Chapter 1 Fragments: In the depths of winter at Tanshan Temple, the sun sets in the west, the sun rises...

In the deep winter at Tanshan Temple, the sun sets in the west and the day is getting darker.

Inside the Buddhist temple, more than 2,000 butter lamps burned quietly amid the sound of chanting, like the light of Buddha.

Suddenly a sharp wind blew past, and the lights by the window bars of the hall flickered, almost going out, with a dim light.

The monks in the hall were concentrating on chanting scriptures, and no one noticed that the wind was blowing continuously. The lights that had been flickering just now seemed to be suddenly protected by a windproof barrier, and the flames stood upright as if there was no wind.

Even if they noticed, the monks could not see that at this moment there was a girl holding a silver bottle, who was constantly taking dew from the bottle mouth with a willow branch and sprinkling it above the lamp seedling.

The magical thing is that before the dew covers the lamp seedling, it turns into a barrier like a water film about one finger high from the lamp seedling.

The lights stand tall in the air, keeping out evil spirits.

She is the lamp keeper, Tang Suzi.

Lighting lamps to worship Buddha is one of the important offerings in Buddhism. The lights are lit and then extinguished, bringing blessings to all living beings.

Peace lanterns, lucky lanterns, marriage lanterns, repentance lanterns...

Tanshan Temple, this thousand-year-old temple, is visited by believers from all over the world every day to offer lights and pray for enlightenment and blessings.

To keep the lamp is to keep a wish.

This is Tang Suzi's tenth year as a lantern keeper at Tanshan Temple.

Tang Suzi didn't know why she came here. She only remembered that her master told her that she was stranded on the Naihe Bridge, praying day and night to accumulate merit and change the fate of one person, and refused to enter the cycle of reincarnation.

After Meng Po reported this to her master, the master allowed her to come here to guard the lamp and accumulate merit for ten years.

After she drank the Meng Po soup, her past had long since vanished like smoke. She didn't remember who that person was, but she firmly believed in her master's words.

Because she could feel that there was a vague sadness in her heart that always rose and fell in the silence.

She always seemed to remember a vague figure, and every time she thought of it, she wanted to cry, although she was now in a void body and could no longer shed tears.

She heard that keeping the lamp was a way to accumulate merit for that person, and she felt at peace.

She is willing to guard the lamp here every day.

Tang Suzi's spiritual power was limited, and after he had reinforced the windproof barriers for the rows of lights, it was almost the hour of Xu.

The monks have all returned to their meditation rooms to sleep, and the Buddhist temple is quiet.

Tang Suzi sat with her knees hugged on the snow-covered stone steps in front of the hall, watching the white snow falling all over the yard under the dim light.

She couldn't help but want to reach out to catch a snowflake, but the snowflake slowly passed through her palm and fell silently on the stone steps at her feet.

The dead leaves on the stone steps, mixed with unburned talisman paper, were covered with a thin layer of snow, leaving only the edges and corners visible.

Tang Suzi lowered his head, resting his chin slightly on his knees, carefully observing the dead leaves and...

A fragment of talisman paper with the word "遥" written on it?

Far away?

Tang Suzi remembered that it was the man from the daytime.

Oh...it turns out it’s light snow today.

Every year on the 23rd day of the Gu month, this man would come to Tanshan Temple to light an auspicious lamp and a prayer lamp for a woman named "Zhou Tiao".

Tang Suzi remembered that during the "Minor Snow" season of her first year at Sandalwood Temple, it rained heavily from early morning.

Due to the continuous heavy rain, few people came to the temple that day.

After completing the wind barrier reinforcement for all the lamps, she leaned against the door panel of the Buddhist hall in a daze.

In a trance, in the misty water vapor, she saw a young man holding an umbrella walking up the stairs.

Only when he slowly approached the eaves of the Buddhist temple did Tang Suzi see his appearance clearly.

