Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

As night deepened, the countryside was not as brightly lit as the city. Apart from the two large lamps specially set up in the host's yard and the ever-burning candles in the mourning hall, there were only a few scattered lights coming through the windows.

The host specially prepared two adjacent side rooms for Cheng Mo and Xia He to stay in. The rooms were simply furnished, but the bedding was clean and had a sunny feel.

Cheng Mo remembered reading a post in his previous life where someone said that this smell was actually the smell of dried mites, which was quite unpleasant.

Xia He thanked her, closed the door to her room, kicked off her shoes, and pounced on the bed.

Wrapped in a soft quilt, she sighed comfortably and rolled around in the blanket a couple of times.

The house was quiet, with a few barks of dogs in the distance, people talking in hushed tones in the courtyard nearby, and the crisp clinking of mahjong tiles.

Xia He couldn't sleep, so she simply sat up, hugged her knees, and stared blankly for a while.

What's the little Taoist priest doing next door? Is he meditating? Sleeping? Or is he also spacing out?

Thinking about it this way, it felt like being scratched by a kitten's paw, a ticklish sensation.

Xia He jumped out of bed, walked to the door, and listened to the next room, but there was no sound.

She hesitated for a moment, then gently opened her own door, walked to the door next door, and knocked.

"A young Taoist priest? Cheng Mo?"

The room was completely silent.

Asleep? Xia He blinked and tried to push the door—it wasn't latched and creaked open.

The room was empty, the bed was neatly made, and there was no sign of it having been moved.

"Huh?" Xia He wondered, "Where is he? It's the middle of the night, and we don't know anyone here. He couldn't have just left me here alone, could he?"

She felt inexplicably flustered and turned to leave.

The courtyard was much livelier than the house, with two large incandescent lamps hanging under the eaves, illuminating the courtyard brightly.

Three mahjong tables were set up, and about a dozen men and women were sitting around them, playing mahjong with a "clattering" sound, occasionally letting out a few low laughs or frustrated sighs.

In the mourning hall not far away, the lights were dim, illuminating several sitting figures, including Old Wang. After a while, his melodious chanting could be heard, mingling with the sound of mahjong tiles being played in the courtyard.

Xia He's gaze swept quickly across a series of unfamiliar yet somewhat simple and smiling faces. After a while, she finally found that familiar figure by a mahjong table on the side.

At this moment, Cheng Mo had already taken off his worn-out Taoist robe and put on the dark gray casual sportswear that his master had prepared for him.

He was tall and slender, dressed in modern clothes. He blended into the crowd and didn't stand out at all compared to the simply dressed villagers around him. He just had a more refreshing and clean student-like air about him.

No wonder I didn't recognize him at first glance.

Xia He breathed a sigh of relief, but was a little annoyed—this guy didn't even say a word before changing his clothes!

She walked over and gently patted Cheng Mo's shoulder: "Little Taoist priest, why aren't you wearing your Taoist robe anymore?"

Cheng Mo was watching with great interest as an old man frowned, pondering which card to play, when he said without turning his head, "Wearing a Taoist robe means going inside to chant sutras with the monks. I'd rather stay a normal person."

Xia He: "..." Okay, that's a very strong reason.

She leaned closer, looking at the colorful mahjong tiles on the table: "You want to play mahjong?"

Cheng Mo shook his head, his gaze still fixed on the mahjong table: "Playing mahjong is boring; watching others play is much more interesting."

Xia He was speechless, feeling that the longer she spent with this guy, the better her吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical comments) skills became.

She reached out and grabbed Cheng Mo's arm, pulling him into the house: "If you're not going to hit me, then talk to me. Don't just stand here like a wooden stake."

Cheng Mo stumbled as she pulled him, and quickly said, "Hey, hey, young lady, please have some self-respect! What kind of behavior is this, pulling and tugging like that!"

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for the people at the nearby mahjong tables to hear.

Several middle-aged men and women looked over upon hearing the noise, their gazes lingering on the young and handsome faces of the two, all revealing somewhat ambiguous smiles.

"Haha, young people have great stamina!" an older man joked as he played a card.

Xia He, without batting an eye, patted Cheng Mo on the back and scolded, "What nonsense are you talking about!" Then she turned around and smiled at the crowd, her voice clear and bright, "You older folks have so much stamina, are you planning to stay up all night?"

