Chapter 8 Section VII

It seemed to rain last night. When I opened the sliding door in the morning, I saw many puddles on the grass, and the edges of the puddles were dotted with fallen leaves.After I sorted it out briefly, I headed to the dining room. "Good morning." Hearing my voice, Aunt Yi poked her head out from behind the curtain on the right.There was no one at the table. "Has everyone finished breakfast?" The clock on the wall pointed to ten past six. I looked at the clock and asked, and Aunt Yi Po laughed. "They eat at five o'clock, and the latest ones are finished at five thirty."

"Huh? So early?" "Actually, the time is not certain. They are busy these days. They may want to start working quickly." I sat down at the table, and Aunt Yipo put the steaming teacup in front of me, and walked into the curtain again.There was the sound of clinking tableware from inside. "Do you want a large bowl, a medium bowl, or a small bowl?" "A medium bowl is fine." Unexpectedly, the medium bowl of white rice she brought out was similar to the large bowl in ordinary restaurants.Presumably other people usually eat a lot.I feel that the slightly obese Buddha statue master named Okajima is likely to eat directly with the rice pot.

I thanked Auntie Yi, and ate fried fish and hijiki salad.There was a peaceful atmosphere in the restaurant illuminated by the morning sun, and it was hard to believe that such a bizarre situation happened last night. "Is there a lot of dust in the room you live in?" Aunt Yi Po poked her head out from behind the curtain, "I'm sorry, because I didn't know you were coming, I just swept the tatami, and I didn't have time to clean it seriously." "It's okay, it's completely fine. I came here suddenly and uninvited. If you are willing to let me live, I should be grateful."

At this time, the door of the restaurant was pushed open, and Maya in overalls stood at the door. "Ah, Teacher Daowei, I'm sorry to disturb your meal." After Maya nodded slightly to me, she searched around the restaurant. "Aunt Ji, is Mr. Okajima here?" For a moment I didn't know who she was talking to. "No, he didn't come here." The answer was Aunt Yi, why did she become "Aunt Ji"? "Maya, haven't you found Mr. Okajima yet?" "That's right, I've already called the monastery to ask, and they said he didn't go there."

Maya scratched her short black hair in bewilderment.Her fingertips were wrapped in dirty OK bandages. "Mr. Okajima is already that old, don't you need to worry about him?" Aunt Yipo said in a tone as if she was scolding a relative or child. "Yes, I think so too, but Master Songyue told me to look for him, and he looked very angry." "Ah, that's surprising. I thought the owner of Songyue would say 'don't worry about him'." Aunt Yi imitated Songyue's tone of voice. "Yeah, that's why I was taken aback too." "Mr. Okajima—are you missing?" I interrupted.

"Ah, Michio-sensei, I'm so sorry to disturb you—yes, Mr. Okajima has been missing since early in the morning." "Are you in the room?" Maya shook her head: "His quilt is neatly folded, and his pajamas are also placed in the corner of the room—what time did he get up?" "Could it be that you didn't go back to your room to sleep at all? Maybe you weren't there last night." Hearing what I said, Maya clapped her hands vigorously in front of her chest. "Yes, it's very possible. He is a typical B-type person, and he is often self-centered in doing things-wow, Teacher Daowei, you have helped me a lot, thank you so much."

Maya closed the door and strode towards the entrance. "The owner of Songyue House is very strict," Aunt Yi said with deep emotion: "As long as the apprentice is asked to do something, the apprentice must never say 'I can't do it'. It is the same whether it is work or other things." "Really? That's how it is." Therefore, once I told Maya to go to Okajima, I couldn't reply, "I can't find it." Even if it was a vague answer like "Maybe I wasn't there last night", I could deal with it temporarily. "The master-student relationship is really hard."

