Chapter 198: The Tree Desires Stillness, But the Wind Will Not Cease

Little Yao Shanmi woke up from her sleep without noticing anything unusual.

The Rope-woven Exquisite Ball tied around her waist was almost exactly the same as the previous one; it was impossible to tell them apart.

Miao Niangzi called her over and took out a Stone Dragonfly; it was only the size of a child's finger, and although it could not be considered very exquisite and the stone material was average, one could tell that the person who carved it had put a lot of heart into it, leaving no sharp corners that could easily cause scratches.

"This is what your father left for you. Mother braided a pendant to tie it on for you," Miao Niangzi said. "Just tie it together with the Exquisite Ball and don't lose it." Yao Shanmi touched the Stone Dragonfly, her voice somewhat dejected: "Father isn't coming back, is he?"

When the world first fell into chaos, everyone told her that her father had gone to a very far place and could not return for the time being.

But in these past two or three years, she had seen too much and had grown up very quickly.

Although she was only six years old, she was already at an age where she could remember things, and she could already understand the meaning of some things the adults said.

One must not underestimate the children who have survived in troubled times.

Miao Niangzi gently stroked her head and was silent for a while before saying: "Your father is watching you from heaven. Look, he even specially sent you a little dragonfly." As she spoke, Miao Niangzi urged her again: "Don't tell anyone about the Stone Dragonfly your father sent you! No matter who asks, just say it's an old thing!" Miao Niangzi's tone was serious and cautious, and Yao Shanmi nodded: "Okay, I'll remember."

Miao Niangzi had only said a few extra words before she began to look exhausted.

Yao Shanmi did not disturb her mother's rest and returned to her own small room.

After she left, Miao Niangzi did not rest immediately, but instead asked the servant woman beside her: "Is there a reply from A Song?"

"Not yet. Bandleader Song said he needs to consider it carefully; after all, he has that whole troupe to look after."

The A Song they were talking about was the bandleader of a folk opera troupe, whom they had known since before the chaotic times.

While they were discussing Bandleader Song, this folk opera troupe was busy.

They were not busy rehearsing plays. Nowadays, supplies are scarce; the nobles look down on these "itinerant performers," and small wealthy families are reluctant to spend money, so they can only run around and earn a little bit here and there, just enough not to starve. The so-called "itinerant performers" are those who have no fixed performance location, moving from place to place to sell their skills for survival—they are non-professional, grassroots folk troupes. At this moment, this grassroots folk troupe was staring at a temple.

Today, this temple was particularly lively as nobles came here to burn incense and worship, inviting Masters to hold a Dharma assembly, and many wealthy households were adding oil and burning incense. They were waiting for the Dharma assembly to end so they could rush to those Incense Burners to grab incense ash!

When nobles burn incense, they burn a lot of it, and the Incense Burners placed outside were all full; there was definitely plenty of incense ash, and that was consecrated!

They could not afford Exorcism incense, but incense ash could also have some effect; if they put it in a cloth bag and carried it on their bodies, it could perform Exorcism!

Nowadays, there were only five people left in this grassroots troupe who had survived and remained, and most of them were old, weak, sick, or disabled.

Bandleader Song was in his thirties, but due to long-term hardship and hunger, he looked like a withered little old man.

Standing crookedly beside him was a person with limited mobility in their legs, who did not look very old but had a weathered appearance.

At this moment, the two of them were discussing how to grab more incense ash from the crowd.

There were quite a few people who had come to grab incense ash today!

Just then, another boy who looked to be about ten years old ran over.

"Bandleader! Qian!"

The boy was very excited and told them: "I just found out that a noble's Buddhist prayer beads broke inside and fell all over the floor."

The lame Qian hurriedly asked: "Did anyone go to pick them up?"

The boy said: "No, the guards around are blocking people, so no one can go pick them up."

Qian said excitedly: "Later, when we rush in, besides grabbing incense ash, we can also pick up a few prayer beads; those are all consecrated!" The boy hesitated: "But I also heard people say that it's unlucky for prayer beads to break suddenly."

Qian did not think so: "Perhaps it's also a malicious trick used by the nobles against each other."

Bandleader Song agreed: "The prayer beads are innocent. You can think of it this way: the God and Buddha didn't want to protect them, which is why they broke, but if we pick them up, they can protect us!" The boy did not understand these things, hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Then I'll go grab one later. I saw where those prayer beads fell; there are a few in the corner that probably no one will grab." While they were talking, a woman walked over from the side, who was also a member of this opera troupe.

