Villa

He hailed a taxi, and before long it had arrived at an upscale residential complex downtown. With a brisk stride, he walked in, and among the trees a cluster of villas came into view.

Huang Huai went straight to one of the villas. He unlocked the door with the familiar code and went inside, then casually dropped his backpack on the sofa. He took a drink from the fridge and gulped it down before slumping back, completely at ease.

Aside from school, Huang Huai had spent every summer and winter vacation at Xunzhen Temple, staying there to recuperate. So long ago, Father Huang had specially picked out and bought this villa for him in SY, the city at the foot of Taihe Mountain, as a place to stay whenever he came down from the mountain.

Now that Huang Huai had decided to visit another world, he had chosen not to open the mysterious portal and travel from the little courtyard he had at Xunzhen Temple. He wanted to keep it secret. After all, several of his senior brothers at the temple were on good terms with him, and people like Chen Wei often came to look for him in his courtyard.

Leaving aside the chance that someone might catch him in the act of traveling, even if no one saw him, his sudden disappearance from the temple for a day or two, or even longer, might cause all sorts of trouble.

So when Huang Huai had thought about how to enter the other world the night before, the first place that came to mind was this villa, which was under his name.

After all, it was undeniably his private space. Even his parents and younger sister only stayed there when they came to visit him. On ordinary days, there wasn't a soul around.

It was the perfect place to open that mysterious portal.

After resting for a while, Huang Huai sorted through the things in his backpack. The most important item was the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan, wrapped in layer after layer of red cloth. Its outline was just visible beneath the layers.

He took out the ten kilograms of silver ingots from their box and set them aside, then carefully lifted out the statue and unwrapped it. He took several photos of it from every angle with his phone, placed it on the altar in the living room, picked up the incense and candles nearby, and respectfully offered incense.

Just as Huang Huai was about to head out, his phone suddenly chimed with a WeChat notification.

He unlocked the screen and saw a message.

"Huai, I found the master incense-maker you asked me to look for."

Huang Huai's eyes lit up. In the plans he had made earlier, incense and candles had been among the things he intended to bring to the other world.

He had seen for himself how the incense and candles burned by the people during the Seventh Elder's blessing came in different grades. He wasn't sure whether there were any top-tier incense and candles in that world, but there probably were. Still, they would surely be beyond his reach for now—he wouldn't be able to get his hands on them.

So Huang Huai had turned his attention to the real world. He had asked Shi Ting, his good friend and college roommate for four years, to help him find a master who made incense by hand.

Shi Ting was from Dongshan Province. He stood a towering six-foot-two, and had inherited the easygoing, hearty nature of northerners. After sharing a dorm room for years, Huang Huai and Shi Ting had become extremely close.

More importantly, Huang Huai remembered Shi Ting saying that a craftsman famed for making incense by hand lived in a town under his city's jurisdiction.

These days, incense and candles were mostly produced on a massive, mechanized scale. Yet there were still people who pursued the old ways, making incense by hand according to ancient methods. The incense and candles they made often had all sorts of special qualities.

Huang Huai wasn't simply a devotee of handmade goods. But after spending all these years at Xunzhen Temple and being influenced by Great Daoist Master, he felt that incense and candles used to worship the gods should be made by hand. They had more spiritual quality that way.

Daoists pursued a return to nature and unity between heaven and humanity. So the first thing Huang Huai had thought of was asking someone to find him one of the finest folk masters of traditional incense-making.

Shi Ting hadn't let him down. He'd found someone in just one day.

Huang Huai casually called him, and the call was answered almost immediately. A hearty, booming voice came through the phone.

"Huai, you saw my message, right? Your brother found you a real top-tier incense-making master this time. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. So, tell me, how are you going to thank me?"

When Shi Ting finally stopped talking, Huang Huai laughed. "Bro, how about an all-inclusive spa treatment?"

He hadn't even finished speaking when a clear, pleasant woman's voice came through the receiver. "Shi Ting, want to try one of those all-inclusive spa treatments?"

"Hello? Hello? Huai, what were you saying? Say that again. I was talking to your sister-in-law and didn't catch it..."

Huang Huai burst out laughing. "Bro, I've got a high-speed train this afternoon. Be there to welcome your liege!"

After joking around with Shi Ting, Huang Huai hung up and immediately booked a high-speed train ticket to Dongshan Province for that afternoon. He grabbed his backpack and left the villa.

