At noon, the sun shone through the three wishing trees in the side courtyard of the temple, casting a few spots of light on the bluestone slabs. When the wind blew, the shadows of the leaves swayed gently, softening the faint sandalwood fragrance.
Mr. Zhao was taking a nap on a bamboo lounge chair in the middle of the courtyard, with a small blue blanket draped over him.
He was sleeping soundly, with the corners of his mouth slightly open. Even the sound of footsteps at the gate startled the sparrows on the armrest of the recliner and then he slowly opened his eyes.
The old man narrowed his eyes, first seeing Gu Ximan jumping in her pink skirt, then seeing Luo Shuhe holding Luo Shuning's arm, and finally his gaze fell behind them - Gu Luo bent down slightly, holding a slender hand in his palm, and the person holding that hand was wearing a light apricot dress, walking steadily on the bluestone slabs towards the inside.
It turned out to be... Tang Xiaoxiao?!
Mr. Zhao's eyes suddenly widened.
He almost jumped up from the recliner, not even bothering to pick up the blue blanket that had fallen to the ground. He staggered across the hall, the toes of his shoes making a rustling sound as they scraped against the bluestone slabs.
When he reached Tang Xiaoxiao, he first squatted down, his skinny fingers hovering beside her legs, but he didn't touch them. He just stared at those legs - the calves exposed under the skirt had well-proportioned lines, and the ankles were slender. When she stepped on the ground, she landed her heels first, then the soles of her feet, just like when she entered the yard just now. Her movements were so natural as if she had walked through it a thousand times before, and there was no sign of her sitting in a wheelchair half a lifetime ago.
It's unreasonable, it's totally unreasonable.
“Strange… Really strange…”
Old Master Zhao muttered to himself, then stood up again. His gaze moved from Tang Xiaoxiao's legs to her face, and then swept across her steady standing posture. His hand unconsciously scratched the top of his head, making her gray hair a little messy.
He was almost eighty years old and had seen a lot of birth, old age, sickness and death, but he had never seen anything like this - he was still in a wheelchair praying for a child yesterday, but in just one night, he was able to walk so steadily.
After scratching his head for a while, the old man suddenly turned around and looked at Gu Luo, his eyes were a little suspicious, and even his voice was a little trembling:
"You kid...are you bringing your sisters to play a trick on an old man like me?"
He guarded this temple all his life, and although he also prayed for people, he always believed in science in his heart - how could vague metaphysics be as effective as practical medicine?
This sudden improvement is hard to believe.
Gu Luo looked at the old man with a look of "Don't lie to me" on his face, and was immediately at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He gently patted the back of Tang Xiaoxiao's hand, then carefully considered his tone and said seriously:
"Grandpa Zhao, this isn't an act. Yesterday we came here to pray for Xiaoxiao to stand up, and now our prayers have been answered. This is a miracle."
He deliberately emphasized the words "prayer" and "miraculous" - it was indeed difficult to explain scientifically how Tang Xiaoxiao could stand up again. Now that he was making it known through the incense in the temple, it not only fulfilled everyone's wishes, but also did not waste the piety of the whole courtyard. He couldn't let the Buddha receive the incense in vain.
“Is it really…really effective?”
Old Master Zhao stared into Gu Luo's eyes and saw that he looked frank and had no intention of joking. He then looked down at Tang Xiaoxiao - the little girl always had a smile on her lips, her eyes sparkling, and she nodded slightly, proving that this was a miracle.
The old man finally believed it, exclaiming in amazement and clapping his hands on his thighs: "Great, great, great! Great, great, great! I've been guarding this temple for dozens of days, and this is the first time I've seen such a powerful effect! Come on, come on, let's burn incense and fulfill our vows!"
He said "good" nine times in a row, then turned around and walked briskly towards the hall, much more steadily than when he rushed over just now, and kept muttering to himself: "I must thank the Buddha very much, I must thank him very much..."
The incense in the hall was still burning, and the blue smoke was wafting towards the skylight. In the old incense burner on the table, the newly inserted incense sticks were still sparking.
Mr. Zhao took out a bundle of new incense sticks from under the incense table, lit them himself, and handed them to Tang Xiaoxiao's hand. The sparks on the incense sticks swayed gently, and the warm breath fanned Tang Xiaoxiao's fingertips.
She held the incense in both hands, her fingertips trembling slightly, but she held the incense steadily, and imitated Gu Luo'er's previous behavior, bowing three times to the Buddha statue.
Others also received incense.
Tang Xiaoxiao still held the incense in her hands as she slowly knelt on the mat - the mat was old, the surface was worn a little thin, but it was very soft.
She first gently placed the incense beside the incense table, then supported her hands on her knees, leaned forward slightly, and kowtowed with her forehead towards the Buddha statue.
One, two, three times, each time with great force, there was a slight "dong" sound when the forehead hit the ground.
When she raised her head, her delicate forehead had already turned red, but there was no pain in Tang Xiaoxiao's eyes, only full of gratitude, with tears sliding down her cheeks.
Gu Luo stood aside, looking at her red forehead, and felt completely relieved.
Finally, everything is fine.
Everyone believed that this was the Buddha's manifestation.
Gu Ximan quietly tugged at the corner of Luo Shuhe's clothes, her eyes reddened, but she didn't dare to make a sound, for fear of disturbing his piety.
Lu Xuexue held Luo Shuling's shoulders and gently wiped the corners of her eyes with her fingers; Luo Shuhe stood the most steadily, but he also clenched his fists slightly, looking at Tang Xiaoxiao's back, a relieved smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
Old Master Zhao looked at this scene with great emotion in his heart. He stepped aside, picked up the broom in the corner, and gently swept the incense ash under the incense table. His movements were much slower than usual.
The sunlight filtered through the skylight and fell right on Tang Xiaoxiao, lengthening her shadow and making the incense stick in her hand shine.
The incense burned brightly, with curls of green smoke rising up, as if sending all the people's wishes to the Buddha statue and also firmly engraving this sudden miracle in the hall filled with sandalwood.
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