Attic Reveries

A pot of plain rice porridge sat on a small brazier, still steaming, its tempting fragrance spreading through the mountain night.

Lin Jue had little experience staying overnight or lodging at inns in this world, so he watched more and spoke less. After setting down his book case, he followed the people around him, each of them taking a rough bowl and lining up for porridge.

The one ladling it out was still the Monk who had led them here. He held a small long-handled gourd dipper, scooping only half a dipper each time—just enough for one bowl.

Another, younger Monk stood beside him. Whenever a bowl had been filled, he added several slices of pickled radish and a cube of fermented bean curd, which vanished beneath the porridge at once.

"Thank you, Master."

Every merchant and traveler said the same.

When it was Lin Jue's turn, he likewise stood before the pot with his bowl.

The Monk smiled faintly, sank the ladle to the bottom, and slowly drew it through the pot before lifting it. What came up this time was clearly different from the thin porridge before: solid ingredients.

"Thank you, Master!"

Lin Jue froze for a moment, then hurriedly thanked him.

"Amitabha..."

The Monk made a one-handed gesture of respect, smiling warmly.

The same few slices of pickled radish and cube of fermented bean curd rested atop the porridge instead of sinking beneath it.

Lin Jue thanked him again and carried his bowl outside. Seeing many of the earlier travelers seated on the stone steps beneath the eaves, he walked over. Someone made room for him, so he sat down as well.

The merchants and travelers had clearly all brought dry provisions. Lin Jue still had several boiled eggs and quite a few Takuo cakes in his book case, along with a few Fruits Third Aunt had given him. Yet before he could take anything out, a merchant decisively offered him dried meat and Takuo, politely asking him to have a taste.

"Thank you, thank you..."

"We should be the ones thanking Young Master."

"You're too polite, too polite. I didn't do anything. We only traveled together for a stretch... But is it all right for us to eat meat here in the Temple?"

"There's nothing wrong with it. It's always been this way, besides, we're sitting outside," someone said.

"We aren't Monks. We don't have to eat vegetarian food. So long as we harbor no disrespect toward the Buddha in our hearts, we should eat what we ought to eat. We travel every day—how could we go without meat?" someone else said.

"I see."

Lin Jue did not say anything more and lowered his head to eat.

It was an early summer night, and the moon was full on the sixteenth. The rain had cleared, revealing a round moon overhead, illuminating clouds like pale ink beneath a gauze veil and a ring of rainbow light. The air had become wonderfully cool. Surrounded by the sounds of people eating in the courtyard, Lin Jue, who had been traveling continuously since yesterday, finally felt settled.

Pickled radish, fermented bean curd, and plain rice porridge were light fare, but compared to the dry provisions they had eaten on the road, they were far more comfortable, whether on the tongue or in the stomach.

For a while, he actually enjoyed it.

Beyond the food, the atmosphere was pleasant too.

They had seen Demonic Ghosts and traveled by night, and now that they had reached safety, even people who had never known one another before seemed to have become familiar for no reason at all. They chatted idly, and people often came over to share food with Lin Jue.

"A Mule costs more than ten strings of cash now, doesn't it?"

"More than that! That was last year's price. It had already risen to over twenty strings at the beginning of this year!"

"How come?"

"They're transporting military provisions in the west. There's a shortage of mules and horses!"

"..."

Just then, the short middle-aged man with three wisps of beard came looking for him. He looked around from side to side. A merchant pointed him in the right direction, and he followed it with his gaze before finally spotting Lin Jue.

He had come for no other reason than to offer thanks and a gift.

"Benefactor! Thanks to you, the tools that feed our whole family were saved. This is a small token of my gratitude. Please, you must accept it as travel expenses for the road!"

He held out a string of Copper Coins.

The merchants and travelers could tell at a glance that there were several hundred coins on it. They had traveled with Lin Jue and now counted as acquaintances. Though they had no objection to his returning the Mule he had found, they still hoped he would receive a more substantial reward. At once, someone spoke up in a joking tone.

"How much is a Mule worth, and how much is this?"

"Brother, you really know how to save money."

The man immediately looked embarrassed.

Lin Jue said nothing and did not refuse. Smiling, he reached out and accepted the money, thanking him as he did so.

At least he had gained something.

That man had truly hit the mark—

What Lin Jue lacked most now was travel money.

The others immediately started clamoring for him to tell them how he had gotten the Mule and how he had intimidated that Monster. Unable to withstand their persistent questions, Lin Jue answered truthfully.

Not long after, the Monk who had first come to open the door for them approached again. He pressed his palms together, recited a Buddhist invocation, then said, "There are truly too many benefactors staying here tonight. Calculating it out, several people cannot even have one bed between them. We can only ask everyone to squeeze together and make do for the night. Our hospitality has been lacking."

