Chapter 49 The Story of Temple Zhu

Author: Youdaoyan

Chapter 49 The Story of Temple Zhu

"Bodhisattva, I am the first to worship you today." In the hot summer, the stooped old man with missing teeth in his mouth and a kind smile knelt before a faded stone Bodhisattva and said, "In a flash, dozens of

Years have passed, and I have been robbed of this fragrance for decades."

The Stone Bodhisattva has a compassionate smile on his face, lowered eyebrows and lowered eyes, and has a solemn appearance. He holds a pearl in his left hand and a tin staff in his right hand. He is sitting on the Qianye Qinglian platform. He seems to be able to hear the words of the old temple blessing and listen quietly.

Laomiao Zhu knelt down on the futon with a smile and chatted with the Bodhisattva as usual, as if the Bodhisattva in this temple was an old friend of his.

After talking to himself about his own affairs, he put his hands behind his back and stood up, ready to open the temple. Although he knew that no one would come to worship today, he would still clean the temple meticulously and open the door on time.

This is no longer a matter of responsibility for him, but a part of his life.

However, when the door opened today, Lao Miaozhu encountered an unexpected thing.

I saw a staggering middle-aged man standing at the door of the temple early with a baby girl about three or four years old in his arms. When he saw someone waiting outside the door, Lao Miaozhu’s first thought was not that the other person was waiting.

When I opened my business, I came to pay my respects, but when I needed help, I came to ask for help.

The father and daughter did not look wealthy, and there were obvious unhealed wounds on the father's face. The more they looked at them, the more desolate they felt.

After Lao Miaozhu was stunned for a while, he asked curiously: "Hello, what's the matter?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged father immediately stated his intention: "My daughter and I are here to burn incense and worship."

Lao Miaozhu looked surprised, then smiled and welcomed the father and daughter. Although he was a little surprised, he was not very surprised.

When the father and daughter came to the temple, Lao Miaozhu stood aside and prepared incense for the two of them. By the way, he briefly mentioned the steps of burning incense and worshiping, and then stood aside and watched basically without saying anything.

While the pilgrims were worshiping, Laomiao Zhu felt a little emotional in his heart. He didn't expect that there were people in the world who remembered the Bodhisattva like him.

However, Laomiao Zhu soon discovered that the father and daughter's behavior during worship was a bit strange. Generally speaking, when burning incense and worshiping Buddha, everyone would worship the main god of the ancestral shrine, and the guardians on the left and right could basically worship or not. However, this father and daughter not only

I worshiped them all once, and when I worshiped the red-faced general next to the Bodhisattva, I worshiped for a longer time than the Bodhisattva, and my eyes were even more pious than when I worshiped the Bodhisattva.

Old Miao Zhu was full of doubts, and it wasn't until the father and daughter pilgrims finished paying their respects that he couldn't help but ask.

In response, the middle-aged man said sincerely: "We have all been saved by him, so we are very grateful to him."

Lao Miao Zhu was a little surprised after hearing this, and then asked: "Do you know who this Bodhisattva is?"

The middle-aged man shook his head.

"Then do you know the identity of this red-faced general?" Old Miao Zhu frowned slightly and asked again.

"I only know that his name is General Zeng." The middle-aged man shook his head, and then asked sincerely, "Please teach me."

There was silence in the old temple for a while. He only felt it was weird, because no one would just know the name of a god or the name of a main god or a side god, and then they would travel dozens of miles and climb a hundred meters high mountain to specially come to worship.

.This is as if what the middle-aged man just said is true. He really met the gods and was saved by them. He is grateful.

This is unscientific... Lao Miaozhu thought for a moment.

In this regard, Lao Miaozhu still slowly told the middle-aged man the story about the gods enshrined in this temple: "You want to know that this red-faced general is not actually a true god, he is not even a god.

Both he and the green-faced general were demons who brought trouble to the world. After being convinced by the Bodhisattva's Dharma, they took refuge in the Bodhisattva and became today's Dharma protectors. Later, they were ordered by the Bodhisattva to protect the world. The two generals were enlightened by the Bodhisattva and possessed

With magical powers, the two have the eyes to see through the merits and sins of all living beings, so they meet people and order their lives.

