Wandering Gods of Day and Night-Chapter 91 - 88 Dream in the Book

Zhou Xuan, disregarding the surprised looks from the guests, walked up to the sixth table and continued his storytelling.

"This gentleman is not abiding by the rules," Huang Jiu was somewhat annoyed. It was his mother’s birthday celebration, and all guests were watching; this kind of fooling around was a loss of face for the Huang Family, wasn’t it?

"What rules are there to talk about? If we were talking about rules, we yellow-skinned ones shouldn’t be preaching Buddhist and Taoist teachings here either."

After Lady Lianhua scolded her son, she said, "Look how happy the youngsters are. As long as they are happy, the storyteller is a good storyteller. Listen carefully now."

"Um!" Huang Jiu nodded.

"As for the White-Browed Hero Xu Liang, truly intelligent, he developed this set of boxing techniques called the Eight-Step Toad Technique, which, when carried out, never fails... Take the first move, for instance, called ’Iron Crutch Li Flipping Down the Heavenly Ladder.’"

The little yellow-skinned ones were wholly captivated, when suddenly, they heard a "snap" of the gavel.

Instantly, their surroundings were no longer the banquet scene but inside a Daoist Temple, with a signboard over the entrance that bore three large characters—Jiuhe Palace!

The episode of the story Zhou Xuan was telling recounted the tale of Xu Liang competing in martial arts against the ’Three Absolutes of the North’ inside Jiuhe Palace.

"Snap!"

Zhou Xuan rang the gavel again, invoking the storyteller’s Four Pillars of Incense technique—Dream Generation, creating an illusion of fantasy.

The little yellow-skinned ones then saw, in Jiuhe Palace, an old Taoist and a young man with white eyebrows, wearing a white robe, carrying a large saber on his back with the edge pierced with holes, stringing nine iron rings.

"White-Browed Xu Liang."

Each of the little yellow-skinned ones was thrilled to the core, scrambling down from their seats to gather around "Xu Liang."

"Snap!"

With three rings of the gavel, the scene changed once again.

In the Jiuhe Palace, Xu Liang’s figure descended from the sky, his right leg extended straight, stepping down towards the old Taoist’s head, with his Golden Silk Big Ring Saber rattling ominously in the background.

"Sister, it’s the Golden Silk Big Ring Saber!"

"So it turns out Xu Liang looks this handsome."

"This ’Iron Crutch Li Flipping Down the Heavenly Ladder’ light body technique is so suave."

The little yellow-skinned ones turned into Xu Liang’s little followers, dancing with joy, hands and feet lively within the dream Zhou Xuan conjured.

Zhou Xuan watched with delight as well; he still remembered the first time he saw a 3D movie when a butterfly emerged from the screen and flew to his face, and he was so excited that he reached out to grab it while exclaiming with joy.

The purest of joys.

"Snap!"

With four rings of the gavel, the dream vision dissipated.

Zhou Xuan returned to the stage, continuing his storytelling. The little yellow-skinned ones looked at him with eyes full of admiration and worship. What a good storyteller he was, not only able to tell captivating stories but also able to display the characters from the stories through dreams.

Although it was just a few short scenes, it satisfied the strong desire of the little yellow-skinned ones to see the White-Browed Hero.

"Good sir, good sir, my birthday is coming, and I will offer half of my family fortune to invite the sir to tell another story."

"Half your family fortune is like having none... But as your elder brother, I can lend you the money to invite the sir to tell a story."

Zhou Xuan was at a loss for words; the performance was not over yet, and the tickets for the next one were already sold.

If the little yellow-skinned ones’ admiration for Zhou Xuan was a childlike pursuit of happiness,

For Lady Lianhua, it was pure astonishment.

The range of Zhou Xuan’s Dream Generation was only ten meters in radius. When he conjured the dream at the sixth table, the dream vision could not envelop Lady Lianhua in the corner.

The Lady saw her great-grandchildren suddenly become excited, then shouting "ao ao" at thin air, calling out for Xu Liang, she thought they were bewitched, but soon, she realized it was the storyteller’s technique "Dream Generation."

She smiled and said to Huang Jiu, "This storyteller is interesting, to use techniques to tell the story..."

Before she could finish her sentence, she saw her great-grandchildren shout "Iron Crutch Li Flipping Down the Heavenly Ladder," indicating that the vision in the dream had changed. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

"Could it be the storyteller’s technique Four Pillars of Incense—Dream Generation?!"

