Chapter 2: The Vajra

Meng Qi's secret joy was interrupted, and his pride turned into shame and anger. The looks from the young monks such as Zhende were full of surprise and contempt, like a primary school student trying to draw a clear line between himself and bad classmates. Only Zhenhui "Fang Aqi" stared blankly at the golden Buddha statue in front of him, looking as if he was wandering in the sky.

Subconsciously, Meng Qi half turned his head and looked at Xuanzang next to him. Would he see any clues?

For him, shame and frustration were trivial matters, and exposing the fact that he had resurrected from a dead body was a huge problem!

Xuanzang still had a bitter face and dejected eyes. After feeling Meng Qi's gaze, he shook his head gently: "Namo Amitabha, everything is subject to the decision of Junior Brother Xuanku."

He said it directly without any hint.

Uh, he thought I saw him as begging him... Meng Qi breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, knowing that he had passed this test. Unless the parents who abandoned this body and the horse-faced uncle came to find him, he should not be seen through. If another ten or eight years passed, no one would doubt it, as childhood memories are easy to forget.

Compared to this, being sent to the errand house is just a small matter!

Meng Qi, who had hit the jackpot, tried to make his expression as dull as Zhenhui, so as not to let Xuan Zang see that he was not so depressed and sad.

After Xuan Ku, who had a wide face and big ears, questioned the remaining children one by one, a total of six people, including Meng Qi and Zhenhui, were sent to the errand house, and the rest were assigned to the martial monks' house.

The ruler in his right hand gently tapped his left palm: "Follow me to the errand house to shave your head, receive monk robes, Buddhist scriptures and other things, and work hard in the future. You may have the opportunity to enter the Bodhi and Damo houses to study advanced Buddhist scriptures and martial arts."

Is there also Damo here? Meng Qi was stunned for a moment, but Xuan Ku did not give him time to think, and walked straight through the children and went out of the hall.

There were strangers all around, Meng Qi did not dare to ask more questions, and followed the two yellow-robed monks Xuan Ku and Xuan Zang, and turned into a nearby courtyard.

"You are not officially admitted, you just need to worship the Buddha, shave your head and leave your name." Xuan Ku pointed to the cushion in the small Buddhist hall.

"Yes, Uncle Xuan Ku." The children all responded with Zhen De, and then knelt on the cushion one by one, kowtowed to the golden Buddha statue above.

After all the children worshipped the Buddha, Xuan Ku put his hands together, saluted the Buddha statue solemnly, and chanted "Namo Amitabha". Then, he walked to a child and gently stroked his head with his right hand.

The child's long black hair changed immediately, turning yellow at a speed visible to Meng Qi's naked eyes, and drifted to the ground like fallen leaves. In less than two breaths, the child became a real little monk.

"All worries are gone, and the world is far away." Xuan Ku said solemnly, and his mellow voice echoed in the quiet Buddhist hall.

"What kind of martial arts is this? It's amazing!" Meng Qi was surprised and excited. Will he have the opportunity to learn such martial arts in the future?

Xuan Ku walked to the children one by one and removed their hair, saying the same words all the time.

When it was Meng Qi's turn, he lowered his head and silently recited the name of Buddha and Daozu, mourning the hair that was about to say goodbye to him.

The thick and broad palm gently stroked the top of Meng Qi's head, and strands of dry hair fell in front of him, which made him sad and almost unable to restrain himself. He loved the world and never thought of becoming a monk.

"All worries are gone, and the world is far away."

Xuan Ku's voice was like a chime that suddenly struck, shaking Meng Qi's whole body and clearing his mind.

But after Xuan Ku left and the clearness disappeared, Meng Qi's belief was still firm, and he must return to the secular world in the future!

After worshipping Buddha, shaving their heads, and leaving their names on monk plates, Xuan Ku asked several gray-robed monks to take the children to the backyard to collect their belongings - two sets of gray monk robes, two pairs of shoes and socks, "Shaolin Discipline", "Twelve Small Mantras for Morning Classes", etc.

