Chapter 1284 Rashomon (Part 1)
Withered vines cling to an old jujube tree, whose rugged branches stretch toward the sky, and the branches hold up the bright moon in the dark sky.
The bright moon reflects a ruined temple under the earth slope in the distance.
There are no tiles on the roof of the temple, and the bright moonlight, along with the biting north wind, pours into the temple.
Even if the people in the temple close the temple door tightly, it is difficult to resist the cold air falling from the sky.
In the ruined temple, the young man took off his scabbard and threw the iron sword with the scabbard into the straw pile in the corner of the wall. He picked up a rafter that fell on the ground and used it to prop up the temple door that was shaking in the wind. Then he turned over to the corner of the temple wall, blew the fire starter, and put the red flame into the firewood in front of him.
The flames in the firewood gradually burned brighter.
A burst of thick smoke and flames poured out from the firewood pile.
It had just rained here, and everything was wet.
The pile of firewood in the temple was also soaked with moisture. It took a lot of effort to completely ignite it.
The young man pushed the fire starter into the gap between the firewood with one hand and fanned it gently with the other hand. The brighter the fire was, the brighter the light in his eyes became.
At this time, the temple door that was supported by the rafter not far away suddenly shook violently.
"Bang!"
The rafter fell to the ground.
The broken and leaky temple door was pushed open, and a gust of cold wind rolled in from outside the temple. The strong wind hit the wall and rolled around the temple. The firewood in the corner was slightly ignited, and all the flames were extinguished in an instant, leaving only a few sparks that were soaked in the thick smoke and moisture, and finally dimmed.
The young man was in a panic and could not stop the flame from going out. He cursed in frustration and looked up at the temple gate. Along with the fierce cold wind, there was also a frosty white moonlight on the ground.
In the moonlight on the ground, a graceful figure was reflected.
Looking at the figure with long hair, the young man grabbed the scabbard sword in the straw pile next to him. He pulled out the polished iron sword, pointed at the shadow on the ground, and muttered to himself: "Female ghost? She looks pretty.
I haven't done it with a female ghost yet, maybe I can do it this time..."
He spoke in a wild way, but his expression was really nervous. He just used these wild words to embolden himself. After all, this area was not close to any village. It was fine for him to be a poor ranger wandering around in the deserted temple. If there was a graceful woman... This kind of thing only happened in vernacular novels. If it really happened in reality, the so-called beautiful woman would definitely not be a good person!
Now the saint wants to cure the ghosts in the world, and he ordered to go to Chang'an. The bad people in the world heard the news and arrested the ghosts everywhere. The murders by ghosts that have never stopped since ancient times have suddenly decreased.
But the number of evildoers has only decreased, not completely disappeared.
The young man did not dare to guarantee that he would not encounter evildoers at the moment. Before he saw the true form of the "species" outside the temple, he could not be sure that he was safe.
As he was cursing and spitting out all kinds of dirty words, the graceful figure that appeared in the open space in front of the temple suddenly turned to the side and disappeared in the open space in front of the temple. Instead, a monk in a cassock walked into the temple.
And this monk had no shadow!
Evil!
Evil!
The young man's heart was suddenly alarmed!
Many classics that he had learned in the village school, such as "Three Classics and Five Meanings", "Twelve Strategies to Suppress Evildoers", and "Secrets to Expel Evildoers", flashed through his mind again and again, but his hands did not obey his commands at all. The wrist holding the sword kept shaking, and he could not make any movements!
The monk wearing the Futian robe stood still in the temple, and the young man saw the monk's appearance clearly while trembling.
The other party's face was full of wrinkles and his appearance was haggard.
This image was more like evil...
Fortunately, this 'ghost monk' didn't seem to care about his existence at the moment, but just looked up and stared at a clay Buddha statue sitting against the wall in the temple, and didn't speak for a long time.
Behind the ghost monk, a graceful woman in gorgeous clothes walked into the temple.
The woman's gorgeous dress embroidered with pink and white petals was somewhat similar to the clothes of the Tang Dynasty, but the young man observed from the side and felt that the clothes were different from those worn by the noble ladies of the Tang Dynasty. He couldn't explain the specific difference, but he just felt that it was a bit awkward no matter how he looked at it.
