Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
When Wei Xi was half asleep, he felt like someone was talking badly about him from behind, but before he could open his eyes, he felt someone gently patting him through the blanket, and he quickly fell asleep again.
When he opened his eyes the next morning, his apprentice was already awake and on the phone, his voice low but very soft: “…checking the front desk registration information in the hotel cluster area in the north of the city…”
Wei Xi woke up hungry. He looked up as he smelled the faint yang energy wafting in. His second apprentice, wearing a white t-shirt, was leaning against the headboard, his gaze fixed on a tree outside the window. As if sensing his gaze, the apprentice looked down at him.
Their eyes met, and he shifted his gaze slightly. He switched the phone to his other hand and reached out to smooth Wei Xi’s disheveled hair: “Awake?”
Wei Xi had been frequently coming to his apprentice’s place to absorb yang energy lately. Sometimes, after absorbing his fill, he would feel so tired that he wouldn’t go back to his room to sleep. Fortunately, his second apprentice didn’t seem to have any sense of territory and didn’t chase him away. He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but the blankets at his second apprentice’s place were always softer and more comfortable, and the smell was pleasant, making him feel very drowsy when he stayed there. Wei Xi hummed in agreement, and the slightly itchy sensation of his fingers running through his hair made him close his eyes briefly. He then heard someone on the other end of the phone ask, “What? I’ve been awake the whole time. Who are you asking?”
The second apprentice paused for a moment: “…ID cards from Xinnan Province. After finding them, compile the information, and hang up if there’s nothing else.”
Wei Xi asked him, “Who is it?”
Before hanging up, there was a roar from the other end. His second apprentice put down his phone, slid back into bed, and turned to look at him: “Unimportant person.”
The morning sun was shining brightly. Wei Xi looked at his face, which was shrouded in shadows from his eyelashes, and instinctively leaned over to bite the corner of his mouth. Only after getting out of bed did he realize that he had forgotten to absorb some yang energy.
….
When Tuan Tuanyi bumped into them in the hallway, he was taken aback for a moment: “Master, you came out of Junior Brother’s room?”
His junior brother remained silent as usual, while his master answered frankly, “Yes.”
Seeing how natural his attitude was, Tuan Tuanyi thought about it again and didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. He cursed himself for having such dirty thoughts and said to him, “By the way, Master, the owner of the Buddhist sculpture shop has brought over the statue of our Heavenly Venerable that he just finished making.”
….
After a statue was delivered to a Taoist temple, it needed to be consecrated before it could be used. This was the biggest difference between statues sold haphazardly outside and those specially brought back from temples by believers. In the industry, this was called “passing through the clear path”— meaning confirming that the deity you worshipped was the authentic one. Different deities had different temperaments. Some were more benevolent; regardless of whether you worshipped them or not, they might happen to pass by your house one day and resolve your troubles. Others were more conscious of authenticity, adhering to market rules and only bestowing blessings upon their true followers. A few, however, had even higher requirements. For example, the one at Kuang Zhiming Temple. Kuang Zhiming once mentioned that when a new statue was brought into Liandu Temple, it inexplicably cracked shortly after arriving, which was very unlucky. Everyone at Liandu Temple was terrified, thinking that the temple’s procedures had been incorrect and they had offended their ancestral master. After much investigation, it was discovered that the factory that made the statue was too careless. When painting part of the statue’s facial features, they painted the Heavenly Venerable with uneven eyes. Their ancestor was furious about this and broke off all the parts with uneven eyes.
At first, many Taoist priests found this funny, but after thinking about it, they understood. Even people in the human world had to edit their photos to look like celestial beings when taking pictures. So it was understandable that the patriarch, being a public figure, would have requirements for his self-image.
The statues of Wei Dedao were quite in line with Wei Xi’s requirements in terms of appearance; they possessed an otherworldly air, a kind and gentle demeanor, and although their eyes were closed, their overall temperament was quite similar to that of Wei Dedao himself. During the consecration ceremony, Wei Xi felt that the jade pendant he wore was constantly emitting a slight warmth.
Tuan Tuanyi also noticed that the incense on the altar was burning exceptionally fast. After offering a devout prayer, he felt even more awe for some reason. He examined the appearance of his own Heavenly Venerable and compared it with the statues of deities he had encountered outside. Then he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Master, our Heavenly Venerable looks like this. He would be a top-tier celebrity among the immortals, wouldn’t he?”
Wei Xi felt the temperature of the jade pendant on his chest becoming increasingly comfortable: “Really?”
“Absolutely,” Tuan Tuanyi said. “He looks refined and elegant, a persona that’s very popular in the entertainment industry. Female followers will definitely find him handsome in the future.”
The temperature of that jade pendant was almost as warm as a hot spring now.
….
Every now and then, when Grandma Wang brought her friends to request a statue of a deity, she found that the statue she was about to take home was unexpectedly pleasing to the eye: “Xiao Wei, this statue of the Heavenly Venerable is so exquisitely sculpted.”
Whether it was a misperception or not, the incense light in the incense burner at the gate was somewhat dimmed when she and her friend first appeared, but it immediately returned to normal after she said those words. Old Mrs. Wang didn’t take it to heart, and when she took the statue, she even asked Wei Xi, “Xiao Wei, what kind of offerings should we make in the future?”
The fact that she asked this question clearly showed that she had done her research. True believers were very particular about the offerings they made when they brought a deity’s statue into their homes.
To everyone’s surprise, Wei Xi pondered for a moment and said, “You can provide more braised pork.”
