Chapter 9 Chapter 31 Hu Shen

Kukai was in his room, writing on paper. Persian is written horizontally from left to right. Ju Yishi watched from the sidelines. At noon - you can see the beautiful courtyard of Ximing Temple outside the window. When the writing came to an end, Yishi said aloud, "Hey, Kukai, do you know what you're writing?" "I know a little bit." Kukai replied. There is a book on his desk. A book written in Persian. At this moment, Kukai was copying the contents on paper. It was a parchment borrowed from the Zoroastrian Priest An. "What kind of book is this?" "The story about the God of the Hu Kingdom——"

"What are you writing?" "It's about writing stories about God is light." "yes?" "That's why they worship the fire of the source—" "Ok." "This God of Light is named Ahura Mazda." "yes?" "Simply put, this side is a good god, and the other side is an evil god." "and then?" "The God of Evil dominates darkness, and this world can be said to be a battleground between the God of Light and the God of Darkness." "Well--" "Now the two sides are evenly matched, but it seems that Guangshen won in the end."

"Hmm." Yishi exclaimed in admiration. "It's interesting," Kukai said. "It's really interesting." Yishi replied. "It's interesting, but it's not enough," Kukai said. "What's insufficient?" "Just like that, it still can't fully explain everything in this world—" Kukai replied. "The evil god's name is Angela Mainu, didn't I tell you before?" After Kukai said so, Yishi replied: "Ah, I remembered." "The gods of good and evil fight each other, and the result of one side winning seems a bit absurd."

"absurd?" "It's like telling a child." "yes?" "Between heaven and earth, to explain the principles of the universe, it is not impossible to name gods. It is also possible to divide them into good gods and evil gods. However, letting one side win is a bit..." "A little absurd?" "Yeah." Kukai nodded and said, "It's impossible to solve the mystery of heaven and earth." "Solving the puzzle?" "On the contrary, it is righteousness, which is superior in terms of solving puzzles." "Manichaeism?"

"The sect that emerged after Zoroaster believed in the same god as Zoroastrianism." "What's the difference?" "To put it simply, it's the battle between the good god and the evil god—Ahura Mazda and Angela Mainyu. It's not about which side wins, but the two continue to entangle each other." "Is this in line with the laws of heaven and earth?" "Well, that's the way it is in the world. The so-called yin and yang are positive and negative relationships. Just like copper coins, there are both positive and negative sides. In this world, there is no copper coin that only has positive sides, and there is no coin that only has negative sides."

"Good and evil also—" "Good and evil are not the laws of heaven and earth." "what?" "Good and evil are created by human law." "how to say?" "Isn't there an inkstone here?" Kukai pointed to the inkstone on the desk. "Yes, so what?" "Yishi, so, is this inkstone good or evil?" Kukai asked suddenly. "Where does the inkstone come from good and evil? The inkstone is neither good nor evil. Isn't the inkstone just the inkstone?" "Yes, of course." "So, so what?" "But, what if I hit you with this inkstone?" Kukai held the inkstone in his hand.

"Please forgive me. Do you really want to hit me?" "I won't hit you. But you don't want to be hit, do you?" "certainly." "why?" "If you hit it, you will be injured. Even if you don't get hurt, will it hurt if you get hit?" "Yishi, that is to say, is it a kind of evil for you if I smash your inkstone with it?" "Well, probably." "The reason is the same as this." "—" "It's human law to distinguish gods as good or evil. It's okay to use human law to solve the mysteries of heaven and earth, but if one side is to prevail over the other, and only good gods exist forever The words—" Before Kukai finished speaking, a call came from outside.

"Mr. Kukai..." was the voice of the big monkey. "What's up?" "Ziying and Mr. Chi are asking to see—" "Please come inside." Shortly after Kukai finished speaking, there was the sound of panicked footsteps, and then Ziying walked into the room. "What's wrong?" Kukai asked. "I found out." Ziying said in a low voice, "The mansion in Chongdefang is said to belong to Chen Changyuan—" "What is Chen Changyuan's background?" "When Emperor Xuanzong was emperor, he was the guard of the Jinwu Guard. When Xuanzong was fortunate to Shu in the Anshi Rebellion, he accompanied him."