He had his hair tied up in a half-high ponytail, with two tufts of hair covering the corners of his eyes. His shoulder-length hair was wet by the slanting rain, and his coarse green linen clothes were also wet. When he slowly put away his umbrella, water was still dripping from his sleeves.

Although he was in a mess and covered in rain and mud, he was stunning at first glance.

Yes, he is beautiful.

Beneath a pair of sword-like eyebrows were pupils like flowing black jade, and her long and thick eyelashes seemed to be covered with mist. In the blink of an eye, the mist quickly condensed into small water droplets, slid across the beautiful nose bridge, and disappeared into the lapels.

There was no emotion on his face at this moment, his lips were pressed into a line. Perhaps because of the rain, the honey color was tinged with a thin white, just like the cold rain, clear and chilly.

After putting down the umbrella, he stared at the Buddha statue quietly for a while, then slowly knelt down.

Lower your head, put your hands together, and focus your eyes.

He knelt for a long, long time.

When he stood up after bowing, Tang Suzi noticed that his eyes, which had previously been emotionless, now had a broken scarlet glow.

Tang Suzi had long been accustomed to it. The moon waxes and wanes, and it is rare to be perfect, so he regretted it in the mundane world.

This young man probably has some regrets in his heart.

"Hello, how do I offer the lamp?"

The young man walked to the lampstand, his expression slightly dazed, perhaps because he had just come out of great sorrow.

"What is the wish of the donor?"

The little monk who was writing on the lampstand looked at his brother who was only a few years older than him and asked softly.

"I want to light an auspicious lamp and a prayer lamp for someone... pray... pray that she will be protected by all things and have no worries for a hundred generations."

"Please write the name of the deceased here, write the lamp provider here, and write your name here."

The little monk took out two pieces of talisman paper and pointed to the two blank lines.

The young man bent down and wrote down two lines of names with great concentration.

"Zhou...Tiao, is that the name of the deceased?" The little monk took the talisman paper handed back by the young man and confirmed it again.

"Yes, Zhou Tiao."

…………

The snow was still falling, and the rustling snowflakes gradually submerged the fragments of talisman paper.

The word "遥" is covered by dense snowflakes, just like these ten years, long but passing in a flash.

Tang Suzi thought of the man she met again in the afternoon.

Yes, in the past ten years, the young man who used to wear green linen clothes has gradually shed his poverty and shabbiness and become a handsome and elegant man.

The only thing that remains unchanged is the sadness that has always lingered between his eyebrows over the past ten years.

It's been ten years, hasn't the crack in his heart healed yet?

The snow fell heavier and heavier, and the dead leaves and debris on the stairs were completely overturned by the snow. The moonlight cast a shadow, and the snow fell without a trace.

Tang Suzi collected his thoughts, stood up, stretched gently, looked at the bright moonlight in the distance, and felt unprecedented peace and tranquility in his heart.

It's late at night.

Tomorrow should be a good day.

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In the early morning, the snow stopped and the Buddhist bells were rung before daybreak.

As usual, Tang Suzi carried a water basket early in the morning and went to Yunluan Holy Mountain, more than ten miles away from Tanshan Temple, to collect plum blossom dew.

In addition to guarding the lamps, the lamp-keepers also have an important mission - to guard the mythical beasts in the mountains behind the temple.

It is widely rumored that there is a mythical beast in Tanshan Temple - the Blood Qilin, which has a gentle temperament and can drive away evil spirits and bring blessings.

Rumors are both true and false.

There is indeed a blood unicorn in Tanshan Temple, named Ling An, but his temperament is not docile.

Tang Suzi thought of the scene when he first saw it.

It had just woken up, its head lazily lying between its outstretched front legs, its amber eyes hazy and sleepy, looking clear and well-behaved.

At that time, Tang Suzi was completely attracted by its red hair that looked like water flowers. Just when she was about to reach out and touch its belly and back to show her goodwill, it swung its tail and knocked her to the ground, almost scaring her to death.

