Tokyo Daoist

In a private room at a Chinese restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, two men were chatting amiably.

"Brother Zhang, thank you so much for helping me out this time. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even have a place to stay right now. Let me raise a glass to you." A young man who looked to be in his twenties lifted his cup.

"Brother Qian, you're being too formal! Your master saved my life. If it weren't for him, I'd have been killed a long time ago. You've come to my turf, so of course you should come to me if you have any problems. We're all Chinese, and we should help each other out when we're abroad. Don't let these Japanese people fool you with their polite fronts. They're really good at keeping outsiders out..." The man, who wore oversized sunglasses in the private room and had his hair slicked straight back, clinked his cup against the young man's and downed it in one go... It was coconut milk.

"Right, right. Brother Zhang, if you ever need help with that sort of thing, you can come to me, too. Anyone you refer gets a fifty percent discount!" The young man smiled as they drank their coconut milk and chatted happily.

After several rounds of drinks—and several rounds of milk—the young man said goodbye to Brother Zhang, who wore sunglasses, and left the restaurant.

This man was our protagonist, Qian Xiaoyi. His parents had died early, leaving him with just one distant relative. By seniority, he was supposed to call this relative... his grandnephew. Though this grandnephew was over forty years older than him, that was simply how their seniority worked, so neither of them ever brought it up. Qian Xiaoyi had grown up under his grandnephew's care, and was now twenty-three.

His grandnephew also had Qian as his surname. His family had been poor when he was a child, so they sent him to apprentice at a nearby Taoist temple. His master gave him the religious name Lingkong, and everyone called him Daoist Lingkong. As time went by, no one remembered his given name anymore.

He had been a Taoist priest for decades, and had inherited his sect's skills in exorcising demons and vanquishing evil. In his younger days, he had traveled far and wide, but now it was the modern era. Back home, people liked to say that nothing could become a spirit after the founding of the nation, and that everyone should be practical and believe in science. In this world, many things existed only if you believed in them; if you didn't, they didn't. In such a materialistic society, there were hardly any ghosts or monsters left to catch in China.

Daoist Lingkong's fellow practitioners who had other skills had all changed careers. Some opened online shops, some started livestreaming, some delivered food, and some became property tycoons. Daoist Lingkong was one of the few left, keeping his rundown little temple and occasionally performing rituals to make ends meet. He had taken Qian Xiaoyi in as his disciple to keep his skills from being lost. But though they possessed the skill to slay dragons, there were no dragons left in the world to slay, and the master and disciple found themselves growing ever poorer.

One morning, Daoist Lingkong fell asleep in bed and never woke up. Qian Xiaoyi wasn't particularly sad, though, because the old man had visited him in a dream the night before. In the dream, Qian Xiaoyi was eating when Daoist Lingkong suddenly appeared before him.

"Xiaoyi, I've just thought of a great idea!" the old man said, beaming.

Qian Xiaoyi looked doubtful. "What is it? Don't tell me you're going to make me start livestreaming again. I can't do that. Last time we livestreamed at someone's house, we nearly got beaten up."

Daoist Lingkong snapped, "Oh, you blockhead! Who told you to shout 'Brothers, double-tap for 666' so loudly? Everyone heard you!"

Qian Xiaoyi gave a cold laugh. "I still don't believe you can come up with a good idea!"

Seeing that his disciple didn't believe him, Daoist Lingkong didn't get angry. He simply went on, "Listen. We've got all these great skills, but the mainland is just too peaceful. We never run into any demons or monsters. And even if we do find one or two, our fellow practitioners fight over them, so there's no chance we'll get the job. Right?"

"Exactly. That's why I regret not studying harder in high school and going to college. Instead, I spent every night learning all that stuff from you." Qian Xiaoyi rolled his eyes, provoking him.