"So, he also went to Mawei Station?" "It is rumored that he killed Yang Yuhuan's sister, Mrs. Guoguo, at Mawei Station—" "Why did he abandon that mansion and let it fall into disrepair?" "Shortly after Emperor Xuanzong returned from Shu, Chen Changyuan died strangely." "Strange?" "One night I heard the voices of 'I'm sorry' and 'I'm sorry', and the servant went out to check, but saw Chen Changyuan sitting in the courtyard—" It is said that Chen Changyuan had been sitting in front of the stone in the courtyard.

With his knees on the ground and his hands on the ground, Chen Changyuan knelt and sat under the moonlight. "I'm sorry!" While saying this, Chen Changyuan kowtowed. Touch the stone with your forehead. The speed at which he kowtowed was extraordinary.It is to use all the strength of the whole body to kowtow as fast as possible. His forehead collided with a stone, making a creepy sound. The moment he bumped into it, he would feel dizzy, and then—"I'm sorry!" He continued to kowtow. His forehead hit the rock and made a sound. Then he said, "Forgive me." He continued to bang his head against the stone.

When the servant saw it, Chen Changyuan's forehead was torn apart, and the blood flowed profusely, which seemed to have lasted for quite a while. The place where his forehead collided with the stone was also bloody. "Forgive me! Forgive me! Forgive me!" he continued kowtowing. The skin on the forehead was broken, and the flesh was open to the bone.Every time it is knocked, there will be a sound of bones hitting stones. "Master, what are you doing?" The servant approached to stop him, but Chen Changyuan didn't hear him, and continued to hit the stone with his head, and finally his skull shattered and died. "I heard that his family still lived there for nearly five years, but due to the plague or accidental casualties, etc., they passed away one by one, and the servants ran away. The mansion has been deserted until now." Ziying Say. "Thanks for your hard work." After Ziying finished briefly, Kukai said. "What should I do next?" Ziying asked. "There's something else to bother you—" "What's up?" "The main envoys of the Maweiyi rebellion, what is their situation afterward, can you please visit them?" "Is this urgent?" "I think the sooner the better." "If it is the relevant records in the palace, at present, only one day is enough, I think, other things may be difficult." "The records in the palace are enough." Kukai nodded and looked at Chi. "What you explained, I have also done it here——" "Thank you, Chi here also has something to ask." "What's up?" "Mr. Tuoliu please, I want to borrow some court musicians." "Is it the musician?" "If the court musicians are in trouble, please make your own judgment and help me find some musicians." "How many people are enough—" "Two pipas, one chime bell, one qin, one yueqin, and one xiao, probably these are enough." "When will you use it?" "Three nights later—" "Understood." After Chi nodded, he seemed to want to say something again, opened his lips, but closed them again. As if Dai Chi had said what he wanted to say, Yishi opened his mouth and said, "Hey, Kukai, why do you have to find a musician at this time? If it's just your personal preference, it's okay to ask a musician to have a good time. But please, Chi Isn’t it against common sense to do this?” "No, it's by no means unrelated." "You mean it's also about finding a musician?" "Ok." "why?" "I can't explain this clearly. Even if I speak slowly, I don't know if I can explain it clearly, not to mention that I don't have the time now." Kukai said. "No problem. I'll go find someone," Chi replied. "In that case, Yishi, I also want to ask you one thing." Kukai said. "Me? What's the matter?" "Do you still go to Hu Yulou often?" "Hu Yulou?" "right--" "It's been a while, so what's the matter?" "I haven't been there for a long time, do you want to go?" "Hey, Kukai—" "It's been a long time since I saw Sister Yulian, hasn't I?" "Kukai, that's not what I mean. I mean, is it appropriate to say such things at this moment? Could it be that going to Hu Yulou is also related to this incident?" "It can also be said to be related." "Hey, Kukai—" "Miss Yulian is good at dancing, isn't she?" Kukai replied nonchalantly. "Mr. Kukai." The monkey's voice was a little stiff. "What's wrong?" "Can I help a little too? Why didn't you explain anything to me?" The giant man pouted like a child with an expression of dissatisfaction. "No, Big Monkey, I also have something to ask." As soon as Kukai said this, the stiff face lines of Big Monkey immediately collapsed. "Just tell me. I'll do anything." "Please go to Mr. Bai Letian and tell him about the matter of going out in three days. Can I let Kukai make the arrangements?" "understood." "Tell him again, that night, I want to hold a banquet to commemorate the