The torrential rain on Mount Zhongnan poured down at the third quarter of the Youshi hour. As Zhang Yifan rushed into the temple roof carrying his abacus bead box, Daoist Master Yuqing was standing on tiptoe to close the window. The hem of her gray robe was soaked through, and the little wood-carved figure of Huwa on her wooden hairpin dripped with water, making her look just like a wronged little deity.
"Is the Daoist Master giving her abacus beads a bath?" he chuckled, as the abacus beads bounced across the slippery brick floor in ripples. Yuqing glared at him, her horsetail whisk brushing the raindrops from his shoulder: "The roof of my poor temple is leaking, and I'm afraid your abacus beads poked holes in it!" Before her voice faded, another column of water smashed onto the altar table, and the Gilded Abacus Beads inside the box instantly bounced into a rain-evasion formation.
The sound of Huwa's carving knife came from the rafters: "Brother Fan! Huwa carved a 'roof-protecting ghost face', and the abacus beads' eyes can catch the rainwater!" They saw the small wood-carved figure holding a lotus leaf, with the abacus beads' tongues licking the tile seams, actually channeling the leaking rain into a copper basin, where the splashing water droplets reflected the light and shadow of the abacus beads under the candlelight.
Chapter 131