All five aggregates are empty

Chapter 13

The seaside is not so cool in midsummer.The violent sea breeze blew away the white clouds in the sky, and the hot ultraviolet rays directly invaded the entire beach.There was no one else on the beach, only a few dilapidated fishing boats docked by the pier not far away, which seemed to add a bit of war-torn uneasiness to the tranquil atmosphere.

Minghua sat on a rock by the sea, looking at the calm sea with ecstasy.Sitting next to him was a domineering man with a good face and shoulder-length dark green hair.

Minghua looked at the sea, and the man looked at Minghua.

"Monk, have you been ordained?" the man asked.

Ming Hua retracted his gaze, looked at the man, and shook his head, "No."

[Omitted]

After closing the door, Ming Hua came to the courtyard outside the room.Although Baiyun Temple is located in the city center, the interior of the temple is very quiet.Standing in the octagonal pavilion and looking into the distance, the busy night scene is like another world.

Sometimes, Minghua would also think of the man who was so proud.Although he is so arrogant in front of others, he also has a pure and harmless side when others can't see it.

The man looks exactly the same as the guy sleeping in the room, but their personalities are completely different.

Minghua knew clearly that Meng Lijun was not him, and he did not intend to confuse the two.

Only from time to time, Minghua still misses the him he used to be.

When Meng Lijun woke up, it was broad daylight and Minghua was not by his side.

After breakfast, he packed his luggage, and when he was about to leave, Ming Hua still disappeared.I couldn't help asking the driver who came to see him off. It turned out that Minghua had gone to another place early in the morning.

The driver is still the one who brought him here, he is gentle and wears glasses.

Ever since Meng Lijun's eye was healed, he hasn't worn glasses anymore.Originally, there was no prescription for the pair of glasses, so not wearing them didn't have any effect, but it was a little less bookish.

It is about ten kilometers from the city center to Yenching University, and traffic jams are inevitable on the road.Meng Lijun had nothing to do, so he chatted with the driver.

"When did you become a monk?"

The driver didn't seem to be very willing to talk to him, but he couldn't ignore him completely, so he replied concisely: "Sixteen."

"how old are you?"

"22."

"That also stayed in Baiyun Temple for six years." Meng Lijun stroked his chin and said, "Your abbots are always like this, don't you stay in the temple?"

"Baiyun Temple is one of the top temples in China, so the abbot is naturally very busy."

"What is he busy with, catching monsters?"

"Monster hunting?" The driver frowned, obviously dissatisfied with Meng Lijun's statement, "The abbot has many lectures and conferences, and even international exchanges. He is very knowledgeable and rarely does anything."

"I see." Meng Lijun nodded, it seems that this driver is actually living in the Whirling World.

Minghua came to Yanda before, although it was an academic conference in name, but in fact it was ghost hunting.

But having said that, there is really no need to show this side of Minghua in front of ordinary people.

"Then do your abbots usually get angry?" Meng Lijun asked again.

The driver shook his head, "The abbot's realm is very high, how can he be angry." Speaking of this, the driver seemed to remember something, and added: "But the abbot did get angry once, although he didn't show it very much, but everyone can see it." It turns out that the abbot is angry."

"Oh? When?" Meng Lijun asked unconsciously.

"The time you went to the church."

"..." Meng Lijun shut up obediently.

When we returned to Changchunyuan dormitory, Li Yibo was not there, and the dormitory was empty, making people feel a little lonely.After putting away his luggage, Meng Lijun called Mr. Zheng, but he didn't answer.After looking at Mr. Zheng's circle of friends, he knew that Mr. Zheng had gone to the UK as a visiting scholar to do academic exchanges at Liujin University.Teacher Zheng once mentioned that there is a professor named Feng at Liujin University who is very good at studying New Confucianism and has always wanted to recruit Yanda University. I don’t know if this matter will make progress this time.

Meng Lijun sent a long email to Mr. Zheng, saying that he encountered a big problem in writing the thesis, and hoped that Mr. Zheng could discuss it in detail when he came back.I don't know if it's because Minghua greeted Mr. Zheng beforehand. This time, Mr. Zheng's attitude is not as firm as last time, but let Meng Lijun think about the direction first.

But even if Teacher Zheng agreed to Meng Lijun's change of direction, it would be enough to give him a headache.Meng Lijun has been studying religion since he was an undergraduate, and he focused on folk beliefs at the graduate level. It is obviously unrealistic to change his direction after getting a Ph.D.

Meng Lijun spent two days in the library, but he didn't find anything he was interested in. On the contrary, he lost a lot of hair.The school girl invited him to dinner, but he was not in the mood at all, and he didn't even realize that the school girl had finally mustered up the courage to ask him out.

On the third day, Teacher Zheng came back from England with good news.Prof. Feng Sheng from Liujin University will be an external teacher of Yanda Department of Philosophy, starting from the next academic year to teach at Yanda.

