Wu Zhen couldn’t find Mei Si at his home, and the household staff thought he had gone out with their group. With no other choice, Wu Zhen went to look for him at Cui Jiu’s place, but he wasn’t there either. Cui Jiu was surprised and said, “I haven’t seen him for days. Isn’t he staying at home preparing a gift? He specifically told us not to disturb him earlier.”
After searching familiar music halls and even several stationery shops without success, Wu Zhen began to feel uneasy. Having looked everywhere without finding him, Wu Zhen had no choice but to return to the Demon Market. She planned to use other methods to locate Mei Si. However, when she returned to Yan Tower, she found the person she had been searching for lying on the floor of the main hall.
Mei Si was lying stiffly on the carpet, unconscious, with his clothes half-wet. Although he looked a bit disheveled, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with his body. Wu Zhen pulled her picked-up little brother up with one hand, tucked him under her arm, and carried him upstairs, casually tossing him onto a couch where Hu Zhu usually slept.
Liu Taizhen was still writing her new book. Wu Zhen pointed at Mei Si and asked, “Little Snake, what’s going on?”
Liu Taizhen tapped a glass cup on the table with her pen. Inside the cup was a demon spirit wrapped in purple smoke. This spirit had suffered quite a bit and had even been swallowed once by Liu Taizhen, shrinking considerably in size. Now it was very obedient, not daring to move inside the glass cup.
Earlier, when Liu Taizhen had spit it out, she had already questioned the situation, so she briefly explained it to Wu Zhen. After listening, Wu Zhen remained silent for a long time. Liu Taizhen thought she was contemplating the person who had maliciously orchestrated all this, but suddenly Wu Zhen smiled and said, “Interesting. Things drawn can become real. Little Snake, give me this demon spirit. I’ll refine it into a brush and have Mei Si draw some fun things for me to play with.”
Hearing this, the demon spirit began to tremble and begged, “Please spare me! If you let me go, I’ll return to Yangzhou immediately and never come back here!”
Wu Zhen tapped the glass cup, making a tinkling sound. “A demon from Yangzhou? Once you’re in Chang’an territory, all demons here are under our jurisdiction. Since you’ve caused trouble here, I can deal with you however I want.”
Pushed to the brink, the demon spirit grew desperate and burst out of the glass cup, its voice turning harsh, “If you won’t let me go, even if I die, I won’t let you off easily!”
Seeing its fierce demeanor, Wu Zhen wasn’t surprised at all. This kind of demon spirit, though a bit foolish, was certainly not harmless. As she had said, regardless of where it came from, once in Chang’an territory, she wouldn’t allow such a creature to act arrogantly.
In an instant, a huge black cat shadow appeared behind Wu Zhen. The cat shadow, grotesque as a monster, stretched from Wu Zhen’s feet to the high ceiling. A pair of red eyes hidden in the swirling black mist coldly stared at the demon spirit, making the now-enlarged demon spirit appear tiny in comparison.
The cat shadow pinned down the demon spirit with one paw. Unable to break free, the demon spirit let out a terrified cry. Wu Zhen looked down at it with her arms crossed, “You won’t let me off easily? A mere demon spirit, how do you intend to trouble me?”
“Little Snake, this thing needs to be disciplined for not knowing the rules. I’ll train it well and return it to you later.”
Liu Taizhen waved her hand, “Go ahead and play with it. No need to return it to me.” After saying this, she glanced at Mei Si lying on the couch nearby and added, “Change the water in the pool downstairs, it’s all dirty now.”
Wu Zhen trapped the demon spirit and first sent Mei Si home. When Mei Si woke up, he indeed remembered nothing. He only recalled wanting to draw a Thousand Demons Warding Off Evil painting as a gift for Sister Zhen’s cousin, but he couldn’t find suitable paper and brushes. Later… later he seemed to have gone drinking with someone and got drunk, and now he had a headache.
Wu Zhen looked at this silly child’s confused face and patted his head, “Alright, you rest well. In a few days, go to the temple and pay your respects when you’re free.”
Mei Si asked, “Huh? Why?”
Wu Zhen replied, “No reason. Weren’t you looking for good paper and brushes? I have some. I’ll bring them to you in a couple of days.” After all, he had suffered, so she wanted to comfort this unfortunate child a bit.
Mei Si’s attention was immediately diverted, and he happily said, “Really? Great! If Sister Zhen says it’s good, it must be excellent. I’ll be waiting!”
Wu Zhen kept her word. She split the demon spirit in half and sealed it into a fine brush, restricting most of its power. This way, although the paintings made with this brush would have a hint of a living creature’s demonic aura, they couldn’t escape from the painting anymore. At most, they could only move a little within the painting. She gave this brush to Mei Si and said, “Draw the Thousand Demons Warding Off Evil painting well.”
Mei Si was surprised, “How did Sister Zhen know I wanted to draw this?!”
Wu Zhen replied, “Anyone could have guessed that.”
From that day on, Mei Si indeed shut himself in to focus on painting. This time, nothing unusual happened, except that Mei Si would sometimes feel that the demons he had drawn seemed to blink occasionally. Once, when his eyes were playing tricks on him, he even thought he saw an evil spirit in the painting scratch its head. After another instance of his eyes deceiving him, making him think he saw a certain demon reaching out to scratch its foot, Mei Si wondered if he should go to the temple to pay his respects.
