My enemies became my companions

Chapter 504 Yin Xiangu

Just after the hour of Xu, the lanterns on both sides of the street began to light up sporadically, at first just one or two, then they became continuous. The town not far from Mount Taihua was immersed in a sea of ​​lights.

There was a constant stream of traffic and people were jostling each other. Suddenly, gongs and drums sounded, and a float passed by, followed by lion dancers, stilt walkers, and magicians, forming a long dragon.

Looking out through the window sill where Yin Weiying was standing, he saw an old man selling sugar paintings pouring maltose syrup on a white stone slab. With a flick of his wrist, a unicorn stepping on the clouds appeared, attracting children to gather around him holding their New Year's money.

Around the 16th day of the first lunar month, Mount Taihua welcomes many visitors, some from other Taoist temples who come to pay their respects to the old age, and some mountain and marsh monks who come to pay a visit and establish a relationship with the Taoists. In short, when these Taoists, who are originally indifferent to fame and fortune, gather together, it is inevitable that they will be tainted with some vulgarity.

During the Lantern Festival, Mount Taihua hosted them in the city. During the banquet, they drank and chatted with each other. It was not like the boring and drowsy discussions that Wan'er had attended before. Instead, everyone talked vividly about their experiences while traveling in the mountains and rivers.

"Senior Sister Yin, this is much more fun than Mount Taihua." Wan'er said with sparkling eyes.

"My daughter is so rude." Yin Weiying touched her head.

"Really? I'm not lying." Wan Er stared ahead and paused before saying, "Today I learned that wild ghosts haunt people for 'water and food', 'homes are broken up, old dogs crawl into the roof'... all very interesting and novel."

Yin Weiying shook his head and said, "You are no different from ordinary people, so I find it novel."

“It’s really novel.”

Wan'er pouted.

The Taoists just talked about all kinds of strange things, such as a female ghost hanging from a beam meeting a scholar at night, wanting to form a love relationship, but it turned out to be an old monk in disguise; a dragon turned into a dragon when it walked through the water, but it walked through the wrong waterway and turned into an earthworm... These strange people and things are the most unbearable for children, and Wan'er is at the age when she loves to play and can't stand loneliness the most. Yin Weiying smiled helplessly, not everyone is born with a Taoist heart like her.

Seeing Yin Weiying not caring so much, Wan'er felt curious and dissatisfied. She leaned closer and asked, "Is this really meaningless in your eyes, Senior Sister?"

"indeed so."

Wan'er nodded, then she pushed herself up with both hands and jumped off the chair, shouting over there:
"Hey, fellow Taoists, I, Senior Sister Yin, find what you say extremely boring!"

After hearing this shout, all the Taoists who were happily chatting and laughing turned around.

Yin Weiying raised her eyebrows slightly and glanced sideways, and saw Wan'er winking at her with a very cunning look.

"You little girl." Yin Weiying chuckled and turned around and said, "Junior sister, you are talking nonsense. I am sorry to make you laugh."

The words were spoken very politely, but even so, the sudden interruption dampened the crowd's originally high spirits.

At this time, a Taoist priest from Zhenwu Mountain in the distance came forward to offer tea and said:

"Fellow Daoist Yin, I wonder if this young Daoist friend is just a child who speaks without restraint, or if what we are talking about is really boring?"

The nun's face was calm. She raised her tea and pondered. The ripples in the cup reflected the lights outside the window. She was listening to the Taoists' discussion of strange things. Her thoughts drifted to the deep underground palace where she met Tushan, and then to the underworld where she passed the gates of hell and wandered in the netherworld. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was boring. It was truly boring.

It was just that it was hard to say these things out loud. Yin Weiying thought for a moment and said with a smile, "How can strange people and strange things be boring? But no matter how strange they are, they are all things of the past, and they are not as strange as what is in the book."

"What you said is right, my friend. There are many good stories in the world that are written in books, but few that are written about people." The Taoist paused, then shook his head and said, "For example, this banquet right now has been repeated countless times in the world.

The nun smiled calmly, "We are the rising stars of the Taoist sect. Can't we leave a good story tonight?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone looked over.

On the banquet table covered with spun yarn, delicious food, fine wine, vegetables, flowers and fruits were laid out. The gold cups and silver bowls were shining silvery. The wicks were burning with rhinoceros horn powder mixed with agarwood, and green smoke curled into balls.

It can be said to be luxurious.

Yin Weiying held up the tea and said, "Tea, spiritual tea, fairy tea, they are all still tea."

She immediately raised the wine cup and opened the lid: "Wine, demonic wine, divine wine, it's still wine after all."

As she spoke, everyone saw her lift the lid and pour the tea onto the ground. The fine tea spilled all over the floor. They were all shocked and several of them almost shouted to stop her.

"It's just rotten water."

The crown girl chuckled and said:
"If an immortal does what he wants and does what ordinary people do, how can he be considered an immortal?"

