Chapter 2: Pillar, Notebook
Lawyer Fang saw her staring eagerly at the large incense burner in front, thinking she was reminiscing about her great grandfather.
Just as he was wondering whether to speak up and comfort her, a voice called out from nearby first.
“Lawyer Fang, you’ve arrived.”
The voice was eager, as if it had been eagerly anticipated for a long time, and the person had finally arrived.
Xuan Xia followed Lawyer Fang’s line of sight and looked over, then saw a burly figure… a Daoist priest?
The other was wearing a short everyday Daoist robe with a blue slanted collar.
But aside from the clothes, nothing about him resembled a Daoist priest; whether his face or build, he was more suited to be a bodyguard.
Because even his face was full of righteous qi and ferocity.
“Oh, Little Li.” Lawyer Fang greeted with a smile, then turned to introduce to Xuan Xia, “This is Little Li, Li Xinze.”
Could this be the pillar supporting the inside of the temple?
Xuan Xia looked him over again; he really differed too much from her imagination.
While Xuan Xia was sizing him up, the other had already strode up quickly, his clear line of sight looking back at her.
The next second, he grinned broadly and heartily, “This is Miss Xuan, right?”
Xuan Xia replied “hello” and was just thinking about what to say next.
The other had already enthusiastically explained: “Miss Xuan, you’ve had a long journey. Mr. Qin is entertaining devotees and will probably talk for a while longer, so he asked me to invite Miss Xuan to the backyard to sit first.”
Xuan Xia caught the key point, “Mr. Qin?”
Her eyebrows furrowed.
Who? Which Mr. Qin?
“Oh, that’s Daoist Master Qin.” Lawyer Fang supplemented from the side, “The one I mentioned to you before…”
That pillar.
Xuan Xia: “…”
Such a fine pillar, but why did he have to have the surname “Qin”!
Because of some personal reasons, she currently didn’t like the surname “Qin.”
After reminding her, Lawyer Fang followed Li Xinze’s words and said to Xuan Xia: “Since Daoist Master Qin is still busy, Miss Xuan, let’s go to the backyard first.”
***
Stepping into the backyard of Changsheng Temple felt like entering another world.
Without tourists visiting, the backyard was left only with serene antiquity.
Next to the courtyard gate, along the wall connecting to the front courtyard, jagged strange rocks were piled in a circle, and a cluster of graceful Kwan-yin bamboo sprouted from behind the strange rocks, lush green and inviting.
The entire backyard had only a few side-room style buildings, which were living spaces like bedrooms, kitchen, and storage room.
The bluestone slab path underfoot wound from the courtyard entrance all the way to the house door.
Looking closely, the color difference somewhat resembled the dividing line on a taiji disc.
Xuan Xia was looking around; she should have come here when she was very young, but so many years had passed that she couldn’t find any familiarity.
The burly man Li Xinze leading the way pointed to the house ahead and said: “Miss Xuan, that’s Old Mr. Xuan’s bedroom.”
Before entering the backyard, Lawyer Fang had already introduced this Li Xinze’s identity to Xuan Xia.
Don’t be fooled by his Daoist robes; they were actually just work clothes.
His main job was Daoist Master Qin’s bodyguard, and because of Daoist Master Qin, he now worked part-time doing odd jobs inside the temple.
This was also why he called Daoist Master Qin “Mr. Qin.”
After hearing this, Xuan Xia felt very complicated and still hadn’t fully digested it.
But after Li Xinze pointed out the room, she quickly pushed all those complex thoughts aside and looked over.
The house had its doors and windows wide open, sunlight streaming in, illuminating the indoor furniture and giving off a heavy sense of age.
“I’ll go in and take a look.” Xuan Xia said.
Naturally, no one stopped her.
Xuan Xia stepped into her great grandfather’s bedroom with some curiosity and a sense of exploration.
The house was simple, just as it appeared from outside, full of a sense of age. The furniture were all old items.
But aside from the furniture, there were no personal belongings of her great grandfather; she didn’t know if the family had taken them all away.
The room was clearly cleaned regularly by someone, everywhere tidy, and all items placed neatly and orderly.
The bedding and pillowcases were new, but the style and pattern were so youthful.
Could there be a young girl living here?
Besides that, the most eye-catching was the antique bookshelf occupying one wall inside the room.
The bookshelf was densely packed with various notebooks from top to bottom, almost filling the entire shelf.
Xuan Xia curiously pulled out one and was just about to open it when she heard Li Xinze’s familiar explanation.
“These are all Old Mr. Xuan’s notebooks. Some are events he recorded, some are notes from predecessors that Old Mr. Xuan organized.”
Xuan Xia nodded and casually flipped open a page.
‘Entered the plum rain season again. Those young ones from the Mei Family in Huizhou were nagging about unrest again; after several letters, they even sent someone to visit in person. This matter wasn’t something I should get involved in, but they were so sincere, fine, fine, I’ll bend the rules a bit and go take a look first…’
……
This entry should be something her great grandfather recorded.
But why did it seem more like a strange tales novel?
From the page she read, it mainly said that in Huizhou, the Mei Family had strange occurrences in their ancestral hall every plum rain season for several years. The notebook said it was due to a malevolent influence.
This Mei Family was an ancestral Mystic Sect household, but unfortunately, the descendants grew worse with each generation, unable to master the ancestors’ skills, making things worse the more they handled them, until they were truly helpless and sought out her great grandfather.
Her great grandfather originally didn’t plan to go due to the rules, but the Mei Family was sincere and he remembered their old friendship, so he went, and found the matter thorny, but her great grandfather still managed to resolve it with effort.
It then detailed what malevolent influence afflicted the Mei Family, what he did, and how he resolved it.
The steps were so precise that Xuan Xia could do it just by reading.
……
Xuan Xia had known since childhood that her great grandfather was different from ordinary people; he became a Daoist priest in middle age, and not an ordinary one.
But after becoming a priest, her great grandfather came alone to Ningzhou to build this Changsheng Temple and lived here permanently, almost cutting ties with the family.
So just how different he was, she wasn’t very clear, and the family never mentioned it.
She only knew her great grandfather’s fortune telling was accurate; her birth, and several key choice points in her life from childhood, all received his guidance.
Now after reading this notebook entry, Xuan Xia felt like a new world had opened up.
She couldn’t help but be lost in thought: could her great grandfather’s extraordinariness be in this aspect?
Her hand then flipped to the next page.
–
Xuan Xia continuously read several entries.
The new world in these notebooks was like a dazzling kaleidoscope, captivating Xuan Xia like falling stars.
During this, Lawyer Fang asked Xuan Xia several times if she wanted to sit, as he was still worried about her sickly appearance.
But Xuan Xia shook her head each time saying no need, so he stopped disturbing her and quietly talked with that Li Xinze nearby.
Until she got tired from holding the same posture and lifted her head to rest, Lawyer Fang suddenly said, “Daoist Master Qin is here.”
