Chapter 2 The Empty Gate
Meng Qi's secret joy was interrupted, and his pride turned to embarrassment. Zhende and other young novice monks looked at him with surprise and contempt, which seemed like a primary school student trying to draw a clear line between bad classmates. Only Zhenhui "Fang Ahqi" "Looking blankly at the golden Buddha statue in front of him, he looked like he was in a state of wandering mind.
Subconsciously, Meng Qi half-turned his head and looked at Xuan Zang beside him. Could he have seen any clues?
For him, being embarrassed and frustrated is a trivial matter, but exposing the fact that he has reincarnated himself into a dead body is a huge problem!
Xuan Zang still had a bitter look on his face, and his eyes were filled with despair. After feeling Meng Qi's gaze, he shook his head slightly: "Namo Amitabha, everything will be decided by Junior Brother Xuan Ku."
He didn't hint, he said it directly.
Well, he thought I was asking for mercy when I looked at him... Meng Qi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had passed this test. Unless the parents who abandoned this body, the horse-faced uncle, etc. came to find him, they should not be seen through. Well, if another ten or eight years pass, no one will doubt it anymore. The memories of childhood are easy to forget.
Compared to this, entering the bureau is just a trivial matter!
Meng Qi, who was caught off guard, tried his best to make his expression as dull as Zhenhui's, so as not to let Xuanzang see that he was actually not that depressed and sad.
After the broad-faced and big-eared Xuan Ku asked the remaining children one by one, together with Mengqi and Zhenhui, a total of six people were admitted to the Miscellaneous Workers' Academy, while the rest belonged to the Warrior Monk Academy.
The ruler of his right hand tapped the palm of his left hand lightly: "Follow me to the Zaozhuyuan to be tonsured, to receive monk robes, Buddhist scriptures and other things. I will live a hard life in the future, and I will not miss the opportunity to enter Bodhi and Bodhidharma monasteries to practice advanced Buddhist scriptures and martial arts." ”
Is there a Bodhidharma here too? Meng Qi was stunned for a moment, but Xuan Ku didn't give him time to think, and walked straight through the children and out of the hall.
There were strangers around, and Meng Qi didn't dare to ask any questions. He followed closely behind the two yellow-robed monks, Xuan Ku and Xuan Zang, and turned into a nearby courtyard.
"You are not considered a formal initiate. You only need to pay homage to the Buddha and be ordained and leave your name." Xuan Ku pointed at the futon in the small Buddhist hall.
"Yes, Uncle Xuanku." The children all responded with Zhende, and then one by one they knelt on the futon and kowtowed to the golden Buddha statue above.
After all the children had worshiped the Buddha, Xuanku put his hands together, saluted the Buddha statue solemnly, and recited "Namo Amitabha". Then, he walked up to a child and gently touched his head with his right hand.
The child's long black hair immediately changed. At a speed visible to Meng Qi's naked eye, the roots turned yellow and fell to the ground like fallen leaves. In less than two breaths, the child became a real little novice monk.
"The troubles are over, and the mortal world is far away." Xuan Ku said solemnly, and his mellow voice echoed in the pure Buddhist hall.
"What kind of martial arts is this? It's so amazing!" Meng Qi was shocked and excited at the same time. Will he have the opportunity to learn such martial arts in the future?
Xuanku walked up to the children one by one and removed their hair, always saying the same words.
When it was Meng Qi's turn, he lowered his head, silently recited the names of Buddha and Taoist ancestors, and mourned the loss of his hair.
The thick and broad palm caressed the top of Meng Qi's head, and the dry hair fell in front of his eyes. This made him feel sad and almost couldn't control himself. He loved the world of mortals so much that he never thought about becoming a monk. .
"Troubles are gone, and the world of mortals is far away."
Xuan Ku's voice was like a sudden ringing of a bell, making Meng Qi tremble all over and clear his mind.
But after Xuan Ku left and Cheng Jing disappeared, Meng Qi's belief remained firm and he must return to secular life in the future!
After worshiping the Buddha, getting tonsured, and leaving their name on the monk's plate, Xuan Ku asked several monks in gray to take the children to the backyard to get their own things - two sets of gray monk robes, two pairs of shoes and socks, "Shaolin Precepts", "Morning Class" Twelve Little Mantras" and so on.
