As soon as he walked in, he asked Daoist Qingxin, "Is the ghost that hit me yesterday still here? Where is he?"
Daoist Qingxin casually pointed at a corner.
Jingting immediately dragged a stool over to where Daoist Qingxin was pointing, then began, "Come on, let's have a chat. But let's get one thing straight first: a gentleman uses his words, not his fists. Whoever throws another punch is a dog."
The little ghost across from him: "..."
Daoist Qingxin behind him: "..."
Jingting sat on the stool and started chatting with the ghost just like that. Of course, to be more precise, he was talking to himself. He started with how hitting people was wrong, then went on about how ghosts ought to let go of their obsessions and reincarnate instead of lingering in the mortal world...
At first, Jingting spoke nicely, but as he went on, he started cursing. "...Look at you, you're already a ghost. What on earth can't you get over or let go of? They say death is like a lamp going out, but you just had to turn yourself into a sound-activated light, flickering on and off. Obsessions make people sick and turn ghosts into demons. Don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit, or Daoist Qingxin will scatter your soul, and you won't even be able to find the road to reincarnation."
The little ghost was annoyed to death by Jingting. He went outside to hide for a while, then came back in, only to hide outside again. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and begged Daoist Qingxin for mercy. "How much longer is he going to keep yapping? He nags even more than my mom."
Daoist Qingxin said, "Then leave. If you leave, you won't have to listen to him ramble, and our job will be done too. We can take our money and leave with peace of mind."
The little ghost said, "I can't leave. I'm scared my mom won't be able to find me when she comes back."
Daoist Qingxin said, "Where's your mom, then? Shall I go tell her to come see you?"
The little ghost said, "When she found out I was lost, she went everywhere looking for me, and then she got lost too. I'm scared she won't find me when she comes back, so I have to wait here for her."
Daoist Qingxin was a little moved by this, but only a little at most. After dealing with enough of these spirits and ghosts, he knew that whether one was human or a ghost, regret was simply a normal part of life.
Everyone had regrets, more or less. Some regrets could be made up for, but not every regret came with a chance to make amends or find fulfillment. Take this little ghost, stubbornly staying here. Leaving aside whether he would ever manage to wait until his mother returned, even if he did, his mother would never see him again.
The divide between the living and the dead was already an established fact, beyond human power to change.
So it came back to the same thing: let go of obsessions. Humans should follow the path of humans, and ghosts the path of ghosts. That was the proper thing to do.
Daoist Qingxin said, "Go on. Go reincarnate. The sooner you leave, the sooner you'll be reborn."
Jingting heard Daoist Qingxin muttering to someone behind him, but his voice was too low for Jingting to make out exactly what he was saying. The final line, "Humans should follow the path of humans, and ghosts the path of ghosts," did sound familiar, though, since Daoist Qingxin had kept saying it yesterday too.
The little ghost said, "What if I insist on staying?"
Daoist Qingxin tipped his chin toward Jingting. "Then you'll spend another week getting scolded by him before I drive you away anyway. Other than picking up some fairly low-grade insults, that week will add no meaning whatsoever to your ghostly existence."
The little ghost: "..." You two really are my living dads.
Chapter 37
The little ghost thought that after hearing such a tragic story, Daoist Qingxin would surely help him somehow. Even if he wouldn't help find his mother, he would at least let him keep waiting in this house. To his surprise, after hearing the story, Daoist Qingxin drove him away without expression, like an emotionless ghost-expelling machine.
Worst of all, he was mean about it too. After driving the ghost away, he didn't tell Jingting. Instead, he came to sleep in the house at the same time every day as though nothing had happened.
As a result, during the remaining days Jingting stayed in the haunted house, he would still drag a little stool over to that corner whenever he had a moment and talk to thin air.
It wasn't until the last day, when they collected their money and left, that Daoist Qingxin mercifully gave Jingting a share of 1,000 yuan.
Jingting was quite delighted. "I even get paid? I thought ghost-expelling interns didn't get paid."
Daoist Qingxin said, "Normally, they don't. But this is for all the effort you put into performing these past few days."
Jingting didn't understand. "What did I perform?"
Daoist Qingxin said, "You added quite a few laughs to my dull, tedious life of ghost expelling."
Jingting: "..."
That didn't sound much like a compliment.
Still, getting paid was always a good thing, so Jingting didn't dwell on it. He took the money and returned to Clear Breeze Temple, telling Daoist Qingxin to contact him again if another good opportunity like this came along.
After returning, Jingting handed all the money to Yun Zhaozhao for safekeeping, as usual.
Yun Zhaozhao took the money, then carefully entered it in her little account book, stroke by stroke. Including the 1,000 yuan Jingting had left with her over the New Year, Daoist Priest Jingting now had 2,000 yuan.
