Heaven Is Watching from Three Feet Above

As someone was posting the New Moon Talismans, a Taoist priest in the distance suddenly hurried over, supporting an elderly priest. The old priest seemed even more eager.

A middle-aged Taoist called softly from behind them.

"Martial Uncle, slow down. Take it slow..."

The young Taoist muttered behind them, "I thought they said the temple master had trouble walking?"

He grumbled, but hurried after them all the same. When they reached a long flight of steps, he supported the old temple master by the arm, careful not to let him stumble.

The old temple master hurried all the way to the temple gate, looked around a few times, then headed east and stopped at a fortune-telling stall by the entrance.

The young Taoist and the middle-aged priest had no idea what the old temple master was up to. Could the stall be offending public morals, fleecing pilgrims and lay worshippers day after day, and in need of being shut down?

But the stall had been set up by the gate for over a decade. Had he really come rushing out just to make trouble for the stallholder?

"Martial Uncle?" "Temple Master?"

The two of them watched the old temple master clasp his hands in the Midnight-Noon Hand Seal and bow to the person waiting to have his fortune told.

"Mountain Master, you've arrived."

The man turned around. He looked to be in his thirties, with thick black hair, and stood far taller than an ordinary person. You had to tilt your head back to see his face. His arms were so long he looked almost like an ape.

The man nodded. "Temple Master."

The old temple master asked respectfully, "When did the Mountain Master arrive?"

"Not long ago."

The man hurriedly stuffed the fortune slip into his robes, then tossed down a piece of Nugget Gold that looked as though someone had snapped it off with great force. "Pick out a sachet for me from what you're selling... Never mind, give me one of each."

Then he noticed the old temple master was still standing in front of him.

He waved a hand. "Temple Master, there's no need for such courtesy. I merely sensed something unusual and came to have a look."

As he spoke, he passed the Taoist priests, ignored the fortune-teller, who looked a little confused, and strode straight into the temple, moving as if in a great hurry.

The two Taoists had heard their exchange.

The middle-aged priest had frozen at the words "Mountain Master." Seeing how unconstrained the man seemed, and how little regard he showed for Pure Void Temple, only made it stranger. Their temple master was eighty-two. The villagers at the foot of the mountain already thought him an immortal. Even the county magistrate and Xiang Prefecture Governor treated him with courtesy.

It was all very odd... and they hardly dared think too deeply about it.

The young Taoist beside him was curious. He lowered his voice and asked, "Temple Master, who was that?"

On the way back, the old temple master was no longer in such a hurry. He had rushed out earlier, and now his legs were aching, so he simply stopped where he was to rest.

Only after catching his breath did the temple master answer.

"What mountain is Pure Void Temple on?"

"Black Stone Mountain."

"Indeed."

The young Taoist was still bewildered when the middle-aged priest, his martial uncle, asked, "Was that the Black Rock Ridge Mountain Lord?"

The old temple master stroked his beard but said nothing.

That was all the two junior Taoists needed to know.

The young Taoist asked, "Why did the Mountain Master come to our Pure Void Temple? He said he sensed something unusual. Could one of our ancestors have descended during the ritual?"

The old temple master couldn't say for sure.

He was old, but he had heard the previous generation speak of the current Mountain Master's origins. The man had considerable cultivation, so the old temple master was all the more cautious.

That was why he had rushed over.

He said, "The Mountain Master entered the temple, so what he seeks must be inside. We'll know once we take a look."

The young Taoist muttered to himself again, very softly. "I've heard that many rulers of local mountains, rivers, and lakes were once strange beasts or spirit demons. I wonder what our Black Stone Mountain's Mountain Master is... He looks a little like—"

The old priest struck him hard with his cane.

"Mind your words!"

After a pause, he added, "Heaven is watching from three feet above..."

The young Taoist shuddered, suddenly afraid. The Mountain Master was still inside the temple, and he had been speculating so carelessly about his origins. Fortunately, he hadn't finished what he was saying. Otherwise, it would have been deeply offensive—and a grave insult.

The fortune-teller had overheard bits and pieces of their conversation. His mind was a little foggy with it all, and he couldn't help asking, "Priest, who's this Mountain Master you're talking about? Does the mountain belong to him?"

The old temple master smiled, leaving the stallholder to make of it what he would. Then he asked kindly, "What fortune slip did he draw just now?"

"I don't remember. I only know it was a lucky one, and that Mountain Master looked mighty pleased. No wonder he's from a wealthy family—he sure knows how to spend!"

The stallholder cheerfully picked up the small piece of Nugget Gold. He turned it over, wiped it with his sleeve, then bit down on it.

Goodness, it was soft.

It was real gold.

The Earth Deity Mountain Demon took human form and made his way through the pilgrims. He spotted the one standing in an inconspicuous place, listening to the scholars nearby and watching the young Taoists hand out talismans.

"Imm... Sir!"

Jiang She raised his head. "The Mountain Master's here."

The Earth Deity Mountain Demon bowed. "I sensed you were here, sir, so I... I came to pay my respects."

"You're too polite, Mountain Master."

Seeing that the immortal had no intention of driving him away, the Earth Deity was delighted. That lucky fortune slip had been right after all. Wasn't this the very connection he'd hoped to make with an immortal?