"The emperor of the Tang Dynasty respected Buddhism and Taoism. Now even in such a dilapidated temple, there are clay Buddha statues. The money for making such a Buddha statue is not a small amount..." The woman's eyelashes moved slightly, and her tone of voice sounded unpleasant to the young man.
But when he heard the woman's voice, the fear in his heart had disappeared a lot.
Gui can also "speak", but they are mostly repetitive words. It is rare for a Gui to say such a long and logical sentence like this woman.
Moreover, if both of them are fierce Gui, they will directly regard themselves as their primary target when they enter the door. Why would they pay attention to a Buddha statue first?
The young man was a little relieved. He plucked up his courage and wanted to look at the woman a few more times.
The woman had a graceful figure, but her face was hazy under the moonlight. He didn't recognize her clearly just now. Now that he confirmed that they were all alive, he should naturally see their beauty——
In the wilderness, in a dilapidated temple, an old monk who looked like he was about to die, with a beautiful woman... Such things often only happen in storytellers' novels, but once it happens, it is a great thing for a knight like Zhang Fang.
He can get close to her, and he can also ask for some travel expenses!
Zhang Fang's mind was wandering.
The more he looked at the woman, the more hazy her face became in his eyes.
Until the woman turned her head and looked at him with a pair of beautiful eyes full of smiles - he was surprised to find that the other person's face was covered with a veil of the same color as the moonlight!
No wonder he couldn't see her face clearly...
Just this pair of eyes, it was really seductive...
Zhang Fang was dry-mouthed for a while, and tightened the iron sword in his hand.
"Excuse me, young man, have you seen anyone else in this temple?" The woman spoke softly to Zhang Fang, and her voice seemed to be entangled in Zhang Fang's soul.
He licked his lips and smiled: "I came to this temple when it was just getting dark, and I haven't seen anyone else here.
I wonder who the young lady is looking for here?"
"He should be a tall warrior now." The woman in the veil replied to Zhang Fang.
When Zhang Fang heard the woman's words, he suddenly felt that she was seducing him - he was carrying a sword, traveling around, and his figure was also outstanding, so he was a tall warrior?
This young lady didn't look like she was from an ordinary family - I originally thought she was a rich girl wearing a white dragon fish costume, but now I heard her words were frivolous, and she flirted with me in a temple in the wilderness in front of a dying old monk...
Then she must be a famous prostitute from a brothel.
Or maybe she was originally a rich woman, but she was lonely for a long time, and she happened to meet me, so she wanted to find me to vent her anger, and I didn't mind...
For some reason, Zhang Fang had evil thoughts in his heart at this time.
As evil thoughts arose frequently, his words became more and more indecent, and the smile on his face was a little lewd: "Young lady, do you think I have grown up enough?"
At this time, the veiled woman turned around and looked at the monk sitting in the corner. The old monk with a haggard appearance lowered his head and chanted a Buddhist name: "Namo Amitabha!"
After the Buddhist name sounded, Zhang Fang felt that the evil thoughts in his heart had dissipated a lot, but he was still a little dry in the mouth. However, when he saw the lonely and lonely eyes of the veiled woman, the dryness in his heart also dissipated by half.
The graceful woman turned around and stood in another corner of the temple.
The skinny monk sitting in the corner opposite Zhang Fang lowered his eyes and suddenly said: "He is here."
Hearing his words, Zhang Fang didn't understand, so he looked at the woman standing in the opposite corner, and immediately saw that the woman lowered her head and took off the veil covering her face.
The veil fell, revealing a face that made the beautiful moonlight pale in comparison.
Now, no matter what Buddhist chants were chanted, it was hard to suppress Zhang Fang's greed.
——Am I not tall enough?
What warrior is she waiting for?
Thinking that the person who was about to come to the temple might be the "tall warrior" that the beautiful woman was waiting for, Zhang Fang suddenly became more jealous. He wanted to ask the other person, but looking at the light in the other person's eyes like a clear stream, he felt ashamed and could not ask the dirty questions in his heart.
So Zhang Fang turned his head and looked at the temple gate.
