The Finale
Prayer flags fluttered everywhere, and scriptures were densely spread throughout the grounds.
A Taoist ensemble dressed in Taoist robes and hats came over, playing flutes and gongs. They sang long, strange, yet charming scriptures while playing the gong and the Erhu instrument. They danced around the mountain, chanting, reciting, and striking.
Behind them, Taoist priests carried a magnificent paper palanquin adorned with Taoist motifs. Seated on the palanquin was a divine tablet, supported by a silk canopy. A sea of crimson and bright yellow stretched out, the vibrant colors striking and captivating. Music and instruments played softly and continuously, the sounds of stringed instruments and percussion were intricate yet not chaotic. Despite the large number of people, the scene was solemn and dignified.
Zheng Nanle himself was a spirit who had come over and had seen Er Ya's spirit. He was already more inclined to believe in this matter than to believe it. Upon seeing this scene, he consciously held his breath and kept his eyes straight ahead.
After all the deities had passed by, led by the leader, they followed the Taoist priests to the Zhou Tian Three Altars.
The grand ritual held here is of the highest standard, with nine altars, including the "Capital Altar, Auspicious Altar, Salvation Altar, and Moral Altar," to invite "the Supreme Beings of the Three Realms, the Supreme Saints of the Ten Directions, the Heavenly Emperor of the Jade Capital and Golden Palace, the Holy Masters of the Ten Directions, the Officials of the Three Realms, and all the Powerful Spirits," and to worship 3,600 deities.
'The upper three altars are for the whole heaven, where the leader worships, and there are 3,600 divine positions; the middle three altars are for the whole heaven, where meritorious officials worship, and there are 2,400 divine positions; the lower three levels are for the net heaven, where meritorious officials worship, and there are 1,200 divine positions.'
Zheng Nanle went to the central altar among the three altars. Due to limited resources, the altar was decorated with spirit tablets rather than statues of gods.
A high-ranking Taoist priest or presiding priest, dressed in purple robes, performs rituals in front of the altar by stepping in a special way and chanting incantations and scriptures. He then sits cross-legged on the ground, devoutly inviting the gods, drawing and burning talismans to communicate with the gods of heaven and earth, and finally offering three sticks of incense.
Zheng Nanle and his group followed the high priest's movements. When the high priest knelt, they knelt; when they stood, they stood. When the high priest performed his magic, they stood or knelt devoutly. When the high priest offered incense, they also offered incense.
After offering incense, they returned to their original spot and waited for the high priest's instructions.
As evening fell, the older people left the venue and went with the others. The younger members of Zheng Nanle's group continued with Gao Gong that night, but Gao Gong and the surrounding members of the music troupe changed over the night, clearly following the same rotation system.
When daytime arrived, Zheng Nanle handed over the duties to the elderly while the younger women went to rest.
They stayed up all night and worked during the day for forty-seven days. On the last day, the young people had to stay during the day. They only slept for two hours in the early morning and then joined the elderly after eight o'clock, so it was a complete event.
After this trip, even Zheng Nanle felt quite weak.
But when the grand Taoist ritual ended and the faint chanting of the scriptures still lingered in Zheng Nanle's ears, she felt a lightness all over her body. It was as if some heavy burden or something weighing on her had left her. Her body felt brand new, or like an old machine with all its parts replaced with new ones. She felt a sense of refreshing comfort.
Zheng Nanle had a deep intuition that she had finally truly survived by using Er Ya's body and had gained the world's recognition.
Zheng Nanle was both amused and exasperated. So, Er Ya's willingness to give up her body didn't count as her having a second life, but rather as a contribution to the world, allowing the world to acknowledge her.
She seemed to be deep in thought. Could it be that this world had pulled her soul here so that she could solve this Dragon-Slaying Formation case?
Without her mental cheating, the deep-seated spies who had been lurking behind the human traffickers for many years would not have been found, and the Dragon-Slaying Formation would not have been discovered.
According to the islanders and the "little life" faction, the dragon vein was completely severed this year, and it will be of little significance to discover it again many years later.
It was all too late.
No, this Dragon-Slaying Formation really works, it's not just superstition, is it?
