Chapter 152 - 141 High Monk Moon Gaze

Chapter 152: Chapter 141 High Monk Moon GazeYun Ziliang rushed to the store’s entrance, shouting to the customers crowding in, "Everyone, the shop is closed, we’ve sold out of everything to eat." This shout puzzled Sister Cui—there were indeed some leftovers—so why claim they’re sold out? Just as she was about to speak up, Zhou Xuan gave her a look and gestured with his hand, so she swallowed her words. She trusted Zhou Xuan completely. It’s easy to attract customers, but sending them away is tough. A few guests who had just arrived wanted to come in for a meal. Yun Ziliang stopped them from entering, and the guests, who were quick-tempered, were ready to rough him up. *If Zhou Xuan hadn’t intervened, Lao Yun would have surely found himself cornered and pummeled.* "Everyone, really, there’s nothing left to eat. Come back tomorrow, please, come back tomorrow." Zhou Xuan clasped his fists together in apology to the crowd, and Sister Cui bowed and apologized to everyone, explaining that they had sold out of their goods, and business couldn’t be done. They managed to usher out several waves of customers, and those who had already finished eating were mostly gone. Zhou Xuan seized the moment and called out to Little Fuzi, "Fuzi! Quick, help us close the door." A group of people worked together, excluding the dazed Mu Hua, each carrying a door panel and hurriedly wedging it into the stone grooves. "In business for the first time, we can’t even get rid of the customers!" Sister Cui opened a drawer, looking at a heap of scattered tickets, feeling an inexplicable sense of happiness. With the last door panel in place, Yun Ziliang wiped his hands, saying, "The door is all greasy, and I have a cleanliness quirk; I can’t stand it." He went inside to wash his hands. "Old Yun, how come you didn’t think about your cleanliness while drinking and feasting on a dead man’s bed?" Zhou Xuan teased Yun Ziliang. Yun Ziliang emerged, shaking his hands dry, and explained to Sister Cui, "In the future, while doing business, keep an eye on that tattoo. When the blood is about to spill over, don’t continue. The thing within the tattoo, it doesn’t like to be overworked. If it gets tired, your shop will face consequences." Sister Cui nodded in confusion, unaware of what "it" referred to, but she did as Yun Ziliang advised. Zhou Xuan then asked, "Sister Cui, do you have an incense burner at home?" "Yes." "Bring it over," Zhou Xuan instructed. In no time, Sister Cui brought over a small copper incense burner, not much larger than a palm. Zhou Xuan lit some incense and placed two Mao tickets under the incense burner. Almost immediately, the brand-new Mao tickets began to age, and then, as if gnawed by insects, tiny holes appeared one after another. As the Mao tickets deteriorated, the blood-red hue of the copper coins in the tattoo started to fade, the coins rattling lightly, their sound delightful, though they began showing traces of rust. "If these copper coins rust completely, does the tattoo lose its power?" Zhou Xuan asked Yun Ziliang. "Yes," Yun Ziliang nodded, saying, "Everything has a lifespan. When the copper coins are covered in rust, their life has ended. By then, take the tattoo off, but don’t just throw it away. Bury it carefully in the ground, or if possible, place some new clothes with it to make a kind of grave, so it can ’rest in peace.’" Sister Cui noted everything down, then pushed a portion of today’s earnings towards Zhou Xuan, saying, "Brother Zhou, take this money. Without your tattoo, our shop couldn’t have had such good business." "We’re all neighbors, just helping out." Zhou Xuan returned the money, bringing Yun Ziliang back inside with him, understanding that Sister Cui’s life managing the simple-minded Mu Hua was already challenging, and making a bit more to live a bit more comfortably was what mattered. Additionally, Sister Cui truly reminded him of the close-knit community from his childhood, visiting each other’s homes and sharing good food. *That warm feeling made him reluctant to take a share.