Chapter 96 Dao Heart
He Qingyou was puzzled: "What's going on? Why is there a dead bird?"
Yuantong looked around. The deep woods were quiet and deserted, and the sun was shining quietly in the sky. He said slowly, "There is a master who has come first."
He hid the arrows in his bag, then pressed the pestle to the bottom of the tree roots and buried it firmly with soil.
"Whether he is a master or not, you will know when you reach the next position," Yuantong said.
We followed him out of the grove, up the winding mountain road, and then into another forest. He Qingyou was a little exhausted, panting with exhaustion and sweat all over his forehead.
After walking a short distance, we came to an open space.
This empty space was very strange. There were no weeds growing around it. The area of about one square meter was full of stones. The sun was a little hot. Yuantong was wearing such a thick monk's robe, but he didn't sweat on his head. He came to the empty space and looked carefully. It wasn't long before he asked us to come over and take a look.
A few of us walked over and saw a black object in a very inconspicuous place in the middle of a pile of stones in the center of the open space.
Yuantong grabbed the tail of the object with his hand, exerted force, and the ground around it loosened. The object was pulled out bit by bit, and it turned out to be another long arrow feather. In the dazzling sunlight, he saw the word "解" engraved in the middle of the arrow.
Chen Meiyu said softly: "Indeed, there is a master who has been here before us."
I was a little worried: "Are we being too reckless? Since a master has set up the formation, we shouldn't touch it again."
I suddenly thought of who it was. There was a word "解" engraved on it. Could it be Jie Ling? Jie Ling must be an expert.
Yuantong shook his head: "Master Lin, if the formation here is still effective, then you would not have noticed the Yin objects in the reservoir at all, and you would not have found this place accurately. You see, this formation is too old and has become ineffective. Otherwise, with the vast Yin energy here, how could it not be noticed."
Chen Meiyu asked: "How long have you been watching?"
Yuantong took the arrow feather and looked at it carefully, then said after a moment of contemplation: "It should have taken more than twenty years to set up the formation."
After he said that, I ruled out Jie Ling. I saw him by chance on the subway, he was only in his twenties. Twenty years ago, he was still wearing open-crotch pants, how could they be made by him?
We followed Yuantong through the mountains and hills to six different places, and found the arrow feathers that had been placed in the corresponding positions. Yuantong cleared them out one by one and replaced them with his own magic weapon, the demon-subduing pestle.
Looking at the watch, more than an hour had passed. He Qingyou was so tired that his clothes were soaked and his legs felt like they were filled with lead, but he didn't dare not follow.
"Everyone, hold on." Yuan Tong said, "There is only one spot left. Once we change to the formation with the Demon-Subduing Pestle, we can go into the water."
He Qingyou reluctantly said, okay, let’s do this, just hold on a little longer.
Several of us were walking in the woods. There was no road at all, so we had to rely on Yuantong to lead the way. Chen Meiyu was breathing heavily behind us. My physical strength was okay after training with Huang Teng, but the worst was He Qingyou. Every step he took was like pulling a bellows.
Standing on the top of the mountain and looking down, we immediately saw something different below. In a large area of weeds, several tree stumps formed a circle. Each stump was connected with a rough rope. It was obvious that they were man-made.
Yuantong hurried down, and we followed him. When we got to the tree stump, Yuantong walked around it twice, pointed inside and said, "The formation set up by the master is really amazing."
There were seven or eight large stones piled together on the ground in the middle of the circle of tree stumps, each of which was connected to the stumps outside by a thick hemp rope .
"What, what is this?" He Qingyou forgot about being tired and said in surprise.
"Master, master! This formation is called the Ten Directions Suppressing Evil Method. Count carefully, there are ten big stones in total." He made a gesture, indicating that we should stay outside. He supported himself with both hands on the pile and jumped in. His body was quite agile.
He walked quickly to the ten stones, removed the top stones, and took out a long and thin arrow feather from them.
Yuantong put the last arrow feather into his bag, then took out the demon-subduing pestle and was about to pierce it at this position. He suddenly froze and reached into the stone, as if there was something else there.
He actually pulled out a cowhide envelope sealed with red paint from the pile of rocks.
Yuantong was a very brave man. He actually tore off the seal and poured out a letter. He opened the letter and read it with his back to us.
I was outside, itching to see what it was, and I hurriedly shouted, "What is that? Take it out and let me see it."
Yuantong came over and handed us the letter: "Read it yourself."
A few of us gathered around. There was only one sentence written on the letter: "Thirty years of wind and rain, the dream was all gone when I woke up. Last night there was a beauty under the flowers, today the accumulated resentment has turned into a dragon. If you have the predestined method and want to rearrange the formation, remember that there are more than seven array centers here, and the eighth array center is under the water."
