The Opera
It is unknown how much time has passed, until a crow's cry pierced the sky from within the Rising Yang Mansion.
Su Yao looked at "Rosy Cloud Feather Wanderer" again, only to see that the originally dazzling Rosy Glow Feather Robe was now rapidly losing its rosy glow, until the last bit of color disappeared and it turned completely gray.
Seeing this, Su Yao changed his hand Method Formula again and chanted in a low voice:
"Shedding old garments, donning new feathers, radiant with the glow of dawn, aligning with the profound origin of the Dao."
As Su Yao finished speaking, a crisp "crack" sound rang out.
Countless fine cracks suddenly appeared on the surface of the feather robe that the Immortal Foundation had transformed into.
From deep within the crack, a faint golden light shone through.
The cracks widened rapidly, and the entire feathered garment peeled away layer by layer from the inside out, with fragments of rosy light scattering like flying flowers across the sky.
The detached fragments transformed into wisps of extremely fine rosy clouds in mid-air, then traveled around the Rising Yang, set in the south, and began to cycle again, continuing to rise and fall into the ashen feathered robe.
The next moment, the gray feathers on the previously faded feather robe began to fall off, and new feathers continued to grow, no longer the dazzling colors, but black! A deep black!
The bright light from the Rising Yang Mansion shone upon it, but the dark feathered robe neither absorbed the light nor simply reflected it.
Every ray of light that falls upon it seems to sink into an extremely deep and still abyss—yet deep within this abyss, faint wisps of rosy light peek out.
When still, it is as deep and still as an ancient, cold pool; when in motion, endless rays of light shine through its dark depths, layer upon layer, like a dark tide surging with gold, like fire flowing through the night.
At this moment, Su Yao felt an irresistible drowsiness surging up from Spirit Platform depths of his mind, dragging his entire being down like a tide. He felt as if he had returned to the womb—surrounded by warm darkness, without light, without sound, without the passage of time, only a primordial silence.
This is the Tribulation of Heaven and Earth Submergence.
Above the Spirit Platform, a layer of gray gloom quietly spread from the edges, eroding the light in the Rising Yang Mansion inch by inch.
The bright light faded silently, as if an invisible hand had slowly drawn away all life and color.
The entire Rising Yang Mansion gradually transformed into the suffocating grayness that Mianning had displayed before Golden Ao Mountain many years ago when he unleashed the Heaven and Earth Lose Color." Everything remained, yet all had lost their soul.
Only the Prism, with its three beams of red, orange, and yellow light still swirling endlessly on its seven sides, like three solitary lamps that never go out in the long night.
After an unknown amount of time, the gray layer finally began to fade.
The world within the Rising Yang Mansion slowly warmed up, and bright light gradually seeped back from the edge of the Spirit Platform (spirit platform).
Su Yao felt as if he had walked the path from the womb to birth all over again—the chaos had receded from him, and his consciousness, like a sprout breaking through the soil, had once again touched the light from the long and deep darkness.
Before he could even catch his breath, the scene before him suddenly changed.
Su Residence in Qinghe Commandery City.
Su Yao stood under the old locust tree in the courtyard, holding a ledger in his hand, while he could hear his mother fiddling with the abacus in the main room.
Su Yao's father, Su Shouzhuo, was a son of a collateral branch of the Su Household in Qinghe. The Su Household was considered a prominent clan in Qinghe. Although they were not a wealthy and powerful family, several branches of the family held official positions in the prefectural government, and several plaques inscribed with "Jinshi Jidi" (meaning "passing the imperial examination") hung in the ancestral hall.
In his youth, Su Shouzhuo was a renowned handsome young man. He was well-versed in poetry and literature and could write essays. The entire Su Household was counting on him to pass the imperial examinations and bring glory to their branch of the family.
But he didn't.
He became fascinated with opera.
That year, a theatrical troupe from out of town came to Qinghe Commandery City. The leading actress's surname was Gu, and her stage name Lanyin.
Su Shouzhuo listened to her performances for three nights in a row. On the fourth night, he went backstage to find her. On the fifth night, he went home and confronted his father, telling him that he wanted to marry her.
The argument raged for three days and three nights inside the Su Household.
Actors are considered the lowest of the low; marrying one would be a disgrace to the family.
Su Shouzhuo knelt before the ancestral tablets without saying a word.
The elders had tried to scold and persuade him, but in the end, they stormed off, leaving behind the words, "He has willingly fallen into depravity."