"It's no trouble! So long as there's somewhere to sleep!"

"At least it shelters us from wind and rain."

"It isn't cold tonight. Sleep is sleep wherever you do it. We'll trouble you, Master."

As they spoke, everyone pulled out some Copper Coins from their pockets. The fewest gave more than ten, while the most gave only twenty or thirty, handing them all to the Master.

"Lamp-oil money..."

That was what everyone called it.

Watching from the side, Lin Jue roughly understood—

This was both a Temple and an inn. Naturally, lodging could not be free, but they dressed it up a little by calling it lamp-oil money. It sounded better and looked better too.

Lin Jue hurriedly took out the string of Copper Coins the short middle-aged man had given him, untied it, casually grabbed more than ten coins, and handed them over.

The Monk accepted them with the same warm smile and thanked him. Yet he remained before Lin Jue and bowed, saying, "Poor Monk sees that you are a Scholar. You are young, and sharing cramped quarters with benefactors who have spent years traveling for trade may be uncomfortable for you. As it happens, our temple has an Attic that has stood empty for a long time. If you dare stay there, Poor Monk will clean it for you."

The moment he finished speaking, a merchant beside them cut in.

"Hey, Master! If there's an Attic, why not let us stay there? Why give it only to this Young Master?"

"Amitabha." The Monk still recited the Buddhist invocation, courteous and refined. "Benefactor does not know that the Attic in our rear courtyard may only be entered by those of outstanding virtue and Scholars."

"Master, are you looking down on us or what?"

The Monk only smiled without answering. Instead, he lowered his gaze again and looked at Lin Jue.

"Why wouldn't I dare?" Lin Jue truly was unused to squeezing in with strangers, especially a whole crowd of them. He also wanted to find a quiet place to look through the Ancient Book, so he agreed. "But if the Attic has been sealed up for so long and is being opened specially for me, I naturally should not make Master clean it for me. Just give me a broom and a feather duster."

"You are a reasonable man, Benefactor."

The Monk pressed his palms together and bowed to him.

Lin Jue quickly rose and returned the bow.

The moonlight grew ever clearer. Once everyone had finished eating, they returned to their rooms one after another. Led by the Monk, Lin Jue arrived before the Attic.

Besides the book case on his back, he now carried a broom and a feather duster in his hands.

"Thank you."

After thanking him, Lin Jue took the oil lamp and entered the Attic.

By the light of the oil lamp, one side of the first floor was piled with assorted clutter, while wooden stairs leading upstairs stood on the other. As expected, a layer of dust covered everything, with a few cobwebs hanging about. No one had apparently come here for quite some time.

Lin Jue would sleep upstairs.

Still, someone had kindly given him a place to stay. How could he merely sweep the few feet where he himself would sleep? So Lin Jue set down his book case and began sweeping from the bottom floor.

Dust scented the air all the way up as the oil lamp climbed stair by stair.

When he reached the second floor, Lin Jue first set the lamp in a higher spot. Turning around, he was stunned—

Downstairs was still covered in dust and cobwebs. He had not swept out much yet, and had probably eaten several coins' worth of dust alone. Yet upstairs was spotless, not a speck of dust in sight. The furnishings were arranged neatly, and quite a few paintings had even been drawn on the walls and floorboards, most depicting bamboo, lotuses, pines, willows, and the like.

There were even some inscribed poems.

"?"

Lin Jue looked around, unable to understand why.

Had some Monks secretly come here to rest and amuse themselves?

Or were there actually Ghosts and Monsters in the Temple?

Not understanding, Lin Jue went downstairs for the moment, carried up his book case, then carefully inspected the upper floor again.

There was not much upstairs: just a couch-bed, with a low tea table in the middle.

Several wooden bookshelves stood against the wall. The shelves were mostly empty, holding only a few common Buddhist scriptures. One bore signs that someone had read it—not only did it open directly to that page, but a bamboo leaf had been tucked inside as a bookmark.

Perhaps there had originally been some clutter, but someone had cleared it away and piled it atop the bookshelves, out of sight.

Whatever else could be said, it was clean and secluded.

"Since I'm here, I'll make myself at home."

Lin Jue took several books from his book case and placed them on the small wooden table in the middle of the couch-bed. He then took out a small knife and used two garments as a pillowcase and blanket, arranging them at the very edge of the couch-bed.

He even measured it with his hands.

The couch-bed was about two or three feet wide. It could certainly fit one person, and sleeping was one of its intended functions to begin with.

Turning over would just be less convenient.

Still, he could not be picky. No matter what, it was better than crowding into a room downstairs with a whole group of people, perhaps sleeping on the floor or sitting against a wall to sleep.