If one looked closely at her features, she should have had some beauty when she was young, but now there was a scar on her face, and she looked sallow and emaciated. She said: "I just saw that the nobles over there are preparing to leave. Shitou, be very careful not to get trampled!"

The boy named Shitou also heard the commotion from the crowd, lifted his feet to run over there, and replied while running: "Got it!"

These three people from the opera troupe did not stay where they were either, looking for an opportunity to grab incense ash.

In this world, with their status, they had no other way besides praying to God and Buddha.

The boy named Shitou was agile; he had originally been on the periphery of the crowd, but relying on the footwork practiced in the opera troupe, he moved like a fish in the waves, tossing and turning, and actually squeezed to the front. After the nobles left, the guards withdrew, and the surrounding poor people went to scramble for the incense ash.

Shitou used a small cloth bag he had prepared in advance to scoop up a bag of incense ash, and with sharp eyes and quick hands, he touched a prayer bead in the corner.

He also saw another prayer bead and wanted to pick up one more, but someone nearby was scrambling for it and kicked the prayer bead further away.

The boy lunged over, about to grab the prayer bead.

That prayer bead rolled and was stepped under a cloth boot.

The cloth boot was made of gorgeous materials, bright in color, and even had embroidery.

The surrounding poor people who had been scrambling scattered with a 'whoosh'.

I don't know when, but another noble had walked in here, with guards by their side. If one ran too slowly or offended the noble, one would likely get slashed. Others ran, but the people from the opera troupe did not dare to run, and the boy Shitou was lying prone right in front of the noble's feet.

Bandleader Song was worried that he would speak improperly and offend the noble with his words, so he hurriedly rushed over to bow and beg for mercy from the noble, pulling the boy behind him. The other two people from the opera troupe also came over to beg for mercy.

Du Ba was accompanying the old lady of the Du Family today to supervise the Dharma assembly.

The old lady had many grandchildren, and Du Ba was sweet-mouthed and knew how to coax people when in front of the old lady, so he was very favored by her.

The old lady had just dropped something, so Du Ba immediately came over to look for it.

And that led to the current scene.

He looked at this group of ignorant people and only felt it was ridiculous.

Just now, when the Dharma assembly was being held, one of the strings of prayer beads placed by the old lady broke.

It looked unlucky, but someone soon offered guidance: "That string of beads was stained with evil karma; it's better to let it scatter, that is what's auspicious!"

Stained with dust and evil karma, it was inappropriate to keep it by one's side, so scattering it and letting those commoners pick it up could also transfer the evil karma.

So now Du Ba looked at them scrambling for these prayer beads and found it extremely ridiculous.

At this moment, besides his own guards, there was no one else around, so Du Ba released some of his true nature.

"You all pray to God and Buddha too?"

"What can you do? It seems God and Buddha can't even look after you!"

His gaze, looking down from above, was like looking at ants.

Kicking a dog could still elicit a few yelps, but only with ants, even if you stepped on them at will, they couldn't make a single sound.

Du Ba wore a very worried look, saying words of extreme malice:

"Look, in those widely circulated Storybooks, whom do God and Buddha choose? Either the extremely good, or the extremely evil. Look at you all again; not good enough to be good, not evil enough to be evil, just ordinary dust among the masses. 'Too poor to even bring out an offering, yet you delusionally hope for God and Buddha to protect you?'"

"Ridiculous to the extreme!"

"A lifetime of scrimping and saving, imitating others in praying to God and Buddha—are you even worthy?!"

"What 'enduring thousands of hardships and dangers,' 'suffering through several lifetimes of tribulation,' and 'finally cultivating the immortal fruit'—hahaha!"

"It is nothing but the delusions of ants before they die!!"

"A lowly life is a lowly life; in the next life, and the life after that, it will still be a lowly life!"

"The fixed fate of one's life is something one must accept!"

Head Constable Song had experienced much, and these few words were not enough to crush him, but noticing that Shitou seemed to want to speak, Head Constable Song pressed down on Shitou firmly again. Behind them, the woman from the opera troupe saw this and hurriedly stepped forward, piling on a smile as she said, "Noble one, do not be angry; do not let us dirty your feet."

Du Ba had initially thought her voice sounded quite pleasant, but when the other party looked up and he saw the scars all over her face, he was so frightened he retreated several steps, as if avoiding something filthy. He looked at these few before him again: one old, one lame, one ugly, and there was also a monkey-like child.

Seeing them all dirtied his eyes!

