The Old Residence Had a Spirit

"So you have read a few books..."

Cao Jianjia came to her senses and raised a hand to smooth back a few strands of hair the wind had tousled, brushing away the fine bits of grass ash. She gave a soft snort, raised her hoe, and continued turning the soil.

"I'll help you clean the old residence, and you can teach me how to farm. Then we'll be even. The rest is none of your concern."

Yu Tunzhou glanced at the girl and saw that she had finally settled down and was working in earnest. He felt relieved at once.

He urged everyone on. It was getting late, and they all needed to put in a little more effort.

"Hm?"

Yu Tunzhou brought his hoe down with a thud against something hard. His wrist went numb, and he froze.

He bent down and blew away the grass and wood ash covering its surface. To his surprise, what lay beneath his feet was the old residence's missing "front gate."

The gate lay in a corner of the overgrown courtyard. Before, weeds half as tall as a person had hidden it completely; now it was covered in ash.

Yu Tunzhou called the other three over, and the four of them joined forces to lift the gate.

"None of us knows how to fix a gate," Cao Jianjia said with a frown. Behind her, Zhang Qinghe was silent and sullen for some reason.

Yu Tunzhou examined it, then called on the three to help him carry the heavy wooden gate to the entrance and prop it up at an angle.

Rounding things up, they could now count it as having a gate.

A residence with its gate standing open and one with no gate at all were two different things.

With that, the cleaning was nearly done.

The weeds had all been cleared, and the grass and wood ash had been turned into the soil as fertilizer. The sun was beginning to sink in the west, and the old residence, abandoned for who knew how many years, finally looked somewhat clean.

Looking at the scene, transformed from how it had been a few days ago, Cao Jianjia could not help asking:

"Yu Tunzhou, you and Xie Linchuan teamed up to trick so many people into cleaning this place for you. What was it for? Is there really a great treasure?"

Yu Tunzhou shook his head. "Daoist Shouxin entrusted me with it. He hoped I could help clean up this Daoist temple."

Cao Jianjia's expression changed slightly. Was it that Daoist True Lord?

She composed herself and asked, "What benefit did he promise you?"

Yu Tunzhou shook his head again. "The old Daoist didn't promise me any benefit."

Cao Jianjia said quietly, "Yu Tunzhou, are you trying to curry favor with him?"

Yu Tunzhou thought about it. The main reason he had agreed so quickly was that he had thought there might be treasure hidden in the old residence.

But even without any treasure, he probably would still have agreed.

"In this town, leaving aside their origins and backgrounds and judging only their character, the old Daoist and Senior Qingzhi are both good people," Yu Tunzhou said earnestly. "So even though the old Daoist didn't promise me anything, I trust he won't let me work for nothing."

Xie Linchuan, standing nearby, looked thoughtful when he heard that.

Not long ago, Yu Tunzhou had told him about it.

Some households in town occasionally sent him on errands, but they did not reward him every time.

And the "good people" in Yu Tunzhou's eyes were probably those who paid him for his work and kept their promises.

Cao Jianjia understood even less, especially his assessment of her martial uncle as a good person. But she did not dare comment too much, so she merely pursed her lips and asked no more.

Before leaving, Cao Jianjia stood on the threshold of the residence and hesitated again and again. In the end, she turned around.

"That line you mentioned just now, 'the heart is the color of a blue lotus in this world'... What book was it from?"

When she had heard the line earlier, it had stirred something inexplicable within her, faint yet lingering in her heart. It was as if it were an opportunity of the Great Dao from the Unseen, one that had even calmed her Dao heart.

Yu Tunzhou hesitated slightly. "It's from a Zen poem. Only fragments remain. There's another half-line before it: 'Through precepts, the autumn moon shines bright in the vast sky; the heart is the color of a blue lotus in this world.'"

Cao Jianjia silently repeated it to herself and nodded gently. She thanked him, then swept off with Zhang Qinghe in tow.

Before leaving, Zhang Qinghe suddenly looked at Yu Tunzhou and said in a low voice, "Things aren't over between us. I'll come looking for you again!"

Yu Tunzhou wiped away his sweat and nodded in acknowledgment, then added:

"Just come openly and aboveboard."

At those words, Zhang Qinghe snorted angrily and strode away.

After Cao Jianjia and Zhang Qinghe left, Yu Tunzhou and Xie Linchuan tidied up and prepared to leave as well.

"Old Xie, you go back first. I'll make one more round to check, and tonight I can report back to the Daoist," Yu Tunzhou said with a nod. "I'm really sorry for the trouble this time."

"Don't mention it. We're past such formalities."

Xie Linchuan waved and walked out of the old residence with an easy smile. A light breeze blew over his head and circled the leaning wooden gate.

Inside the old residence, Yu Tunzhou made one last round, then went into the main house and straightened the tables and chairs that had been disturbed.

Everything was almost in order, and he could report back to the Daoist that evening.

