Chapter 676: Jerusalem: Six

Jerusalem: Six

At dawn the next morning, Yu Lin woke up.

The daylight outside seeped through the door crack, a bluish‑white hue, carrying the crispness unique to morning.

Yu Lin got up, poured some water from a clay pot, and haphazardly splashed his face.

The water was cool, instantly refreshing him.

He adjusted his robe, then pushed the door open.

Jerusalem in the early morning was far quieter than at noon.

Yu Lin inhaled deeply; the dry, cool air filled his lungs, granting him a rare sense of comfort.

"You're up very early,"

Mary's voice came from behind.

Yu Lin turned and saw Mary stepping out of his room, a woven basket in her hand.

She was wearing a light‑colored robe today, a dark apron tied over it, her hair neatly wrapped in a headscarf, revealing a clean forehead and those expressive brown eyes.

Li Ya trailed behind her mother, a half‑eaten fruit cake clutched in her small hand, jam still smeared at the corner of her mouth.

Seeing Yu Lin, Li Ya lifted the cake and asked:

"Brother, will you eat it?"

"I won't, thank you," Yu Lin said, his gaze landing on the jam at her mouth corner, and smiled:

"Good morning, Li Ya."

"You should wipe the jam off your mouth corner."

"Good morning," Li Ya mumbled vaguely, turning her face away, exposing a small pink tip of ear.

Mary couldn't help but smile, reaching out to wipe her daughter's mouth corner:

"All set."

"Let's go."

"Okay."

The morning market was quite different from what Yu Lin had imagined.

There were hardly any piles of multicolored spices like tiny mountains, nor any dazzling array of gold and silver vessels glittering in the sun.

It scarcely qualified as a true "market."

It was merely a slightly wider alley, with scattered stalls on either side.

Most of the vegetable sellers were local farm women, piling fresh produce on coarse cloth, squatting behind their stalls and eyeing every passerby.

Searching for suitable customers,

"Seasonal vegetables are scarce," Mary said as she walked, explaining to him,

"The lamb at that stall is fresh; the owner has a bad temper but never shortchanges you."

Yu Lin nodded, "Alright."

His eyes drifted among the stalls, while his mind recorded information from another dimension.

Roman soldiers patrolled the roadside in pairs, passing the alley entrance at intervals.

Sentinels stood on the city wall, spears in hand, scanning the movements below.

Caravans occasionally entered and exited the city gate; guards inspected each one, though the thoroughness seemed to depend on the guard's mood that day.

He saw some people stopped for lengthy questioning, while others were merely waved through.

Beyond this ordinary scene, one detail caught Yu Lin's attention.

The atmosphere in the city… was somewhat subtle.

He couldn't pinpoint the feeling, but it was like an undercurrent beneath a calm surface—still on top, something stirring below!

Passing a stall selling clay pots, he heard two elderly men whispering, their words peppered with "Nazarenes" and "those followers," spoken quickly, too fast for him to catch clearly.

He noted the detail without probing further.

"Yu Lin?" Mary's voice pulled him back, "What are you thinking about?"

"Thinking............."

Yu Lin's gaze landed on a stall where the vendor was pouring olive oil into a clay pot; the liquid glimmered a golden‑green in the sunlight, remarkably clear:

"... This olive oil looks good, I'll buy a bottle."

Mary followed his gaze, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise, "That's the best olive oil around, though it isn't cheap."

"Are you sure you want to buy?"

Yu Lin fished a few Silver Coins from his inner pocket, "Isn't money meant to be spent?"

Mary glanced at him, seeming to weigh the remark, but said nothing further.

She led Yu Lin to the stall and, with practiced skill, haggled with the vendor, ultimately securing a small jar of olive oil for nearly a third less than the listed price.

"You don't seem good at bargaining," Mary said, handing him the oil jar,

"That's why I need a friend who can bargain," Yu Lin replied, taking the jar and smiling.

"Let's go, we'll continue."

"I'll foot the bill today!"

By the time they finished browsing the market, it was already past mid‑morning.

The sun rose higher, bringing heat with it.

The stone pavement grew scorching under the sun, and the smell of dust in the air thickened.

Yu Lin now carried the oil jar, a sack of lentils, and a small packet of salt; Mary's basket held vegetables and a fish wrapped in palm leaves.

Li Ya could no longer walk.

The little girl's steps changed from hopping and skipping to dragging, and her small hands hung down at her sides, like two branches wilted by the sun.

She tried hard not to look too tired, but the increasingly heavy breathing and the reddening spreading across her little face betrayed her.

Mary noticed, slowed her pace, and moved to the shadier side, using her body to shield her daughter from the direct sun.

Yu Lin also noticed.

So he found a small eatery by the roadside.

Actually it was just a few low tables and long benches set up under someone's eaves, with a coarse cloth stretched overhead as a shade.

A few people who seemed to be hurrying on a long journey were sitting there, drinking water and resting.

