Chapter 120: Fuck the Avenue
The gongs and drums are beating, it’s the first day of the first lunar month.

The ground is red amid the sound of firecrackers.

The end of the year and the New Year’s Day mean bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, washing away all the troubles of the past year and welcoming the arrival of the new year.

Every time at this time, the people of Yuxi City would post big red couplets and write some auspicious words on them.

Even the poorest families would take out their year's savings to buy some meat for their family, some candy beans to sweeten their children, and if they had some money left in their pockets, they would buy a red hairband for their wives who had worked hard all year.

The immortals would say that the new year marks the end and everything is renewed, but mortals do not understand this. The elders at home say that posting red couplets is a way to bring good luck and fortune. They only know that at the end of the year, they should celebrate well to get a good start and good hopes for the coming year.

Ordinary people work hard all year round, all their lives, isn't it just for a hope?

But the atmosphere in Yuxi City today is not so celebratory. This year, Yuxi City has both celebrated the New Year and passed the customs.

As the city most severely affected by the disaster caused by gods and demons, countless people were killed and injured. Red couplets hung high and plain white pendants covering the door lintels were scattered throughout the city.

The red and the white are like a magical absurd comedy.

Wei Niang was entertaining guests. The banquet was not large, with only two tables in total.

The dishes on the table were not very rich. There was homemade tofu mixed with green onions, and pickled vegetables that had been saved long ago were fried with a few pieces of fat meat. The food was shiny with oil, and you could smell the aroma of lard with every bite.

There is also a fish on each table, which is considered a river seafood. It is steamed in a steamer and sprinkled with some salt. Then, multi-grain New Year's cakes are added, and everyone enjoys the meal.

After finishing the meal, the neighbors put down their chopsticks, stood up to say goodbye, and while saying goodbye, they turned around and placed some food at the foot of the wall.

The thing was not a precious treasure. It was just a small handkerchief wrapped with a few eggs with red marks on them. It should have been left for the younger generation in the family to supplement their nutrition. Now it was lying quietly in the corner.

Others left a cloth bag, which contained various colors of rice, big and small, coarse grains and fine grains, white and yellow mixed together. Coarse grains can make your throat sore, and eating too much will make it difficult to defecate. Mixing them together can allow you to eat two more meals, and it can also save the money for a few bowls of medicine soup. People called this rice "Eight Treasures Rice."

Two bundles of wild vegetables, a few potatoes, and a fist-sized piece of bacon...

When the neighbors stepped out of the door, an old woman was supported by someone and wiped the tears from her eyes: "Madam Wei is a strong person. She managed everything inside and outside, and handled it very neatly without shedding a single tear. That Dasheng also had a miserable life. How could he be so young..."

The person next to him sighed: "Wei Niang is holding on. She still greets and sees off guests with a smile these days, and she never forgets the people who come. Xu Wa is still so young, and hard times are still ahead."

The two of them left muttering to themselves, and a three-foot-long white mourning cloth was hung on the door. When the breeze blew, it fluttered in the wind, just like those people who were gone and would never come back.

Wei Niang wasn't done yet. She had to pick up the remaining food, clean it up, and put it together to make a meal.

I also sorted out the things left by the neighbors and cleaned the room.

"When celebrating the New Year, we should always feel like celebrating the New Year, getting rid of dust and welcoming good fortune," she said.

She was busy until the moon was high in the sky. Actually, there was not so much work to do, but she felt lonely when she didn't do anything.

Just as he finished his work, his eight-year-old son, Xuwa, woke up again and cried for his father.

"Dad has gone to a very far place and won't be back for a few years. Can you just go to sleep and be good?"

After finally coaxing the child to sleep, Wei Niang pushed the door and walked into the place she dared not enter.

A heavy black coffin stood in the middle. Although it was made of very little material and was a bit thin, it was still too much for a weak woman like her to lift. So the neighbors helped to bring it in.

There was a square table next to the coffin with two white candles on it, but no other offerings. The dead would eventually give way to the living, and how could the dead be fed before the living?

Wei Niang took the brazier, lit a candle, and used the candle to start the fire. A bunch of yellow paper burned in the brazier, and the ashes danced. "Look, why are you running out of the city for no reason? I know you want to take advantage of the sun to get busy. It's New Year's Day, isn't it good to spend time with Xuwa?" Wei Niang rambled on.

"Xu Wa is so young. What will he do if you leave?"

"You feel relieved. No one bothers you anymore. You just lie there and don't listen to anyone."

"You are a cruel person. You left me, an orphan and a widow, and went to live a happy life over there."

Wei Niang was poking the yellow paper with a stick.

"Look at you, when you were alive, you always asked for this blessing and that blessing, but how come in the end, you asked for your blessing instead?"

Two candle lights were as small as beans, lighting up the night sky. The woman who had been strong all day and had not shed a single tear could no longer hold on. Her sobs were covered in that small room and hidden under the vast night sky, like sobs that went on and on.

Xi Jing, dressed in the attire of the sect leader to receive guests, has been standing here for a long time, since early morning, until the moonlight swayed, watching the woman greet guests with a smile, do housework, and then hear her complaints.

He came to survey the disaster situation and led several hundred disciples with him. They are now rebuilding collapsed houses, comforting the people, and distributing rice and flour.

These things were too small and too frequent. The pain of losing a loved one was enough to make a timid mortal burst into madness and cause headaches for the people involved. However, Xijing still took over this mess.

At least, let them have a good New Year first.

Xi Jing couldn't help but recall the scene where he proposed to Master Taixu to explore the black soil floating land.

"No, there are hundreds of Purple Mansions on that floating land. I know you are a gentleman and you have profound cultivation, but I don't know how many terrors are hidden in that floating land. So many Purple Mansions have been bewitched. Aren't you afraid that your own cultivation will be wasted and your great path will become empty?" said Taixu, slapping the table.

"This is absolutely impossible. As the leader of a sect, you should have some responsibilities. You should rescue mortals and comfort disciples. These are what you should do. Someone must go to Fulu. Even if we have to choose, it should be me. You don't need to take the lead!" Taixu Weng's tone softened slightly.

Xi Jing thought about Taixu's wrinkled face and his breath that was like a candle burning in the wind.

"I'm afraid that you, Master, will never come back after you leave!"

Tick.

Xi Jing stretched out his hand and a drop of rain fell into his palm. He knew that he was sick and liked cleanliness and tidiness. His white robe was spotless. Even if this rootless water fell, he had to use magic power to block it.

He looked back, holding the raindrops, his palms wet, as he looked at Gu Qingyuan who was standing not far away.

"It seems that senior has made a decision?" Gu Qingyuan said with a smile.

Xi Jing took off his Taiping crown and Taoist robe, revealing the white robe underneath. Drops of rain fell on the white robe, leaving circles of water stains.

"Someone has to stand up, but that person is me."

Xi Jing threw the crown to Gu Qingyuan and said, "Please return the crown to the Taoist temple. Life is like a white horse passing through a crack in the sky. It is only a flash. Life and death have nothing to do with me. Let me be willful for once."

"After shedding the shackles and abandoning the great way, one can be free and unfettered. This sect leader... is unworthy of being called the leader!"

The rain was getting heavier and heavier. Xijing laughed out loud and let the rain splash on his body, wetting his black hair and white robe. He looked like a drowned rat and no longer looked like a banished immortal.

"Hahaha, screw the avenue!"

(End of this chapter)