In the 983rd year of the Tianhe era of the Tang Song Empire, a time when civilization under imperial rule had advanced to exploring interstellar space, there was, surprisingly, still a pigsty at the foot of Qishan Mountain in Qishan County, the poorest region of Danzhou.
And this pigsty… Thud! A person fell from the cliff above. On a tree atop the cliff, a troop of monkeys hooted and screeched, scrambling down through some trees in pursuit.
Twenty minutes later, at the village entrance general store, a few minutes’ walk from the pigsty, it was noisy and bustling as a group of villagers watched television.
A limping A’Diao approached, looking utterly disheveled.
“Uncle Zhang, a bottle of medicinal wine, please.”
“Xiao Diao, what happened to you? What’s with your face?”
“I accidentally ran into the door.”
“The door did that? Look at your black eye.”
“I hit the door, my flesh is elastic, so I bounced off onto the wall. The wall bounced me back, but the wind was strong, and the door blew back, smack, I hit the door again… and that’s how it happened.”
A’Diao was spouting nonsense, but she said it so convincingly. Anyway, these people had probably already guessed the actual truth.
What gives? Are you a ball or something?
“Oh, come on. You’ve still got monkey fur on you!” Zhang San felt both sorry for her and amused. He opened the cabinet and took something out. “Such a nice young lady, why bother fighting with that gang of monkey thieves? I’ll give you an extra bottle of anti-inflammatory and scar-removing spray. This one works well; the scar will be gone in half a month. That’s 3 Star Coins in total.”
Who knows how that Old Daoist Priest raises a child. An 18-year-old girl raised to be so thin and pitiful-looking, like she’s 15. He himself, though, is chubby like a Maitreya Buddha.
Zhang San’s wife often complained like this.
A’Diao calculated the original price and still took out 5 Star Coins. But Zhang San ignored her, took 3 Star Coins, and went about his business. However, a customer in the store spoke to her, asking if she had gone to pick from that mulberry-persimmon tree.
Someone had probably seen the commotion at the base of the cliff, so there was no need to hide it. A’Diao’s eyes darkened slightly, but she deliberately admitted it resentfully.
“Strange. That old mulberry-persimmon tree is several hundred years old. Its fruit can be used in medicine, and the price is very high. Last year, someone came to collect them, 10 Star Coins per fruit. It’s probably even more expensive this year. But there’s a swarm of red ants living in the tree, very poisonous. Even that vicious gang of monkey thieves doesn’t dare go near it. How did you get up the tree?”
This person asked casually, but was actually trying to pry out her method for getting rich. But A’Diao knew these few people weren’t simple; they were always in a group, and it was best not to offend them. So she feigned innocence and said, “Master bought some unknown herbs from outside. When lit, they actually smoked out those red ants. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared to go up. But there was too little, not enough. Some red ants still crawled out, and that’s what scared me and made me fall from the tree. Thanks to Uncle Zhang’s pigsty, it cushioned my fall a bit.”
Actually, she had made the herbs herself, and she hadn’t used them all up. She could have as much as she wanted.
When Zhang San heard this, he glanced at those few people and immediately started scolding her for not knowing her limits, deliberately pulling at her and demanding she compensate for the damage to the pigsty. But this also changed the subject, and the expressions of the few people in the store became guarded.
This Zhang San was really annoying. They still wanted to ask if she had any fruits left on her; even a few would be worth a month’s wages for them.
Zhang San pulled A’Diao outside the store and reminded her not to go near that cliff again anytime soon.
“If you run into those people, avoid them early on. They don’t live in the village year-round; most of them work outside in society. These past few years haven’t been good, they’re short on money, and who knows what crooked ideas they might get. They certainly wouldn’t care about your life.”
Generally, the villagers relied on the master and apprentice for funeral and celebratory services. Things like making paper effigies, performing rites, holding wakes, and burials were all skilled crafts. Plus, A’Diao was young and knew how to handle things, so people were somewhat polite to her. But these young people who had gone out early to make their way in society wouldn’t be so principled.
“Thank you, Uncle. I understand.”
“And those monkey thieves, why fight with those monkeys? You girl have always been agile; it’s not like you can’t outrun them?”
A’Diao touched her chest, feeling the object she had snatched from the monkeys inside her clothes. If it weren’t for some treasure these monkeys had snatched from who-knows-where, she might not have fallen from the tree. But now, it wasn’t a loss.
This was good stuff.
“Didn’t I get hurt from the fall? I couldn’t run.”