"When you have learned calligraphy in the 'Lecture School', you can recite the precepts of this temple and the morning mantra. Before that, I will briefly talk about the main precepts of this temple. First, you must not deceive the teacher and destroy the ancestors. Second, you must not deceive the teacher and destroy the ancestors. It is allowed, but you cannot secretly learn martial arts, three, you are not allowed to kill, four, you are not allowed to drink alcohol, five, you are forbidden to eat meat and spicy food, six, you are not allowed to break the sexual precepts..." Xuan Ku repeated the main precepts that need to be observed several times, and finally said solemnly: "Those who violate this will be scolded at the least, and at the most serious end, their martial arts will be revoked and they will be expelled from the temple."
He only mentioned two of the punishments, which were the lightest and the heaviest. Others included punishments such as hard labor, copying scriptures, beatings with sticks, and facing the wall.
After explaining these things, he and Xuanzang left the "Miscellaneous Yard" with the group of novice monks.
"In this temple, those wearing gray robes are ordinary monks, those wearing yellow robes are deacons of each monastery, those wearing yellow robes and red cassocks are abbots, heads of each monastery and elders..." Along the way, Xuan Ku continued to instill "monastery common sense" into the young monks. It was not until Zhende and others entered the "Warrior Monk Hall" that he became silent again.
The group of people walked further and further away. The inside and outside of the yellow wall were covered with green trees. There was no Buddhist temple. After a while, Meng Qi saw a mottled and old courtyard.
"Oh, Brother Xuanku and Brother Xuanzang, are you here so early?" A fat monk came up to the door with a smile. He was also dressed in yellow clothes, but his collar was slanted and his belly was swollen.
Xuanku frowned, clasped his hands together and said, "Namo Amitabha, senior brother Xuanxin, how can you be so lazy?"
The fat monk Xuan Xin had long been familiar with Xuan Ku's temper and said without being angry at all: "Oh, you are too obsessed with foreign ministers. Is this for our disciples from the Miscellaneous Service School?"
He didn't want to get entangled with Xuan Ku on this issue and pointed directly at Meng Qi and others.
"Please ask Senior Brother Xuanxin to make arrangements." Xuanku replied seriously.
At this time, Xuanzang, who had been making saw-shaped gourds, suddenly said: "Zhenying, is Zhenguan still in the courtyard?"
"It's still there, it's still there!" Fat monk Xuanxin said doubtfully: "Brother Xuanzang, what are you asking them for? Do you intend to accept them as disciples?"
Xuanzang shook his head and sighed: "My martial arts has been ruined. It is inconvenient to mislead my disciples. How dare I accept disciples? Junior Brother Xuanxin, please let them live in the same room as Zhenying and Zhenguan."
He was referring to Meng Qi and Zhen Hui.
Meng Qi's heart beat violently. This was the first time that Xuanzang took action to arrange his affairs. Could it be that the two monks Zhenying and Zhenguan had something special that could help him?
"Haha, Senior Brother Xuanzang, how can I dare to say 'trouble' for what you ordered me to do? Why should I do this for such a trivial matter?" Xuanxin agreed immediately.
Xuan Ku glanced sideways at Xuan Zang and didn't say much. Instead, he said sternly to Meng Qi, Zhen Hui and other young novice monks: "I placed you in the Miscellaneous Service Courtyard because you all have your own problems. If you can solve them on your own, Understand that if you polish your character, you may not have the opportunity to enter the Monk Monastery, Bodhidharma Monastery, or even Bodhi Monastery in the future.”
"But if you continue to cheat, be lazy and playful, have an impetuous temperament, and cannot bear to suffer, I will not hide it. I will report it to the Discipline Academy and punish you accordingly."
He spoke his thoughts without any pretense to show that he was frank and without any selfishness, which made Xuan Xin next to him blush slightly.
"Yes, Master Xuanku." Meng Qi and other young novice monks answered in unison.
After watching Xuan Ku and Xuan Zang leave, Xuan Xin twisted his body, making the pieces of fat tremble up and down: "I finally left. I was most afraid of seeing this iron-masked ghost."
