Chapter 2 Chapter One A Living Yuhua Terrace Stone

This is an old story, or it can be said that it is a story intertwined with old and new, because the first half of the story happened a long time ago, and the second half is a recent event, separated by many years. Things are the result. Let's start with the first half. Among my classmates in middle school, there were people from all over the world, and one of them was from Zhenjiang. The incident began with this Zhenjiang classmate. This classmate is called Xu Yuejing. The name is very strange, a bit like a monk’s name, and his family happens to be under the Jinshan Temple, so we all jokingly call him “the monk’s son”. Xu Yuejing is a good man. He even recognized his nickname, without protesting.

Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang is a very famous temple. In The Legend of the White Snake, monk Fahai practiced the method, "Water floods the Jinshan Mountain", which is to divert the water from the Yangtze River to soak the Jinshan Mountain. Jinshan is a small island in the center of the Yangtze River. The island is full of strange rocks. , the trees are lush, and the temple is built on the mountain, with a majestic momentum, it is really a good place.I visited Jinshan Temple once with Xu Yuejing, because I invited him to stay at my house for a few days during the Chinese New Year that year, and he also invited me to his home on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. Jinshan Temple.

The weather was very cold that day, and it started to be cold at noon. When we arrived at Jinshan, it started to snow. When we climbed the mountain to Jinshan Temple, the snow became heavier and heavier. It seemed that we could no longer visit the mountain, so we had to visit the temple. We walked around the temple, Xu Yuejing said: "It's so cold, would you like a cup of hot tea, I know all the monks in the temple well." I smiled and said, "Of course, you are the monk's son!" Xu Yuejing looked very embarrassed, he hurriedly said: "Don't talk nonsense, it doesn't matter if you talk about it in school, but in the temple, you can't talk nonsense."

I breathed on my hands that were red from the cold: "Okay, I won't talk anymore, it's best to find a learned monk and talk to him." Middle school students tend to be pretentious. At that time, I thought I was rich in knowledge, so I made such a request.Xu Yuejing immediately said: "Okay, there is a monk named Zhikong, he has the most weird things, and he has all kinds of weird stories." I was very happy: "Okay, go find him!" Xu Yuejing led me through the Daxiong Palace and passed through several corridors. He played in Jinshan Temple since he was a child, so he was familiar with everything in the temple. He came to the door of a Zen room and knocked on the door. Someone said: "Come in. , is it Yuejing?"

I couldn't help being stunned: "How did he know it was you?" Xu Yuejing narrowed her eyes and smiled at me: "I don't know, in fact, he seems to have a special power!" Just one sentence has aroused my great interest, Xu Yuejing opened the door, I looked inside, and saw a monk, sitting in front of a table, copying scriptures. This monk, if he wasn't wearing cassock, looked like a teacher, he saw us, smiled, Xu Yuejing said: "Master Zhikong, this is my classmate, Wesley." I didn't know how to salute to the monk, so I just nodded, and the monk Zhikong was very amiable, nodded and said: "Please sit down, it's snowing outside, it's so cold!"

It is indeed cold outside, but the meditation room is very warm, because there is a charcoal fire burning, I sat down by the charcoal fire, Xu Yuejing said: "Master Zhikong, Wesley likes weird things the most, you take that wooden duck Come out and show him." Monk Zhikong smiled, stood up, came to a wooden cabinet, opened a drawer, and turned around: "Come and see!" I hurried over: "What is it?" As I said, I have already seen the "wooden duck". It is an old tree root, which looks exactly like a duck. It can be said to be lifelike, but it can be seen at a glance that it is a natural duck. Generated.

This thing is naturally strange and interesting. I picked it up and played with it for a while, but it was far from the "weird and weird" I imagined. Then, at Xu Yuejing's request, Monk Zhikong showed me a few more things, one was a "phoenix egg" with a royal blue shell, which I thought was probably an ostrich egg, and the other was a string of rosary beads. There is nothing special about it, but according to Monk Zhikong, it is made of the bones of Shanmei, "monks don't tell lies", so I am naturally embarrassed to ask further. There is also a very old bamboo box, and there is a piece of black lacquer in the box, which is the real "dog treasure", "bezoar dog treasure", which is a precious medicinal material that I have heard from time to time, but unexpectedly it looks so strange. It's easy to see, and I don't think there will be any intractable diseases that need to use "goubao", so my interest is getting weaker and weaker.