He truly "fell into depravity," moved out of the Su Household mansion, bought a small courtyard in Huai'an Lane, redeemed Gu Lanyin from the opera troupe, and married her in a grand wedding procession.
The Su Household severed all ties with him from then on, treating him as if he never existed in that branch of the family.
Su Yao grew up in such a family. His father never Su Household's affairs, but went to the cloth shop to check accounts every day. He never passed the imperial examination, but he still made a name for himself in the cloth shop business.
Occasionally, his mother would close the door and sing him a song. In those melodious tunes, there was a dream of prosperity from the heyday of Qinghe Commandery City that he had never seen before.
But as he listened, he always felt a void in his heart, as if those melodies were meant to be accompanied by some other memory, only to be seen in his dreams of snow-white pear blossoms blooming in the mountains.
He didn't marry Gu Wanniang, the daughter of Licentiate Gu, who lived in the next alley, until he was thirty years old.
My mother arranged the marriage herself, saying that the Gu family girl was well-educated, gentle, and a good homemaker.
Su Yao only caught a glimpse of her through the curtain during the matchmaking process—she was dressed in a simple, pale yellow shirt, bowing her head to serve tea to her father, her profile softly illuminated by the light filtering through the window.
On the day of the wedding, the courtyard was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and neighbors came to offer their congratulations.
Su Yao, dressed in a bright red wedding robe, spent the entire day mingling and socializing amidst the clinking of glasses.
After the guests had all left, he lifted the bride's veil and met her gentle eyes. He was suddenly stunned for a moment, not because of the person in front of him, but because he felt for no reason that those eyes shouldn't look like that.
It should be stubborn, and it should blush slightly when he teases her.
He shook his head, dismissing the inexplicable thought, and softly called out:
"My wife."
After getting married, Gu Wanniang indeed managed the household affairs very well, just as her mother had predicted.
Su Yao went to the cloth shop to check accounts every day, while she spun and wove cloth at home. Occasionally, when she returned from her parents' home, she would always bring a snack for her parents-in-law.
The following year, their first child was born.
It was a boy. When the midwife handed the swaddled baby to him, he looked down and saw a wrinkled little face facing him, its eyes not yet open, but its mouth already moving slightly.
He suddenly remembered his mother saying that he looked just like that when he was born—wrinkled up, like a little monkey.
He smiled, but as he smiled, his eyes welled up with tears.
But before the smile could fully bloom on her face, a faint sense of bewilderment rose in her heart.
He felt as if he had missed a very important agreement, but he couldn't remember what it was.
The following year, Gu Wanniang became pregnant again.
This time it was a girl.
The two children were only two years apart. The older brother, who was still unsteady on his feet, was already pushing his younger sister's cradle in a wobbly manner. Every time Su Yao returned home from the fabric shop and opened the courtyard gate, he could hear the children's laughter coming from inside the house.
Sometimes it's the older brother riding the rocking horse, shouting and yelling; sometimes it's the younger sister rolling around on the tatami mat. When she sees him, she giggles and opens her little arms, wanting him to hug her.
One day he returned from the cloth shop carrying two strings of candied hawthorns.
The older brother snatched it away and ran off; the younger sister stumbled after him, but couldn't catch up, so she turned back and reached out her hand to him, crying out "Daddy!"
He smiled, picked up the little girl, and snatched a string of pearls from her brother's hand, handing it to her.
With tears still on her face, she already smiled sweetly.
On the third day of the third month of the following year, a temple fair was held in the city.
Su Yao held his daughter, Gu Wanniang held her son's hand, and the family of four went to see a local opera. On the stage, gongs and drums resounded, and the opera was a classic story of a talented scholar and a beautiful woman.
Su Yao hadn't paid any attention at first, but as soon as the actress playing the female lead opened her mouth, he was struck dumb—the melodious tune was like a fine needle, piercing into a long-forgotten corner of his memory.
It was as if he had stood on the same high platform with the same makeup, facing an audience thousands of times larger than this one.
There seemed to be a few people standing beside him at that time; some were playing the flute, some were playing the zither, and some, though unwilling, accompanied him to finish singing that unknown play.
He suddenly came to his senses, only to find that the female lead on the stage had already left, her flowing sleeves billowing as she walked off.
His daughter, nestled in his arms, tugged at his collar and asked in a childish voice:
"Father, why are you crying?"