Translator: 🍓SassyStrawberry | http://www.sassystrawberry.com
FOR THE BEST READING EXPERIENCE, WE RECOMMEND READING THE CHAPTERS IN THE ORIGINAL FORMAT INSTEAD OF THE WORDPRESS READER.
六爻 元宵番外
On the evening of the Shangyuan Festival [1], a small-scale flower lantern exhibition would be held in the small town at the foot of Fuyao Mountain. Back then, Han Muchun, who was still a disciple, was unwilling to merely watch the red dust of the secular world from the sidelines. He would join the fun every year and contribute to the Lantern Festival [1] festivities. At the first watch [2], numerous flower lanterns would float down from the top of Fuyao Mountain, landing on the heads of their fated owners and could be exchanged for a prize [3].
The prizes [3] included herbal medicines with the ability to expel evil spirits or pain relief, or perhaps a panacea that promotes the growth and development of one’s innate physique [4], or maybe even an immortal eternal flame lamp [5] that can burn perpetually. For the impoverished common folk, even a simple amulet or talisman carved by a cultivator was considered a great treasure. In times of hardship or famine, such immortal items could be pawned as a means to sustain themselves through difficult times.
Early on the morning of the fifteenth day of the first month [1], Tong Ru pushed aside the pavilion door, the chilly winds brushing against his long sleeves. He caught sight of his disciple setting up a stall nearby.
The source of Xiao Chun [6] ‘s merchandise was a mystery. More than a hundred lanterns were lined up in a row; there were tall, short, fat, and skinny. Square, round, long and flat, there were all kinds. Some were suspended in mid-air, and others were spread out on the ground. He was unfazed by the chaos, busily writing lantern riddles [7] on each one.
Tong Ru clasped his hands behind his back as he observed the scene. It was indeed a rather elegant word riddle. He paused momentarily to ponder over it before coming to an answer. He couldn’t help but smile and quip, “Juren [8] – laoye [9], how many of the people who pick up your lanterns are literate? You’re playing the zither to cattle [10].” Read this on
Han Muchun’s lanterns always descended on the most needy people. Some of these people were extraordinarily ill-fated, and this additional good fortune might help them escape their troubled circumstances and turn their lives around. A rumour began circulating at the foot of Fuyao Mountain: Anyone who picks up one of these “Immortal Lanterns” will find their misfortunes replaced by a brighter future.
This is a fortuitous event, but those impoverished folk wearied by their daily struggle for survival, might not he capable of understanding the elegance and refinement of Han Muchun’s lantern riddles.
Han Muchun smiled as he replied, “Shifu, your words aren’t entirely accurate.”
“Hmm?” Tong Ru arched an eyebrow, waiting to see the direction that this conversation would take.
“The Shangyuan festival [1]’s lanterns must always include lantern riddles.” Han Muchun dipped a lamb hair brush into some ochre pigment from the gamboge tree and painted some yellow wintersweet flowers. He then wrote the answer to the riddle, “plum“, his calligraphy as beautiful as the painting, evoking a sense of warmth and harmony.
“It’s not as if I make a living by my art. Playing the zither is for pleasure; why does the audience matter? Does Shifu clear the venue every time he plays the zither, denying entry to livestock?”
“What nonsense,” Tong Ru playfully scolded him, “Why don’t I ever see you put in this much effort when I have you carve talismans or urge you to cultivate diligently on normal days? Such a letdown.”
“Shifu, our sect already has you [11] to lead it; even the Four Sages are unworthy. Why are you still waiting for me to become worthy?” Han Muchun exuded the steady and unflappable composure of a seasoned deity, unfazed by his shifu‘s feigned displeasure. “Monopolizing all the worthiness within our family, how can anyone else survive? You’re really bullying others to the extreme!”
Tong Ru’s heart was extremely weary. “What can I hope for from you? Cultivation in accordance to the laws of nature is for…”
“Yes, yes, yes. For one to become enlightened and gain wisdom, “Han Muchun interjected,” And what is the purpose of gaining enlightenment and wisdom? It’s to be happy.” ssasdadsadsa
He continued writing on a plump, round lantern. He flicked his fingers once, and the lantern floated into mid-air. A fold of his sleeve came undone, so he tucked it up again before replying with a smile, “But I’m happy now.”
The frosty mountain peak was transformed, and the Yao Valley‘s cloud cover dissipated. Some people may not have world-class talents and abilities [12] or the ability to inspire shock and awe in others, but they hold the unique power to help others forget all their woes, casting aside their worries in their presence.
Even his worried shifu cast aside his cares, merely pointing at him and speaking half-jokingly, “With the impermanence of the world, what if I, your teacher, am no longer around? If the reins of the Fuyao Sect fall into your hands someday, what will you do? It can’t be that you will rely on your disciples to prove worthy?”
