Down the Mountain to Exorcise a Demon

The two middle-aged men had already reached the entrance to the Daoist temple.

Dusk was darkening the sky, and mist hung heavy. By the temple gate stood an ancient peach tree in bloom, and beneath it, the immortal master held a watering can, chatting with them as leisurely as an immortal.

Yunzhi shifted her gaze to the roadside.

One of the "cat-head vehicles" Senior Xie had mentioned sat quietly there. It looked somewhat like the one ridden by the young man with multicolored hair whom she had seen at the foot of the mountain, though it appeared slimmer and frailer. And the young man's cat-head vehicle seemed to have a pair of eyes at the front, while this one had only a square face.

She knew these cat-head vehicles could go incredibly fast, and some even had names of their own. Just a couple of days ago, she had seen on the news that one surnamed Zhang had won a racing championship.

They were probably the equivalent of horses in the Great Ming dynasty?

The young man had been riding a racehorse, while this one was a worn-out nag.

After indulging her curiosity with that little flight of fancy, she listened closely to the two men:

"Last month, the man under the five-guarantee program at the temple dreamed of Lord Linji. At the time, he thought the old lord had manifested his divine power. After that, several other people also said their prayers to him had been answered. We never expected something like this to happen these past two days. We don't know what's happened to the old lord."

"Last month..."

Yunzhi was thinking the same thing as Chen Du.

A demon had only just escaped from the mountain a few days ago, and today someone had come up the mountain looking for help after apparently encountering a demon or ghost. Both of their first thoughts were: had they found that demon?

But hearing that strange things had begun happening last month, they were both puzzled.

"Is there any surveillance footage?"

"That place is outside town, and it's not at an intersection. There aren't any cameras."

"Have you replaced the door?" Chen Du asked, recalling the words "posing as a door god" written on the jade plaque.

"We did. At first, we couldn't get it off. We hired a tradesman to cut it off with a power tool, but before we could put in a new one, it was back the next day. If we hadn't heard about that, we wouldn't have come looking for help." The middle-aged man surnamed Zhang gave him a fuller, clearer account and lit himself a cigarette to steady his nerves. "Some people back home said we should tear down the temple and seal it up with cement. Then an old elder said we should find a few experts to take a look first."

"Hmm..."

Tearing down the building and sealing up the temple was a good idea too. It also seemed to be a homespun remedy deeply rooted in this land.

For example, when common folk in ancient times encountered mountain demons and wild ghosts they couldn't deal with, they would often set the mountain on fire, burning most of the creatures to death.

And when Chen Du was in school, he often heard stories like these: strange things happened somewhere, and when the locals couldn't decide what to do, they simply abandoned the entire building and sealed off the place, or even knocked it down and leveled it.

Mortals had boundless resolve and ingenuity, and had never bowed their heads to ghosts or gods.

Although the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had previously dried up, and by rights there should have been no demons or ghosts, the ancient legends of this land had become part of its culture and continued to influence people to this day.

What worried Chen Du, however, was that if the demon causing trouble in the temple really was the one that had escaped from the mountain a few days ago, sealing the temple would only make it move somewhere else and continue causing trouble.

And that demon seemed to be connected to this mountain and this Daoist temple, which meant it was connected to him as well. So, apart from his earlier worries and weighing of pros and cons, it would have been a lie to say he felt not the slightest sense of responsibility.

"Is the old man who used to live in the temple still there?"

"He's under the five-guarantee program. Never married, no children, no education, too poor to afford food, and nowhere to live. The town looked after him and let him stay at the temple so he'd have a roof over his head. He usually does some cleaning, and he can use the one- and five-yuan notes people leave at the temple to buy himself some rice," the middle-aged man surnamed Zhang said. "He's been scared half out of his wits these past two days. He's staying in town now."

"There's no one in the temple?"

"No! Who'd dare stay there?"

"That's good." Chen Du nodded. "Then you should head back first. We'll find time to go take a look tonight."

"Tonight? You don't need us to lead the way?"

"I know the temple, Linji Temple," Chen Du said. "I have to stay behind closed doors for the time being, so I can't go. I can only send her. She can't ride an electric scooter, and there's no room for her on your motorcycle either. Besides, there are some things it wouldn't be good for you to see."

Stay behind closed doors?

The middle-aged man surnamed Zhang had heard that eminent Buddhist monks in ancient times practiced the meditation of silence, never opening their mouths to speak. Could staying behind closed doors be a cultivation method too?

Following Chen Du's words, he turned to look at Yunzhi.

Was this the Daoist nun Boss Liao had mentioned?

Even in the dim light, she was dazzling. If Boss Liao hadn't told him beforehand, he wouldn't have believed that someone like her was a Daoist nun who cultivated in seclusion in the mountains and possessed Daoist arts.

And even if there had been room to squeeze onto the motorcycle, someone who seemed so unlike anything in the mortal world obviously wouldn't have squeezed onto one vehicle with them. Besides, men and women were different.

