Chapter 1 Novice

Author: Dr. Bei Guocha

Chapter 1 Novice

The majestic mountains are endless, with many mountains, green peaks reaching into the clouds, and the peaks leading into the clouds and mist are like human figures, some are dancing, some are stretching their arms independently, some are sitting cross-legged, some are standing with their hands folded...

This is the Immortal Mountain, one of the ten famous mountains in the south of the Yangtze River during the Wei Dynasty, also called Luohan Mountain.

Because the hundreds of peaks and thousands of strange rocks on this mountain all resemble humanoid postures, and many of them look like Buddhist monks meditating and enlightening, guiding and shaking their fists, it attracted many Buddhist and Taoist masters to build Taoist temples. Later, with the

War arose, monsters arose, and martial arts sects and Buddhist and Taoist sects gained more and more status.

Later, as the Wei dynasty embraced Buddhism, Confucian academies declined, and Taoist temples also lost their reputation. Today, there are only three or two Taoist academies on the huge Luohan Mountain, and the largest one is the Daxiong Temple that occupies the Fujia Peak.

.

On a mountain peak four or five miles behind Daxiong Monastery, a young monk wearing a gray cloth monk's robe stared, panted, and walked out of the dense forest in three unsteady steps. His thin shoulders were hunched over his body.

There was also a much larger pile of firewood, and a hatchet hung on his waist. He was obviously a novice who cut firewood in the temple.

After walking for a long time, Zheng Gui felt sore all over his body. He gritted his teeth and walked to a bluestone to put down the firewood on his body. Then he took a deep breath and stretched out his hands to rub his sore shoulders.

"The stupid Jingqu monk didn't even look at my age, but he actually asked me to fetch 200 kilograms of firewood...

Damn it...forty or fifty pounds makes me unbearable...how can I finish it...isn't this just bullying..."

After cursing a few words in a low voice, Zheng Gui stretched out his hand to wipe the sweat from his face. At the same time, he couldn't help but touch his shiny head again, and sighed: "Why did I become a little monk when I woke up...

This time travel really caught people off guard..."

It turns out that Zheng Gui was not born and raised in this world, he was originally a hard working laborer.

He was punished to climb the mountain because he failed to achieve the quarterly KPI. It may be that he was in a sub-healthy state due to long-term overtime work. After gritting his teeth and climbing the mountain, his vision went dark and he passed out. When he woke up, he found that he was in a monastery.

Inside, he became a young novice monk of thirteen or fourteen years old.

Zheng Guizheng was confused and at a loss, so he was scolded by a fat monk and sent to the back mountain to chop wood.

Zheng Gui counted on his fingers after he had chopped dozens of kilograms of firewood since his rebirth, and only two or three hours had passed.

But perhaps the young novice monk's young mind helped Zheng Gui. He quickly accepted the remaining memories of the young monk and gained a basic understanding of the world. At the same time, he also figured out that he had probably fainted and passed away.

coming.

The little novice monk lost his family due to a plague when he was young, and was later sent to the Daxiong Temple to grow up when he was about five or six years old.

Every year, Daxiong Temple accepts children with a clean background and good health to go up the mountain. They also teach writing and meditation and breathing techniques in order to replenish their disciples. If they meet those with good qualifications, they will be accepted as true disciples and teach Buddhism and martial arts.

Then he went to work as a grey-robed novice monk in the courtyard, doing odd jobs all day long.

The predecessor of Zheng Gui was unable to be selected as a warrior monk at the age of seven because of his lack of qualifications, so he could only be assigned as a novice monk.

Because he had no master, was young, and still lived in a small monastery, his knowledge was shallow, and the remaining memories were only basic information that allowed Zheng Gui to know.

For example, the Wei Dynasty governs the world now, and there are not only martial arts masters in the world, but also demons, ghosts, and gods...

The Daxiong Zen Temple where I live is the Jiangnan sect, a sacred place for Buddhism. The senior monks in the temple are all great figures with superb Buddhist teachings and unpredictable martial arts.

Zheng Gui knew that the young novice monk had grown up in the Daxiong Temple and had little knowledge. He was not convinced that the Daxiong Temple was a Buddhist holy place or a major martial arts sect. However, he recalled the senior brothers he had seen in his memory, jumping around in the mountains and forests, punching each other.

In martial arts practice scenes such as breaking a big tree as thick as a bowl, he can still conclude that this world is a world with extraordinary power, and the Daxiong Zen Temple he is in is a sect with a superb martial arts heritage.

