"Chang'an's great avenues span the nine heavens… We've been wandering all day, it lives up to its reputation. …
"Chang'an's great avenues span the nine heavens… We've been wandering all day, it lives up to its reputation. But why did you bring me here? An's Pancakes… This pancake shop looks ordinary, nothing special."
"That's because you're dumb. Weren't you looking for Chang'an's spirits and oddities? What could you find on the main streets? You have to come to places like this."
As stated, this street had no grand mansions of the nobility, no foreign style wine shops with dancing girls, one could say it was the most ordinary corner of the city. Those dazzlingly talented scholars and beauties, those legends that sparked imagination, likely had nothing to do with this place.
The young girl pointed to a courtyard not far away, "I lived here as a child. Next door is Granny Goddess of Mercy's house."
Granny Goddess of Mercy was a somewhat famous figure in this street. It was said her original surname was Cao, and in her youth she was as beautiful as Goddess of Mercy. She returned to her hometown from Liangzhou to search for family. Though blind, Granny Goddess of Mercy was highly respected because she was well-versed in Buddhist teachings. Even now, bookstore owners or monks and nuns would visit every so often, asking Granny Goddess of Mercy to help translate and proofread Sanskrit scriptures. The neighbors privately spread rumors that Granny Goddess of Mercy must possess some divine powers. Otherwise, how could she have traversed a thousand miles of desert? Granny Goddess of Mercy had a shop called An's Pancakes, which featured an inscription wall, it was said that if you wrote a good poem, your meal was free. Curious women had inquired why the shop bore the surname An. At that time, Granny only said it was her beloved's shop. But after all these years, no one had ever seen a man surnamed An come to claim the shop as his.
"Sounds like a talented woman with deep Buddhist connections… But so what? This has nothing to do with the Chang'an spirits I'm looking for."
"Don't rush. Aren't you curious about who Granny Goddess of Mercy's beloved, surnamed An, is?"
"Who could it be? Just another rotten man who abandoned his family."
"Hey, hey, don't be hasty. The older I get, the more I feel that as a child I might have accidentally encountered Granny's beloved… Think about it, Granny is Goddess of Mercy with divine powers. Her beloved… might not be an ordinary person."
"Ah! You mean… a spirit! Quick, tell me more!"
"Once as a child during the Lantern Festival, I got lost and entered a pitch-black alley. I couldn't see the way, so I crouched down and cried. Isn't it strange? It was the Lantern Festival, yet that alley was so dark you couldn't see anything… Thinking back now, it was probably an illusion cast by a monster."
"Makes sense…"
"Then, I suddenly heard someone call me. I looked up and saw Granny Goddess of Mercy coming to find me. Behind her was a huge moon… The alley was dark like ink that wouldn't dissolve, the lantern light couldn't penetrate, but the moonlight could. Everywhere in the alley was dark, except around Granny, who was bathed in moonlight… Wherever Granny walked, the moonlight shone. It was as if it shone on her alone."
The young girl spoke, recalling how Goddess of Mercy led her out of the alley as a child and found her parents. After thanking them with her parents, sensing something, she couldn't help but glance back. In the moonlight, there was a faint figure accompanying Granny Goddess of Mercy. She blinked and looked again, and the person disappeared.
"Granny Goddess of Mercy, do you have divine powers?" In the pitch-black alley, the little girl, pouting on the verge of tears, held Goddess of Mercy's hand as they walked forward.
"Yes, I do." Under the clear moonlight, Goddess of Mercy smiled at her.
"My divine power… can call the moon to my side."
What night is tonight, that I may see this moon?
Let the moonlight shine upon the beholder.
She had long possessed it.