Chapter 14: First Order’s Revenue
Constable Luo returned home somewhat earlier than usual that day.
His wife, Madam Wang, was asking if he had visited their neighbor. This woman was quite a gossip, which reminded Constable Luo of the group of people he had encountered that afternoon.
He really had no other ways left that day. Thus he had taken along some gifts in the afternoon to visit the new neighbor his wife spoke so highly of, who seemed to possess the air of a master. However, he stood at the entrance and knocked on the door for a long time without any response from inside. All he heard were a few cat meows.
Instead, he ran into several tea merchants from out of town and two armed guards as he was leaving. They were all carrying gifts from their hometowns, also intending to visit the young Daoist priest.
After some mutual questions, Constable Luo learned…
The young Daoist priest who had moved in across from them was the very master who had casually eradicated the fog spirit that had been causing trouble for months while passing by Liangshui Hollow!
The fog spirit had been wreaking havoc along Jinyang Road, and it was nearly time to post notices about it on the city gate. Now that it was vanquished in a day, and the story had already spread far and wide in Yidu. Especially since the master invited by Nanhua County had failed to eliminate it, but it had been effortlessly eliminated by a passing master. This made the tale even more captivating.
Who would have thought that such a master would be living nearby?
He might possess the ability to exterminate the fog spirit but Constable Luo still felt he might not necessarily be able to help with his own problems. Nonetheless, he felt a greater respect for him.
He thought about the gifts he had prepared today which were a bag of dark brown sugar and a bottle of good wine. They were considered decent presents for visiting friends or relatives these days as an ordinary family might not be able to afford them. Yet, they seemed a bit lacking in sincerity compared to what the tea merchants had brought.
“I’ll prepare more generous gifts and visit again tomorrow.” He was telling his wife, but then heard the eerie singing coming from the courtyard opposite again. It was the purest human voice. It was initially unsettling but after a while, he felt that she sang better than the female singers in the goulan washe.
He wondered if the young Daoist priest had returned home, and if he was back, what he was doing now. Did he really not mind the ghost in his house?
***
Song You cleaned off the stone table in the courtyard and enjoyed his dinner there in the cool evening.
Tonight, he indulged in a bowl of steamed white rice. For some reason, the rice of this era exuded a rich aroma when steamed, a scent detectable even a few households away. It greatly roused one’s appetite. Song You served himself a bowl, and also a small portion on a plate for the calico cat, along with some meat. Man and cat peacefully passed their time like this in the evening.
A human shadow still flickered in the courtyard and the ghost sang, but neither the man nor the cat seemed to notice.
“Is it tasty, Lady Calico?”
“It’s delicious.”
“That’s good.” Song You picked up a piece of meat to go with the white rice. The taste was familiar, bringing a smile to his lips.
The joy of human cooking was an ordinary person’s poetry. Feeling full after drinking wine and eating a meal was the easiest way to feel contentment. With Lady Calico’s company, he didn’t feel lonely living here alone. He even began to think that it would be fine to settle down here permanently.
After dinner, he sat and savored the taste for a while. Song You waited until the night deepened, then he lit the oil lamp. He tested the new brush, and began drawing talismans.
Although Hidden Dragon Temple was not famous for its talismans, Song You knew a few varieties acquired by several generations of temple owners during their travels.
The most common talismans on the market were also the two kinds people often sought from Daoist and Buddhist temples: those to ward off evil and repel ghosts as well as those to ensure peace.
Song You knew a few kinds of talismans that relied on spiritual energy to ward off evil and repel ghosts. As for talismans that ensure peace, they normally required invoking gods in order to borrow each god’s power. Although Hidden Dragon temple displayed many statues of Daoist deities, they were just dusted off every year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month[1] and the respect for them was limited. Hence, the Daoist priests of Hidden Dragon temple usually didn’t know how to draw such talismans.
That day, Song You only drew Ghost-Repelling talismans.
These kinds of talismans specifically repelled ghosts.
