Chapter 63: Yunshui River Prequel: The Plague is Coming...
“Why are there so many people burning incense at Hexian Temple every day?” I couldn’t help but ask while eating.
There are only these people in Yunshui Village. They come here to burn incense every day but do nothing to produce anything. How do they make a living?
Yun Qiao smiled and said, "The villagers have received the grace of Goddess Yunshui, so naturally they should offer their sincere worship to her."
I put down my chopsticks and looked at him. "What kind of favor is it?"
Yun Qiao was slightly surprised. "Isn't the elixir enough?"
I pressed on, "Spiritual medicine is certainly good. But there's no plague right now. Where exactly is the so-called spiritual medicine? You can't just go and ask for medicine for a headache or a fever, right? Why bother with Lady Yunshui for something that can be cured with just ordinary herbs?" I stared at him, my tone serious, "Yun Qiao, have you ever gone and asked for medicine yourself?"
Yun Qiao's eyes were dazed for a moment, and then he quickly shook his head: "I'm not sick, why do I need medicine?"
"So, you have never seen Lady Yunshui?" Little Lotus suddenly interrupted.
Yun Qiao nodded, his tone calm, "Yes, I haven't seen it. But most people in Yunshui Village haven't seen it either."
I looked at him in surprise. The person seeking medicine had never met Lady Yunshui? This didn't seem to make sense.
Yun Qiao said, "In fact, the miraculous medicine appears on the altar every morning, wrapped in red paper. No one has ever seen the goddess appear in person, but the medicine has never stopped coming over the years, and it is indeed effective."
He paused, his voice lowered. "The older generation said that Yunshui Niangniang is a river spirit, unwilling to reveal her true face, only using her compassion to help the world. Therefore, we should be in awe of her and avoid making unwarranted assumptions."
Little Lotus suddenly spoke softly, "What if one day the medicine no longer appears?"
Yun Qiao was stunned when he heard this, and opened his mouth, but said nothing.
However, I was stunned by Yun Qiao's words. I thought people who sought medicine went to the Yunshui River, and if the Yunshui Goddess agreed to give them the medicine, she would simply appear and give them the scales... So that's not the case?
But on closer thought, it seemed natural. Since there was a Hexian Temple, it was natural to pray for medicine while offering incense. Although Yunshui Niangniang was physically located in the Yunshui River, since a statue had been built and offerings were made to her, she naturally had a connection with the statue.
I couldn't help but slap my head. How could I have assumed they were seeking medicine by the riverbank? Ugh. Stereotypes are a bad thing!
"Everything is limited. Even if Lady Yunshui has elixirs, they are limited. How can there be an inexhaustible supply of elixirs?"
Won’t the scales be gone once they are used up?
Yun Qiao fell silent, then he said calmly, "I understand. I will persuade the villagers not to ask for medicine anymore!"
I:……
I think you're going to get beaten.
Yun Qiao didn't know what he was thinking about, but as if he had made a decision, he stood up and left the cafeteria.
"Why is he so naive?" I complained to Xiao Lianhua.
Little Lotus ate a piece of tofu and said calmly, "Not necessarily."
"Hmm? What do you mean?" I raised my eyebrows.
"He never sought medicine, nor did he meet the Goddess of Cloud and Water, yet he was extremely devout to her."
I interrupted him, "That's just respect for the gods, all humans are like that." If there is any disrespect, then we will have to wait like Fengxian County, waiting for the chickens to eat the rice, the dogs to lick the noodles, and the fire to burn through the lock.
Little Lotus seemed unhappy with my excuses for Yun Qiao, and her tone became a little more intense.
“But his reverence made him light a strange incense towards the statue of Goddess Yunshui.”
Um?
Strange fragrance?
I was about to ask more, but I saw Little Lotus's eyes narrow slightly, as if he were recalling something. He whispered, "I hadn't noticed it before because the temple was always filled with incense, and the strong smell of ordinary incense masked it. But when I entered the temple today, I clearly smelled a very unusual fragrance."
"That fragrance... is completely different from the incense used for ordinary offerings," he continued, his brows gradually furrowing. "Although it's faint, it seems to penetrate the soul... It's definitely not something that ordinary human incense can achieve. Moreover, it's difficult for ordinary people to distinguish."
I was puzzled. "Then you didn't notice it yesterday?"
Little Lotus shook her head, "The incense used at night is completely different from that used during the day.
"Why is that? Could it be because someone burned incense during the day?"
We haven't figured out where the plague in Yunshui Village came from, but there's a problem with the incense in Hexian Temple.
Yun Qiao is the only one who takes care of the Hexian Temple, and he is the only one who knows about this incense.
"You said you believed him this morning."
Little Lotus glanced at me and said, "I didn't say that."
"You lied, you said it!"
He suddenly smiled and said, "Then tell me, what did I say?"
"You said..." I was speechless for a moment. It seemed like he really didn't say that. When I asked him, he asked me if I believed him... Damn it! I got tricked!
After dinner, we didn't bother to clean up and immediately decided to go find Yun Qiao to ask for clarification. The strange fragrance seemed strange, and it was connected to him. Furthermore, the source of the village plague was unknown, and all the clues seemed to point to the Hexian Temple, which was always shrouded in smoke.
