Chapter 107: Inverted Incense

"So it is the young master!" The blind old man put down his erhu bow and managed a smile, revealing two teeth—one on top, one on the bottom, one on the left, and one on the right.

Xu Jia was greatly startled: "How did your teeth fall out like this?"

The blind old man said with relief: "Gnawing on steamed buns; the buns were too hard, so they loosened. That's just how it is when one gets old."

When a person's lifespan nears its end, their teeth are no longer firm.

The blind old man could not see Xu Jia, but within his spirit, there were three light clusters that were different from others; he stood up and bowed.

Xu Jia said: "Let me treat the two of you to something soft; don't gnaw on hard steamed buns anymore."

"The grace of a single meal shall be repaid with a life," the blind old man said. "This old man's life is not long! Eating anything is the same; cold buns with cold water, one can still manage to swallow something soft."

His voice was not as resonant as it had been in previous days, but the clothes on Sha Huofo were still clean, and he had even bought a sugar painting; Sha Huofo could not bear to eat it.

It was a "flower-pattern" sugar, and one could tell it was in the shape of a rhododendron.

Here in Jiangnan West Circuit, rhododendrons covered the mountains and plains, bright red; around the third or fourth month, the whole mountain would be red, and the flowers were sweet and sour, edible. One wouldn't eat the flower itself, but pick it, suck from the bottom, and it would be quite sweet.

Sha Huofo's two braids were shiny and bright; it was unknown whether she had tucked them in herself or someone else had, but they were all small wild flowers.

Just at this moment, a white cabbage butterfly landed on them.

The blind old man could not see, but Sha Huofo was especially happy and wanted to share it, yet she was afraid that a loud noise would startle it away.

Xu Jia stretched out his hand, and the butterfly flew from Sha Huofo's braids onto Xu Jia's hand.

"Butterfly, butterfly, have you lost your way?"

The butterfly flapped its wings and flew off.

Sha Huofo watched it leave, not feeling reluctant at all; instead, she clapped her hands, happy that the butterfly had flown away.

Hu Jinhua had already ordered two bowls of vegetarian noodles; she was poor too, and the money from selling vegetables was only a few coins. Niu Congcong wanted to provide her with some silver, but she refused, still practicing self-reliance.

The blind old man did not stand on ceremony; he groped for the chopsticks, handed them to the Sha Huofo beside him, and urged: "Be careful of the heat, eat slowly."

Sha Huofo smiled brilliantly, took the chopsticks, rolled the noodles into a ball, and stuffed it into her mouth.

The blind old man blew on the noodle broth, drank it first, then tapped the chopsticks against the table, eating with great decorum.

As he ate, tears fell from the blind old man's cloudy eyes, falling as he ate.

Hu Jinhua looked at Xu Jia. Xu Jia shook his head.

Huang Pipo, however, could not help but ask: "Old man, my young master is treating you to noodles; you aren't happy, so why are you crying?"

"I am crying because I have lost my teeth, and I can't even bite through the noodles!" The blind old man raised his sleeve to wipe away his sorrowful tears.

Hu Jinhua glared at Huang Pipo; this old woman had over two hundred years of Daoist Practice, so why was she even less sensible than herself?

Saying such things here? What does it matter to you if someone is crying? The blind old man ate while shedding tears, and shed tears while eating; the vegetarian noodles tasted saltier the more he ate.

Once he finished, even drinking the broth clean, he managed a smile and said: "This old man is full."

Xu Jia knew he was crying for his own life of blindness and lack of faith in fate, crying for the poverty and bitterness of a difficult couple...

Sha Huofo hadn't finished eating; she had stopped eating the moment she saw the blind old man cry, like a child who had done something wrong, at a loss, and at this moment, she even handed her noodles to the blind old man.

The blind old man said: "Old woman, I can't eat anymore; you eat it. We are poor folk, we cannot waste food!"

Seeing he wouldn't eat, Sha Huofo had no choice but to eat them herself.

