Da Tang Zhenguan year.
South ZhaoBuZhou.
Jin Guang Temple.
At the age of twelve, Jiang LiuEr bit his teeth tightly and carried a bucket of water, pouring it "gulululu" into the large basin.
He wiped his sweat, gasping for breath, and asked an old monk beside him: "Fameng elder, when can I shave my hair and become a monk?"
The monk Faming chuckled, rubbing Jiang Liur's little head: "Wait until you are eighteen years old and your mind is mature, then make your decision!"
Jiang LiuEr asked in confusion: "How long is that going to take?"
The monk Faming said: "If I guide you to meditate and worship Buddha when you are young, but later find that monastic life is not as good as you imagined, and thus have regrets, it will be my fault."
Jiang Liu'er looked rather disappointed.
The monk Faming smiled and asked, "You this idiot, why do you want to shave your hair and become a monk so early?"
Jiang LiuEr stammered: "If I become a monk, I won't have to worry about hunger anymore."
"Hunger?" The monk Faming was taken aback.
Jiang LiuEr whispered: "The head monk of the temple never gives me a full bowl of congee. He said I'm an outsider, a troublesome child who comes to steal rice at Jin Guang Temple every day. He thinks I'm shameless... So I thought, if I were a monk, he wouldn't say those things to me."
Speaking of this, his little stomach grumbled unfavorably.
Jiang Liu'er blushed and scratched his head awkwardly.
The monk Faming said: "After you fetch a few more buckets of water, come back and have your vegetarian meal. I will prepare your food today, and you won't have to worry about going hungry."
"Meal? Not Congee? Is it true?" Jiang Liu'er was overjoyed: "Alright! I'll go fetch water right away!"
He lifted the bucket and ran out of the temple.
The monk Faming muttered: "Pity this poor child, Amitabha Buddha."
Twelve years ago, he picked up an infant wrapped in sweatpants from the river, with a blood letter tied around its chest. The letter contained the parents' names, origins, and detailed information.
The monk Faming gave the infant the nickname "Jiang Liu", adding the suffix "er" due to local pronunciation habits, also known as Jiang Liur.
When Jiang Liu'er was one year old, the monk Faming entrusted a devout Buddhist woman to be his wet nurse, and raised him.
At the age of ten, the monk Faming again took him to Jin Guang Temple.
Now, the Tang Dynasty has moved from the Wu De years to the Zhenguan years, and the child has also turned twelve.
He is able to endure hardship and bear the labor.
He is clever and quick-witted!
......
Jiang Liu'er has no knowledge of his own background. With a wooden bucket in hand, he has come to the riverbank and suddenly sees two monks nearby preaching sutras and discussing Zen. Curious, he approaches them and listens for a while.
He notices that they are talking about "Lotus Brings All Things," one man talks elaborately about the lotus blossoms and gold lotus that arise from the ground, while the other man cannot help but applaud and agree.
It's just talk about how all things in the heavens and earth are born from the lotus.
Jiang Liu'er listened and wrinkled his brow. He puzzled, "Two reverends, if everything is born from the lotus, then is this lotus aware or unaware?"
The two monks are also from Jin Guang Temple. They recognized Jiang Liu'er.
They knew him as the little pest following around Master Faming.
One of them answered, "The lotus is the sacred flower of the Buddhist teachings. The lotus giving birth to all things means that the Buddha is the creator of all things. The Buddha is the law of heaven and earth, how can he be unaware?"
Jiang Liu'er scratched his head: "If the lotus is aware, then it should only give birth to good people and not evil ones. However, Master Faming has said that evil people in the world are as numerous as hair on a cow... If the lotus cannot distinguish between good and evil, then shouldn't it be unaware? Such an unaware thing, how can it give birth to all things? How can it be a model for heaven and earth to follow?"
The monk fell silent, wanting to say something but unable to find the words.
His eyebrows were tightly furrowed, feeling the lack of knowledge.
The other monk blushed and was annoyed. He pushed Jiang Liu'er off balance: "What a wild brat without parents, we eat salt more than rice, and the Buddha's law is not known more than you? You this wild brat beast, your name is unknown, your parents are unrecognized. What are you talking about here? It's just adding to the trouble!"
Seeing that he was about to be beaten, Jiang Liu'er immediately picked up the bucket and ran away quickly.