"Then according to what the goddess said, what does it take to be considered a god?"

...............

Gongs and drums sounded loudly. The past turmoil had long passed and the whole mountain and city were immersed in the New Year.

"Floats, here come the floats!"

As the floats passed through the streets, they were greeted with cheers. Lanterns were hung high, and on top stood a platform with people dressed as gods and Buddhas dancing on it. Children ran after them, and parents on the street shouted to come back. Under the inconspicuous eaves, men and women pretended to be expressionless while secretly holding each other's hands.

There are people coming and going, and it is very lively.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of traffic, there was a woman who looked panicked. She was pushed around by the crowd and seemed unable to find her way home.

This woman was born ordinary, just an average-looking person. She held a sachet in her hand, which she wanted to give to her lover, but where was her lover?
Finally the Lantern Festival arrived and I could meet my lover at night.

But it was lost in the crowd and could not be found no matter how hard I tried to find it.

Ren Hui's face darkened. Men and women should not touch each other, and it was harder than climbing to the sky to see each other unless it was a festival. Even if they really met, it was mostly in public places, where there was no chance of whispering and chatting. She raised her head and found that she was squeezed away to somewhere unknown. She was not familiar with the roads here, and then she thought, if tonight ended like this, she didn't know how long she would have to wait.

After the float passed by, Ren Hui stood on tiptoe and looked for a long time, but there was no sign of him. She stomped her feet in annoyance, but had no choice but to walk away with her head down. At least she was walking to a familiar place.

When the second watch drum sounded at the hour of Xu, the scent bag in her sleeve was soaked with sweat from her palms. Under the lanterns of the East Market, girls of the same age were laughing and throwing scent bags on the bridge. Ren Hui also saw a group of men looking forward to it under the bridge, but his face was not among them.

Ren Hui didn't know how long she had been walking, nor where she was going.

"Young lady, would you like to buy a piece of jade?"

Suddenly I heard a shout and turned around to see a peddler selling jade. He opened the bamboo basket and green colors floated in the warm yellow light.

Ren Hui was about to shake her head, but suddenly she thought that even if she couldn't see him tonight, she could give him a piece of jade to express her feelings in the future. She whispered, "What's the price? I won't buy it if it's too expensive."

"It's not expensive. Seeing that you've been walking back and forth for so long, I'll give you a discount."

Ren Hui immediately lowered her head to look at the jade, and after choosing for a while, she finally picked out a carved jade bowl that she liked.

"It's for your lover. I'll give it to you for fifty cents." The peddler said, counting on his fingers.

Ren Hui's eyes lit up and she was slightly surprised. Buying a piece of jade for fifty cents was a great bargain.

"Then I'll take it."

"It's okay if you want it," the peddler paused and said in a long voice, "but since you have nothing to do, can you listen to a story from me?"

"Yeah." Ren Hui responded casually.

She quickly took out the coin from her pocket and was about to take the carved jade bowl when a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed the jade bowl.

Ren Hui was startled when she heard a voice beside her ear: "You dare to buy the funerary objects of the dead? Do you think you are too stubborn?"

Funerary objects?!
Ren Hui was puzzled for a moment and her face turned pale. She turned around and saw a Taoist nun in snow-white clothes appearing out of nowhere. She smiled at her and then turned to the peddler.

The peddler instantly jumped up from the stall, took two steps and leaped, and turned into a ball of black mist and tried to escape.

The nun knocked the bowl down.

Look, the black mist seemed to be walking backwards, and in an instant it was covered in the bowl.

Ren Hui was stunned, she stood still.

What happened?

"You...you..." After a long pause, she spoke incoherently, "This...this...is a living person...a living person."

"A living person? Look again."

Ren Hui turned her head stiffly upon hearing the voice.
When I looked at the bowl again, I saw something with four limbs and legs struggling hard, and it turned out to be a black insect lying upside down in the bowl.

It turned out to be a tomb-robbing dung beetle.

………… “Are you looking for a lover?”

Yin Weiying asked.

Under the lantern, Ren Hui nodded vigorously, then her face turned red with embarrassment. She subconsciously touched the pearl hairpin in her hair, which he had given her on Valentine's Day. It seemed to give her some sense of security.

With just a little explanation, Ren Hui realized that the woman in front of her was not a bad person, but a nun from Mount Taihua.

After a while, she asked cautiously in a low voice: "Fairy, Fairy...can you help me find my lover?"

"why?"

"Why..." Ren Hui asked shyly, "Fairy, don't you have a lover?"

I think everyone who has a lover understands this feeling.

"You are wrong," the nun paused and said, "I am asking, 'Why do you want to find your lover, not why your lover comes to find you.'"

Of course she understands.

"I got lost with him, what else should I do if not look for him?" Ren Hui still didn't understand.

