Naturally, the wine was left for the old man, and our group got on the boat.

From yesterday afternoon to this morning on the old man's boat, less than a day has passed, but it feels like many years have passed, but the next road is still as difficult to walk, how long will it be?

Under the purple-red sky, a trace of pressure unconsciously arose in his heart, and his eyes fell on the magical old man.

He rowed calmly, and Hui Gen'er sat cross-legged beside him, he didn't look at Hui Gen'er, nor at us, but occasionally an unknown force pushed away the breeze brought by the wreckage of those boats, and blew away the rotten clothes on the wreckage, and his eyes would give birth to a trace of pity, but it was only fleeting.

The sound of the boat breaking the water, the occasional sigh of satisfaction from the old man taking a sip of wine, everything was so quiet under the purple-red sky, and the gray boundary monument was getting farther and farther away in his eyes

"Brother Chengyi, did you say that the old man who rowed the boat was a monk?" Promise to sit beside me, gently covering his mouth and nose, perhaps the rotten smell brought by the wreckage of the lake is a smell that young life cannot bear, and it will be fine after this period of water.

"I don't know, but I thought to myself, probably yes." Worldly people don't care so much about the three thousand troubles on their heads, and there is only one kind of person who insists on shaving it, and that is the monk, not for anything else, but for the respect for the faith in his heart.

"Then why does the monk want to drink?" Promise asked me in a whisper.

Monk drinking? The monks I know are always not so serious, Uncle Hui who eats eggs and occasionally drinks alcohol, Hui Gen'er who eats cakes, and Jueyuan, who loves beauty, but how should I answer this question?

"There are too many things to quit in order to show the six purities, and I am a Buddhist. But forcibly quitting and letting go by yourself are probably always two different things! I can't let go because I have bitterness in my heart, and taking a sip is not a self-willed depravity, but at least I have a sincerity in front of the Buddha. Maybe one day, under some suffering, the person who was a good drinker finally let go of the wine, which is probably the real abstinence, the real release. "The voice of the conversation between me and Cheng Yuan was very small, but I didn't want to be at this moment, the old man said something like he seemed to be talking to himself, and it fell into our ears.

Cheng Yuan's face flushed slightly, after all, it's always bad to talk about others like this.

But I was a little sudden, what the old man said and what the master said can only be put down after picking it up, there is the same essence, but the vicissitudes in the middle are heavier than the master.

"What are you bothering about?" Hui Gen'er suddenly spoke.

The old man didn't answer Hui Gen'er's question, and he didn't even look at Hui Gen'er, he took another sip of wine, squinted his eyes pleasantly, and suddenly said to us: "Are the flowers all over the hillside beautiful?" ”

No one answered, that kind of flower is red and white, you say it's beautiful, but it's full of a tragic breath of death, as long as there is life, no special hobbies, who can appreciate it?

We didn't answer, but the old man said to himself: "The legendary hell is full of flowers along the way, and some people say that the flowers on the other side are the lycoris of this world or something, that's nonsense." The real flower of the other side should be brought into the Yellow Spring after death, the last drop of reluctant blood watering. ”

What kind of madness is this? Why do I think I'm talking nonsense when I hear this?

"Here, there is a being who wants to turn it into a real hell, and also wants to bloom flowers along the way, so he irrigates it with the rotten blood of the living, but it turns out that this kind of flower is not like this, above the miserable white, a drop of red, miserable white is the loss of vitality, and a drop of red is the last blood to disperse. Can you smell the temperature of the flowers? Just like human life, how sweet the breath is, it is the sweetness brought by desire that fills the whole life, but with a bloody pungency, which is the smell of blood when it is rotten, and it is also the taste that feels like the throat will be full when it is painful. The old man said quietly, but I had goosebumps on my back inexplicably.

What is the connection between such a fragrance and life? Or, this is also a question for all of us, but the old man quickly answered us: "Life is always accompanied by various desires, and the simplest food, clothing, shelter and transportation bring you enjoyment, satisfaction, and sweet tranquility." But life is also accompanied by all kinds of suffering, birth, old age, sickness and death, covering up the pain of birth, old age, sickness and death with sweet desires, human beings have always done this, so such flowers have bloomed. ”

"It's just that, isn't it a little simpler and a little more empty? Desire and pain, but without the fullness and indifference of the soul? That's because many people have forgotten their souls, so this flower is so white and powerless that it can't bloom a more beautiful color, I see here is not the world, but the ghosts, I want to save the soul, let the flowers of life bloom more beautifully, but I find that my dream is too big, the power is too small. Little monk, you say, if one day, all the people in this world go, will the world be full of such red and white flowers, and other colors? ”

The old man's words were crazy enough, and there was a sense of despair in them, but he didn't want Huigen'er to stand up, but he simply said: "Flowing things, you see it dead, but it is not interesting." ”

"Huh?" The old man narrowed his eyes, waiting for Hui Gen'er's words.

"Just like people, whether they are moving forward or backward, they are always moving, maybe today I don't understand that life is consumed only by desire and pain, the Ming Dynasty may not necessarily be like this, maybe in the long future, people will pay more attention to the heart and soul, this pale flower is just a temporary thing, why do you obsessed with the pain of this, Buddhism, how can there be this obsession? No matter how big or small the force is, just do it. Saving people is never a one-time effort. Hui Gen'er replied calmly.

Hearing Hui Gen'er's words, the old man's eyes lit up, and he suddenly asked, "Your Dharma name?" ”

"Huigen." Hui Gen'er replied simply.

"Hahaha, sure enough, what an arrogant legal name. It's just that it's not unworthy of the name! Well, well, in fact, I am suffering from this, but I just want to see in you, people, whether they are standing still. After the old man finished speaking, he suddenly drank several sips of wine happily.

Then he waved his hand and said, "Come back safely, and I will leave a drop of blood with you." ”

Hui Gen'er looked at the old man and didn't speak, her eyes were full of questions, but after all, under the indifference of the old man, she stopped talking and didn't ask anything, and finally sat quietly beside the old man and was silent.

Under the purple sky, the figure of Hui Gener sitting cross-legged and the background of the old man's rowing are like a deep silhouette, maybe this is Hui Gen'er's chance?

While I was thinking nonsense, the old man suddenly said, "It's almost there." ”

I looked up and saw that the layer of fog that we had never been able to see through on the hillside was already in front of me, and in the distance, the boundary monument had shrunk into a straight line that was about too small for my index finger, and I glanced at the boundary monument nostalgically, and the boat had quickly entered the fog.

As soon as I entered the fog, I was a little irresistibly foggy, everything in front of me became a little real and illusory, in the fog in fact, the scenery did not change, it was still a purple sky, the same purple red, a lake that did not move at all, but in the middle of the lake there was a flat reef about the size of a house, and at the edge of the reef, there was a reef that stretched out, which stretched all the way, like a road.

Nothing, this is the new city? In this unsober confusion, I could not help thinking like this, but I also felt that this confusion was wrong, and looked at everyone on the boat, except for the old man, everyone had a trace of mist in their eyes, and their eyes were half-open, as if they were about to enter a hearty nap.

The slight shaking made us a little more sober, but a little more confused.

The old man said indifferently: "When you arrive, you won't get off the boat?" ”

Is it there? Where has it been? I was amazed to find that the ship was parked next to the reef, and in the mist, I could no longer see the hillside, the flowers of death all over the mountain, and the boundary monument that warmed my heart.