Stone Statue Makes a Wish
"Did Senior Brother marry this confidante?"
Lan Zhuochi whispered in her ear, "A confidante is a close female friend of a man, someone with whom he knows someone intimately and has deep affection. It's not a lover. Lan Qu is not married yet."
Yun Qique apologized awkwardly, "I'm sorry, Senior Brother Lanqu. Most of my understanding of confidantes comes from romance novels, so... my understanding of this meaning is a bit biased. Please don't blame me."
Lan Daotong said: "It's okay, I do love her, but her status means we can't get married like ordinary lovers."
"Brother Lanqu, the story says that love can overcome all difficulties. These shouldn't be the obstacles that prevent you from missing out on a good marriage."
"When I was young, I felt the same way as my junior sister: love can overcome any difficulty, but reality is not what we imagine. I didn't mind that she was a ghost, but she did. When I told her I wanted to marry her, she left me a letter and avoided me. It has been over ten years and three months since she disappeared from my life."
Upon hearing this, Yun Qique was as shocked as when he heard that Lan Zhuochi was a nine-tailed fox demon but the young master of the Lan family, the head demon catcher.
Yunqi Que said regretfully, "Does she mind that you're a fox demon?"
"Fox demon? Ah... that's pretty much it. Anyway, she believes that humans... demons and ghosts have different paths, and that marrying me would hinder my career and bring me many disadvantages and inconveniences. But I never thought so. That's why I changed my career to become a demon hunter. I tried to explain it to her, but she no longer wanted to see me."
Noticing the somewhat subdued atmosphere, Lan Qu tried to sound cheerful and relieved as he spoke, "It's alright, Junior Sister, don't feel sorry for me. I will never stop looking for her, even if I die."
Yunqi Que, who was always paying attention to the woman, keenly noticed that she kept looking back in their direction.
Logically speaking, with Mangosteen's ability to become invisible, she, who is not a powerful demon, should not be able to detect their presence.
"Brother Lanqu, what do you think this woman could be? A murderous corpse? A ghost? A wronged spirit?"
"I'm not entirely sure. I once saw a record about a vengeful woman in the notes left by my ancestor. There wasn't much information, but I only knew that the vengeful woman my ancestor encountered was a fierce ghost controlled by sorcery, with deep resentment. The specific record was torn out in half, so I can't tell what happened.
Lan Qu pointed forward and said, "We're here."
The low, slippery cave in front of me was only two people tall. A broken, old wooden board hung on the ceiling, with the words "Boy Bodhisattva Temple" carved on it.
The cave is only deep enough to accommodate the statue of the boy Bodhisattva and the incense burner. Vines hang down and moss grows everywhere.
The stone statue of the Boy Bodhisattva was exactly the same as the image sent back by Hua Chong, except that the stone statue of the Boy Bodhisattva in front of him was carved with a face of a boy with closed eyes and laughing.
All that was left in the incense burner were the blackened, rotten incense sticks, and the offering plates on the altar were empty, but as clean as new.
The woman stands in front of the Bodhisattva Boy, forms the Tai Chi Yin-Yang seal with her hands, raises them to the height of her eyebrows, bows and clasps her hands in front of her abdomen, and bows from bottom to top, covering her heart with her left hand and pressing her right hand down to the center of the prayer mat. She kneels on both knees, covers the back of her right hand with her left hand to form a cross, and lightly touches the back of her hand with her forehead three times.
After finishing the ceremony, she stood up, put her left hand back in front of her chest, supported herself with her right hand, and raised her hands to her forehead in the Tai Chi seal again.
After repeating the three bows three times, the woman slowly turned her head, and her dull eyes fell accurately on Lan Qu.
The woman opened her mouth to speak but her voice was mute, her face showing pain and sorrow.
Yunqi Que confirmed again and asked Lan Tonglu, "Brother, what did her gesture just now mean?"
"She just bowed once and kowtowed three times. Taoist kneeling rites are divided into one bow and three kowtows and three bows and nine kowtows. One bow and three kowtows is the most common etiquette, while three bows and nine kowtows is the highest etiquette. The Tai Chi Yin-Yang Seal symbolizes the promotion of good and the concealment of evil..."
When Lan Qu explained to her, his eyes were looking at the resentful woman.
"It seems that Senior Brother Lan Qu has found a confidante."
He turned to look at Yunqi Que in shock, then looked at Lanzhuo Chi in fear and panic, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
"Young Master, I promise not to let personal interests take precedence over public ones. I didn't intentionally hide anything. I didn't know about it beforehand, and I can't completely confirm it was her now."
