He Wants to Eat Sheep

In the town at the foot of the mountain, two people walked into the noodle shop, one behind the other.

"Boss Liao, I've brought you a customer. He's from town and says he has something to ask you."

"What is it?"

The stout boss had long since regained his vigor. He turned around, puzzled.

The speaker was surnamed Li, one of his mahjong buddies.

He had brought someone with him, a well-dressed man with a weary expression.

"You know that little temple outside the worksite? Didn't someone say last month that it was a bit efficacious? Strange things have been happening there these past two days. The man on the five-guarantees program who used to live in the temple was so frightened he didn't dare go back."

Old Li leaned closer and said,

"This fellow's from town, surnamed Zhang. He's been asking everywhere these past two days for someone with real ability, and word reached me. I remembered you telling me a few days ago that you and your wife went up that mountain and got rid of some evil, and that it worked really well, so I brought him over to ask you about it."

Boss Liao was taken aback. He stopped what he was doing and asked curiously,

"What strange things?"

"Something strange happened at the temple. We're desperate enough to try anything, so we wanted to find a few people to take a look," said the middle-aged man surnamed Zhang, who had followed behind, though he did not say exactly what had happened. "I hear from you, brother, that someone at the Daoist temple on the mountain knows about these things?"

Old Li, who had led the way, simply sat down. Nothing had happened to him, so he wasn't afraid; he was just there to enjoy the spectacle. Grinning, he said,

"Since I'm here, cook me a bowl of noodles. Oh, and add some bobo chicken. We can eat while we talk. Sit down, Old Zhang. My treat."

The two of them sat down.

Only then did Old Li go into detail, lowering his voice as he did.

"I only heard about it myself, so I can't vouch for whether it's true or not. They say something's changed with Lord Linji, the one worshipped in the temple. Something's wrong with him. He wants to eat sheep."

"Lord Linji wants to eat sheep?"

Boss Liao was startled.

Linji was a place name. Lord Linji had been a virtuous man born there in ancient times. After his death, he had been revered as a local deity, worshipped by later generations.

"Four nights ago, the man on the five-guarantees program who lived in the temple said he dreamed that Lord Linji manifested himself and spoke to him, saying he wanted to eat sheep. Where would he get the money to buy one? Besides, it was a dream. In this day and age, who would take it seriously? But then, three days ago, he got shut inside the temple and couldn't get out. He went hungry until noon and kept shouting from inside. People outside heard him, but they couldn't open the door."

"How could Lord Linji do something like that?" Boss Liao was astonished. This was far more uncanny than what he had encountered. "Couldn't the door just have been broken?"

"Some people said so," Old Li replied. "Yesterday, a few women whose children are taking the college entrance exam this year bought incense and candles to go pray. They got shut inside in broad daylight, and the police were called. They couldn't even smash the door open, and all they could hear was a voice inside shouting that it wanted to eat sheep."

The boss's wife came out too. When she heard what had happened, she and her husband were both frightened.

"What's going on these days? Why are there so many strange things?"

"It's all wild rumor. Just listen and leave it at that. Don't take it seriously, and don't panic," the middle-aged man surnamed Zhang said, only to ask immediately afterward, "Does the Daoist master at the mountain temple really have the ability?"

"Well, we experienced it ourselves."

The boss then told them what had happened to him.

"I didn't believe in any of this before, but I do now. The Daoist master there didn't take any money. We went back up the mountain ourselves the next day and donated a few hundred yuan as incense money. That doesn't sound like a scam, does it?" Boss Liao had instead become a loyal supporter of the Earth Sage Temple and Xuanshuo. "In this day and age, apart from the stock market, what scammer would cheat you out of so little?"

"Hmm..."

Old Li and Old Zhang turned to look at each other.

"Oh, right!" Afraid they wouldn't believe him, the boss pulled out his phone. "The reason we went to that temple was that we happened to hear two young women who came in for noodles talking about it. And what a coincidence, I happened to come across her Douyin yesterday. She even posted about the temple there. Look!"

The two immediately leaned in toward the phone.

They watched intently, and for a while no one in the noodle shop spoke.

The two small, thin stone tablets in Chen Du's hands had already taken on something of a jade-like quality. Each bore four written characters and a seal:

[Mountain spirit protects the body]

[Subdue demons and exterminate devils]

This was a use he had worked out through trial and error.

He had also summoned the two stone tablets from the mountain after many attempts. They were harder than bluestone slabs, contained more spiritual energy, and could hold more of it, but they still fell short of jade tablets.

This method, however, still wasn't flexible enough and left him somewhat on the defensive.

Fortunately, his cat had already begun cultivating qi.

That had been the right move.

