Chapter 1383: Chapter 1361: The Blessing of the Heavenly Sovereign
Hitting the nail on the head, the three Taoist priests remained silent.
Manbao stacked the bowls and put them aside, saying to him, "Did you have a nightmare? I’ll write you a prescription for calming down when we get back."
"No need," Bai Erlang refused, "Medicine is too bitter, I won’t take it."
Manbao: "Then how about I give you a couple of acupuncture needles?"
Bai Erlang refused even more, although she was much more skilled now and the needles weren’t very painful, every time he saw her waving that long needle in front of him, he was still very scared.
Manbao shrugged her shoulders and let him off the hook.
Bai Shan glanced at him and said, "Eating too much will cause heatiness. If you’re really scared, let Daohe give you a protective charm."
Daohe said it was no problem, he could draw the charm himself now without needing his master to personally do it, he could draw one for him on his own.
Daohe handed the book and medical register to his master and uncle to look at, and simply got up to take them out to draw the charm.
Seeing him grind ink and draw symbols they couldn’t understand, Bai Erlang couldn’t help scratching his head and asked, "Is this thing really effective?"
Daohe nodded solemnly, "It’s effective."
He folded the charm, led them to the main hall, then placed it in front of the incense altar, sat cross-legged on a futon, and recited scriptures in front of it with a face full of devotion.
The three stood idly by listening, initially feeling a bit bored and restless, but Manbao listened instead, found that she could also recite this passage of scripture, so she simply sat on the futon next to him and began reciting along.
Hearing these scriptures, Bai Shan and Bai Erlang’s hearts also gradually calmed down, and they simply sat on the empty futon nearby and joined in the recitation.
Daohe was reciting the simplest scriptures, and they had coincidentally all read them, most of which they could recite by heart.
No choice, Ms. Qian was devoted to Taoism, and Manbao followed suit, truly believing in the Heaven Master, thinking that her mother was right, the Heaven Master would protect each of them.
On the other hand, she also thought Keke was right, perhaps there weren’t really gods or ghosts in this world, it was all just the solace of ordinary people.
To get to the bottom of it, she looked into Taoist books.
It was the teacher who told her that Taoism and Taoist temples were not the same. The Taoist temple was for Taoists, who practiced Taoism, but Taoism itself, like Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism, and others, had its own views on governance.
Because she was still young, the teacher only gave her three books to read. The books Bai Shan and she read were always about the same, and they both found that the "Dao De Jing" and a few scriptures were particularly easy to recite. During morning classes, they’d often bring them up to fill in the gaps.
Bai Erlang, having listened to them a lot, learned them too.
Bai Erlang closed his eyes and recited a little, calmed his mind, and coupled with the sandalwood incense wafting in the hall, he couldn’t help but feel sleepy, his head nodding off bit by bit.
When he regained consciousness, Bai Shan and the other two had already adjusted their futons, sitting face to face talking.
Seeing him wake up, Manbao turned and laughed, "Awake?"
Bai Shan got up, "Shall we head down the mountain?"
Bai Erlang had somehow ended up stacking three futons under himself to sleep, with a cotton coat covering him.
He got up, scratching his head in embarrassment, "I fell asleep, why didn’t you wake me?"
Bai Shan checked his eyes, and said seriously, "We did, but you didn’t wake up."
Bai Erlang opened his mouth in surprise, "Was I sleeping so soundly?"
Manbao also said with a straight face, "This is all thanks to the Heaven Master’s protection."
Bai Erlang looked up at the statue of Daode Tianzun, full of awe, "Then sleeping here, didn’t I offend the Heaven Master?"
Daohe said with a serene expression, "The Elder Master wouldn’t mind. Seeing your wishes fulfilled is the Elder Master’s blessing."
The three of them hoodwinked Bai Erlang, who looked deeply moved.
The three couldn’t help but roll their eyes playfully at each other, then lowered their heads in amusement.
In truth, they hadn’t called, but they likely wouldn’t have woken him up anyway.
The four were reciting scriptures when suddenly he nodded off and then fell to the side.
Even hitting the ground, he didn’t wake up, which left the three of them dumbfounded.
Manbao carefully examined the slight blue under Bai Erlang’s eyes and said to Bai Shan, "It seems he was really frightened, he might not have slept at all for two nights."
Boys of ten were at an age where they need the most sleep, and having not slept well for two nights, they didn’t think they could wake him up.
Bai Shan, being straightforward, added two futons under him. Sure enough, he obediently shifted himself, turned over, and continued to sleep deeply.
Daohe added a brazier for him, and when Daoxu came over, he even contributed a cotton coat to cover him.
Then the three sat aside and chatted. Daoxu listened for a while and found the topics not to his taste, so he ran back to the backyard to warm himself by the fire.
Bai Erlang bundled up the cotton coat and handed it back to Daohe. Daohe got up, took the protective charm from the incense table, and gave it to him, saying, "Keep it in your pouch, and place it under your pillow at night."
Bai Erlang now particularly believed in the protective charm, thinking that he could sleep so soundly in the hall with no nightmares halfway through precisely because the Heaven Master protected him here.
So he received it solemnly and stored it in his clothes.
Daohe smiled and saw them off outside the door, thinking that it might be a year before they meet again, and said, "I’ll accompany you down the mountain."
The four of them chatted as they descended the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, the servant from Bai Shan’s household drove up in a carriage. Bai Shan first helped Manbao into the carriage, then waited for Bai Er to get on before he said to Daohe, "If anything comes up, write to us. Farewell."
Daohe nodded, "Take care, I won’t be seeing you off tomorrow. Safe travels."
Bai Shan nodded, climbed onto the carriage and sat down. The three waved to Daohe from the window, and the carriage started moving.
Daohe watched the carriage until it disappeared from sight, then turned back up the mountain.
When Manbao returned home, Zhou Xi happened to be back with the children.
She came back to see Manbao off, as they would be leaving early the next morning, and she couldn’t come back so early. So she came back the night before.
She made Manbao a set of clothes and two pairs of shoes, and put them directly into her box, saying, "You’ll be traveling for a long time, it’s not easy to change clothes on the road, so having a couple extra sets will allow you to change. Keep your dirty clothes, and wash them when you reach the capital."
Manbao agreed.
She took out a small bundle, pulled Manbao aside, and whispered, "These are Little Clothes. I’m sure mom and sister-in-law must have prepared some for you, but I made you two sets too, made from the cloth you gave me. They’re snug and smooth, don’t chafe. You can change into them on the road."
She placed this small bundle on the top of the box for easy access.
Seeing her looking absent-minded, Zhou Xi patted her head and smiled, "Sister has some interesting stories here, do you want to hear them?"
"What interesting stories?"
"Last year, on your nephew’s hundred-day celebration, Liu Dalang from Liu Family Village came quietly looking for us, but your brother-in-law happened to catch him and gave him a beating."
Manbao immediately perked up, eyes shining as she asked, "What did he come for?"
Zhou Xi knew that if there was anything that could shift Manbao’s attention, besides good food, it was gossip.