After reading this sentence, we looked at each other.
"Miyu, what do you think?" I asked.
Chen Meiyu said: "This letter should be left by the previous spellcaster. From the words, he seems helpless. I can't read the specific meaning. But the meaning of the last sentence is clear. There is an eighth array eye under the water. Yuantong, what do you think?"
Yuantong buried the demon-subduing pestle, walked out of the formation, and took the letter: " I knew we could go into the water."
He Qingyou said cautiously, "Master Yuantong, can you give me this letter? I like to collect strange things like this."
"Are you a collector?" Yuantong glanced at him.
He Qingyou nodded quickly: "I am actually a collector. I once spent tens of millions to buy a bowl from the Song Dynasty. I even bought a house in the suburbs, which is full of my collection. I would like to invite you to visit it if you have the chance. Can I have this? Don't worry, Master Yuantong, I won't take it for nothing. I will donate the money to the Cibei Temple."
Yuantong looked at him and said , "It's a good collection, but you have to be careful when collecting weird things, or it might be bad for you."
He Qingyou grinned: "It depends on what you say."
Yuan Tong said: "Let's not talk about this matter anymore. I need to take this letter back to my master for review."
He Qingyou was still a little unwilling: "I saw the letter mentioned 'dragon' just now, what's going on?"
Yuantong and Chen Meiyu looked at each other, and Yuantong said, "Meiyu, talk to him."
Seeing He Qingyou's face full of disgust, Chen Meiyu snorted twice and didn't bother to answer at all.
Yuantong looked at me and I shrugged to indicate that I didn’t know.
Yuantong had no choice but to say, "Boss He, there is a saying in ancient times that dragons are born from transformed qi. I don't know the mystery. What the letter means is that there was a beautiful woman who was fine yesterday, but today she suddenly accumulated resentment and turned into a dragon."
He Qingyou quickly asked, "Does that mean that the dragon is hiding in that body of water, and the yin energy you masters saw is it?"
I was listening to this and my heart skipped a beat. How come another dragon appeared? How come this situation was similar to the situation in the bardo?
I suddenly felt a little dazed, looking up at the blue sky, the dazzling sunlight, and the quiet forest. An extremely bizarre thought came to me: Am I still in the bardo?
Could the dragon be a metaphor for someone's inner demons?
I patted my cheeks.
Chen Meiyu and Yuantong looked over. I felt a little embarrassed, and didn't want to make my behavior seem ridiculous, so I quickly told them what I had just imagined.
The two of them didn't react much. Chen Meiyu said, "Lin Cong, you asked this question, which shows that you have developed a heart to seek the Tao."
"How do you mean?" I asked.
Chen Meiyu said: "All living beings ask themselves in ignorance, 'Who am I?' This is the awakening of spiritual wisdom. And being able to ask 'where am I?' and 'where to go?' is the birth of the heart of Tao. No one can answer this question for you. Many prophets and scholars have asked this question, but none of them have an answer. You can only find it with your heart of Tao and feel the truth and falsehood of the world."
"I see." I nodded.
"A dragon is a dragon. Where does the metaphor come from? It's ridiculous." He Qingyou doesn't understand anything and is just talking nonsense.
Yuantong was puzzled: "Boss He, are you looking for your son or Long?"
He Qingyou quickly laughed: "Looking for my son, looking for my son, I'm sorry, sorry."
Yuantong said let's go, and a few of us went back along the same route. When we got back to the convoy, Yuantong told a few professional divers that we could go into the water now.
A diver, who should be the leader of all, said, "Is this mission to find the remains of the child underwater?"
"Yes." Yuantong nodded.
The leader shook his head and said, "After you left, my brothers and I did some surveying. The water is at least 20 meters deep, and there is probably an undercurrent. The child has been submerged there for at least 20 years, so it is very difficult. Boss He, you have to be prepared. We may not be able to find him."
Yuantong asked: "What is the name of this donor?"
"Why is the word 'donor' so awkward?" The leader said, "My last name is Zhang, and I am definitely older than you. Little Master, just call me Brother Zhang."
"Brother Zhang, this is the case." Yuantong said, "How many sets of diving equipment do you have now?"
"There are a total of four sets of diving suits and peripheral equipment." Brother Zhang said: "My team has exactly four people, two by two, and we work in shifts. This way we have the best chance..."
Yuantong interrupted him: "Brother Zhang, you are the best technician here, right?"
He chuckled: "I don't deserve it, little master. Just say whatever you want to say."
"Don't let your three men get involved. Let's do it instead." Yuantong pointed at himself, then at me and He Qingyou.
