First Order Income

Constable Luo came home a little earlier than usual today.

His wife, Madam Wang, was asking him whether he had visited the neighbor. This woman was quite gossipy, and her chatter reminded Luo of the group of people he had encountered that afternoon.

He had truly run out of options today. In the afternoon, he had brought some gifts to call on the new neighbor, whom his wife insisted was increasingly taking on the air of a true master. But he stood at the door knocking for a long time, and there was no answer from inside—only a few cat meows.

It was only as he was leaving that he ran into a few out-of-town tea merchants and two escorts, who were also carrying gifts from their hometowns and heading to visit that same Young Mister.

When they asked each other, Constable Luo learned—

That the Young Mister who had just moved in across from him was none other than the master who, while passing through Liangshui Ao, had casually eliminated the Fog Ghost that had been wreaking havoc for months!

The Fog Ghost had been causing trouble on Jinyang Road, and it was almost time for a city gate notice to be posted. Now that it had been wiped out in one fell swoop, the story had already spread like wildfire through Yi Capital. Especially since Nanhua County had invited a master who failed to get rid of it, only for a passing expert to extinguish it with ease—that made the tale even more delicious to tell.

He never imagined such a master would be right next door.

With the ability to eliminate the Fog Ghost, although Constable Luo still wasn't sure it could help him, it was already worthy of his doubled respect.

Thinking back on what he had prepared today—a packet of brown sugar and a jug of good wine—these were considered decent gifts for visiting friends and relatives in these times, beyond the means of ordinary folk. But compared to what those tea merchants had brought, they seemed a bit lacking in sincerity.

"Tomorrow I'll prepare generous gifts and visit again,"

Constable Luo said to his wife, but then he heard a faint, ethereal singing coming from the yard across the way. It was the purest human voice—eerie at first listen, but after a while, it sounded even better than the songstresses in the tile houses and theaters.

He wondered if that Young Mister had returned home yet. If he had, what was he doing now? Was he truly so unconcerned about the ghost in his house?

Song You swept the stone table clean in the yard and, taking advantage of the cool evening, had dinner outside.

Today he treated himself to a rare luxury: a bowl of steamed white rice. For some reason, the rice in this era gave off a rich, fragrant aroma the moment it was steamed—a scent that could be smelled from one or two houses away, stirring the appetite. Song You filled a bowl and took another plate, putting some meat for the Three Flower Cat along with a small clump of rice. Man and cat spent the quiet twilight hours together.

Figures still flickered in the yard; a ghost was singing a tune.

Yet man and cat seemed not to notice.

"Is it good, Three Flower Lady?"

"It's good."

"Then that's fine."

Song You picked up a slice of meat with his rice, the familiar taste on his lips, and he too broke into a smile.

The smoke of mortal life is the poetry of common folk. Fullness of food and drink brings the easiest contentment. With the Three Flower Lady's company, living alone here no longer felt lonely. He even felt that staying here long-term wouldn't be so bad.

After dinner, he sat for a while savoring the aftertaste. When the night had deepened a little, Song You lit an oil lamp, tried out his new brush, and began drawing talismans.

Fulong Temple was not famous for talismanic arts. The few talismans Song You knew were all obtained by past temple masters as they traveled the world.

The most common talismans on the market—the ones people often sought from temples and monasteries—were of two kinds: one for warding off evil and ghosts, and the other for protection and safety.

Song You knew a few talismans that used spiritual power to drive away evil and ghosts. As for protection talismans, they usually required communicating with deities and borrowing the power of each god. Although Fulong Temple housed a large array of Taoist statues, they only dusted them off on the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month each year, showing them limited respect. So the Taoists of Fulong Temple generally did not know how to make such talismans.

Today, Song You only drew Yin-repelling talismans.

This kind of talisman was specifically for driving away yin ghosts.

For a moment, spiritual power stirred the wind, his brush moved like a dragon and snake, and the flame of the oil lamp trembled, making the light and shadow in the yard flicker unpredictably.