Zheng Nanle looked up at the ancestral tablet enshrined above and sighed slightly.
Along the way, Zheng Nanle spotted a Taoist priest from the next village and stopped him, asking, "You participated in the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony? Now you know what the South China Sea's Tianya Haijiao Stone, the water from the two rivers of the northern desert, the true dragon's blood of the East China Sea, the ten-thousand-year-old ice of the western frontier, and the ancestral land of the Central Plains are, right? Can you tell me?"
The Taoist priest, seeing Zheng Nanle, was speechless. "Your curiosity is truly boundless. Alright, I'll tell you. The Tianya Haijiao Stone in the South China Sea is an oyster shell that grew on a rock at the southernmost tip of the South China Sea. Oysters increase Yang energy, representing Li and fire; the water of the two rivers in the northern desert is the water between the Heilongjiang and Songhua Rivers, half clear and half turbid, signifying the initial separation of heaven and earth into clarity and turbidity."
"The blood of the true dragon of the East Sea is the blood of a whale. There is a saying that 'when a whale falls, all things are born.' Death contains all things and is the source of life. It corresponds to the Azure Dragon of the East, which belongs to the wood element. There is also the secretion of the sperm whale, which is ambergris. Therefore, the blood of the sperm whale is taken."
"The 'Ten Thousand Year Ice' of Western Xinjiang, according to Xi Jin, could not possibly be ice, but rather jade belonging to the metal element. They went to Western Xinjiang and selected a piece of pure white, translucent Tianshan jade that was as clear as ice."
"As for the ancestral land of the Central Plains, the ancestral land of the Central Plains includes 'Youchao, Suiren, Fuxi, Shennong, and Xuanyuan'. However, Youchao lived in a nest, Suiren made fire, Fuxi created the Eight Trigrams, and Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs. None of them had anything to do with soil. Only the Yellow Emperor was associated with the virtue of earth, so he took the soil from the bottom of the Ji River in the Youxiong region."
After the Taoist priest was taken away by the warriors, he was sent to the Taoist community and met the high priests of Taoist holy sites such as Longhu Mountain, Qingcheng Mountain, and Heming Mountain. The scriptures they passed down also contained records of the Dragon-Slaying Formation and the methods of breaking the formation, but the records of each Taoist temple were different.
By studying their commonalities, we can deduce the most likely solutions for the five elements and their attributes.
Of course, it doesn't matter if it's wrong. We've also picked other alternative names, so we'll bury them all together. Surely one of them will be the right one.
"Riverbed soil?"
Zheng Nanle blinked and asked in surprise.
She had guessed about the other items, but the soil item was unexpected.
"Yes, the elders said that the Yellow Emperor lived by the Ji River, which is an indisputable fact recorded in history. The Ji River is the mother river that nurtured the Yellow Emperor, so taking soil from the bottom of the mother river will not be wrong."
Although there are records of the Yellow Emperor being buried at Qiaoshan, the authenticity of the Yellow Emperor's mausoleum at Qiaoshan is uncertain.
Zheng Nanle exclaimed in amazement, "You can do that?"
She gave a thumbs up.
When it comes to breaking this formation, the ones who faced the most pressure and endured the most hardship were not the meritorious officials or the people, but the group of Taoist priests.
If the wrong object is chosen to break the formation and resolve the problem, all the effort, manpower, and financial resources spent on the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony will be wasted. Even if the higher authorities force it, they will not be able to suppress the public opinion.
Therefore, they had no chance to make mistakes, and they were extremely cautious when debating and interpreting things, going over and over again, deliberating and considering things carefully.
Even after completing the Luo Tian Grand Ritual, they were still filled with anxiety and unable to sleep soundly until they could see the change in the magnetic field and the purification of the mountain spirits and trees, only then would they dare to relax.
But Zheng Nanle knew that they had succeeded.
The solution approach is completely correct.
However, "Why didn't your ancestors write more specifically about the explanations of things, instead of leaving things shrouded in mystery and playing riddles with future generations?"
Even just a note would be helpful.