If it weren't for the fact that the Du Family management had been strict recently, and they were in front of a temple where it was inappropriate to take action, these were just a few lowly people; killing them would be as easy as killing them.

At this moment, Du Shiyi noticed the situation here and came over to advise, "The Old Madam was just asking about you; hurry back. These few people are not worth wasting your energy on." Du Ba's guards had already found the item the Old Madam had dropped. Upon hearing that the Old Madam was looking for him, Du Ba did not linger, fearing that other brothers would get there first. He kicked the Buddhist beads he had been stepping on toward Band Leader Song, then walked away quickly.

After Du Ba left, Du Shiyi did not follow immediately; he had his attendant take some dry rations to these few people. It was also equivalent to plugging their mouths so they wouldn't go out and shout about it. In the distance, other poor people were looking over here and, seeing this, were very envious.

To be scolded by a noble and still get dry rations—they would be willing too.

Du Shiyi's gaze swept over the few members of the opera troupe, and he turned to leave, but after walking a few steps, he looked back and whispered a few words to his guards. By the time Du Shiyi returned to the Du Family motorcade, Du Ba was already coaxing the Old Madam into a good mood.

The Old Madam, who had just finished paying respects to Buddha, looked graceful and kind as she stepped onto the carriage, surrounded by numerous maids and servants.

The Old Madam saw the cage hanging in front of the carriage, inside which a bird was chirping sharply.

The Old Madam said compassionately, "It looks quite pitiful; set it free! Releasing it will accumulate blessings."

The servants opened the cage and let the bird go.

It was merely a plaything sent up from below to relieve boredom. Without this one, there would be another.

Du Ba smiled and said, "I heard there is one that can sing, and it has already been trained; I will have it sent to you tomorrow to relieve your boredom!"

The Old Madam did not refuse.

The motorcade moved far away, not looking back at this side even once.

On the grounds in front of the temple, the members of the opera troupe who had escaped a disaster breathed a sigh of relief.

The woman with the scarred face hurriedly helped the youth wipe the dust off his hands, checking for any tiny wounds.

"We will go back immediately and soak in water with incense ash; we will be safe and sound, and evil spirits will not invade!"

The four of them returned to the small courtyard where the opera troupe stayed in silence.

Here, there were only low earthen walls and a thatched shed.

There was an old man staying at home to keep watch.

Seeing their silent appearance, the old man raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong? Not going smoothly?"

Head Constable Song said, "Nothing, just almost offended a noble."

The old man said in surprise, "How did you offend a noble?"

Head Constable Song was unwilling to say more, so the old man turned to look at the side: "Qian the Sparrow, tell me?"

The lame man sat down and just silently took out a palm-sized wooden carving, continuing to carve.

In the slum area, all kinds of crooked sects and cults infiltrated.

Qian Quezi could not afford a statue of a god himself, so he found a piece of Mutou and carved one himself.

The old man did not wait for a response; instead, the youth Shitou said worriedly, "Maybe I did something wrong somewhere."

The old man said, "You must know, sometimes it's not that you did something wrong, but that the noble doesn't like the look of you. With a lowly status, nobles press you down just like pressing an ant to death. Why else would everyone want to be a high official in the past?" Qian Quezi was still carving the god statue.

Having carved for many days in a row, it was almost finished now, only the god had no face.

"What should a god look like?" Qian Quezi asked.

The old man said strangely, "Just look in a temple or Danguan and you'll know; it's not like you haven't seen them."

Qian Quezi said, "I don't remember."

The old man chuckled: "You really are the same old you; you remember books quite clearly, but you don't remember anything else."

Qian Quezi also laughed at himself, carved the god statue for a while, then taught the youth Shitou to write and recite books.

In his spare time, Qian the Sparrow chatted with Head Constable Song.

"I really miss the time when I was reading books at the home of Yao Yuanyuan!"

The Yao Yuanyuan he spoke of was Yao Shiqi.

Back then, Yao Shiqi went to his mentor's hometown to take care of his mentor, who was seriously ill, and took an idle position in that County Town to see his mentor through his final journey. It was also there that Yao Shiqi met Head Constable Song and the others, and he took care of them often.

Upon learning that Qian Quezi had read books in his youth and had quite a talent for it, Yao Shiqi opened his private library. When Qian Quezi had time, he would go there to read and practice calligraphy. Perhaps because there was a sense of security, or perhaps because every day was very fulfilling, the opera troupe at that time had a sense of upward hope. In his youth, Qian Quezi's family were good citizens, and his family had a little savings, enough to send him to an academy to study.

