Chapter 25: The Destined-to-be-Abandoned Good-for-Nothing (5) p2
“Gui Mian?”
Fifteen minutes later, at the Hundred Herbs Hall.
Gui Mian was sitting on the steps, watching a few ants carrying half a grain of spiritual rice in the grass beside her. Seeing the anthill in the distance, she reached out and picked up the rice, placing it by the entrance of the anthill. Then, she heard a greeting from beside her.
She looked up and tried to smile. “Senior Sister Qiongying.”
“Why are you here? Are you injured?”
Qiongying pulled her up, thinking that the external injuries she sustained on the Platform of Enlightenment should have healed by now. She was about to check if the little girl had any new injuries when her gaze fell on her brand new clothes and the two dust marks on her lower back. She sighed and bent down to pat them clean. “Look at you, you changed into new clothes and didn’t even pay attention.”
Gui Mian let her do as she pleased, her mind still on the previous question. She replied earnestly: “I’m not injured, I’m here to get medicine for Master.”
Hearing this, Qiongying’s smile widened. “It’s great that Elder Lingyu trusts you so much now. I won’t have to worry about you being bullied in the sect anymore.”
The little girl tilted her head. “What’s bullying?”
“I won’t tell you about that.” Qiongying didn’t want her to know what the past actions of those disciples meant, afraid that one day, when she understood emotions and desires, looking back on her experiences in the Sword Sect would cast a shadow on her memories. She quickly changed the subject: “There’s a lively event happening at the foot of the mountain tomorrow. The mortals are holding a Dharma assembly. If you’re free, why don’t you come down the mountain with us and have a look?”
Seeing the confusion and incomprehension in Gui Mian’s eyes, Qiongying patted her shoulder. “Anyway, meet us at the mountain gate tomorrow at Xu hour (7pm-9pm), remember to come.”
“Oh…”
Gui Mian nodded, indicating that she had remembered.
Since the path to immortality in this small world was closed a thousand years ago, the spiritual energy had become increasingly scarce, and the natural disasters and calamities experienced by mortals had become more frequent. They had also heard the legends about immortals.
But they still wanted to pray for peace in their own way. It was said that the last immortal to appear in this world did so in April—
So every year, at the turn of spring and summer, mortals would hold a grand Water and Land Dharma assembly, praying for the immortals who had ascended from this world to bestow their blessings and protect the world’s peace.
The Dharma assembly lasted for four days and four nights, the same amount of time it took that immortal to overcome their tribulation.
During these four days, mortals would take out the food and wine they had stored during the previous winter, hold flowing feasts, and invite musicians and dancers to perform on the streets. It was a very lively event.
Gui Mian followed Qiongying and the others down the mountain. Although she had seen various scenes of the mortal world while on missions, it wasn’t every year that they got to see the bustling Dharma assembly.
Qiongying was more composed, but the younger girls who came with her, some were descending the mountain for the first time, some had just come out of seclusion. After walking less than a mile on the crowded road, she had already lost three of them.
Gui Mian was one of the missing members.
Qiongying: “…”
Someone tugged at her sleeve. It was the girl who had stopped her on the Platform of Enlightenment and later prevented Changsheng and Changqi from going too far. “Senior Sister, why worry? This is at the foot of our Sword Mountain, and our junior sisters are not ordinary people. What could possibly happen?”
Qiongying thought for a moment and sighed: “I’ll go find Gui Mian. She’s so naive, if she encounters bad people, she’ll definitely be tricked.”
Half an hour later.
By the Sishui River in the mortal world, Qiongying saw the little girl being glared at by a couple. She quickly stepped forward, pulled Gui Mian behind her, and asked: “What happened?”
The little girl poked her head out from behind Qiongying and pointed to the river: “I asked them why they were putting lanterns on the water. They said they were praying for blessings, so I wanted to see what they wrote for their prayers. I had just opened one when you arrived, Senior Sister.”
Qiongying: “…”
She looked at the couple in front of her, who were clearly angry but still holding hands tightly, and guessed whose wish Gui Mian had just opened.
She apologized to them: “I’m sorry, my junior sister is not very sensible, she disturbed your good fortune—”
Qiongying apologized sincerely. Perhaps sensing her extraordinary aura, the man, who had raised his fist, lowered it and only said: “Little girl, don’t come here to cause trouble, what do you know?”
After they left, Qiongying sighed, turned around, pointed at the lotus lanterns floating on the river, and explained to Gui Mian: “These prayers written by mortals are for the immortals. If someone opens them, they won’t work anymore, understand?”
Gui Mian understood now: “I’m not an immortal, so I can’t look.”
Qiongying nodded with satisfaction.
Then, she heard Gui Mian ask: “But what do you do when you pray for blessings? What do you write, and what kind of blessings do you pray for?”
“You write whatever you wish for… Mortals write their wishes on lotus lanterns, put them on the water, and wait for them to drift to the Milky Way in the sky.”