The snow outside is still very heavy, but anyway, Xu Yuejing's home is in Jinshan, and I already wanted to go back in the snow, Xu Yuejing also saw that I was a little impatient, and he said to me: "Master Zhikong has another very important thing." Strange things can open your eyes!" I casually said: "Really?" Zhikong said: "I don't have anything special, do you want to eat a bowl of vegetarian noodles?" Xu Yuejing said: "Why is it gone? Where is your stone?" The atmosphere in the meditation room was originally very harmonious, but Xu Yuejing just said this sentence, and I immediately felt something was wrong!

In an instant, Xu Yuejing seemed to have said something extremely serious wrongly, showing a very flustered look, and Monk Zhikong's complexion also changed abruptly, becoming very ugly. It was only me who felt completely baffled, because I really couldn't think of anything wrong with Xu Yuejing's words.Xu Yuejing just asked, "That rock of yours", a monk, there is absolutely nothing wrong with hiding a rock. But looking at the situation at that time, Xu Yuejing seemed to ask "Where is that woman you hid?". If I had been older, I would have pretended not to see that there was anything wrong with the atmosphere, and would have stopped asking.But I was young at that time, I just felt very strange, I immediately said: "What stone?"

When I asked this question, the expressions of Xu Yuejing and Monk Zhikong became even more embarrassing, as if he was really hiding a woman and I had already seen through him. As if something was wrong, he lowered his head and said nothing. Then, monk Zhikong turned his head and looked out the window: "Ah, the snow is getting heavier and heavier, you should go back!" For that stone, Monk Zhikong changed from a warm welcome to an order to expel the guests. Moreover, Xu Yuejing cooperated well with him, and immediately said: "Yes, we should go back!" I was so angry that I wanted to yell almost immediately, but I held back and didn't make a sound.Of course, I was very puzzled in my heart, I didn't know what happened to the stone they mentioned, but I decided to find out about it, and I decided to attack Xu Yuejing first.