Work in the same environment, live in the same environment.I absolutely can't stand it, even for a job I love. The Buddhist statue master named Okajima was missing—maybe he wanted to get rid of this oppression, so he escaped from the Ruixiang room, I suddenly had this idea.I expressed this idea in a tactful way, and Aunt Yipo squeezed out the wrinkles on her face and laughed. "If that's the case, he wouldn't have endured it for twenty years, and would have escaped long ago." She was absolutely right. After dinner, I went to the room to get the camera and left the dormitory.The icy air is tinged with the smell of watery earth.

"Good morning." Father Tang Jianmu was using a bamboo broom to sweep the gravel path extending from the entrance, he smiled and exhaled white air. "Did you sleep well last night?" "Well, it's okay—" I smiled vaguely.I decided not to mention the wonderful events of last night.Because, since childhood, I have experienced too many failures.Whenever I accidentally mentioned where I heard incredible sounds or saw inexplicable phenomena, the other party would look at me suspiciously. Is there something wrong with this guy's head? The eyes of the other party always seem to say so.

So, I also learned to be smart, and I stopped casually mentioning such things to others.No matter what I saw or heard, I kept my mouth shut. "I heard Mr. Okajima is missing?" "That's right, that's right." Father Tang Jianmu picked up the bamboo broom, his eyes widened, as if he had been waiting for me to mention this matter. "I have an ominous premonition. Didn't I tell you about the incident 20 years ago yesterday? It was about Mr. Kizawa. At that time, he also disappeared suddenly after getting up in the morning." "Is the situation similar?"

