Chapter 34 Xingzikou

From Xiangshan to Badachu, you have to pass through a mountain pass—Xingzikou.The three stone shrines there are relics of the Jin Dynasty eight hundred years ago. On this day, Sicheng drove a car, took a camera, and went to Xingzikou with Huiyin.The mountain road is winding and narrow, with S-shaped corners.They parked the car at the bottom of the mountain and slowly climbed up the mountain road. Huiyin was wearing a cheongsam and a pair of flat leather shoes.After not walking far, I was a little out of breath.Sicheng asked worriedly, "How is it, are you okay?" Huiyin smiled and said: "I remember reading an article by Sun Fuyuan. He said that after all, humans evolved from animals, so the tempers of various animals sometimes flare up. Children love to play in the water, and it is fish's tempers that flare up. .After a while, people want to climb the mountain, because the monkey's temper broke out."

"That's an interesting statement." Sicheng laughed with her. Xingzikou is located between the two mountains. Looking out from the mountain pass, suddenly an open field spreads flat to the sky, and a faint mist floats on the field.In the distance, Yuquan Mountain lies quietly on Tianchou Yunlan, and the three nearby Buddhist niches stand on the cliffs of the south and north slopes.Although the scale of the stone niche is small, it is located in the main road, with its back against the blue sky, and it also has a kind of detached solemnity. On the north slope, two Buddhist shrines with bluestone structure stand side by side, and the color is green.The niche on the west side is larger, with double eaves, and the eaves on the top floor are slightly raised; on the west wall, there are ancient carvings such as horse racing and Buddha statues. Yuan Nine Years June 15th □□□Jia Zhiji".Inside the niche is a Buddha statue sitting without a head. The body has been split, but the folds of the clothes still have a clear remnant of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Identifying the mottled handwriting on the Buddhist altar, Sicheng calculated and said to Huiyin: "Cheng'an is the reign name of Jin Zhangzong, and the fifth year of Cheng'an should be 1200 AD. The ninth year of Zhiyuan is the reign name of Emperor Shizu of Yuan Dynasty. The Zhiyuan was changed to the Yuan in the sixth year, so the ninth year of the Zhiyuan is 1272." Huiyin sighed: "This small shrine has withstood wind and rain for more than seven hundred years. So many people and dynasties have been blown away by the rain and the wind." There is only one Buddhist niche on the South Cliff, which is almost the same size as the one on the North Cliff.There are three walls, and the door is opened on the north side. The walls have become a thick dark yellow, like the color of pure tobacco leaves.On the wall are engraved with three big characters of "Nanwu Buddha" with double hooks. It is unknown when the Buddha statue in the niche was lost, and now only an empty earthen platform remains.

The three Buddhist shrines in Xingzikou are neither spectacular nor eye-catching, but against the background of open and desolate nature, they have a mysterious and unique barren beauty in the hundreds of years of history.It makes people sigh "how many things have risen and fallen through the ages", and makes people feel nostalgic for the past. Sicheng took out the camera and chose the shooting angle.He walked down the mountain for a while, and took a picture of the altar in Xingzikou with an elevation angle. On the pedestal of the Buddhist altar, Huiyin sat holding a pen and writing on her lap. She was young, beautiful, and dressed in clean and elegant clothes. The summer wind blew the curly hair on her forehead and the shawl on her shoulders.Under her feet, there are clumps of weeds. Behind her, there are mottled and barren Buddhist shrines and hillsides that look more desolate. Above her head, there is a high, deep and bright blue sky.

The sunshine and air of Xiangshan nourished Huiyin.After a while, her body improved significantly.Her cheeks were plumped, her tanned skin was radiant, her strength had been exercised and restored by the visit to ancient buildings, and her mood had never been more at ease. Lao Jin, Shen Congwen and other friends in the city went up to the mountain to visit Huiyin together from time to time; Xu Zhimo often invited Huiyin's cousin Lin Xuan to visit her together.Huiyin happily told his friends that his weight has increased to 98 pounds, and he eats and sleeps well.Zhimo joked with her: "Now that I play an Indian beauty, I don't need makeup."