He hailed a taxi, and about half an hour later, it stopped in a somewhat run-down part of the old city.

He looked around, and soon spotted a shop. From a distance, he could see all sorts of statues of gods and Buddhas inside—at least a hundred of them.

After checking the shop's name, Huang Huai stepped inside. A clerk around thirty looked up at him and asked, "Which deity are you hoping to bring home, brother?"

Huang Huai glanced at the shop's displays and said to the clerk, "I'm looking for Master Wang Guangzong."

The clerk looked him over, surprised. "You're looking for my father?"

Huang Huai hadn't expected the clerk to be the son of the master he was looking for. "I came here because I've heard a lot about him. I'd like to ask Master Wang to carve a statue for me."

The clerk hesitated, clearly reluctant. Seeing this, Huang Huai quickly added, "I'll make sure Master Wang is satisfied with the fee."

The clerk shook his head. "It's not about the fee. My father has barely taken any commissions these past couple of years..."

Huang Huai took out his phone and brought up the photo of the Holy Lord Emperor Guan statue. "This is one of Master Wang's works. The craftsmanship is exquisite—truly a masterpiece. I've come to ask him to carve another statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan just like it."

The clerk studied the photo, confirming that it was indeed his father's work. After thinking it over, he said, "In that case, come with me to see my father."

Huang Huai's face brightened.

He planned to take the statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan, which had been enshrined at Xunzhen Temple for years, to the other world. But he couldn't exactly tell Great Daoist Master that the statue had gone missing. So he had to get another, identical statue and take it back to the temple. Otherwise, he wouldn't get past Great Daoist Master—and he wouldn't get past his own father, either.

They passed through the back door of the shop into a small courtyard. Grapevines covered the trellis overhead, with bunches of grapes hanging in full view. Sunlight filtered through the leaves and branches, scattering dappled light across the ground.

An old man in his seventies was lounging on a recliner, waving a palm-leaf fan in one hand. With the other, he tapped out the rhythm of the opera playing on the radio against his leg, occasionally bursting into song himself. He looked utterly at ease.

Seeing his father relaxing so contentedly, the clerk gave a light cough and called out, "Dad, you have a guest!"

It took two calls before the old man finally returned from his own little world. He opened his eyes and saw Huang Huai and his son, but showed no particular reaction. He simply sat up and turned his gaze to Huang Huai. "That's quite a strong aura of incense and worship. Young friend, may I ask which sacred mountain or blessed land you practice at?"

Huang Huai hurriedly replied, "I'm Huang Huai from Xunzhen Temple on Taihe Mountain. A pleasure to meet you, Master Wang."

Wang Guangzong nodded. "Xunzhen Temple, huh? That's a fine blessed land. What brings you to see me, young friend...?"

Wang Chuanye quickly chimed in from the side. "Dad, this young man wants you to personally carve a statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan."

Huang Huai promptly handed his phone to Wang Guangzong. Wang Guangzong took one look, and his eyes lit up. "I remember this Holy Lord Emperor Guan statue. It was carved from a single block of red sandalwood. Even back then, it would have been worth a pretty penny."

As he spoke, Wang Guangzong looked up at Huang Huai. "Are you planning to have another identical statue carved from red sandalwood?"

Huang Huai smiled and nodded. "If Master Wang has suitable wood in the shop, I'd like you to personally carve another statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan just like this one."

Wang Guangzong considered it for a moment, then looked at Wang Chuanye. "Chuanye, do we have suitable material in the warehouse?"

Wang Chuanye thought briefly before answering, "Dad, we bought a batch of top-grade red sandalwood two years ago. There's a piece in it that would work."

A smile appeared at the corner of Huang Huai's mouth. He'd known that a well-known old shop like this one would have a stockpile of suitable material.

Wang Guangzong looked at Huang Huai. "A statue this size will take about ten kilograms of wood. You know that top-grade red sandalwood is hard to come by and expensive. The market price is around three to five thousand per kilogram..."

Before Wang Guangzong could finish, Huang Huai cut in. "As long as Master Wang makes me an identical statue of Holy Lord Emperor Guan, I'll pay a hundred thousand!"

Huang Huai's offer was practically impossible to refuse. Even Wang Chuanye couldn't help looking at his father when he heard it.