There was a knocking sound at the door, which sounded heavy and it was evident that the person knocking had a lot of strength.
I nudged a few of my brothers, gesturing them to quickly hide the tools they held in their hands, lest the knocker discovered them.
Big Teeth and Wind Shadow quickly threw their parcels under the bed.
After hiding everything, I walked to the door and opened it.
Standing outside the door was none other than the ascetic monk.
The ascetic monk's face remained expressionless, as he carried a kerosene lamp on his shoulder, the flame still flickering.
I asked the ascetic monk, "Do you have something you need from me?"
The ascetic monk shook his head slightly and said there was nothing, he just wanted to talk to us.
I felt that this ascetic monk was much like a character from Greek mythology - Prometheus.
Prometheus was the fire-stealer in Greek mythology. For the propagation and survival of mankind, he stole the fire from Zeus and scattered it to the mortal world. As a result, he had to face the revenge of Zeus, being punished by being hung high and having his liver pecked by an eagle every day.
For the curse of Fengmen Village, the ascetic monk had stayed here in penance for years, and in nature, he did indeed resemble Prometheus to some extent.
Willing to endure pain for certain beliefs.
Even though the ascetic monk's inside was ruthless, I still admired his faith.
I said, "What do you want to say, just go ahead and say it?"
The ascetic monk said, "Do you know, I've been in Fengmen Village for a long time, and the first time I've seen pure and noble people is you guys. It's clear that you all have faith."
"Don't, I don't have faith, I'm just into money," Big Teeth said very honestly.
"It doesn't matter, faith is not limited by type, nor is it distinguished by rank." This time the ascetic monk actually laughed, not very obvious, just a slight twitch of the corner of his mouth, not exaggerated, but it showed that his mood was quite good.
I said, "The few of us don't really have faith, we can only be considered as not selfish."
"Same," the ascetic monk said, "Are you willing to join me and witness the true nature of humanity?"
I couldn't figure out what the ascetic monk was up to, so I could only agree for the time being.
The ascetic monk was a half-god in the village, and had a very high status in Fengmen Village, so we naturally had to give him some face, you don't want to suffer in front of real men.
The few of us followed the ascetic monk.
Following the words of the ascetic monk, I asked, "Master, Han Chinese monks only practice seated meditation, may I ask where you come from, Master?"
Monks in our country actually mainly study Mahayana Buddhist scriptures.
Mahayana Buddhism talks about cause and effect, rebirth, and emphasizes meditation.
In addition to Mahayana Buddhism, the monks from the Tibetan region, are called Tibetan Buddhism, are actually from the same source as Indian Buddhism, which emphasizes transcending oneself by turning the body into a vessel to endure the greatest suffering.
They firmly believe that suffering will give them sufficient strength, this power can help them attain Buddhahood, so they have ascetic monks.
The ascetic monk did not directly answer my question, instead, he just said: "Amitabha."
"Amitabha" is a greeting spoken by Tibetan monks when they meet, similar to the greetings of "Amituofo" in Han Buddhist culture.
I clasped my hands together and said to the ascetic monk, "So you are a master of Esoteric Buddhism."
Tibetan Buddhism is the so-called Esoteric Buddhism, where ordinary and impure monks are called Bhiksuni, and monks who have made great Buddhist accomplishments are called lamas.
But ascetic monks of this level must be called "master." "Master" is a title for highly regarded Tibetan monks in the Buddhist community.
Of course, there are even higher titles, such as "living Buddha," "zen master," and "prajna venerable."
The ascetic monk shook his head at me and said, "There is no longer a master or living Buddha in my heart. It is indeed unreasonable for you to call me a master or living Buddha."
This monk's state of mind is quite high, indicating that he no longer seeks vain glory.
I asked the ascetic monk, "Is there any significance to the oil lamp on your shoulder?"
"The burning in this oil lamp is my suffering," the ascetic monk pointed to the flame on his shoulder and said, "This flame represents the greed of the people in Fēng Mén village. As long as the flame continues to burn, it means that the greed of the people in Fēng Mén village is still ongoing. When this lamp goes out, it will be the time of my perfect virtue."
Does the flame represent greed?
Listening to this, Fēng Yǐng seemed somewhat dissatisfied.
He had always been proud and had the same mentality as a young man, easily being provoked. Hearing the ascetic monk say that his oil lamp was sinister, he began to think about challenging the ascetic monk.
He went directly to the ascetic monk and said, "Is that so? A greedy flame? This is the first time I've heard of it. Well, I'll see if this flame can be extinguished."
With that, Fēng Yǐng grasped the compass with one hand and walked according to a peculiar rule with his feet.
He took a total of eight steps, stepping to a position one foot to the right of the ascetic monk and about two feet in front, then stomped forcefully on the ground.
Boom! A jet of water shot up from underground.
"Mister Fēngshui asking Fēngshui. Water is the earth dragon, the mountain is the celestial dragon, both the celestial and the earthly dragons are under my control. Now, let's see if this earth dragon can extinguish your greedy fire!"
The jet of water really looked like a leaping dragon, directly entwining the flame on the ascetic monk's shoulder.
However, when the water hit the flame, it turned into a white mist, completely unable to harm the flame inside the oil lamp.
