Wandering Gods of Day and Night-Chapter 940 - 378: Deceiving Mingjiang Prefecture (Part 3)
Zhou Xuan looked up and sighed, finally understanding why the mountain and sea of wish power were reluctant to enter the Prefecture City in the clouds.
"Sir, it’s not that we don’t believe your words, but the concept of rebirth..." Lao Xu was still trying to explain.
But Zhou Xuan waved his hand, saying, "You all go back and rest, I have important matters to attend to, so I won’t be accompanying you."
"Alas... alas."
After kowtowing three times to Zhou Xuan, the crowd slowly departed.
Zhou Xuan then stepped off the stage,
Zhou Lingyi’s "Tree Gate" time was nearing, and her figure had become extremely faint. She asked, "Brother, are things not going smoothly?"
"Oh, there are some issues I didn’t anticipate beforehand, but I’ve figured them out now."
"It’s good that you’ve figured it out." Zhou Lingyi chuckled lightly, "You’re a person with ideas, the pillar of the Zhou Family."
"Both of us are, each holding up half of the Zhou family’s sky." Zhou Xuan’s mood gradually improved and he began joking with Zhou Lingyi.
Zhou Lingyi then tidied up Zhou Xuan’s collar and said, "By the way, brother, in your book, there is something, I don’t know if you felt it, but I perceived that a trace of Hua Zi’s lingering soul is growing stronger in your book."
"Really?"
Zhou Xuan discovered the Daoist but hadn’t found Hua Zi’s lingering soul.
"Yes."
Zhou Lingyi said, "This book, you need to tell it well; by the end, perhaps Hua Zi might truly come back to life."
"Then I’ll put effort into it..." Zhou Xuan said to this point, then asked Zhou Lingyi, "By the way, sister, did you tell Sister Cui about this?"
"I did."
"..." Zhou Xuan.
"I only mentioned that there was Hua Zi’s lingering soul in the book but didn’t say Hua Zi might come back to life," Zhou Lingyi said.
"That’s good." Zhou Xuan felt relieved and said, "I’m worried she would build up too much hope and in the end, Hua Zi wouldn’t come back to life, she would suffer a second blow."
"You know, you have such meticulous thoughts, meticulous like a girl."
As Zhou Lingyi said this, Zhou Xuan got into the mood, mimicking the "cloud hand" pose of a female opera role, ready to mimic singing,
Zhou Lingyi also burst into laughter, waving her hand slightly "disapprovingly" saying, "Don’t start singing, don’t start singing, we’re close siblings."
Zhou Xuan couldn’t hold back and let out a chuckle.
"Alright alright, stop showing off, brother, I see you have important matters, you go handle them, I’m leaving too."
"Sister, take care, Zhou Xuan here salutes you..."
"Get out of here."
Zhou Lingyi hissed.
...
After Zhou Lingyi left, Zhou Xuan walked toward Master Wu Ya.
"Sir, have you thought of a way to solve the problem?"
"I haven’t thought of a solution, but I have identified the crux of the problem."
Zhou Xuan pointed at the Prefecture City in the clouds, saying, "No wonder the wish power can’t enter the Cloud Prefecture City; it turns out the people of Mingjiang Prefecture don’t believe."
"Don’t believe what?"
"They don’t believe the dead can come back to life."
Zhou Xuan said.
Master Wu Ya, hearing this, also bowed his head, chanting, "Amitabha, indeed, from our perspective, we believe the dead can come back to life, but it’s extraordinarily difficult for the common people to believe something so incredible."
Human Desire Power, at its essence, is simply belief—if believed, it exists; if not believed, it doesn’t.
Why is it that the wish power of those dozen little children can enter the Cloud Prefecture City? Nothing else but trust.
The little children are not yet of age, at a time of innocence. They believe deeply in tales of fox spirits and wild ghosts.
Plus, in the afternoon, Zhou Xuan and Turtle Mountain Taoist "brought opera to the countryside," bewildering those children into believing that their parents could return after "rebuilding Mingjiang Prefecture."
They believed Zhou Xuan, believed the wishes on the Heavenly Book. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
"We must make all the common people believe, genuinely believe from the bottom of their hearts."
Zhou Xuan said.
"Easy to say, difficult to do..."
Master Wu Ya said.
"Not difficult... I have a plan." Zhou Xuan said decisively.
"..." Master Wu Ya.
Master Wu Ya was very curious, curious about what exactly Zhou Xuan was contemplating daily. Even the most difficult tasks seem effortless once they reach him; he always had wondrous and ingenious solutions.
