At this moment.
Light came from the front, the light was hazy, as if it was a light shroud cast down, faintly illuminating the hazy light of dust flying, and in the blur, figures, scenes, and sounds could be seen echoing, entering Zhang Wei's eyes and reverberating in his ears.
It was as if Zhang Wei had returned to the past, to Grandpa Tang's past.
...
In the picture.
There was a dilapidated house, and as the door opened, a group of people entered.
There were quite a few of them, seven or eight people. It was raining outside, and they carried some boxes in. They seemed to be afraid of the rain wetting the contents of the boxes. As soon as they entered, they busied themselves opening the boxes to check the items inside.
They were shadow puppets and the musical instruments used to perform shadow puppetry.
Clearly, these people were a shadow puppet troupe who made a living by performing shadow puppetry. Zhang Wei's gaze fell on one of the boxes. Although the box was somewhat different, its shape and the style of its lock allowed him to recognize it as the shadow puppet box.
At this moment.
A cry interrupted the shadow puppet troupe's members as they wiped rainwater from the shadow puppets.
Walking into a corner of the house, they discovered with horror that there was a woman there. She was emaciated and had stopped breathing, but the tear tracks at the corners of her eyes silently recounted the sorrow of her death.
The members of the shadow puppet troupe walked over and saw that the woman was holding a swaddling cloth in her arms, and the crying sound was coming from inside. It was a newborn infant.
This scene made them sigh.
In these times of famine and constant warfare, they had seen too many such scenes. This was another mother who had starved to death. If no one took care of the infant, the infant would soon die from lack of nourishment.
Perhaps out of sympathy, or perhaps hoping the troupe would have a successor.
The leader of the troupe picked up the child.
"Let's call you Tang Pi, from the 'pi' in shadow puppetry."
...
As the words fell.
The scene changed when it appeared again.
It was the same shadow puppet troupe, but compared to the last time, this time the shadow puppet troupe had a little boy of five or six years old.
They were staying in a dilapidated temple.
The troupe leader held the little boy and showed him the shadow puppet in his hand, telling him:
"Pi, you are sensible now. Children from poor families have to grow up quickly. Today I will teach you a skill, and you must learn it seriously, understand! Because if we are no longer here, you can still support yourself with this skill."
The little boy nodded blankly.
Seeing this, the troupe leader smiled and pointed to the shadow puppet, saying:
"Do you know what this is? Remember, this is called a shadow puppet. It is a craft passed down by our ancestors for generations, for hundreds of years, almost a thousand years."
Gradually.
The troupe leader began to tell the little boy the history of shadow puppetry, from how it originated when an ancient emperor, missing his deceased beloved concubine, saw children playing with puppets one day and noticed the lifelike shadows cast by the puppets. The emperor then created paper-cut shadow puppets resembling his concubine, and from then on, shadow puppetry began to spread.
Shadow puppetry is a treasure left by our ancestors for future generations. It is not just an object for people to play with and admire, but also a heritage of wisdom and beauty.
And from that day on.
Zhang Wei saw.
Under the troupe leader's guidance, the little boy touched a shadow puppet for the first time, his eyes filled with a light called adoration, and he couldn't put the shadow puppet down.
And from that day on.
The little boy followed the troupe leader and others, traveling all over the country, learning shadow puppetry, and experiencing all sorts of things along the way.
He saw the people watching the shadow puppet shows, and under the performances, people of all ages and genders, men and women, smiled and rejoiced. Even though it was a time of war, in those war-torn times, shadow puppetry became the only beauty that the poor people could witness with their own eyes.
Watching the shadow puppet performances, which depicted myths and histories like "Journey to the West" and "The Daughters of the Yang Family," the beauty before their eyes made people's memories no longer filled only with war, and a touch of beauty was preserved in their hearts.
Even in times of war and famine, their shadow puppet troupe lived a hard life. Going hungry was common, and they never knew where their next meal would come from, but at least they didn't end up on the streets to starve to death.
It was through these experiences.
That the little boy understood why shadow puppetry could be passed down by their ancestors. It was not just a tradition, but a beautiful heritage.
It was shadow puppetry that gave him his current life.
It was shadow puppetry that saved him from starving to death in that dilapidated house.
It was shadow puppetry that allowed him to see people in wartime burst into smiles that he would never forget in his lifetime.
At the same time.
It was also shadow puppetry that gave him family, the troupe leader and the others.
Amidst these scenes.
In this environment.
The little boy grew to be 12 years old. His height increased, and his skin turned a wheat color from traveling all over the country year-round. However, he paid no attention to these things. At this moment, he was crying next to a small mound of earth that was too rudimentary to be called a grave.
