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"Oh, goodness no, may I ask, elder, do we have any well-known sects around here? Like the kind I am," inquired Li Huowang about the matter he cared about most.
"Yes, of course! There's a Buddhist Temple in the western Capital City, and I hear the Buddha Master there has a miraculous touch for granting children!"
A Buddhist Temple? Li Huowang was reminded of something Master Danyang had mentioned before—he had been chased by monks. He wondered if it was this very temple.
Li Huowang made a mental note of this detail. After all, anyone who was opposed to Master Danyang and harming animals must be a good person.
"However, little Taoist Master, you're a Taoist. It wouldn't really be appropriate for you to visit a Buddhist Temple, would it?"
Li Huowang looked down at the Taoist robe he was wearing. The other person's words were a real reminder; perhaps it was time to change clothes, as he wasn't a true Taoist.
"How's business going lately, elder? All well, I hope?"
Sensing Li Huowang's change of topic, Top Scholar Lv took over the conversation immediately.
"Ah, well? Our area just had a severe drought followed by a flood. With hard times like these, common folks don't have money to spare. Those willing to pay to watch a performance are even scarcer. The wealthy are too stingy to hire troupes for funerals, just settling for a simple meal—pah! Truly unfilial!"
"Things will pass eventually. Just need to get through these years, and it'll be fine."
"Yes, indeed. We've got to find a way to keep getting by, right?"
"I've been thinking, if the years turn better, I'll run myself ragged to save enough. When I've got the money, I'll buy a theater in the western Capital City that belongs to my Lv Family. Ah, then I could die content."
"With a theater, my sons and granddaughters won't have to suffer like I do. They can study earnestly at home, and who knows, perhaps in a few years, a top scholar will rise from the Lv Family, and our ancestral grave will be blessed with rising smoke. By then... hehehe." Top Scholar Lv said, grinning foolishly, pipe in hand.
Li Huowang listened quietly to Top Scholar Lv's dreams for the future, feeling rather envious. To live to such an age and still have a goal to strive for.
Under Li Huowang and Top Scholar Lv's leadership, the atmosphere between the two parties had become much more amicable.
At the very least, Lv Elevated Man and Scholar Lv no longer treated the children like demons; they had come to realize those kids were just humans, struck by serious illness.
What can one do about sickness? Who doesn't fall ill? They're all people of hard fate.
By the time they arrived at the Five Li Hill, Luo Juannhua had already gotten comfortable enough with Bai Lingmiao to let her hold her daughter.
Standing on the flat ground for drying rice, Top Scholar Lv looked towards the villagers eating their evening meal under the eaves. "Alright, Five Li Hill is crowded, let's set up our spot and pot here. Lv's Troupe, open your boxes! Raise the stage!"
They were going to perform an opera, and Li Huowang had no intention of hurrying on. After traveling for so long, everyone was tired. It was a good opportunity for the others to rest.
While Li Huowang was indifferent to the ancient form of amusement that was opera, it was clear that the others were very curious, running over to lend a hand.
Chopped tall bamboo poles supported several large red cloths as the stage began to take shape.
Li Huowang, who was taking a nap in the yellow rice stalks of the fields, suddenly felt someone poking his nose. He opened his eyes to find a smiling Bai Lingmiao.
With a lift of her hands, a shiny golden object appeared in front of Li Huowang. Excited, she said, "Brother Li, look! Such a shiny copper mirror! It reflects so clearly! This is what they use to put on makeup for the opera!"
"It's not even dark yet, and you've already taken off your blindfold. Aren't you afraid—"
Li Huowang's words came to an abrupt halt, as he stared in bewilderment at his reflection in the copper mirror; he seemed like a stranger to himself.
"Brother Li, what's wrong?" Bai Lingmiao sensed something was amiss.
"Sister Bai, did I always look like this while I was at Qingfeng Taoist Temple?" Li Huowang hesitantly reached up to touch his own face.
"Of course, you've always looked like this. What's wrong? Do you look any different in the mirror?"
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Li Huowang's hand left his face and reached for his own reflection in the copper mirror in front of him, his face was still the same.
But he himself was no longer a youth, he hadn't just arrived in this world, but had been here for a while.
"If what the hospital said was true, then I must have been at most seventeen at that time. How old am I now?"
Li Huowang could ask this question, but he could not answer it, as his memory was a mess and he had also lost track of his own age.
He could only vaguely judge from his appearance that he probably hadn't yet reached thirty.
Li Huowang tried to search in his chaotic memories, but still found nothing.
"Senior Brother Li, what's wrong with you? Are you alright? Don't scare me," Bai Lingmiao said anxiously upon seeing Li Huowang's reaction.
"I'm fine, just remembered some things, that's all. Hurry and return the copper mirror; the Lv Family's performers will need it for the opera soon," he said.
"Okay," Bai Lingmiao replied, running off towards the stages that had already been set up, carrying the copper mirror.
"Eeyiyi~~ Ah~~" Observing the Lv Elevated Man practicing his vocal scales in the distance, Li Huowang laughed ruefully and lay back down on the stalks. "Ah... I'm living my life like a joke," he mused.
He had thought he would be more emotional, but surprisingly, he felt very calm. It was just that another goal had added itself to his heart: to find out his age.
At night, the sky was cloudless, with a bright moon overhead, illuminating the simple opera stage clearly.
Hearing that a troupe had come, nearly everyone from the five-mile village had arrived.
For those who usually did nothing but farm and sleep, the opera troupe's performance was incredibly tempting entertainment for these country folks.
The Lv Family's troupe was small, with only six people in total, not counting a two-year-old who couldn't yet speak.
They had to sing and play instruments, do makeup and act; they were simply too busy to handle everything. Therefore, they had to appropriately cut down on some acts.
Fortunately, the country folks weren't picky and watched eagerly, sitting on the stools they brought.
Li Huowang lay with others on a pile of rice straw, watching their performances from a distance, not knowing which play they were singing.
He only recognized Top Scholar Lv, who painted his face black and wore a beard, holding a Guan Blade. Despite his age, he had to sing and wield the weapon on stage, which looked very demanding.
"Good!!" The cheering suddenly rose, startling Li Huowang.
The ground used for drying rice grains was packed, and the Lv Family's performers were drenched in sweat from the effort, while the audience watched with glowing faces. Only Li Huowang seemed like a mere spectator.
Unnoticed by him, the moon had reached its zenith, and the Lv Troupe's performance was nearing its end.
Just then, Li Huowang saw the wife of Top Scholar Lv, dressed in tattered clothes, her face painted for the stage, holding her daughter and carrying a straw basket as she stepped onto the stage with a mournful expression.
"My hard-hearted great uncle has driven me away~~"
"I'm like a solitary wild goose drifting aimlessly~ Ah ah ah~"
"Just like the roadside weeds trampled by anyone~ Ah ah ah"
"My daughter and I are beset by hunger and cold, unbearably so~ Unbearably~~"
"We can only beg for food in the street~"
As she sang, Luo Juannhua gently pinched her daughter's bottom and the two-year-old child immediately burst into timely wailing.