"Rest here for a while," Yu Lin said, pointing to the eatery with his empty hand.

Mary glanced at Li Ya and said nothing further.

The three of them sat at a low table in the corner.

The owner of the eatery was a chubby middle‑aged man with a round face and small eyes; when he smiled, the flesh on his cheeks gathered together like an over‑fermented dough.

He brought over a pot of cool water and three Ceramic Cups; the water was free and could be refilled endlessly.

Yu Lin took a sip of water and let out a long breath.

Mary settled Li Ya beside her, broke off a small piece of cake from the basket and gave it to her daughter, then handed a piece to Yu Lin.

Yu Lin took the cake but did not rush to eat it,

"Mary."

"Hmm?"

"I heard… that there is a Holy who heals the sick and does good deeds everywhere in this city; is it true?"

Mary was wiping Li Ya's mouth, and stopped her action upon hearing that.

"You're talking about Jesus, right?"

"Is he called Jesus?"

"Hmm."

"Where he has gone, the sick recover, the blind can see, the lame can walk; I've heard people say he even made a man who had been dead for several days walk out of his tomb!"

Mary, upon saying that, shook her head slightly, as if she herself could hardly believe those words.

"I have never seen those myself… but those who have say he is not an ordinary person; he is the king of the Jews."

"He has a group of followers who accompany him everywhere, as if they are called disciples."

She added, "Sometimes he stands on a high ground outside the city to preach; countless people come to listen, so many that from afar it looks like a black ocean."

"It sounds," Yu Lin lifted his cup, his tone still casual,

"you have a good impression of him."

Mary thought for a moment,

"He has never done anything bad; he is always doing good deeds. If he truly is a king, that would be fine."

That was the final sentence she said.

It carried unexpected weight.

In this era, in this place trampled by Rome's iron hooves, exploited by the Priest class, where people are full of suspicion and scheming toward one another,

this sentence, more than any Divine Miracle, better reveals a person's true nature.

Yu Lin was silent for a moment, then smiled.

"I'd actually like to meet him."

Mary turned her head to look at him.

"Really?"

"Really."

"His dwelling isn't far from here," Mary said, turning her body and pointing toward some direction outside the eatery.

Yu Lin looked in the direction she pointed.

It was a row of ordinary dwellings, gray‑yellow stone walls and low eaves, indistinguishable from the countless houses of Jerusalem.

But Mary's finger pointed to one of them.

It was unremarkable, with some timber piled at the doorway, looking like a combination of workshop and residence.

"The house on the west side is where he lives.

He works as a carpenter in ordinary days, and his disciples often come and go there."

Yu Lin squinted, trying to discern more details from that distance, but through the steaming street heat and the passing crowd, he could only see a vague outline and the doorway floor covered with sawdust.

"He might not be here today," Mary said, a hint of uncertainty in her voice, "He often goes out to help others; sometimes he doesn't return for a whole week. His followers are those disciples."

"Sometimes they come looking for him, sometimes they wait inside the house."

Yu Lin made a decision.

"I want to go take a look."

He set down his cup, stood up, and gave Mary an apologetic smile.

"I'll be back soon, okay?"

Mary naturally would not dampen his enthusiasm, and nodded, saying,

"Alright."

"Li Ya has been walking for so long and is tired; it's perfect that we rest a bit."

"Hmm."

Yu Lin replied, turned, and walked out of the eatery.

Mary's gaze followed his silhouette as he crossed the street, passed a group of arguing elders, walked past a fruit stall, and proceeded step by step toward the west.

That figure was not particularly conspicuous in the crowd, but Mary's gaze never left him, until Yu Lin's silhouette turned into an alley and was blocked by a building corner.

The place where Jesus lives.

Seen up close, it was far more… ordinary than he had imagined.

It was no different from a typical dwelling.

At most.

In the open space at the doorway, a pile of timber was stacked.

Boards of varying lengths lay scattered, with shavings and sawdust covering the ground.

And in the middle of that pile of timber,

the back of a person.

He faced away from Yu Lin, sitting on a crude wooden stool, holding some tool and planing a long board.

The shavings rose from under his hand, thin and almost transparent, spiraling down to the floor and mixing with the sawdust already spread there.

Sunlight fell on his shoulder.

His robe was an ordinary linen gown, its color faded to a pale brown near gray‑white, tied at the waist with a coarse cloth strap.

His hair was dark brown, slightly wavy, reaching his shoulders, swaying gently with his planing motions.

He seemed to merge completely into the scene.

The wood, sunlight, dust, tools, and himself formed the components of an unfinished piece of furniture, blending seamlessly without a hint of awkwardness!

Yu Lin shifted his steps, moving to a spot neither too close nor too far from the man's side, then spoke:

"Hello."

"May I ask?"

The man's movements paused for a moment.

Yu Lin hesitated briefly; he suddenly realized his heartbeat was faster than expected.

It wasn't nervousness, but an indescribable feeling.

He continued:

"How much does it cost to make a table?"