Still, it was a pity. They had wanted to see the magical arts Boss Liao had described in such wondrous terms. And hearing the Daoist priest say that, they couldn't help wondering whether the process couldn't be witnessed by others, whether seeing it would make it ineffective or cause the witness to fall seriously ill, or something of the sort. So no matter how curious they were, they didn't dare lightly ask to watch.

"All right, then..."

Before night fell, the two men rode their motorcycle back down the mountain.

"Immortal Master." Yunzhi knew when it was proper to speak, and only now did she do so. "The strange signs began last month, so it might also be something that awakened at the foot of the mountain. But demanding blood food resembles how some demons replenish their vital energy."

"Go take a look tonight," Chen Du said. "The place is easy to find. Follow this road all the way down the mountain. There's a little alley when you reach town, isn't there? Go through the alley onto the main road, then keep going right. It's just outside the end of the town's street. There are a few butcher shops at that end. I used to take Side-Swept Bangs down the mountain, and Side-Swept Bangs often went there to beg for meat. They turn on their lights at night, bright red and easy to spot. When you see them, you can go over and ask for directions."

"Yes!"

"Be careful. It often poses as a door god."

"I'll remember."

Yunzhi didn't make any preparations. She went straight down the mountain.

Chen Du wanted to send Side-Swept Bangs along so Side-Swept Bangs could tell him about the situation upon returning, giving him some idea of how powerful Yunzhi and that demon were, and even of the cultivation system that had only just begun to revive and that he knew nothing about. But he was afraid it would be dangerous, and he couldn't bear to send Side-Swept Bangs.

Now, watching Yunzhi's receding figure, he couldn't help falling into thought.

This really was inconvenient!

If he could go down the mountain, he could have ridden his electric tricycle after the two men's motorcycle just now. But he couldn't get out. He had found opportunities to try several more times afterward, and he still couldn't leave.

Yunzhi couldn't travel on foot as fast as a motorcycle going downhill, either. If she did, those two middle-aged men would probably film her and post it online immediately.

They might have been older, but as far as Chen Du knew, they were quite likely to post short videos far more often than most young people. They just used different platforms, so young people normally never came across them.

And one of them seemed to hold a position in the town or a village at the foot of the mountain.

It looked like if Yunzhi stayed here long enough, he would have to teach her to ride an electric scooter.

Of course, given the delicate balance between Chen Du and her at present, his own abilities would have to improve before he could do that.

Only when he himself was strong could he afford to give her more freedom.

Chen Du happened to have several "stone talismans" on him.

At that thought, he looked around again and felt that the temple courtyard really ought to have a stone table and a set of stone stools. Otherwise, just as before, when Yunzhi occupied the reception hall to watch the news and guests arrived at the temple, there wasn't a single place in the whole courtyard for them to sit.

So he picked up another piece of bluestone:

[Hard stones from the mountain shall transform into a stone table and stone stools, fly here, and settle steadily, without damaging the ground]

Smack! He pressed the seal down!

The night wind wailed and the peach blossoms swayed. At once, stones flew out of the mountain, transformed into a table and stools, and landed beneath the ancient pine in the temple courtyard.

After experimenting for a long time, Chen Du had learned how to use the seal and what its limits were-

Its function really was much like the authority of a mountain god. It could accomplish most things concerning the mountain, and many of them it could do very well.

For instance, ordering stones from the mountain to turn into a table and stools and fly here was actually quite difficult when he thought about it, but the seal could accomplish it completely;

Likewise, making the plants in the courtyard grow and even blossom was, on reflection, an even harder thing to accomplish. Considered from the perspective of modern science, it was almost inconceivable, yet the seal could do it too;

Perhaps it had something to do with the mountain spirit.

Or perhaps it was like the magical arts of ancient times.

But if something lay outside the mountain spirit's scope, or was too complicated, it couldn't be done.

For example, having it stir-fry a couple of dishes;

Or having it write down a cultivation method;

Nor did it work beyond this mountain.

For example, it could move the peach tree from the mountain peak into the courtyard, but it couldn't fetch a single blade of grass from the neighboring mountain.

The talismans he wrote also lost their effect once they left the mountain.

At the same time, it seemed ordinary stone pieces couldn't hold too much spiritual energy. If the decree Chen Du wrote was too difficult-for example, if he again ordered plants to blossom and bear fruit but made the treasure tree in the courtyard the target-then even though he received a response after applying the seal, and a vast amount of spiritual energy from the mountain gathered just the same, the bluestone would burst apart like paper.

And so far, he had found nothing else like the jade plaque that could both replace the stone pieces and hold more spiritual energy and magical power.

All in all, it had given him considerable confidence.

Especially on this mountain.

"Not bad, not bad."

Chen Du ran his hands over the newly made stone table and stools, then sat down on a stool and stretched. Pine branches half-veiled the moon, and a cool breeze brushed his face. He felt perfectly at ease.

"Side-Swept Bangs? Come here and let me pet you.

"Hm?"

Only then did Chen Du realize: where had his cat gone?