noble concubine, and please ask Mr. Le Tian to sing Li Bai's "Qingping Tiaoci" on the spot." "Yes, I will definitely convey it." "Also, tell him that since it's a rare banquet, it would be very grateful if he could prepare clothes and accessories." "Only this?" "And that's all." "Is this the only thing you want me to do?" "After going to Mr. Lotte, I still have a lot to ask you. Big Monkey, please come back immediately after passing the message." "Yes." After Kukai explained, the monkey nodded happily. After everyone left, Yishi seemed a little dissatisfied. "Hey, Kukai." "What's up?" "I still don't understand what you want to do." "Why bother? You'll find out sooner or later." "It's not sooner or later, I want to know now. Kukai, it's a bad habit for you to keep showing off like this." "I'm not making a fool of myself." "If not, tell me now." "tell you what?" "Tell me what you plan to do." "—" "I know that you seem to be hosting a banquet in Huaqing Palace. But what is the purpose of doing this?" "I'm not saying that it's a banquet in memory of the concubine." "Is that true?" "yes." "What I want to ask is, why do you do that?" "I can't make it clear." "Now everyone has gone back. There are only two of us here. It doesn't matter if you say it? You don't have to hide it from me, just tell me." "Yishi, I didn't deliberately hide it from you. I just thought I didn't understand it. I don't know if it will go smoothly." "You said you don't know if it will go smoothly, what do you mean?" "That's the banquet." "It's the same thing again—" Yishi finished speaking anxiously, when another voice came from the door. "Is Mr. Kukai at home?" It was Chi who had just left not long ago. Yishi got up and opened the door, Chizheng was standing outside the door. "What's wrong?" Kukai asked. "There is bad news." Chi murmured. "bad news?" "Yes." After Chi nodded, he told Kukai this way: "Last night, thieves sneaked into Qinglong Temple and used black magic to steal the letter we mentioned earlier." Night—Kurai heard music in his dream. flute. flute. Yueqin. Three kinds of music sounded in the moonlight. The music that could not be seen originally can be seen as if painted with color. Or it can be said that the color is displayed like a flower. In the blue petals, you can see complex yellow pistils and red stamens.Although they are blue, yellow, and red, they are by no means a single color, but subtly mixed with each other, and the hands and feet between colors are all entwined and embraced each other. This is Xiao. The flute is transparent blue metal.Like a thin blade flying in the air, swaying gracefully under the moonlight. The yueqin is like big and small rubies fluttering under the moonlight.Rubies are occasionally mixed with a touch of blue, almost jasper green. These tones entangled with each other, gradually rising in the air under the moonlight. Music ascended to heaven. Kukai appreciates the color and shape of these sounds, and at the same time recognizes that they are all sounds. To put it more deeply, Kukai even smelled the fragrance of flowers in those musical tones or colors. Slippery touch. On the tongue there is a nectar-like taste. Kukai's five aggregates are being stimulated by the music. In fact, whether the music is the main body, the taste is the main body, or the color and shape are the main body, Kukai who dreams of such scenery has no way of discerning. Perhaps Kukai regards color and shape as music or taste. Kukai listens to and gazes at the music in the form of colors and shapes. On the other hand, he himself is the music itself. Kukai stared at Tone, and also stared at himself as Tone itself. The music is slowly rising into the sky under the moonlight. Kukai itself floated into the sky. The distinct pleasure is deep within oneself, and soaring to the sky is also a joyful ascension. The higher the inner joy is, the nearer you are to the sky; the higher you are in the sky, the higher the inner joy. It's finally here - Kukai thought to himself. However, he didn't say it out loud. He was looking forward to what tricks the other party was going to play tonight. Kukai soared into the sky in the form of music, unknowingly reaching the same height as the clouds. In the sea of ​​clouds, a giant beast squirmed, emitting a hazy blue phosphorescent light. Soon, it passed through the sea of ​​clouds and appeared.It is a train. "Hey, Kukai." The dragon greeted Kukai who turned into music and soared into the sky. "Where are you going?" Long asked. "To a place that can be reached—" Kukai changed back into Kukai and replied. "Can't understand." "I can't think of any other answer." "If you go any higher, it's not the human world. It's not a place where people can go." "If I were Yueyin, I would not be a human being." "Then why are you talking human. If you lie, I'll eat you." "I speak