Chapter 584: Chapter 584: The Ubiquitous Dongqing Temple Master Chapter 584: Chapter 584: The Ubiquitous Dongqing Temple Master The old lady sighed, and as she touched Sanya’s head, she said, “Our family was doing quite well before, living harmoniously together. We weren’t rich, but having enough to eat and wear was never a problem. Unfortunately, we just had bad luck.”
“Our second granddaughter,” the old lady continued, “was abducted by human traffickers right after she was born. For all these years, our entire Lu family has been searching for her. It has been over a decade and we still haven’t found her. We’ve considered that she might no longer be with us, but what if she’s still alive? What if she’s out there suffering, waiting for us to rescue her?”
Aunt Zhang was astounded, “Granddaughter?”
It wasn’t that she looked down on baby girls, it’s just that in this world nowadays, girls just weren’t valued, especially one who was stolen at birth.
Let’s not even talk about girls, even for boys, who carry on the family name, not every family would continue searching for over a decade if they were kidnapped.
The actions of the Lu family really forced one to take a second look with newfound respect.
The old lady went on, “Over the years, to find my granddaughter, my daughter-in-law has spent day after day offering incense and praying to Buddha. Any temple or daoist temple rumored to be efficacious, she’s been to them all. My son, in his search for his daughter, even broke his leg by accident and now walks with a limp. My other grandchildren are also having a tough time.”
Aunt Zhang sighed with empathy, “That’s hard on all of you. Your family really is a bunch of honest people.”
“Yes,” the old lady replied. “That’s why I say, ‘Heaven helps those who help themselves,’ and at last, we’ve got a lead on where my granddaughter could be. There’s a Daoist temple in Dongan Province with a temple master who’s quite powerful. Seeing our family’s sincerity, she finally pointed us towards a clear path. She told us to search here in the southwest, in a village in Heichang County where my granddaughter might be found.”
“The village is roughly by a river at the entrance, with a big manor. We came over more than ten days ago and have asked around in each village under Heichang County’s jurisdiction, and Righteous Dao Village is the most fitting. So, I rented a courtyard here, hoping to eventually encounter my granddaughter.”
After hearing this, Aunt Zhang was especially shocked, “You… you all came all the way from Dongan Province to Linzhang Prefecture just based on what the temple master of a Daoist temple told you? Aren’t you afraid it’s all for nothing, afraid that the temple master… might get it wrong?”
The old lady sat up straight, speaking earnestly, “You can’t say that. The Dongqing Temple master is very famous in our area. She doesn’t lightly perform divinations or physiognomy readings for people, and even when high-ranking officials seek her out, she doesn’t meet them if the affinity isn’t there. And…”
She suddenly lowered her voice, speaking softly, “The Dongqing Temple master has even done readings for nobles in the capital’s Imperial Palace; she rarely makes mistakes. Besides, she directed us here, but she didn’t take a penny from us.”
After listening, Aunt Zhang no longer had anything to say. Having done readings for nobles in the palace, that must mean she’s no ordinary charlatan in the Worldly Society.
The old lady carried on, “Moreover, since we’ve come to Righteous Dao Village and seen that it’s exactly as the temple master described, doesn’t that prove her exceptional ability?”
Aunt Zhang slowly nodded her head, that indeed indicated a true master.
“However, did your whole family come? To search for someone, wouldn’t one person be enough?”
There wasn’t even a need for the Lu family to come in person; hiring a couple of people to inquire around would have sufficed.