Wei Dedao loved to eat braised pork when he lived in the mountains, and he was still talking about it on the day he died. Unfortunately, he never got to eat it.
Grandma Wang was stunned. She had asked many knowledgeable people and vaguely remembered that in addition to the daily incense offerings, other families also had to offer some fresh fruits such as melons, plums, and peaches…
She hesitated for a moment, and the statue in her hand seemed to grow heavier, becoming cumbersome. Wei Xi noticed her dazed expression and asked, “Is it inconvenient?”
Grandma Wang snapped out of her daze and quickly nodded to her friend, saying, “It’s convenient! It’s convenient!”
These days, who can’t afford meat? Braised pork isn’t hard to come by and serving a bowl of it now and then is actually much more convenient and economical than buying fresh fruit.
Strangely enough, after she agreed, the heavy statue in her hand suddenly felt lighter and was no longer as heavy as before.
Logically speaking, things should get heavier and heavier the longer you hold them, so how could they suddenly become lighter?
Holding the statue, a strange thought began to surface in her mind: it seemed that the deity originally did not want to go back with her, but only reluctantly agreed to be worshipped by her because she had performed reasonably well.
Old Lady Wang was unsure of herself based on her own guesses. She exchanged a glance with her friend and realized that the other person seemed to have the same feeling. Her attitude thus became more and more cautious, and she dared not say more. The enlightened celestial being of Taicang Sect was indeed very effective!
Fortunately, the sound from the television broke their silence. It was news from a fairly large local television station in Beijing, with very good ratings. The host was carefully reporting on recent major news events, starting with Qiu Xian’s recent encounter with the floods—
“…The government attaches great importance to this, and rescue teams have been stationed in the disaster area to rescue trapped residents…”
Hearing this, Old Lady Wang sighed, “In recent years, the country has been experiencing more and more disasters. I remember there was an earthquake somewhere a few weeks ago. So far this year, there have been typhoons, rainstorms, droughts, floods, and earthquakes. It’s been nonstop. Thank goodness for God’s protection and the government’s efforts; otherwise, I don’t know how many lives would have been lost.”
Her friend said, “It’s not just in our country, things aren’t peaceful abroad either. Have you forgotten the tsunami in country X last month? That was truly tragic. Homes were washed away, entire cities were displaced, and people were killed or injured. When I saw the photos of those refugees, I was so sad that I couldn’t eat all day.”
Grandma Wang said, “But do you know what? I heard from my granddaughter that some local residents in Qiuxian posted online that before the flood, someone saw a dragon in their city’s river! They even took pictures! Many people are saying that the flood was brought by the dragon!”
The news anchor on TV happened to bring up this topic as well: “…This flood was caused by a sudden downpour, which caused the mountain walls of the upstream reservoir to collapse due to the impact of the rain. According to reports, many photoshopped images have appeared on various forums after the disaster. This station would like to remind all concerned citizens not to believe or spread rumors and to avoid being deceived.”
As they spoke, a picture slowly appeared on the news screen. It was a picture taken from the riverbank, showing the river. The picture was a little blurry, but a long shadow in the river could be clearly seen.
Grandma Wang said, “It’s this one! Many people say it’s a dragon swimming in the river!”
Her friend laughed and said, “The host already said it’s a fabricated rumor. Besides, aren’t dragons supposed to protect the country and bring peace to the world? How could they possibly cause floods, right, Taoist priest?”
Wei Xi was watching TV and showed no intention of turning around, so the old woman turned her attention to his two apprentices.
Shuo Zong withdrew his gaze from the screen and replied, “Dragons don’t, but jiaos[1] do.”
Grandma Wang: “Jiao?”
Shuo Zong said: “A snake becomes a jiao after five hundred years, and a jiao becomes a dragon after a thousand years. A dragon has horns, and a jiao has no horns.”
The shadow in the photo didn’t have the shape of horns, so at least when it was photographed, it was still a jiao.
Tuan Tuanyi, who had recently been reading a lot of casual books, suddenly realized: “Oh yeah, legend has it that jiaos can cause great floods wherever they appear, destroying bridges and houses. That’s why jiao images are carved on the beams and pillars of many bridges to scare them away. Hahaha, do you think that after they transform into dragons, this becomes a dark chapter in their adolescence?”
Her friend silently wondered why these two Taoist priests were actually giving such a serious explanation of the legend, and the content of their explanation seemed rather strange…
At that moment, Wei Xi, who had been silently staring at the photo on the television, turned around and asked with focused attention—
“Is the Jiaolong a protected animal?”
Shuo Zong: “…”
Tuan Tuanyi: “…”
The old ladies: “…”
His tone was very serious, and Old Lady Wang was stunned for a moment before actually starting to think about it: “…Okay, I don’t think I’ve heard of that, it shouldn’t be…”
Dragons and jiaos are just myths and legends, aren’t they? Although they are national totems and familiar to everyone, protecting culture is one thing, but surely it doesn’t mean we should be so heartless as to list them as protected animals…
Wei Xi gave a meaningful “Oh,” and said, “I see.”
Tuan Tuanyi asked his junior brother, bewildered, “…What does that mean?”
Shuo Zong: “…”
It’s better if you don’t understand.
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles
Or become a Patron or access advance chapters on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005
If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….
Previous • Table of Contents • Next
[1] In Chinese mythology, “Jiao” can refer to a water dragon or a beast with different characteristics depending on the specific myth. The Jiao often refers to the Jiaolong (蛟龍), a type of aquatic or hornless dragon associated with rivers and lakes