Chapter 80 The Nameless Taoist Temple

Chapter 80 The Nameless Taoist Temple

Li Chunhua heard that Su Rouer was going to the temple to burn incense and pay respects to the gods, and she also had an idea.

"… I'll pray to the gods to bless my fourth sister Donghua, so that the man she marries will be decent and reliable."

Li Chunhua explained this to Wei Pozi.

In fact, there was another matter she wanted to pray for, but she felt embarrassed to say it in front of Wei Pozi.

Li Chunhua also wished that the gods would give her a chance to have a loving little girl.

Originally, Li Chunhua thought that having two naughty boys was enough; she was not young anymore, and she hadn't conceived for many years, so she assumed her luck with children was gone.

But seeing her second sister-in-law Bai Xiaofeng pregnant again and how adorable Xingxing was, she started to desire having a daughter.

However, Li Chunhua felt too old to openly express this wish to Wei Pozi.

Fortunately, Wei Pozi was not the kind of mother-in-law who mistreated her daughters-in-law. She said straightforwardly, "You've all been exhausted from the summer harvest these days. You should rest… if you want to go to the temple, then go ahead."

Li Chunhua was overjoyed and ran to tell Su Rouer that she wanted to go to the temple with her to burn incense and pray.

Su Rouer remembered Li Chunhua's kindness towards her and, after a moment's hesitation, agreed without refusal.

Bai Xiaofeng also wanted to go, but she was currently pregnant, and the temple was in the mountains, requiring a treacherous hike. Neither Wei Pozi nor Yu Erhu were willing to let her go, so Bai Xiaofeng had to give up.

On the day Li Chunhua and Su Rouer took Ju Geer and Xingxing to the temple to burn incense and pray, Bai Xiaofeng found Li Chunhua and held her hand, saying, "Elder Sister, I've been dreaming about butterflies flying around me these past few days. The elders in the village say this means I'm going to have a daughter. But I'm still worried, so when you're there, please burn some incense for me and ask the gods to bless me with a daughter."

Li Chunhua readily agreed.

Since she also wanted the gods to bless her with a daughter, adding her second sister-in-law shouldn't be a problem.

Seeing Li Chunhua agree, Bai Xiaofeng was delighted and took out ten coins from her small cloth bag.

"Elder Sister, you can't pay for the incense yourself when you're burning it on my behalf." Bai Xiaofeng insisted on giving her the money.

Li Chunhua knew that it was believed that the incense money should not be paid by someone else, or the gods might not align the blessings with the cause.

She accepted the money graciously.

Su Rouer watched this exchange without saying a word.

The two adults and two children headed towards the reputedly very effective Taoist temple.

The mountain path was indeed difficult to navigate, and some sections were too narrow for adults, making them less agile than the children.

Ju Geer and Xingxing easily crossed the treacherous part of the path.

Li Chunhua and Su Rouer, however, had to support each other to make it through, stumbling along the way.

It took almost half a morning for the two adults and two children to reach the entrance of the temple deep in the mountains.

Xingxing looked up.

To her, the temple seemed grand and carried a mysterious aura she couldn't quite understand.

The temple did not have a signboard. Inside, there was a small and exquisite courtyard.

In the courtyard was a tiny pond.

Next to the pond was a large smooth stone.

Judging by its polished surface, someone must often sit on the stone to feed the fish in the pond.

On the other side of the pond stood a tall catalpa tree.

It was mid-summer, yet the catalpa tree was still in bloom, though the flowers were sparse. Occasionally, a few petals fell into the water, creating ripples, and several fish would quickly swim over to nibble at the petals.

Xingxing watched, slightly agape and entranced.

Ju Geer, being mischievous, picked up a small stone nearby and tossed it into the pond.

The fish scattered in fright.

Xingxing gave Ju Geer a helpless look.

Ju Geer smirked, "Stop staring, don't you feel the sun?"

He pulled Xingxing towards the main hall where the deity's statue was enshrined.

Xingxing let him lead her, whispering, "Ju Geer, what if you hit the little fish?"

Ju Geer became even more smug, "Wouldn't that be perfect? We could roast it!"

He sounded as if he was eagerly anticipating it.

Xingxing was stunned, "But… but these are the temple's fish. We can't do that…"

She added worriedly, "Ju Geer, you can't be such a bad person."

Ju Geer tapped Xingxing's head, "Can't I just say it for fun? And I didn't hit any fish, did I?"

The two children bickered as they followed Li Chunhua and Su Rouer into the main hall.

Strangely, there wasn't a single Taoist priest in the main hall—actually, since entering the nameless temple, neither Li Chunhua nor Su Rouer, nor Ju Geer and Xingxing, had seen any priests.

On the altar before the deity's statue were a few ordinary incense sticks.

The incense in the burner had burned out, and ashes had fallen into the burner.

Those scattered incense sticks beside the burning candles looked as if they were left for worshippers to take and burn themselves.

But Li Chunhua and Su Rouer didn't dare to take the incense directly and light them themselves.

"Is anyone here?" Li Chunhua's loud voice echoed throughout the entire temple.

However, there was no response.

"Is anyone around?" Li Chunhua searched the side hall, "Daoist? Is there a Daoist here?"

The side hall was small and also empty.

Li Chunhua was somewhat puzzled.

She couldn't help turning back to ask Su Rouer, "This temple doesn't seem to have many people... Who told you that this temple is very effective?"

Su Rouer was taken aback and murmured, "It was my eldest sister-in-law from my natal family... When I was in the county town before, she mentioned once that she passed by here while avoiding the rain and casually offered some incense, praying for her father's health to improve... Later, her father's health did indeed get better."

Hearing how effective it was, Li Chunhua didn't dare to complain anymore and just waited patiently.

Ju Geer, being young, couldn't sit still and soon wanted to go out and play.

Given all the incidents that had happened with Ju Geer earlier, Su Rouer wouldn't dare let him play alone.

Even though Ju Geer repeatedly assured her he would only play in front of the courtyard, Su Rouer was still uneasy.

"This time we brought you here to tell the gods about your situation," Su Rouer coaxed her son, "What would it mean if you left now?... How about this, stay here well, and after we're done, I'll take you to the county town to buy some snacks, okay?"

Only then did Ju Geer give up on the idea.

Xingxing, however, was still thinking about the little fish in her pond.

Another paulownia flower had fallen, and Xingxing wanted to see how the little fish in the pond would eat the flower.

"Auntie..." Xingxing gently tugged at Li Chunhua's sleeve and whispered, "Can Xingxing go to the pond to watch the fish?"