Tong Ru was a great power of his generation and could not be considered wilful or unscrupulous. However, his life philosophy and conduct were imbued with a certain “nonchalant carelessness” stemming from the limited number of individuals who warranted his full attention. He regretted blurting out such unfiltered words during the spring festival since they carried an inauspicious weight. Despite being personally unbothered by such things, he acknowledged that others might find them uncomfortable and vexing.
Had the recipient of such words been Jiang Peng, his expression would have changed. And he would have refuted it in fear and trepidation with useless platitudes, such as “Shifu is in his prime [13].”
Han Muchun did not turn as he remarked, “Sigh. Should that day really come, the Sect would truly have long fallen into decline. What’s the point in struggling, then? To be able to feast and drink well in our wild fowl’s nest at the end of the year, peacefully warming ourselves by the fire and offering up sacrifices together. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Shifu can rest assured!”
Tong Ru asked in exasperation, “…how am I to rest assured?” asdasd asdasdasdas asdasda
Dying but unable to “Rest In Peace” [14] – kind of assured?
Han Muchun laughed, replying, “When that day comes, I, your disciple, will bring the little ones along to make offerings to you with Osmanthus candy-filled tangyuan, the kind that has been generously and enthusiastically sweetened. Guaranteed satisfaction! I know you [11] really enjoy such treats but disdain them for not being fittingly heroic, hence are too embarrassed to indulge by eating more… Hey Shifu, don’t ruin the lanterns, calm down, calm down!”
Dusk, with its afterglow, fell upon the land. It was time to send the lanterns down the mountains. Han Muchun attached a tiny umbrella to each lantern, like a charmingly naive and silly little hat.
Tong Ru asked, “What’s this for? Afraid that your precious [15] lanterns will freeze?”
“It will snow tonight.” Han Muchun explained, “I’ve prepared umbrellas so my pigments don’t get wet.”
Tong Ru raised his head and gave the sky a once over, pronouncing, “There won’t be snow tonight.”
“There’s bound to be. The old farmer’s proverb says ‘if the clouds veil the moon on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, then snow will fall upon the lanterns during the Lantern Festival.’ It rained for the entire night last year during the Mid-Autumn Festiva, so it will definitely snow tonight.”
Tong Ru, momentarily speechless, sighed, “Xiao Chun, [6] if you could use that brain of yours on cultivation instead of memorizing last year’s weather during the Mid-Autumn Festival- I expect that you’d be able to feel the resonance and variations in of Heaven and Earth’s temperament, and the changes in the weather already.”
“The farmer’s proverb has merit…”
“No snow.”
“What if, Shifu, let’s wager on it.” Han Muchun proposed as he pushed the last lantern down Fuyao Mountain. “If I win, then Shifu must make a lantern for me.”
Tong Ru met this challenge with a straight face, “And if you lose, an extra hour will be added to tomorrow’s homework.”
Han Muchun’s face fell at the prospect, and Tong Ru chuckled, “If we don’t leave now, the lantern exhibition will be over before we arrive.”
Translator: 🍓SassyStrawberry | http://www.sassystrawberry.com
Years later, amidst the chaos of war, the yao and demons rampaged, the deities and sages fell to diabolism, and the immortals became monsters. Fuyao Mountain’s lantern exhibition was no more than a distant memory, having been discontinued for many years. It was only until the manners and morals of the world thrashed about for several cycles that the 48th generation Sect Leader reopened the Fuyao Mountain Gate, ushering in an era of renewed prosperity for the people at the foot of Fuyao Mountain.
Eight years passed before the Shangyuan Festival started up again. While the preparations for the festivities were underway, an old man made a pilgrimage to the foot of Fuyao Mountain to offer incense and pray for blessings. He whispered a silent prayer for the immortals to shower good fortune upon the people once again, just like in legends of old.
By the time Yan Zhengming entered the sect, it was already a wild fowl farm, and this was the first that he had heard of it. That night, he sent his consciousness into the sect leader’s seal to investigate this so-called tradition.
At dawn, these revelations found him quietly contemplative. The day after, the Sect Leader convened his sect members in a circle: Shuikeng led the juniors to make lanterns, Li Yun wrote the riddles and inventoried the storerooms to put together prizes. Cheng Qian took charge of carving the amulets that their shifu had used to place on the lanterns, which prevented the lanterns from falling into the hands of ill-intentioned people. The Sect Leader was in charge of sitting cross-legged and behaving in a very particular and picky manner towards everyone… Cough, no, he was in charge of auditing the entire process.
“Shifu did all of this on his own?” Li Yun thought of lantern riddles until his brain felt like mush, and started to cheat a little by copying – with the aid provided by the faraway Han Yuan from Southern Xinjiang, which created even more chaos since they were mostly riddles from the underworld that couldn’t be used, “Our shifu, his grand elder [16] was too idle…in his literary pursuits.”
Shuikeng, however, was not displeased. After all, the beautiful flying lanterns and tong cranes seemed to harken from the same family, at least in her own opinion, shining richly in a display of dazzling lights and vibrant colours. As she worked happily on her handcrafted lanterns, she asked, “Speaking of which, who won that bet between shifu and shizu?”
