Remember to Take the Stairs

People in the city were crowded together, yet their souls were mostly lonely.

This was the uniqueness of individual existence coupled with the limitations of human cognition, a shackle born with them.

Having spent the entire day "without speaking to a single person," Li Wanyin finally experienced what it felt like to "have a proper chat with someone" during this single hour since Chen Shi'an had returned home.

The relaxed and natural state, untainted by the entanglements of transactional interests, devoid of hidden motives, without differences in values, and free from criticism and evaluation... Such a state of chatting was truly utterly addictive to her.

Visibly, the sister who was currently cheerful and relaxed was now completely different from the dim and tightly wound state she had been in when she first came home from work.

If it weren't for the fact that she had no money in her pockets, Li Wanyin would have really liked to buy an hour of the little Taoist's time, having him keep her company for a chat a little longer.

Unconsciously, it was already eleven o'clock sharp.

Li Wanyin felt entirely satisfied and took the initiative to end the chat.

"It's eleven o'clock, I'm heading back to my room. Shi'an, you should get some early rest too. Right, do you have any mosquitoes in your room? I have mosquito coils here."

"It's fine, mosquitoes don't bite me. I'll head back to my room to sleep as well."

"Good night."

"Have an early rest too, Sister Wanyin."

The two of them stood up from the sofa respectively. Li Wanyin picked up the remote control to turn off the TV, and once Chen Shi'an and the cat had entered their room and closed the door, she turned off the fan and lights in the living room as well. Only then did she return to her own room and gently close her door.

Just like the previous night, Chen Shi'an neither turned on the air conditioning nor closed the window. He stood by the window and looked at the night sky outside; at least for the next few days it would be good weather without rain.

When he was in the mountains, he usually blew out the lights to sleep around nine-forty-five in the evening, rarely staying up until eleven like this.

Yet now it seemed that sleeping after eleven from now on would likely become the norm.

"I reflect on myself three times a day. Fat Ink, did you reflect on yourself today?"

"Meow."

Chen Shi'an lay down on the bed, pulling the sheet from the side over himself to cover up slightly.

The black cat stretched, yawned, curled its body, and nestled beside his pillow. Its pitch-black fur blended completely with the night, and only when it opened its eyes would anyone else notice its presence.

At midnight, the light leaking through the crack of Li Wanyin's door went out as well.

The night was quiet...

Even though life in the city involved sleeping much later than in the mountains, Chen Shi'an still woke up as usual at five in the morning when the sky was just turning bright.

Compared to the discomfort of waking up yesterday morning, he appeared much better adjusted today.

Because he had slept less, he felt somewhat drowsy, but this was no big deal to him. He only needed to sit in quiet meditation for a little while to recover his optimal state.

Quiet meditation could substitute for sleep to a certain extent, but Chen Shi'an rarely did so.

He was made of mortal flesh and blood, after all; prematurely stripping away the natural sensations of being human was not necessarily a good thing for cultivating the Dao. Using it to replace an afternoon nap, as he had at noon, was perfectly fine, however.

The growth of magical power did not rely entirely on quiet meditation; it depended primarily on whether one could comprehend the operational laws of the [Great Dao], making the inherent traits of [One's Own Dao] consistent with those of the [Great Dao], thereby naturally gathering the energy of the great Dao of heaven and earth.

Even while eating, sleeping, walking, or studying, this accumulation likewise occurred silently.

Quiet meditation merely accelerated the speed of such accumulation, yet it could not alter the upper limit of one's own magical power growth. It was like a bottle: how much this magical power bottle could ultimately hold depended entirely on the cultivator's natural talent and how deeply they comprehended the [Dao].

Therefore, when the accumulation of magical power reached a certain bottleneck, there would be talk of seclusion, which was actually shutting the door to comprehend the Dao and finding a way to raise this upper limit.

Opposite to seclusion was going out for practical training. Yet all roads led to the same destination, with the purpose of all of them being to [comprehend the Dao].

As for the execution of divine abilities, it was ultimately just happening by borrowing the laws and energy already existing between heaven and earth, except that depending on each person's mastery of the Dao, the extent to which they could achieve it differed as well.

Chen Shi'an sat cross-legged on the bed in quiet contemplation for a short while, and the fatigue and cloudiness upon waking caused by lack of sleep were completely swept away. He returned to his optimal physical and mental state.

He opened his eyes.

Within his field of vision, a butterfly was fluttering about the room.

It had probably flown in last night when the window was left unclosed.

The black cat glanced at it, eager to try-while butterflies weren't tasty, they were a lot of fun.

Before Fat Ink could pounce, Chen Shi'an beckoned toward the butterfly, as if an invisible force had trapped it. It fluttered its wings in an attempt to escape, yet uncontrollably drifted toward him.

Chen Shi'an did not grant it passage to the afterlife; he merely held it, walked to the window, and released it to fly away outside.

After releasing the butterfly, he stood by the window to feel the morning in the city.

The sky was grayish-white, and the air felt heavy as well. Drawing it into his lungs, it always felt wrapped in something indistinct, unlike the wind in the Taoist temple that swept through the pine forest carrying the scent of pine needles and dew-a single deep breath of that could make even one's browbones feel refreshed.

From downstairs came the clanging sound of a trash can being dragged. Chen Shi'an looked down to see a sanitation worker dumping garbage; there were indeed people in the city who got up even earlier than he did.

