Chang’an of the Great Tang Dynasty.

The most prosperous and flourishing city in the world at that time. The strictness of the Zhenguan era, the prosperity of the Kaiyuan era, had by the Xiantong years evolved into extravagant elegance.

At the center of this extravagance stood the Jianfu Temple, south of Kaihua Ward in the heart of Chang’an.

Jianfu Temple was once the former residence of Emperor Yang of Sui and Emperor Zhongzong of Tang during their time as princes. During Empress Wu Zetian’s reign, it was converted into a Buddhist temple to pray for blessings for the late Emperor Gaozong. The temple’s famous flowers, ancient trees, pavilions, and theatrical stages remained preserved as they were in those days.

It was the nineteenth day of the sixth month, the day commemorating Guanyin’s enlightenment. Jianfu Temple was packed with people shoulder to shoulder. The temple was famous for its water features, and although the liberation pond was two hundred paces in circumference, it could hardly accommodate all the faithful men and women buying various small fish to release. The pond became as crowded as the temple grounds, packed to the point where not even a drop of water could flow through.

The weather was sultry, with no rain for a long time, and all of Chang’an was stifling hot. People were drenched in sweat and suffering, yet they still pushed forward relentlessly to release their fish into the pond.

Amid the surging crowd, only at a corner outside the corridor stood a pomegranate tree in brilliant bloom, its flowers burning bright and dazzling to the eye. Beneath it stood a tall, graceful young man in water-blue silk gauze robes. He stood with his hands behind his back, watching the crowd before him, emanating an elegant and noble air without speaking, making even such weather seem somewhat cooler.

His gaze passed over the noisy crowd before him, looking toward the people struggling to reach the liberation pond. Among the densely packed crowd, one person stood out particularly. Not because of his handsome and refined appearance, but because he wore a brilliantly bright apricot yellow crossed-collar robe, the vivid yellow almost glowing eye-catching amid the crowd.

That person pushed forward while turning back to call out, “Chong Gu, keep up, don’t get separated!”

Following behind him was a small eunuch wearing a dark red gauze single-layer robe, with extremely delicate features and a slender figure. He wore no cap, his hair tied in a bun with a silver hairpin topped with jade stone carved in scroll grass patterns.

These two were, of course, Zhou Ziqin and Huang Zixia.

At this moment, both of them, like others, held large lotus leaves cradling fish they planned to release. But in such a crowded mass of people, Huang Zixia could barely keep her balance. Her small face with its lotus-bud-like pointed chin wrinkled up as she struggled to protect the lotus leaf in her hands, trying not to let all the water spill out.

Li Shubai, under the pomegranate tree, watched their awkward situation and wordlessly turned his gaze to the sky above.

The gloomy weather, the extremely oppressive atmosphere, and the rain that looked ready to fall but wouldn’t, encompassed the capital in a blanket of heaviness.

Meanwhile, Zhou Ziqin and Huang Zixia finally gave up, sheepishly returning with their fish in lotus leaves.

“It’s too terrifying! The water surface is so packed with fish, it’s all red, you couldn’t even stick a needle in, let alone release more fish!”

Li Shubai listened to Zhou Ziqin’s lament and coldly glanced at Huang Zixia: “I told you not to join this crowded mess.”

Huang Zixia looked glumly at Zhou Ziqin: “It’s all because someone insisted on dragging me to buy fish.”

“But… but this is a rare gathering that happens only once every ten years! Everyone says it accumulates great merit,” Zhou Ziqin looked down at the fish meant for release in his lotus leaf and sighed helplessly. “We might as well take them home and steam them to eat.”

“Mm, good thing we bought big ones.” Huang Zixia agreed, casually pouring the fish from her lotus leaf into Zhou Ziqin’s, saying, “Here, you can have them all.”

In the crowded lotus leaf, the two fish collided, splashing and jumping, spraying water all over Zhou Ziqin’s face.

Zhou Ziqin wore a suffering expression and asked, “Why?”

“My arms are tired,” she said, turning to follow Li Shubai toward the Buddha hall ahead.

“Chong Gu, you can’t do this…” Zhou Ziqin wept, but unwilling to abandon the two plump fish, he could only clutch the lotus leaf and trot after them.

Ahead was the main hall for Buddhist worship, crowded with worshippers and visitors before the great hall. In the massive incense burner, worshippers’ incense cakes and blocks smoldered, thin smoke rising to gather into ethereal clouds in the air, making the entire hall appear distorted. Even more impressive were two enormous candles flanking the incense burner, each a zhang tall, leaving observers in awe.

The giant candles were infused with various colors, transforming the originally yellow-white wax into a rainbow of hues that matched the painted soaring dragons and flying phoenixes on their exterior. Golden dragons and crimson phoenixes traversed purple clouds, carved in relief to appear three-dimensional and lifelike. Above the candles were scattered celestial flowers of the auspicious heavenly maiden, while below were rice-paper flowers and precious lotus blossoms. Amidst the brilliant array of flowers clustered five-colored auspicious clouds, creating a scene of magnificent splendor that drew endless praise from viewers.

“These candles were crafted by Lu Zhiyuan, the master of the Lu family candle shop. They say to show his sincerity, he purified himself, burned incense, and worked alone in his shop for seven days and seven nights—truly extraordinary!”

