Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

The market was filled with a cacophony of smells and noise.

Li Shoucheng's vegetable stall is in a good location, and by now, most of the vegetables and potatoes on his stall have already been sold.

Seeing Cheng Mo arrive, Li Shoucheng greeted the old woman who had come to buy groceries, and said with a smile, "Little Daoist Cheng, you're back? Wait for me a moment, I'll be done selling soon and then we'll head back."

Cheng Mo shook his head and put the large pot lid directly into the back of Li Shoucheng's tricycle: "Uncle Li, could you please take this back to my master and tell him to try facing south-southwest?"

Li Shouchang was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Young Master Cheng, aren't you going back to the mountain today?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Xia He moved closer to Cheng Mo, gently poked his arm with her slender finger, and asked curiously, "Is he someone you know?"

Cheng Mo calmly glanced at her, then shook his head at Li Shoucheng: "I'm not going back for now, I have to go to the county."

Li Shoucheng looked at the incredibly beautiful pink-haired girl, then at Cheng Mo, his eyes filled with doubt and curiosity.

Before Li Shoucheng could ask any questions, Xia He had already squatted down in front of the vegetable stall, picking through the remaining few bunches of slightly wilted greens and a few small potatoes, and looked up at Cheng Mo, saying, "Little Taoist, let me buy you some vegetables~"

Before Cheng Mo could react, she gathered all the leftover food together, picked it up, and said to Li Shouchang, "Uncle, weigh it, how much?"

Li Shouchang waved his hands repeatedly, "Young lady, you must be a friend of Master Cheng, right? These leftovers are nothing, take them, take them!"

"That won't do!" Xia He said seriously, pulling two ten-yuan bills from her denim shorts pocket and slapping them on the stall. "Is that enough?"

Li Shoucheng looked at the money, then at Cheng Mo, his face showing difficulty: "This..."

Cheng Mo laughed and said to Li Shoucheng, "Uncle Li, just weigh it for her and pay whatever it costs."

"Well... alright then." Li Shoucheng couldn't refuse, so he took the vegetables and put them on the scale. "It's five jin and two liang in total, so I'll count it as five jin. You can give me two yuan."

"Keep the change!" Xia He readily stuffed ten yuan into Li Shoucheng's hand, then picked up the vegetables and potatoes, grabbed Cheng Mo's Taoist robe sleeve, and started walking away. "Come on, little Taoist, this time it should be alright, right?"

Cheng Mo was pulled along by her, and he turned around helplessly: "Uncle Li, I'll be going now. My master lives on the mountain. I'll trouble you to look after him from time to time."

"Okay, okay, you guys... take it easy." Li Shoucheng held the ten yuan note, watching the two figures leave the market side by side, and inexplicably felt that the two of them... were actually quite a good match?

The next second, he slapped his forehead and laughed, "Hey! What are you thinking! Master Cheng is a monk, how could he possibly date a worldly girl! I must be overthinking it..."

Li Shoucheng carefully tied the large pot lid to the back of the tricycle, then covered it with a layer of rainproof plastic sheeting before pedaling back.

By the time we got back to the village, it was already dark.

Li Shouchang parked his tricycle in the yard. His wife, Wang Xiulan, was carrying vegetables out of the kitchen. Seeing him return, she casually asked, "How did sales go today?"

"Not bad, all sold out." Li Shoucheng said while untying the rope binding the pot lid. "By the way, I went to town with Master Cheng today."

"Oh? He's running errands for Master Cheng again?" Wang Xiulan put the dishes on the table and wiped her hands.

"That's right, I bought a satellite dish." Li Shoucheng carried the dish under the eaves and placed it there. "But... he didn't come back with me this time."

Wang Xiulan was taken aback: "What's wrong?"

"He said he had some business to take care of in the county." Li Shouchang paused, then lowered his voice, "You didn't see it, but he had a girl with him, pink hair, and she was incredibly pretty! The two of them were at the vegetable market... tsk, all lovey-dovey."

"What?!" Wang Xiulan's eyes widened in surprise. "A young lady? And you were pulling and tugging at her? Isn't Master Cheng a monk?"

"That's what I'm saying!" Li Shoucheng scratched his head. "But I'm thinking, Master Cheng is only eighteen, in the prime of his youth. Besides, his Taoist temple isn't like the Quanzhen School, which forbids marriage..."

"That won't do!" Wang Xiulan slapped her thigh. "Wouldn't Master Cheng be furious if he found out?"

"How would I know..." Li Shoucheng muttered, picking up his bowl and starting to eat his rice.

Wang Xiulan couldn't sit still any longer; in her mind, she had already enacted a dramatic scene: "A pretty young woman seduces a young Taoist priest, and the master-disciple relationship is in imminent danger."

There's not much entertainment in the countryside at night, so visiting each other and chatting is a common activity.

The next morning, Wang Xiulan went to the well at the village entrance to fetch water and ran into Aunt Zhang from next door. The two chatted for a while, and the story spread.

By the time Li Shoucheng finished breakfast and got ready to go up the mountain to deliver the pot lid, several versions of the story were already circulating in the village—

"Have you heard? Little Master Cheng has been bewitched by a female demon in town!"

"What 'fairy'? She's just a trendy city girl with pink dyed hair; she's obviously not a respectable person!"