From then on, Tang Suzi remembered that Ling An didn't like others touching it.

I heard from my master that Ling An is a rare divine beast that appears only once in a thousand years. It has gone through nine tribulations of cultivation and does not need to eat, but needs to drink holy water from heaven and earth every day to prolong its spiritual life.

Therefore, one of Tang Suzi’s important tasks every day is to collect holy water for Ling An.

The so-called holy water is actually the floral water from Yunluan Holy Mountain.

When Tang Suzi arrived at the Yunluan Holy Mountain, the sky was already filled with rosy clouds, and the cold fog lingering in the mountains had not yet completely dissipated, and it was like wisps of silk that seemed to appear and disappear.

After a night of heavy snow, the plum forest on the hillside was covered in white.

Tang Suzi held the water basket in one hand and moved close to the pistil. With the other hand, he pinched the branch and shook it gently. All the snow grains on the pistil fell into the water basket and soon melted into water automatically.

After walking around the plum forest halfway up the mountain, the dew in the water basket was just barely full.

By this time, dawn was slowly breaking on the horizon.

Facing the golden sunlight, Tang Suzi slowly walked down the mountain with a basket full of plum blossom dew.

When we returned to Tanshan Temple, it was almost noon.

After the snow cleared and the sky cleared, Tanshan Temple returned to its former bustle, with many people coming to burn incense and worship Buddha early in the morning.

Tang Suzi walked through the crowd, holding a water basket and heading towards Lingxin Palace in the back mountain. That was Ling An's residence.

When passing by the main hall, there was a group of people gathered around the incense burner in front of the hall, lighting incense and burning paper.

Tang Suzi walked around them, holding the water basket and carefully stepped onto the stone steps leading to the back mountain.

But she stopped after taking the first step.

She just seemed to smell a faint floral scent, which was both strange and familiar.

It's... the scent of camellia.

When this realization suddenly popped up in his mind, Tang Suzi himself felt extremely confused.

She didn't know why she was so sure that it was the scent of camellia at that moment. After all, she was now in a ethereal body. Apart from being able to see and hear, she no longer had any sense of touch or smell, let alone the ability to smell and distinguish the fragrance of flowers.

Besides, she knew very well that there were no camellias planted in Tanshan Temple.

It seemed like the first time in ten years that she felt the scent of the world.

Tang Suzi suddenly turned around and looked at the crowd.

Her eyes scanned the crowd, trying to find the source of the fragrance.

However, as people came and went to offer incense, the fragrance became weaker and weaker, and soon disappeared completely.

Tang Suzi was at a loss:

Was it just an illusion?

Tang Suzi shook his head, holding the water basket and continued walking back to the back mountain, thinking that he might really be confused...

After returning to Lingxin Palace, in order not to wake up Ling An, Tang Suzi gently pushed open the palace door and tiptoed over the threshold. Just as he was about to close the door, he caught a glimpse of a blood unicorn with red hair standing by the window sill.

Ling An woke up so early?

It's strange. In the past, it usually sleeps until noon before waking up. Why is it getting up so early today?

Because of that first glance when they met, Tang Suzi has always been a little afraid of Ling An.

Fortunately, her job of guarding it was just to collect essence water for it every morning, and she usually prepared the essence water at Chenshi, when Ling An was usually sleeping, so she had few opportunities to meet Ling An directly over the years.

It's a rare day for us to meet, Tang Suzi is a little embarrassed,

"Hi...you're awake..."

Hearing the voice, Ling An turned his head and looked at her. There was no fixed point in his deep pupils, as if he was seeing something through her.

Tang Suzi was just about to ask it what was wrong when it turned its head and continued to look out the window.

It's really hard to understand...

Tang Suzi sighed inwardly.

After putting all the plum blossom dew into the animal food bowl, she reminded him again before leaving.

"The water is ready, remember to drink it."

As expected, there was no response from it, so Tang Suzi gently closed the door.

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