Kaifeng Monster

Chapter 24
The combination of deep mountains, ancient temples, setting sun, and afterglow is a rare realm.

The black-clothed monk was in front, and Zhan Zhao was leading the horse in the back. On the quiet mountain path, there was only the sound of horseshoes treading on the snow.

On weekdays, the sound of horseshoes is just the sound of horseshoes. Most of the time, I feel disturbed, knowing that the horse is running, but I don't know where the sound of hooves is.

Today is different, the unhurried hoofbeats are like a melodious little tune flowing on the mountain road, as long as they are still walking, the tune will be eloquent and continuous, and once it stops, the monk in black and Zhan Zhao in red will return If there is white snow, it will be frozen into such vivid and quiet mountain graffiti.

This kind of scene, this kind of state of mind, Zhan Zhao has never seen or experienced it for many years.

If it wasn't for this trip to Chenzhou for business, if it wasn't for missing the boat at the ferry when returning from Chenzhou, if it wasn't for another detour around the mountain road and missing the inn where we stayed, if it wasn't for the kind monk who came down to fetch water by chance while drinking horses at the foot of the mountain...

Thinking of this series of "if not", Zhan Zhao's lips raised a faint smile.

Many times, when something happens, it seems to be commonplace, but unconsciously, some old and long-abandoned gears start to rotate slowly in the dark, and it will inevitably move or change someone's life.It's just that at the time, you didn't know who this person was.

Just like at this time, Zhan Zhao was walking quietly on the mountain path under the slanting light of the autumn sun, this kind of quietness came so suddenly and so precious, it made Zhan Zhao, who was used to being in the turbulent whirlpool, a little drunk.He didn't know that at the end of the mountain path under his feet, a long-forgotten old event was slowly stretching his muscles and bones from the dust and sediment, slowly raising his head, and slowly waiting for... Zhan Zhao's arrival.

At the end of the mountain road is the Qingquan Temple that the monk in black clothes said.

Zhan Zhao also traveled extensively when he first came out of the rivers and lakes, and saw many magnificent temples. On the north-south central axis, the Shanmen, Tianwang Hall, Daxiong Hall, Dharma Hall, and Guanyin Hall are lined up in sequence; The Zhaitang, the Ministry Hall, and the Rongtang; on the west side, there are guest rooms for visitors from all over the world. When the bell rings in the morning and the drums ring in the evening, there is a special atmosphere.

Qingquan Temple is different. There is only one gate and one hall. In the hall, Sakyamuni Buddha, who is enshrined in the seal of fearlessness, is enshrined in front of the Buddha. small room.Apart from Zhan Zhao and the monk in black, there was no one else in the courtyard.

Seeing the puzzled look on Zhan Zhao's face, the black-clothed monk explained that Master had gone to the mountain to gather medicine.

The master mentioned by the monks in black clothes is the abbot of Qingquan Temple.

It seems that this Qingquan Temple usually only has the abbot and two monks, but today it is more lively, with more Zhan Zhao as guests, and there are snow treads tied outside the mountain gate.

Zhan Zhao was arranged to live in one of the guest rooms on the west side. The guest room was very clean, with only tables, stools and beds.For dinner, the monk brought the vegetarian food, as Zhan Zhao expected, it was bland and tasteless, but fortunately, there was no problem with being full.

There are only a few ancient temples in the lonely mountains, and the time has become extremely difficult. In addition to being tired from the day's journey, Zhan Zhao was ready to go to bed at the beginning of Haishi.When I undressed, I heard the sound of a monk opening the mountain gate, followed by Xu Xu's voice, but it was the monk who mentioned that there were residents in the temple, and the other person just hummed a few times, and the voice sounded very flat.Zhan Zhao guessed that the abbot had come back, the guest lived here, and always had to say hello to the host, so he put on his clothes and belts again, and when he opened the door to go out, the abbot happened to enter the monk's room, turned around and closed the door.

Between going out, entering, opening and closing, I lost the chance to meet him, only vaguely saw the figure of the abbot, not tall, with a bow on his back.

Zhan Zhao hesitated whether to knock on the door to see each other, but finally let go of this thought: Well, it won't be too late to meet tomorrow.

Just as he was about to turn around and go back to his room, he accidentally saw the abbot's thin and crooked shadow reflected on the bamboo strip paper window of the monk's room.Zhan Zhao felt a sense of emotion in his heart: the abbot, like this Qingquan Temple, shrank in a corner of the world far away from the hustle and bustle. There was no house in the mountains, and the cold was unknown. No matter what disturbances happened in the outside world, they would have nothing to do with them.