While she was keeping the accounts, Jingting told Yun Zhaozhao the story of his ghost-hunting trip with Daoist Qingxin again. As she listened, Yun Zhaozhao belatedly thought of something else-if Daoist Qingxin really could see ghosts, could all those ghost stories he had told on his livestream have been true???
Recalling the livestreams in which Daoist Qingxin had told one ghost story after another in a flat voice with an expressionless face, Yun Zhaozhao suddenly felt a deep respect for him. Sure enough, one really couldn't judge the Daoists of today by their appearances. Daoist Qingxin might look like a frail scholar, but he really was hardcore. He told true ghost stories as though they were made-up ones.
After being slapped by that little ghost, Jingting had sworn to train hard in martial arts. Now, after sweeping every day, he no longer wandered aimlessly around Clear Breeze Temple. Instead, he found a corner and practiced his horse stance.
There was no denying that the young Daoist practicing martial arts was quite a sight. Previously, visitors to Clear Breeze Temple had mostly taken pictures of the roses, the ginkgo tree, the stray cats, or the temple's various buildings. But lately, because Daoist Priest Jingting had been practicing his horse stance in his Daoist robes, many tourists would even stop specifically to take a couple of pictures of him before leaving.
Yun Zhaozhao was happy to see this. She even specifically told Jingting to practice at the entrance of Clear Breeze Temple, so that when tourists took pictures, they would capture the words "Clear Breeze Temple" on the plaque behind him.
There was no shame in free advertising.
The only pity was that apart from the horse stance, all Jingting knew was the horse stance...
Yun Zhaozhao cautiously offered a suggestion. "You could go online and learn some new moves, like practicing with a sword or something. Or you could ask Daoist Qingxin to teach you a couple of moves."
Jingting said, "Learning online is fine. Learning from Daoist Qingxin? Forget it."
Yun Zhaozhao asked, "Why?"
Jingting said calmly, "Last time we went ghost hunting, Daoist Qingxin jumped straight down from the third floor. Whoosh. He landed without a scratch, but if I jumped from the third floor, you and Brother Changkong could start arranging my funeral banquet."
Yun Zhaozhao: "..." She really hadn't realized before that Daoist Qingxin was a man who kept such formidable abilities hidden.
Yun Zhaozhao had previously considered recruiting a few more Daoists to bolster Clear Breeze Temple's presence. Unfortunately, most Daoists looked down on Clear Breeze Temple. The recruitment notice had been online for over half a year, yet aside from bringing in Xiaojiu to work in sales, it hadn't attracted a single proper Daoist.
Now, hearing Jingting describe how capable Daoist Qingxin was, Yun Zhaozhao couldn't help getting ideas-could she find some way to poach him?
Right in front of Jingting, Yun Zhaozhao called Daoist Qingxin to recruit him. Unfortunately, she had barely hinted at the idea before he politely declined. "Thank you for your regard, Temple Master Yun, but once we Daoists join a lineage, we generally don't switch to another unless something drastic happens."
Yun Zhaozhao had never really looked into this before. Now that Daoist Qingxin mentioned it, she thought it over and realized it was indeed the case. Daoist Chang Kong, for example, had only come to Clear Breeze Temple after being expelled from his former lineage. And Jingting had been picked up and brought back by Daoist Chang Kong only because his master had passed away and the Daoist temple where he had lived since childhood had been forcibly demolished...
Although Yun Zhaozhao wanted to poach him, she couldn't disregard Daoist Qingxin's well-being, so she had to give up. "I see..."
Daoist Qingxin said, "Still, although we can't change lineages, we Daoists have always had a tradition of helping one another, and in recent years our temple has also had an ongoing precedent of sending Daoists to other sects
to spread the Dao. If an opportunity arises, perhaps I could stay at Clear Breeze Temple for a while too. Of course, if the Daoists at your Clear Breeze Temple need further training, they could also choose to come to our temple."
Yun Zhaozhao readily agreed. "No problem."
Only after hanging up did Yun Zhaozhao notice that Jingting seemed a little unhappy. She couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"
Jingting looked deeply worried. "Temple Master, if you need to send someone away for further training, you'll definitely send me, won't you?"
Yun Zhaozhao said, "Why would you think that?"
Jingting said, "Daoist Chang Kong is so important that you definitely can't send him away. Right now, I'm probably the most useless person in all of Clear Breeze Temple. If you could trade me for Daoist Qingxin, you'd definitely be happy to, wouldn't you?"
Yun Zhaozhao had always thought Jingting was easygoing and never took anything to heart, so hearing such self-defeating words from him came as a rare surprise. In fact, she really hadn't given it much thought. After all, as things stood, everyone in the temple had their own value and purpose.
So Yun Zhaozhao comforted him. "You're overthinking it. If I sent you away, who would sweep all the steps at Clear Breeze Temple? Don't worry. If we absolutely have to send someone over before Daoist Qingxin can come here, I'll go myself. After all, I can't sweep or cook. Sending me away would even save our Clear Breeze Temple some food!"