Chapter 68: Idol

Translator's note: You may have noticed the English title of this novel has been changed on this blog—after some deliberation, I decided the initial title I had been using wasn't as fitting as I had originally thought. It's still listed as "Seeking Immortality in Vain" on the Novel Updates page due to the complex process of editing a novel's title on the site, but from hereon out it'll be listed and tagged as "Begging the Heavens in Vain" on this blog.

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There were still many people before the statue, or perhaps what now ought to be called an idol. Come to speak of it, this idol's craftsmanship was quite fine; its hair was graceful, and its eyes were bright; it was truly vivid and lifelike. It was just that, though the artisan had, after the fact, made all efforts to hide it, using the countless decorations to conceal it, if one were to come close, one could see the faint signs of crumbling at the furthest extent of the sleeves.

The artisan had carved it in a hurry, such that there hadn't been time to make a second one. An artisan with such fine carving skills usually wouldn't allow for such a flaw to remain—and, more than that, what had been carved was a deity's idol, which the ordinary people were all reverential towards, and they most certainly wouldn't have. Therefore, the employer seemed have wanted to use this "idol" quite urgently.

Chen Xun regretted that she'd only just now realised this matter. Before, she hadn't taken the statue seriously, and so hadn't looked it over carefully. As for the others who came as worshippers, they only paid mind to kowtowing and making requests, and so they were equally unlikely to attentively examine the "idol". So people came and went, and there wasn't a single person who'd noticed the flaw.

Thinking of what she was to do next, Chen Xun's heart hammered in her chest. She knew that, after today's events, Honghailou's business would most certainly be affected, but she still was going to do it. If she didn't, and allowed the so-called "Qian Weishen"'s statue to remain in Honghailou's lobby for people to come pay their respects to, never mind whether Honghailou could remain in business, Chen Xun herself might have to one day move.

She suddenly recalled the words her mother had spoken her before passing on. Her mother had said that she was leaving this place to her; that whether she rented it out or ran a business was fine, but there was one matter—she shouldn't have a too-flourishing business. The tall tree attracts wind; if there was a day when it was known to all, even if you had no intent to harm anyone, you'd breed endless enemies. At the time, Chen Xun hadn't believed it; she'd wanted, wholeheartedly, to make Honghailou flourish, to make it strong. She'd striven for over twenty years, and only know did she understand the implication in her mother's words. It was just that it was a bit too late, now.

The person offering worship over there was still kneeling piously on the ground, mumbling under her breath, what she was saying unclear. Chen Xun was merely an ordinary person; she couldn't hear what she was saying, but, seeing her devout figure, suddenly couldn't bear it.

The people of the world all suffered; these commoners hadn't done anything to offend the heavens or reason, either. All they'd done was place their hopes in an illusory character. In the past, the one who'd received these hopes was the Supreme Yuanhe, and now, the one who received these hopes had become a man-made, fabricated statue. Did they truly care which god it was they worshipped? Perhaps not. Whether the Supreme Yuanhe, or "Qian Weishen", there wasn't any difference to these common people.

Chen Xun lowered her head, and out of the corner of her gaze, glimpsed her own, inverted image in the wine in her cup. She turned her head, her gaze blankly meeting her own face in the cup. Her gaze gradually grew muddy, and the eyes in that cup grew a bit more youthful as well. She suddenly remembered the motivation for fame and fortune that had compelled her for all these years; at the time, she'd been young, and though she had been far from as mature as she was now, when she'd done things, there hadn't been the slightest bit of misgivings.

The person who'd just been kneeling had left already who knew when. The person lined up behind her placed the tribute she'd brought, and hurriedly knelt, but just when her knees touched the ground, she heard the sound of crumbling coming from above her. She raised her head in astonishment, and realised, shockingly, that a fine crack seemed to have appeared on the Qian Weishen idol's head. She merely took it as having seen wrong, and once more closed her eyes, praying and kowtowing piously. However, the vibration of her head knocking against the ground increased the speed of the idol's cracking. Once, twice; each time she kowtowed, the crack on the Qian Weishen idol's head grew larger and larger. Finally, she sensed something fall onto her head, and before she could react, someone dragged her backwards.