So I said, "Okay, we should go back!" Xu Yuejing and I left the meditation room together, and when we got outside, he suddenly told me to wait, then went into the room again, chatted with Monk Zhikong for a while, and then walked out with a worried look on his face. We left Jinshan Temple together and walked down the mountain. When I reached the foot of the mountain, I went straight forward. Xu Yuejing grabbed my clothes and said, "Where are you going? My house is over there!" I said, "I know where your home is, but I'm going to the pier now and take a boat into the city." Xu Yuejing said in a daze, "Going into the city? What are you doing?" I cried out, "Go back to my own home!" Xu Yuejing stayed for a long time, the snow was very heavy, the two of us only stood there for a while, and even our eyebrows were covered with snowflakes. After Xu Yuejing stayed for a while, she said, "You...are you angry with me?" I know that Xu Yuejing is an honest person, and if he had to use heavy words to force him, it would not have any effect, so I immediately said: "Why should I be mad at you, we're not friends anymore, why should I be mad at you?" Xu Yuejing said anxiously: "What are you talking about? Why are we no longer friends, we are good friends!" I sneered: "Yes, they are good friends, flirting with the monk, what kind of good friends?" Xu Yuejing lowered her head, stayed there for a while, then sighed, and begged: "Wesley, don't mention this matter again, okay?" My curiosity hardened my heart. Although Xu Yuejing was almost crying, I still said: "No, what exactly is that stone, you have to tell me in detail!" Xu Yuejing raised her head, with a mournful face: "Then... that won't work, I promised Master Zhikong not to mention it to anyone." I saw that Xu Yuejing was about to surrender, so I forced him again: "Hmph, I thought we were really good friends once!" Xu Yuejing looked at me for a while, then sighed again, and took my hand: "Okay, I'll tell you!" He pulled me into a small restaurant and sat down in a corner. We drank wine glasses and warmed our hands. Xu Yuejing said again: "I tell you, this is the matter. No matter what you do, don't treat me any more." Someone else said it." I laughed and said, "A rock, why be so nervous, what kind of rock is that?" Xu Yuejing said: "A Yuhuatai stone." I was stunned for a while, and for a moment, I almost suspected that I had heard it wrong, but Xu Yuejing made it very clear that it was a Yuhuatai stone. After I listened to it, I couldn't help laughing "haha". Yes, Yuhuatai Stone is a very interesting thing, crystal clear and beautiful, very cute, with good pattern and texture, the value of Yuhuatai Stone is quite high.But in any case, a piece of Yuhuatai Stone is not worth being so mysterious, unless both of them have some neurological problems. After I stayed for a while, I said, "Okay, if I knew it was just a rain flower platform stone, we don't need to quarrel." I have already expressed that I am not interested in listening any further, but Xu Yuejing is an honest person after all, since he has started to talk, he will continue to talk about it. At this time, he took the initiative to say: "This Yuhuatai stone is different. I've only seen it once!" I casually said, "What's the difference?" Xu Yuejing's expression was very serious, and she lowered her voice: "It's alive!" This time, I really suspected that I had heard it wrong, so I quickly asked, "What did you say?" Xu Yuejing repeated it, still saying those four words: "It's alive." I was stunned, unable to make a sound, a stone, Yuhuatai Stone, it is alive, this is so absurd beyond common sense, it is unacceptable, I said: "Live? Stone? Are you mistaken? " Xu Yuejing said with a serious expression: "No mistake, I have seen it, although I have only seen it once, but it is indeed alive, it is true, Master Zhikong refused to show it to me at all, it was me once, no I bumped into his meditation room as soon as I knocked on the door, and he told me not to tell others no matter what!" My curiosity was pushed to the top, because I knew that Xu Yuejing was definitely not a liar, and the fact that a piece of Yuhuatai Stone was alive was too unacceptable. So I leaned forward: "Tell me in detail!" Xu Yuejing said: "That day, it was summer, I pushed open the door of his meditation room and saw him staring at something, and as soon as he saw me coming, he immediately covered the things on the table with his sleeve, I was very naughty at that time, Pretending not to see anything, talking with him, suddenly opened his sleeves, and saw the Yuhua Platform Stone, it was the size of a fist..." Without waiting for him to continue, I said, "At that time, was that rock jumping, or something?" Xu Yuejing said: "I said it was alive, but that's not what I meant." I said, "Then, how is it alive?" Xu Yuejing took a sip of tea: "Be patient and listen to me. At that time, I saw that it was just a piece of Yuhuatai Stone, and I felt strange in my heart. That piece of Yuhuatai Stone is very beautiful, oval, half of which is dark red, and the other half is It is almost white and translucent. Originally, I saw it was Yuhuatai Stone, but I just wanted to pick it up to see it, but Master Zhikong was so nervous that he pressed my hand and cried, saying:' Just ignore it!'” "I was stunned for a while, and said: 'What is this?' Master Zhikong said: 'I don't know what it is, I picked it up at Yuhuatai.' I said: 'I have seen it for a long time. It’s a Yuhua platform stone.” Master Zhikong said: “But it’s different, you see.” Master Zhikong said, and moved the Yuhua platform stone to the sun.” When Xu Yuejing said this, her expression became very nervous, her hands clenched into fists tightly, and her complexion also changed. His nervous expression made me nervous too, and I said, "What did you see?" Xu Yuejing held the teacup in both hands, his hands were shaking, so that a lot of tea spilled out, his face became very pale, his lips trembled, but