Daoist Lingkong coughed twice. "Don't interrupt! Ahem... Our mainland is so open-minded that it's hard for ghosts and monsters to emerge. So why not go somewhere with a more oppressive social environment? The more feudal and repressive the place, the more work there'll be for us!"

"Forget it," Qian Xiaoyi said irritably. "Our sect isn't famous. We're just an offshoot at the bottom of the pile among the major sects. Hong Kong and Taiwan aside, Southeast Asia has probably already been taken over by all the different schools. How are we supposed to compete for work there? Do you expect me to be like Ip Man, shouting, 'I'll fight ten!' and going from school to school to challenge people for fame? Besides, it's not like the mainland there. We don't have the money to go, and we definitely wouldn't be able to afford a place in a safe neighborhood. Who'd want to go? Isn't it better to get by here?"

"Oh, who said you were going there?" The old man smacked him. "Want somewhere safe? That's easy! The place I'm sending you has no need for you to worry about seniority, and its social environment is repressive, so ghosts and monsters can easily appear. Plus, it's safe!"

"You mean..."

"That's right! Japan!" Daoist Lingkong laughed with his hands on his hips. "It just came to me. If it's hard to find work on the mainland and nearby, and places too far away aren't part of our cultural sphere, why not go to Japan? It's perfect."

"But we don't speak Japanese!" Qian Xiaoyi exclaimed. "I'll be fine—I'm quick on the uptake, so I can learn it in a few days. But you're so old. I've tried teaching you 'hello' and 'how are you,' and you still can't remember them. You can't even use a smartphone properly. How are we supposed to communicate over there? And what about the visa paperwork?"

Daoist Lingkong smiled. "Don't worry about the visa. There's an old friend of mine named Zhang Chunfa in my phone. I saved him when I went to Hong Kong years ago. He's now settled in Tokyo, Japan. I've read his face—he's a loyal man. He can help you sort all that out. Besides, we're not going together. You're going by yourself. You have a real talent for this... an extraordinary talent. Make sure you carry on our sect's reputation. At least there'll be somewhere in this world where our skills are useful, so they won't be wasted."

"What are you talking about?" Qian Xiaoyi sensed something was wrong. "What do you mean, I'm going by myself?"

The old man smiled faintly and waved his hand. Then he vanished without a trace.

Qian Xiaoyi suddenly realized he was dreaming, and the moment he did, he woke up. The warm morning sunlight streamed in through the window. He hurriedly jumped out of bed and ran to Daoist Lingkong's room, where he understood everything.

After attending so many funerals, Qian Xiaoyi had long since learned how life and death worked. And the old man had passed peacefully, so he didn't put on a childish display of grief. Following the familiar routine, he muttered to himself as he arranged a quiet funeral for Daoist Lingkong.

After that, he taught himself Japanese for two years. During that time, he got in touch with the man the old man had mentioned—Brother Zhang, who liked to wear sunglasses—and arranged a long-term visa. Then, at the age of twenty-five, Qian Xiaoyi arrived in Tokyo. And that brought us to the opening scene.

They had kept in touch by phone, so Qian Xiaoyi hadn't expected Brother Zhang to be such a handsome, dignified middle-aged man. He had always imagined him as an oily, overweight middle-aged man. At the restaurant, Qian Xiaoyi had been ready to knock back a few bottles of baijiu, like people did back home, to express his gratitude. He hadn't expected Brother Zhang not to drink at all, so the two of them had shared a few bottles of coconut milk instead.

Just like Daoist Lingkong had said, Brother Zhang was a loyal man who got things done. Not only had he helped Qian Xiaoyi obtain a long-term visa, he had also helped him rent a place on the second floor in Tokyo's Roppongi district to use as his office, and even paid a year's rent for him. He had truly gone above and beyond.

With such a promising start, Qian Xiaoyi was full of ambition. He felt that with his abilities, he was now ready to—

Let the fish leap across the vast seas and the birds soar through the boundless skies! This was the moment for me, Qian Xiaoyi, to make my mark!