She hurriedly opened her eyes, and saw a pair of fox's eyes looking at her with deep concern. Chen Xun played at shock. "Are you alright? You weren't struck, were you?"

There were few in the capital who knew that Chen Xun was Honghailou's proprietor; this person was the same, merely assuming Chen Xun was an ordinary customer. She nodded, and then shook her head. In the next moment, she turned her head to look at the Qian Weishen idol in alarm, and discovered that the initially lifelike idol had, at some point, already nearly cracked in half. The originally bright eyes of the idol had been supplanted by dullness, and the crumbling rock had scattered about the ground, the offerings that people had piled up smashed to pieces. Everything was a mess.

She asked, trembling, "What happened?"

She asked thrice, but no one answered her. Those who'd come along with her had had been hurried to a bit of a distance by Honghailou's waiters, and their expressions were equally bewildered and frightened. That Qian Weishen idol that they had placed their hopes in collapsed before their eyes just like that.

But things didn't stop there.

Chen Xun cast a glance upstairs out of the corner of her eye; though she knew that it wasn't possible to see her private room from here, she also knew that the private room upstairs could see everything in the lobby. Just as expected, before she shifted her gaze away, she heard cries of alarm rising, one after the other, by her ears. "Fire, fire!"

Honghailou was in complete disorder; the people who'd just before fallen silent because of the sudden crumbling of the Qian Weishen idol now made a ruckus. The lobby turned to chaos in an instant. A few waiters rushed to the rear kitchen to bring bucket after bucket of water, but the usual enemy, at this moment, lost its formidable might, and the more water was poured, the greater the flames grew.

Those who'd come for a meal were, at first, merely standing around watching; there were a not insignificant number of faithful believers of the Supreme Yuanhe here, and seeing the idol that had been falsely revered crumble, smiles had just split across their faces. But as soon as the fire appeared, they couldn't sit any longer. Not have the time to care about what was on their tables, they fled towards the outside. But the doors were only so big, and with everyone rushing towards it, everything was a mess. In the end, the result was that no one could escape, all of them crowded into a small space. But at that moment, a majestic figure rushed down from upstairs.

This person wasn't tall, and at a glance, appeared to be in her teens. But she wasn't frightened in the slightest, and rushed directly towards where the flames were burning. Before anyone else could react, she stood before the flames, fingers forming seals as she recited a mantra. In a mere few breaths, the flames that not even the water could put out were extinguished just like that.

Unending cheers followed.

"An immortal has descended to the human realm!"

"Qian Weishen's come to save us!"

They had assumed Qin Anhe was someone from the Qianyou Associate who'd come as aid. After all, in the city's recent rumours, the helpers of the Qianyou Association were omnipotent characters. But the misconception was rapidly resolved, and those in the crowd who had keen eyes recognised her. "Isn't that Qin-daren, from the Board of Astronomy?"

The smoke now dispersed, and the figure in the flames was finally revealed. Qin Anhe nodded her head towards the colleague who'd recognised her, and then turned her head to look at the crowd who'd taken her for a helper from the Qianyou Association. "I've never heard of any Qian Weishen, never mind any Qianyou Association. My shifu is a disciple of the Supreme Yuanhe, and I studied the orthodox magic of the Supreme Yuanhe. There's not the slightest connection to that baseless false god that you mentioned."

Those people all at once, as if by prior agreement, startled, and there were those among them who wanted to retort. But Qin Anhe didn't give them the chance, and added, "I only know that the Supreme Yuanhe has protected and blessed the Great Li for over a thousand years, and with so much incense burnt, I've never heard of any temple's idols begin to crumble apart like this from the head. False gods can't be entrusted with the strength of hope and appear in the human realm, and so this idol split apart."

At last, they couldn't say anything.