"It's good to have a lively atmosphere while keeping watch!" an older woman chimed in with a smile. "If you young people are sleepy, you should go and rest early."

After a good-natured laugh, everyone's attention quickly returned to the card table.

Xia He proudly raised her chin at Cheng Mo and pulled him into the house.

The house was much quieter than the yard, with only a small lamp on.

Xia He pressed Cheng Mo down into a chair next to the table, then walked around the room and took out a TV remote from a drawer.

"Hey, there really is one." She turned on the CRT TV with a grin.

The screen flickered a few times and then lit up, showing a local TV station's midnight drama program.

Xia He held the remote control, switching channels one after another, her eyes scanning the changing images, and she kept asking, "Is this how banquets are held here too?"

Cheng Mo watched her fiddling with the TV and casually asked, "What do you mean? The banquet table or the people?"

"Hmm..." Xia He stopped changing the channel and thought for a moment.

"Yeah, someone died over there, the family must be really sad, but everyone didn't seem too upset while eating. And at night, while they were keeping vigil at the funeral hall, they were playing mahjong and laughing and joking here. Is that... really okay?"

Cheng Mo leaned back in his chair and looked out over the courtyard: "The old man died at the age of eighty-seven, without any illness or disaster, so it can be considered a happy death. According to the local custom, he was taken away by an old immortal, so it's not a very sad thing."

Xia He said "Oh," but was still a little conflicted: "But even if it's a happy funeral, isn't the atmosphere a bit too... too lively?" She couldn't find a more suitable word to describe it.

Cheng Mo understood what she meant.

He turned his gaze to Xia He, a girl who appeared bright and outgoing on the outside, but whose heart was actually filled with a touch of girlish confusion.

"How should I put it?" Cheng Mo said calmly, "Even if it's not eighty-seven, even if the old man passes away in his sixties, many places still do it this way. Initially, it may have stemmed from poverty and backwardness, and a shortage of resources."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Think about it, a village might not get a decent meal more than a few times a year. But when someone dies in the village, it becomes a day for the whole village to feast together. When one family dies, a hundred families come to help; when one family cooks, a hundred families contribute."

"This family brings soybeans to make tofu, that family brings pickled vegetables, and also cucumbers, pumpkins, green beans that they grow themselves... In short, whenever there is a funeral in the house, the villagers not only help to clean up the body, bathe and change clothes to put it in the coffin overnight, but also bring their own fruits and vegetables to help prepare the feast."

"Back then, the first night of vigil was probably quiet and sad. From the second day onwards, it gradually became lively. For two or three days, everyone played music and made a lot of noise to send the deceased up the mountain."

"With this fullest emotion, we helped the host family share the heavy grief and panic after losing a loved one, and with these feasts, we temporarily filled the void of the family suddenly losing a member."

"Over time, it has been passed down from generation to generation and has become this custom."

Xia He listened quietly, the remote control in her hand having been put down at some point. The TV screen was silently playing a certain GG video. Her eyes were fixed on the void, as if she were imagining the scene Cheng Mo had described…

"Little Taoist priest, you know so much." Her expression remained complicated.

Cheng Mo knew that Xia He hadn't completely let go of the matter. Understanding something is one thing, but accepting and acknowledging it is another.

But that's okay. Different people will have different opinions and feelings about the same thing.

It is the collection of all kinds of encounters and perspectives in this world that ultimately shapes a person's temperament, or rather, their worldview.

He smiled and said, "It's quite late, aren't you going to sleep?"

Xia He shook her head, her gaze falling on him, then suddenly she smiled mischievously: "I can't sleep. Unless... you stand guard at my door, I can't fall asleep!"

Cheng Mo's forehead was covered in black lines, and the corner of his mouth twitched: "...Me, guard it? Then you can sleep here, I'll watch over it."

He said it casually, but to his surprise, Xia He immediately nodded, her eyes crinkling with a smile: "Okay, okay! I'm going to sleep now, but you can't leave!"

As she spoke, she closed her eyes and leaned to the side of the bench, and actually fell asleep.

Cheng Mo: "???"

In the dead of night in the mountains, a chill seeps in silently.

Cheng Mo sighed helplessly, took a thin blanket from the room and covered Xia He with it. He watched as her eyebrows relaxed and the corners of her mouth seemed to curve slightly.

Let's just... stay here and guard it.