A life defined by commuting back and forth between two fixed points was not what he desired. Chen Shi'an thought for a moment, deciding not to read books this morning. Taking advantage of the fact that there was still plenty of time before class, he would go out for a run.

He put on his shoes, took his keys, and walked over to the balcony on the ninth floor, hesitating for a moment. Seeing a surveillance camera hanging from a pole in the residential compound not far away, he ultimately decided to obediently take the stairs down.

"Meow?"

"I'm going out for a stroll. Fat Ink, are you going?"

"Meow."

The fat cat did not walk the stairs obediently like him.

Clearly as fat as a little pig, its mobility was agile to a degree that defied belief.

Only seeing the black cat leap onto the balcony, arch its back to store up strength, twist its rump, and spring forth like an arrow into the air, it sliced obliquely through a parabolic arc and precisely lunged at the vertical wall beside it. Running across the wall as if walking on flat ground, it charged straight down toward the lower floors. In the blink of an eye, it had already rushed down to the second floor, kicked off the wall back onto the second-floor balcony to borrow a bit of momentum, leaped up once more, and finally landed lightly on the concrete ground like a feather.

After descending to the lower floor, Shi Mo did not wait for the little Taoist who was taking the stairs. It flicked its large tail, strutted with cat steps, and familiarly walked out through the entrance of the residential compound; it had already explored the entire compound and its surroundings yesterday.

Before long, it heard familiar footsteps behind it.

Chen Shi'an ran out at an unhurried pace, but what was "unhurried" was merely his movements and demeanor; in truth, his running speed was not slow at all.

The residential compound just past five o'clock in the quiet morning had almost no other residents, save for the sanitation workers cleaning up.

The man and the cat ran like this, arriving at the compound entrance before long.

The uncle in the security guard station had played on his phone all night, scrolling through beautiful women on Douyin until this moment when daybreak arrived. Only then did he yawn, brew a cup of tea so thick it tasted bitter, and sit on a stool beside the security room with a cigarette clamped in his teeth to catch some fresh air.

Cats did not use doors. Even though the gate was right in front of it, the black cat insisted on leaping straight out over the courtyard wall beside the gate.

The security guard uncle was momentarily stunned. What pitch-black thing had just flashed past his eyes? A giant black rat?

Before he could stand up to take a closer look, a youth wearing a sleeveless undershirt came running out as well.

The residential compound was an old one, and management was relaxed. Normally the main gate was half open, but during the night and early morning hours it would be shut, requiring an access card to enter.

Chen Shi'an stopped in front of the compound gate and took the access card out of his pocket.

The security guard uncle offered a reminder, "You don't need to swipe your card to go out; just press that button beside it."

"This one?"

"Right."

"Okay, thanks, Uncle."

"The young fellow is out for a run? Up so early!"

"Yeah, just moved here, looking around the neighborhood."

"No wonder I don't recognize your face."

The security guard uncle smiled, completely failing to recognize that Chen Shi'an was the same Taoist who had entered the compound the other day, merely feeling that his outfit of a sleeveless undershirt was very much like his old man's... bah! His style of dress!

In fact, Chen Shi'an's age looked quite similar to his son's as well, but it was absolutely impossible for his son to wake up this early to run. If you saw his son at this hour during a vacation, he would probably not have just woken up, but rather not have gone to sleep yet.

"How should I address you, Uncle?"

Chen Shi'an had always been easygoing and could strike up a conversation with anyone. Although he used to live on top of a mountain, he had been very familiar with the uncles, aunts, grandpas, and grandmas at the foot of the mountain, and even their big yellow dog. He even knew whose child ate too many wild fruits and got constipated to the point of being unable to poop.

Now that he had changed his living environment, the network of relationships with the surrounding neighbors had to be rebuilt as well. He did not seek for such interpersonal relationships to bring him any benefits; what he sought was simply a natural harmony. Such a mindset was truly completely different from the generally alienated "doors facing each other without recognition" found in the city nowadays.

"My surname is Zheng."

Seeing that the young man was warm and friendly, the security guard uncle also responded with a beaming smile. Having stayed in the city for so many years, it had truly been a long time since he had seen such a retro and old-fashioned young man.

"Chen Shi'an."

Well, even his name was different from the current flurry of "Zixuan" and "Zihan." Not only was his dressing style that of his father's generation, but even his name's style was like his father's generation!

"Judging by your age, you should still be in school, right? Where are you studying?"

"Yunqi No. 1 High School next door."

The security guard uncle's eyes lit up, and he nodded, saying, "Then your grades must be really good! My son is about your age, and he couldn't even pass the high school entrance exam for the county town back home. You're both young people, how can the gap be so huge? The day before yesterday I even saw a Taoist, about your age, and he grew to about your height as well..."

The security guard uncle's voice grew smaller and smaller as he spoke, and the more he looked at Chen Shi'an, the more familiar he seemed.

"The Taoist Uncle mentioned should be me."

"...Hey! It really is!"

The security guard uncle slapped his thigh, and before he could continue chattering, the little Taoist had already walked outside the compound and started running again.

"I'm off."

It was unclear whether Chen Shi'an's remark was spoken to him or to something else.

Only seeing that patch of dark shadow he had just mistaken for a giant black rat dart out from some corner, reappearing before his eyes.

This time he saw it clearly.

It was a black cat.

And it was a black cat that would follow people around!

(Thanks to Yunchen Xiatian for the character card eighty-thousand reward~! Thank you very much to classmate Yunchen for your continuous support!)