Insufficient balance

  After Mu Sheng and Lao Tou took the money out of Zhao's house, they bought some oil and salt on the street and brought them back.

  At the dinner table, the old man said to Mosheng: "Grandson, three days later, you will go to the Zhao residence as a companion reader. The Zhao family is one of the top families in Hunyuan City. Do well inside and it will be beneficial for your future."

  "Got it, Grandpa. I won't let you down." Mu Sheng said firmly.

  "That's good, that's good." The old man was very satisfied with Mu Sheng's answer and said: "Grandson, go to Hunyuan Temple tomorrow to burn incense. I heard that the Bodhisattva there is very efficacious, and also ask for a divination to see how your luck is."

  Musheng didn't quite believe in these Buddhist divinations, but he also couldn't very well refuse his grandfather. After all, the old man was coming from a good place, and it wasn't like it would cause any trouble. It might even be fun to go out and play for a bit. So he agreed to go along with it.

  The next day, after breakfast, Mo Sheng learned the route to Hunyuan Temple from the old man and set off. The old man went to weed in the fields, walking on the small mountain path. Mo Sheng had a feeling of returning to his past, with few people in the mountains, and didn't see any other houses along the way. When passing by Qianfeng Cliff, which the old man had mentioned, Mo Sheng stopped for a while, looking at the towering cliff in front of him. Mo Sheng was amazed by nature and also grateful to be alive. If it wasn't for the old man passing by that day, he would probably have died there. This kindness could not be forgotten, and from now on, he must treat him like his own grandfather. "Let's make up for the regrets of the past with the present!" Mo Sheng thought with emotion.

  After walking for about an hour, Muzhen finally saw the Hunky Temple vaguely. The Hunky Temple is located in the middle of the mountain, surrounded by some towering trees, giving a deep mountain and ancient temple feeling. When Muzhen passed through a small bamboo forest, he came to the outside of the Hunky Temple. The Hunky Temple is the only temple in the suburbs of Hunky City, located in the middle of the mountain, with beautiful scenery all around, having both streams and wildflowers; having both strange pines and sea of clouds, as well as strange rocks and cliffs. "This should be a granite landform," Muzhen thought to himself.

  The incense of Hunyuan Temple is still quite good, and there are people burning incense and worshiping Buddha every day. There are also some young men and women who come to visit the temple. On the first and fifteenth days of each month, the outside of Hunyuan Temple is crowded with people coming and going, like a bustling city. Unfortunately, today there are fewer people visiting the temple than usual. Also, since Mo Sheng arrived late, most of the incense burners had already finished burning their incense and left. Hunyuan Temple is a medium-sized temple with only dozens of monks inside.

  As Mo Sheng walked through the gate, he saw two young monks sweeping the courtyard. On a vacant lot to the left, over a dozen monks seemed to be practicing some sort of martial arts. This made Mo Sheng somewhat surprised - could it be that they were really "practicing martial arts" just like on TV? Mo Sheng stopped for a moment to observe them, and only then did he confirm that they were indeed practicing martial arts. One monk punched a boulder the size of a human head and shattered it, while another lightly jumped up onto a tree branch several meters high. This made Mo Sheng feel both amazed and also aware that surviving in this world wouldn't be easy.

  He didn't linger, and Mu Sheng went straight to the main hall. There were many Bodhisattvas in the main hall, most of whom Mu Sheng did not recognize. Since he had come, he might as well pay his respects! So Mu Sheng bowed three times in front of each Bodhisattva. After finishing his bows, Mu Sheng was about to leave when a young monk came out from a small door on the right side of the main hall and approached him, saying: "Donor, the abbot has summoned you."

  Muzi stopped, feeling a bit puzzled, but still followed Xiao He Shang to a Zen room. On the lotus platform in the Zen room sat an old monk with white whiskers, his eyes closed. Xiao He Shang came before the old monk and said: "Master, the donor has arrived."

  The old monk still didn't open his eyes, but moved his lips a few times and said: "Qingming, you can go down now!"

  "Yes, Master." The little monk replied respectfully.