Lady Lianhua was no longer reclining but had sat up halfway, which was a sign of respect for Zhou Xuan’s Incense Fire Level.

In her heart, Zhou Xuan was at least at the level of Four Pillars of Incense, perhaps even more.

"A young Four Pillars of Incense storyteller, hard to find in all four prefectures."

Before reaching the level of Three Incense, a storyteller had to be very weak, and accumulating incense fire required making a name for oneself with storytelling skills — rising through the ranks was extremely difficult.

Without exceptional talent, opportunity, and character, it was impossible to climb high, especially at such a young age.

"Child, you have not gone about this the right way, the gifts prepared are too meager," Lady Lianhua reminded Huang Jiu.

"..." Huang Jiu.

"Replace the pearls with a white jade sachet," Lady Lianhua instructed.

"Wouldn’t that gift be too generous?" Huang Jiu was a bit reluctant.

"Not at all lavish. A Four Pillars of Incense storyteller is blessing my birthday with his story, which is already a fortune. This Young Master is even willing to let go of his pride, disregard the storyteller’s rules, all to entertain the great-grandchildren; that is his gift!

He has given respect first, we shall reciprocate after, so that there’s an exchange of courtesies," explained Lady Lianhua.

Now understanding, Huang Jiu replied, "Mother teaches right, your son was short-sighted."

"Go ahead, even though I don’t really enjoy the story the sir is telling, I’ll listen attentively anyway."

Lady Lianhua continued listening to the story,

Zhou Xuan finished telling "The White-Browed Hero" as he had prepared, and with a clap of the gavel, the audience burst into applause. However, the atmosphere among the guests in the yard was not as enthusiastic as that of the Zhou Family’s Troupe.

Starting from the beginning as opposed to picking a scene midway through naturally leads to a different level of excitement.

But the little yellow-skinned kids at table six, standing on their stools and cheering loudly, were much more excited than when they listened to storytelling at the Zhou Family’s Troupe.

Seeing their excitement, Zhou Xuan knew that his rendition of "The White-Browed Hero" had been a success,

and what’s left was the storytelling session about Lady Lianhua.

Zhou Xuan reached out, smoothed the cloth on the table, and opened his folded fan, saying with a smile: "It is said, storytelling and opera advise people well, follow the main road in all three paths. Good and evil will eventually be repaid, the path of righteousness is the vicissitudes of life!

Just now, I told a lively tale, but although it may seem boisterous, within it lies martial heroism and moral justice, which captivate our hearts and guide our actions.

But today, here in the Lotus Temple, it is insufficient to only speak of martial heroism. Since I, Zhou Xuan, do not understand the teachings and traditions of the Buddhist, I can only boldly tell you all a short tale about Buddha—titled ’Water Buddha.’"

Upon hearing it was related to Buddha, Lady Lianhua sat up even straighter. For someone of her stature, it was an arduous effort to do so, but after Huang Jiu placed four porcelain pillows behind her mother’s back, she became much more comfortable.

"To tell you, in the southwest region, there is a local custom where villages are built adjacent to the water, and the roads leading out are naturally built alongside it.

One day, a gigantic fish demon carried a little girl on its back, attempting to take her to the water’s edge, but was discovered by the villagers.

At the same time, they saw two mutilated villager corpses floating on the water, torn and bleeding like blood-filled gourds, which led them to believe the fish demon intended to eat the child!

They first scared the fish demon away with harpoons and saved the little girl, then organized more villagers to chase and beat the fish demon.

These villagers were brave, and with several fishing boats they attacked, the fish demon was left with injuries all over its body, barely managing to escape."

With a knock of the gavel, Zhou Xuan fanned himself and lowered his voice like Yun Zheyue, as if narrating a tale of melancholy: "In truth, the fish demon was wronged. Those two villagers it had bitten to death were not villagers, but kidnappers who used the waterway to enter the village and traffic children.

The little girl was one they had abducted, and the fish demon was ’seeing injustice and drawing a sword to help,’ rescuing the child before them!"

At this point in the storytelling, Lady Lianhua felt a deep sorrow, feeling a kinship with the fish demon in the tale who, like her, was once beaten for saving people during a drought, their shared plight seeming tragically similar.

Her intuition was not wrong, indeed, the similarities were striking, after all, Zhou Xuan had tailored this story specifically for her.