Seeing this scene, the ascetic monk laughed heartily, saying that the flame burns in the human heart. Water can extinguish fire, but can it extinguish the human heart?
Seeing this, Fēng Yǐng nodded repeatedly and raised his thumb: Impressive! You, ascetic monk, do have some spiritual cultivation.
"Haha! I see that you are all pure-hearted people. Can you accept my invitation to witness the most selfish group of people in the world and see what their daily lives are like?" the ascetic monk said.
There's nothing more to say, so let's go. Although this ascetic monk is eccentric and extremely decisive in his actions, he is truly a person of spiritual cultivation and has some high-minded qualities, so if he invites us, we will definitely go.
In any case, sneaking into Fēng Mén Mountain would have to wait until evening.
"Agreed!" I readily agreed.
The ascetic monk led us out of the house and walked through the village.
The village is very poor, with hardly any houses that don't have holes in them.
As long as you choose the right angle, you can see everything that happens to a family.
First, the ascetic monk took me to the home of a villager named Tian Qi.
Tian Qi is a single man, living alone with his elderly mother.
Standing against the wall of Tian Qi's house, there was a hole about the width of a brick, through which you could see everything happening inside the house.
Inside, Tian Qi was lying on the bed, saying to his mother, "Mom, make me something to eat. I'm hungry."
"Make it yourself, someone is about to die in the village, how can I have the heart to cook?"
"It would be better if you died, I have to work hard every day to support you. I have to go into the mountains to cut a lot of wood, I'm exhausted. Why don't you die sooner?"
"Do you want me to die? I'll beat you now!" His mother raised a ladle and hit Tian Qi on the head.
Tian Qi didn't hesitate, stood up and took the washboard and beat his mother.
With one blow, his mother's head was split open.
Of course, Tian Qi didn't continue beating her. "Huh, I can't even kill this old witch. If it weren't for you doing the laundry and cooking for me, I would have to work even harder. Go and cook for me, or I'll beat you again."
His mother had no choice but to go and cook.
Seeing this, the ascetic monk told me, "Do you see? The people in this village are extremely selfish. The selfish have no filial piety. This is the selfishness of greed and cowardice. Do we need to eliminate this kind of selfishness?"
"Of course, they do. It's better to just kill this person directly; he's utterly despicable," said Dà Jīnyá.
The ascetic monk smiled and said, "The Buddha saves those who are destined. People are a combination of Buddha nature and demonic nature. If we destroy someone directly because of their demonic nature, what distinguishes us from demons and evil ways?"
After that, he took us to another villager's home.
This villager was named Má Zi.
Má Zi was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a wife and a daughter.
For certain reasons, Má Zi's wife's face was disfigured, with a ghastly scar on her left cheek, making her extremely ugly.
But Má Zi's daughter, naturally beautiful and with an exceptional appearance, stood out in the broken and impoverished village of Fēng Mén. Everyone in the village dressed rather shabbily, but it still couldn't hide the beauty of Má Zi's daughter.
Guided by the ascetic monk, we walked to the back wall of Má Zi's house.
The window on the back wall was riddled with holes, and the paper-covered window had become a sieve. Standing beside the back wall, we could clearly see what was happening inside.
Inside, Má Zi was lying on top of his daughter, moving up and down like a loathsome worm. This already amounted to incest.
His expression was cruel, while the daughter below made sounds of distress, her voice filled with despair. My head felt like it was bursting, wanting to stop Má Zi's wrongdoing.
The ascetic monk suddenly stood in front of me, smiling coldly, and said, "Young man, if you can't accept evil, how can you change a villain?"
I said we are not animals, we are human, do not use animal theories to measure people.
I heard the words of the ascetic monk, just as if I had heard the rules inside the animal world. In the animal world, there is a principle, when there’s killing among animals, humans are not allowed to interfere! Because among animals, there’s a rule of the survival of the fittest.
Humans have no right, no reason to interfere.
But the people of Fengmen Village are not animals, they are all human, living people.
I can't accept the theory of the ascetic monk, I need to pull Mazi out of the room and stop the evil happening inside the house.
Dajinya pulled me back, and carefully said to me: Master Xiao Li, not to offend you, you probably now know, in this village, sin is everywhere, there’s incest, there’s violence, there’s blasphemy, all kinds of sins are happening, can you save a family, can you save 1800 people? Do you think it’s possible?
I have a soft heart, although I think Dajinya is right, I am still stubborn, wanting to pull Mazi out.
At this moment, the ascetic monk stood in front of me and asked me: If you really want to save the people of Fengmen Village, then join me in fulfilling this ideal. The eradication of such evil requires spirit and belief... and absolute violence and control, sometimes the use of thunderous means, to show the heart of a bodhisattva.
When I heard "violence and control," I realized that this ascetic monk was definitely not an ordinary monk. This man is calculating something.
While I was still thinking, the ascetic monk slapped the wall, and as his hand hit the wall, a black handprint appeared on the wall.
Inside, Mazi let out a scream, "Ah!"
I hurriedly looked inside the room...
Author's note: Thank you for subscribing and supporting. The new year has come again, this year I wish you success in all your endeavors, and good luck in everything you do.