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

Nantianmen has never been a quiet place, but it was unusually lively today.

The news spread faster than a crane could fly.

The Bodhisattva Pilanpo wanted to publicly examine the eggs, and the cook at the foot of the South Heavenly Gate, who was known for his ability to subdue all dissent, wanted to host a whole-egg feast. These two events, intertwined, attracted all the idle people in the Heavenly Court.

In less than half an incense stick's time, the South Heavenly Gate was surrounded by immortals.

There were layers upon layers of people, and even the passing heavenly soldiers couldn't help but crane their necks to peek in this direction.

Those gossipy immortals and celestial officials who usually love to talk nonsense, and those rigid and harsh celestial officials who adhere to the so-called heavenly rules, all came.

They whispered to each other, their eyes full of mockery.

"Oh ho, so these two finally decided to come out and defend themselves? And this whole-egg feast, trying to shut us up with eggs?"

"I think they've run out of ideas. They've been silent for a thousand years, and now they're suddenly doing this. They must have prepared a story beforehand."

I coldly surveyed the entire room, stepped forward, and raised my hand to silence the noise.

"The purpose of this whole egg feast today is not for anything else, but to clear the name of the Bodhisattva Pilanpo from this thousand-year-old injustice."

As soon as I finished speaking, I reached out and opened the wooden box.

A box full of sperm-free eggs, radiating a Buddha-like aura and celestial energy, was displayed before all the immortals.

The entire room fell silent for a moment. Just silence.

The expressions on the faces of the onlookers staring at the box of eggs were quite subtle.

They waited a thousand years for a sensual spectacle, only to be presented with a box of cold, hard evidence.

After the unexpected event, disappointment followed.

Someone then broke the silence: "It's just a box of eggs, what does that prove?"

I looked at the celestial official in charge of etiquette at the head of the crowd. His surname was Huo, and he had been in charge of the celestial court's etiquette for a thousand years. He was also the one who led the most gossip.

"Immortal Huo, you are the head of the Heavenly Court's etiquette, and your skills in discerning qi and appraising objects must be quite good. Today, I request that you, along with the Master of Laws and the Appraiser, examine them in public."

When Huo Xianguan was called out, his expression changed slightly.

Unable to refuse under the watchful eyes of everyone, he had no choice but to put on airs and step forward.

He reached for an egg, but before his fingertips even touched the shell, he pulled his hand back as if he had been burned.

Sweat beaded on his forehead.

The immortals below began to whisper among themselves.

He gritted his teeth and finally placed his hand on it.

One. Two. Three.

Huo Xianguan's fingers began to tremble. With each pill he examined, the color drained from his face.

After finding dozens of them, his hand stopped in mid-air, no longer reaching for the next one.

The Palm Immortal and the Mirror Immortal also stopped fighting, their expressions gradually shifting from doubt to guilt.

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The two bowed deeply, their voices loud and clear.

"Upon investigation, all the fairy eggs in this box contain pure Buddhist spiritual energy, without any trace of yin-yang union. They are all unfertilized eggs, without exception."

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

A shrill voice rang out from the crowd: "Who knows if this egg has been switched!"

The Pleiades star officer suddenly turned around, his gaze sharp as lightning, fixing on the direction of the sound.

A wandering immortal hiding behind the crowd, who usually followed Huo Xianguan around spreading gossip.

Mao Ri took a step toward him, and the wandering immortal immediately shrank back.

"Swapping eggs?" Huo Xianguan looked up abruptly. "Yes! Pilanpo has been silent for a thousand years, and today she suddenly produced these eggs. Who knows if they were just hastily put together!"

The Bodhisattva Vimalamitra slowly stepped forward.

This was the first time she had spoken up that day. Her voice wasn't loud, but it silenced the entire room.

"Lord Huo, you said the egg was switched."

She took out a jade slip from her sleeve and held it in her palm.

"This is a list I've kept for every egg I've laid over the past thousand years. Date, time, eggshell color—not a single detail is missed."