Because he had some talent, he even scored as an honor student in exams.

It was just that he was later envied by a classmate, who pushed him toward a carriage and trampled one of his legs to pieces.

Since then, Qian Quezi's family had fallen apart. Later, in order to make a living, he joined the opera troupe.

Head Constable Song recalled the past and felt quite melancholy.

"At that time, I only thought about making more money every day to send Shitou to take the imperial examinations."

His name was Du Song, but in the Du Clan, he dared not say his surname; the nobles would be unhappy.

Perhaps some nobles didn't care, but as long as one did, he would not have a good end.

Du Song was a man with great calculations. In his early years, he was just an ordinary farmer who married, had children, and saved money to send his son to school. But later, his hometown suffered a flood, and he left his home to make a living. Because he had some skills, he formed an opera troupe and traveled from place to place to make money. But the status of a band leader would affect his son's imperial examinations, so Du Song used the disaster to create a fake identity, separating himself from the household registration of his wife and children. Later, the members of the opera troupe he formed did not know that the widow with a son next door was actually Song the Band Leader's own family.

It wasn't until the chaotic times that everyone knew the truth.

But at this point, it didn't matter anymore; the imperial examinations were gone, and order was disrupted. Staying alive was what mattered!

Shitou usually still called Du Song "Band Leader." He had called him that for so many years, he was used to it.

Because of the cautionary example of Qian Quezi, when Shitou was young, besides studying, Headman Song also taught him various skills for self-preservation.

He learned a lot in the past, and now in these chaotic times, he can put them to use.

As Headman Song chatted with Qian Quezi, his mind kept replaying the words Du Ba Gongzi had spoken in front of the temple.

Cheap lives... ants...

Despite all sorts of schemes, one still cannot turn their life around.

Could it really just be fate?

A long time ago, Headman Song worked desperately to earn money to send his son Shitou to school, holding onto that hope.

Now, with the path of the imperial examinations gone, even survival is difficult.

After three years of chaotic times, Shitou is already thirteen years old, but he looks only about ten, thin and small.

Beside him, Qian Quezi sighed, "In times like these, no one knows how long they can live."

The young Shitou, who was using a twig to write on the ground, asked in confusion, "It's a chaotic time now, do I still need to learn these things?"

Qian Quezi felt as if he were seeing his own self from many years ago through the boy.

Young Shitou continued, "It would be better to learn a little more of other things; we just need to stay alive."

Qian Quezi smiled faintly: "The tree desires stillness, but the wind will not cease. What you think is a very simple matter actually has prerequisites."

Nearby, Headman Song was also lost in thought.

During periods of food shortages, in order to save energy and reduce consumption, they stayed home to rest as much as possible when there was no work.

As usual, the members of the opera troupe returned to their rooms to rest.

Headman Song only said he was going out for a trip to see where he could pick up some work.

The others didn't pay any mind; it was always like this.

But this time, Headman Song did not take the usual path; instead, he avoided the surrounding gazes and came to Yao Zhai.

He knocked a secret signal.

The servant woman inside opened the door.

Headman Song entered the room and performed a salute: "Miao Niangzi!"

Miao Niangzi, on her sickbed, smiled weakly: "A Song, have you made your decision?"

Headman Song replied: "Yes. If we continue to stay, we won't survive either!"

Previously, Miao Niangzi had asked him if he wanted to leave.

Headman Song had been hesitating all along.

They had managed to escape to Jizhou with great difficulty, and being able to survive, they would not risk going to another place.

Until now, he had finally made his decision.

Seeing the words and actions of Du Ba Gongzi today, he knew that while they could escape this disaster now, the next time might not be the same.

It would be better to flee now; if they delayed any longer, they wouldn't be able to escape!

"I wonder, what is the place you have chosen, Miao Niangzi?" Headman Song asked.

"Xinzhou City," Miao Niangzi said.

Headman Song was very surprised.

The information they, at the bottom of society, could receive was mixed and indistinguishable between true and false; he didn't know if Xinzhou was actually good or bad.

But since Miao Niangzi said it was a good place to go, it meant that going there would offer more chances to live.

That Miao Niangzi chose Xinzhou did not surprise Headman Song too much. What surprised him was that Miao Niangzi had clearly and specifically said "Xinzhou City"!

That was the core region of Xinzhou!

At the same time, this also meant that Miao Niangzi truly had the ability to arrange a destination!

"Good! We shall go to Xinzhou City!"