By the time Pei Yubai followed him, Qiguan Yuan had already gone far ahead.
All he could see on the gravel path was a dark red silhouette, appearing and disappearing among the green woods. It rounded a bend and vanished.
Pei Yubai did not quicken his pace. He followed the path to the rear courtyard of the Yue Lao Temple.
Beyond the rear courtyard lay a long covered walkway. At its far end was the front hall.
When Pei Yubai reached the front hall, everyone else was already there.
Shen Yuzhou squatted on the steps, his eyes not fully open yet, his hair sticking up like a chicken with its feathers ruffled.
Cheng Yanqiu stood beside him, drinking from a cup of water.
Ji Shiyu leaned against a pillar, quietly watching the stone lantern in the courtyard.
Lin Yanru stood beside Meng Xu, reading the words on the whiteboard.
Jiang Wantang sat on the curved bench along the covered walkway, gently waving a round fan she had acquired from somewhere.
Seeing Pei Yubai arrive, Meng Xu clapped his hands. "Good, everyone's here. Let's talk about today's task."
He pointed to the whiteboard behind him. Written on it were the words: Task hunters.
"Today's format is different from yesterday's. Yesterday, you were looking for things. Today, you'll be looking for people."
Meng Xu continued, "The production team has stationed task givers around the Yue Lao Temple. You need to find them and receive tasks from them. Completing tasks will earn you points. Some tasks are easy, some are hard. The more you complete, the more points you get."
Shen Yuzhou raised his hand. "What do the task givers look like? Any distinguishing features?"
"Not necessarily," Meng Xu answered. "Some wear monks' robes, some wear casual clothes, and some might just be worshippers passing you by. You'll have to judge for yourselves."
Shen Yuzhou raised his hand again. "What's the reward for getting the most points?"
Meng Xu glanced at him. "Whoever gets the most points will receive a special privilege at our next travel destination. What that privilege is will be revealed when we get there."
Shen Yuzhou's eyes lit up. He sprang off the steps and grabbed Cheng Yanqiu, breaking into a run. "Come on, Sister Cheng! Let's go!"
Dragged along by him, Cheng Yanqiu nearly spilled her water. She cursed, but her feet did not stop.
Ji Shiyu straightened away from the pillar and followed at an unhurried pace.
Lin Yanru walked behind Ji Shiyu, her steps no faster. Jiang Wantang rose from the bench, tucked her round fan into her sleeve, and headed along the other side of the walkway.
Pei Yubai stayed where he was, surveying the layout of the front hall.
The front hall of the Yue Lao Temple was not large. A statue of Yue Lao stood enshrined in the center, much like the one in the small temple at the foot of the mountain, with white hair, long eyebrows, and a red string in his hands.
Incense burned in the censer, sending up curls of bluish smoke. Several worshippers were praying inside the hall, their faces indistinct.
He went around the front hall and headed toward the back.
The Yue Lao Temple was much larger than it appeared.
Behind the front hall lay a larger courtyard, flanked by side halls. The doors of the left-hand hall stood open, revealing several statues he did not recognize.
Several people had gathered at the entrance to the right-hand hall.
Pei Yubai walked over.
A woman stood at the entrance, probably in her thirties, dressed in the dark blue clothing worn by the locals. She held a marriage fortune stick and looked somewhat nervous.
Someone sat in front of her.
Dark red robes, long silver hair.
Qiguan Yuan.
He sat languidly in a wooden chair, one hand resting on the armrest, the other holding that fortune stick.
A low table stood before him, with several vermilion brushes and a stack of blank fortune slips on it.
Several other people, men and women, stood nearby, all waiting.
Qiguan Yuan was examining the fortune stick, its inscription facing him. After studying it for a while, he looked up at the woman before him.
"What do you seek to ask with this fortune?"
The woman's voice trembled slightly. "About... about marriage."
Qiguan Yuan gave a hum of acknowledgment, set the stick on the table, and tapped its surface lightly with one finger.
"The verse reads: The moon shifts the shadows of flowers; the wind stirs the curtain hooks. Your beloved is absent; alone you keep watch in the western tower."
He recited it very slowly, every word clear. When he finished, he looked at the woman.
"The person you're waiting for will not return."
The woman's eyes instantly reddened.
There was no inflection in Qiguan Yuan's voice, neither cruelty nor pity. He was simply stating a fact in a very even tone.
"There is no need to wait. A good match will come around next year's spring equinox. His surname is Zhang, and he lives in the east of town. If you wish, take a walk to the bridge at the eastern end of town on the day of the spring equinox."
The woman froze.
She opened her mouth as though to say something, but said nothing. After a long while, she bowed deeply, tucked the fortune stick into her sleeve, and turned to leave.
The people waiting nearby murmured among themselves.
Someone said, "Mr. Qiguan's fortune readings are so accurate."
One of them replied, "Last time, he said I'd meet the right person in autumn, and I really did."
Their voices were quiet, but Pei Yubai heard them clearly. So Qiguan Yuan was someone who interpreted fortune sticks at the Yue Lao Temple.
Qiguan Yuan was waiting for the next person to draw a fortune stick. Sensing someone watching him, he looked up toward them.
He saw Pei Yubai.
He raised an eyebrow. It lifted just slightly, then quickly settled again.
But the corner of his mouth moved too, not quite a smile, only the faintest curve.
He put down the fortune stick in his hand and said to those waiting nearby, "One moment."
Then he stood and walked unhurriedly toward Pei Yubai.
The light at the side hall's entrance was poor. As he approached, he moved from shadow into light, his silver hair flashing briefly in the shifting illumination.
His dark red robes looked heavy against the blue-gray wall.
He stopped in front of Pei Yubai.