"After you learn to write in the 'Lecture Hall', you can recite the temple's disciplines and morning class mantras. Before that, I will briefly talk about the main disciplines of the temple. One, you must not bully your teacher and ancestors, two, you must not allow or steal martial arts, three, you must not kill, four, you must not drink alcohol, five, you must not eat meat or spicy food, six, you must not break the precepts of sex..." Xuan Ku repeated the main disciplines that needed to be followed several times, and finally said seriously: "Those who violate it will be scolded at the lightest, and will be expelled from the temple at the worst."

He only mentioned two of the punishments, the lightest and the heaviest, respectively. The others included hard labor, copying scriptures, caning, facing the wall, etc.

After explaining these things, he and Xuan Zang took the little monks away from the "Miscellaneous Yard".

"In this temple, those wearing grey robes are ordinary monks, those wearing yellow robes are the deacons of each courtyard, and those wearing yellow robes and red cassocks are the abbots, the heads of each courtyard, and the elders..." Along the way, Xuan Ku did not relax and instilled "common sense in the temple" to the young monks. He did not become silent again until Zhende and others entered the "Martial Monk Courtyard".

The group walked further and further away. Inside and outside the yellow wall, there were green trees and few Buddhist temples. After a long time, Meng Qi saw a mottled and old courtyard.

"Oh, Junior Brother Xuan Ku, Senior Brother Xuan Zang, you came so early?" A fat monk at the door greeted them with a smile. He was also wearing a yellow robe, but his collar was slanted and his belly was bulging.

Xuan Ku frowned and put his hands together meticulously and said: "Namo Amitabha, Senior Brother Xuan Xin, how can you be so lazy?"

The fat monk Xuanxin had long been familiar with Xuanku's temper, and said without any anger: "Oh, you are too obsessed with the appearance. Is this for our disciples in the errand hall?"

He didn't want to tangle with Xuanku on this issue, and pointed directly at Meng Qi and others.

"Please arrange it, Brother Xuanxin." Xuanku answered seriously.

At this time, Xuanzang, who had been making a saw-mouthed gourd, suddenly said: "Are Zhenying and Zhenguan still in the errand hall?"

"Yes, still!" The fat monk Xuanxin asked in confusion: "Brother Xuanzang, why are you asking them? Do you intend to accept them as disciples?"

Xuanzang shook his head and sighed: "My martial arts have been ruined, and it is inconvenient to mislead the students. How dare I accept disciples? Brother Xuanxin, please let them live in the same room with Zhenying and Zhenguan."

He was referring to Meng Qi and Zhenhui.

Meng Qi's heart beat violently. This was the first time Xuanzang arranged his affairs. Could it be that the two monks Zhenying and Zhenguan were special and could help him?

"Haha, Brother Xuanzang, how dare I, your junior brother, say 'trouble me' for what you asked me to do? It's such a small matter, why do you need to do this?" Xuanxin agreed immediately.

Xuanku glanced at Xuanzang and didn't say much. Instead, he said to Mengqi, Zhenhui and other young monks in a serious tone: "I arranged you in the chores courtyard because you all have problems. If you can solve them by yourself and polish your mind, you may have the opportunity to enter the Martial Monk Courtyard, the Dharma Courtyard, or even the Bodhi Courtyard in the future."

"But if you continue to be sneaky, lazy and playful, and have a restless mind and can't bear the suffering, I will not hide it and will report it to the Discipline Courtyard to punish you accordingly."

He said his thoughts without any concealment to show that he was open and honest without any selfishness, which made Xuanxin's old face blush slightly.

"Yes, Uncle Xuanku." Mengqi and other young monks answered in unison.

After watching Xuan Ku and Xuan Zang leave, Xuan Xin twisted his body, making his fat pieces shake up and down: "Finally gone, I'm most afraid of seeing this iron-faced ghost."

This monk... Meng Qi pretended not to look at him, and followed Xuan Xin, who was walking from side to side, into the Zen room.