So Lin Jue brought over the oil lamp and set it on the small wooden table. He looked casually around the room, flipped through a few books, and in between them opened the Wordless Ancient Book for a look.

Sure enough, no new page had appeared.

Lin Jue sank into thought.

So that was indeed it—

That strange feeling of his was a sign that this Wordless Ancient Book was reacting, that pages recording spells were about to appear.

As for tonight...

Lin Jue recalled his previous experiences.

Once, he had inhaled smoke spat out by a Monster. Once, flames breathed by the old man had singed his hair. Another time, he had clearly seen the old man absorb and draw in Fire Qi. Could it be that the Ancient Book would react only when his body came into contact with a spell, or when he saw roughly how a spell operated?

There were simply too few examples to determine anything.

Lin Jue sat there thinking.

"..."

In truth, it was only idle speculation. There was no point to it.

Lin Jue shook his head, cast aside those thoughts, and simply took out his travel money from the book case to count it carefully.

When a younger generation member went out to pursue studies, the elders naturally had to prepare travel expenses.

Aunt had originally wanted Lin Jue to take all twenty taels of silver he had received from the Wang Family of Heng Village. But Uncle had only recently recovered from a long illness, and the household needed money to keep things running. Lin Jue naturally could not accept it. After pushing and arguing for a long time, he finally accepted the roughly five-tael piece of silver Aunt pressed into his hand, along with more than two hundred Copper Coins.

But he had secretly put the silver back.

So in reality, he had brought only a little over two hundred Copper Coins.

The gap between rich and poor in this world was vast. Even in a village, there were prominent and wealthy great clans like the Wang Family of Heng Village, as well as ordinary families like the Lin Family, who could not afford medicine when illness struck.

When it came to money, most ordinary people could not earn much all year, and naturally did not need to spend much either. But once you left home and truly needed to spend money, it became painfully insufficient.

Lin Jue thought that if it truly came to it, he could perform Spit Fire in the city and earn some travel money that way. Besides, it was early summer, and berries in the mountains were gradually ripening. If he put in the effort to search, then even if the mountains and rivers were exhausted, it would not be easy for him to starve. Suffering a little was no great matter.

The more money the family had, the less pressure Uncle would face. Cousin could also marry a wife sooner and live his own life.

He owed them; they did not owe him.

That was why Lin Jue had been frugal all along the way.

After expenses, he had exactly two hundred Copper Coins left. Tonight, after receiving the short middle-aged man's gift and paying the lamp-oil money for lodging, he had four hundred and thirty-five Copper Coins remaining. Together, that made six hundred and thirty-five Copper Coins.

In the dead of night, the room filled with the sound of counting money...

Then it filled with sighs...

Lin Jue carefully divided them into seven portions, stringing them on seven cords: one hundred coins on each cord, with thirty-five on the last, making them easier to use.

It had to be said that money in this era was truly weighty. Holding it in his hand gave him quite a sense of possession.

Though it was only a few hundred coins.

As for the Mule he had gained tonight, Lin Jue had never once considered leading it to the market and selling it—

Even a dog knew it ought to be returned. How could he be worse than a dog?

"Ah..."

The young Scholar put away his money.

Outside the window lay the Temple's lights, moonlit mountain forests, and the winding official road like a jade belt. Wind passed through the bamboo grove and brought a chill with it.

Gradually, the Temple lights dimmed as well.

Even the birds had stopped calling. Apart from the wind and insects, not the slightest stray sound could be heard.

It was a familiar summer night.

At some point, Lin Jue had begun gazing out the window.

This was this world—

Without moonlight, this place would surely be pitch-black.

Nor were there many interesting things to do for amusement.

Lin Jue gradually lay down. Perhaps because encountering a Monster midway through the day had been too exciting, he felt no sleepiness at all. He could only keep his eyes open and let his thoughts drift.

If he had been in his former world, he would most likely have liked such an environment. Sometimes, he had even deliberately left where he lived to seek places like this. But once he had truly arrived here and spent enough time here, he naturally understood that the bustling, dreamlike world in his memories was the product of progress.

In winter, the cold pierced hands and feet with pain. In summer, mosquitoes were everywhere. People could not eat their fill or dress warmly, and a single illness could kill even Princes and their descendants. Nothing was convenient. Not many people could endure such days.

Fortunately, there were still spirits and Ghosts and Monsters here, cultivation and spells, and countless strange tales.

That was a rare blessing.

Buddhism spoke of a great thousand worlds. He wondered where his own place of origin lay among them.

He wondered when he might be able to reach it.

Since he had been able to come here, could he return?

Legends often spoke of the immortal Dao and eternal life. Given a thousand years, or several hundred, what might this world become?

Compared with earning scholarly merit, those were the things he wished to pursue now.

Infinite reveries filled Lin Jue's mind.

Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.