Celestial Food Stall: I Set Up a Food Stall in Heaven

The celestial mist at Nantianmen has always been gentle and mild.

But today, there's a certain smell lingering in the fog.

It has nothing to do with the atmosphere of everyday life; it's about the vibrancy of people.

A group of people huddled together, their voices hushed but their excitement palpable.

I was wiping the stove in front of the stall. I wiped it three times, but the group of people still hadn't finished talking.

"Have you heard? The Pleiades star lord didn't go to the Morning Star Platform for duty again today. It's the third day."

"What's the point? I wouldn't go either. Everyone in Heaven knows about his messy affairs."

"A son born to a Buddhist bodhisattva who breaks the rules and has an affair in private—who would hold their head high in that situation?"

"You can't say things like that lightly. After all, Bodhisattva Vimalamitra is a Buddhist, and what if there really is something to hide..."

The speaker was interrupted.

"What's the secret?" the person who interrupted him asked, their voice even louder.

"Pilamba has never defended herself for a thousand years, isn't that because she has something to hide? Huo Xianguan said long ago that not defending herself means admitting it."

My hand, which was wiping the stove, paused for a moment.

Huo Xianguan.

This name appears more frequently at Nantianmen than a gust of wind.

The chief celestial official of the Heavenly Court's Department of Rites and Laws is in charge of the conduct and discipline of the celestial beings.

Over the years, he has started five out of ten gossips about Nantianmen.

I put the rag on the cutting board and glanced around.

In the crowd, an old immortal official dressed in a black robe stood a few steps away.

He twirled his beard, nodded slightly, and tapped the tip of his beard lightly with his index finger.

He was surrounded by several wandering immortals, who listened to him as if he were receiving an imperial edict.

He did not participate in the most explicit discussions.

He's not in charge of dissemination; he's in charge of setting the tone.

"The essence of etiquette and law lies in preventing problems before they arise."

Huo Xianguan's voice wasn't loud, but each word seemed to be gilded with official authority, carrying far and wide.

"Such a sordid incident has occurred in the pure land of Buddhism. If we do not take heed, how will the celestial realm maintain its moral integrity in the future?"

He did not mention the name of Vimalamitra.

No need to mention it. Everyone knows who he's talking about.

I poked at the embers in the stove, and with a crackling sound, sparks flew out.

  

Just then, a surge of pure yang immortal energy suddenly swept over.

It was cleaved in half.

The ethereal mist was dispersed. The surrounding whispers ceased abruptly, as if someone had grabbed their throats.

All the immortals instinctively shut their mouths, lowered their heads, and hurriedly made way.

But they didn't go far.

He took two steps back and stopped, hiding behind the cloud pillar.

His eyes held a mixture of mockery and disdain, as if he were watching a spectacle unfold.

Huo Xianguan did not retreat.

He simply lowered his hand from his beard, tapping his index finger on the tip of his beard one last time.

The expression on his face changed from slight smugness to a deeper scrutiny.

It's like examining a contraband item that's about to be destroyed.

The Pleiades star official walked slowly towards them.

He was dressed in a crimson robe of a star official and wore a golden crown.

He should have been a righteous deity in charge of dawn, embodying justice and integrity.

However, the pure yang energy around him had been worn down by thousands of years of rumors and gossip, leaving only a thin halo.

His eyes were bloodshot and his lips were dry, cracked, and peeling.

When he walks, he holds his shoulders very high, as if he's carrying something on his back.

It wasn't posted today.

It's been going on for too long, and I can't let go anymore.

He didn't look at any of the immortals around him.

Their gaze fell directly on the stove in front of my stall.

"Boss, give me a bowl of the Seven-Flavor Breaking Meng Po Soup."

I looked up at him.

I've seen that expression many times.

I've seen it on Sha Wujing's face, and I've seen it on the Weaver Girl's face.

I've seen it on the face of everyone whose skin has been worn down by the rules of Heaven.

But there was something on Subaru's face.

The anger burned away, the resentment burned away, leaving only a calm ashes.

Seeking the peace of death.

I didn't say much. I started a fire, fetched water, and prepared the ingredients.

Pick up ingredients unique to the Three Realms with your fingertips and simmer them over a low flame.

That bowl of soup looked murky and unremarkable, yet it could break through worldly conventions and shatter one's obsessions.

The soup, steaming warmly, was pushed in front of him by me.

Pleiades Star Lord did not hesitate at all.

He picked up the soup bowl and tilted his head back to drink.

The moment the rim of the bowl touched my lips, my fingers trembled slightly.

The soup noodles rippled out in a very fine circle.

It was just a fleeting moment.