For a moment, his spiritual energy caused a gust of wind that made the oil lamp’s flame tremble. The light and shadows in the courtyard also flickered as his brush danced across the paper.The calico cat was curious. Initially, she looked up from the ground but found it hard
to see clearly. Thus she jumped onto the stone table and came closer for a better look.
Fortunately, she didn’t disturb Song You and just watched.
The man and cat seemed to share a natural rapport.
Song You stopped after drawing five talismans.
He folded them carefully. He strung one with hemp thread and hung it at the entrance to his bedroom to prevent the lady ghost from entering. He didn’t hang any in other rooms, since he had said they would coexist peacefully without disturbing each other. In that case, he should leave her some space to move around.
“My apologies.” Song You bowed towards the bamboo grove.
Looking up, he saw the sky was filled with stars. The surrounding neighbors had long since gone to bed. The distant sounds of Chunming Street couldn’t reach all the way here. The night was extraordinarily quiet.
“It seems it’s already End of Heat[2].”
“What is End of Heat?” Lady Calico asked.
“It means the weather will start to cool.”
“Oh…”
“Go to sleep, Lady Calico.”
“Alright…” The calico cat followed him into the house and onto the bed.
Song You and Lady Calico had gradually grown familiar with each other over these couple of days. Despite being strangers coming together by chance, they had been depending on each other for some time. Song You always treated her with sincere regard and the calico cat was not cunning like humans. Thus, both parties had grown fond of each other with time.
Cats loved warmth and she often secretly slept next to him.
***
Early next morning, the rooster crowed at dawn again.
Song You woke up somewhere earlier, put on his clothes, and meditated in the courtyard. According to his senses, that day was much cooler than the early morning of the day he arrived.
The yellow plum[3] tree in the courtyard had already started shedding its leaves.
The wind blew and Song You raised his hand in passing to catch a fallen yellow leaf.
Song You mused. “End of Heat…”
End of Heat marked the end of the summer heat. "End" means stop, meaning that the summer heat had started to dissipate. The unbearable torrid weather was coming to an end, transitioning to cooler temperatures.
Song You discarded the yellow leaf and closed his eyes again.
The spiritual energy in the morning was always the clearest and densest, seeming to have life of its own as it surrounded him. It tempted the green lamp[4] and caused a few more yellow plum leaves above him to fall.
The city was waking up at this time too.
Outside, vendors were peddling vegetables, water and firewood along the street. Their calls and the voices of bargaining were audible. Yet Song You did not find it noisy but rather felt he was listening to the rhythm of the people’s daily lives in this era.
But at that moment, there was a knock at the door.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
Song You opened his eyes, got up, and went to open the door.
Standing outside was the merchant surnamed Li, and his party, including the two armed guards. Each one of them bore gifts.
“Greetings, Mister.”
“Please come in.”
“Sorry to visit so early, if we have disturbed you, please forgive us.” Mr. Li quickly said, “We all very much wanted to visit and thank you, so I asked my brother-in-law for your current address. If this is inconvenient…”
“No need for such formalities, come in quickly.”
Song You, unaccustomed to such courtesies, invited them into the courtyard.
The group looked nervous and looked at one another in dismay.
They had long heard from Wang Ji that this courtyard house was haunted. It had been rented a few times over the past few years but the previous renters had all broken their leases the very next day. Although the Daoist priest dared to stay since he was bold and skilled, as ordinary people, they couldn’t help but feel apprehensive.
They thought that it was broad daylight after all, and there were many of them. Moreover, the Daoist priest was present, so they eventually stepped into the courtyard one by one.
Once they entered, the courtyard didn’t feel eerie at all like the haunted house they had imagined. They saw it had been tidied up neatly and a cool breeze from somewhere rustled the fallen yellow plum leaves. An indolent calico cat emerged from the house, stretching and yawning, immediately giving them a sense of tranquility and relaxation.
It indeed felt cooler in the courtyard than outside.
However, this coolness was not the kind that made one uneasy, caused one’s hair to stand on end or goosebumps. It was a comfortable, clean coolness, like the moist freshness of the early morning outside after a good night’s sleep or the relief of a night breeze on one’s face outside after the lingering heat of a sultry evening had been washed away.