Hearing my question, Father Tang Jianmu nodded vigorously. "He's still missing to this day, and I'm really worried." There seemed to be no worry on his face, but excitement.As for me, the disappearance of an adult from the workplace isn't of much interest to me. "Mr. Tang Jianmu, I have something to ask you. Walk along this road. Isn't there a tall weed on the left side? I found a small temple behind it, which is—" Father Tang Jianmu let out an "ah" and took a step back, as if genuinely surprised. "Did you see it?" "Yes, I found it by accident. The temple seems to be specially built next to a tree to be protected by the tree. There is a Buddha statue in the temple. Why is it built there?" "why--?" Father Tang Jianmu pursed his thick lips, showing a troubled expression. "Because it was there." I don't know if he counted as answering my question, but his next note explained why he said it. "The Buddha statue was originally placed in the dormitory. In fact, the previous dormitory was built there—it happened to be the center of the entire Ruixiang house. Later, when the dormitory was moved to the current place, the position of the Buddha statue was not moved—— " "Oh, that's right." I finally understand. "It turns out that when you move the building, you leave the Buddha statue in place. But why do you do that?" "The dormitory was moved because of the terrain, which is where the stepped kiln is located. The previous dormitory was built just in front of the slope. There is the entrance, and the innermost one is near the temple. The owner of Songyue said that if there is an earthquake or heavy rain, it will be destroyed. It is very dangerous, so it is proposed to move the dormitory to the current location. The layout is completely unchanged, but the entire dormitory is moved inside." "When did this happen?" "Exactly twenty years ago, shortly after Mr. Yuzawa disappeared. Looking back now, it was really a wise decision. Didn't there be a big earthquake eight years ago? At that time, the slope really collapsed, and there was a bang, and the whole It's all broken." Father Tang Jianmu described the collapse of the slope with his whole body movements.The "big earthquake" he mentioned should refer to the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which also affected my hometown at that time. "Did those stepped kilns also break down?" "No, the step kiln is not affected, but I feel that the position seems to have moved down a bit. After going inside to check, it is found that there is almost no need for repairs. The owner of Songyue is also relieved. Because building the step kiln is a lot of work. " According to Mr. Tang Jianmu, the five stepped kilns built along the slope were built together when the dormitory was moved 20 years ago. Originally, there was only one ordinary cave kiln under the slope, but it was removed from the dormitory. Finally, the terrain of the slope was cleverly used, and four additional kilns were built on it to form a stepped kiln. "When the dormitory was moved, why did you leave the Buddha statue in place?" "actually--" While Tang Jianmu was talking, he walked slowly towards the gravel road.I also followed. "That Buddha statue was also carved by that Buddha statue master." "Is that Buddha statue artist—the Buddha statue artist named Ryuzo Kizawa?" Father Tang Jianmu looked straight ahead and nodded vigorously. "After Mr. Yuzawa disappeared, the house owner Matsuzuki and his apprentice wanted to remove his work, because many things happened before. However, because it is a Buddha statue, it cannot be discarded—" Therefore, when the dormitory was moved and built, the Buddha statue was left in place. "It should be regarded as taking advantage of the trend. The owner of Songyue also deliberately said: 'It is better to keep the Buddha statue in its original place. a small temple." What exactly did the Buddha statue maker named Ryuzawa Nayuzawa do?Why do people in Ruixiang House hate him so much?Not even his work, which is too extreme. "Huh?—wait a minute." At this time, I suddenly discovered a wonderful problem. "I always thought that the room I lived in was the room where the Buddha statue master named Jiu Ze lived. If the dormitory was relocated after his disappearance - did I misunderstand?" Otherwise, after the dormitory is relocated, there is no need to reserve a room for the missing person. "No, you did not misunderstand. The room at the end on the right is indeed the room where Mr. Kizawa used to live. When it was relocated, that room was also relocated along with other people's rooms." "Uh, but—" "As I said just now, the dormitory was rebuilt shortly after Mr. Jiuze disappeared. He didn't leave a note, and he didn't know when he would come back. Of course, his room couldn't be demolished immediately. The owner of Songyue and Mr. All three apprentices are in favor of keeping Mr. Kizawa's room." "So that he can come back anytime?" "That's the thing. However, the owner of Songyue has been saying recently that it is almost time to send the Buddha statues in that room to be recycled. Since they are not finished products, there is no problem in discarding them. Besides, he has been away for twenty years. gone." "Recycling—does it mean throwing somewhere?" "At the end of each month, there are operators who come to recycle waste, load the garbage and unused materials into trucks, and take them to the incineration plant for burning. The owner of Songyue means that at the end of the month, the Buddha statues will also be taken away. .” "But actually--" Father Tang Jianmu nodded, "He didn't do that," he replied, "As you can see, those Buddha statues are still in that room." "Is that person named Yuze so scary? Even the owner, Matsutsuki, has scruples about him?" "Well—the owner of Songyue used to worry about him—but he wasn't afraid of him, on the contrary, he loved him very much. There may be some special reason why he didn't discard the Buddha statue in that room..." As Tang Jianmu walked, he tilted his head and murmured, "Why? I don't know." Father Tang Jianmu turned left in the middle of the gravel road, and the turf rich in moisture