Lan Zhuochi said: "I believe you won't."
"Thank you, young master." Lan Qu turned to Yun Qi Que and asked, "How did you guess that?"
"If you weren't equally versed in opera, and only vaguely remembered what your confidante said ten years ago, you could clearly explain the meaning of her lead-in lyrics, even detailing the specific words used. Perhaps you truly are a genius, able to instantly parse the meaning after hearing it once. Your explanation of her salute gesture can be considered a reflection of your prior understanding of Taoism. However, your last sentence, about the Tai Chi Yin-Yang Seal symbolizing the promotion of good and the concealment of evil, was off-key, as was the tone and the way you looked at her. Furthermore, the reason she could accurately look at you, even though you were invisible, must lie somewhere in your past and hers. She seems to have recognized you, Lan Qu. If you miss this opportunity, there might not be another decade."
Lan Qu glanced at Lan Zhuochi, and after receiving his nod of approval, he sang to the woman: "The setting sun dyes the long pavilion road, the wild geese cry mournfully around the dead trees. Ten years have passed since we parted, and now when we meet again, I see your brows furrowed..."
The melody of his opera was somewhat similar to the first part of the song "The Resentful Woman Leads the Way".
The woman was stunned for a long time before she started to make the gestures of singing opera. She opened her mouth but no sound came out and could only make the corresponding lip movements with difficulty.
Lan Qu was already in tears, and following her movements, she sang the corresponding verse:
"You thought my heart was as hard as a rock, with nowhere to go, but how could you have known that my sleeves were soaked with tears every night. I endured a thousand hardships and difficulties, all for you. However, rumors were like blades, shattering everything I had in mind."
Yun Qique inappropriately covered his mouth and whispered, "How can you be sure she's the one you're looking for if you help her sing? She's well-versed in opera, so how could she not know the movements of classic opera scenes? If she improvises the movements based on the lyrics and music you sing, I'm afraid she'll probably get most of them right."
"This is the music and lyrics that Yueya composed all by herself, and the movements are also choreographed by Yueya. She really didn't make any mistakes in the dance. She seems... really is my Yueya."
Lan Qu's voice was trembling with tears, and the tears and heartache that he could not hold back were about to overflow.
"Be careful."
Lan Zhuochi took out a peach-colored demon-summoning talisman from the lining of his sleeve and summoned a moth with long green wings to fly towards the woman.
The woman did not dodge and let the moth stay on her lips.
When she opened her mouth again, she could sing.
"Stay, pause, and listen to me tell you about our past. It's not that I'm heartless and let you down, it's that the dark clouds obscuring the moon make it hard for us to see each other. For whom did the frost and snow fall on my temples? For whom did the calluses on my palms form? If you still remember our first meeting, don't let longing become a mistake again. Let's drink this reunion wine again and go back the way we came."
After the song, the woman suddenly collapsed to the ground, curled up in agony, her skin breaking into small pieces and peeling off, revealing decayed flesh and bones. The flesh that fell off the grass was bloodless, while the flesh on the bloody side was black.
"She is my Crescent Moon!"
Lan Zhuochi restrained the collapsed Lan Qu, "Calm down! There are precedents of monsters stealing memories and confusing people! Look carefully! In the cave behind her, the eyes of the Bodhisattva boy are half-closed and open! If you want the crescent moon, you have to be dead! Such a sinister thing! If you die in his hands and your soul is scattered, don't even think about living together in the afterlife!"
Lan Qu, now somewhat rational, covered his mouth and cried bitterly, not daring to make any loud noise. He looked at Lan Zhuochi for help, "What if she is really my Yueya? What if she... is really my Yueya? Young Master, help me, please."
"Yueya is a ghost! Not the resentful woman in front of me!"
"Yueya is no ordinary ghost, she's a vengeful woman! I've known this secret for a long time! I rebelled against my master and abandoned half a lifetime of learning because I couldn't abide by the sect's rules and use all my life's knowledge to get rid of my lover! I'm sorry... Young Master, I was just afraid that if the secret of her being a vengeful woman were to be leaked, she would be captured and studied, so I kept it from you."
The Bodhisattva Boy jumped out of the cave and came to the side of the resentful woman. He lay straight on his side and met her eyes.
She immediately quieted down and stopped wailing.
The Bodhisattva Boy stood up and then turned to face them.
Lan Zhuochi quickly held down Yunqi Que and Lan Qu's heads and looked down, "Close your eyes! Don't look at it!"
