Chapter 56: The Buddha with a bun only knows the sutra of Namo

A feeling of suffocation as if drowning enveloped Ding Hai.

Subconsciously, he waved his hands, trying to use the doggy style to break free from the restraints and return to the water.

"Ah!" Ding Hai woke up after a panicked roar.

Looking at the soft sand beneath me and the sun gradually sinking into the sea not far away.

He patted his head hard, feeling as if he had forgotten something.
But no matter how hard he thought, he just couldn't remember what he had forgotten?
"Aguo, are you awake?" A female voice as clear as an oriole woke up Ding Hai who was immersed in his own world.

Ding Hai, with a blank mind, looked at the dark-skinned girl emerging from behind a reef and asked in a daze, "Aguo? Am I your brother?"

"Ah?" The girl with dark and shiny skin was stunned by Ding Hai's question: "Aguo, did you drink too much of the Dragon King's old wine and forget your name?

My name is Moer, and my home is at the end of Xiaochen Village in front. My family is so poor that we only have salted fish left, and we can’t afford to support a brother as fair-skinned as you.”

Upon hearing this, Ding Hai looked at his own skin, which was as delicate as silk and as white as cold jade, and then looked at the dark face of the girl opposite him. They really didn't look like they were born from the same father.

Under the setting sun, after talking with the girl Moer for a long time, Ding Hai finally realized that although the girl in front of him was not his sister, she was his savior.

If the girl had not fished him out of the sea when she went out to sea to fish, he would have sunk into the sea to feed the Dragon King.

With the idea of ​​not bothering two people with the same problem, Ding Kai, with a confused mind, subconsciously held on to the girl with a thick face and insisted on going home with her to spend the night with her first.

There was no way. His equally white belly was already rumbling. He was unfamiliar with the place and couldn't remember where he lived or where he came from. His pockets were empty.

If you don't cling to the life-saving straw in front of you and take a few more bites, are you going to lie on the beach and wait to starve to death?
As evening approached, Ding Hai followed the girl like a follower and came to Xiaochen Village where she lived.

Xiaochen Village is just an ordinary seaside fishing village.

Under the sparse smoke from cooking fires, the villagers who had returned from fishing were packing up their catches, picking out the worthless fish, and instructing their older children to kill the fish while there was still light, and then pickle them with salt.

The younger ones huddled under the low eaves and tried their best to reduce their presence, so as to avoid being grabbed by their older brothers and sisters by the ears.

The afterglow of the setting sun falls on the golden beach outside the village, reflecting a harmonious picture.

Ding Hai followed Mo'er into this simple yet warm little village.

The villagers in the village were not surprised to see Ding Hai.

"Mo'er, you have saved another person from Grandpa Dragon King. This is the hundreds of people you have saved.

If you keep going like this, be careful that Grandpa Dragon King won’t give you any fish.” The man at the village entrance who had already collected the fish teased Mo’er with a smile.

"No way, Grandpa Dragon King's mind is as broad as the sea. He is not as stingy as you, the village chief." Mo'er smiled and made a face at the short and strong village chief. Then, he smiled and greeted the villagers one by one with Ding Hai.

“The one just now was the village chief. Every time the tax soldiers from the city came to collect taxes, it was the village chief who negotiated with them and reasoned with them, thus reducing our taxes to the lowest possible level.

If it weren't for the village chief, many families in our village would have been raided and arrested by the tax soldiers. The one who was standing in the yard and smiling at us was Grandpa Hong, a village elder. People in the village said that Grandpa was almost seventy years old this year.

The village chief said that Aye will not have to pay taxes to the court next year, so Aye Hong’s family will be able to save a lot next year.”

Along the way, the lively and active Moer introduced almost everyone he met to Ding Hai.

She didn't stop introducing the villagers to Ding Hai until the sun set below the horizon.

Because, if you don’t cook, you have to light an oil lamp to cook.

In Xiaochen Village, oil and meat are the most difficult supplies to obtain.

Taking Ding Hai quickly back to the small house behind the hillside, Mo'er started to get busy in the remaining light of the setting sun.

She skillfully lit the fire and cooked the fish, and it didn't take long for her to serve Ding Hai a bowl of steaming fish.

Ding Hai, who was already starving, immediately had his eyes light up when he saw the food. He started to eat it ravenously, not caring that the boiled sea fish had no other taste except freshness.

When Mo'er saw that Ding Hai did not mind that there was only fish and no staple food for dinner, and he still ate happily, she immediately had a great impression of Ding Hai.

Well, tomorrow morning I will grab a handful of rice and cook some fish porridge for this fair-skinned Aguo, so that he can eat his fill before we set off.