After struggling for a day, Mei Si finally decided to go and put his mind at ease.
There was a Lingjing Temple in Jinchang Ward, which was always bustling with a constant stream of worshippers and very lively. Mei Si’s mother also went there to burn incense on the first and fifteenth of every month. Mei Si had been there quite a few times as well, mainly because the variety shows performed in the temple’s theater were quite interesting. Whenever he was bored, he would wander around the temple’s theater to see if there were any new performances.
When Mei Si arrived at Lingjing Temple, he found that there were unexpectedly many people today. Although it couldn’t compare to grand festivals like the Ullambana Festival or the Buddha Bathing Festival, the front hall’s square was packed with people, creating a bustling atmosphere.
“What’s going on? Why are there so many people today?” Mei Si stopped a young man to ask. The man told him that there was a sutra lecture by a high monk today. These sutra lectures involved monks using simple language to explain stories from Buddhist scriptures, guiding believers and common people toward goodness. They would both explain and act out the stories. Ordinary people found their daily lives boring, so such opportunities to hear stories were rare. Thus, nearby families had come early, bringing their entire households.
The lecture hadn’t started yet, with a few monks preparing on the stage. Seeing the large crowd of people, Mei Si didn’t want to squeeze in there and decided to go burn incense instead. However, as he turned his head, he saw two familiar figures. The tall and short silhouettes in the distance – who else could they be but his Sister Zhen and eldest cousin? Seeing them turn towards the back, Mei Si quickly followed them secretly.
Afraid of being discovered, Mei Si didn’t dare to get too close. He only saw the two walking side by side from afar. After a while, they stopped at a wall, and Wu Zhen looked up.
A few cherry branches were hanging over the wall, bearing bright red cherries. The two cherry trees in the temple were said to have been brought back by a great virtuous monk from his travels. The temple monks had somehow managed to care for them well, and the fruits they bore were large and red. However, the temple didn’t allow people to pick them at will and had even raised the wall, so people could only stand below and look up longingly.
Mei Si hid in a corner, peeking. He saw Wu Zhen seemingly wanting to pick the cherries, while Mei Zhuyu hesitantly shook his head. Wu Zhen smiled and was about to climb the wall, apparently intending to reach the top to pick them up. Then Mei Si saw his serious eldest cousin reach out to stop her. Mei Si wasn’t surprised that his eldest cousin would do this; he wouldn’t do such ‘mischievous things’. Unfortunately, Mei Si also understood Sister Zhen – she loved doing such things.
It was bound to cause discord. Mei Si watched nervously, thinking Sister Zhen might get angry. She was like that – if someone forbade her from doing something, she would be unhappy, dislike being persuaded, and hate being obstructed. But what happened next was a bit unexpected. Mei Si watched in astonishment as his usually well-behaved eldest cousin lifted Wu Zhen.
Mei Zhuyu was tall and strong, easily lifting Wu Zhen to the top of the wall. Wu Zhen could now reach the cherries above her head with a stretch of her hand.
Seeing Wu Zhen lifted high, Mei Si thought to himself that these two cherry trees were in trouble today. His Sister Zhen would surely pluck every last one, leaving nothing behind.
Then, once again contrary to his expectations, from those heavily laden branches, Wu Zhen only picked a few. Moreover, she immediately put one cherry into the mouth of Mei Zhuyu, who was holding her up.
Mei Zhuyu seemed startled and almost dropped Wu Zhen, but he reacted quickly, hurriedly embracing her tightly and carefully setting her down. He lowered his head, looking a bit uneasy. Wu Zhen fed him another cherry, pressing it directly against his lips. Mei Zhuyu awkwardly lowered his head and ate it.
Wu Zhen spoke to him in a low voice. Mei Zhuyu first shook his head, but later, after hearing something she said, he nodded.
Mei Si felt like the sun was too bright, almost blinding him. Were those his Sister Zhen and eldest cousin? It couldn’t be real, could it? When had Sister Zhen become so agreeable, actually stopping when asked not to do something? And his eldest cousin, usually so serious and rarely smiling – who was this flustered young man being bullied by Sister Zhen? From a distance, he couldn’t see clearly, but Mei Si was sure his eldest cousin must be blushing!
Mei Si had never seen the two interact in private before. Previously, he thought that given their different personalities, they probably wouldn’t get along well. But now, seeing this scene, Mei Si felt he might have overthought things. Forget the Thousand Demons Warding Off Evil painting; he should be drawing Mandarin Ducks Playing in Water instead.
Mei Si secretly followed them for a while, witnessing Wu Zhen and Mei Zhuyu getting along harmoniously. The more he watched, the more he felt lonely and pitiful by himself. Unable to continue following them, he turned back to the main hall to burn incense.
He had come to burn incense because he had seen something unclean and wanted to dispel the bad luck. But when it came time to make his wish before the Buddha, Mei Si, stimulated by the earlier scene, had a momentary lapse of judgment and prayed for a good marriage instead.
A monk nearby, who was striking a wooden fish, overheard his words and smiled, saying, “This Buddha doesn’t handle matters of marriage. There’s a Bodhisattva in the back hall who takes care of that. It’s very efficacious; you might want to try there.”
Mei Si, as if possessed, went to the back courtyard but was scared away by the crowd of young ladies praying for good marriages.
He thought to himself, forget it. Painting is better than getting married. He still had many unfinished paintings to work on.