Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?-Chapter 943 - 939: Little Grey
Tang Tang fell asleep in Shen Siyuan’s arms, her little face flushed and sleeping very sweetly. Xiao Yue stood behind Shen Siyuan, while Little Grey sat cross-legged on the meditation mat, curiously looking at Tang Tang in Shen Siyuan’s embrace.
"She is different," Little Grey said.
Shen Siyuan nodded, "I know."
Little Grey continued, "Do you want to hear my story?"
"Do you like telling stories?"
"Yes, before I got sick, I loved telling stories to children the most."
"Can they see you?"
"Yes, anyone who worships me and believes in me can see me, but later it wasn’t possible..."
"Then tell us your story," Shen Siyuan said.
Little Grey sat cross-legged on the meditation mat, his fingertips gently tracing the wood grain on the edge of the offering table, his gaze drifting towards the night outside the hall, as if it pierced through a thousand years, returning to the distant Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Shen Zong’s reign.
The candlelight in the hall gently flickered, casting his shadow long on the gray-white Jade Emperor Statue, creating an illusion of blending together.
"Back then, this place wasn’t called Taiyuan; it was called Jinyang."
Little Grey’s voice held a distant huskiness, like a story unearthed from a pile of old papers.
"My father was the best sculptor in Jinyang City; all the court ladies would invite him to sculpt Bodhisattva statues..."
"At that time, our family lived in a small alley at the edge of the city, with an old locust tree in the yard, much like the one in this temple courtyard..."
"Every spring when locust flowers fell in the yard, my mother would make Locust Flower Cakes..."
A slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, as if savoring the sweet taste of Locust Flower Cakes, "I was only seven then, loved following my dad to the workshop the most."
"My dad’s workshop was filled with clay figures, smiling Maitreya Buddhas, majestic Guan Gongs, and Guan Yins holding Jade Purification Bottles..."
"I always liked secretly touching those clay figures; my dad would pretend to be angry and smack my hand, but would secretly teach me how to mold small clay figurines. My animal figures, my dad said, were prettier than the ones sold in stores..." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
Tang Tang shifted in Shen Siyuan’s arms, her little brows furrowing and then relaxing as she continued to sleep sweetly.
Little Grey glanced at her, his voice lowering, "If only it could have stayed like that, but in the seventh year of Emperor Shen Zong’s reign, a plague broke out in Jinyang. It started with beggars in the city falling ill, then more and more people got infected, my mother couldn’t escape either."
His fingers clenched the hem of his clothes, a choke creeping into his voice, "When she passed, she called me to her bedside, gave me a cloth bundle with the broken silver she had saved, told me to follow my dad well..."
"But not long after, I too started to have a fever, my whole body aching terribly. My dad carried me to the city’s medical clinic, but it was packed with patients, and doctors couldn’t give me any attention..."
"Dad then carried me, went to the Taoist Temple outside the city to plead with the Taoists, into the mountains to find herbs. His hands, accustomed to molding clay, were full of blisters..."
Shen Siyuan’s heart tightened listening to this; Xiao Yue too furrowed her brows, her eyes filled with sympathy.
Little Grey probably had been educated, and he was very good at storytelling. Of course, it might also be that he had told the story hundreds or thousands of times.
Thus making listeners feel a strong sense of immersion.
"One day, as my dad was carrying me past the Land temple outside the city, he encountered a wandering monk."
Little Grey’s voice turned a bit more somber. "The monk said my illness had entered my bones, it was untreatable, advised my dad to give up early. My dad’s eyes turned red at that, knelt holding me, kowtowed to the monk repeatedly until his forehead bled, begging the monk to save me. The monk sighed, said I had no affinity with Buddha, but was connected to ’earth’. If he wanted me to ’not disperse’, he could mix my ashes into the earth and mold a deity statue, nourish it with incense, perhaps my spirit could linger."
"At that time, the Jade Emperor Temple was being built in Jinyang City, and the government had invited my dad to sculpt the Jade Emperor Statue."
Little Grey’s gaze fell on the Jade Emperor Statue before him, his expression complex.
"My dad was nearly at his breaking point by then, but hearing the monk’s words, it was like grabbing a final straw. He didn’t tell anyone, secretly burned my clothes, toys, even broke my favorite clay rabbit, mixing it into the lime used for molding the deity statue."
"The day I left, it was a rainy day." His voice was full of grievance.
"My dad held me, sat in the workshop all night, murmuring ’I’m sorry’ over and over.
I wanted to tell him I didn’t hurt anymore, wanted to say I still wanted to eat mom’s Locust Flower Cakes, but I didn’t even have the strength to open my mouth.
By the time I ’woke up’ again, I was trapped inside this deity statue, could only see through its eyes, watching my dad come every day to offer incense, watching him finish sculpting the statue bit by bit."
"But later, villagers started gossiping."
Little Grey’s voice carried a hint of resentment.
"They said the deity statue my dad sculpted was ’unlucky’, said there were always sounds of a child crying in the temple."
"Once, when a cow got lost in the village, someone said it was me ’causing trouble’ and wanted to smash the statue."
"My dad stood guard at the temple entrance with a hammer, fighting off anyone who came, saying it was his ’son’, that no one could touch it."
He paused, his voice softened again, "My dad guarded this temple for ten years, until the day he left, he still placed a Locust Flower Cake in front of the deity statue. At that time, the incense in the temple was thriving, I could feel my dad’s intentions and could help the villagers a little—help mothers find lost children, help farmers irrigate their fields. Villagers gradually stopped fearing me, even brought children to the temple, would bring me candies."
"But decades ago, when the deity statue was toppled, I really thought I was going to disperse."
Little Grey’s voice carried a hint of fear, "At that time, I could feel my spirit fading bit by bit, just like when I had a fever; it was unbearable. Fortunately, someone later pieced the statue back together, though the incense decreased, I slowly recovered. But I could no longer see my dad, and no one brought me Locust Flower Cakes anymore."
After finishing, Little Grey remained silent for a long time, only the crackling of the burning candle could be heard in the hall.
Tang Tang seemed to feel his sadness, softly murmured "han~" in Shen Siyuan’s arms, her little hand moving slightly, as if comforting him.
Shen Siyuan gently patted Little Grey’s shoulder.
Though he couldn’t touch a solid entity, a trace of warmth still passed through, "Do you want to leave this place?"
Little Grey raised his head, not with delight, but more with confusion.
"Leave here? Then where would I go? Where could I go?"
The three questions that slipped out indicated he had long thought of leaving, but never had an answer. The world had changed; he had nowhere to go.
"Come with me, don’t stay in one place wondering where to go, only by hitting the road will you find out where you want to go," Shen Siyuan said.
Upon hearing this, Little Grey’s face gradually revealed surprise, a bit of delight, and a bit of relief.
Then, somewhat troubled, he shook his head, "I can’t even leave the Jade Emperor Temple, where could I go?"
"As long as you’re willing, I have a way," Shen Siyuan said.
Little Grey, though possessing some divine skills, was in the end a ghost, and as long as he was a ghost, he couldn’t escape the hold of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.
Little Grey stared blankly at Shen Siyuan, not immediately replying.
Shen Siyuan didn’t urge him, instead, he said, "We won’t leave until tomorrow morning, you have one night to think it over before replying."
Just then, Tang Tang in Shen Siyuan’s arms moved.
Her small mouth curled slightly upward, cheeks still flushed.
Shen Siyuan didn’t linger in the temple but carried Tang Tang out of the main hall.
The night outside the hall remained deep, the leaves of the old locust tree gently swaying, as if listening to these tales spanning a thousand years, also as if guarding this belated warmth.