  "The donor must be wondering why Lao Na called you here," said the old monk slowly.

  "Yes, Master."

  "Benefactor, Lao Na wants to ask you to keep something for him. Because Lao Na's time is almost up."

  Although he was very suspicious of the old monk's approach, Mosheng did not rush to refuse, because Mosheng knew that the other party must have had his reasons for doing so. Let's take a look and see, so he said: "I don't know what Master wants me to take care of, as long as I can do it, I will definitely help Master handle it."

  After listening to Mu Sheng's words, Old He didn't have any expression at all, but continued to say: "I'd like to ask you, where is the safest place to put a book?"

  The answer is "in mind".

  "Not bad, the donor has a good understanding." As he spoke, he took out a book from his bosom. The book had a yellowish color and looked like it was many years old. "This is the 'Mantra of Brahma's Heart'. I hope the donor will take care of it for me, remember its contents and then burn it. I hope the donor can use it in the future to follow the right path and save all living beings." As he spoke, he handed it over to Mu Sheng.

  Musheng had no choice but to accept it and put it in his bosom, saying: "Master, rest assured that the disciple will take good care of it."

  "That's good, then..." The voice trailed off and the head tilted slightly to one side. Mo Sheng didn't notice this. Seeing that the master hadn't spoken, he stood up and said, "Master, I won't disturb your meditation anymore, farewell." As he walked out, it was strange that the master still didn't speak, perhaps this was a characteristic of a superior being.

  As soon as Zhuo Sheng walked out of the temple gate, he heard from the temple "The abbot has passed away, the abbot has passed away."

  Upon hearing this, Mu Sheng's heart skipped a beat. Because earlier the old monk said his own life was about to end, how could he know when he would die? "This..." Mu Sheng felt it was beyond comprehension. Astonished, Mu Sheng didn't think of anything else. "Perhaps this is what they mean by an enlightened high monk!" Mu Sheng thought silently in his heart, regarding why the old monk had entrusted him with keeping the "Mantra of Brahma". Mu Sheng didn't delve deeper into it, because no one knew what the old monk was thinking, but since he had promised someone, Mu Sheng would still take good care of it.

  Passing through the bamboo forest, Mosheng saw that the sky was still early, so he didn't hurry to return. Not appreciating the scenery here would be a waste of coming to Huanyuan Temple. So from the bamboo forest, he came west to a large stone, with a piece of bamboo leaf in his hand, standing on the stone, looking at the turbulent sea of clouds below the mountain. Mosheng thought to himself, "Life is perhaps like the sea of clouds, constantly rolling in the mundane world, and when the sunlight comes, everything becomes so quiet." Mosheng put the bamboo leaf to his lips, and elegant music spread from his mouth in all directions.

  In the distance, by a small river, two women were playing on the riverbank. Suddenly, a elegant music came, and a maid wearing green clothes with two small braids on her head asked in surprise: "Miss, did you hear any tune?"

  The woman in white clothes who was throwing stones into the river said: "I heard it! Little Butterfly, it seems to be coming from that bamboo forest over there."

  The little girl called Xiaodie said: "Miss, why don't we go and take a look at who is playing such a beautiful tune, okay?"

  "Alright! I'll listen to you." The woman in white said, and then walked towards the bamboo forest, her pace very quick. Only the small butterfly behind her shouted: "Miss, don't walk so fast! Wait for me!"

  When the woman in white and the little butterfly arrived at the bamboo forest, they stood far away and saw a young man dressed as a scholar standing on a large stone in the west. The little butterfly exclaimed in surprise: "Miss, isn't that Zhang Lao Han's grandson? How did he end up here, and how can he play such a beautiful tune? I wonder what he's playing it with."

  "He was blown by a bamboo leaf." The woman in white said. With the eyesight of a martial artist, the woman in white saw Mu Sheng clearly.

  The little butterfly heard the young lady say it was a bamboo leaf and exclaimed in surprise: "Bamboo leaf, can a bamboo leaf blow out such a beautiful tune? It's really unthinkable, miss. Shall we go or not?"