human language because you talk in human language. You treat me as a human being, so I temporarily appear in human form. Otherwise, I will speak to you with music." What comes out is the music of big and small rubies and Yueqin. No, it was no longer something that slipped from Kukai's mouth, but the piano sound itself. "Kukai, if you go up, you will reach the Taoli Heaven on the top of Mount Meru. It is the world where the gods live." Kukai didn't answer. He turned into music and flew slowly towards the sky. Continue to rise, in the dark sky, Kukai is surrounded by countless gods. They are the thirty-three gods who live in Mount Sumeru. The four gods who are in charge of the four directions are Chiguo Heaven in the East, Zengchang Heaven in the South, Guangmu Heaven in the West, and Duowen Heaven in the North. There is also the god with the most gorgeous clothes, holding a thunder weapon and a vajra, and riding a giant elephant. "I am the owner of Tianshanjian City in the Taoli Heaven on the top of Mount Sumeru." The god said. "Are you Indra?" Kukai saluted respectfully. "Do you know my name? Kukai." "Riding a giant elephant, it's the master of the city who is good at seeing the city every day. Except for Di Shitian, there is no one else." "Where are you going?" "Where should I go?" "Going up further, there is Yamaten above the distant 80,000 yojanas, and further up, there is only Tushita above 160,000 yojanas." This is the content recorded in "Kisha Lun". please read. "The so-called Tushita Heaven is the place where Maitreya Bodhisattva lives." "Indeed." Di Shitian replied. Maitreya Bodhisattva is the Bodhisattva who will incarnate as a Buddha and come to the world to save sentient beings 5.67 billion years later. "Since this is the case, I want to see Tushita Heaven and meet Maitreya Bodhisattva." "Meet for what?" "After 5.67 billion years, the sentient beings of today will not be saved. In order to save sentient beings of today, I would like to ask Maitreya Bodhisattva face to face, and then pass on his teachings to sentient beings of today." "You want to replace the Buddha's body with a human body, don't you?" "No, I'm not human." "What did you say?" "If I were a beautiful musical sound, I could only use the musical sound to sing, or the trembling of the strings, to teach the teachings to all living beings—" Hearing Kukai say this. Ah. Ah. Ah. Di Shitian laughed loudly and said, "What an interesting guy." Putting the sound behind him, Kukai rang again and continued to ascend to heaven. What a funny guy--what a funny guy--Tishatian's voice went down, until at last even the moonlight was gone, all light was gone. In the void, only Kukai continued to ring. At this time, a voice came. "Who is plucking the strings in this void..." said the voice. "It's my beautiful string trembling." Kukai replied. "The trembling of the strings, how to call it?" "The trembling of this string is called Kukai. If the trembling changes, I will be anyone other than Kukai." "You mean, you can also be said to be your fellow countryman Tachibana Yishi?" "yes." "Can you also be said to be a cow if you become a different trembling?" "Yes, it can also be like that—" Kukai replied. "So, are you sometimes a peony flower, a butterfly flying beside a peony flower, or an ant who carries away a butterfly's carcass?" "Yes. I think I will be that kind of thing." Kukai replied: "After all, it's not just me. Everything that exists in the world is the trembling of the strings, and according to that trembling, the trembling of any strings It could be the trembling of any other string." "You mean, everything in this world is one thing?" "Yes. That's exactly what I said—" Kukai nodded clearly. Ah. Ah. Ah. Pleasant laughter filled the void again. "What an interesting guy. Kukai—" The existence of shining golden light slowly floated down from the other side of the void, and sat in front of Kukai. "I am Maitreya Bodhisattva." He said. The hands placed on the lap are holding a large melon. "It was you who called me, Kukai—" Maitreya Bodhisattva said. Kukai nodded. "You said you wanted to eat melons again, didn't you?" "yes." "This is a melon." Maitreya Bodhisattva handed the melon in his hand to Kukai.Kukai took over. "I said I wanted to eat melons again, but this is actually the first time I got melons." After Kukai said this, Maitreya Bodhisattva laughed. "At that time—" "It's a dog's head." "That's right. I see papers all over the place wanting to meet me." "When the sky is clear, I want to eat more melons." Maitreya Bodhisattva was talking about the paper. "What's up?" "Yes." Kukai nodded respectfully: "This time, Kukai would like to invite everyone to a banquet to share the joy of poetry and music. I hope that Master Danweng will appreciate you, so that I wrote on that paper——" "Banquet?" "yes." "when?" "Night