The two of them walked a little farther away. The Earth Deity Mountain Demon said respectfully, "I know these mountains well. I've watched the Taoists of Pure Void Temple grow up and grow old."

"When they finish handing out the talismans, shall I show you around?"

Jiang She agreed. The Earth Deity offered, "There's quite a story behind Pure Void Temple. The current temple master is also connected to the Deer Mountain God. Without the Mountain God, he likely would have died before the age of four or five!"

"Oh?"

The Earth Deity Mountain Demon recalled the past.

"That temple master has some talent for the Way. His Heavenly Eye opened at birth. Just imagine: a young child who knows nothing, thinking ghosts and spirits have always been part of the world, chatting with the ghosts at home. He gave his wet nurse quite a fright."

"Once he learned to speak, his family became even more convinced something was wrong. Their attempts to perform rituals and drive out evil spirits did nothing, which only frightened them more. Then another child was born into the family, so they more or less stopped paying attention to the older one."

"It was only when he was four or five that he realized seeing ghosts wasn't normal. He was just beginning to understand the world around him, and fear took root in his heart."

"From the day he began learning to read and write, his world turned upside down."

"When the Deer Mountain God heard about it, he took pity on the child and sealed his Heavenly Eyes. Then he had someone send the boy to grow up in the temple. That was nearly eighty years ago."

The Earth Deity sighed.

"And now he's nearly dead."

Pure Void Temple was thriving, with nearly a hundred Taoists and young novices. Its congregation was flourishing, too. Clearly, the temple master had done a fine job. A thick, ancient ginkgo tree stood in the temple grounds, its lush green branches shading everyone beneath them. It looked at least a hundred years old.

Jiang She could almost see a very young child, witness his birth and his parents' rejection of him, then watch him grow up in the temple.

Now he heard that the old man had reached the end of his life.

"When people are first born, they know no fear."

Jiang She sighed. "As they grow older and understand more about the world, they become more and more afraid. Things they once dismissed as idle tales gradually become things they worry and fret over."

"Those who cultivate, the spirit demons, the ghosts and gods—they're all the same."

"Few ever manage to transcend it."

"So they say: the clever toil, the wise worry, and those without ability have no wants. They eat their fill and roam about, drifting like an untethered boat. What a person seeks in life doesn't depend on how profound their knowledge of the Way is. It lies in freedom, in being at ease with nature."

The Earth Deity Mountain Demon pondered his words.

"People have their worries and fears, and so do ghosts and gods."

"The Mountain Master has understood."

The Earth Deity looked at the immortal, standing beneath the corridor in the sunlight, almost blending into the light itself, at ease and untroubled.

He couldn't help thinking:

To be so unhurried, laughing and talking as he wandered through the mortal world—was that what it meant to be free and at ease?

While they were talking, a young Taoist walked over. The bamboo basket held fewer and fewer talismans; soon, he would reach them.

Jiang She accepted one.

It was a New Moon Talisman, used to ward off evil, pray for blessings and a long life, protect the home, and calm the spirit. The new moon fell on the first day of each month, when Heaven and Earth joined in harmony and the ghosts and gods recorded people's good and evil deeds. Taoists were meant to fast and meditate.

Jiang She examined the talisman.

The Taoist priests at the temple had drawn it in Cinnabar. It would be enough to keep evil spirits at a distance, whether they were troublesome but not particularly powerful, or low-level demons and ghosts that hadn't yet gained sentience. It could certainly ward off evil.

Not far away, those scholars were still enthusiastically discussing the spirit demons and evil creatures in the mountains.

Their faces were full of longing. They wished they had been the ones invited to the immortals' nocturnal feast, and the ones who had slain evil spirits that night, laughing all the while.

As the story passed from mouth to mouth, it grew more distorted. Many people added their own half-true, half-false opinions, and each retelling made it more extravagant.

Dai Xiu mused aloud:

"I wonder what the fox spirit on the mountain looks like. Does it have a slender waist? Eating people's hearts and livers—it's a wicked woman, all right."

The scholar surnamed Wang laughed loudly. "I heard there's more than one Fierce Tiger in the mountains. It's strange, though. If the tiger really died, why did we hear a tiger's roar?"

"There must have been more than those two demons at the gathering that night."

"Things that harm people like that should be eliminated as soon as possible!"

They were talking animatedly. Wang Zishen casually stuffed the talisman given to him by the young Taoist into his sleeve. It fell to the ground, but he didn't care at all and made no move to pick it up.

Jiang She had heard them. He looked at the Earth Deity beside him, who had once been a Mountain Imp.

The Earth Deity had naturally heard them, too.

He looked at the scholars and narrowed his eyes as he sized them up. They were scholars in scholar's robes, with a faint air of refinement about them. But the more they spoke, the more a faint black aura began to appear above their brows.

The Earth Deity regarded the mortals coldly.

"Words invite trouble. Sooner or later, they'll understand that."

As the two of them spoke, a commotion arose ahead. People helped the old temple master over. He shuffled all the way to them, bent with age. When he saw the Earth Deity, he raised a hand in greeting.

Then he looked at Jiang She, unsure who the person beside the Mountain Master was.

"This gentleman is..."