"...A mighty voice resounds through the myriad heavens and worlds; his illustrious name is displayed across the Eight Desolations and Six Directions!"
Smack!
The white-haired storyteller slapped his wooden clapper. "As the saying goes—'Before him, all men bow their heads; his three-foot Green Edge hews down the absolute peak. A voyager upon the deep sea of Heaven's Way, a ferryman amid the torrent of myriad worlds!'"
The solid wooden "Silencing Words" struck squarely onto the lectern, snapping in two the shaft of sunlight cast upon it.
Motes of dust whirled wildly in that beam of light. Just like the tumult of human hearts.
"Excellent!"
"Splendidly told, sir!"
The audience's applause did not cease.
The stoop-backed storyteller sat beneath an awning that could not fully block out the light. He picked up the red-cloth-wrapped mallet and struck the bronze gong hanging beside him, sending out a long, lingering ring.
Then he turned the gong over and laid it flat upon the lectern. Pushing the gong forward and leaning back, he stroked his beard and said leisurely, "The tale of True Lord Jiang cutting down the absolute peak ends here. Next, I shall tell of the past affinities and old longings, loves and hatreds, grudges and passions between True Lord Jiang and True Lord Lee—with yet another man's story woven in between. The karma between them has been entangled for twelve years. And the twists within... heh heh, they're wonderfully exciting!"
The crowds packed three layers deep inside and three layers deep outside the awning, all listening with keen enjoyment, gradually stepped forward and tossed Blade Coins into the bronze gong.
The storyteller was raising his tea to drink when he cast a glance at them and continued to whet their appetites. "Lay Buddhist Ruqing's latest masterpiece tells the most thrilling story