Another woman, her expression calm, came forward. She was called Cheng Yu, and usually when something happened in Honghailou, it was her who dealt with it. So, in comparison to Chen Xun, the diners would be more likely to see Cheng Yu as representing Honghailou. As soon as Cheng Yu appeared, even the clamour disappeared a bit. "Our proprietor said, this statue was placed here to attract wealth, and that she'd never heard of any nuisance of a 'Qian Weishen' or 'Qianyou Association'. Seeing you all here praying day after day, she'd assumed that you'd come to pay your respects on seeing Honghailou's prospering business. Who could have imagined you were worshipping an unorthodox god!"

Cheng Yu stopped here for a moment, her gaze sweeping across the entire lobby. When she spoke again, her voice was a degree more grave, as if announcing something. "Our proprietor said, she's only heard of the Supreme Yuanhe, and only believes in the Supreme Yuanhe and the Emperor, and doesn't have the slightest association with this Qianyou Association. If she hears any further absurd rumours, don't blame Honghailou for not welcoming you."

Qin Anhe nodded along to Cheng Yu. Seeing that the situation had already been brought under control by Honghailou's waiters, and that the believers who'd come to worship were leaving in twos and threes, Qin Anhe began to head upstairs as well. She knew that she wasn't an expert actor, and feared that if she stayed for too long downstairs, she'd let the cat out of the bag.

Actually, everything from just before had been what she and Chen Xun had agreed to beforehand. The jishi stone was both warm and hard in nature, and usually, if one were to strike it with a hammer, they might not be able to split it, to say nothing of crumbling to pieces without any outside force and starting a fire as it had just then. It was Qin Anhe who'd done some tricks in advance, and so everything from just before had occurred. Fire appearing without a cause wasn't possible for the average person, but to Qin Anhe, it was an easy feat. The two of them had put on a play, using the tactics of their opponents against them, and, in front of everyone, split the connection with the Qianyou Association.

The play had come to an end, and Qin Anhe had just let out a breath, but the next moment, out of the corner of her gaze, she glimpsed Xun Zhu in the crowd of people, and her expression changed abruptly. Xun Zhu followed by Jiang Changbai's side day after day; how could Qin Anhe not recognise her? It was just that she didn't understand—why was Xun Zhu here now, and of the farce from just now, how much of it had she seen?

Chen Xun, seeing Qin Anhe's change of expression, followed her gaze to look out the door with suspicion. Seeing Xun Zhu, her expression was equally shocked, but she still calmly welcomed her into the private room upstairs.

Xun Zhu, of course, didn't have any intent in chatting, such that, having barely sat down, she spoke lightly. "Bixia wishes to see you both; come with me quickly."

By the time they left, the tea that had been poured in the private room was still giving off spirals of steam.

Chen Xun had never imagined that, in this lifetime, she'd enter the Imperial Palace; though it wasn't apparent on her face, her heart was still anxious. Luckily, Qin Anhe wasn't thinking about it as much; holding office on Board of Astronomy now, though she wasn't often summoned, she wasn't as unfamiliar with the Imperial Palace as Chen Xun was. Qin Anhe, seeing Chen Xun was nervous, tried to start an idle conversation to shift her attention. But Xun Zhu merely led the way ahead, and didn't make a sound.

But the more they walked, the more Qin Anhe felt something was wrong; her memory was quite good; if she went somewhere once, she'd be able to recall it. Jiang Changbai usually summoned ministers to the imperial study, but they'd already passed by the imperial study just before, but Xun Zhu hadn't had the slightest intent to stop. She couldn't help but ask, "Xun Zhu-guniang, where are we going?"

Xun Zhu didn't look at her, merely paying mind to walking, and even her response was quite perfunctory. "You'll know in a bit."

Qin Anhe wanted to ask further, but Chen Xun halted her. So, she didn't say any more, and followed after Xun Zhu obediently along turn after turn. After who knew how long, Xun Zhu finally stopped at a side hall. This side hall was quite a bit smaller than the imperial study, and more dilapidated. At first, they were puzzled, but once they entered, they discovered that it was an entirely different place. Though it wasn't as fine as the imperial study, it was clean and neat.

Jiang Changbai said, "We've waited for you for a long time."

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