made a slight sound under his feet.I walked beside him and knew immediately where he was going.In front was the place where the weeds were overgrown last night. It turned out that those weeds were ghost needles. "Only the weeds here have not been cleared, because the owner of Songyue specially ordered it." As he said that, Tang Jianmu's father used a bamboo broom to push the ghost needle grass blocking the way out of the way, and walked through the grass smoothly, and I followed closely behind him. "—Is it here?" Father Tang Jianmu asked, and I nodded speechlessly. It was too dark last night, so I couldn't see clearly. It turned out that this place was on the edge of Ruixiang House, with a piece of fir trees behind it, and beside it was the unusually high fence of Jianren Temple.The small temple was built alone in front of the fence. "Although it is a temple, it is a Buddha statue that was expelled from the dormitory after all, so it is very simple to build." As Tang Jianmu's father said, the small temple is just a triangular roof built on four pillars, surrounded by wooden boards on three sides. The tree with many human-face-like burls clings to the left side of the small temple.Because it is the cold winter season, most of the leaves have fallen, and the remaining leaves on the branches seem to have become spider nests, woven with many white silks. "This is a pomegranate tree." "Oh? Is this a pomegranate tree?" "Yes, the sunlight is blocked by fir trees and fences, so it doesn't grow very well." I moved my gaze to the small temple.The three-eyed Buddha statue raises its four hands with a blazing flame behind it.Even a layman like me, after careful observation, knows that this Buddha statue, the Thousand-Handed Avalokitesvara, and the incomplete Buddha statue in the room where I live all use the same chiseling method.This Buddha statue is also very powerful, coupled with the angry expression on the face of the Buddha statue, the feeling is even stronger. "This is King Wushu Samoming." "Ushu Samo—" "It is said that he is the king of Ming who can burn away the filth and sins of the world. I remember that he was absorbed into Buddhism by the Indian fire god Agni." "So it was originally another god?" Hearing my question, Father Tang Jianmu turned his body to the front and said, "Let me explain it to you." He put the broom handle on the ground with a bang. "King Ming was originally a god of Brahmanism, then absorbed by Hinduism, and then absorbed by Buddhism - King Ming specially punishes evil spirits and evil spirits who oppose Buddhism and endanger Buddhism, so they all look like this. The Shingon Sect is centered on Fudo Mingwang, together with Jiang III, Gundali, Dawei De and Vajra Yasha, collectively known as the Five Great Ming Kings. In Tiantai Sect, there is no Vajra Yasha, but Wushu Shamo. The temple here belongs to Tiantai Sect. Therefore, Wushu Shamoming King is an important god included in the five great Ming Kings." Father Tang Jianmu paused.I was deeply impressed by his profound knowledge, and I moved my eyes to the small temple. "what……" Only then did I realize that something was wrong with the Buddha statue. "The head of the Buddha statue—" Is it cracked? From the top of the head of the angry face, past the eye on the forehead, and over the nose, there was a black gash. "Yeah, it popped open around this time last year. I was sweeping the other end of the grass when-" Father Tang Jianmu lowered his voice and told me the situation at that time. When he was sweeping the floor, he heard a loud "pop".Startled, he looked around but saw no one and nothing. "Later I noticed that the sound seemed to be coming from the direction of this small temple." So he walked through the bushes of ghost needle grass and came here. It was early in the morning. "As a result, look up—" "The head of the Buddha statue was found split." Father Tang Jianmu said, shrugging his shoulders at me. "It is not surprising that there are cracks in the wooden Buddha statue, especially this Buddha statue is made of wood, that is, the whole body is carved out of a whole tree, so it is easy to have cracks. Although in order to prevent this from happening , would hollow out the body beforehand—and even then, occasionally crack like this. I know these things well, although I know—" Tang Jianmu's father had a troubled expression on his face. "I was still scared at the time. Because it was a Buddha statue carved by Mr. Kizawa, and it happened to be where the head was..." "It's really scary for something like this to happen all of a sudden." As I said that, I suddenly remembered. "Huh? Could this be the curse you mentioned yesterday?" "Yes, that's what I'm talking about." Father Tang Jianmu pointed at King Wushu Samoming with his chin. "As I said just now, cracks appearing on Buddha statues is a natural phenomenon. I know this kind of thing very well, so it has nothing to do with curses—however, I always feel that the Buddha statues left by Mr. Kizawa are cursed. Although it happened a long time ago, the same is true for the Thousand-Handed Avalokitesvara, and the other party returned the product without explaining the reason." "Well, it would also make people feel hairy." I suddenly thought, could it be that the foreigner who bought the Buddha statue saw that smiling face in the middle of the night like me? "Ah, by the way—what happened to Mr. Kato (kA-tO-u) you mentioned?" "Who is it?" "Mr. Kato. Didn't you say yesterday? You said that Kato's head was injured. Is that person also from Ruixiangfang?" Father Tang Jianmu narrowed his eyes and looked at me in surprise.Suddenly there was a loud "Oh!" "It's not Kato-san, it's kA-tO-u god. I'm talking about kA-tO-u." "--what?" "It is this god." I am confused. "King Wushu Samoming is surrounded by flames all over his body, so he is also called the Fire Head Vajra. I usually call him the Fire Head. So, I am not talking about Mr. Kato, but the Fire Head God." Father Tang Jianmu said these two names with different tones. "It turned out to be like this." I was disappointed, but also relieved.

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