* Zhou Xuan and Lao Yun returned to the shop; Little Fuzi and Mu Hua sat in front of the house, chatting for a while (mostly Little Fuzi talked, Mu Hua was only responsible for nodding or shaking his head) before planning to leave. Sister Cui grabbed Little Fuzi, insisting on stuffing some money into his pocket, urging him, "Fuzi, you helped our shop a lot today, take this money, take it." "No, no, I won’t take it," Little Fuzi didn’t want to accept Sister Cui’s money, bouncing away intending to leave. "If you won’t take the money, take this instead. A street vendor was selling these in the afternoon, I bought two. You must take one." Sister Cui pulled out a new tin frog and handed it to Little Fuzi. Little Fuzi still refused, but Sister Cui was adamant; without acceptance, he wasn’t allowed to leave. In the end, Little Fuzi had no choice but to accept it. ... The Yunluo Mountain Range, Sacrificial site, Under the moonlight, the Human Skin Temple shimmered with a silvery glow, resembling a wax figure. The Copper Coin Priest sat by the Human Skin Temple, gazing up at the moonlight. The Tattoo Clan revered the Lord of Netherworld Stone and worshiped the sun and moon, but there was no sense of devotion in the Copper Coin Priest’s eyes. He recalled the first tattoo Zhou Xuan created, the "Merchant Copper Coin" tattoo. *"What fortune did the Nuo God receive that allowed their tattoos to be even more powerful than those of our Tattoo Clan?"* The Copper Coin Priest couldn’t understand, but it was only because he had never seen the stone slab that Zhou Xuan had seen. The Human Skin Temple and Zhou Xuan indeed had a strong connection; most of what Zhou Xuan could see, so could the Copper Coin Priest. But he couldn’t see the slab of stone that held Zhou Xuan’s opportunity. *"It doesn’t make sense. Previously, not even a Nuodai from a tattoo Tangkou could accomplish this, so how could Zhou Xuan’s tattoo do it?"* An inexplicable sense of unease started to build in the Copper Coin Priest, "Could it be... no way... impossible." He had a hunch, but he didn’t wish for it to be true—didn’t want it to be true. If true, it would affect the grand plan of the Ancient Clan’s Jade Gate Ascension. "Jade Gate Ascension is the only dream we of the Ancient Clan seek!" The Copper Coin Priest once again strengthened his resolve, his gaze toward the moon now filled with piety. ... Deep into the night, the chirping of insects grew louder. Accompanied by the chirping under the corner of the house, Sister Cui counted today’s earnings. "One hundred forty-four dollars and sixty cents." Sister Cui counted out forty-four bucks and said to Mu Hua in the adjacent room, "Hua, tomorrow or the day after, I’ll search for a better rice and flour store. Even though our business has improved because of the tattoo, we still need to improve the taste. Once I’ve settled on a rice and flour store, I’ll take you to buy new clothes, get you a tailored long robe, a bowler hat, and new leather shoes. Anything Brother Zhou wears, I’ll buy for you too. Forty-four dollars should be enough for two sets. This time, be careful not to let those little brats playing soccer ruin your clothes again. Hua, Hua, why aren’t you speaking again?" Sister Cui put the money away and walked into Mu Hua’s room, only to see him standing in front of a mirror, trying to force a smile onto his lips. *He couldn’t grasp normal emotions; as soon as his lips turned up, they sagged back down,* *After several attempts, he finally lost patience, hooking his little fingers to raise his lips upward,* *He was struggling to teach himself how to ’smile.’* *Pulling so hard that his already dry lips began to tear, he couldn’t grasp pain, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel it. Tears welled up, trickling down instinctively.* Sister Cui sighed, stepping in front of Mu Hua, attempting to grasp his wrists. Yet this time, Mu Hua was determined, refusing to let go, as if with just a little more effort, he could forever fix his lips in a smile. "What are you doing?" "He... smiles!" Mu Hua remembered what Little Fuzi had said earlier—our young master loves to smile the most; when he smiles, all the neighbors like him. Sister Cui knew who "he" referred to and advised, "Hua, you’re not Brother Zhou. People like Brother Zhou, but it isn’t all because he enjoys smiling. "I know you want to be like him, but you can’t be him. We need to live our own lives, without envying others, I beg you, please, put your hands down...down..." Sister Cui, with tears in her eyes, used both hands to try to pry Mu Hua’s right hand away. Mu Hua, however, turned around, voluntarily lowering both