The Three Flower Cat, curious by nature, first looked up from the ground, but that made it hard to see clearly. So it jumped onto the stone table and leaned in close to watch.

Fortunately, though it watched, it did not disturb Song You.

Man and cat seemed to share an innate understanding.

He stopped only after drawing five in a row.

He carefully folded them. One was strung with hemp cord and hung at the entrance to his bedroom, ensuring the female ghost would find it hard to enter. He didn't hang them in the other rooms—since they had agreed to coexist peacefully without disturbing each other, he should leave her some space to move around.

"My apologies."

Song You bowed in the direction of the bamboo grove.

Looking up, the sky was full of stars. The neighbors all around had long since retired, and the sounds from distant Chunming Street did not reach here. The night was utterly still.

"It seems to be End of Heat now."

"What is End of Heat?"

"It means it's about to turn cool."

"Oh..."

"Time to sleep, Three Flower Lady."

"Okay..."

The Three Flower Cat followed him into the room and onto the bed.

Over these days, Song You and the Three Flower Lady had gradually grown familiar. Though they had met by chance, after relying on each other for a while, Song You had always treated her with sincerity, and the Three Flower Cat did not have the many schemes of humans. Over time, feelings had developed between them.

Cats love warmth, and she often secretly snuggled up to him to sleep.

The next morning, the rooster crowed again.

Song You got up a little earlier, draped his clothes over himself, and sat in meditation in the yard. Judging by feel alone, today was much cooler than the morning of his first day here.

The yellow plum tree in the courtyard had already begun to shed its leaves.

A breeze blew, and Song You casually spread his hand, catching a yellow leaf just in time.

"End of Heat..."

End of Heat also marked the end of summer. End meant cessation, signifying that the summer heat was beginning to dissipate, the sweltering, unbearable weather was nearing its end, and the transition to cooler days had begun.

Song You tossed away the yellow leaf and closed his eyes again.

The spiritual energy of the early morning was at its clearest and thickest, swirling around him as if alive, stirring the Green Lamp and causing a few more plum leaves to fall from above.

The city was also awakening at this hour.

From outside came the cries of vendors carrying vegetables along the street, along with calls from those selling firewood and water—hawking and haggling voices all reached his ears. Yet Song You did not find it noisy; he only felt he was hearing the pulse of the common people's lives in this era.

But just then, a knock sounded at the door.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

"..."

Song You opened his eyes and got up to answer the door.

Outside stood the merchant surnamed Li and his party, along with the same two escorts from before, each carrying something in their hands.

"Greetings, sir."

"Please, come in."

"We apologize for the early visit and any disturbance it may cause, and ask for your understanding," the merchant surnamed Li said hastily. "We all wanted to come and thank you, so we asked my brother-in-law for your current address. If there's any impropriety..."

"No need for such courtesy. Come in quickly."

Song You was unaccustomed to such formality and simply ushered them into the courtyard.

The group hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances.

They had heard from Wang Ji that this courtyard was haunted—rented out several times over the years, each tenant moving out the very next day. That the gentleman dared to stay here spoke to his skill and courage, but as ordinary people, they couldn't help feeling apprehensive.

Still, thinking it was broad daylight, there were many of them, and the gentleman was present, they filed one by one into the small yard.

Yet the moment they entered, they felt none of the eerie, chilling atmosphere they had imagined of a haunted house. Instead, the yard was clean and tidy, with an unknown breeze swirling through it, rustling the fallen plum leaves as they swayed. A three-colored cat lazily emerged from the room, stretching and sticking out its tongue on the spot, instantly bringing a sense of calm, peace, and refreshment.

The yard was indeed cooler than the outside.

But this coolness was not the kind that made one uneasy, sent chills down the spine, or raised goosebumps. It was a comfortable, clean coolness—like the damp freshness of early morning after a full night's sleep, stepping out the door, or the pleasant breeze on a sweltering dusk after the scorching heat had faded.