Around [-] o'clock, Zhan Zhao suddenly woke up.

The first reaction after waking up was to hold the giant que next to the pillow.

The scabbard was cold, and the coolness penetrated into the skin of the palm, along the meridians in the body all the way to the heart.

There...seemed to be...someone in the room.

In this life, it is not that he has experienced the moment when an assassin broke into the house in the middle of the night, but there has never been a time as frightening as this time.

In the past, even in sleep, he kept a high degree of vigilance. Whenever there was a disturbance, the keen intuition cultivated by Jiuli Jianghu would immediately wake him up and save his life.

This time it was different.He slept so soundly, ignorant, until the suffocating oppression and fear were close to his elbows, and he suddenly woke up.

If this person is an assassin, his opportunity has been lost.

Therefore, Zhan Zhao held the giant door tightly and lay quietly on the bed without making a sound or moving.

Anyway, the opportunity has been lost, so we might as well wait for the enemy to move first.

The room was terribly quiet, and the moonlight shone through the bamboo window paper, casting silver moon shadows in front of the bed.

The so-called "Moonlight in front of the bed, suspected to be frost on the ground" should describe the scene at this moment, but it is a pity that Zhan Zhao does not have the elegant mood to look at the bright moon and think about his hometown.

At this moment, you can't relax even half of it, just one hair will move your whole body, and life and death are tied to both ends.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhan Zhao suddenly realized: In this room, from the beginning to the end, there was no second person's breathing.

Listen carefully, it is indeed not.

The tense strings were broken in an instant, and Zhan Zhao let out the most relieved breath in his life.

Perhaps, I was too nervous, and I was not used to being in the clean and uncontroversial mountain temple at night.

It's really funny when you think about it, stretching out your hand to touch your forehead, there is a little sweat on your forehead.

Scaring yourself can really scare yourself to death.

With half amused half self-deprecating mood, Zhan Zhao fell into a deep sleep again.

He slept soundly, breathing evenly and peacefully, the moonlight still cast a pale white in front of the bed.

Therefore, he didn't realize that in the corner where the moonlight could not extend, on the bed, on the quilt, and around the pillows, there were long hairs in a mess.

It's as if there was a woman combing her hair here just now, with a grate in her hand, the teeth of the grate are inserted into her hair, and she combs straight from top to bottom. Every time she combs, she brings down hair with unstable roots.The hair couldn't hang between the teeth of the grate and fell down. Wherever the woman went, the hair fell there.

She must have stayed here for a long time and combed it for a long time, otherwise, how could she have so much hair?
Of course, the above are just conjectures, everything needs to wait for Zhan Zhao to wake up.

On a rare autumn sunny day, when you open your eyes, you will see the golden sunlight dancing in the room.

A smile appeared on Hongluan's face unconsciously, and he stretched out his hand to brush the golden threads.

I heard from the chat with the disciples before that the master of the Duanmu sect once burned incense to the moon and begged a stick of moonlight from Yuelao.If the moonlight can be counted by roots, the sun must also be counted by roots. I don't know what it feels like to have the sunlight wrapped around your fingers.

The moonlight is cold and the sun is warm. If you wrap the sun and the moon around your wrist... what kind of bracelet would it be?
Hongluan closed her eyes, imagining that the sun and moon bracelet was shining brightly on her wrist.

After a long time, you sighed faintly.

Forget it, the so-called Sun-Moon Bracelet can only be worn by those female fairies in the upper realm who are beautiful and graceful.How can the brilliance of the sun and the moon decorate the body of a ghost?
Hongluan shook her head vigorously, and got off the bed in her cloak.

Wen Guwei was still practicing calligraphy, and there was a small bowl of green japonica rice porridge next to the table, which had already cooled down.

"The food in the world always has a worldly taste." When Wen Gu Weiyu said this, his brows were slightly frowned, and a look of disgust appeared on his face.

"The head of the sect has been in Yingzhou for a long time, and it's not uncommon for a while." Hong Luan respectfully said, "Just go to the village and do as the Romans do, so I can only make do with it."

Wen Guwei gave a hum, and the ink pen moved and dragged on the rice paper.Hongluan didn't pay attention to what he was writing, nor did she want to pay attention to what he was writing.

After tidying up the dishes, Hongluan was about to go out with the plate, when Wen Guwei said, "Wait a minute."

The sound was very soft, but Hong Luan's heart seemed to have missed half a beat.