  The woman in white hesitated for a moment and said: "We won't go any further for the time being. Let's rest here for a while!"

  Just now, Xiao Die was almost exhausted. Upon hearing Miss say this, she sat down on the stone beside her with a plop. The master and servant sat quietly on the stone, each resting their chin in their hands, listening to the elegant melody.

  Musheng was still unaware that he was being watched, and continued to immerse himself in his music. When he thought of the past, Musheng's melody suddenly became mournful. Thinking of his experiences, the melody became even more desolate, and at this time, the white-clothed woman felt that the lonely figure in the distance had many secrets unknown to others. His mournful melody made people involuntarily shed tears, and her interest in him grew stronger, "I really want to know what kind of person he is?" The white-clothed woman thought to herself. Meanwhile, Xiao Die had already cried until she was tear-stained, sobbing uncontrollably as she said: "Miss, this melody is so moving... Waaahhh..."

  The woman in white was a martial artist, and her state of mind was naturally stronger than that of Xiaodie. Seeing Xiaodie like this, she gently comforted her with a few words, and in her heart, she somewhat blamed Shuoye, who was far away, for playing such a mournful tune, which made it seem as if someone was about to die.

  Moyu felt that the time was about right, so he put down the bamboo leaf on his lips and headed home along the same route.

  When the little butterfly stopped crying, she raised her head and saw that the person on the distant boulder had already left. The tune was also gone. With a pair of tear-stained eyes open wide, she asked: "Miss, has that person really left?"

  The woman in white said calmly: "Let's go, Little Butterfly, we should also head back."

  "Hmm", Xiaodie wiped her eyes and responded with a murmur.

  When Mu Sheng returned to the thatched hut, the old man had already cooked dinner. After finishing their meal, they each went back to their rooms to rest.

  In the thatched hut, under the candlelight, Muo Sheng took out the light yellow book from his bosom. At this time, Muo Sheng carefully looked at it and saw three big traditional characters "Fan Xin Zhou" written on the cover. The book was not very thick, when Muo Sheng opened the first page, a picture appeared, a person sitting cross-legged, with both hands placed on the abdomen, and many red dots and lines on the body. From the second to the twenty-fourth page, there were pictures of human figures pressing their fingers on different red dots and lines, while the last twenty-four pages showed human figures making various attacking and defending postures. Muo Sheng was not very foolish, he quickly understood that the first twenty-four pages were the inner strength mind method's operation route, and the last twenty-four pages were martial arts moves. So Muo Sheng didn't delay, according to the pictures on the first twenty-four pages, he pointed his fingers at the corresponding positions on his body, then followed the direction of the red lines, running the extremely fine airflow that appeared in his body, like this Muo Sheng sat cross-legged for a night.

  The next day, Musheng hastily ate breakfast and went out. The old man didn't have anything for him to do, so he came to the back mountain, where Musheng began practicing the martial arts moves on the last 24 pages. Like this, for the remaining two days, Musheng practiced his inner energy at night and practiced his moves during the day. Although the flow of air in his body hadn't changed much, Musheng had mastered the moves on the last 24 pages. The route of the internal energy method he had memorized earlier was already familiar to him; as for cultivating it, that wasn't something that could be accomplished overnight. Sitting next to a candle, tomorrow he would have to go to the Zhao residence to be a reading companion, and carrying this on his person really wasn't safe, so he placed the book on top of the candle and set it alight.

  Looking at the flames burning fiercely, Mo Sheng felt a sense of relief. Although he didn't know how precious this book was, judging from the old monk's attitude, it seemed to be no ordinary thing. If others knew that this book was in his possession, he would definitely be plagued by endless troubles. In this world, the law was not perfect, and murder was a common occurrence. Many of the unresolved cases in the government offices were unsolved murders, which eventually became cold cases.

  Mo Sheng didn't want to become a member of the headless case, that would be too worthless. Life is precious and everyone should cherish it. After the book turned into ashes, Mo Sheng continued to cultivate his inner strength and mental method.