The new Confucianism studied by Professor Feng Sheng is different from the traditional Confucianism. It combines the theories of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism to make a new interpretation of traditional Chinese culture, thus affirming that traditional Chinese philosophy can also develop democracy and science. modern thinking.New Confucianism has also been studied by many scholars in China, but the attitude towards philosophy of religion in China is far less important than in the West.Majors such as philosophy and theology are noble majors in Western universities, but when such majors are placed in China, it is easy to fall into the predicament of not being able to find a job.

Meng Lijun mainly studies the influence of Buddhism on folk beliefs, and the connection with New Confucianism is not very close.But in the current situation where he can't find his way at all, it is also a good thing for him to get in touch with some top scholars.

Meng Lijun has a brother named Ding Weichao who studies the history of Buddhism. He is also a doctoral student of Mr. Zheng.Teacher Zheng asked Ding Weichao to tell Meng Lijun that he was going to Sichuan this Friday to attend a sacred elephant consecration ceremony in a temple, and planned to bring both of them with him.

Although Mr. Zheng's main identity is the head of the Philosophy Department of Yanda University, in fact he was born in the study of Buddhist philosophy, and he is also very well-connected in the Buddhist circle.Generally, to attend such a ceremony, Mr. Zheng's appearance fee starts at least six figures.

Meng Lijun didn't know the specific destination in advance, but was told to gather at the airport at ten o'clock on Friday morning.When he arrived at the airport, he found that besides Teacher Zheng and Senior Brother Ding, Associate Professor Zhao who studied modern Buddhism and Assistant Professor Zhou who studied early Mahayana Buddhism were also there.

"I said, isn't this Teacher Zheng's private activity?" Meng Lijun asked Ding Weichao quietly when he saw the right opportunity.

Ding Weichao is not tall and thin, with small eyes hidden behind thick lenses, always giving people a listless look.

"That temple is not far from Mount Emei. Teacher Zheng means to take the teachers to Mount Emei for a field trip."

"...Then it has nothing to do with Assistant Professor Zhou, right?"

"Do you need a reason to spend money?"

"It seems that the funds allocated to the department can no longer be used."

"Hush!" Ding Weichao frowned and glared at Meng Lijun, "Keep your voice down, don't you want to be reimbursed for your ticket?"

Meng Lijun immediately shut up, and silently walked into the security check passage.

When queuing up for ticket check-in, several business-class passengers passed by the business-class aisle next to me.Meng Lijun has sat in business class twice in his life, both with Minghua.

It seems that although Yan University is rich, it is still not as rich as Baiyun Temple.Meng Lijun walked forward with the team, thinking that the monk had been running out all day, and he didn't know how much incense money he had spent in Baiyun Temple.

When Meng Lijun walked up to the ground staff, another passenger came in the business class aisle, and the ground staff immediately asked Meng Lijun to wait for the business class passengers to check their tickets first.

Meng Lijun stood still, waiting for the person next to him to leave first, but in the next second, a hand holding a business class ticket from the side attracted his attention.A few rosary beads are wrapped around the wrist, and above that is a black cassock trimmed with gold.Meng Lijun raised his head, and a familiar face came into view.

"Minghua?" Meng Lijun was taken aback, "Why are you here?"

"Catch the plane." Minghua didn't seem surprised at all, and said calmly as usual.

Meng Lijun looked around, and found that Minghua was alone, unlike before when he would take a few young monks with him when he went out.At this time, Minghua walked straight to the corridor bridge after checking the ticket. Meng Lijun quickly handed the ticket to the ground staff and followed Minghua's pace.

Since Meng Lijun was at the end of Yanda's group, Mr. Zheng in front of him did not meet Minghua.

"Where are you going?" Meng Lijun asked, following closely behind Ming Hua.

"Your ticket also has a destination written on it."

"I mean why are you here?"

"It's just a coincidence."

"Are you cheating?"

Ming Hua stopped talking and continued walking.

"Are you also going to catch ghosts this time?"

"I can't do anything else in your heart except catch ghosts?" Ming Hua asked back.

Hearing this, Meng Lijun suddenly thought of Minghua on the bed.He immediately shivered, despising himself in his heart.Thinking about something bad, I just remembered some inexplicable pictures.

"Then what are you going to do in Sichuan, traveling?" Meng Lijun forcefully regained his wandering thoughts and continued to ask.

"To meet old acquaintances."

It seemed that it was difficult to find out what Minghua asked.The two boarded the plane one after the other, Ming Hua sat down in the business class first, and Meng Lijun walked in.And just when the two were about to stagger, Ming Hua suddenly grabbed Meng Lijun's wrist.

Meng Lijun turned his head, only to see Minghua turned half of his face, and said in a low voice, "Be careful of everyone around you."