Even though Daoist Sanguang had practiced martial arts and still had some breathing techniques that he picked up from a young age, but he could not defend himself as he was starving. His entire body ached while he suffered from the cold and hunger. He even felt that he had nowhere to go in this vast word.
The moon rose over the tip of the tree branch. The north wind blew, the ground was chilled. Daoist Sanguang, who was initially unconscious, regained consciousness. There was no one on the street at this hour because it was getting dark and everyone had returned home.
Daoist Sanguang was in a haze. He remembered about the daoist temple, that was his home. He stumbled back.
Yuguan had mountains on its three sides with one side facing a river. The daoist temple was around the river area. The river was also called Yushui..
Since the beginning of time, the Yushui River had seven bypasses and eight curves. The daoist temple was erected on an escarpment that had been alluviated on the sandbars. It was independent of the world around it, it was indifferent and distant. There were hundreds of acres of fertile farmland laying in the far flood lands. It was also Daoist Sanguang’s ancestral property.
The sky did not have many stars and the moon was dim. The light from the daoist temple was as small as a pea.
Daoist Sanguang saw the light and a warm feeling welled up in him. He did not know where this strength came from and he forced himself to enter the daoist temple quickly. There was a statue being enshrined and worshiped in the main hall of the daoist temple. Its entire body was bronze black but it was also lifelike. It was a gentle looking woman holding a strand of paddy grain.
Daoist Sanguang recalled that there was no statue being enshrined before, only with the memorial tablet of the daoist master being erected. Could this statue be one of the new deity being worshiped after Master Shuo had bought this temple?
Looking at the hand holding the strand of paddy grain, it was probably mainly for a plentiful harvest of the five grains, good weather, for the people to have abundance and live in peace.
The paddy grain was not real, it was man made, made from the similar material as the statue. Underneath the statue were steam buns as offerings. Daoist Sanguang saw this and his hunger was getting rampant.
The fragrance of the steam buns was enticing, as though it was still steaming under the lights. Daoist Sanguang was about to reach out and grab for it. Half way through, his hand fell as he thought to himself, “Qi Sanguang, even when you are a prodigal and an old gambler, you have never stolen or snatch anything, why would you throw away your last bit of good conscience for a bite of food?”
But a voice replied inside him, “This food is an offering for the deity. If the deity is benevolent, the deity would not mind you stealing the steam buns.”
With that thought, the scale inside him tipped to another side.
The two thoughts flipped here and there and finally Daoist Sanguang could not stand the hunger and cold anymore. He reached out and put the steam buns into his mouth. Once he had finished eating, guilt began to fill him. He kowtowed to the statue and repended, “I do not know who you are, lady. I will repay you in the future for eating your offerings today.”
Suddenly, a voice slowly answered, “Will you?”
The voice was low and had an unexplainable lingering charm to it. After Daoist Sanguang heard it, he felt the sleepiness welled up and he gladly went to slumber. He dreamed that he had become a middle aged man who came from a wealthy background. For generations, his family had been running a daoist temple. Later, he had a son and he loved the son dearly. As the son grew, he became more disobedient and had even gotten addicted to gambling. It angered him to no end. Until one day, he was too old to even move around and there was no one to discipline and contain that unfilial son of him. The son hanged out at gambling houses and refused to return home. He and his wife were getting older. The unfilial son hardly spared them a glance except when he returned home for money. Afterwards, both of them consecutively passed away from illnesses. He became a ghost and followed side by side of his unfilial son. The son became even fearless until the point that he pawned out his ancestral properties.
As the years went by, the unfilial son racked up a huge amount of debt and was kicked out of the gambling houses. He then saw a wealthy and influential family published a notice for employment of someone to capture demons. When the son went to the place, he only knew that this family had been the one to purchase his family’s daoist temple. When the son thought of continuing with his gambling habit after getting the reward money for hunting demons, he finally had the last straw. An unnamed force formed in him, allowing his son to see him and his fists hammered down on the son’s body, causing the son to cry out in pain non-stop. The son ran away and when he passed by the gambling house, he still was not content and wanted to try his luck. He got walloped again by the thugs of the gambling house and got thrown out. Finally, the son met his demise on the streets when he succumbed to the cold and hunger.
