029 Setting Up the Stage

"Not at all. Excuse me, sir. Are there any well - known sects in the Southern Peace State? Something like my own sect, for instance," Li Huowang inquired, voicing his most burning concern.

"Yes! Of course there is. There's a Buddhist temple in the Western Capital City. They say the Buddha there is incredibly effective in granting children!"

A Buddhist temple? Li Huowang recalled that Danyangzi had once mentioned being chased by Buddhist monks. He wondered if it was this very temple.

Li Huowang noted this down in his mind. After all, those who opposed Danyangzi, that cruel and heartless wretch, should be good people.

"However, young Taoist priest, you're a Taoist. It might not be quite fitting for you to go to a Buddhist temple, right?"

Li Huowang glanced down at his Taoist robe. The old man's words really hit home. Maybe it was time to change this robe. After all, he wasn't a real Taoist.

"How's your business been lately, sir? Is it going okay?"

Sensing that Li Huowang was trying to change the subject, Scholar Lü immediately picked up the thread.

"Okay? What a laugh! The Southern Peace State first endured a severe drought and then a great flood. People are penniless these days. Fewer and fewer are willing to pay for a show. Even wealthy families don't want to hire a troupe for funerals. They just have a meal and call it a day. Bah! How unfilial!"

"It'll pass. Things will turn around after these tough times."

"Yes, we'll just have to tough it out. We've got to find a way to survive, don't we?"

"I'm thinking that if the situation improves, I'll make hundreds more trips. Once I've saved enough money, I'll buy a theater in the Western Capital City for the Lü family. Hey, I'd die a happy man then."

"With a theater, my son and granddaughter won't have to suffer like me. They can stay at home and study in peace. Maybe in a few years, there'll be good fortune in the Lü family's ancestral grave, and someone will even become a top scholar! By then... hehehe." Scholar Lü sat there, grinning like a fool while holding his tobacco pipe.

Li Huowang listened quietly as Scholar Lü painted a picture of his future. He actually envied the old man. At such an advanced age, he still had a goal to strive for.

Under the guidance of Li Huowang and Scholar Lü, the atmosphere between the two groups relaxed significantly.

At least Scholar Lü and Junior Scholar Lü no longer regarded Gouwa and the others as demons. They now knew that they were just people who had fallen gravely ill.

Everyone gets sick. They're all poor, unfortunate souls.

When they reached Wuligang, Luo Juanhua was so amiable that she even let Bai Lingmiao hold her daughter.

Standing on the flat rice - drying ground, Scholar Lü looked at the villagers under the eaves, eating their dinner with bowls in their hands. "Alright, there are plenty of people in Wuligang. Let's set up a makeshift stage here. The Lü Troupe is opening! Set up the stage!"

Since they were going to perform, Li Huowang didn't plan to leave in a hurry. Everyone was exhausted after such a long journey. It was a perfect opportunity for the others to take a break.

Li Huowang wasn't really into this ancient form of entertainment - opera. But apparently, the others were extremely curious and rushed over to lend a hand.

Tall bamboo poles were erected to prop up several large red cloths, and the stage gradually took shape.

Li Huowang was lying on the pile of golden rice straws in the field, taking a nap. Suddenly, he felt someone prodding his nose. He opened his eyes and saw Bai Lingmiao beaming brightly.

She held up her hands, and a shiny golden object appeared before Li Huowang. She said excitedly, "Senior Brother Li, look! What a dazzling bronze mirror! You can see people so clearly in it! The actors use it for makeup!"

"It's not even dark yet. Why did you take off your blindfold? Aren't you afraid..."

Li Huowang's words suddenly died in his throat. He stared at himself in the bronze mirror and was stunned. The person in the mirror looked so foreign to him.

"Senior Brother Li, what's wrong with you?" Bai Lingmiao sensed that something was off.

"Junior Sister Bai, did I look like this when I was at the Azure Breeze Temple?" Li Huowang tentatively placed his hand on his face.

"Yes, you've always looked like this. What's the matter? Is there something different about you in the mirror?"

Li Huowang took his hand off his face and reached out towards his reflection in the bronze mirror. It was still the same face.

But he was no longer a young lad. He had been in this world for a while, not just a fleeting moment.

"If the hospital was real, I was probably only seventeen at that time. So how old am I now?"

Li Huowang could pose this question, but he couldn't answer it. Apart from his jumbled memories, he had also lost track of his age.

He could only roughly gauge from his appearance that he was probably not yet thirty.

Li Huowang rummaged through his chaotic memories, but he came up empty - handed.

"Senior Brother Li, what's wrong with you? Are you okay? Don't scare me," Bai Lingmiao said, looking a bit panicked at Li Huowang's reaction.

"I'm fine. I just remembered some things. Hurry up and return the bronze mirror to the Lü family. They'll need it for the performance soon."

"Okay." Bai Lingmiao hugged the bronze mirror and dashed towards the back of the already - set - up stage.

"Yi yi~~ ah~~" Looking at Scholar Lü in the distance, warming up his voice, Li Huowang gave a self - mocking smile and lay back down on the rice straws. "Alas... I really live like a farce."

At this moment, a new goal welled up in his heart: to find out his age.

At night, the sky was clear as crystal, and the bright moon hung high, illuminating the simple stage like a spotlight.

Hearing that a troupe had come, almost everyone in Wuligang showed up.

For these farmers, whose daily lives revolved around farming and sleeping and who had no other form of entertainment, the opera performance was like a magnet.

The Lü family troupe was small. Excluding the two - year - old who couldn't even talk yet, there were only six people in total.

They had to play musical instruments, sing, put on makeup, and act all at the same time. They were swamped with work. So they had to cut some corners in the performance.

Fortunately, the farmers weren't fussy. They sat on the stools they had brought and watched the performance with rapt attention.

Li Huowang and the others lay on the pile of rice straws, watching the actors singing from afar. Li Huowang had never watched an opera before and had no idea what play they were performing.

He only recognized Scholar Lü, with a black - painted face, a beard, and holding a Guan Dao. At such an old age, he was still singing and acting on the stage with such vigor.

"Bravo!!!" Suddenly, a cheer erupted, making Li Huowang jump.

As the performances went on, the rice - drying ground was packed to the rafters. The Lü family members on the stage were sweating buckets, while the audience below had excited looks on their faces. Only Li Huowang seemed like an outsider.

Before he knew it, the moon had reached the middle of the sky, and the Lü Troupe's performance was drawing to a close.

Just then, Li Huowang saw Scholar Lü's daughter - in - law, wearing tattered clothes and in makeup, holding her daughter and carrying a straw basket. She walked onto the stage with a sorrowful expression on her face.

"My cruel uncle - in - law drove me out~~"

"Like a lonely wild goose adrift in the sky~ Aaaaah~"

"Like the wild grass by the roadside, trampled on by all~ Aaaaah"

"My daughter and I are suffering from hunger and cold. We really can't bear it~ Re - al - ly can't bear it~~"

"We have no choice but to beg on the streets~"

At this point, Luo Juanhua gently pinched her daughter's bottom. The two - year - old child immediately burst into tears, fitting the scene to a T.