Qiongying paused, then added: “As for the blessings, it could be good health, smooth relationships, success in your career, anything like that.”
Gui Mian, who had been nodding vaguely, suddenly thought of something and said: “Then I want to write one too.”
Qiongying hesitated for a moment and said: “We cultivators don’t need to do that.” Cultivators, if they wanted something, they should work hard to achieve it themselves, not pray for others’ pity.
She tried to explain this to Gui Mian, but the little girl pouted and muttered: “But that’s too slow…”
It would take a long, long time for her wishes to come true.
Gui Mian stared at the lanterns slowly drifting down the river, a rare look of disappointment in her eyes. But in the end, she only nodded and agreed with Qiongying: “Alright.”
“Cultivators can’t fold lanterns, we have to rely on our own abilities.”
Half a month later.
Su Mingxiu, with the help of the medicine from the Hundred Herbs Hall, had almost recovered from her injuries. Thinking about the mission of helping the protagonist reach Foundation Establishment, she left her cave abode and appeared on the peak of Mount Lingyu.
The mountain had become more colorful in the half month she had been away.
She took a few steps and arrived at the frozen lake. Countless red and pink lotus lanterns were floating on the melted spiritual spring, pushing the true lotus, which had only grudgingly sprouted one leaf, to the edge. Sensing her presence, the lotus leaf trembled slightly, as if whispering complaints about what her beloved disciple had been doing for the past half month.
Su Mingxiu felt a rare sense of confusion. She walked to the edge of the spring, bent down, and summoned a lantern to her hand. She saw a line of childish handwriting on it: “The fortune teller said I’m missing something in my five elements the other day. I thought about it hard and finally realized, I’m missing you in my five elements. Be my destined wife, Erhua.”
Signed: Wang San.
Su Mingxiu: “?”
She was taken aback by the overwhelming tackiness, her expression becoming even more confused. She placed the extinguished lantern aside and picked up another one. This time, the handwriting was more graceful: “I heard that you’re a good housekeeper. This humble girl would like to learn from you for the rest of my life.”
Signed: Sun Guihua.
Su Mingxiu: “???”
She put this lantern down as well, losing interest in examining the other lotus lanterns.
Just then, Gui Mian, who had finished practicing swordsmanship on the Platform of Enlightenment, appeared in the distance. Seeing an extra figure by the spiritual spring, she quickened her pace, almost running to Su Mingxiu’s side. “Disciple greets Master!”
“Is Master’s injury better?”
Su Mingxiu hesitated for a moment, then nodded. After straightening up, she pointed at the lotus lanterns crowding the spring and asked: “What are these?”
Hearing that her master’s injury had healed, Gui Mian raised her head even higher and explained earnestly: “These are my wishes.”
“What?”
Seeing her master’s confusion, the little girl recounted what had happened on the day of the Water and Land Dharma assembly. Then, she said: “The frozen lake is much higher than the Sishui River. I put all these wishes here, so they’ll definitely reach the Milky Way first, and the immortals will bestow their blessings on me—Senior Sister Qiongying said there are a lot of blessings in these.”
It took Su Mingxiu a lot of effort to understand her logic.
Gui Mian knew that cultivators couldn’t write lotus lanterns, so she had taken all the lanterns written by mortals and brought them to the spiritual spring, thinking that these stolen wishes were now hers.
At this moment, Su Mingxiu understood why mortals signed their names on their wishes.
—There must have been other scoundrels who did this before.
She felt both amused and helpless. She reminded Gui Mian: “Have you seen what’s written on these lanterns?”
“Only immortals can see.” Gui Mian earnestly explained the principles of praying for blessings.
Su Mingxiu didn’t bother arguing with her. Her dark eyes reflected the little girl’s serious face. The displeasure from a few days ago had long disappeared. Now, facing this innocent and naive little disciple, she smiled faintly and said in the gentlest tone, with a hint of arrogance: “It’s better to ask me than to ask the immortals—”
“Tell me, what are your wishes?”
Gui Mian looked up at her, her eyes filled with the same trust as always, her attitude unchanged. The wind carried her wish to Su Mingxiu’s ears: “I want Master to be healthy and live a long life.”
Remembering how, at the Hundred Herbs Hall, she had heard Elder Tian Nanxing sigh worriedly while preparing the medicine, “This injury has been lingering for so long, and she won’t let anyone examine it. I wonder how many years she has left,” Gui Mian looked at the immortal-like figure in front of her and asked: “Will my wish come true?”
The smile on Su Mingxiu’s lips froze.
She stared at the little girl for a long time, seeing the mud stains on her new shoes, now frozen by the wind and snow of Mount Lingyu. She wondered how many trips this girl had made up and down the mountain to bring back so many lotus lanterns.
…They were so numerous that they filled the entire spiritual spring.
Su Mingxiu could even imagine how seriously this child must have carried out this task, using the most righteous expression while doing something that would make mortals chase after her with sticks.
“Why?”
She asked.
Why make such a wish?
Clearly… she didn’t understand emotions and desires.
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