“Then hurry back and apply your medicine!”
A’Diao agreed, but suddenly remembered something: “Uncle, just now I saw a spaceship. It was really strange. It was flying very low, as if it were patrolling. What’s going on?”
“Not just you, we saw it too. Maybe it’s city folk out for a joyride, or perhaps some government officials involved in environmental protection making a routine check. It’s happened in previous years. It’s just been more frequent these past few days. Who knows what mischief is afoot.”
Zhang San was dismissive, but his judgment was clearly wrong.
The television in the store suddenly broadcast the news.
“According to Grandmaster X’s astrological calculations, recent meteorological fluctuations in various regions are highly unusual. It seems something major is about to happen.”
“According to Professor XX’s calculations, the movement of mineral particles in various regions has recently become active. It seems something major is about to happen.”
“According to Prefect XXX’s conference report, people from various regions are very active, dispatching various airships to patrol different areas, seriously endangering the safety of the populace. It seems something major is about to happen.”
Finally, the host broadcast an interview from the Imperial Capital Central Station. The screen showed an elderly man with a solemn expression. He hesitated slightly, but still said, “I believe, the Spiritual Energy, which has been cut off for three hundred years, is about to revive…”
The store was filled with sighs and discussions. Some were dismissive. Zhang San said with a slight sneer, “It’s been three hundred years, and they’re still rehashing the same old leftovers every day. Aren’t they sick of it?”
“Lao Zhang, don’t say that. This old man seems to have some background; he’s from some top academy.”
Zhang San was noncommittal. “So, according to that, those rich people sending airships to patrol everywhere, are they looking for Spiritual Energy?”
“You wouldn’t believe it, when we were working in the city, the temples and Daoist monasteries there have been incredibly popular recently. Many people are praying for the revival of Spiritual Energy in their own homes. The incense money alone could build another Qishan.”
“That’s right! A thousand years ago, when the first wave of Spiritual Energy nourished the world, didn’t those peerless figures who could fly and move through the earth rely on obtaining blessed grotto-heavens or Spiritual Vessels right at the start of the Spiritual Energy revival, thus getting far ahead of everyone else?”
“Exactly! Changing one’s fate and making a comeback all depends on this. Damn it, when I get home, I’m going to pray at my grandma’s Buddhist altar too.”
These people grew more excited as they spoke. Zhang San saw A’Diao looking thoughtful and warned her not to let her imagination run wild, nor to run around looking for some place of Spiritual Energy revival.
The more people who believe, the more chaotic it will be outside. A young girl like her couldn’t withstand the turmoil.
“I won’t. I don’t believe in this, and I’m not that shallow. It’s better for people to be down-to-earth. Why believe in ghosts and gods? Besides, things like fate and luck are predetermined; you can’t force them.”
The little Daoist apprentice, who wore Daoist robes and made a living from professional funeral services, said this with a perfectly straight face.
As for being a “little Daoist apprentice,” the world’s view was somewhat contemptuous and frivolous. But A’Diao felt she was indeed a little Daoist apprentice; this was how she earned her keep. It wasn’t as if she wouldn’t help the Old Daoist Priest with these tasks in the future. When she was helping with funerals, could those people really call her “Little Fairy”?
Even if they dared to call her that, she… could also make them say it again.
Zhang San deeply agreed. “That’s exactly the principle. People like us are so open-minded and calm. Look at them, why bother? As for you, you’re of age now. Study hard in the future, find a good family to marry into. Don’t be fooled by that Old Daoist Priest of yours. How can a young lady be a Daoist priest for her whole life? And that awful name of yours…”
He had his own narrow-minded views, but it was also out of good intentions.
“Uncle Zhang, I’m still a child.” A’Diao feigned shyness, though inwardly she felt nothing. Marry? Who in this small place was worth marrying? If their prospects couldn’t even compare to what she could achieve by getting into a good university, why be tied down in such a small place?
Finding some dud would only drag her down.
The girl, who looked only about 15, was usually well-behaved. But having struggled and scraped by for years in these desolate little places, and having seen the fickleness of human nature, her mind was exceptionally clear. She had naturally and quietly planned her future with shrewdness.
Before long, A’Diao left. Among the dispersing crowd in the store, two people craned their necks to watch her slender departing figure.
As soon as she got home, A’Diao didn’t see the Old Daoist Priest, but she did see an already opened delivery box.
Qishan was remote. Delivery companies these days were temperamental and didn’t like delivering up the mountain. The Old Daoist Priest had gone out a few days ago. Probably knowing it concerned his own life’s happiness index, he had rarely offered to help her bring back the new toilet.