Take the matter of storytelling—after the disaster, the common folk had no mind for listening to stories. Even the greatest storytellers of Jing Country could bore the audience to sleep. But Zhou Xuan managed to turn the tide by temporarily switching to a piece called "Mingjiang Fire Record."
"Where do you get so many tricks?" Master Wu Ya asked.
"In this world, no problem cannot be solved with one trick; if one doesn’t work, then use two."
Zhou Xuan replied with pride, "Master, have you forgotten? I, Zhou Xuan, am now the Colorful Play Master of the Colorful Play Hall."
"Hiss... Are you planning to create an illusion, deceiving everyone’s eyes, making them believe the dead can be reborn?"
Master Wu Ya suddenly understood.
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "There is a reason in this world, called seeing is believing and hearing is false. However, seeing may not necessarily be true.
I will stage a colorful play to show the common folk—death can lead to rebirth."
"Goodness, goodness."
Master Wu Ya agreed greatly with Zhou Xuan’s method.
...
The night deepened. Zhou Xuan, holding a list, accompanied by Turtle Mountain Taoist, headed to the Donkey Shed in Mingjiang Prefecture.
The Donkey Shed was known before the disaster as the "shantytown" of Mingjiang Prefecture.
Though called a shop, it was actually a vast area.
The inhabitants of this area mainly engaged in the business of renting donkeys and raising donkeys.
Despite the numerous electric tram lines, rickshaws, and cars filling the streets of Mingjiang Prefecture, donkeys still played a vital role in transportation tasks.
Donkeys were durable, capable of carrying goods, and donkey carts were often chosen by vendors and travelers.
By now, the Donkey Shed was reduced to ashes. Even though Zhou Xuan had the addresses of the children’s families on hand, locating the specific homes was challenging.
"Everything’s burned to a lump; how do we find them?"
Zhou Xuan needed to choose the location for tomorrow’s colorful play scam, but the Donkey Shed resembled a lump of black coal, indistinguishable among the different homes.
"Brother Xiao Er lived at 21 East Alley in the Donkey Shed? How can we distinguish where 21 is?"
Brother Xiao Er, the leader of the group of troubled children. When Zhou Xuan sent plays to the countryside, he had Turtle Mountain Taoist play Xiao Er’s mother and even had Little Brain show a film called "Fire Burning Red Lotus Temple."
Zhou Xuan glanced at the list in his hand and then at the ground full of ashes, finally coming up with an idea.
"These children’s Wish Power has entered the Cloud Mansion; since it entered, it has changed, bringing new vitality."
Upon thinking this, Zhou Xuan released his Perception. His robust Perception scanned through the ashes, and indeed, it found something distinct.
Some vitality different from its surroundings was sensed,
He followed that perception, searched among the ashes, and astonishingly found a cigarette tray.
This was the tray used by cigarette sellers. Hung around the neck, it displayed rows of cigarettes for sale on the street.
"Hey, this must be something from Brother Xiao Er’s home."
Having played Xiao Er’s mother, Turtle Mountain Taoist naturally remembered Xiao Er’s mother, who was a cinema cigarette vendor, often selling cigarettes and suffering from neck pain due to the tray.
"Sure enough, changes have begun."
Zhou Xuan grasped the cigarette tray, excited—amidst the burnt remains of the Donkey Shed, there was no reason this tray was so well preserved.
There is only one possibility; tonight, the thin strands of children’s Wish Power that entered the Cloud Mansion have already heralded the reconstruction of Mingjiang Prefecture.
And this cigarette tray is strong evidence of reconstruction.
"Beneath my feet is Brother Xiao Er’s home."
Zhou Xuan turned to Turtle Mountain Taoist and said, "Tomorrow morning, we will perform a colorful play scam. You... still play Xiao Er’s mother,
and I need to rearrange this place."
Zhou Xuan’s third enchantment as the Colorful Play Master—’Mirror Flower Water Moon,’ as explained by the engineer, involves constructing a false courtyard using deception. As long as someone visits it and truly believes, Zhou Xuan’s incense offerings will increase.
Fabricating a false courtyard, deceiving the people of Mingjiang Prefecture, convincing them that death leads to rebirth, all while incense offerings soar,
two birds with one stone, why not?
Zhou Xuan was already contemplating what kind of courtyard to conjure on the ashes of Xiao Er’s home to deceive the Mingjiang people,
yet Turtle Mountain Taoist spoke to Zhou Xuan: "Sir, I think we can change the person acting as Xiao Er’s mother tomorrow."
"Change to whom? Are you thinking of backing out again?" Zhou Xuan asked crossly.
"Replace with a paperman."
Turtle Mountain Taoist confidently proposed...