For example, the Tianya Haijiao Stone (天涯海角石), which, as an annotation, is said to be born from oysters.
"Perhaps when they recorded these things, they were already common knowledge and they were too lazy to mark them. Later generations forgot about them, or couldn't understand them, and didn't know how to mark them." The Taoist priest still wanted to save face for his ancestors.
Zheng Nanle was just saying it casually, with no intention of pursuing any further action. Besides, it wasn't her place to pursue any action anyway. She got the answer she wanted and bid farewell to the Taoist priest with satisfaction.
Back at the tent, Lu Guangbai had already packed his clothes. They told the person in charge that instead of returning to the capital with the rest of the group, they went to Liushan Village nearby.
Looking at the new house with its new style, Zheng Nanle felt a sense of emotion.
This house was originally built by forcing Old Man Zheng to build it so that Er Ya could leave the Zheng family. Later, this house became the future of her and Lu Guangbai. It was a wedding house, and they would get married once the house was built.
Not wanting too many things to happen later, this was the first time that both Zheng Nanle and Lu Guangbai had stayed in this room.
"Er Ya, you're back. Oh my, Young Lu and Old Man Lu are back too. Are you two still going to accept Er Ya's marriage and come back to live with her in the village?"
The villagers laughed heartily and exchanged pleasantries with Zheng Nanle and his two companions.
Zheng Nanle smiled and said, "No, Grandma, you came back to visit. Dr. Lu is in school; he's a university student."
"College students are good, college students are good." The village has great respect for intellectuals, something they lack but also yearn for and fear.
Even if they don't urge their younger generations to study much, they still have a good impression of those who are good at studying.
Lu Guangbai tugged at Zheng Nanle and whispered, "Nannle, let's hold the wedding while we're still in the village."
In the village, people value the wedding banquet more than the marriage certificate. It is only considered a marriage after the banquet. If you move into the groom's house after getting the marriage certificate but without holding a wedding, it is considered a lack of self-respect. Not holding a wedding means that you have not gained the approval of the groom's family.
Although Nanle didn't care, Lu Guangbai didn't want her to be wronged.
In fact, Lu Guangbai had suggested holding a wedding when they were in the capital, but Zheng Nanle thought it was too much trouble and didn't want to. At that time, Lu Guangbai was busy with his studies and didn't have the energy to prepare for the wedding, so they had to give up.
But now that we're on holiday and have time, we absolutely have to hold the wedding; Nanle has to have everything that others have.
Zheng Nanle initially wanted to refuse, but then she remembered that today was her first day of life, and in a truly meaningful way, she thought that having a wedding to bring good luck was acceptable.
This is a good omen.
Just as she was about to agree, she saw Lu Guangbai looking at her with a wronged expression, "Nan Le, do you not want to acknowledge me and give me a proper status? You dragged your feet on getting the marriage certificate before, and you kept putting off the wedding."
Zheng Nanle: "..."
She didn't refuse when she tried to commit suicide.
“Okay, okay, you do it,” Zheng Nanle replied.
Lu Guangbai then beamed with joy.
Soon, the people of Liushan Village learned that Zheng Nanle and Lu Guangbai had returned to the village to hold their wedding banquet.
The two had already registered their marriage in the capital, but Liushan Village was their home, so they specially returned to hold a banquet there.
The uncles and aunties in the village were very hospitable. When Lu Guangbai asked, they enthusiastically guided him on what dishes to prepare for the banquet, how much and which ingredients to buy, where to borrow tables and chairs, how much candy and melon seeds to buy, who to borrow a bicycle from, what to do before the wedding procession, and which route to take on the bicycle during the procession...
Lu Guangbai took out his notebook and wrote them down one by one.
Weddings in this era emphasized 'revolutionization and frugality,' but it was already 1978, and Lu Guangbai had just experienced the grand wedding ceremony. He was eager to try his hand at extravagance.
He asked Xie Ronghua to hire a rural senior citizens' band so that they could play the erhu, gongs, and cymbals on their wedding day to make it lively. Some educated youths who received the news of their wedding traveled a long distance to attend.