Qi Sanguang realized that the son was him at the moment the son passed away.
He had reaped what he had sowed.
Suddenly woken from his dream, he opened his eyes and noticed the cool moonlight illuminating his lonely self. The north wind blew past. He was on the streets by himself, his stomach growling out of hunger, his entire body ached. So he had a dream within a dream.
That dream from before was too vivid until the point that remorse began welling up within him. He dared not look back at the years that had passed like a fleeting dream.
He finally had an epiphany. Life is not meant to be passed so emptily like this, he was still an abled person. From this moment on, he should turn over a new leave and not upset and anger his father who was in the netherworld.
Qi Sanguang got up from the cold and hard ground. For a moment, he did not know where to go and he remembered the first dream he had, and so he walked back to the daoist temple that had been passed down to him.
When he reached the inside of the temple, it was exactly the same as he had dreamt, even the number and placement of the steam buns were the same.
Daoist Sanguang could not help but felt strange and had an understanding of the unseen, he bowed his head and said, “Qi Sanguang thank my lady for your teachings. From today onwards, I will turn over a new leaf, publicize your lady’s name and do everything I can to help my fellow countrymen.”
Once his sincere intention was made clear, a beam of light came down from the sky and bathed Qi Sanguang in it. The pain from before rapidly disappeared at an unbelievable speed.
_ _ _ _
Three days later, Yuguan city was in a buzz over a new matter. It turned out that under the lead of the local famous squire, Master Shuo, many of the other squires and rich people, together with the county lord, were headed towards a temple by the Yushui riverside with three offerings [1].
Naturally, this big scene drew attention of many onlooker. Since the beginning of time, the common aspiration of the people were like water. As for how this water flows, it depended on these squires.
Once the crowd had reached the front of the temple, they saw the three big writing on the top of the temple. The penmanship was firm and vigorous and the Guzhuan character[2] was used. It was truly light and swaying, fresh and elegant.
Master Shuo stood at the forefront. Even though both the county lord and him had liangbang [3] ranking, Master Shuo was more senior in qualification. In addition to that, his ranking was higher up. The most important thing, however, was that he was financially sound and had a massive influence as a squire over the local area. Hence, it made sense for him to be at the head position.
A temple attendant came to the front of the temple and his outstanding behavior was that of an immortal. The attendant welcomed the fellow squires and county lord, some of them recognized the attendant as the old gambler, Qi Sanguang, who was also known as Daoist Sanguang.
No one thought that he truly fit the part after dressing up. Furthermore, he was lively and jovially chatting with the group of important men.
With the ritual for the worship of the god and the three top-grade livestock, the squires invited an elderly and noble man to recite the prayers.
On the other side, Shen Lian leisurely stood outside of the temple, beneath his feet was the Yushui River. A misty fog splashed from the lashing of the river water. Shen Lian extended his hands towards the void of the Yushui River and grabbed hold, as though he was holding a ball of aura in his hand. In his other hand, it was holding dirt. With the combination of the water and soil, a part empty part real dao talisman was formed in Shen Lian’s hand.
With a flick of Shen Lian’s finger, the talisman entered the Goddess of Grains’ temple in lightning speed and entered the statue of the goddess.
Translator’s notes:
[1] 三牲－ Generally refers to three domestic animals (i.e. cattle, sheep, and pigs) formerly used as sacrificial offerings.
[2] 古篆体 – Also known as the seal character, it is a style of Chinese calligraphy, often used on seals.
[3] 两榜 or 两榜进士 (Liangbang jinshi) refers to those who have passed triennial examination held in each province for the title of juren (举人) and then later obtained the title of jinshi through the final imperial examination which is presided over by the emperor.