There are white clouds in the distant sky, and people are bustling in the city.
The busy streets are filled with peddlers and vendors, and the shops are always crowded with people.
A young man in blue clothes sat on the ground, listening to the old man selling pears complaining from the bottom of his heart.
Finally, he took out a piece of gold nugget the size of a fingernail from his sleeve, and walked away along the street carrying a sack of good pears.
The old man covered the gold nugget with his hands and held it in his crotch. He looked at the young man's back as he walked away and said, "How arrogant!" Then he picked up the empty basket, closed his stall and went home. The smile on his lips and the excitement in his eyes showed that he could no longer suppress his joy.
——
Back street of Gu Mansion.
Although it is only one street away from the prosperous area of the city, the place is deserted and the houses and buildings are a bit shabby.
Zhang Ling, carrying a bulging sack on his shoulder, stopped in front of a shed.
From a distance, I saw Gu Erlang concentrating on wiping the buffalo's body. Dirt and mud were all over the ground, and a dark shadow was lingering. Looking closely, I found that it was a gadfly.
The young man in green put the sack into his sleeve, and in his hand, he conjured a piece of white cloth with the words "Half-Immortal" written on it. He propped up a long pole, swaying it in the wind, and shouted into the shed, "Half-Immortal! Divination!"
Gu Erlang looked in the direction of the voice, smiled and shook his head to refuse, then continued to work on his task, bathing the cow carefully.
Zhang Ling added, "Young Master, please tell me your fortune. We are destined to meet. I won't charge you this time!"
Gu Erlang smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Sir, this kid has bad luck, so it's better not to calculate this divination!"
"Sir, you're joking. If your fate is bad, you should get a fortune-teller. My fortune-teller is very accurate and may be able to help you change your fate!"
Zhang Ling walked into the shed with confidence, took out three copper coins from his sleeve with a smile, and without caring about Gu Erlang's attitude and reaction, he began to pretend to tell fortunes.
Seeing this, Gu Erlang asked curiously, "What does the hexagram indicate?"
Zhang Ling looked at the copper coin in his right palm, but actually he was calculating with his left hand hidden in his sleeve. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "This is the Yellow Ox hexagram, a very bad hexagram. Not good at all!"
Yellow Ox Hexagram?
Gu Erlang was stunned. He had never heard of such a hexagram before. He looked at the buffalo in front of him and fell into deep thought: "Sir, what is the Yellow Ox hexagram?"
Zhang Ling pondered, "Yellow represents the Earth element in the Five Elements, and the Ox represents Kun in the Eight Trigrams. Earth governs transformation, while Kun represents pure Yin. Yin includes villains, flattery, and treachery. The hexagram indicates a difficult fate for you, all because of a villain who is obstructing you."
Gu Erlang seemed to be lost in thought, as if he had thought of something. His eyes dimmed suddenly, and he smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid everyone in Shunjiang County knows who this villain beside me is!"
"But so what? I'm just a mortal. How can I fight against a god?"
Gu Erlang said this, shook his head, bent down and continued to wipe the buffalo's body.
Zhang Ling laughed and said, "The immortal you're talking about, could it be Li Tianshi, the one behind Gu Dalang?"
After saying this, seeing that the second son of the Gu family remained silent, the young man in blue thought for a moment, ready to take this opportunity to test the depth of the water in Shunjiang County. So he asked, "Have you ever gone to the City God's Office to ask the gods for help?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Erlang suddenly laughed heartily and pointed to his slightly sunken forehead, saying, "I have kowtowed and knelt before the City God for 365 days without interruption, bathed, burned incense, and prayed devoutly, hoping that some immortal would help me. But not only did the immortal not help me, he even appeared in my dreams every night, giving me nightmares.
But I never thought that my Gu family, who have been doing good deeds for generations, would end up like this. The good people did not have a good end, while the evil people are sitting in high places.
The reason I'm willing to raise cattle here while I'm still alive is because I want to see whether evildoers will be punished while I'm still alive! As for praying to the gods and Buddhas, it's just to save yourself from sorrow and joy."
Zhang Ling frowned slightly. From what Gu Erlang said, it seemed that the whole Shunjiang County was in deep trouble. Even the local city god was helping Li Tianshi and they were in collusion with him.
The young man in blue asked again, "I imagine you've learned a lot about the mundane world over the years. Could you explain what it means to transcend sorrow and joy?"
——
Inside the small shed, a buffalo was kneeling on the ground, its tail sweeping back and forth in arcs behind its butt, swaying from side to side. A large number of horseflies followed the tail closely, flying to the left and then to the right, never getting tired of it.
A young man in blue clothes and a young man in tattered clothes talked to each other and told them all the sufferings in the world.
"My Gu family has been doing good deeds for seven generations, yet we have ended up like this. My master asked me to seek help from the gods, but the gods are afraid of evildoers. Not only do they not punish them, they even turn around and cause trouble for those who do good deeds. This has given me great enlightenment.
The essence of mortals is that they ultimately live alone. Don't place too much hope on immortals, or place any hope in them. Mortals always want to find immortals who can share their pain and sorrow, but most of the time, the earth-shattering pain of mortals is just dust that the immortals brush aside. This is the loneliness of mortals, and it is also the process of suffering and joy alone.
Gu Erlang's eyes were filled with vicissitudes of life, and he couldn't help but shed tears when he talked about the touching parts.
Zhang Ling was silent. He patted the downtrodden Erlang of the Gu family and said slowly, "Good and evil will eventually be rewarded. It's not that there is no retribution, but the time has not come yet. Even if he is a god, he will still be punished by heaven if he commits evil!"
"Sir, please don't comfort me. The City God has been openly helping Li Tianshi, yet he hasn't seen any divine punishment over the years. It's all just mortals comforting themselves and deceiving themselves."
Hearing this, Zhang Ling sighed deeply, shook his head, turned away, and said leisurely, "Heaven's punishment is coming soon!"
Gu Erlang looked at the back of the young man in blue clothes as he walked away, thinking about something. Finally, he sighed helplessly, his face showing fatigue. He put down the brush in his hand in a decadent manner, patted the buffalo's butt, and looked sad.
…
Zhang Ling walked around the streets of Shunjiang County, first tasting the famous pear blossom cake, then eating a bowl of delicious braised pork, and accidentally saw the beggar he met last night.
——Now his legs are as strong as flying, he looks radiant and energetic, he has changed into clean clothes, and is full of infinite longing for life.
The sun sets in the west, it’s dusk.
When Zhang Ling passed by Gu's house, he saw several cute kittens of different colors.
They were jumping around the treasure lion. One or two cats stretched their claws into the lion's mouth, trying desperately to get the small stone ball out, but they couldn't get the small stone ball out no matter how hard they tried.
“Meow!”
"Meow--"
"Meow meow meow meow!"
Several cute little kittens kept calling out, the sounds coming one after another, and soon attracted a few more of the same kind.
Zhang Ling had a sudden inspiration, his mind moved slightly, and his pair of Dharma eyes opened. He couldn't help but be stunned and surprised.
These kittens in front of me actually have abundant spiritual energy, they are not ordinary creatures!
Looking in all directions and up to the sky above, one can see that the energy of wealth is being absorbed by the treasure lion and these exquisite cats. It seems that they all have the ability to gather wealth and bring good luck.
The young man in blue clothes immediately thought of something and carefully observed the kitten beside the treasure lion: Could it be a lucky cat?
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