Yan Zhengming considered briefly before replying, “Shifu.”
Shuikeng cheered, “Oh, Shifu is so powerful. I want to study more this year, too!”
Li Yun interjected, “That’s impossible. Disregarding events of five centuries in the past or future, if we’re only looking the next ten days or half a month, someone as powerful as Shizu would certainly not make any errors in predicting the weather.”
Cheng Qian lifted his head and muttered an enigmatic “Oh”.#%把5#
Yan Zhengming raised his eyebrows and glanced at him, “What?”
Cheng Qian skilfully carved an unseen talisman on the lantern passed to him by Nian Dada and replied unhurriedly,” Controlling the forces of nature isn’t difficult; the challenge is in not being discovered. Since Shizu could already accomplish this then, I am still not his match. It seems that I must work even harder in the coming year.”
The entirety of the Fuyao Sect – including the Sect Leader, all felt their spine shrink away tightly at this– as if they had been collectively stung by an intangible whip. Even Yan Zhengming couldn’t continue cracking open his melon seeds for a time.
After a long while, Shuikeng finally gathered up her courage to nervously and softly ‘squeak’ up in a solemn and earnest tone, “So that day, Shizu called down the snow?”
Translator: 🍓SassyStrawberry | http://www.sassystrawberry.com
Almost at the stroke of midnight, Han Muchun grew increasingly worried as his gaze was fixed skyward, his shopping forgotten. Tong Ru took this opportunity to subtly launch a talisman.
The East Wind swept through the street, causing all the lantern flames to flicker once. A quarter-hour later, the water vapour poured in silently, and snow began to fall like salt crystals.
It was exactly the third watch [17].sefsesres
Translator: 🍓SassyStrawberry | http://www.sassystrawberry.com
Li Yun found the lantern that Tong Ru had made in the nine-story Scripture Library. it was a very dignified-looking octagonal lantern, traditional and modest. On it was written a lantern riddle with the words: Where the heart is at ease.
The wooden plaque below this was blank; the riddle was unsolved.
“Huh, this is so easy, even I know this, “Shuikeng touched the wooden plaque lightly and wrote: My old hometown.
As soon as the characters were written, they immediately disappeared– Incorrect.
Shuikeng made a surprised sound and tried again, “My original hometown”, “my hometown”, and variations of the same, and even attempted to discover where their shizu, Tong Ru’s ancestral home, was located, but it was still incorrect.
Cheng Qian was not good at riddles. “Is it Fuyao?”
It wasn’t. jpjkm
“Maybe it’s a word riddle.” Li Yun stretched his head and said, “This place where the heart is at ease… what if we deconstruct it…”
Shuikeng retorted, “Aiya, Er-shixiong, that’s nonsense. It can’t be a word riddle. Can’t you see that even Shifu couldn’t guess it? Are you more well-learned than his esteemed self?”
The group of them squabbled noisily and ultimately could reach a consensus. When word reached them that the lantern display at the foot of the mountain was about to commence, Shuikeng lost all patience, exclaiming, “Enough guessing, let’s not guess anymore. Hurry up! Let’s go to the lantern display and play something easier.”
Li Yun was the most easily swayed, finding himself dragged away by his greater yao, monster of a shimei. Yet he was unwilling to let the matter go and pleaded, “Wait, let me think about it a little more. Where the heart feels at ease…where the heart feels at ease…”
Cheng Qian smiled to himself and turned towards Yan Zhengming, asking almost tenderly, “Da-shixiong, are we going together?”
This call snapped Yan Zhengming from his reverie, replying, “Ah, yes, we are. Wait for me to change clothes…”
Before he could finish, Cheng Qian had already vanished, leaving behind a parting sentence, “I’ll pick you up at the foot of the mountain in the wee hours, see you later.”
Yan Zhengming was speechless. You unreasonable bastard, what’s the meaning of this?!
Everyone ran off in a flurry of activity, leaving Yan Zhengming behind. He gathered himself, a complex look in his eyes as he studied the lantern that had been burning brightly for centuries in the nine-story Scripture Library.
He picked up a brush, the ink still damp, and wrote a single character on the blank wooden plaque: 椿 [18].w
A soft “click” echoed as the lantern’s talisman deactivated, and the octagonal lantern opened wide—a tiny jade peace plaque nestled within the previously unsolved riddle box.
Yan Zhengming remained silent before re-sealing the jade plaque and erasing the character he had written. He turned to leave, locking up the scripture building.
By this time, the first wave of immortal lanterns must have already drifted over the lantern display.
The fireworks soared into the air from the foot of the mountain, illuminating half the sky. Yan Zhengming spotted Cheng Qian, who, despite saying that he would leave first, was waiting patiently outside the Haven of Gentle Bliss [19].
Beneath the fiery trees and silver flowers, the world’s reunions are beautiful and joyful. pjgfjgfjgf
aww, so sweet! Clever Yan Zhengming …
I really LOVE it! Thank you for the translation!
Thank you so much for translating this!! ^^