The tender voices that belong only to children came from all directions of the bayberry forest.
"My devout believer, tell me your deepest desire and let me fulfill it for you."
The Bodhisattva Boy jumped in front of Lanqu and asked, "Do you want to reunite with your Yueya and marry her?"
He waved the stone lotus in his hand, and the stone wall fell off, revealing a bunch of fresh lotus flowers inside. The dewdrops that were thrown out splashed accurately onto Lan Qu.
A light pink mist drifted out of the bayberry forest, obscuring the view. The rich fragrance of lotus flowers filled the air. A joyful song of "A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" started by suona sounded. The crescent moon, which had been completely disfigured just now, had returned to the delicate face of a normal woman. She was wearing a phoenix crown and a bridal robe and was standing where she fell.
Yueya smiled brightly, her eyes filled with unbelievable joy. "Come back to me, Lanqu."
Lan Qu couldn't help but raised his head.
He was instantly confused, struggled hard to break free from Lan Zhuo Chi's restraints, and strode towards Yueya.
The moment he hugged Yueya, he also put on wedding clothes.
"Yueya, I never want to be separated from you again. I've been waiting ten years for this. I don't care about the differences between humans and ghosts, and I don't want to be a celestial master. I just want to be with you. Even if I have to give up all my reputation and power, I will return to your hometown with you and marry you in the afterlife. If you think the differences between humans and ghosts are an unbridgeable gap, then I will follow you and commit suicide for love."
Lan Zhuochi hugged Yunqi Que tightly and used her body and sleeves to shield the Bodhisattva Boy from her.
With his eyes closed, he instructed: "Aque, don't open your eyes, don't look at it, don't be fooled by it."
The Bodhisattva Boy said, "Do you want to go back to the way things were before Yun Jinglu? What a coincidence! The young man who found me before you did, brought me a satisfactory tribute, just to ask for my sister to change her mind and clear up the misunderstanding. His name is also Yun Jinglu."
Lan Zhuochi fumbled and covered her ears, "Don't believe it, don't believe it, he lied to you. When we went down the mountain, I didn't let you see the carriage that Yun Jinglu took to Canghua Mountain. He won't appear in Yangmei Village."
The Boy Bodhisattva controlled the vines and threw the dying and scarred Yun Jinglu at her feet.
"Qi Que..."
It’s Yun Jinglu’s voice!
Judging from the sound, he must have been seriously injured and very weak.
Yun Qique immediately tried to push Lan Zhuochi away, but he pushed her head back with force. While pushing and struggling, she saw Yun Jinglu's face with many bloody cuts in her peripheral vision.
In a panic, Lan Zhuochi shouted, "Yun Jinglu can't possibly find you! It's all fake! Qi Que, calm down!"
"Of course you think Yun Jinglu can't find her. After all, you were the one hiding her whereabouts. Stubborn young man, you want to have her all to yourself. As long as you open your eyes and kneel down to me devoutly, I will fulfill your wish."
After a pause, he said to Yunqi Que, "How pitiful! He spent half his life to find you, but you don't want him anymore. You won't even look at him."
The words of the Boy Bodhisattva were extremely confusing, and Yunqi Que was slightly calmed down by Lan Zhuochi's roar.
"It's fake, it's all fake... I won't believe the illusion you created!"
His lips were almost pressed against her ear, and in a voice only the two of them could hear, he said, "Remember, Aque, you must not open your eyes to look at the stone statue under any circumstances. I must let you go so I can use the magic formula to deal with it."
"good."
"I let go of Aque."
Yunqi Que covered his eyes tightly, put aside all doubts, and firmly believed in Lan Zhuochi. He kept repeating the three words "don't open your eyes" in his mouth to steady his mind and resist the extremely tempting words of the boy Bodhisattva.
Unable to open his eyes, Lan Zhuochi could only listen to the sound to determine its location. He deliberately provoked it and said, "You are nothing but a monster who claims to be a god! Don't even think about bewitching us!"
"Everyone calls me a Bodhisattva, so I am a Bodhisattva."
The boy Bodhisattva's voice did not sound angry at all, but very calm.
After roughly determining the direction by the sound, he quickly sent ten explosive talismans towards the stone statue of the Boy Bodhisattva.
Surprisingly, all ten blasting talismans were stuck on the stone statue accurately.
"jump!"
There were several deafening explosions in succession, and the Boy Bodhisattva was blown to pieces, with the sound of rocks falling to the ground.