Since she entered the room, Wen Gu Weiyu didn't seem to have looked up at her at all, why did he stop himself, did he do anything that didn't suit his wishes?

"Your eyebrows seem to be a little faded."

Eyebrow?

Hongluan vaguely remembered that when she was doing her makeup just now, she really just swept the brows hastily.

"I'll go to the room to make up for it."

"That would be too troublesome." Wen Guweiyu said lightly, "Come here, I'll help you draw."

Hongluan's body was a little stiff, in fact, since the moment he heard that he was going to give her thrush, her nerves hadn't been stretched a bit.

Why do you want to draw her eyebrows?What is Wen Guweiyu thinking?Does thrush have any special meaning and allusion?

It seems that only in a very intimate relationship, will a man draw eyebrows for a woman.

She and Wen Guweiyu can never be called close. Why is Wen Guweiyu always like this, making such puzzling actions over and over again?

Compared with Hongluan's nervousness, Wen Guweiyu seemed to be stretched a lot.

Holding the green snail and daisy stone in his hand, he dipped some water, and the dizzy graphite spread out on the tip of Hong Luan's eyebrows.In Wen Guwei's eyes, only Hongluan's eyebrows can be seen, which is meticulously drawn, as if he is carving a unique treasure in the world.

Sweat dripped from Hong Luan's back.

"It looks much better this way." Wen Gu Weiyu put down the Daishi in his hand, "If you want to see Zhan Zhao, you have to clean up and refresh yourself."

Hongluan froze, opened and closed her mouth, with a flustered look on her face.

"I...I didn't go to see Zhan Zhao."

"Oh..." Wen Gu Weiyu seemed to remember suddenly, "I forgot to tell you that Zhan Zhao is waiting for you in the side hall."

"Zhan Zhao, in the side hall? He came to see me?" Hong Luan couldn't believe it.

"Yes."

"When did he come?"

"I've been here for a long time." Wen Guweiyu seemed to be talking about something irrelevant, "I seem to be looking for you urgently."

Hongluan bit her lip, knowing that she shouldn't ask, but she still couldn't help asking: "Why didn't the sect master tell me earlier?"

Wen Guweiyu raised his head, with an unfathomable smile in his eyes: "Wouldn't it be better to make him wait longer? Girls have to be more reserved."

"No." Hongluan suddenly panicked, trying to clear something up, "It's not what the sect master thinks, there is nothing between Master Zhan and I. I know the sect master doesn't like the sect master to have contacts with people from Kaifeng Mansion ,I don't……"

"It's good that you have contacts with Zhan Zhao."

very good?

Hongluan was stunned again, looking at Wen Guweiyu as if she didn't know her.

She is sure that she has never misunderstood Wen Guweiyu's emotional expression. In the past, when Wen Guweiyu talked about Kaifeng Mansion, especially Zhan Zhao, he never concealed the deep disgust and contempt in his eyes.

Why is it "very good" this time?
"You should go to the side hall." Wen Gu Weiyu gently put the brush into the brush wash, and the ink color immediately dispersed in the water, "Don't make people wait too long."

Watching Hongluan go away, Wen Guweiyu's lips curled into a smile.

When I looked down, the ink on the rice paper had already dried.

"The eyebrows of the willow leaves have not been drawn for a long time, the makeup is left behind and the tears are wet and red. Nagato has not washed himself, so why use pearls to comfort the loneliness."

This is a poem by Jiang Caiping, the concubine of Tang Xuanzong.

Legend has it that after Tang Xuanzong favored Concubine Yang Guifei, he neglected other concubines, but it was inevitable that the old relationship would be unforgettable, so he gave Meifei Jiang Caiping a dense pearl to express his apology.Unexpectedly, Concubine Mei with a strong personality returned the pearl intact and attached the above-mentioned poem.

"It's a pity for Concubine Mei, but it's a man's habit to like the new and dislike the old, isn't it?" Wen Guweiyu murmured to himself, the smile in his eyes getting stronger and stronger, "At that time, you will find that from the beginning to the end, the love for If you are single-minded, I am the only one."

Zhan Zhao came here because of the midnight haircut at Qingquan Temple.

First of all, Hong Luan gave a detailed speech about the previous situation, and Hongluan listened very intently, and the more she listened, the more frightened she became, and finally she couldn't help but urge her: "Then what happened later? Are you not afraid when you wake up in the morning and see the hair falling all over the room? Then The abbot and monks also saw it? How did they react?"