The small mound was raised high, with a wooden tablet carved from a branch stuck on it, serving as a tombstone, and a shadow puppet hanging from it.
Looking beside him, there was one less person in the shadow puppet troupe.
The little boy lay on the small mound, crying heartbrokenly. It was the person who told him stories every night and always saved the best food for him. Now he would never be able to eat the food he had saved for him again.
"Uncle, come back. You promised to eat candied hawthorn with me again. You lied to me, Uncle. I don't want candied hawthorn anymore. Please come back."
He cried with all his might.
It was the first time he experienced separation and death.
The troupe leader gave the little boy the shadow puppet of Uncle, which was the shadow puppet Uncle liked to manipulate the most, and then told the little boy the words he often said:
"Although old things are in the past, they carry people's emotions."
"Pi, Uncle asked me to give you this shadow puppet. He told me that even though Uncle is dead, the joy he brought to everyone through shadow puppetry still remains. Uncle said to have you perform shadow puppetry for him one more time."
It was the first time he performed shadow puppetry while crying.
In front of Uncle's grave, his tears and snot stained the shadow puppet, but it was also the most unforgettable shadow puppet performance of his life.
The light of the shadow puppet box was still swirling.
The scenes continued to change.
The shadow puppet troupe did not disband because of Uncle's absence. The little boy continued to travel all over the country with the troupe leader and the others.
During this period.
The members of the shadow puppet troupe gradually decreased. In times of war, even wealthy landlords were dying, let alone the little boy and his companions. People in the troupe died one after another, and the little boy experienced separation and death again and again.
Finally...
Even the troupe leader passed away.
By then, the little boy had grown into a young man. Under the troupe leader's leadership, they had joined the army together. They were members of the cultural troupe, responsible for performing shadow puppetry for the soldiers, so that the soldiers could have at least a sliver of laughter amidst the fighting.
However, a bomb fell.
The troupe leader, in order to protect the shadow puppets in the shadow puppet box, rushed into the flames without hesitation. Even though his body was engulfed in flames, he rushed in and brought out the shadow puppet box.
The boy would never forget that scene.
The troupe leader was severely burned, his skin was burnt off, and he was gasping for breath. The boy had experienced too much separation and death. He couldn't understand. Shadow puppetry was important, but life was more important.
In response.
The troupe leader, using his last strength, tightly grasped the boy and said:
"Pi, shadow puppetry cannot be lost. It is passed down by our ancestors. The war is still going on, but what about after the war? I don't want it, I don't want our great Xia, after the war ends, for our ancestors' heritage to only be found in books."
"Promise me, Pi, pass down the shadow puppetry."
The troupe leader died.
The troupe leader who brought the brightest light into his life and accompanied him on his journey died, his body covered in blood, holding the blood-stained shadow puppet.
That was the time the boy cried most heartbreakingly.
That was the time the boy had no one to accompany him anymore. Beside him, only shadow puppetry remained.
Time flowed by.
The war ended. The boy, carrying that box of shadow puppets, continued to travel all over the country, alone, bringing joy to the people after the war.
Although he had thought about forming a troupe during this time and had recruited people, in the end, only he remained. The people in the troupe either got married and had children, fell ill and passed away, or learned other crafts for a better life.
The days after the war were gradually becoming brighter, moving towards prosperity, and there were many beautiful things. There were too many things more beautiful than shadow puppetry, and shadow puppetry was gradually becoming neglected.
Despite this.
The boy still carried that box of shadow puppets and persisted in performing, even until he was old.
The scene abruptly ended here.
It stopped when the boy was over seventy years old. He was old, so old that he could barely walk.
Then the scene changed.
When it appeared again.
It was in a room. In front of the boy, who was over seventy years old, lay a corpse. It was the first time he had killed someone, the first time he had used the Five Elements Life Continuation technique he had inadvertently acquired while traveling all over the country.
He knelt hunched over the corpse, crying uncontrollably:
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I had to do this. I tried my best, but I couldn't find a successor. No one was willing to learn. I can't die."
"I'm sorry, I borrowed your life."
"I'm sorry, I will repay it. When I find a successor, I will return to atone."
Amidst repeated apologies.
The old man drew a soul-鎮魂符 on the corpse:
"When I find a successor, I will return to atone. I will go and wipe off the soul-鎮魂符 on your body. I will find a place no one can find and die."
In a murmur.
He also drew a soul-鎮魂符 on himself.
His intention was clear: he planned to find a place no one could find and have himself sealed there, to be unable to reincarnate for eternity as atonement, to bear the sin for eternity as atonement.
...