Thinking of the legendary gods and bodhisattvas, as well as those seniors with strong martial arts skills, Zheng Gui was very excited and couldn't help but imagine that he would be successful in cultivation.

However, Zheng Gui couldn't help but sigh sadly in his heart when he thought about his experience of having extremely poor qualifications and not being accepted as a disciple of a martial monk in the monastery.

However, Zheng Gui did not lose hope. When he was chopping firewood, he tried many methods, hoping to find the golden finger.

However, after working hard for a long time, Zheng Gui did not find that he had a golden finger or system, which made him quite disappointed. He knew that he could only rely on his own planning for the time being.

Thinking that we were in a world with martial arts masters and demons, and that I was a novice monk with low qualifications, without the help of Golden Finger, I might not be able to become a monk in my life, let alone live forever.

However, Zheng Gui is not a person who surrenders to his fate. He knows that he has rigorous thinking and systematic knowledge, and is not the ignorant child he was before. As long as he has the opportunity to come into contact with martial arts, he can still practice it after painstaking planning. Even if

No matter how weak your foundation is, no matter how slow you are in your cultivation, you will never be willing to give it a try.

Although he had only been in this world for a few hours, Zheng Gui was already ready to secretly learn martial arts from the temple and made a plan.

As a monk, every novice monk will be assigned to the Sutra Pavilion every one or two months to be on duty for more than a month. This rotation system is to prevent the monks from staying in the Sutra Pavilion for a long time and secretly learning the scriptures.

Regarding magical skills, although most monks and novice monks are semi-literate and cannot read classical Chinese, which is enough to ensure that they cannot understand the scriptures, the precautions are still necessary.

Zheng Gui's hope of learning martial arts on his own was the opportunity to guard the Sutra Pavilion. He counted the time and knew that he would be on duty in ten days, so he secretly geared up and began to think about it.

He rested and thought for a long time, until the sun was rising and Zheng Gui's stomach was growling, he suddenly sat up and said: "It's noon, it's time to eat. If you delay, you will be hungry!"

As he spoke, Zheng Gui hurriedly picked up the firewood and walked along the familiar yet unfamiliar mountain road towards the majestic Daxiong Zen Monastery that was half hidden in the forest and half shining in the sun.

Back at the courtyard, the monk Chaitou Jingqu, who was in charge of the firewood affairs, was scolding a few novices who had returned from cutting firewood, and at the same time directing the others to chop and carry the firewood.

When he saw Zheng Gui being admitted to the hospital, he immediately glared and cursed: "Why are you so lazy? You came back three days later and you only got so little firewood?"

Zheng Gui didn't dare to argue, he just put down the firewood and lowered his head to listen to the instruction.

After scolding for a long time, Jingqu saw that Zheng Gui lowered his head and said nothing, and lost his temper. He snorted coldly: "You guys are really hateful for cheating and sneaking around. I am the chai head appointed by Master Huimeng, the master of the courtyard. I always do things carefully. You guys

If you dare to act like this under my eyes, you must be punished with a small punishment or a big warning..."

After pondering for a moment, Jingqu and Shancai glanced at Zheng Gui and several other shivering novice monks, grinned and said: "You and others are not allowed to have lunch today. You and others will collect all the firewood in this yard. If you wait until evening class,

If you don’t clean up well, you won’t be able to go to dinner!”

Zheng Gui was so hungry that he couldn't help but argue a few words after hearing these words. However, thinking of his identity and the world he lived in, he still swallowed to moisten his throat and followed the other three generations.

The senior fellow apprentice agreed: "Yes, Master Jingqu."

Monk Jingqu was over thirty years old, but his martial arts skills were only at the third level of bone forging. Due to his poor cultivation, his character was getting worse and worse, so he was sent to the Servant Hall to practice. However, he did not reflect on himself and only vented his anger on the novice disciples.

, as time went on, all the disciples in the courtyard were afraid of him.

Seeing everyone obeying with low eyebrows, Jingqu laughed. He felt that he was not good at martial arts, but he was still majestic in the courtyard, so he proudly turned around and headed towards Xiangji Kitchen.

After Monk Jingqu left, not long after, all the monks who were working in Chaiyuan also dispersed. The more polite ones would say hello to Zheng Gui when they left, but most of them left quickly without even looking at him.

Either he was afraid of delaying his meal, or he was afraid that he would get close to Zheng Gui and be seen and punished by the eccentric monk Jingqu.

