"Not at all, not at all. May I ask, elder, are there any famous sects around here? Ones like mine, for example?" Li Huowang asked about what he cared about most.
"There are! Of course there are. In the western Capital City, there's a Buddhist Temple. I hear the Buddha Master inside is very effective if you're praying for a child!"
A Buddhist Temple? Li Huowang recalled Master Danyang mentioning that he was once hunted by monks. I wonder if it was this temple.
He made a mental note of this. In any case, anyone who opposed a man-eating monster like Master Danyang had to be a good person, right?
"But, little Daoist Master, you're a Taoist. Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to go to a Buddhist Temple?"
Li Huowang lowered his head to look at the Daoist Robe he was wearing. The old man's words are a good reminder. Should I change this outfit? I'm not a real Taoist, after all.
"How has business been lately, elder? Are you doing alright?"
Sensing that Li Huowang was changing the subject, Top Scholar Lv immediately played along.
"Hah, alright? Far from it," Top Scholar Lv sighed. "Around here, after the great drought came the great flood. The common folk have no money these days, so even fewer are willing to pay to watch an opera, let alone tip. Even the rich are too cheap to hire a troupe for a funeral. They just serve a meal and call it a day. Tsk! So unfilial!"
"It will pass. Things will get better once we get through these next few years."
"Aye, we endure. Life has to find a way to go on, doesn't it?"
"I just keep thinking, once the times get better, I'll run a few hundred more tours. When I've saved enough money, I'll buy a theater in the Capital City that belongs to my Lv Family. Heh, then I could die without regrets. With the theater, my son and granddaughter will never have to wander and suffer with me again. They can stay home and study properly. Who knows? Maybe one day, green smoke will rise from our Lv family's ancestral graves, and we'll actually produce a real Top Scholar! When that time comes... hehehe." Top Scholar Lv grinned foolishly, holding his pipe.
Li Huowang quietly listened to Top Scholar Lv's dreams for the future. Deep down, he kind of envied the man. Even at this age, he still had a goal to strive for.
With Li Huowang and Top Scholar Lv breaking the ice, the atmosphere between the two groups eased considerably. At least Lv Elevated Man and Scholar Lv no longer saw Gouwa and the others as monsters. They now understood that they were just people who were very sick. And what can one do about sickness? Anyone can get sick. They were all just unfortunate souls.
By the time they reached Wuligang, Luo Juannhua had warmed up enough to let Bai Lingmiao hold her daughter.
Standing on the flat ground used for drying rice, Top Scholar Lv looked over at the villagers eating dinner under the eaves, clutching their bowls. "Alright, there are enough people in Wuligang. Let's set up shop here! Lv's Troupe, open the trunks! Raise the stage!"
They're going to put on a show. Li Huowang didn't plan to rush off. Everyone was exhausted from the long journey. This was a perfect chance to let them rest. Li Huowang had no interest in an ancient form of entertainment like opera, but it was clear the others were very curious, and they all ran over to help.
Tall bamboo poles were raised to support large sheets of red cloth, and the opera stage began to take shape.
As Li Huowang lay down for a nap atop a pile of golden rice stalks, he suddenly felt someone poking his nose. He opened his eyes and saw Bai Lingmiao beaming at him.
She lifted both hands, thrusting a gleaming golden object in front of him, and said excitedly, "Senior Brother Li, look! What a bright Copper Mirror! You can see yourself so clearly! The opera folk use this for their makeup!"
"It's not even dark yet, why have you taken off your eyepatch already? Aren't you afraid—"
Li Huowang's words died in his throat. Staring into the Copper Mirror, he was stunned. His reflection... it looked like a stranger.
"Senior Brother Li, what's wrong?" Bai Lingmiao sensed something was amiss.
"Junior Sister Bai, when I was at Qingfeng Daoist Temple... did I look like this?" Li Huowang hesitantly touched his own face.
"Yes, you've always looked like this. Why? Does your reflection look different?"
Li Huowang lowered his hand from his face and reached toward his reflection in the Copper Mirror. The face is still mine... but I'm no longer a boy. I didn't just arrive in this world; I've been here for some time now. If the hospital was real, then I was seventeen at the most. So how old am I now?
He could ask the question, but he couldn't answer it. Along with his jumbled memories, he had also lost his own age. The most he could guess from his appearance was that he probably wasn't over thirty.
Li Huowang searched desperately through his tangled memories, but he still found nothing.
"Senior Brother Li, are you alright? Don't scare me." Seeing his reaction, Bai Lingmiao looked worried.
"I'm fine, I just thought of something. Quick, return the Copper Mirror. The Lv family will need it for the opera soon."
"Mm." Bai Lingmiao hugged the Copper Mirror and ran toward the area behind the nearly completed stage.
Watching Lv Elevated Man warming up his voice in the distance, Li Huowang chuckled at himself and lay back down on the rice stalks. Heh... my life is such a joke. He thought he would be more emotional, but he felt unexpectedly calm. Now he just had one more goal: find out his age.
「Night fell.」
The sky was cloudless, and the bright moon lit the shabby stage as clear as day. Word that an opera troupe had arrived brought out nearly everyone in Wuligang. For farming families whose lives consisted of nothing but tilling fields and sleeping, the prospect of watching an opera was an irresistible temptation.
The Lv's Troupe was small. Besides a two-year-old who couldn't speak yet, there were only six people in total. They had to play instruments, sing, act, and do their own makeup, which was far too much to handle. As a result, they had to cut some parts of the performance. Thankfully, the farming families weren't picky. They sat on stools they had brought from home, watching with rapt attention.
Li Huowang lounged on the pile of rice stalks with the others, watching from a distance as they sang and wailed on stage. He had never heard opera before and couldn't tell what the performance was about. He did, however, recognize Top Scholar Lv, his face painted black, wearing a fake beard and brandishing the Guan Blade. At his age, he was still singing and fighting on stage, looking to be giving it his all.
"Bravo!" A sudden cheer erupted, startling Li Huowang.
As one act followed another, the entire rice-drying ground became packed with people. On stage, the members of the Lv family were drenched in sweat; in the audience, faces were flushed with excitement. Only Li Huowang remained a detached spectator.
Before he knew it, the moon had climbed to its zenith, and the Lv's Troupe's performance was nearing its end.
Just then, Li Huowang saw Luo Juannhua, Top Scholar Lv's daughter-in-law, walk on stage. She wore ragged clothes and makeup, holding her daughter and a straw basket, her face a mask of tragedy.
*"My heartless uncle drove me out~*
*Like a lone wild goose, I drift along~ ah, ah, ah~*
*Like a roadside weed for anyone to trample~ ah, ah~*
*My daughter and I are wracked with hunger and cold, so hard to bear~ so~ hard~ to~ bear~*
*We can only beg for food upon the streets~"*
As she sang this line, Luo Juannhua lightly pinched her daughter's bottom. Right on cue, the two-year-old burst into tears.