he couldn't speak. I was even more anxious: "What exactly did you see? Tell me, no matter what you saw, what does it matter if you say it now?" My words helped somewhat, Xu Yuejing's expression became much calmer, he sighed first: "It's unbelievable. Half of that Yuhuatai stone is dark red, while the other half is translucent. You can see what's inside the stone..." I am an impatient person, what Xu Yuejing said didn't make sense, which made me very impatient, I urged him: "Then you have already said it, tell me, after you moved that stone under the sunlight, you saw what?" Xu Yuejing said: "Don't worry, I will tell you naturally." He paused again when he was talking, and I couldn't help sighing. The more anxious you are about this person, the slower he will be. It's better not to rush him, let him speak for himself. Xu Yuejing paused for a moment: "I really don't know what to say, um... Under the sunlight, the translucent part looks more transparent, and I can see that there are many traces from the red part. The red thread seems to be trying to squeeze into the translucent part, and in that translucent part, there is another kind of white thread, trying to resist the intrusion of the red thread, the two sides are entangled, that kind of situation , making people think of a very tragic war when they see it!" I looked at Xu Yuejing—actually, I was staring at him, wondering if he was talking nonsense in my heart! From my expression, Xu Yuejing had clearly seen what was going on in my heart, so he smiled wryly and put down his teacup: "What I said is all the truth, believe it or not." I still stared at him: "Monk son, you mean to convince me that there is a war inside a stone?" Xu Yuejing felt very embarrassed, and hurriedly said: "No, no, maybe my adjective is not very appropriate, but there is indeed a dispute in that piece of Yuhuatai Stone, I mean, the red and white silk They're alive and they're struggling, and that's what I mean when I say the rock is alive." I didn't say anything more, because I couldn't digest everything Xu Yuejing said. I had to sort out his words in my mind before I could gradually accept them. While I was thinking about it, Xu Yuejing added: "So, it's not that the stone is alive, but that there is something alive in that stone!" At that time, I had already thought about Xu Yuejing's words carefully.For the sake of solemnity, I don't call him by his nickname, but by his name: "Yuejing, you must be dazzled, many of the Yuhuatai stones have extremely wonderful patterns, under the sun, there is a slight illusion, The pattern hidden in the stone will seem to be alive!" Xu Yuejing hurriedly shook her hands: "No, it's not the same. Do you think I haven't seen the Yuhua Terrace Stone? I have seen many beautiful Yuhua Terrace Stones, but those are completely different from the one of Monk Zhikong. His one is Alive, I mean, there is something alive in the stone!" Xu Yuejing spoke very seriously, and his serious attitude made me never think that he was talking nonsense no matter how I thought about it. I stayed for a long while before I said, "You only saw it once?" Xu Yuejing nodded and said: "Yes, Master Zhikong forbids me to mention this stone to anyone, even in front of him, and I have always kept my promise. Just now, I was impulsive. , raised it, you saw his reaction!" I said "huh": "His reaction is more like you mentioned that he hid a woman in the meditation room!" Xu Yuejing smiled wryly and said, "It really looks like it!" I asked: "Why is he so mysterious, and he doesn't want people to know that he has such a Yuhuatai stone?" Xu Yuejing shook her head and said, "I don't know." I asked: "So, when you saw that strange phenomenon, did you ask him what is in this stone?" Xu Yuejing said: "Of course, what I saw was so strange, how could I not ask questions? But Master Zhikong himself didn't know what it was, he just said some mysterious things." I asked: "What did he say?" Xu Yuejing said: "What did he say, the wonder of the creation of the heavens is beyond the comprehension of ordinary people like us, and what did he say, the Buddha can absorb Sumeru in mustard seeds, and in mustard seeds In the vast world." I blinked. "What does that mean?" Xu Yuejing said: "Who knows, Buddhism is metaphysics, I'm afraid even he himself doesn't understand what he means." I stayed there for a while, then took a breath: "Yuejing, I want to see that stone." Xu Yuejing looked at me in surprise, I fully understand that Xu Yuejing was surprised because he understood my character, he is the kind of person who has thought of what to do and must do it! So he hurriedly waved his hands and said: "No, Master Zhikong will definitely not show it to you, he will definitely not show it to you!" I had already thought of my solution, so I said, "I won't beg him to let me see that stone." Xu Yuejing's expression became even more astonished, he opened his mouth wide, and after a long pause, he said, "You don't want...to take that stone..." He is an honest man, and from his mouth, he still couldn't say a word "steal", so I didn't wait for him to stammer before continuing, "You and I go and steal it out together! " Xu Yuejing shouted loudly: "I'm not going!" He yelled so loudly that everyone in the teahouse turned their heads and looked at us. I put down the tea money, pulled him and walked out. When I got outside the teahouse, I complained to him: "You are crazy, we are discussing to go to Jinshan Temple to steal things, how can you be so loud?" I walked forward with him, because it was snowing and the streets were muddy, I said: "I have to go, who told you to tell me such a strange thing? If you dare not go with me, it will prove that you Lying!" Originally, applying the "provocative method" like me to an honest person like Xu Yuejing would prove everything, but this damned "monk son" seems to have made up his mind and refuses to steal things with me No, he shook his head: "If I don't go, it's fine if I'm lying!"