She ate extremely fast, as if she were starving. After eating the noodles, the blind old man said to Xu Jia: "Noble person, let this old man cast a divination for you; I won't eat your noodles for nothing."

Xu Jia refused: "One cannot calculate the countless affairs of the Red Dust. When I cast a divination, I am not calculating the future, but seeking a settled heart. I have already made my choice in my heart, and the hexagram is merely a confirmation. I have roughly looked at your Blind School Innate Divine Lesson; it is very profound. I have no way to help you find a successor; you must teach it yourself."

The blind old man was stunned: "But this old man... my life is already at its end."

"That is another matter; I came today to resolve that very matter."

Xu Jia instructed Huang Pipo: "Go buy three bundles of incense; we are going into the temple to burn incense."

Huang Pipo immediately found an old woman to buy three bundles of incense. This incense was bright red, tied with straw, and holding it in one's hand would stain the hand red.

Xu Jia instructed the two of them: "Although anyone can enter the temple now, there is a Yaksha inside, so you two should not go in for now; wait outside!"

Xu Jia held the blind old man's cane, and the blind old man held Sha Huofo's hand, crossing the high threshold of the temple.

Xu Jia walked up to the Incense Burner, not lighting the head of the incense, but instead lighting the tail.

Waiting for the incense bundle to catch fire, he then inserted it upside down into the burner.

Inserting it upright is to pay respects to the gods; inserting it upside down is to threaten the Ghost Gods.

It was just that the Dizang Bodhisattva in this Dizang An seemed to have eyes closed and saw nothing. The incense held by the blind old man and his wife was inserted upright. One could hear him chanting: "Dizang Bodhisattva is above, disciple Ma Tusheng makes a vow, taking the heart as a lamp, taking sincerity as light. I wish for peace under heaven, I wish for my daughter to escape the sea of suffering early, I wish for my wife to be without disaster or hardship..."

Seeing him offer incense, Sha Huofo offered incense too; seeing him kowtow, she kowtowed too.

Yet he took a few copper coins from his pocket and put them into the Merit Box, revealing a long-lost smile, as if by doing this, his wishes would come true.

He explained to Xu Jia: "I earn little money, so I donate little. I worship every temple I see. Back home, there is an Earth Temple that is very efficacious; every festival, I donate twenty or thirty coins. I haven't been to this temple before, and I don't have much money on me, so I donated five coins."

Xu Jia said: "Whether you donate much or little, the Merit is just as great; even donating a single grain of rice is the same."

"I am not donating for myself; I am donating for this silly old woman, for my daughter, hoping to accumulate some good karma..."

Before the first hall were the Four Heavenly Kings; the Heavenly Kings were painted clay sculptures, wearing Heavenly King armor, each dignified, but inexplicably eerie.

Good men and faithful women worshipped every Bodhisattva they saw, which made Xu Jia appear out of place.

Behind the Tianwang Dian was Skanda, and behind Skanda was Maitreya.

Maitreya Buddha had a big belly and was laughing, which actually looked a bit like Sha Huofo.

The blind old man clearly knew this too; he grabbed Sha Huofo and worshipped Maitreya, opening his mouth to admit his fault: "Disciple was forced by survival, and had no choice but to have my foolish wife and child dress as a Living Buddha; I beg the Buddha not to blame us!"

Maitreya hid a knife in his smile; Xu Jia did not worship.

Further back was a pond, and at the four corners of the pond, a Bodhi tree was planted, signifying the "Withering-Glory Mandala".

In the center of the four trees was a great hall, the Da Xiong Baodian.

In the Da Xiong Baodian, three Tathagata Buddhas were enshrined.

In the aisles on both sides were the Eighteen Arhats, and directly behind the three Tathagatas was Dizang Wang Pusa.

This Bodhisattva held a khakkhara staff, sat upon the divine beast Diting, with Ghost Kings on the left and right, his face compassionate.

To the left and right of Dizang Wang Pusa were Manjushri and Samantabhadra, while as for Guanyin, there was a separate room for worshiping her.

Only a young nun with a harelip was adding incense before the Bodhisattva.

(End of this chapter)