“I heard that after he delivered these candles this morning, he fainted from exhaustion and was carried home. Earlier, when his daughter wanted to help deliver the candles, he scolded her, saying women were impure—you know this Old Master Lu, he’s famous in the capital for mistreating his daughter, always calling her a money-losing burden, and then that incident happened… heh heh.”

“Well, that young lady is quite pretty, haha…”

Fearing damage to the giant candles, a red rope was strung around them, preventing people from touching them. So people just gathered around the candles, discussing their origins.

“Jianfu Temple must be wealthy to use such large candles,” Zhou Ziqin marveled at the painted decorations on the candles, “My household mostly uses oil lamps. Isn’t it wasteful to burn so much wax in broad daylight?”

Huang Zixia said, “Of course Buddhist temples are wealthy. I heard that for this celebration of Guanyin Bodhisattva’s enlightenment day, the palace alone donated a million strings of cash. Just imagine how much wax these two giant candles required. They’ve been collecting beeswax from all over the country since last year, all for today’s offering before Buddha.”

As more and more people gathered, Master Lezhen, the abbot of Jianfu Temple, ascended the newly built dharma platform, preparing to begin his sermon.

In the height of summer, the weather was stifling. Dark clouds loomed over Jianfu Temple, with lightning and thunder faintly rumbling overhead. Though a storm seemed imminent, no one in the temple would leave, all standing to listen to Master Lezhen’s scripture lecture.

The lecture platform was set up at the entrance of the main hall, with the incense burner and giant candles just five paces away. Huang Zixia, Li Shubai, and Zhou Ziqin stood behind the incense burner, watching Master Lezhen through the rising smoke. He was about fifty years old, vigorous and alert, with rosy cheeks and a beaming smile, his words flowing like lotus petals—truly appearing as a great master of his generation.

His voice was resonant, the dharma sound reaching throughout Jianfu Temple, clear to everyone’s ears—

“Thus when evil spirits run rampant, the Tathagata suppresses them with supreme dharma power, lightning strikes suddenly, causing head and body to separate—this is retribution; thus when evil first arises, the Bodhisattva strikes it down with the thunder of the nine heavens, striking directly at the crown, causing the body to burn and rot—this is karma. In all things of this world, karmic retribution is never mistaken, heaven and earth have spirit…”

Before he could finish speaking, the faint rumbling in the sky suddenly erupted violently. Amid the crashing thunder and lightning, a huge flash burst forth—the left giant candle had been struck by lightning, the entire length exploding into flames. People around were struck by burning wax chunks, and chaos immediately erupted as people fell in all directions, clutching their heads and faces.

Those closest to the candle suffered the worst, many with burns on their bodies, desperately patting themselves to extinguish the flames.

Among these affected people, one person screamed in agony, jumping up and howling as he clawed at his hair. Everyone around saw his hair catch fire instantly, followed by his entire body’s clothes bursting into flames in an instant.

Seeing this person engulfed in raging flames, nearby people scrambled away in terror, desperately pushing outward to avoid the flames spreading to themselves.

Jianfu Temple was already crowded, and now ghost-like wails and wolf-like howls filled the air. People around were frantically crawling and rolling, trampling and pushing each other in the crowd. A circle about a zhang in diameter formed, with the burning man howling and rolling on the ground at its center.

Around him were countless exploded, fiercely burning wax chunks, making it appear as if he were in a burning hell. No matter how he struggled and rolled, he couldn’t escape the scorching flames consuming him.

People on the outside pushed outward like a pot boiling over. Huang Zixia stumbled as the surging crowd pushed her, unable to steady her steps. In the panic to escape, people began trampling each other, and the situation was severely out of control. Even the yamen runners who came to maintain order were knocked down and trampled.

Zhou Ziqin lost his footing in the chaotic crowd. In the confusion, his lotus leaf tipped over, and the already half-dead fish fell to the ground, instantly trampled to paste by the frenzied crowd. The colorful items hanging from his waist belt—the golden purse, purple flint pouch, blue counting pouch, silver-sheathed knife—all vanished in the crush.

“No… this can’t be! We came to release life! Now we’ve taken life instead, what a sin, what a sin!” Zhou Ziqin jumped anxiously, still wanting to crouch down to save the fish, but the crowd pushed him further and further away against his will. He waved his hands frantically in the crowd: “Chong Gu, Chong Gu~”

Huang Zixia could barely protect herself now, stepping backward in the frenzied crowd, unable to maintain her balance. Just as her foot slipped and she was about to fall and be trampled, a hand firmly grasped her arm, pulling her over.

She looked up to see Li Shubai’s face, calm and composed, using one arm to hold her shoulders, protecting her in his embrace.

In such a chaotic and tumultuous crowd, Huang Zixia stayed in his arms, feeling like a small boat in a peaceful harbor, the surrounding chaotic crowd slowly receding, fading into an illusory flowing background.

Huang Zixia felt something warm slowly spreading in her chest, making all her muscles stiffen and her breathing grow rapid.

This feeling was truly hateful, seeming to make it impossible to ever view the world clearly and calmly again—

Just like back then, when that person held her in his arms.

She unconsciously raised her hands, pushing Li Shubai away, breaking free from his embrace.