In a hurry, he ran to the riverbank and accidentally lost his footing, falling into the water.
His forehead "thump" was banged by a rock.
"Pain, pain, pain—"
Jiang Liu'er was completely soaked, his hands covering his head, shivering uncontrollably.
Even though his body was cold, his heart was not.
Even though his head was painful, it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.
Who is my father? Who is my mother? What is my name? Jiang Liu'er doesn't know. He did ask Master Faming, but Master Faming said: "It's too early. Wait until you grow up and ask again."
Jiang Liu'er staggered to the riverbank, the blood slowly sliding down his forehead and falling into the stream, spreading into blooming lotus flowers.
The wooden bucket drifted away with the stream. Jiang Liu'er knew that he not only failed to complete the task given by Master Faming, but also caused Jin Guang Temple to lose a wooden bucket.
Furthermore, it angered the two seniors at Jin Guang Temple.
He has no mouth.
He has caused a great disaster.
Jiang Liu'er curled up his body, muttering lowly, "I'm not a wild child."
He thought the stream water was a little salty today.
[Notification! "Journey to the West of All Beings" group invites you to join. Do you agree?]
[Yes] or [No]
Suddenly!
The eerie sound and the words in front of him left Jiang Liu'er momentarily stunned.
He reached out to wipe away his tears, but found the words still there.
"Colliding with ghosts in the daytime?!"
A sense of horror made his hair stand on end. Jiang Liu'er quickly looked towards the two monks in the distance, only to find that they had walked away, uninterested, after being annoyed by him. Now there was only he alone by the stream!
He still doesn't know who his parents are, and he hasn't yet learned about his origins from Master Faming.
Is this how my life will end?
"Glug!"
Throat moves.
Cold sweat.
Jiang Liu'er dare not move, his body as stiff as wood.
But after waiting for a long time, his life was not yet taken by the evil ghost.
'Is…No…Are you asking me to make a choice?'
Jiang Liu'er felt that it was best to comply with the evil spirit, not to defy it, as he might not be able to reverse the situation if he angered it.
Jiang Liu'er gathered his courage.
"Yes!"
In an instant, Jiang Liu'er's eyelids spun, a strange scene appeared before him, then disappeared into his mind. That strange scene was vividly appearing in the depths of his mind.
He suddenly "saw" a circular "head" emerging from a place, with rows of written characters appearing beside it.
Next, one after another "heads" emerged.
They seemed to be communicating with cursive writing!
[Huang Mei Laodie]: "Ha ha, Jing Chanyanzi, this time I'm sure to win."
[Muscle Tang Sanzang]: "The journey west is the path of invincibility, with more bones, more paths. Once I have taken the White Bone Spirit under my wing, she will help me in my cultivation, refining my flesh and bones to prove the path of Buddha's suffering."
[Qi Tian Da Sheng Sun Wukong]: "What use am I born for, unable to be happy, what use for me to be destroyed, but not less arrogant."
[Qi Tian Da Sheng Sun Wukong]: "Delicious wine! Delicious wine!"
[Huang Mei Laodie]: "You cursed monkey, you're going mad again."
[Jing Tan Zhi Sheng]: "Hey, the young people of the 21st century are having a great time playing around!"
[Jing Tan Zhi Sheng]: "［picture］［picture］"
[Muscle Tang Sanzang]: "Love to watch, more often!"
[Notification! "Jiang Liu'er" has joined the "Journey to the West of All Beings" group!]
[Huang Mei Laodie]: "Another Jing Chanyanzi?"
Taking all this in, Jiang Liu'er was completely baffled.
Especially the pictures uploaded by the Pig-Head Zhi Tan Zhi Sheng, which looked so lifelike, made him blush and red as a beetroot, and he promptly closed his eyes.
But the strange scene was deep in his mind. He found that even when he closed his eyes, he could still see the two ragged women in the picture.
"What are all of you, demons and monsters?!"
Jiang Liu'er couldn't help but exclaim in his heart.
In the next moment, in Jiang Liu'er's astonishment, his own "head" also popped out from the picture. Behind it was a message, which was exactly his heart's voice!
[Jiang Liu'er]: "What are all of you, demons and monsters?!"
The whole group suddenly became silent.
......
......
