Chapter 44: Karma (II)
The second spring after the arrival of the white jade statue, the fires of war abated, and Falling Flower Terrace had its first real mountain market.
Because the divine arbor was always half withering and half thriving, haloed in clouds, it hadn’t an ordinary plant’s flowering season. But, those who’d seen the divine arbor would always say that the flowers wreathing its branches looked a bit like the red apricot blossoms of the mortal realm.
Beside the East River at the time, in the place that would later become Meng City, there was a mountain called Mount Ting whose apricot blossom forests went on for dozens of miles and bloomed most abundantly in the third month.
Hence, people set the divine arbor’s flowering season based on Mount Ting’s apricot blossoms, and picked the memorable date of the third day of the third month to commence their mountain market.
When the mortal realm’s first Falling Flower Mountain Market erected its lanterns, Wu Xingxue was watching.
His hidden figure leaned against the divine arbor, lowered eyes looking on as the winding mountain path began lighting up at dusk, lantern string after lantern string, candle flame upon candle flame, straight on through to the utmost points of the mountain range, nearly on past the horizon.
He vaguely recalled how he’d felt at the time…
Watching the weft of passers-by, the jumble of language, he felt content, happy.
He was born here, and because of certain reasons, he cared about this place. He hoped that this Falling Flower Mountain Market would always be so lively, each year livelier than the last until it became the happiest place in the mortal world. Travelers would come from far and wide, and its name would spread to distant places.