after three days." "Who will be there?" "First of all, it's me and Tachibana Yishi—" "The others?" "Bai Letian and some musicians." "anything else--" "I don't know, but I think, there may be a face that is very familiar to Mr. Dan Weng and has not been seen for a long time." "Kukai, what kind of tricks are you going to play?" To this question, Kukai didn't answer. "By the way, I haven't told the location yet—" Kong Hai looked at Maitreya Bodhisattva and said, "The location is Huaqing Palace in Mount Li." Maitreya Bodhisattva suddenly fell silent. There was a long silence in the void. "I understand—" Maitreya Bodhisattva said, "Then I will go to this banquet." "I'm really sorry." "Is that the case?" Maitreya Bodhisattva asked. "There are other things." "What's up?" "Last night, something from Qinglong Temple was stolen—" "yes?" "Is that what Master Tanon did?" Kukai asked. "It is indeed as you said, I did it." said Dan Weng, who had become Maitreya Bodhisattva. "So you also know that there is another letter in Qinglong Temple?" "Ok." "Why do you know this?" "I heard it from Han Yu." "Han Yu?" "While the guy was sleeping, I cast a spell to ask him. The guy probably doesn't remember telling me that. Because he forgot all about it." "I see." "Under my spell, people who can talk to me are very rare. Kukai, you are special." Danon said. After Maitreya Bodhisattva was silent, he looked at Kukai with probing eyes. "How about it, Kukai." "what?" "Want to see it?" "—" "Do you want to see the letter kept in Qinglong Temple?" "Yes." Kukai nodded, and Maitreya Bodhisattva opened his mouth. A scroll of text suddenly appeared from his mouth.Maitreya Bodhisattva grasps the scroll with his right hand, pulls it out from his mouth, and places it on top of his left hand. "This is a letter Gao Lishi wrote to Master Chao Heng before he died." "Lord Gao Lishi—" Maitreya Bodhisattva put the scroll in front of Kukai. "Kukai, you hand over this scroll to Huiguo of Qinglong Temple." "is it okay?" "Report my name and say that I retrieved it from Dan Weng, it will help you sooner or later—" "Then I'll do it—" Kukai saluted. "Before handing it over to Huiguo, it's up to you to decide whether to read the letter or not." "Yes." Maitreya Bodhisattva looked at the nodding Kukai with emotion, and muttered to himself, "It's just that I didn't expect it to be Huaqing official..." "Yes..." Kukai nodded again. "You are so amazing that you can even think of Huaqing Palace. But when you think about it carefully, it is true. Liu Yunqiao's house, the cotton field, the abandoned house, Mawei post, all the way down, and finally..." "Hua Qing Palace..." "That's right. That guy Bailong kept calling me out." "" "If I could have noticed it earlier, the matter might have ended long ago." After speaking, Maitreya Bodhisattva slowly shook his head again: "No, the man probably hopes that the last place will be in Huaqing Palace. If any place is fine, when we met again in the cotton field , it should be over." "It could have been settled at that time, so what happened?" "To finish the dream we had fifty years ago." "Dream……" "Yes." Maitreya Bodhisattva nodded. Tears flowed from those eyes when she nodded, and fell down her cheeks. "Am I doing this right?" Kukai asked. "What's the meaning?" "Master Danweng—no, it also includes Emperor Xuanzong, Gao Lishi, the imperial concubine, as well as Yellow Crane, Bailong, etc. I am about to step into your world." "You've already stepped in." "That's right—" Kukai nodded. After a short silence, Maitreya Bodhisattva spoke again solemnly: "Kukai, what trick are you going to play?" The question was the same as before. "Just throwing a party—" "banquet?" "Raise a glass and drink happily, recite poems to match, dance with the music, just lie down with a hangover..." "—" "The location was chosen at Lishan Huaqing Palace - the reason is that I am from the country of Wa, and I can replace Lord Chao Heng -" "Oh." "Replacing Li Baiweng is Bai Letian, the number one contemporary poet—" Kukai said. Maitreya Bodhisattva looked at the empty sea with eyes as if looking into the distance. "Kukai." "yes." "Be quick—" said Maitreya Bodhisattva, "as fast as a cloud!" "—''"Time will pass.Time will pass.Fifty years in the blink of an eye.A person's life is like a dream in one night. " "—" "If you have something to do, do it quickly—" "Like a cloud?" "That's right. Like a cloud passing through the sky, do it quickly." Suddenly, like a rainbow disappearing, the figure of Maitreya Bodhisattva became thinner and thinner. "Lord Danon..." "Kukai, I will enjoy the tricks you have prepared—" After saying that, Maitreya Bodhisattva has disappeared. Kukai woke up and saw that there was a scroll of papers lying alone at his feet.

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Notes: Mingjiao in China.