Chapter 12: 11, The Shared Eight Characters

11, The Shared Eight Characters

Inside the dim main hall.

Zhou Sanji set the kerosene lamp in his hand onto the offering table, broke out three sticks of incense, and burned one before the tablet of 'Zhou Chang'.

With his back to Zhou Chang, Zhou Chang had no way of knowing his current state of mind.

He only heard the old man's voice, faint like that tiny flame atop the lamp: "Speaking of it, your birth date and time are exactly the same as Ah Chang's... In my life, my fate with descendants was thin; I never had my own children. Later, in my thirties, I adopted Ah Chang's father, raised him, and found him a wife.

After his parents married, they were like me, with thin fate for descendants; for seven or eight years they could not conceive a child...

Until later, when the two of them were out interpreting affairs for others, someone thanked them, telling them that in their hometown there was a burial mountain no one knew how long it had been piled up, the tombstone was already gone, and the locals simply called that burial mountain 'Lady Lishan', saying Lady Lishan was very effective at granting sons, and asking the couple to pay their respects when they had free time...

Lady Lishan was indeed very effective; not long after Ah Chang's parents paid their respects to Lady Lishan, they had Ah Chang.

When Ah Chang was born and had reached one full year, his parents were both taken away by 'River Drifters' together..."

Facing the flickering flame on the offering table, Zhou Chang's eyes were a void of dark silence.

He pressed his lips tightly, a storm raging in his chest!

—The background of 'Zhou Chang' mentioned by Zhou Sanji, if one only ignores the difference between 'Lady Lishan' and 'Yinsheng Laomu', the two of them are simply identical!

Zhou Chang's father was similarly raised by his grandfather after being adopted;

Zhou Chang's parents similarly had no children for seven or eight years after marriage, until they worshipped 'Yinsheng Laomu' as a godmother, and only then gave birth to Zhou Chang;

When Zhou Chang was one year old, his parents similarly died together due to an accident...

How could two people's life circumstances be so similar? Even nearly identical?!

Could the current Zhou Chang be another 'me' in this world?

That 'Lady Lishan' was also a burial mountain of unknown age; could it actually be 'Yinsheng Laomu'?!

A strange and bizarre feeling lingered in Zhou Chang's heart; he raised his dark eyes and looked at Zhou Sanji, who had walked over after burning incense: "Where is that burial mountain of Lady Lishan?"

"It was all a long time ago; I never went to pay my respects personally, how could I remember..." Zhou Sanji shook his head and said.

Zhou Chang fell silent.

The tombstones and coffins standing around Yinsheng Laomu's burial mountain in his dreams also bore names similar to his own.

If they truly existed, did they also once experience a life exactly like his?

And in the end, for what reason did they die?

Was it just like Zhou Chang?

Like... Zhou Chang?

An endless net spread out in Zhou Chang's mind, with 'Yinsheng Laomu' standing at the center of this web.

Zhou Chang's heart turned icy cold, as if standing at the edge of a deep abyss.

Outside the door, the sound of gongs rang out, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, interspersed with people's shouts: "It's the fifth watch!"

"Rise for the fifth watch!"

Zhou Sanji, who had been silent opposite Zhou Chang for a while, heard the sound, helped Zhou Chang up from the chair, supported him, and pushed open the door to lead him out of the main hall.

On the courtyard wall opposite the hall, two or three people were gripping the wall top with their hands, staring straight into the Zhou family courtyard—they saw Zhou Sanji supporting Zhou Chang out of the door and immediately shrank their heads back.

Outside that wall, the shouts of the few people gradually faded away: "Rise for the fifth watch!"

"Did you see?

Just because we didn't 'rise for the fifth watch' yesterday, today people have already started watching us!" Zhou Sanji glanced at the wall top opposite, sneered, and said to Zhou Chang.

Zhou Chang lowered his eyelids, feeling the absurdity and strangeness of the current world even more intensely.

The absurdity lies not only in the world itself; the psychological state of the living is equally bizarre.

Supported by Zhou Sanji, he crossed half the courtyard; as he passed the doorway of the side room, a figure silently followed.

That person wore a set of coarse cloth clothes; the overly wide hem of the shirt and the pant legs made her entire figure appear slender and frail; she lifted a delicate and beautiful face and, timidly and meekly, bowed to Zhou Chang, who turned to look at her: "Zhou... Young Master Zhou."

Zhou Chang nodded.

Zhou Sanji beside him also nodded and greeted the woman, with little smile on his face: "Miss Bai has no lodging in Qingyi, so I have temporarily settled her in our home; when I have free time, I will send her back home.

After all, it was relying on her cooperation in acting out that play that we were able to walk safely through the mass grave.

Xiue, do you know the rules of Qingyi for rising at the fifth watch to chant scriptures?"

Hearing this, Bai Xiue hesitated and nodded, then quickly shook her head.

Zhou Sanji frowned: "What does this mean?"

"She probably hasn't been to Qingyi Town before and doesn't know the rules here.

Grandfather, you should explain the content of the 'Scripture of Purity and Stillness' to her as well." Zhou Chang looked at the nervous and helpless Bai Xiue and spoke up at the right moment, "The scripture content is not much; it is very easy to memorize."

Hearing Zhou Chang call him 'Grandfather', Zhou Sanji cast everything else aside; the stern expression on his face blossomed into a smile: "Very well, girl; this set of rhymes is very easy to remember; let me tell you, write it down... One person does not enter a temple, two people do not look into a well..."

Bai Xiue pressed her lips and listened to Zhou Sanji's words; from time to time she raised her head and carefully glanced at Zhou Chang beside her.

Zhou Chang's expression was dull, his eyes empty of anything.

This woman of unknown origin had her thoughts almost entirely written on her face.

Just now, Zhou Chang had only glanced at her once, yet he was certain she must have been to Qingyi Town and understood the rules of Qingyi Town; she simply did not know why, but had been trying to conceal these experiences.

Previously, when Bai Xiue had helped Zhou Chang at a critical moment, he did not mind helping her pass this hurdle.

At this moment, Zhou Chang suddenly felt his brow twitch slightly.

The 'Thought Threads' swimming in his thoughts instantly increased by one strand.

Previously, Zhou Chang had made various attempts, none of which caused the Thought Threads in his thoughts to grow even a fraction; yet now, having done nothing at all, merely meeting Bai Xiue upon going out, the Thought Threads directly regenerated one strand—

Zhou Chang turned his gaze toward Bai Xiue.

The woman lowered her eyelids and silently recited the Scripture of Purity and Stillness; at this moment, she no longer cast a single glance in his direction.

The sky at the fifth watch was still dim and gloomy.

In the darkness, the houses of Green Robe Town stood only as hazy outlines; a chilling wind swept through the streets and alleys, carrying away the final gong strike that had echoed from end to end.

One by one, people stood like walking corpses before their own doorways, chanting the scriptures again and again—words that had long lost their practical meaning: "One does not enter a temple, two do not gaze into a well, three do not embrace a tree, and alone one must not lean on a railing..."

The low chanting sounded like the murmurs of a dreamer; this voice gathered into a tide, drowning out the wind that blew through the streets and alleys, surging around Zhou Chang's ears and making the hair on his back prickle slightly.

He too began to recite that Scripture of Purity again and again.

In that instant, he had the intuition that many people had turned their heads to stare straight at him.

But as he raised his head, he saw only neighbors bowing their heads to chant the scriptures; the feeling of being watched just now seemed merely a fantasy.