"Zhen Ying, Zhen Guan, this is your junior brother Zhen Ding, Zhen Hui." Xuan Xin pointed at Meng Qi and Zhen Hui, then turned around and took the other young monks to another Zen room.

In the Zen room, there was a bunk bed, which was enough for seven or eight people to sleep, and there was nothing else.

On the bunk bed, two gray-robed monks were lying and sitting, both in their twenties. The one lying had a dull expression and was speechless, while the one sitting had a deep frown and a cold tone: "Just put your luggage on the bottom of the bunk. If you want to drink water, go to the water tank in the yard."

"I don't know what to call you, senior brother?" Meng Qi glanced at the taciturn Zhen Hui, and decided to speak up himself to establish a good "roommate relationship".

The person sitting there said coldly, "Zhenguan."

After answering, he stopped talking and even turned his head away from looking at Meng Qi and Zhenhui, leaving Meng Qi with no topic to talk about to get closer.

As for Zhenying, he closed his eyes and continued to sleep.

What kind of people are these! Although Meng Qi secretly complained in his heart, he smiled and said to Zhenhui, "Brother Zhenhui, I am Zhending. You can just call me Brother in the future."

"Yes, Brother." Zhenhui said without any embarrassment.

This silly little guy is still good! Meng Qi sighed secretly and decided to play the role of a brother and help Zhenhui well: "Little Brother, hey, I will call you Little Brother. Come on, let's change into monk's clothes first."

Although there were people in the room, Meng Qi, who often went shirtless in the dormitory to cool off when he was in college, did not feel uncomfortable. He quickly took off his clothes and changed into monk's clothes.

While quietly thanking the monk for his simple robes, which saved him from making a fool of himself, he checked the things on his body that he had not had time to examine before.

The robes of this body were finely woven and soft in texture. Even if Meng Qi did not know the value of the goods, he could tell that they were of great value. At the same time, "he" had a transparent jade pendant hanging from his waist and a small jade Buddha pendant tied with a red rope around his neck, which was close to his chest, refreshing and uncomfortable.

Meng Qi carefully played with the thumb-sized jade Buddha, and saw that "it" had a compassionate face and was lifelike. It was obviously carved with extraordinary craftsmanship. At the same time, "it" felt delicate, warm and refreshing.

"According to the horse-faced uncle, this jade Buddha was given by an unknown old monk? But since the marquis did not take it away, it is probably not an ordinary item. It is better to wear it close to your body." Meng Qi hung the jade Buddha pendant on his chest again, hiding it close to his body, and then packed up the jade pendant, clothes, etc. and put them under the berth he chose.

At this time, Zhenying, who had been sleeping, suddenly turned over and sat up, put on his shoes and went out quickly, which made Meng Qi stunned, not understanding what happened.

"It's time for dinner." Zhenguan said coldly, got off the bunk and walked out the door.

Who are these two people! Meng Qi cursed again, then turned to Zhenhui and said, "Junior brother, are you ready? It's time for dinner!"

"Ready!" As soon as Zhenhui finished speaking, the little figure rushed to the door like a rabbit, as if he was already hungry.

"..." Meng Qi was embarrassed. Was he the only one who was relatively normal here?

Zhenhui suddenly stopped at the door and looked back at Meng Qi, his face full of doubts: "Brother, aren't you going?"

You have a conscience and know how to wait for me! Meng Qi thought secretly, and then answered half-jokingly: "I'm not as hungry as you are."

Look at you two, you look like starving ghosts reincarnated!

Zhenhui's doubts disappeared, and he nodded seriously: "Brother, then I'll go first."

He turned around and ran away.

Hey! I'm just joking, don't take it seriously... Meng Qi opened his mouth halfway,

and then shouted loudly after a few twitches: "Hey, little brother, wait for me!"

Suddenly, a wave of sadness came over him. Others have little sisters, why do I only have little brothers, and there will be no sisters in the foreseeable future.