The Central Region, west of the Eastern Wilderness Corridor.
On a silent, cold night, dreary rain fell without end.
An old monk in a bamboo hat and kasaya walked slowly along a dirt road through a deserted village.
He wore a plain, clean kasaya and held a long monk's staff with nine rings attached.
"Clang..."
"Clang..."
"Clang..."
The staff struck the ground, its sounds echoing over the deserted village.
When he reached a withered tree, the old monk abruptly stopped and raised his head to look at its branches, revealing an aged face.
After a long moment, he raised one palm upright, closed his eyes, and inclined his head slightly. "The Buddha delivers all beings, his light shining over the world."
"Demons and spirits, why skulk in hiding?"
Though he looked old, his voice rang out loud and clear.
"Heeheeheeheehee-"
Amid the drifting, icy rain, a woman's chilling laughter suddenly sounded.
"Abbot Chengyi, I trust you've been well."
At that voice, the old monk's eyes flew open, filled with astonishment.
"After a thousand years of these dull days, surely you haven't forgotten me, Abbot?"
The old monk looked up at the withered tree again.
A scantily clad woman now sat lightly upon its formerly bare branches. Apart from a few strips of crimson silk wrapped around her body, broad stretches of her snow-white skin lay exposed.
Her long, slender calves swayed gently, like creamy white jade.
"Lao Yi!"
The old monk's pupils contracted sharply. "You..."
His voice trembled slightly. "Are you a man or a woman now?"
"Heeheehee..."
The woman in the tree suddenly laughed again.
"What's the matter, Abbot?"
"Even the compassionate bodhisattva who delivers all beings has a male body and a female countenance. Are you still bound by such distinctions, Abbot...?"
The old monk frowned slightly, but