The morning mist of Mount Zhongnan enveloped the fragrance of wild apricot blossoms. Zhang Yifan shook his Gilded Abacus Beads as he walked through the bamboo grove, smiling faintly at the mottled plaque of the "Yuxu Taoist Temple" nestled in the mountain hollow. The apricot trees in front of the temple were in full bloom, yet not a single soul was in sight to offer incense. The dust on the merit box was thicker than the wood shavings from Huwa's carving knife.
"Those beads rattling are making my head spin," a cool, detached voice came from beneath the apricot tree. Zhang Yifan looked up to see a young woman in a gray robe sweeping fallen leaves, her moonlight-like braids loosely pinned with a wooden hairpin, her cuffs stained with bits of grass. It was none other than the temple abbess, Yuqing.
"It is not easy for you to cultivate the Tao in tranquility, Daoist Master," he made a bow, and his beads bounced into the shape of the character for 'benevolence'. "I am merely passing by your esteemed temple and wish to contribute some incense money—" Before he could finish, the bronze lock of the merit box suddenly snapped open with a click, and the beads rolled to the bottom of the box, stirring up a cloud of dust. Yuqing's broom froze mid-air. "Could your abacus beads be rigged with mechanisms, patron?"
Chapter 119