This monk... Meng Qi pretended not to look sideways and followed the swaying Xuan Xin into the meditation room.
"Zhenying, Zhenguan, this is your junior brother Zhending, Zhenhui." Xuanxin pointed at Meng Qi and Zhenhui, then turned around and took the other young novices to another meditation room.
In the Zen room, there is a bunk, which is enough for seven or eight people to sleep, and there is nothing else.
On the bunk, two gray-robed monks were lying down and one was sitting. They were both in their twenties. The one lying down had a dull expression and was speechless. The one sitting down had his eyebrows furrowed and his tone was cold: "Put the parcels and luggage in there." Just lay on the bottom. If you want to drink water, go to the water tank in the courtyard."
"I wonder what you call me, senior brother?" Meng Qi glanced at the dull Zhenhui and decided to establish a good "roommate relationship" on his own.
The person sitting down said coldly: "True View."
After answering, he stopped talking and even turned his head away from Meng Qi and Zhenhui, leaving Meng Qi with nothing to talk about to get closer.
As for Zhenying, he closed his eyes and continued to sleep.
Who are these people! Meng Qi secretly slandered, but on the outside he smiled and said to Zhenhui: "Junior brother Zhenhui, I am Zhending. From now on, you can just call me senior brother."
"Yes, senior brother." Zhenhui called without any embarrassment.
It’s better to be this stupid little guy! Meng Qi secretly sighed and decided to use his senior brother's role to help Zhenhui: "Junior brother, eh, I'll just call you junior brother. Come on, let's put on the monk's clothes first."
Although there were people in the room, Meng Qi, who often went shirtless to cool off in the dormitory when he was in college, did not feel uncomfortable and quickly took off his clothes and put on monk robes.
While quietly thanking the monks for wearing simple robes, which prevented him from appearing ugly, he checked things on his body that he had not had time to examine before.
The body's robes were finely woven and light and soft. Even if Meng Qi didn't know the goods, he could tell that they were valuable. At the same time, "he" had a transparent jade pendant hanging from his waist, and he wore it around his neck. A small jade Buddha pendant tied with a red string, close to the chest, refreshing and cool, so uncomfortable.
Meng Qi carefully played with the thumb-sized jade Buddha, and saw that "it" had a compassionate and lifelike face. It was obviously an extraordinary carving. At the same time, "it" had a delicate touch, which was both warm and refreshing.
"According to what the horse-faced uncle said, this Jade Buddha was given by some unknown old monk? But since the Marquis didn't take it away, it's probably not a special item. It's better to wear it close to your body." Meng Qi hung the Jade Buddha pendant again. On the chest, he hid it close to his body, then packed up the jade pendant, clothes, etc. and put them under the bunk he chose.
At this time, Zhenying, who had been sleeping, suddenly turned over and sat up, quickly put on his shoes and went out. Meng Qi was stunned for a moment, not understanding what was going on.
"It's dinner time." Zhenguan said coldly, got out of the bunk and walked out the door.
Who are these two people? Meng Qi cursed secretly again, then turned to Zhenhui and said, "Junior brother, are you ready? It's dinner time!"
"Okay!" As soon as Zhenhui finished speaking, the little figure rushed to the door like a rabbit, as if it was already hungry.
"..." Meng Qi was immediately embarrassed. Is he the only one who is normal here?
Zhenhui suddenly stopped at the door and looked back at Meng Qi, with confusion on her face: "Brother, aren't you going?"
I guess you have some conscience and know how to wait for me! Meng Qi thought to himself, and then replied half-jokingly: "I'm not as hungry as you."
Looking at you two, you look like starving ghosts reincarnated!
Zhenhui's doubts disappeared and she nodded seriously: "Brother, I'll go first."
He turned around and ran away.
Hello! I'm just joking, don't take it seriously... Meng Qi opened his mouth half-open,
After fluttering a few times, he shouted loudly: "Hey, little junior brother, wait for me!"
Suddenly, a burst of sadness hit his heart. Someone else's is a junior sister. Why do I only have a junior junior sister, and it is foreseeable that there will be no junior sisters in the future.