Shang Jianyao turned his body and said to Bai Chen in the driver's seat:
“Stop the car, stop the car.”
Bai Chen didn't refuse, because Jiang Baimian didn't suppress Shang Jianyao's behavior immediately.
When the jeep slowed down and stopped by the side of the road, Shang Jianyao pushed the door open and went straight to Palanqa, asking persistently:
“What exactly does the great calamity refer to?”
Palanqa, wearing patched clothes, kept his head half-lowered and walked forward step by step, just like before.
Shang Jianyao adjusted his pace to walk alongside him:
“Master, you and I are both Buddhists, compassionate and committed to saving all living beings. Why not be open and honest and tell us about the great calamity, tell the world, so that everyone can prepare in advance?”
Still being all refined and cultured… Jiang Baimian, in the jeep driving slowly beside them, had already switched places with Gerna, and moved to the window on this side.
Shang Jianyao had already lowered the car window.
Palanqa finally spoke:
“My 'Ascetic Sect' does not preach compassion and has no intention of saving all living beings.
“The Buddha is a teacher, not a savior.”
With Shang Jianyao's ability to make things up, he was actually a little choked at this moment.
He quickly adjusted his thinking:
“Then can you tell me why you can't talk about the details of the great calamity?”
Palanqa slightly lowered his head and put his hands together:
“Namo Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi.”
“Master, are you using Zen riddles to test my understanding?” Shang Jianyao suddenly became excited.
Jiang Baimian, who was listening, couldn't help but want to cover her face.
Palanqa did not respond to Shang Jianyao and continued to lead the group of ascetics forward.
Shang Jianyao took a few quick steps, followed, and rubbed his chin, saying:
“Since you are unwilling to talk about it, Master, I won't force you.
“I remember you said before, 'The omen has appeared, the great calamity is approaching.' Can you tell me what the 'omen' refers to?”
He was not at all ashamed or annoyed by his repeated questioning without getting an answer.
Palanqa paused his steps.
He finally raised his head, turned to look at Shang Jianyao, and said in an extremely complex tone:
“The holy land has begun to collapse.”
“The Buddhist holy land?” Shang Jianyao's eyes widened slightly, and he asked.
Palanqa returned to his previous state, with his head half-lowered, his hands clasped together, and chanted a low Buddha's name:
“Namo Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi.”
Shang Jianyao did not ask any further questions and changed the subject with great interest:
“Master, what conditions need to be met before you are willing to share the matter of the great calamity?”
Palanqa was not annoyed by being pestered and answered simply:
“I will naturally speak when it is time to speak.”
The muscles on Shang Jianyao's face obviously twisted:
“I hate communicating with you monks the most!
“You don't speak human language!”
Obviously, these monks included “Pudu Zen Master.”
Palanqa turned his head and glanced at this guy, seeming a little surprised that he was scolding even himself.
Soon, he said thoughtfully:
“Without self-image, without human image, without sentient being image, without life-span image, one sees the Tathagata.”
Pudu Zen Master Shang Jianyao scratched his head, not quite understanding.
This unorthodox Zen practitioner was ashamed of his inferiority and put his hands together:
“Namo Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi, this humble monk will not disturb the master.”
He turned his body and quickly escaped to the jeep, opening the car door.
Jiang Baimian signaled Gerna to lean towards the other window, and she squeezed inward, freeing up a seat.
When Shang Jianyao got into the car and sat down, Bai Chen stepped on the accelerator, and the jeep sped away.
Before long, they left Palanqa and his group of ascetics so far behind that they couldn't even see the taillights.
After driving for another five or six minutes, Shang Jianyao suddenly slapped his thigh:
“It turns out we were wronged!”
“Huh?” Not only Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, but Jiang Baimian and Gerna also made puzzled noises.
This way of thinking is too jumpy, isn't it?
Shang Jianyao explained seriously:
“The destruction of those Buddhist holy lands is a manifestation of the approaching great calamity. Regardless of whether we participated or not, the same result would occur.
“We can no longer say that we destroyed those Buddhist holy lands, we just happened to be there at the right time!”
The more he spoke, the more earnest he became.
There's actually some truth to that… Jiang Baimian chuckled:
“You might as well say that we are just arranged tools, and the mastermind should be blamed.
“It's like I gave you a gun, you should blame me, not the gun.”
“Yes, yes.” Long Yuehong also felt that the “Old Task Force” should not bear the blame for destroying the Buddhist holy lands.
Shang Jianyao instantly became serious:
“However, from another perspective, it can be seen that some schools of Buddhism had expected the destruction of the holy lands.
“This may really be related to the so-called 'great calamity'.”