She placed the jade slip next to the wooden box and said nothing more.

The list lay there, the handwriting dense and thick, stretching from the first line to the last, a whole thousand years in the making.

Huo Xianguan's eyes widened, and his hand, which had been hanging in mid-air, finally dropped.

He staggered back a step and bumped into the celestial official behind him.

The celestial official instinctively helped him up, then let go as if he had been burned.

The entire venue was deathly silent.

The hermit who had just shouted "Change eggs" quietly took half a step back and hid himself in the crowd.

No one questioned it anymore.

No one came forward to apologize.

I turned around and went back to the stove, started a fire, set up a pot, and cracked a few eggs.

Golden egg liquid flowed out, carrying pure Buddhist spiritual energy.

Slowly cooked over a low flame, the aroma permeates the entire Nantianmen area.

Plates of fried eggs were stacked on the table. I didn't urge anyone to come and get them; I simply turned down the stove and took a step back.

One by one, the immortals stepped forward. They silently picked up the food, silently ate it, and silently retreated to the side.

No one speaks.

The Palm Immortal and the Mirror Immortal each took one, ate it, bowed slightly in the direction of Pilanpo, and stepped aside.

Huo Xianguan stood still.

The celestial officials who usually fawned over him walked past him one by one, went to the table, picked up the eggs, ate them, and stood on the other side.

In the end, he was the only one left at the desk.

He stared at the few remaining eggs on the plate, his fingers trembling so much he could barely hold them.

He picked up a piece, chewed it, and swallowed it. Then he turned and left.

After taking two steps, he stumbled and grabbed a stone pillar by the roadside for support.

No one helped him up.

He stood for a while, leaning against the stone pillar, and then slowly walked out of the crowd.

I didn't look at any of those again.

I wiped the stove clean and picked up the last egg from the cutting board.

This egg is slightly smaller than the others, and its shell is lighter in color. Previously, Pilanpo's finger had stopped on it.

I gently placed it back in the wooden box and walked up to Pilanpo.

"Bodhisattva, this is yours. It's a thousand-year-old egg, the last one. You don't need to use it for cooking."

Pilanpo took the wooden box, looked down at the lonely egg inside, and remained silent for a long time.

Then she handed the wooden box to her son.

"Subaru, please keep this egg for me."

Pleiades star official was taken aback.

"I guarded these eggs for a thousand years to prove my innocence. Now that my innocence has been proven, I no longer need to guard them."

Her voice paused.

"This egg is for you. Every year on this day, take it out and look at it, then do what you need to do."

The Pleiades star official accepted the wooden box with both hands, knelt down and kowtowed.

The head struck the stone slab of the South Heavenly Gate with a dull thud.

It carries more weight than any words.

Pilampo bent down and helped him up. He gently patted his back with his palm.

She had done this once before, and she was very clumsy that time.

I was a little more skilled this time.

She didn't say anything more, turned around and walked alone towards the dojo.

The figure in the plain-colored Buddhist robe disappeared at the end of the lotus pond, leaving only a faint fragrance of lotus between heaven and earth.

The Pleiades star official stood still, holding the wooden box.

On that face, weathered by a thousand years of rumors, the eyes were still red.

But the shoulders have been relaxed.

He nodded at me. He didn't say "thank you."

The touch was so light, almost imperceptible. Then he turned and strode after his mother in the direction she had gone.

The celestial mist at the South Heavenly Gate has finally returned to its former clear and gentle state.

The crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed, some with their heads down, others hurrying along.

No one speaks.

I turned the stove fire down to the lowest setting, leaving a tiny flame.

I squatted down to clean up the broken eggshells on the stove, picking them up one by one and putting them into a bowl.

The chipped rim of the broken porcelain bowl was still sharp and uncomfortable to the touch, just like on the first day I set up my stall.

Another dish has been added to the food stall. The eggs are ordinary, but the purity is extraordinary.

The stove is still on. I'm waiting for the next customer.