Chen Du turned to look to the side-

A battered cardboard delivery box sat there. The cat was nowhere to be seen; only a fluffy black-and-white paw stuck out, scratching away frantically.

"Side-Swept Bangs, how is your qi cultivation going?"

The paw that had been trying to catch the air paused. After a while, it withdrew, and a dainty-looking cat with side-swept bangs sauntered out, looking bored. As he walked, he said,

"I cultivated!"

"What about the rest? I asked Yunzhi to teach you spells. Have you been studying?"

He was an immortal master now, so it wouldn't do for him to follow the cat to lessons every day. After the two most crucial lessons-gathering essence to kindle the fire, and breathing to cultivate qi-he had stopped going along "to protect the cat's Dao."

"I'm studying!"

The cat sat down properly and licked his paw twice. Then he looked up at his Daoist's slightly furrowed brow and tilted his head in confusion.

"You're unhappy?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you're not showing your butt!" The cat looked solemn. He had noticed it long ago. "When you're happy, you have to show your butt!"

"..." Chen Du was speechless. "People don't do that."

"? Why!"

"It's improper, especially down the mountain. The police would arrest you."

"..."

The cat couldn't help falling into deep thought.

"Remember to cultivate your qi and study your spells. I'm counting on you to protect me."

"Hmm..."

Cat Head stood up and walked outside with his head held high, swaying it as he muttered, "Learn it, forget it, forget it, learn it, forget it and still have to learn it!"

Perhaps because he had already gained intelligence and could understand human speech, his language skills were improving rapidly.

But he was unwilling to speak in front of other people and often pretended he couldn't understand human speech either. At the root of it, he simply didn't want to bother with people.

His voice was still the same. It didn't sound human; both its tone and pitch were like a cat's meow. Chen Du couldn't tell whether it sounded male or female, just as people had trouble telling a cat's sex from its meow. His way of thinking was also somewhat different from a human's, and his manner of speaking was a little odd.

Chen Du decided to have him learn more too.

"This station reports..."

Yunzhi was still sitting upright in the reception hall, facing the television and watching intently.

She still had a great deal to learn.

She was tall to begin with, and both her figure and looks were exceptional. Her clothing was elegant and dignified as well. Her stunning beauty should have given her an imposing, lofty air, yet she was sitting on a little stool, watching a small, off-brand television. The contrast was hard to miss.

Although she was a yaoguai, she had often concealed herself as a Daoist nun when she traveled the world back then, so she was accustomed to sitting cross-legged. But when she saw that the immortal master often sat in chairs, she changed her habit too.

Her approach was simple: don't ask, just learn.

There was also some worry in her eyes.

For the past few days, she had spent her nights patrolling the mountain but had found nothing. For someone so eager to earn merit, it was inevitably troubling. Even while cultivating, she often wondered whether she had already left the immortal master with the impression that she was foolish and incompetent, and whether he would no longer value her.

She couldn't make sense of it either. That yaoguai had been suppressed, unlike her, who had gone to sleep of her own accord. It might even have been beaten before it was suppressed, so its condition should have been much worse than hers. Moreover, she could tell that, presumably because it had been frightened by the immortal master, forcibly turning into smoke to escape that day had also cost it dearly, perhaps even damaging its foundation. Besides, humans and yaoguai alike had lazy hearts and craved a little comfort to their dying breath; even when their lives were at stake, many chose to make do. How could it have run very far?

Could it really have been so cautious that, even with only its last breath left, it had gritted its teeth and run several hundred li? And then run itself to death?

Just then, the light at the doorway dimmed.

The immortal master walked in, carrying Senior Xie.

"Side-Swept Bangs, you stay here too. Watch the news with her and learn how to speak properly."

A cat descended from the sky and landed on the cushion beside her.

Yunzhi couldn't help looking at Senior Xie.

Senior Xie steadied himself, looked up at the television, and opened his mouth. "Learn it, forget it! Forget it, learn it! Forget it and still have to learn it!"

"He learned that from the television," Chen Du said. "You two watch. I'm going to water the vegetable patch outside."

"Yes, immortal master."

Yunzhi respectfully saw the immortal master off again.

When she turned back around, Senior Xie was already lying on the cushion, using the remote control as a toy and kicking it about with all four paws like a juggler.

Suddenly, the cat and Yunzhi turned their heads at the same time and looked outside.

A rumbling sound was approaching from the distance.

"This is..."

For a moment, Yunzhi wasn't sure.

"Cat Head car!"

The cat stood up and named it without a second thought. He often accompanied his Daoist down the mountain and knew what it was.

"Senior, your knowledge is vast!" Yunzhi felt keenly that there was no end to learning. She made a mental note, then stood up and said, "Someone has driven here at dusk. They're either seeking lodging or have business here. Allow Yunzhi to open the door and see."