There was more distance between them than there had been that morning, but that cool fragrance still drifted over, fainter now, mingling with the scent of sandalwood from the hall.
"Pei Yubai." The end of his voice still dipped slightly when he said that name, as though he had rolled it around in his mouth before letting it out. "Are you following me?"
Pei Yubai's ears began to burn again.
He lowered his eyes to Qiguan Yuan's collar, then raised them again to meet his gaze. "Filming the show. Taking tasks. That's how I ended up here."
His voice was a little tighter than usual, but his tone was reasonably normal.
"Oh," Qiguan Yuan said, drawing the sound out slightly.
He tilted his head to glance at the cameraman behind Pei Yubai, then looked back at Pei Yubai. "In that case, does that mean I can assign a task too?"
Pei Yubai paused.
Before he could speak, his phone vibrated.
He took it out and saw a message from Meng Xu. Just three words.
Say yes now!
Pei Yubai looked at those three words on the screen and fell silent for a second.
He put his phone back in his pocket and looked up at Qiguan Yuan. "You can."
The corner of Qiguan Yuan's mouth moved. "Good. Then do something for me."
He turned back to the low table, picked up a vermilion brush, and wrote a few characters on a blank marriage fortune slip.
When he finished, he folded it once and handed it to Pei Yubai. "There's a plum grove behind the Yue Lao Temple. Deep in the grove is an old plum tree with the character for 'hidden' carved into its trunk. Go to that tree and bury this fortune slip beneath its roots."
Pei Yubai accepted it. The fortune slip was made of bamboo, very light, with two characters written on it.
He glanced at them. The brushstrokes were lean and firm, not quite like the man himself.
"What happens after I bury it?"
Qiguan Yuan had already sat back down and picked up the next fortune stick, studying its inscription.
At the question, he looked up and glanced at Pei Yubai. "Once you've buried it, the task is complete."
Pei Yubai tucked the fortune slip into his sleeve, turned, and left.
The bullet comments were discussing it.
[What task did Qiguan Yuan give Pei Yubai?]
[Bury a fortune slip. Go bury a fortune slip in the plum grove.]
[Why bury it in the plum grove?]
[No idea. It all feels so mysterious. Aren't marriage fortune slips supposed to be hung on trees, like the ones last night? Why bury it in the ground?]
[Qiguan Yuan's handwriting is so pretty.]
Pei Yubai passed through the side hall toward the rear courtyard. Beyond it lay a narrow path lined with bamboo and paved with gravel.
After a hundred or so paces, the bamboo thinned, giving way to a plum grove.
The plum blossoms had yet to bloom. Bare branches stretched toward the sky, casting gray shadows in the morning light.
The grove was small, but the trees grew thickly. Pei Yubai walked in, his footsteps making little sound on the soft soil.
After searching for a while, he spotted an old plum tree deep in the grove.
It was thicker than the surrounding plum trees, its trunk covered in cracks, as though it had endured many years of wind. A single character was carved into the front of the trunk.
Hidden.
The strokes were deep, worn somewhat indistinct by time, but still recognizable.
Green moss grew along the edges of the character, clinging to the brown bark.
Pei Yubai crouched beneath the tree.
He scraped away the soil beneath its roots with his hands. It was damp and very soft.
He dug a hole neither too shallow nor too deep, took the fortune slip out of his sleeve, set it inside, and covered it with soil.
He patted the soil flat, then grabbed a handful of fallen leaves and scattered them over it, making the spot look no different from its surroundings.
With that done, he stood and looked at the tree.
A breeze blew through, swaying the bare plum branches with a very soft rustle.
He stood there for a while, then turned and headed back.
When he returned to the side hall, Qiguan Yuan was still interpreting fortunes. Only one person remained in line, a young woman holding a fortune stick, her face flushed.
Qiguan Yuan was speaking to her, his voice too quiet to make out. After hearing him, the young woman blushed even more deeply, bowed, and ran off.
Qiguan Yuan watched her retreating figure, the corner of his mouth moving, then turned to Pei Yubai. "Buried it?"
Pei Yubai nodded.
Qiguan Yuan glanced at him. He did not ask where he had buried it or how deep. He simply nodded and said, "Task complete."
Then he stood and gathered the vermilion brushes and fortune sticks on the table, stacked them together, and placed them at one corner. His movements were slow and unhurried. "Your director should remember about the points."
With that, Qiguan Yuan headed toward the other side of the side hall. His dark red robes flashed in the doorway, then vanished.
Pei Yubai remained where he was, looking at that door.
After a while, he took out his phone and sent Meng Xu a message: Task complete.
Meng Xu replied instantly: +5 points.
Then came another message: You're really lucky.
Pei Yubai looked at those words without replying. He put his phone back in his pocket, turned, and headed toward the front hall.
By the time he reached the front hall, the others were trickling back as well.
Shen Yuzhou squatted on the steps, his face bright red from the sun, opening an envelope.
Cheng Yanqiu stood beside him with an envelope in her hand too.
Ji Shiyu stood beside the pillar. He had already opened his envelope and was examining its contents.
Lin Yanru sat on the curved bench, turning her envelope over and over.
Jiang Wantang was the last to return. She had no envelope in her hands, and her steps paused briefly as she reached Ji Shiyu's side.
Ji Shiyu looked up at her.
Their eyes met briefly, then quickly parted.
Jiang Wantang came to a stop beside him without speaking. Ji Shiyu lowered his head and continued reading the letter in his hands.
But from the side, his fingers could be seen gripping the edge of the paper, his knuckles slightly white.
Jiang Wantang kept her eyes lowered, her lashes trembling once.
The bullet comments missed that small movement, but Pei Yubai saw it from where he stood some distance away.
He said nothing and looked away.