It was truly a good toilet: snow-white, delicate, perfectly round, solid, high quality, and inexpensive at 20 Star Coins.
She just didn’t know where the Old Daoist Priest had run off to again.
A’Diao was used to his elusive ways. As soon as she got home, she went into her room… Not long after, wisps of green smoke curled out from the cracks in her door and windows.
At dusk, a scruffy old man in a Daoist robe, resembling Ji Gong, came down the mountain carrying a large cloth sack on his back. He immediately saw white smoke billowing from his old Daoist temple.
Oh no, it’s on fire!
The Old Daoist Priest panicked. He threw the sack in the courtyard and was about to fight the fire. But when he kicked open the door holding a basin of water, he saw the room filled with swirling smoke.
The young girl who, not long ago, had professed disbelief in ghosts and gods, was kneeling on a prayer mat, worshipping a Buddha statue, and muttering: “Tathagata, Guanyin, up above, your devout follower is sincere. Please let the Spiritual Energy open a door in my home, or grant me a super amazing Spiritual Vessel. If not, granting me a mountain of gold and silver, or a rare mineral mine would also be fine. Your follower doesn’t ask to escape desperate straits, reverse fate, or achieve meteoric success. I only ask to become rich overnight and soar through the clouds, to have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of my life, for my enemies to have short lives, and for myself to have abundant wealth pour in…”
The Old Daoist Priest: “…”
His little apprentice’s requests were many, but on careful thought, not really that many. Because the core of what she wanted had always been money, money, money, money!
During dinner, the Old Daoist Priest earnestly lectured his obedient apprentice, “You’re two-timing the deities like this, being both Buddhist and Daoist. Three hundred years ago, you’d have been drowned in a pig cage for this.”
A’Diao, reeking of pungent medicinal wine, shoveled plain rice into her swollen face and changed the subject, for example, telling him to hurry up, finish eating, and go install the toilet.
Ever since the latrine in the thatched hut exploded last time, she had been extremely unwilling to go near that wretched place.
The Old Daoist Priest: “…”
He wouldn’t install it. After finishing his meal, he picked up the large cloth sack and prepared to go down the mountain.
A’Diao was puzzled. “It’s already dark, and you’re going down the mountain?”
“This morning, I met a medicinal herb dealer. He said someone in the city is buying herbs. I calculated, these can sell for a good sum.”
“What’s the hurry? Tomorrow would be fine too. The sky tonight looks a bit off; it might pour down rain.”
The Old Daoist Priest couldn’t be bothered to say more and said impatiently, “Don’t jinx it. Don’t you have school soon? Don’t go picking those mulberry-persimmons again. Getting beaten up like this by a bunch of monkeys, it’s truly shameful. Stay home obediently and wait for school to start! I’m off, I’m off.”
He had probably seen her fall into the pigsty and get mobbed by the monkeys when he called out to her earlier.
He waved his hand and walked away, his figure gradually growing smaller. From behind, the moved and reluctant voice of his beloved apprentice followed.
“Master…”
“You haven’t washed your bowl yet… Wash it before you go.”
The Old Daoist Priest, red-eyed and unwilling to show his sadness, nearly stumbled headfirst into a ditch.
“And the toilet isn’t installed either.”
A’Diao looked at the toilet, then at the newly built outhouse, and sighed deeply.
Night fell. The little Daoist apprentice, who neither knew how to install a toilet nor could stop her head from spinning after three grueling hours of test papers, fell asleep. In the dead of night, the mountains were desolate and cold. The wind swept through the gaps in the forest, winding and turning, like the whispers of ghosts and gods.
No one noticed that tonight’s darkness was heavier and more oppressive than usual, weighing down as if all the stars in the heavens were pressing down on the earth. Meanwhile, A’Diao, whose wounds were tingling and itching from the medicinal wine, was sleeping restlessly, tossing and turning. Suddenly, she quietly opened her eyes and looked at the closed door.
There was someone in the main hall outside.
There was also someone in the courtyard, and this person was approaching the window.
A’Diao’s heart pounded a few times. She pretended to turn over, but actually took the opportunity to slip her hand under the covers. Her hand silently reached under the pillow—and touched the mysterious object she had snatched from the monkeys that day.
After a moment, a head furtively pressed against the windowpane. One eye seemed to be peering through a gap in the cloth curtain, its gaze fixed and intense.
Even the bloodshot veins in the eyeball revealed a hint of greed…