As snow pellets from Mount Zhongnan tapped against the lattice window of the Scripture Pavilion, Daoist Master Yuqing was standing on tiptoe to reach the top shelf for the *Huainanzi*. The abacus bead pattern on the cuffs of her gray robe brushed against the dust-covered *Book of Lord Shang*, and the "seeker of the Dao" figurine carved on her wooden hairpin stared fixedly at the yellowed pages with its abacus-bead eyes.
"That posture of yours, Daoist Master, looks for all the world like one of the dyehouse workers at my establishment." Zhang Yifan's voice rang out from behind her, accompanied by the clicking of abacus beads. Huwa was squatting on his shoulder, carving a "Book-Protecting Ghost Face," its abacus-bead tongue licking a scrap of dried apricot lodged in the bookshelf's crack. Yuqing glared at him, flicking her whisk across the cover of the *Book of Lord Shang*. "This poor Daoist is searching for the origin of the saying 'the Way of commerce is the Dao of Heaven'."
"Why bother flipping through books?" He drew closer, the clicking of his beads echoing as they bounced across the *Huainanzi* to form the character for "weave." "The ancients already wrote the Dao of commerce into the stars—look at this 'Tianshi Enclosure'; it is clearly the West Market in the heavens, where the Mercurial Star and the Weaver Girl Star serve as warp and weft for one another." Huwa immediately chiseled a "star-market ghost face" into the bookshelf, the abacus-bead eyes gazing at the earth…
Chapter 133