They had finished much earlier than he had expected, all thanks to everyone's help.

In a relaxed mood, he walked out of the main house as a draft brushed past his shoulder.

The wind was not strong, but it carried an indescribable gentleness. It circled the empty main house, sweeping up the fine dust remaining on the floor, then drifted into the courtyard and blew over the corners of the old residence's eaves. Dust that had accumulated for who knew how many years was gently swept away, falling in a soft patter to return to the soil.

It skimmed along the covered corridor, swirled around, and drifted lazily into one of the side rooms.

A long-faded door painting was pasted to the side room's door. Its vermilion had turned gray, its azurite had faded white, and its edges curled like dried leaves.

Its "wretched" appearance had led who knew how many treasure-seeking youths to overlook it, dismissing it as ordinary.

Now, as the wind blew, the door painting came loose with a ripping sound.

Yu Tunzhou had just reached the front gate when he faintly heard a strange sound. He looked back, his mouth slowly falling open.

A faded painting was floating through the air, as if guided by an invisible hand, blowing straight toward him.

As it drew near, the wind gradually eased. At last, the painting settled lightly before the youth.

He instinctively reached out and caught it.

The draft did not stop. It brushed past the ends of his hair, circled him once, then vanished into the dusk without a sound.

It was as if the old residence, silent for a hundred years, had finally begun to open its eyes.

Yu Tunzhou held the painting, his fingertips tightening slightly, his breathing growing softer.

He looked back. Deep dusk had soaked into the corners of the eaves and the gaps between the tiles. Not a single lamp had been lit in the entire residence. The shadows in the main hall were too thick to dissolve, dim and heavy like a colossal beast that had slept for a hundred years, silent and majestic.

Yet he felt no fear at all. Instead, he felt an indescribable sense of peace, and his heart was clear and serene.

Old Mo had not lied after all...

Every old residence had a spirit of its own.

They were silent and spoke little, but they knew right from wrong.

So was this... a reward for him?

As always, Yu Tunzhou bowed slightly, as if thanking an elder who spoke little but harbored goodwill. Then he turned and left.

And at the very moment he bowed, a strand of providence quietly descended from the Unseen and settled upon the youth.

After Yu Tunzhou left, the old residence, which had stood empty for who knew how many years, returned to its former emptiness and silence. Yet something indescribable was spreading through the air.

At that moment, those stationed in the town by the various households all sensed a change in the Qi dynamics between heaven and earth. They looked up, their gazes full of uncertainty.

What was happening? Why had providence suddenly gathered to such an extent?!

Judging by this alone, could that Earth Ranking Grandmaster of the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple still have a chance to advance another step?!

A Grandmaster advancing another step...

That could only mean a Dharma Aspect!

Could it be that, after so many years of decline, the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple was about to produce another Dharma Aspect expert?

Was this fortune turning after reaching its lowest point?

But in the next moment, everyone's gaze sharpened, and the astonishment on their faces deepened.

More than a dozen strands of providence, varying in thickness, flowed between heaven and earth. As if scattering into the mortal world, they found the people who had shed sweat in the old residence over the past few days.

The thickest strand descended toward Evergreen Mountain's residence.

At that moment, some came to a realization, some gave a cold snort, and others showed regret, having lost the initiative in this struggle over the Dao.

In a residence somewhere in town.

Though it was brightly lit, an oppressive anger hung in the air.

A middle-aged man in a long green robe stood beneath the covered walkway with his hands behind his back.

After sensing the change in Qi dynamics in the direction of the old residence to the north, his expression grew darker with anger. He looked at the youth hanging beside him and scolded:

"Every household in this town is subtly attuned to the fate of this grotto-heaven. Even if its people leave and the building stands empty, with no one stationed there, that fate will not disperse-unless this grotto-heaven collapses entirely one day!"

"You've been here less than a week. How dare you act so rashly and trespass into another household's residence?!"

The middle-aged man's voice grew increasingly stern, his tone full of frustration that the youth had failed to live up to expectations.

"Do you know that your offense today will bring the opposition of providence from the Unseen upon you in the future?"

"From now on, whenever you contend for immortal providence, you'll find yourself a head below everyone else for no reason!"

The youth hanging in midair was still unwilling to accept it. "Why could Yu Tunzhou enter the ruins of the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple, then?"

The middle-aged man finally lost his patience and burst into curses.

"Idiot! How did Purple Yang Mountain come to send a fool like you, who doesn't even know how stupid he is, from this generation?"

"Did Yu Tunzhou enter the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple to search for treasure?"

He pointed north and said coldly,

"Let me tell you something else. Of the twenty or so people who took part in cleaning the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple this time, more than half received a gift of its providence!"

"Those who gained nothing were all rash opportunists like you!"

"Remember this: if you have not the slightest reverence in your heart, how will you ever ascend the heights of the Great Dao?!"