After dinner, Mo'er led Ding Hai to the village chief's house in the moonlight. But she was still a virgin and could not let a man stay overnight in her home.

The village chief seemed to have been prepared for Mo'er to bring people with him. He was not surprised at all when he saw Ding Hai: "Brother, you escaped death from the mouth of the Dragon King today. You should thank the Dragon King for not killing you."

As he spoke, he led Ding Hai to a three-room rammed earth house not far away.

"Aguo, tonight, you should express your gratitude to Grandpa Dragon King in the temple at the entrance of the village, so that next time you go out to sea, Grandpa Dragon King will not drag you into the sea to chat again." Mo'er also agreed with the village chief's words with a smile, and pushed Ding Hai to follow behind the village chief.

Ding Hai, whose mind was still confused, didn't think there was anything wrong. He followed the village chief into the rammed earth house with a smile.

As soon as he entered the rammed earth house, Ding Hai saw an angry statue of the Dragon King baring his fangs and claws at everyone who stepped into the room.

That ferocious face, those sharp fangs.

Anyway, it didn't scare Ding Hai at all.

After following the crowd and burning incense to the Dragon King, Ding Hai turned into the right wing under the guidance of the village chief.

"The room on the left was originally where the temple's chief lived. After he died ten years ago, it was taken over by a wandering monk.

Considering that the monk was a Buddhist monk, the villagers didn't want to argue with him and let him stay there for the time being.

But the monk is usually crazy and would run out and disappear every now and then. In order to prevent him from running back to the temple in the middle of the night and scaring you, I will arrange for you to stay in the old woodshed tonight."

"Don't worry, there are beds. I often have my little bastards take the straw and reed fluff outside to dry them in the sun, so there won't be any fleas or lice.

By the way, the door of the woodshed is fine. If you are afraid of being frightened by the monk at night, you can lock the door from the inside."

After bringing Ding Hai into the right wing, the village chief took out a lighter in the dark and lit an oil lamp stuck on the wall.

In the dim light, Ding Hai finally saw the entire right wing. The surrounding walls were rammed earth walls that had begun to weather.

Apart from a broken-legged chair, there was only an old bed. Under the reed mat on the bed was compacted straw and reed fluff. I had no idea if there were any fleas or lice.

But he knew that the village chief's brat definitely did not carry out his father's instructions seriously.

What Ding Hai can see, the village chief can naturally see as well.

But he is worthy of being the village chief. Facing Ding Hai's playful gaze, his dark face remained calm and said, "You should turn off the lights and have a rest early. Fuel is quite expensive." If Ding Hai had not seen the village chief's flustered steps when he left, he almost thought that the village chief's face was thicker than the bend of the city wall.

After seeing the village chief off with a smile, Ding Hai returned to the right wing, thought for a while, then inserted the door bolt according to the village chief's instructions, then turned off the lights and went to bed.

After getting on the bed, Ding Hai tossed and turned but couldn't make it.

He couldn't tell why?
Recognize the bed?

Not really, he's not that pretentious.

Got fleas and lice?

Really not. The little bastard from the village chief's family hasn't completely taken his father's words as shit.

The sea breeze was blowing, and Ding Hai was tossing and turning on the bed like a maggot.

Just when he was exhausted from twisting and was about to fall asleep, the sound of a wooden fish was heard.

"Namo Namo, Amitabha, Namo Namo, the Tathagata, Namo Namo, Amitabha, Namo Namo, Amitabha."

Along with the sound of wooden fish, a rapid chanting sound came into the right wing.

Although Ding Hai did not have much research on Buddhist scriptures, he could tell that the person chanting the scriptures was not chanting any serious scriptures.

There are no scriptures there. People just chant Namo Amitabha and Namo the World-honored One over and over again.

No wonder the village chief said that the monk living in the left wing was a crazy monk.

Ding Hai did not swallow his anger just because he was a guest: "Master Buddha, it's almost midnight, can you please get up tomorrow morning and worship Buddha?"

Ding Hai, who was lying on the bed, loudly interrupted the chanting coming from the left wing.

As for the question of when someone was in the left wing, Ding Hai, whose brain hasn't even started to itch, couldn't have considered so much?
"Namo Namo Amitabha, Namo Namo the World Honored One"

"Namo, what the hell is going on? Lord Buddha, you are not sleepy, but I am. Lord Dragon King also needs to take a nap at night, right?

If you want to stay in Nanwu, don't care whether others can bear it or not. Don't blame me for being a bad guest."