"Li Shouchang saw it with his own eyes; the two were walking hand in hand!"

"Oh dear, Master Cheng has raised him for nothing for eighteen years..."

Li Shoucheng took the pot lid out the door, and along the way, several villagers stopped him and asked him questions. He explained until his mouth was dry, and finally he simply stopped talking and ran up the mountain.

Liangyi Temple, behind the mountain.

Cheng Shouzhen squatted down by the chicken coop and threw in a handful of grains.

The speckled hen led the hens over, clucking, while the big white goose craned its neck to watch, too proud to compete.

"Eat up, eat up," Cheng Shou said slowly. "With that brat gone, you can have some peace and quiet."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the big yellow dog rushed in from outside the temple, barking loudly. Immediately afterwards, Li Shoucheng's voice could be heard: "Master Cheng! Are you there?"

Cheng Shou clapped his hands and stood up: "They're on the back mountain, wait a bit."

Cheng Shou slowly walked into the temple. As he entered the courtyard, he saw Li Shoucheng putting down the pot lid: "Master Cheng, Little Master Cheng asked me to bring this back, saying that you should try it facing south-southwest."

"Just leave it there." Cheng Shou glanced at the pot lid, then noticed Li Shoucheng's hesitant expression. "What's wrong? What trouble has that brat gotten into this time?"

"Well..." Li Shoucheng rubbed his hands together, "It's not that I caused trouble, it's just... some people in the village are gossipy and have been spreading rumors..."

Cheng Shou raised an eyebrow: "What gossip?"

Li Shoucheng recounted everything he had seen in town yesterday, adding at the end, "Master Cheng said he went to the county on business, and I think that girl was just curious and followed along, but the villagers are spreading all sorts of strange rumors about her, saying she's a female demon bewitching souls..."

After listening, Cheng Shou didn't say anything, turned around and went into the house to bring out a ladder.

"Master Cheng, what brings you here?"

"Change the pot lid." Cheng Shou leaned the ladder against the eaves, picked up the new pot lid, and climbed up.

Li Shouchang was startled: "Oh dear, be careful! Let me do it!"

"No need." Although Cheng Shou was old, he was very agile. He climbed up to the roof in a few moments, took off the old pot lid, put on the new one, and adjusted the angle.

After he finished, he climbed down, dusted off his hands, and said, "Let's try it inside."

The two entered the small room next to the main hall. Cheng Shou turned on the old television and started changing channels with the remote control.

Sizzle—sizzle—

The snowflakes flickered a few times, and then the image suddenly became clear.

"Hey! I've got it!" Li Shoucheng leaned closer to take a look.

The screen was playing TVB Jade's midday news, with the female anchor reporting the weather in Cantonese.

Cheng Shou pressed the remote control a few more times, switching to TVB, which was showing a Hong Kong drama; then to Star TV; then to Phoenix TV...

"Wow, this is pretty good." Cheng Shou nodded in satisfaction, switched to CCTV's opera channel, leaned back in his bamboo chair, and watched it with great interest.

Li Shoucheng stood to the side, somewhat bewildered.

Why isn't this old man reacting at all? The rumors are spreading like wildfire throughout the village, and he's still in the mood to watch TV?

"Master Cheng, about... Master Cheng's matter..."

"Oh, him?" Cheng Shou waved his hand, his eyes fixed on the TV screen. "He's an eighteen-year-old lad. He can go wherever he wants, hang out with whoever he wants. I don't care."

Li Shoucheng opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say, so he could only watch TV with him for a while.

After the performance of "Farewell My Concubine" ended, Li Shoucheng stood up to take his leave: "Master Cheng, I'll head back now; there's still work to be done in the fields."

"Okay, take care." Cheng Shou said without turning his head.

Once Li Shoucheng's footsteps disappeared outside the temple, Cheng Shou's remote control fell to the ground with a "thud".

He slowly turned around, picked up the lynx that was curled up and dozing at his feet, and buried his face in its fur.

"Waaah... Big Fox..." The old Taoist's voice was muffled, choked with sobs, "You know, that brat... he just came down the mountain and he's already chasing girls... he didn't even look back when he left yesterday, he's already forgotten about his master..."

"Meow." The big raccoon's eyelids were half-closed, and it looked helpless.

"I raised him for eighteen years! I cleaned his diapers and taught him martial arts, how to read, even how to fry an egg! And what did I do? On his very first day down the mountain, he was snatched away by some pink-haired girl!"

Cheng Shou became increasingly aggrieved as he spoke, "Waaah... why didn't I have this kind of luck with women back then..."

The big fox stretched out its paw and gently patted the old Taoist's hand.

Cheng Shou sniffed, lifted the large cat up to his face, and stared into its eyes: "Do you think that pink-haired girl is really that pretty?"

Big Tanuki: "Meow."

"Even prettier than Xiao Fang from the performing arts troupe back in the day?"

Big Fox rolled its eyes.

Cheng Shou hugged the cat back to his arms and sighed, "Never mind, a son is beyond his father's control when he grows up... Let him be."

As he spoke, he wiped his eyes, picked up the remote control, and continued watching TV.

The opera channel is currently showing "The Fairy Couple".

As Cheng Shou watched, two more tears fell: "Waaah... Even the gods are in pairs..."

Da Li closed his eyes completely, pretending to be asleep.