The group exchanged amazed looks, seeing one another's surprise. They quickly presented their gifts, thanking the Daoist priest for saving their lives.
The gifts they brought were mostly homemade cured meats and sausages as well as homegrown fine teas. The gifts fully showed their regard.
“You’re all too kind.” Song You said, though he did not demur or decline.
The pile of gifts was all placed on the stone table.
Everyone felt relieved after seeing this.
Then they saw the calico cat jump onto the table, seemingly attracted by the meaty scent of cured meat and sausages, or perhaps inspecting the unfamiliar items that had entered its territory out of habit. It approached the pile of gifts and sniffed them all over but no one shooed it away.
“It’s quite elegant of you to keep a cat for company.” Mr. Li chuckled as he looked at Lady Calico, recalling the scene of this cat mimicking the Daoist priest’s bow outside the city that day.
When the Daoist priest reached Liangshui Hollow, he was still alone. However, he had a cat by the time he arrived in Yidu. It couldn’t be a random stray he picked up in the mountains. It was likely a cat on the verge of becoming or already a demon. Thus it was taken in by the Daoist priest as a companion.
Therefore, his tone remained very polite even when facing the cat. “It’s good to have a cat for company. It keeps you from feeling lonely during your travels.”
“I think so too.”
“The cat is fortunate to be able to accompany you.”
“Rather than my accompanying her, it’s me who needs her company more. It’s hard to say whose good fortune it is.”
“What…” Mr. Li didn’t think much of this at first but the more he thought carefully about it, the more he found it profound.
He could only say that the Daoist priest was indeed extraordinary.
After chatting like this for a while, Mr. Li suddenly caught a glimpse of the yellow talisman hanging at Song You’s bedroom entrance. He remembered the second purpose for their visit and couldn’t help feeling exultation.
“You know how to make talismans?”
“I know a few types of talismans for warding off evil.”
“To be honest, we unfortunate merchants often travel through great mountains for years on end. It’s hard to avoid encountering ghosts on the road at night and demons on mountain roads. We’ve previously sought out Wushan’s Buddhist and Daoist temples and requested a few talismans to ensure peace. Unfortunately, they were simply ineffective or only served as warnings. We came today hoping to request a talisman to ward off evil and repel ghosts from you.” Mr Li said, “If our wish is granted, we would be very grateful.”
“No need for such formality.” This was one of Hidden Dragon temple’s services anyway.
Song You immediately took out the talismans he had drawn the previous night. They were insufficient, so he spread out yellow hemp paper, brought out the cinnabar, and started drawing on the spot with his brush.
The group was astonished…
They couldn’t see the spiritual energy moving with the brush and sealing into the cinnabar. However, they could see the wind caused by his brushstrokes, vaguely stirring the yellow plum tree leaves. Sometimes, they would witness some unusual phenomena when seeking talismans at Buddhist and Daoist temples in the past. Yet, it was never so obvious.
Instantly, everyone felt reassured.
Each person received two talismans and kept them close. For a while, they felt bold as if they would not be frightened even if they saw a fog spirit again.
“The folded triangular ones are Ghost-Repelling talismans for repelling ghosts. The square ones are Demon-Warding talismans, for warding off demons. Ghost-Repelling talismans cannot ward off demons and Demon-Warding talismans cannot repel ghosts. Different talismans have different functions, so please remember.”
“We will keep it in mind.”
Given that everyone had brought gifts, Song You initially did not intend to accept any money. However, their sincerity prevailed, and each gave him some pieces of silver.
Thus, this can be considered the revenue earned from his first order.
After finally seeing the group off, Song You returned to the courtyard and sat down cross-legged for a moment to feel the season's spiritual resonance and gather spiritual energy. But soon, he heard another knock on the door.
He thought it must be his neighbor this time.
“Sigh…”
Disturbing my quiet cultivation.
1. Chinese festival “Little New Year” when people sweep the dust and offer sacrifices. ☜
2. 14th of the 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese calendar ☜
3. Wintersweet. Flowering plant with yellow flowers native to China. ☜
4. Signifies the lonely and austere life of cultivators. ☜
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