaring, and the wind was howling. The yellow-robed monk lowered his eyes to look at him, as if a god or Buddha sitting on a lotus platform high in the clouds was taking a very brief look at the world.
Ah Hua was trembling all over, and it seemed as if there was a fire burning in her heart. Under the influence of intense emotions, she didn't know what expression to make, and could only answer with a wooden face: "It's okay... I'm not hurt. Thank you, thank you Master, thank you Bodhisattva..."
The young monk smiled at her kindly, then walked past her towards her mother and sister-in-law. Only then did she realize that the monk's clothes were dry and soft, without a single drop of moisture. The dark rain in the sky seemed to have retreated on its own and did not stain the monk's robes. A faint scent of sandalwood lingered in the air.
For some reason, Ah Hua felt much calmer.
She calmed herself down and finally regained some reason and strength, and staggered towards her mother and sister-in-law.
"Mother, sister-in-law! Are you okay?"
Mother, still in shock, smoothed her torn collar, crawled to her father, brother and little brother with a sad look, and burst into tears.
Ah Hua's body swayed and she felt dizzy. Just before she fainted, she suddenly heard her sister-in-law moaning.
A slender woman was lying on the ground with a big belly, groaning loudly, and there were bloodstains under her body.
Ah Hua didn't dare to faint.
She rolled and crawled to her sister-in-law and held her hand, "Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, are you okay? Don't scare me, sister-in-law!"
"I'm afraid this female donor is about to give birth."
The panic-stricken Ah Hua immediately hugged the monk's calf tightly, as if she had grabbed the last straw to save her life, and looked at the monk hopefully, "Please save my sister-in-law! You must have a way, right? You are a Bodhisattva, you must have a way!"
The monk smiled and corrected her, "You have misunderstood, my lady donor. I am not a Bodhisattva, but just an ordinary monk."
"No! You are the Bodhisattva! You can definitely save my sister-in-law! My brother is dead, my sister-in-law must not be in any danger!"
Monk, Le Jing looked at the confused girl and the old woman who was not far away wailing over her dead relatives. He sighed in his heart and said to the girl, "You and your mother go get some boiling water and clean scissors to prepare for the delivery."
Ah Hua finally woke up from her dream and ran to find her mother. Her mother was about to cry to death, but after hearing Ah Hua's words, she became more energetic. She didn't even bother to wipe her tears and ordered Ah Hua, "Go! Boil some water! And prepare brown sugar water and egg cake for your sister-in-law, otherwise she will be too weak to wait!"
Ah Hua and his mother were so busy that they had no time to rest. When she came out of the kitchen with boiling hot water, she saw the young monk sitting cross-legged beside her sister-in-law, one hand on her big belly, the other hand moving the rosary, closing his eyes and chanting Buddhist scriptures.
When Ah Hua came closer, she found that there was a golden light flashing under the monk's hand covering her sister-in-law's belly, but her sister-in-law's face was calm and her moans were so low that they could not be heard.
Although his eyes were clearly closed, the monk turned his head and "looked" at her direction accurately. "The fetus is stable. It's almost time to prepare for delivery."
Ah Hua nodded desperately. If she hadn't been holding the hot water in her hands, she would have knelt down and kowtowed countless times to the monk. At this moment, she could only express her gratitude with poor words: "Thank you, Bodhisattva. I will never forget your great kindness. I will sincerely chant the Buddha's name and worship you well in this life!"
The monk put down his hand, stood up, and said to Ah Hua: "You don't have to offer me sacrifices. In the future, you just need to accumulate virtue and do more good deeds. That will be the best reward for me."
Ah Hua nodded desperately.
My sister-in-law's delivery went smoothly.
Ah Hua suspected that this was because the monk had been chanting Buddha's name with his eyes closed not far away during this period.
In short, it took almost no effort, and my sister-in-law gave birth to a big fat boy without even using brown sugar water or egg cake. He cried loudly, and his fists and feet were strong. You could tell at a glance that he was extremely healthy.
The joy of the birth of a newborn dispelled some of the sadness that shrouded the courtyard. Ah Hua and her mother held the child together and forced out a smile amidst the endless suffering.
Amid the boy's loud cries, a huge black dog jumped in from outside the wall.
The black dog was covered in blood, with black flames burning on its sides as if from hell, and its sharp fangs dripping with smelly black blood.
However, facing the ferocious appearance of the black dog, Ah Hua did not feel any fear at all. Instead, she felt infinite closeness and respect for the dog.
The black dog ran to the side of the chanting monk like a gust of wind, lay down obediently, and made a whimpering sound from its throat, just like a puppy.
The monk touched his huge head and asked, "Have you finished with everything?"
The black dog growled.
The monk lowered his eyes and smiled, like the Buddha smiling at a flower, his brows clear and compassionate, he put his hands together and chanted the Buddha's name again: "Our Buddha is merciful. Wherever the Buddha goes, all countries, towns and villages are enlightened. The world is peaceful, the sun and the moon are clear. The wind and rain come at their own time, and no disasters occur. The country is prosperous and the people are safe, and weapons are useless. Respect virtue and promote benevolence, and practice courtesy and tolerance. There are no thieves in the country. There is no grievance or injustice. The strong do not bully the weak, and everyone gets what they deserve."③
Ah Hua listened to the monk's teachings and seemed to understand.
She suddenly realized that there was no more crying or screaming around her, only a soothing tranquility.
She blinked, and vaguely seemed to realize something.
The monk touched the giant dog's head again, then stood up, clasped his hands together and bowed slightly to Ahua. While Ahua was stunned, the monk and the black dog disappeared like bubbles.
Then, from all directions came the sacred and solemn Buddhist voice: "May this merit be used to adorn the Pure Land of Buddha. May it repay the fourfold kindness and relieve the sufferings of the three evil paths. If anyone sees or hears this, may they all develop the Bodhi mind. After this life, may they all be reborn in the Pure Land together."④
Ah Hua only felt her whole body calm and warm, sadness, pain, anger, resentment and all other negative emotions seemed to have left her. In the world she could not see, countless pale souls emerged from the corpses, and with peaceful expressions, they were saved and went to where they should go.
The mother asked tremblingly: "Ahua, who is he?"
Ah Hua calmed down and answered confidently: "He is a Bodhisattva."
The author has something to say:
No, he is Guanyin, the Goddess of Childbirth (funny.jpg)
①②③Quote from "The Sutra of Infinite Life"
④ is the palindrome of the Amitabha Sutra.
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