In the moonlight in front of the temple gate, a dark shadow suddenly appeared.
The huge shadow almost filled the moonlight in front of the temple gate.
Looking at the majestic and tall shadow, Zhang Fang's eyes twitched a few times and shrank back into the corner. He heard a sound of armor plates colliding, and along with that sound, a handsome figure covered in a "mountain-shaped armor" made of overlapping silver armor plates squeezed into the temple gate.
Zhang Fang looked at the armor on the tall figure, and his pupils shrank even more, so he squeezed hard into the corner, wishing he could squeeze his body into the crack of the wall!
The figure covered in armor held the helmet on his shoulders, and he gently shook his hands and took off the helmet covered with a hideous ghost face iron mask.
The face under the helmet was very handsome. If this face was put in Chang'an, he would become the dream lover of all the girls in Chang'an, and I wonder how many courtesans in the brothels would offer themselves for his bed.
The pretty young lady standing by the temple gate waiting was surprised and delighted when she saw the man's face under the helmet. She stared at the man for a long time before she trembled and said, "Zhu Zhao Jun..."
Su Wu turned his head to look at the woman who had grown her eyebrows and eyes and became more and more beautiful. He smiled gently on his face: "It's me, Miss Qingzi."
"Zhu Zhao Jun!
I thought I would never see you again when I was about to die--
Abu..."
The woman in Wufu stood on tiptoe and stretched out her hand to Su Wu. Before her palm touched Su Wu's face, the whole person turned into a light dust, which was carried by the wind and spread over Su Wu's body.
Su Wu smelled a faint and light cherry blossom fragrance between his nose.
He raised his eyes to look at the withered monk in the corner-two figures suddenly appeared behind him at the same time.
Tao Diaoyuan, who was tall and had bulging muscles under his clothes, stood with his hands behind his back and looked around the dilapidated temple. He saw Zhang Fang in the corner, whose hair was standing on end with fright at the sight of the woman turning into light and disappearing. He suddenly stuck out his tongue at Zhang Fang - his tongue suddenly stretched to about one foot long. When Zhang Fang saw his tongue, he rolled his eyes and fainted immediately.
Hong Renkun stood next to Tao Zu, looking at Tao Zu's actions with a look of disgust.
Behind the two of them, a girl holding a big cock stood nervously.
Su Wu looked at the haggard monk in the corner. After a long time, he bowed slightly to him and said, "Master Jianzhen, are you okay now?"
The haggard monk is none other than Jianzhen.
Hearing what Su Wu said, he raised his cloudy eyes with a stern expression: "The dead corpse is nothing more than the corpse becoming more rotten or shriveled up.
Is anyone okay or okay?
Little friend Zhuzhao, the poor monk has been waiting for you for your appointment until now - finally he has waited for you. The poor monk has waited too long, and the complete charm remaining in the body has also dissipated too much...
Now the suppression of ghosts and Buddhas cannot be guaranteed to be foolproof..."
"Could it be that Master Jianzhen was able to ensure that he suppressed ghosts and Buddhas in the past, and was foolproof?" Su Wu sat down cross-legged in the temple, looking at Jianzhen's figure, "You were already dead when we met. What is the difference between a dead body and a dead body two thousand years ago?
'Tamamo-mae' will continue to infect your thoughts, causing your evil thoughts to evolve into all kinds of weird ways.
The 'Kibutsu' is more terrifying than the 'Tamamo-mae'. With your 'Corpse of Complete Charm' and the 'Ten Destruction Swords', can you really suppress the Ghost Buddha?
I still have doubts today..."
Jianzhen heard Su Wu's words but did not answer.
He lowered his head, clasped his hands together, and chanted sutras throughout the temple: "I vow to save all sentient beings..."
I vow to put an end to endless troubles...
I am willing to learn the infinite Dharma...
The supreme vow of Buddhism comes true...
All living beings are boundless…”
Amidst the chanting, the black sky became lower, the temple became darker and darker, and the thick and substantial darkness filled the entire temple.
In the boundless darkness, there seemed to be countless dark Buddhas wrapped in chains.
They surrounded Su Wu and kept chanting!