He seemed oblivious to the trembling in his fingers, or perhaps he didn't want to notice it.

He raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.

The soup went down his throat. He shuddered violently.

That's not the power of soup.

That was something that had been suppressed for thousands of years, and a bowl of soup broke the first crack in it.

He suddenly slammed the soup bowl on the ground.

The sound of the porcelain bowl shattering shattered, breaking the deathly silence of the South Heavenly Gate.

A few discordant sneers came from the shadows.

"Oh, you're already drinking? Looks like you're really too embarrassed to show your face."

"It's good that he's dead. He'll save the Heavenly Court from embarrassment."

Someone was craning their neck to look this way, chewing on some kind of fruit.

I stopped chewing halfway through and just kept looking at it.

The Pleiades star lord did not look at them.

He drew a short sword imbued with pure yang immortal energy from his sleeve.

The blade gleamed coldly, reflecting the sea of ​​clouds at Nantianmen.

It also reflects the faces of those stretching their necks behind the sea of ​​clouds.

He handed the knife to me. Not to stab, but to present it.

The hilt of the knife was facing me, while the tip was pointing at him.

"Please, boss, kill me."

His voice trembled, yet each word seemed to be chiseled out from between his teeth.

His eyes held a composure born of being driven to the brink of despair, the last handful of ashes remaining after a thousand years of grievances had been burned away.

"I pledge my life, I die as proof."

"This proves that my mother lived a life of pure practice, strictly adhered to Buddhist precepts, and never overstepped the bounds in the slightest."

He paused, his Adam's apple bobbing heavily.

"If I die, these rampant rumors will finally stop. It will finally clear her name."

He proved his innocence with his death.

How absurd. And how tragic.

But I know that his death would only fulfill the wishes of those who gossip.

They won't say "he is innocent".

They would only say: Look, he committed suicide out of guilt. Look, he felt ashamed.

At that time, the stain on Virupa Bodhisattva will truly be impossible to wash away.

They will be nailed to the pillar of shame in the celestial realm, never to rise again.

I looked at the short knife in his hand.

Huo Xianguan's face was reflected on the blade.

He stood at the front of the crowd, expressionless.

But there was a very subtle curve at the corner of his mouth.

It wasn't exactly a smile, but rather a sense of certainty.

He was certain that Subaru would die here today. This was exactly what he had been waiting for.

I raised my hand and waved it gently.

The dagger was knocked to the ground with a crisp clang.

The knife bounced on the ground, slid under the stove, and got covered in ash.

The Pleiades stared blankly at his empty hand.

The hand was still in the position of holding the knife, with the fingers curled up.

He waited a few breaths.

Nothing came.

His fingertips began to tremble. The trembling spread from his fingertips to his wrists, and then to his entire arm.

He was looking at his hands as if they were something he didn't recognize.

He had been gripping that knife for far too long.

I gripped it so tightly I forgot what my hand actually looked like.

"Death solves nothing."

I spoke, my voice calm, as if I were wiping something else.

"It will only fulfill the wishes of those who gossip."

"Your life is not meant to silence gossip."

The Pleiades star official raised his head.

His eyes were red-rimmed, his face etched with the sharp features of a thousand years of rumors.

His eyes were red before, but that was because of hatred.

Her eyes are still red, but something underneath has loosened up.

It looked like a hairline crack had appeared on the ice.

He opened his mouth, his voice choked with emotion. He forced each word out of his throat.

"But what can I do? I can't argue with them, I can't win the debate. That's what everyone in the Immortal Realm says... I..."

His hand was still hanging in mid-air.

His fist, clenched for a thousand years, loosened, and he didn't know what to do with his empty hand.

It hung there, its knuckles slightly curled.

Like someone who has forgotten how to catch something.

"I'll help you."

I interrupted him. My voice wasn't loud, but every word was firm and clear.

The Pleiades star was stunned.

The immortals hiding in the shadows nearby were also stunned.

Huo Xianguan's brow twitched slightly.

It's very light.

But I saw it in my peripheral vision.

"The only way to clear your mother's name is not through death, but through the truth."

I looked into Subaru's eyes.

"It is by making these people who spread rumors and misinformation no longer dare to speak out or do evil."

I bent down, picked up the short knife from under the stove, and placed it on the cutting board.

The dust on the blade wasn't wiped off.

I pushed the knife into the pile of debris, to a place where it couldn't be seen.

"Take me to see the Bodhisattva Vimalamitra."

Pleiades looked at me, his Adam's apple bobbing.

His lips moved for a long time, but he couldn't utter the word "thank you".

He simply nodded.

That was a very light touch.

It felt as light as someone who had been pressed down for too long finally letting their shoulders relax a little.