The group exchanged glances again, reading surprise in each other's eyes. Then they quickly stepped forward with their gifts, voicing words of gratitude for the gentleman's life-saving grace.

The gifts they brought were mostly homemade cured meats and sausages, along with fine tea from their own estates—full of heartfelt sincerity.

"You're all too kind."

Song You said this but did not act coy or refuse.

All the gifts were placed on the stone table.

Seeing this, the group visibly relaxed.

Then the three-colored cat jumped onto the stone table, seemingly drawn by the smell of the cured meats, or perhaps out of habit, inspecting the unfamiliar objects that had entered its territory. It sniffed left and right at the pile of gifts, and no one thought to shoo it away.

"The gentleman keeps a cat for company—truly refined taste."

The merchant surnamed Li smiled warmly at the Three Flower Lady, recalling the image from that day outside the city when the cat had imitated the gentleman's greeting to him.

It made sense, he thought. When the gentleman reached Liangshui Ao, he was alone; by the time he reached Yi Capital, he had a cat. It could hardly be a random stray picked up in the mountains. It was likely a creature on the verge of becoming a spirit, or already one, that the gentleman had tamed as a companion.

So even when addressing the cat, his tone was exceedingly polite: "Having a cat for company is good too. It keeps the gentleman from being lonely as he travels the world."

"That's what I think as well."

"This cat is fortunate to have the gentleman."

"Rather than saying it accompanies me, I need its company more. It's hard to say who is luckier."

"Oh..."

The merchant surnamed Li found nothing remarkable at first, but the more he thought about it, the more profound it seemed.

Truly, the gentleman was extraordinary.

After chatting for a while, the merchant surnamed Li suddenly caught sight of the yellow talisman hanging by the door of Song You's bedroom. Remembering the second purpose of their visit, he was overjoyed.

"Does the gentleman know how to make talismans?"

"I know a few types of exorcism talismans."

"To be honest, we poor traveling merchants spend our days deep in the mountains, inevitably encountering ghosts on night roads and demons on mountain paths. We've previously sought talismans from the temples and monasteries of Wu Mountain for protection, but unfortunately, some were utterly useless, and while others worked, they only served as warnings. Today, we also came hoping to ask the gentleman for a talisman to ward off evil and ghosts," the merchant surnamed Li said. "If we can obtain one, we would be endlessly grateful."

"There's no need to be so polite."

This was, after all, one of Fulong Temple's services.

Song You promptly brought out a few talismans he had drawn the night before. When those weren't enough, he spread out a sheet of Yellow Hemp Paper, summoned cinnabar, and began drawing more on the spot.

The group was greatly astonished—

Though they could not see the spiritual energy flowing with the brush, sealed into the cinnabar, they could see the brush strokes stirring the wind, faintly rustling the plum tree leaves. They had occasionally witnessed some strange phenomena when seeking talismans at temples and monasteries before, but never so clearly as this.

For a moment, everyone's hearts were greatly settled.

Only after each person had received two talismans and tucked them close to their bodies did their courage suddenly swell, giving them the illusion that they would no longer fear the Fog Ghost even if they encountered it again.

"Those folded into triangles are Yin-repelling talismans, used to ward off Yin ghosts. The square ones are Demon-repelling talismans, used to drive away demonic evil. Yin-repelling talismans cannot drive away demons, and Demon-repelling talismans cannot ward off ghosts. Different talismans have different uses, so please remember this."

"We shall bear it in mind."

Thinking that everyone had brought gifts, Song You had originally planned not to take any money, but unable to resist the sincerity of the crowd, each person still gave some small pieces of silver.

It could be considered his first transaction.

Having finally seen off the group, Song You had just returned to the courtyard and sat down for a moment, feeling the seasonal essence and gathering spiritual power, when he heard another knock at the door.

This time, it was likely his neighbor.

"Sigh..."

Disturbing my cultivation.