Pearl Light

Extra 2 (Shen Tong Guang) Part 2

3

The master wasn't there, only leaving a message with Shi Yu, telling him to wander the mortal realm for thirty years, find a place where the flatbreads are better than those made by Zhen Zhu, and then return to Lingchen Peak.

"Why let this fool roam the mortal realm for thirty years? Didn't you foresee everything? Couldn't you just tell him that Zhen Zhu will cross that bridge in decades?" Shi Yu asked, resting her chin in her hand.

"If I told him, he would wait bitterly by that bridge for decades. The mortal world is lively, he should find something to do."

"You said the mortal world is lively. Aren't you afraid he'll meet someone better and fall for her during these thirty years?"

"The reincarnated Zhen Zhu is free, and so is Shen Tong Guang." The master smiled slightly. "Having to wait and choosing to wait are different."

Shi Yu, smart as she was, couldn't grasp this.

Having to wait, choosing to wait, aren't they both just waiting?

What's the difference?

Shen Tong Guang descended the mountain, searching for flatbreads better than Zhen Zhu's.

He first went to the largest restaurant in the capital, which had hired the best pastry chef from Yangzhou.

Delicate sweet flatbreads with a fragrant taste that filled the mouth.

Others praised them endlessly, but Shen Tong Guang just shook his head.

The chef's flatbreads were excellent, but not good enough.

However, he couldn't pinpoint what was missing, so he continued his search.

On another beautiful autumn day, little yellow flowers bloomed again by the roadside.

Shen Tong Guang, missing Li Zhen Zhu, transformed into Taotie and climbed to the top of a very high mountain.

He thought there would be no one there, but unexpectedly, he encountered a wandering traveler.

The traveler recognized Shen Tong Guang and quickly sketched him:

"Taotie, just as described in ancient texts, had the body of a sheep, a human face, tiger's teeth, and human claws."

Shen Tong Guang, having reverted to his true form, cried sadly, and the good weather vanished, replaced by heavy rain.

The traveler nodded and noted down:

"When it cries, it rains."

Embarrassed, Shen Tong Guang stopped crying, afraid the traveler would write down "Taotie loves to cry," which would be quite shameful.

Shen Tong Guang stared at the traveler, making him a bit embarrassed:

"Taotie loves to eat. Here, have half of this flatbread my wife made for me."

The flatbread made by the traveler's wife, though not sweet, surprisingly had a hint of Li Zhen Zhu's flavor.

Shen Tong Guang felt like crying again.

"Why were you crying just now?"

"I miss my wife. Don't you miss yours?"

"Of course, but I love wandering, love the mountains and rivers, but I don't love being tied down." The traveler leaned against a tree, pointing at the rolling sea of clouds in the distance, "There are so many beautiful sights in the world, it would be a shame not to visit them. Look, isn't it beautiful?"

"Yes, it is. I also want to show this to my wife, but she's not here now." Shen Tong Guang thought, "But it's okay, I'll find her in the next life and take her to see it."

Thinking of this, Shen Tong Guang felt happy again.

Taotie was no longer sad, but the traveler became melancholy:

"You are right, I should bring her along..."

The rain stopped, and the traveler decided to return home.

As they parted, he waved to Shen Tong Guang and said the only words that Shen Tong Guang liked to hear:

"We're the same, both looking for the way home."

4

Shen Tong Guang would also go into the Taotie mountains, seeking his fellow creatures who loved food to ask about the best sweet flatbreads in the world.

The Taoties were comparing the best things they had ever eaten to choose a Taotie King.

"The best thing I ever ate was the heart of a man's ambition."

"Fool, the best is surely the heart of a woman's infatuation."

Shen Tong Guang hadn't eaten any of the things they mentioned, so he kept silent.

Someone recognized him:

"Hey, aren't you the one who was enlightened by the old man from Lingchen Peak? You've seen the world. What's the best thing you've eaten?"

"Why aren't you saying anything? Could it be that you've eaten a true heart?"

"That's a legendary delicacy. It requires someone to willingly, without any resentment or regret, offer their heart to you."

The Taotie chatted eagerly, waiting for Shen Tong Guang to mention something appetizing.

"Sweet flatbreads."

The beasts were puzzled: What's that? Filled sweet flatbreads?

"It's sweet flatbreads."

A sweet flatbread with a bleeding heart inside must taste wonderful.

"It's sweet flatbreads!" Shen Tong Guang was a bit impatient, "My wife made them, and they're delicious."

The beasts looked at each other in confusion.

They hadn't heard of it, seen it, or tasted it.

"Forget it! You wouldn't understand!"

Shen Tong Guang walked off in a huff, refusing even the title of Taotie King they offered him.

5

Thirty years passed, and Shen Tong Guang wandered the mortal realm, unable to find sweet flatbreads better than Li Zhen Zhu's.

Shen Tong Guang returned to Lingchen Peak.

The master said Zhen Zhu had entered the cycle of reincarnation.

Shen Tong Guang anxiously asked which family she was born into.

"To a good family with both parents, kind and virtuous," the master stroked his beard with a smile. "She's now three years old and learning to speak."

"Since she's been reincarnated, Shen Tong Guang, come down to the mortal realm with me. Zhen Zhu can be your wife again!" Shi Yu cheerfully shook the master's arm. "Master, let's go enlighten Zhen Zhu, so she remembers everything from her past life!"

"Then I'll wait another sixteen years, it doesn't matter," Shen Tong Guang shook his head.

"I can't say for sure what will happen in sixteen years. Maybe she will come, maybe she won't want to..." The master, for the first time, couldn't predict and frowned.

Shi Yu was stunned:

"Don't you miss her? You've already waited thirty years, now another sixteen years, aren't you anxious? What if she falls in love with someone else?"

"But this time Zhen Zhu has parents." Shen Tong Guang thought for a moment and then smiled, "It's okay, I have plenty of time. I can use it all to wait for her."

Shi Yu fell silent.

"Besides, I've wandered the mortal realm for thirty years, but she only got to for nineteen, so she got the short end of the stick."

For some reason, hearing Shen Tong Guang say this, Shi Yu suddenly felt a pang of sadness in her heart, as if she was about to rain on someone's behalf.

"Hey, Shen Tong Guang, you just wait for thirty years? Isn't that boring?"

Shi Yu wanted to ask, after waiting so long, wouldn't you feel resentment?

Love stories go unfinished, for the world is rife with sorrow and regret.

"Not boring at all. In these thirty years, I've met many people and experienced many things. When I see Zhen Zhu, I won't worry about having nothing to talk about."

"What if she doesn't come..."

"Then I'll save up the stories I want to tell her, and share them when she's ready to listen."

Shi Yu didn't know why, but tears started falling down her face.

"So this is the meaning of the word 'love'."

The master agreed with Shen Tong Guang to enlighten Zhen Zhu in sixteen years and not let her remember the past until then.

Shen Tong Guang left, heading to fulfill his promise at the Bridge of Previous Destinies, sixteen years later.

"Master, will Zhen Zhu really come in sixteen years?" Shi Yu couldn't stop wiping her tears. "But I just cast a divination, and there was no sign of the Red Phoenix Star on that bridge in sixteen years. Maybe, maybe..."

"The heavens' calculations can't match human desires."