Lan Zhuochi took out the purification talisman that had been stuck on his belt in advance, pinched his fingers and chanted a spell, and stuck them on his solar plexus, then opened his eyes.
Fortunately, the stone statue of the child Bodhisattva was indeed broken into several pieces, and Yueya recovered her skin and flesh and lay quietly in the arms of the collapsed Lan Qu like a dead person.
But, everything went too smoothly.
Somewhat worried, he placed a purification talisman on everyone's sun acupoints, including the resentful girl Yueya.
"This talisman will disappear in an instant after it takes effect. If it appears again, you must close your eyes immediately."
After instructing a few people, he gently took away Yun Qique's hands that were covering her eyes, "Qique, you can open your eyes now."
She nervously squinted her eyes and looked around vigilantly before opening them completely.
"Alu!"
Yun Qique squatted down to check Yun Jinglu's injuries and found that they were just some minor scratches with not much blood. She was relieved that there were no fatal injuries.
"Alu, is it really you?"
The dying Yun Jinglu put his hand on his chest with great effort, "I brought the indenture contract with me. It can prove that I am real."
He coughed violently a few times and used all his strength to hold her wrist tightly. "A Que, there's no such thing as going back to the beginning. I've always treated you... just like when we first met."
Until he fell into coma, he never relaxed his grip on the wrist.
"Alu! Don't sleep, don't sleep, wake up!"
The stone fragments scattered on the grass kept shaking, attracting and merging with each other, and finally pieced together a complete statue of a child Bodhisattva, so complete that not even a crack was visible.
Several people kept in mind what Lan Zhuochi had said before and quickly closed their eyes. Lan Qu and Yun Qique almost simultaneously covered the eyes of the people they cared about, even though they were already unconscious, for fear that they might wake up.
"Yun Qi Que, they all want you, but I can't tear you in half and divide you equally, right? How about you choose between Lan Zhuo Chi and Yun Jing Lu? You can only have one, but you have to give me that beautiful jade hairpin. Otherwise, no one will survive!"
After saying this, the Child Bodhisattva came to her side silently, grabbed her wrist forcefully, and before anyone could react, the Child Bodhisattva Temple and the crescent moon disappeared without a trace.
Yunqi Que screamed in pain. When they opened their eyes again, they saw a black line mark of a miniature version of the stone statue appearing on the wrist of Yunqi Que where the stone statue of the child Bodhisattva had held her.
"What's this!"
She rubbed the stone statue's mark vigorously, her skin turning red, but it only became more pronounced and dazzling. Yunqi Que looked at it and felt it swaying, grinning at her, which made her extremely repulsive and disgusted.
Lan Zhuochi tore off a piece of the lining of his robe, stopped her, and wrapped the cloth around her wrist to temporarily cover the mark.
"Don't be afraid, I will definitely find a way to remove it."
The obscured stone statue no longer smiled at her, but the voice of the Bodhisattva Boy continued to whisper softly in her ear, "You can only have one of Lan Zhuochi and Yun Jinglu, but you have to give me that beautiful jade hairpin. Otherwise, neither of us will survive!"
Its noise gave her a headache and made her even more scared. With this mark on her wrist, she had an unshakable feeling that it was watching her everywhere.
She rubbed her hair in frustration and anger and shouted angrily, "It's so noisy! It's so noisy! Lan Zhuochi, it's so noisy!"
"Aque, calm down. Do you remember the Calming Heart Technique I taught you?"
"Remember."
Yunqi Que sat cross-legged, calmed down, steadyed his mind, concentrated his energy into his dantian, and used the meditation technique he had taught him to suppress its noisy and murmuring voice.
After she suppressed its voice, Lan Zhuochi forced Lan Qu to take Yueya home first.
Without waiting for her to speak, Lan Zhuochi carried Yun Jinglu on his shoulders. When they set off, he did not forget to use his free hand to hold Yun Qique's hand, so that she would not be afraid.
Mangzhu walked very quickly and in no time, he brought them back to the house assigned to them by the village chief.
After throwing Yun Jinglu on the bed in the empty room, Yun Qique began to treat his wounds gently and carefully, with such light force that it seemed as if he was wiping a treasure that would break at the slightest touch.
He stood behind her for a long time, but she acted as if she didn't notice his presence and was completely focused on Yun Jinglu.
Lan Zhuochi looked at her, not only with jealousy, but more importantly, with the panic of fear that the truth he had hidden and the lies he had woven would be exposed and he would lose her again.
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