As the morning frost of Mount Zhongnan clung to the window lattice of the Yi School, Zhang Yifan stepped up the creaking wooden ladder onto the roof. He saw Daoist Master Yuqing standing on tiptoe to adjust Huwa's newly carved "windproof ghost face," the hem of her gray robe lifting in the mountain breeze to reveal the border of her inner garment embroidered with abacus bead patterns.
"The Daoist Master's posture looks remarkably like that of the dyers at my workshop," he said with a light chuckle, his abacus beads bouncing into the character "steadfast" on the wooden hairpin in her hair. Yuqing glared at him, yet as he reached out to steady her waist, the "temple-guardian figurine" abacus bead on her hairpin twitched its tongue—it was Huwa's carving of her holding a horsetail whisk.
"Our temple's roof tiles have been replaced with glazed ones," she jumped down from the ladder, her whisk brushing the frost crystals from his shoulder. "Yet pilgrims always say the reflection from these glazed tiles is dazzling." Zhang Yifan raised an eyebrow, and the abacus beads bounced into the character "curtain" across the glazed tiles: "No matter, we can have Miss Xiao paint some 'Daoist Cloud Pattern' bamboo curtains, which will block the glare and sell for a profit—" He suddenly pointed at Huwa. "And have Huwa carve 'curtain-guardian ghost faces,' with the abacus beads' eyes staring at the bamboo joints."
Chapter 128