Long Yuehong was about to nod, but Shang Jianyao added:
“Some people feel that the destruction of the Old World wasn't thorough enough back then?”
“Uh…” Long Yuehong's heart sank.
If the destruction of the Old World happened again, “Pangu Biology” might not be spared even if it was hidden underground.
He just felt that life was full of hope!
“What's coming will come sooner or later.” Jiang Baimian used this sentence to summarize the previous discussion.
Fear cannot be avoided.
…………
In the evening, the “Old Task Force” arrived at a very beautiful primeval forest.
They found an old world forest ranger's hut on the edge, cleared away the vines piled on the surface, and simply cleaned up the messy room.
“Those who are not on duty tonight will sleep inside.” After a simple dinner, Jiang Baimian gave the order.
The honest Gerna volunteered:
“You can all sleep in the room, I'll guard outside.
“Anyway, there's no charging here. In sleep mode, I can still react to the surrounding movements to a certain extent.”
“No.” Jiang Baimian shook her head, “I'm not worried about scarcity, but about unfair distribution.”
She then made further arrangements:
“Tonight, Wei and I will take the night shift first, Xiao Bai and Xiao Hong will sleep in the house, and Old Ge will rest in the car, using the solar charging panel to recover some power.”
“Okay!” Shang Jianyao agreed very quickly.
Long Yuehong of course had no objection and chose to default.
After digesting for a while and finishing the internal discussion meeting, Jiang Baimian slung a “short neck” submachine gun and said to Bai Chen and Long Yuehong:
“You guys rest.”
She pushed open the door of the forest ranger's hut and walked into the dark outside.
Shang Jianyao and Gerna followed closely behind, the former also carefully closing the door.
Suddenly, the inside of the hut became extremely quiet.
Long Yuehong was a little uneasy as a conditioned reflex, and looked around, saying:
“Hurry up and rest, we have to get up and replace team leader and them in the early hours of the morning.”
“Okay.” Bai Chen sat on the wooden bed that had been sprinkled with insect repellent and covered with a marching quilt.
Long Yuehong sat on the edge of the bed at a distance.
He opened his mouth, suddenly not knowing what to say.
After adjusting his state for more than ten seconds, he finally squeezed out a topic:
“Xiao Bai, you, why do you like me?”
After asking, Long Yuehong almost raised his right hand to slap himself.
Yes, the right hand.
Bai Chen thought for a while and said:
“Since my parents passed away, no one has ever been so careful with me like you.”
Long Yuehong was both overjoyed and lacking in confidence at the same time, instinctively about to say that sentence “I underwent genetic modification to be 1.75 meters tall…”
Just then, Bai Chen added:
“Also, you are a brave person.”
Long Yuehong couldn't help but smile.
Bai Chen looked at him and asked in return:
“Then why do you like me?”
Long Yuehong scratched his head with his left hand:
“I don't know when it started, maybe it was when we gradually had topics to talk about, or maybe it was when we felt comfortable being together even if we didn't talk, without having to rack our brains to think about how to liven up the atmosphere afterwards.”
“You don't seem very comfortable right now.” Bai Chen hit the nail on the head.
Long Yuehong smiled awkwardly, then said "Oh no."
“What's wrong?” Bai Chen asked.
Long Yuehong used his right hand to scratch his hair:
“Before, I specifically looked at some entertainment materials from the Old World. They said that when getting along with a girl you like, don't ask why you like or dislike questions that are too direct and easily make the atmosphere awkward. As a result, I forgot everything just now…”
Forgot…
Bai Chen's eyes flickered and said:
“What did they say you should do to get along, what should you talk about?”
Long Yuehong was about to answer when he suddenly saw Bai Chen's eyes slightly curved, her eyes like stars, and her lips slightly parted, illuminated by the firelight outside.
Whoosh!
Jiang Baimian grabbed the back of Shang Jianyao's collar and dragged him away from the window of the forest ranger's hut.
This guy was trying to sneakily stick his head out from the side, reducing the obstruction of the light.
“Patrol properly!” Jiang Baimian released her left hand and let go of Shang Jianyao.
Shang Jianyao straightened his clothes and said in a low voice:
“Aren't you curious?”
“Uh…” Jiang Baimian hesitated.
She then put on a stern face and said:
“People should be polite!”
“Yes.” One of the Shang Jianyaos deeply agreed.
He began to patrol seriously.
…………
After five or six days, the “Old Task Force,” traveling northeast, found the surrounding buildings gradually becoming denser.
This meant that there was likely a city ruin ahead.
Judging from the sparse map, this might be Taicheng, or it might not be.
ps: Asking for double monthly tickets at the end of the month~