"How do you react?" Zhan Zhao smiled wryly, "Of course they kicked me out."

"Did you get kicked out?" Hong Luan was surprised, "Why did you get kicked out?"

"The abbot said that Buddhism is a pure place, please don't provoke deliberately."

Hongluan was stunned for a while, then suddenly realized: "The abbot, he thought it was you playing tricks?"

Zhan Zhao nodded: "Have you never seen how ugly the abbot's face is, besides, the hair is so long that you can tell it's a woman's hair at the first sight—the temple hides women, such an interrogation, I'm afraid any person in the Buddhist sect will be shocked." unacceptable."

"Then Brother Zhan thinks, is there a hidden woman in Qingquan Temple?"

Zhan Zhao shook his head: "If it is hidden, how can the woman come and go freely in my room? According to Zhan's martial arts, he will not be able to detect that someone is hiding in the room in the middle of the night... But if there is no cover, where does the room come from? What's the deep meaning in it? The more I think about it, the more weird and unpredictable it becomes, and it's hard to think about it."

"Then Brother Zhan came to find me..." Hongluan was puzzled.

"Since it's weird and unreasonable, I naturally have the idea of ​​asking Xihualiu for help." Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, "Miss Hongluan, in your opinion, is there a ghost here?"

Hongluan suddenly showed a playful look, and said: "Brother Zhan, you guessed wrong this time, how can any spirit dare to act presumptuously in front of the Buddha?"

Hongluan is indeed considerate of others, even if she disagrees with Zhan Zhao's ideas, she still speaks in such a gentle manner, laughing at Yanyan.If it was Duanmucui, he would definitely frown, roll his eyes, and then sternly reprimand him: "Zhan Zhao, which donkey kicked your head when you went out this morning? Don't even think about it, what kind of monster is on the Buddha's land?" Tired of life and go to the scene?"

After seeing off Zhan Zhao, Hong Luan was somewhat worried: she naturally wanted to help Zhan Zhao, but she had no clue because of her limited spiritual power.

If the owner of the Duanmu Gate is still there, brother Zhan should be much more relaxed...

Hong Luan thoughtfully sat down on the steps of the corridor with her knees hugged, looking down at the withered grass beside her.

But...Since brother Zhan came to me, he must have confidence in me, how can I disappoint him?Maybe... Maybe I'm not as good as Duanmu Sect Master, but it's not that bad.

After thinking about it again and again, I suddenly thought of Wen Guweiyu.

No, no, no, just now, Sect Master Wen Gu had already suspected that he had secretly communicated with Brother Zhan, and now he is begging him for Zhan Zhao's matter, wouldn't it confirm Wen Gu Weiyu's suspicion?

However, just now, didn't the head of the Gu family say, "It's good that you have contacts with Zhan Zhao"?Since it is "very good", it means that Wen Guweiyu has no objection, since he does not object...

"The Buddha always had a compassionate heart, and it is true that spirits and monsters are not tolerated, but for those who are wronged, they will naturally be lenient." Wen Guweiyu is so mellow and patient.

Hong Luan was a little puzzled: "Leave the net? Does that mean there are still ghosts at work?"

Wen Gu Weiyu frowned slightly, and there was a mocking look in his eyes: "There is no grievance, it's just that the grievance lingers for a long time, it doesn't hurt others, it doesn't harm others, how can you talk about it?"

Hongluan was confused when he heard it, knowing that Wen Guwei would be displeased if she asked any more questions, she couldn't help but said, "Since there are no spirits, how can there be hair loss in Mr. Zhan's room?"

"It's just hair loss, and it didn't hurt Zhan Zhao's life."

"Then..." Hongluan bit her lip, "Can I tell Mr. Zhan that the Qingquan Temple matter... just ignore it?"

"That depends on what Zhan Zhao thinks." Wen Guweiyu kept secret, "Qingquan Temple has a grievance. According to his temperament, do you think he will take care of it or not?"

"However," Hongluan hesitated, "the theory of grievance is ultimately mysterious, Mr. Zhan is just a mortal, I'm afraid it's..."

"If you don't trust him, you can go with him."

"Go with him?" Hong Luan almost suspected that she had heard it wrong, "The door master means that I can go to Qingquan Temple with Mr. Zhan?"

"The legs are on your body, if you want to go, who will stop you?"

After receiving the news from Hongluan, Zhan Zhao didn't delay for even a moment—fortunately, Qingquan Temple is not too far from Kaifeng, and they set off at noon, and the two of them had already entered the mountain when the sun set.

(End of this chapter)