hands, pointing to his raised lips with his right hand, laboriously saying, "I... smiled." Sister Cui looked at Mu Hua, indeed... indeed... Mu Hua was smiling, no longer pulling with his hands, genuinely smiling. Though the smile was awkward and clumsy, it was real. Tears streaming down her face, Sister Cui hugged Mu Hua tightly, "Being able to smile is a good thing. Smiling is good." ... "Plop, plop, plop!" The tin frog was bouncing all around Zhou’s Purification Shop, while Yun Ziliang crouched, hopping after it with his rear in the air. "This little thing is damned amusing," Yun Ziliang and the frog jumped a few more times together before coming to a stop. Old Yun caught the frog in his hand, winding up its heart-shaped spring. "Mr. Yun, stop playing. You’ve been at it all night already. Let me have a turn," Little Fuzi, standing by, grew quite impatient. "What are you two playing with?" Lv Mingkun, having just returned to the shop, asked, seeing the pair fighting over the tin frog. "This," Yun Ziliang said, showing off the frog. "What’s so fun about that?" Lv Mingkun cast a disdainful look at the two. Finally wound up, Yun Ziliang placed the frog on the ground, and with renewed vigor, it started hopping around "plop, plop" once more. "Hmm, it’s kind of interesting," Lv Mingkun admitted, crouching over to watch the frog with amusement. "A bunch of kiddies," Zhou Xuan, in the middle of tattooing, couldn’t help but rebuke the three, "You’re all silly! What’s so fun about hopping around? ... Get a big basin of water and let the frog hop in it, that’s more fun!" The trio turned simultaneously, as if they had discovered a new world. "How come I didn’t think of that?" Yun Ziliang slapped his forehead, and Little Fuzi ran off to fetch water. Lv Mingkun chased after him, "Fuzi, don’t use the washbasin, use the bathtub, it’s bigger." Instantly, Zhou Xuan was left alone in the main hall. Zhou Xuan had just finished a tattoo, the new design—Ghost Hand. After it was done, Zhou Xuan’s incense didn’t burn up as intensely as it had with the copper coin tattoo. *"Maybe because both tattoos were made with corpse blood, so it doesn’t increase the incense,"* he pondered. *Using the same materials doesn’t seem to do much, let alone making repeat tattoos.* *Zhou Xuan’s dream of "making a hundred and eighty copper coin tattoos to elevate three incense" was dashed.* He was now working on his third tattoo of the night—High Monk Moon Gaze. This tattoo required blood with Buddha nature. This kind of blood was hard to find, so Zhou Xuan had to use his own blood for it. As the blood blended into the ink, stirred with the Bone Teeth, it gradually became multi-colored, then solidified, breaking into different colored sections, *This was the origin of the tattoo ink.* Zhou Xuan had tasted the blood of the "Ten Fingers" and the "Buddha Tumor," so his blood held Buddha nature. Zhou Xuan distributed the different colors into various bone dishes, working on the High Monk Moon Gaze tattoo. The monk’s part of the tattoo was finished quickly, leaving only the pure white moon wheel to complete. Zhou Xuan focused intently, the "High Monk Moon Gaze" tattoo burned into his mind. Just as he was about to guide the Bone Needle to pierce the moon wheel, a Fei Yue rolled out grandly from the Divine Revelation Secret Realm, crushing the pure white moonlight in his mind into countless points of white light. Almost beyond his control, Zhou Xuan’s right hand moved the Bone Needle, dipped in the blood-red ink, and on the human skin, pierced a Fei Yue. As the final needle of Fei Yue dropped, there was a change in the human skin tattoo, plant life withered away, the monk, originally portrayed with a solemn treasure-like appearance, turned into a skeleton clad in a Kasaya, a gong-like Buddhist chant reverberated through the room, making the walls and pillars tremble slightly. The bath in the second-floor bathroom, affected by the vibrations, splashed with waves, drenching Little Fuzi, Lv Mingkun, and Yun Ziliang like drowned rats. "What’s happening? Did that kid’s tattoo set this off?" Wiping his face with his sleeve, Yun Ziliang headed downstairs, saying, "You’ve got to be kidding, just an entry-level tattoo map, and it made such a commotion!?" ps: Thank you, my good brothers, for your continued support; I finally got the boutique badge today. Love you all, muah, muah.