Yun Qiao was nowhere to be seen around the temple. After asking the villagers, we learned he had hurried to the west end of the village. We followed that direction and, sure enough, spotted him outside a simple courtyard. He was standing at the gate, whispering something to a worried old woman.
Yun Qiao was slightly surprised to see us, but then his expression became heavy. "Why are you here?"
"I have something to ask you." I looked towards the yard. "What's going on here?"
Yun Qiao sighed, "It was Li the peddler from the west end of the village. I don't know why, but he suddenly fell ill. He has a fever all over his body and a persistent cough. He took medicine from town for a few days, but it didn't help. Instead, his condition got worse. I was just about to come and tell the villagers not to ask for medicine so easily, but then I ran into this..."
Xiao Lianhua and I looked at each other. Could it be that the Plague Lord has come?
By the way, Li the Peddler... I remember the first entry in the diary was about Li the Peddler being gone. Could it be that this Li the Peddler is the Li the Peddler in the diary?
By the way, who is writing this diary?
Little Lotus quickly stepped into the inner room and came out a moment later with a serious expression: "It's the plague."
Upon hearing this, the old woman's eyes rolled back and she collapsed. Yun Qiao hurriedly supported her. Glancing at the seriously ill peddler Li inside, fearing the old woman might catch the disease, he lifted her up on his back and said, "I'll take Aunt Li to the temple first. I have to inform the villagers immediately!"
After saying that, he walked away quickly with the person on his back, and his figure quickly disappeared around the corner of the village road.
He can run so fast while carrying someone on his back...
"If this peddler Li is the person mentioned in the diary, he must have died on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It's still early for that time." However, the premise is that "he was fine a few days ago, but not today." Judging from his current situation, it doesn't seem like he's "fine."
Little Lotus's expression was cold: "This plague... doesn't seem to be caused by poisoning."
I gently pulled his sleeve. "Even if it was poison, it would have been planted by the time we arrived."
On my way back to Yunshui River, I suddenly thought of a question that I had ignored for a long time.
"You asked Yun Qiao if everyone in Yunshui Village had the surname Yun. He replied that Yunshui Village was built along the river, so naturally everyone had the surname Yun."
Little Lotus's silent eyes suddenly lit up.
"But neither Li the peddler nor the people who appear in the diary have the surname Yun."
"How true are Yun Qiao's words?"
Then, at the foot of the mountain path, we split up again. Little Lotus went to secretly investigate Yun Qiao, while I went to ask Yunshui Niangniang Liancan. Did he know Yun Qiao? Logically, Yun Qiao was the keeper of the Hexian Temple, so Liancan should have known him.
But when I arrived at the Yunshui River, I asked Liancan, and found out that Yunqiao had asked him for medicine last night.
"Are you saying that Yun Qiao asked you for medicine last night?" I asked, staring at Lian Can.
Liancan was startled by me and nodded, "Yes, he asked me for medicine at the temple last night. I listened to you and didn't agree."
"What's wrong with him?"
Liancan thought for a moment and shook his head. "I don't know. He didn't look sick, so I refused. What's wrong with him?"
I said to her, "Not a single word Yun Qiao said is true. Let me ask you, is everyone in Yunshui Village surnamed Yun?"
Lian Can laughed when he heard this, "How is that possible? Yunshui Village used to have the surname Yun, but later on, when outsiders moved here, it became more than just the surname Yun."
In the past... I was a little skeptical about how many years Yunshui Village had existed?
So I asked Lady Yunshui, "Which came first, you or Yunshui Village?"
"The village should have existed first. It has existed as far as I can remember, and at that time everyone in the village had the surname Yun," said Lian Can.
To be honest, after going through so many things and my brain is not very good, I have some guesses about the current situation.
I suspect there is something wrong with Yun Qiao himself.
First, the incense at Hexian Temple during the day is different from that at night. Secondly, Yunqiao was clearly more respectful of us during the day, but last night he seemed less approachable—which makes sense since Little Lotus revealed our identities. Then there's the part about him saying last night that everyone in Yunshui Village has the surname Yun. His expression remained the same when he mentioned the peddler Li today, and now Liancan is telling me it was Yunqiao who asked for medicine last night...
I told Lady Yunshui, "Li the peddler at the west end of the village has been infected with the plague. It won't be long before the entire village is infected. Be prepared..."
Lady Yunshui was stunned.
I looked at him deeply, then turned and headed towards Ha Tien Temple.
I'm actually not sure if Yunshui Village can be changed. When we first learned about Yunshui Village's past, we did consider changing the past to appease Ah Mei's resentment. But now, I really doubt whether history can be changed. Because to this day, history hasn't changed; the plague still reached the village.
I'd never really thought about the butterfly effect before. It was so mythical, there was no point in discussing it. But now, I have to wonder: when we start discussing changing Yunshui Village's fate, has its fate already been changed?
This question is too difficult.
I met Xiao Lianhua in the main hall. He was looking up at the statue of Yunshui Niangniang.
Incense is burning in the incense burner on the altar.
"Where's Yun Qiao?"
"He went to inform the villagers."
I told him that there was something wrong with Yun Qiao.
Little Lotus pinched a stick of incense in the incense burner with two fingers and said to me, "There's something wrong with this incense."
"The plague comes from this incense."
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