Ding Hai got up from the bed, picked up the lame chair, walked quickly to the door, pulled out the bolt and shouted towards the wide-open door of the right wing.

The man who was chanting in the left wing seemed to be frightened by Ding Hai's ferocious appearance. He walked to the door of the room in small steps and closed it with a click.

Seeing that the Buddha with his hair in a bun was so sensible, Ding Hai nodded with satisfaction.

He locked the door, put the lame chair back to its place, and went back to bed to continue counting sheep.

After counting countless sheep, Ding Hai, who was feeling sleepy, finally fell asleep.

Under the pale moonlight, the door of the left wing was opened a crack by a black shadow, and then the pale moonlight outside the window came in. The black shadow huddled behind the door and looked at the wooden door of the right wing for a long time.

During this time, the black shadow tried several times to open the door and walk out of the left wing.

But every time he was about to take action, an invisible big hand would always pull the wooden door back, and no matter how hard the black shadow tried, he couldn't shake the wooden door at all.

When it was almost dawn, the black shadow looked angrily at the statue of the Dragon King, which was still showing its fangs and claws, and slammed the wooden door shut.

The slamming of the door woke up Ding Hai, who was lightly sleeping. After rubbing away the boogers from the corners of his eyes, Ding Hai stretched and got out of bed.

After pulling the latch, Ding Hai walked to the altar in front of the statue of Dragon King, picked up the fire starter and lit a stick of incense for the Dragon King. After all, he was staying overnight in someone else's temple, so he still had to say thank you.

After thanking the Dragon King, Ding Hai shouted towards the closed wooden door of the left wing: "It's dawn, Lord Buddha, you can get up and recite the sutras for morning prayers."

After shouting, Ding Hai opened the door of the Dragon King Temple and prepared to go find Mo'er to have breakfast first.

When passing by the village chief's house at the entrance of the village, he happened to meet the village chief walking out of the house. Thinking that the village chief had helped him last night, Ding Hai smiled and greeted the village chief.

"Good morning, village chief."

"Hi, bro, how did you sleep last night? Did you have any fleas or lice?
If there is, I will beat the bastard's ass into pieces today."

"You're welcome. I'm very grateful that you can let me stay in the village for one night." Ding Hai gave a meaningful reply with a smile.

In order to avoid being discovered by the village chief, Ding Hai immediately changed the subject after answering: "Last night, the Buddha in the temple seemed to have returned, and he started chanting nonsense scriptures while beating the wooden fish in the middle of the night."

“I was half asleep at the time and thought I was dreaming, so I got up and had a quarrel with Mr. Buddha.

Village chief, when you see Master Buddha later, remember to apologize to him for me." With that, Ding Hai turned and walked towards Mo'er's house.

The village chief looked at Ding Hai's back and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by the woman who walked out of the house.

"Boss, was that young man the one Moer rescued yesterday?"

"It's him. Although he looks delicate, he is actually quite kind."

"He just said that he heard the Buddha beating the wooden fish and chanting scriptures in the middle of the night. Why didn't I hear anything last night?" The village head's wife was a little suspicious. Their house was only a few steps away from the Dragon King Temple. If someone really was beating the wooden fish, why didn't they hear it?

"Maybe I heard it wrong?" The village chief said uncertainly. The sea breeze last night did not seem that strong to people living by the sea. If there was really the sound of a wooden fish being knocked, there was no way he could not have missed it.

"Aye Hong said that he saw the crazy monk in the town yesterday. He was sticking to Mr. Zhang's house and praying for Mr. Zhang's family with the masters of Faming Temple.

It is said that the buffet at Mr. Zhang's house will last for seven days, and today is only the third day. How could the crazy monk be willing to go back to the temple and starve before finishing the buffet?

This guy must have heard me mention the crazy monk yesterday, and he was thinking about it during the day and dreaming about it at night."

"This guy is so handsome. Just looking at him can satisfy a girl. Do you think Mo'er will be attracted to him and invite him to be her son-in-law?"

After hearing her husband say this, the village head's wife put aside her curiosity and started gossiping about Ding Hai and his savior Mo'er.

"Come on, don't you see this young man's delicate skin and tender flesh? Is that something that an ordinary family can produce?
The last time I went to the county to deliver dried fish, I met the young master of Liu Zhubu's family. He was a well-known spoiled boy in our county.

But the young master of the Liu family doesn't look as handsome as this young man. In my opinion, if you want to recruit him as a son-in-law, it's better for the old man Huangdi to recruit a prince consort."

The village chief, who thought that the emperor also used a golden shoulder pole, praised Ding Hai fiercely.

　Here is the second chapter, still 4,000 words.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)