At the Zhou Family’s Troupe, Zhou Xuan had heard about Lady Lianhua’s ordeal—how she aided famine victims during a century-long drought but was misunderstood by villagers due to her ugly appearance and was driven from Mingjiang Prefecture to Ping Shui Prefecture, then from Ping Shui to Guangyuan Prefecture...

Instinctively, he thought of the character Sha Wujing from "Journey to the West: Conquering Demons," who appeared as a fish demon at the start of the movie!

In the movie, the fish demon was originally a fine young man who saved children by the river but was mistaken for a child trafficker by the villagers, who beat him to death, and his body was thrown into the river to feed the fish. His unresolved resentment turned him into a malevolent fish demon.

Zhou Xuan altered the story to better align with Lady Lianhua’s experience, invoking the sentiment of "those reduced to the same sorry plight."

While practicing Face Reading, he could see the sorrow on her face, and he knew that this story was almost certainly a success.

The rest of the story then followed naturally,

Zhou Xuan first related two other stories of the fish demon attempting to save people but being chased and attacked instead, drawing enough sorrowful tears from Lady Lianhua.

At this point, the tale was drawing to a close.

"The Fish Demon always saved people and was always misunderstood. One day, a high monk from the eastern lands took her under his wing, intending to lead her onto the righteous path of Buddhism..."

Zhou Xuan got to this point and was about to continue when he noticed Lady Lianhua’s expression had become calm, neither joyous nor saddened. Did the tail end of the story about the high monk taking in the Fish Demon not quite appeal to her heart?

Where did the problem lie?

Zhou Xuan looked at her face again to read her features, seeing a look of confusion, different from the insightful and clear-eyed appearance of a serious monk.

He released his Perception to the utmost limit and read her features again. This time, her visage had changed. Lady Lianhua’s face had an aura of Buddha nature, but her expression was still one of confusion.

"Confusion but with Buddha nature, what does that suggest? Perhaps she herself is unclear about why she would have a Buddhist title?"

Saving so many people, why would she have a Buddhist title, and how could she not understand?

With confusion, Zhou Xuan glanced at the ugly lumps covering her body, as well as at the similar-looking lumps in some guests’ hands...

He figured it out—why could Lady Lianhua save so many disaster victims back then?

It’s likely because of the lumps on her body. They were her own lumps that she cut off to provide food for the disaster victims so that they could survive the famine.

But these lumps on her body must have been caused by congenital deformity and disease.

A person born with a congenital deformity, using the flesh from this disease to feed disaster victims, must have left a thorn in Lady Lianhua’s heart.

Perhaps she felt that this was not the luminous method of the Buddha, and that she herself did not deserve her current Buddhist title,

Or perhaps, she felt that she was born imperfect, not comparable to the beautiful Buddha idols in the temple. Feeling inferior, she also believed she did not deserve any Buddhist title.

Anyway, no matter how one speculates, it is essential to know that the lady feels she does not deserve a Buddhist title.

In the original story Liang Zhi that Zhou Xuan had written, the final part was the high monk leading the Fish Demon to obtain the True Scripture, but now he changed his narrative on the spot.

"The high monk took the Fish Demon as a disciple, and as master and disciple, they set sail westward. On the boat, the Fish Demon asked the high monk, ’Master, I am but a demon, how do I deserve a Buddhist title?’

The high monk replied indifferently, ’Does being a demon mean one cannot become a Buddha?’

The Fish Demon then asked, ’A demon’s visage is frightening, unlike the Dharma Image of a high monk.’

The high monk dipped two fingers in ink, painting his own face pitch black and asked, ’Little fish, do you find my visage frightening now? Does that mean I also do not deserve Buddhist enlightenment?’

The Fish Demon shook her head and said, ’My methods are despicable; I only know how to gnaw and bite like a wild beast.’

’Methods are merely methods; there is no despicableness, only whether they can subdue demons or not!’

The Fish Demon attained enlightenment overnight and from then on became the Water Buddha..."

Zhou Xuan clapped the gavel, and the storytelling of the Water Buddha came to an end, leaving the audience silent—

—Their silence did not signify disagreement with Zhou Xuan’s storytelling, but rather because they were followers of Lady Lianhua, who usually chanted Buddhist Scriptures. Having listened to the story of "Water Buddha," they seemed to have realized something, hence the silence.

It wasn’t just the guests who were silent; Lady Lianhua was silent too.

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