At noon, there was no trace of any monks on the hill behind Lingwu Temple. Only a field of lush green vegetables listlessly basking in the sun.
Jiang Zhan stood in the empty mountains and looked around, and soon saw a well not far from the vegetable field.
He walked over quickly, held onto the cold wall of the well to muster up his courage, and poked his head inside.
The well was deep and dark, and one could not see clearly what was going on inside.
Jiang Zhan sniffed hard.
I don't smell anything.
His eyes fell on the derrick.
Do you want to fetch a bucket of water and take a look?
Jiang Zhan reached out and grasped the handle, but suddenly jumped up and turned around.
Not far behind him stood a young monk.
Jiang Zhan felt a chill down his spine, but he forced a pleasing smile on his face: "Master was standing behind me, and I got scared."
The young monk put his hands together and bowed to Jiang Zhan, asking, "Why are you here, benefactor? Our back mountain is not open to pilgrims."
"Uh, is that so?" Jiang Zhan walked a few steps to the side without leaving a trace, and distanced himself from the young monk. "At noon, I had the most famous vegetable soup in your temple. It was so delicious that it made my mouth water. I asked a master, and he said that the wild vegetables used to make the vegetable soup must be grown in the back mountain of your temple and irrigated with water from a special well, in order to achieve that flavor."
Jiang Zhan was on guard, but his expression was natural: "Master, you don't know, I don't have any other hobbies, but I love food. When the master said that, my heart was itching, so I couldn't help but run here to see what the wild vegetables look like and what the well water tastes like. In this way, maybe I can buy some when I go back."
The young monk smiled and said, "This wild vegetable was found by our uncle many years ago in the mountains and transplanted here. It is not sold anywhere else. I'm afraid you will be disappointed."
Jiang Zhan looked disappointed: "Is that so? It seems that I can only come to Guisi again if I want to eat this in the future."
The young monk was even more pleased: "Many donors come to burn incense every few days, not only because the incense is effective, but also because of this vegetable soup."
Jiang Zhan's anxious heart quietly let go of half of its worries.
If there really is something shameful in the well, and it is related to the monk in front of him, this person should not care about it.
That's good. At least now we won't have the worry of wanting to silence each other.
Thinking about this, Jiang Zhan became more relaxed and simply started chatting with the young monk: "It's noon now, why don't you take a rest and come here?"
The handsome young man had a pleasant smile on his face, which undoubtedly attracted people's favor. The young monk couldn't help but complain: "This wild vegetable is the most precious. It has to be watered at this time..."
Jiang Zhan was delighted when he heard this.
After all the fuss, it turns out that this young monk is also an outcast, doing this kind of hard and tiring work.
"Donor, please leave early. I have work to do." The young monk walked towards the well and shook the handle skillfully.
There was a creaking sound, and soon a bucket of water was pumped up.
Jiang Zhan couldn't help but stretch his neck to look.
"donor?"
"Master, it must be tiring for you to fetch water by yourself in this hot weather. I have nothing to do, so I will help you water the pond.
"How can this be possible?" The young monk picked up the bucket and walked towards the vegetable field.
Jiang Zhan followed him relentlessly: "Master, please don't refuse. This is my sincerity to the Buddha. Perhaps the Buddha will see my sincerity and make the wish I made today come true soon."
Hearing this, the young monk couldn't resist any more and nodded.
Amitabha, the Buddha is clear-sighted, he is not being lazy.
The water from the seemingly dark well was actually very clear, and there was no strange smell at all.
The vegetable patch was almost watered, and Mr. Jiang, exhausted as a dog, sat on the ground panting without any image.
He wanted to have a good talk about life with his fourth sister.
"Thank you so much for your kindness today. Please go back and have a rest."
Seeing that Jiang Zhan was still trying to show off, the young monk laughed and said, "Your face is about to peel from the sun."
Jiang Zhan: “…”
Seeing that he found nothing unusual, Jiang Zhan shook off the dust on his body and stood up: "Then I will go back. By the way, I still don't know how to address you, Master?"
The young monk Chong Jiang Zhan put his hands together and said: "Amitabha, I am Sikong."
"Master Sikong, we'll meet again if we're lucky." Jiang Zhan had a good impression of the young monk. He smiled and bowed to say goodbye, but he knew in his heart that these polite words were just talk. After leaving Lingwu Temple, he would certainly not have any intersection with the people in this temple again.
"Goodbye." The young monk watched Jiang Zhan leave, sat on the ground to rest for a while, and walked towards the well.
He came much earlier today than usual, and with the help of enthusiastic donors, it seems that he will be able to go back and rest soon.
After resting and regaining his strength, the young monk quickly drew a bucket of water. However, this time he did not immediately carry the water back. Instead, he stared at the bucket with a look of shock.
In the bucket that was about 70% full, the well water was still clear, but there was something extra.
That's a shoe.
How did a shoe get into the well?
The young monk looked doubtful and horrified at the thought of a certain possibility.
Could it be that one of the senior brothers accidentally fell into the water?
That's not right. I didn't hear any brother was absent during the morning class this morning.
The young monk put down the bucket, took a heavy step forward, and leaned down along the edge of the well.
"Sikong, what are you looking at?" A familiar voice came from behind, which made the young monk feel creepy.
…
Jiang Zhan quietly left the back mountain, but found Jiang Si waiting not far away, with Yu Jin standing beside him.
Jiang Zhan smiled and went over to greet her: "Hey, Fourth Sister, are you ready for lunch break now?"
"Where is the second brother?" Jiang Si asked with a serious face.
"Just walking around." Jiang Zhan looked up at the sky and changed the subject, "Why are you two together?"
"I just happened to meet him and found that Second Brother Jiang was doing good things, so I didn't disturb him."
Jiang Zhan was very embarrassed: "Did you all see it?"
"Let's leave here first. It's past noon and soon more people will come here." Jiang Si said with a straight face.
The three of them returned to the guest room. Jiang Zhan drank a jug of water before stopping: "Fourth sister, why are you unhappy?"
Jiang Si raised his eyebrows: "Second brother, you still have the nerve to ask. Aren't you afraid of an accident when you run to someone else's back mountain alone?"
Before Jiang Zhan could say anything, Yu Jin chuckled.
This girl is really the pot calling the kettle black. I don't know why she followed a drunk man in the middle of the night.
However - this probably proves that Jiang Zhan is very important in her heart?
If you care too much, you will be confused.
Yu Jin glanced at Jiang Zhan, who looked aggrieved, and suddenly felt sour in his heart.
"Fourth sister, you don't know. After you left, the female ghost came to me in my dream! But there was nothing unusual in the back mountain. The monk and I took turns to draw water dozens of times, but we didn't catch even a bird feather."
"So don't worry about it, brother. Let's go when the weather gets cooler."
Jiang Zhan had no choice but to nod.
But the sun outside was still glaring, and the temple bells began to ring.