They learned from Zhang Yu that the review books were prepared by Zheng Erya. Regardless of their previous relationship, they were grateful for this kindness and offered their blessings.
Knowing that an elderly band had been invited to Lu Guangbai's wedding banquet, these educated youths each brought their own instruments, such as harmonicas, organs, and flutes, and contributed their own efforts.
In those days, the atmosphere was full of revolutionary spirit. The wedding band played "The East Is Red," a song that all the villagers knew. As soon as the instruments started playing, the villagers sang along, creating a lively and festive atmosphere.
Without the host's prompting, the villagers and educated youth sang back and forth, from "The East Is Red" to "The Golden Mountain of the Capital" and "We All Have a Bright Red Heart"...
During the song, Lu Guangbai invited Zheng Nanle out of the room. Zheng Nanle was wearing a brand-new red shirt, wide-leg pants, and small leather shoes, with a small red flower tied in her hair.
Zhang Yu, Xie Qingmiao, and other female educated youths escorted Zheng Nanle out of the house, all with genuine smiles on their faces. When they saw the tall and imposing Lu Guangbai, they gave him a mischievous smile and pushed Zheng Nanle toward him.
Lu Guangbai quickly reached out to help him.
Zheng Nanle stood firmly and didn't see the bride and groom's shyness, which the bridesmaids found a bit of a pity. However, seeing Lu Guangbai's concern and nervousness, they all laughed good-naturedly.
Zhang Yu continued to push Zheng Nanle forward, "Hurry up, hurry up, the groom can't wait any longer."
The bride, Zheng Nanle, remained calm and composed, showing no sign of shyness. On the other hand, the groom, a grown man, had two noticeable blushes on his cheeks.
He glanced at Zheng Nanle, wanting to take her hand, but was a little embarrassed. His fingers moved ten times per second. Zheng Nanle generously extended her hand, and Lu Guangbai wiped his palm on the hem of his clothes before taking hers.
No matter how many times he and Zheng Nanle had met openly and honestly, marriage was a sacred ceremony in his heart.
In an instant, he understood why the higher-ups held the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony. Even knowing it was just a formality and might be useless, the fact that it had been held gave people peace of mind and boosted their confidence.
The ceremony is essential.
The bridesmaids and groomsmen laughed and joked. What people love to see at a wedding is the careful and tender affection between the bride and groom.
The bride was too thick-skinned to notice, so the groom made up for it.
The groom, accompanied by his groomsmen, drove the bride around the village. They were originally going to ride bicycles, but the groom was so nervous that he almost fell. The bride then offered to drive him, and the groom persevered and pushed the bicycle around the village.
The groom behind them laughed good-naturedly, especially Xie Ronghua, who kept teasing Lu Guangbai about his shortcomings.
Lu Guangbai thought to himself, "Wait until you get married, and I'll see how I tease you." He turned around and saw Zheng Nanle sitting obediently in the back seat. Her red shirt made her skin look exceptionally white, and she was more beautiful than a flower. A feeling of satisfaction welled up in his heart.
Heaven and earth bear witness, the villagers bear witness, the great man bears witness, from this day forward, he and Nanle will share the same bed in life and the same lungs in death, they will be together in life and death, like birds flying wing to wing, like trees with intertwined branches, never to be separated.
Zheng Nanle seemed to sense something and turned her head to look at him.
As if she could see the unfinished feelings and unspoken words in his eyes, she suddenly smiled at him.
Gentle, resolute, and in agreement with him.
Zheng Nanle didn't care much about the wedding; she didn't care about the formalities. But amidst everyone's blessings and laughter, and under Lu Guangbai's careful and affectionate gaze, Zheng Nanle seemed like a butterfly willingly drawn into a spider's web, willingly being captured by this wedding and captivated by Lu Guangbai.
This wedding was no longer the kind of banquet she usually attended; it was insignificant.
It is the thread that ties the newborn butterfly, making the newborn butterfly willing to give up the vast world and freedom, willing to stay by the flower beside her when she was still a caterpillar.
The wedding banquet is just the beginning; the future is still long.
Like two wild geese flying side by side, sharing life and death; like two beautiful women sharing their youthful years.
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