The red general orders people with high merits and deeds to increase their longevity, while the green general orders people with serious sins and shortens their lives. Therefore, the green general calls the damage a loss to the general, and the red general calls an increase a general increase..."

"So that's it." The middle-aged man suddenly realized and laughed heartily, "So that's why I can live till now?"

Lao Miaozhu looked at the middle-aged man and shook his head secretly. He didn't know whether the other man was just delusional and had such wishful thinking.

After getting his questions answered, the middle-aged man bought the temple's peace charm necklace from Laomiao Zhu. The father and daughter each hung one on their necks carefully.

For a moment, Lao Miaozhu felt that the father and daughter might be more pious than he was to the Bodhisattva.

But what happened in the next few days made Laomiao Zhu unexpected.

A few days later, a group of mysterious people dressed in black appeared to belong to an organization. Like the father and daughter pilgrims, they came to worship without warning, although they were not as sincere as the father and daughter pilgrims.

, but overall it was considered respectful, and after the worship, I also asked him about the stories about the gods enshrined in the temple.

Lao Miaozhu was also worried that this group of people came with bad intentions, so he patiently answered them one by one.

In the end, the group of mysterious people smiled and donated tens of thousands of incense to his temple, and then left. Along the way, they bought some statues of Bodhisattvas and Dharma Protector Generals that he had carved out of wood in his spare time, as well as other charms and the like.

product.

As he watched the group of people leave, Lao Miaozhu felt for a moment that his temple might have a chance to flourish again.

However, after that, no one came again, and the temple returned to peace again.

Lao Miao Zhu sighed in his heart: "After all, it's still a three-minute heat. It's really not that easy."

He sat at the red table at the door, looked at Stone Bodhisattva, and said with a smile: "After all, I am the only one who will accompany you."

Another night, Lao Miaozhu, who had fallen asleep on the table with his head propped up for some reason, suddenly woke up. When he saw that it was getting late, he was ready to close the business and wanted to rest early.

But just before closing the door, Lao Miao Zhu noticed a young man in simple clothes standing in front of the Bodhisattva, looking at the stone statue with a peaceful smile, as if he was admiring or joking.

"Young man, it's time to close the door and thank guests today. If you still want to see the Bodhisattva, please come back tomorrow." Old Miao Zhu stepped forward and said with a smile.

Hearing what Lao Miao Zhu said, the young man looked back at him, as if he hadn't heard what Lao Miao Zhu said, and asked with a smile: "How many years have you been here? How long has this temple been here?"

The old Miao Zhu was not annoyed, and explained with a smile: "This temple has been here since I was born. According to my master, this temple has a history of three or four hundred years ago, and I am spending my life here.

More than 70 years have passed."

"Do you believe in him?" Lin Ling pointed at the stone statue and asked without respect.

"I believe it." Lao Miaozhu said with a smile, "This is also the reason why I have persisted for so many years."

“Does faith mean something good will happen, or does faith mean something bad won’t happen?”

“Before believing in Him, I might consider these things, but now, believing in Him has become a natural thing. I don’t worship Him for whether He can help me achieve my wish, nor do I believe in Him for His greatness... This is

It’s like eating and sleeping, I just feel that this is something I will definitely do as long as I live.”

"I have awareness." Lin Ling nodded with a smile, patted Miao Zhu on the shoulder, and left slowly.

Miao Zhu only felt that this young man was so weird, and his behavior was neither big nor small, but for some reason it felt unexpected and natural, and he didn't feel awkward. He sniffed gently, and unexpectedly felt that the remaining warmth on his shoulders was a little warm, leaving a trace similar to that of burning incense.

The smoke of fireworks makes people feel relaxed and happy, and makes them feel comfortable all over.

Then he suddenly felt frightened, his mind went electric, and everything in front of him disappeared like clouds. He fell into darkness, and then saw light in the black seabed. His strong desire to survive made him struggle to catch up with the person who wanted to leave him.

of light.

"Uh--" Miao Zhu woke up and sat in front of the red table at the entrance of the temple, sweating like rain. The door beside him was open, and the sun was shining into the house. The autumn wind made people energetic. He looked at the dust on the ground and on the table.

It's a millimeter thick.

Immediately, the young Miao Zhu burst into tears and kept sobbing...

There is another update in the evening, which opens the story of the third volume.
Chapter completed!