In the north of Fengyuan City, there is a restaurant.
Just when Wei Changtian was wondering what the hell this "Yam Luo" was in the watchman's office, the atmosphere here was quite heated.
It was dinner time, and the hall was almost full. The waiters with long handkerchiefs on their shoulders shuttled between the tables, and the shouts and conversations were noisy and chaotic.
However, the guests at the tables sitting by the windows facing the street were very quiet. They just lowered their heads to eat, and even if they occasionally talked, they would try to keep their voices down.
This is not because they are more qualified than others, but entirely because of the two watchmen wearing black official uniforms and gongs tied to their chests.
"Brother Zhang, how was the girl at Manchunlou last night?"
Ignoring the wary looks from the surrounding diners, a gong clockman asked with a smile while drinking wine: "I heard that you came out less than a quarter of an hour after entering the embroidery room. Why, you are not in good condition."
?”
"Hey, don't mention it."
The guard surnamed Zhang curled his lips, with helplessness written all over his face: "I didn't even have time to take off my clothes yesterday when the boss called me away."
"Hahaha, you should be lucky that you haven't taken off your clothes yet, otherwise wouldn't it be even more disappointing to be called away in the middle of doing that?"
The drunken officer smiled and joked, and then asked: "What, another person died?"
"Well, over there in Yuhua Lane, he's only three years old."
The officer surnamed Zhang took a piece of food with chopsticks and said while eating: "More than fifty people died yesterday."
"There's never been so many before, right?"
"Well, this is the first time. On the contrary, everything has been fine at the Princess Mansion."
"Brother Zhang, why do you think this is?"
"Who knows, I hope..."
The officer surnamed Zhang suddenly stopped when he was talking and looked through the open wooden window towards the street with people coming and going.
"Brother Zhang, what are you looking at?"
"Uh... I seem to have seen Bai Youheng."
"Um?"
The guard opposite was stunned and turned to look.
"The back looks quite similar..."
He sighed, then turned around and said with a smile: "But Brother Bai is still fighting in Yuanzhou, so how could it be him."
"I guess they just happen to look similar."
"Well, I guess I saw it wrong."
The officer surnamed Zhang also stopped worrying about this matter and looked back to continue the topic.
"I hope this Yama will be the same as the previous two times and not be too smart, otherwise I don't know how many people will die in Fengyuan City."
"well......"
The guard opposite nodded: "I hope so."
...
...
Daning, Longzhou, Longzhou City.
They were already desperately poor, and with the war going on in neighboring Wonju, the lives of the people living in this last pure land of Buddhism were now getting worse day by day.
The more difficult real life is, the more prosperous the Buddha Lotus Temple will be.
"..."
"Bodhisattva bless! Bodhisattva bless..."
"Amitabha, please protect me and my family..."
"I ask the Buddha to protect me from the suffering of reincarnation, and to enjoy happiness in the Western Paradise forever, like Amitabha Buddha..."
"Two King Kongs, my son is currently fighting in Yuanzhou. Please bless him for his safe return..."
"..."
Pious prayers filled the various Buddhist halls of Fulian Temple, and the green smoke rising into the sky almost formed a cloud of smoke on Lingkai Mountain.
The content of what the pilgrims are asking for may be slightly different, but they are basically "keep up with current events", either related to the war in Wonju or the recent serial murders in the city.
About three or four days ago, children suddenly began to disappear and die in Longzhou City. There were at least three or four cases every day, and there were even eight cases yesterday.
The murderer's method of killing was not cruel, but the fact that he only targeted children was extremely bad.
Longzhou Prefectural Government immediately mobilized almost all the detective experts in the city to investigate the case, but after a few days, they still found nothing. On the contrary, it made the people in the city panic.
Life is already so difficult, and now such a bad person appears.
Since the government could not rely on him, many people had no choice but to come to seek protection from the Buddha.
I don't know if it's useful, but it's the only thing they can do right now.
"Buddha, it's not easy for us, orphans and widowed mothers, to live together. Please don't let those bad people hurt my son..."
"Please bless the Buddha, bless the Buddha..."
A mother and son in shabby clothes knelt at the foot of the Tathagata Buddha statue draped in gold. They kowtowed several times, then slowly stood up and threw a few coins into the merit box.
Such a move would have been nothing a few months ago, but now it is somewhat rare.
After all, the life of ordinary people is so difficult right now. Except for some wealthy households, the rest of them can't even afford to eat. How can there be any money left to worship the Buddha?
Therefore, most pilgrims just burn a few sticks of incense and give up. Few people invest money like this mother and son.
"Danglang~"
The crisp sound of the copper plates colliding was very weak. The woman clasped her hands together and bowed devoutly to the Buddha statue, and then turned her gaze to the empty bamboo basket in her arms.
The hoped-for broken silver did not appear, but the woman did not feel too disappointed. She just took the hand of the little boy beside her and left Fulian Temple, preparing to go down the mountain and go home.
"Mom, I'm hungry..."
Walking on the mountain road, the little boy asked in a low voice: "Can we have porridge today?"
"..."
After looking at her son's sallow face, the woman weighed several times in her mind, then nodded with a smile.
"Okay, mother will cook porridge for you when you get back."
...
Half an hour later.
Walking all the way back to the small village where she lived, the woman entered the kitchen, scooped out half a bowl of bran rice from the bottom of the well-hidden vat, blocked the chimney, and then said to the little boy beside her who was looking at her eagerly:
"Go get some water and come back. Remember, if you meet someone on the way and ask, don't say that we want porridge at home."
"Mom, I understand!"
When the little boy saw that the woman really wanted to make porridge, he was overjoyed and immediately picked up a bucket and ran out of the yard, heading straight for the only well at the head of the village.
He ran as fast as possible, hoping to drink hot rice porridge as soon as possible.
As for the woman's warning before going out, it didn't come in handy because he didn't meet anyone along the way.
Oh, except for a young man in black.
The man's eyes were very dark, making the little boy feel dizzy just by looking at him.
But what he cared more about was the white-faced steamed bun in the former's hand.
"Want to eat?"
"Think, think..."
"Then let's eat here."
"I, can I take it home to eat with my mother..."
"..."
"Zhu'er! Zhu'er!!"
I don't know how long it took, but a shrill wail suddenly echoed through the entire small village.
The disheveled woman cried heartbrokenly, but the little boy in her arms could no longer give her any response.
"Zhu'er! Wake up! Look at mother!"
The woman kept shaking the boy, as if expecting the latter to suddenly open his eyes at some point.
However, only a white-faced steamed bun with only one bite fell from the boy's arms and fell to the ground, covered with dust and weeds, and rolled to the woman's feet.
"..."
"Master, can I take it back to eat with my mother..."