Zheng Gui had just been reborn, and he didn't want to talk to his fellow disciples. Firstly, he didn't want to waste time, and secondly, he was worried that his words and deeds were different from usual, which would cause criticism and trouble. At this time, all the fellow disciples dispersed, but instead

He breathed a sigh of relief, stepped forward, picked up the hatchet, and started chopping the firewood.

Zheng Gui recognized the three novices who were punished with chopping firewood, and knew that two of them were called Zheng, Liao Xu. They were similar in age to Zheng Gui, with the same short and thin body, the same sallow complexion and dark skin.

Seeing the three young novices in panic all day long, Zheng Gui sighed secretly in his heart and thought: If my predecessor was probably like this...

Judging from the appearance, Zheng Gui is indeed similar to the three novices, but the difference is that Zheng Gui's eyes are a little brighter and more purposeful, while the three novices are still confused and ignorant.

After a while, I saw that Senior Brother Xing had begun to chop and stack the firewood in an orderly manner. The three young novices seemed to have a backbone. They consciously walked behind Zheng Gui and began to get busy.

"Bang...click..."

The sound of chopping firewood echoed one after another in the firewood courtyard, like the call of laborers, which was quiet but full of power.

By the time all the firewood was chopped and stacked, it was already dark. Zheng Gui and Liao Ming were all sweating profusely and exhausted.

During this period, Jingqu also visited three times. After final acceptance, he waved his hand and said: "As expected, they are all tight-skinned guys. Can't they work quickly after being hungry? Leave."

The four of them, Zheng Gui, clasped their hands and bowed as if they had received an amnesty. They didn't even bother to wash their hands and faces before heading towards Xiangji Kitchen.

At this time, the dinner had come to an end. When the four of them arrived at the Xiangji Kitchen, there was not much left for the monks and food. However, they were so hungry and thirsty that they did not care about being particular, so they wolfed down the rice and vegetables.

After finishing the meal, Zheng Gui felt that he was not panicking, and then carefully washed the dishes and put them away, then he saluted and thanked the senior brother in the kitchen, and turned to the side room where he lived to rest.

In the Daxiong Temple, there are also three meals a day, especially for martial arts training monks, handyman monks, Huo Gong Tutu, etc. Because they consume a lot of energy, one meal is indispensable.

However, if the eminent monks in the temple are successful in cultivation, they will only eat two meals a day, morning and noon. If they are in retreat, they will eat one meal a day or even one meal every three days. This reflects the restraint of energy after profound skills.

Very rarely leaked.

Zheng Gui was just growing up. Not only had he not practiced martial arts, he had to work all day long. Naturally, he couldn't be hungry. He ate three bowls of rice before he was just full. He ate again if he wanted to, but the rice basin was already empty, so he had to turn around.

Rest in the room, thinking that moving less will also consume less, so as not to wake up hungry in the middle of the night.

There were more than ten monks living in a wing, so Zheng Gui was naturally not exempt from the secular world. Although he knew that there were several novices with whom he had close relationships, he was too lazy to deal with them. When he returned to the room, he covered his head on his bed.

Some young novices wanted to talk to him, but they gave up when they saw the sound of sleep.

Time always flies by the fastest when you are busy. It has been ten days in a flash. Zheng Gui said very little during those ten days. Except for following his senior brothers to recite scriptures and do morning lessons in the Main Hall in the early morning, he spent the rest of the time chopping wood and carrying water.

Carrying manure and watering vegetables is a busy day.

This monotonous life was almost unbearable for Zheng Gui. Fortunately, at the beginning of the month, Zheng Gui knew that it was time to go to the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion to guard the scriptures, so he got up early in the morning to wash up, and then came to the main hall early to wait for breakfast.

class.

The tall palace is decorated with carved beams and painted pillars, and the golden body of Buddha appears more sacred and tall under the service of Buddha's disciples.

Naturally, Zheng Gui's identity meant that he could not get close to the temple. He lay at the side door and watched the flickering candlelight in the dim temple. After a while, monks came one after another. After the heads of each academy counted the disciples, they would remove those who were absent from class for no reason.

Reported to the monk in charge of the precepts, and then the monks began to chant sutras under the leadership of several leaders.

"If there are sentient beings who have had all the minor and serious obstacles from countless kalpas and have not had time to repent...

If you can read, recite and write this mantra... If you accumulate karma like this, it will be like a soup that eliminates snow... Soon everyone will realize that there is no endurance... That is why the Tathagata declares this mantra...
To be continued...