"You are a weak woman, how can you really look for him everywhere? If you really want to find him, you may accidentally miss him. On the contrary, your lover Humiliates the country cares about you enough, so he will naturally look for you everywhere." The nun said in a gentle voice, "Great music is silent, and the way follows nature. You should not look for him, but let your lover find you. In this way, you can lead him by the nose."

She said this as if she knew how to lead her lover by the nose.

Ren Hui didn't understand either, but she felt that what it said did make some sense.

Seeing that she didn't quite understand, the nun simply smiled and said, "Go and wander around."

After she finished speaking, there was no sound around her. Ren Hui turned around, but the nun was nowhere to be seen.

The street is long, the night is long too, and clusters of fireworks explode on the rooftops, illuminating the ground with brilliance.

At three quarters past eight in the evening, on Zhuque Street, Ren Hui clutched a koi purse embroidered with a whole month's work. The words of the nun lingered in her mind as she also wandered around the Lantern Market.

Will he really find her?
Ren Hui was distraught for no reason.

A golden phoenix and lotus lantern was hung on the highest bamboo frame, and a corner of the puzzle paper hanging under the lantern was lifted by the night wind.

"Girl, do you want this lamp too?"

Ren Hui turned around in a hurry, the corner of her bamboo-patterned robe brushing past the light. The scholar's sleeves were still stained with dust, and he must have squeezed in from somewhere. He pointed his finger at the riddle: "'Drawing is round, writing is square, winter is short, summer is long' - the answer to this riddle is "

"Sun." Ren Hui blurted out.

She looked up and saw a smile in his eyes, and the warm light of the lantern shone on his cheeks.

The lantern maker suddenly laughed and said, "There is only one big lotus lantern left. Do you two want to guess together?"

…………

The float was approaching slowly from a distance.

Ren Hui and the scholar stood side by side under a roof, waiting for the float to pass by.

The nun's soul stood on a lantern, gazing into the distance.

"You know, I just ran into a fairy. She said she wanted you to come to me, not me to come to you."

"Hey, is this true?"

"Otherwise, so I just walked there and waited, and I really waited for you."

"The gods are right. You should have waited for me. I've been looking for you for a long time."

"What if you give up looking for me? Then I won't be able to wait for you."

The scholar smiled and asked, "How come?"

Ren Hui glanced at him in the light, and became inexplicably angry. She said dissatisfiedly, "Of course you will. For example, if I get old, you will definitely not come to see me."

Yin Weiying frowned, finding it hard to understand why this mortal woman suddenly became angry.

The scholar coaxed her, "Don't be angry, don't be angry. I will definitely find you. I will turn the mountain and the city upside down to find you. You are definitely not really angry."

"Well, I was angry on purpose so that you could coax me."

Yin Weiying suddenly realized and pondered for a while.

So that’s what it means…

You can remember it and use it when he comes again, so that he can take another look at it.

It is this little clue that can lead to a hidden danger thousands of miles away.

Yin Weiying secretly felt that her techniques were becoming more and more untraceable, and were happening naturally, just like the way things are.

The lights were lit one after another, and as they burned, the orange gradually turned into yellow, not clearly distinguished, and from a distance it looked like a multi-colored line. Yin Weiying leaned on the railing and looked out, thinking to himself that he still had to think a lot to deal with him, and he was at a disadvantage.

It just won’t work if you don’t fall behind.

Although he is obsessed with it and does whatever I say, if you think about it carefully, he still doesn't listen to me, a little bit.

Thinking of this, Yin Weiying shook his head slightly.

It should be a little bit by little bit...

The float was getting closer, and the platform was empty.

There were several cries of surprise from both sides of the street. For some reason, every time the float got closer, the continuous lanterns would go out one after another.

Yin Weiying stepped aside, and everyone saw a woman in white floating on the flower carriage.

On the other side, the scholar and the girl were still whispering.

"You should be more angry in the future. I like to coax you the most."

The scholar hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly stopped talking.

A little warmth fell on my forehead, and I looked up again.
A gentle breeze blew from the high platform, and lanterns were lit up row after row. The lights fell like a heavy drizzle, falling from the thin clouds in the sky.

The woman in white completely unfolded the scroll, and a smart little Taoist child ran out, blowing out the lights all over the city...

The Taoists' banquet ended.

The guests and hosts enjoy themselves.

A beautiful story of helping a couple in love come together was told after the banquet, and naturally, everyone was full of praise for the initiator, the Goddess Taihua.

The Supreme Master who practiced Buddhism in Mount Taihua forgets all emotions and helps all beings to fulfill their love. What a remarkable woman she is.

But Yin Weiying forgot all the praises and just thought about the couple.

They are really in love. I wonder if Chen Yi would be the same with me?

Yin Weiying suddenly wanted to see him, but he wouldn't come to Mount Taihua for a while.

But don't be afraid, since he has come to see her,
Then she would go find him.

I wonder how much he misses her?

(End of this chapter)