Chapter 12: Apprenticing to the Old Codger

Back home, I slept until evening. I got up, sat there for a while to collect my thoughts, washed up, and headed out, full of spirit to go to work. In my head, I was already imagining myself mastering Taoist arts and earning piles of money. I was practically walking on air. I stopped by the steamed bun stall first; it was always there at the entrance of the residential complex during the morning and evening rush hours. Why not at noon? Well, because that’s when the urban management officers start their shift.

"Boss, give me a steamer of buns—the expensive ones," I said grandly. Look at that—I hadn’t even been paid yet, but my aura and standard of living had already skyrocketed.

"Meat buns, right? That’ll be nine yuan!" the boss asked, giving me a strange look. He was probably wondering what kind of weirdo I was, acting like a tycoon over a few buns.

I heroically pulled out a ten-yuan note, hand extended, waiting for my one-yuan change. The boss handed over the buns and the coin, giving me another look that I couldn't quite decipher. I didn't care; I grabbed the nine-yuan feast and headed off to wait for the bus. Before it arrived, I started stuffing the buns into my mouth—one per bite. I have to say, meat buns really are tastier than veggie ones.

While eating, I contemplated whether I should buy an electric scooter once I got my paycheck. Always squeezing onto public buses wasn't very convenient.

After a short wait, I hopped on the bus. Before long, I arrived at my stop, got off, and walked to the shop.

The door was still ajar. I checked the time on my phone—just past eight. Moli definitely hadn't come downstairs yet. I pushed the door open to total darkness. I flicked the lights on and saw the old man sitting in his grand master’s chair, eyes tightly shut. The area around his mouth was red, looking like bloodstains. A dozen murder scenarios flashed through my mind—assassination by enemies, vengeance from vengeful spirits, and so on.

I panicked, lunged forward in a single bound, and began pinching his philtrum with all my might.

"Master! Master! Old man, wake up!" I shouted frantically. While doing so, I thought, *I haven't even officially apprenticed yet, and I've already cursed my master to death! What kind of fate is this? He hasn't taught me any Taoist arts yet, and without those, I can't make money, and without money, I won't even be able to afford steamed buns. My life is so miserable! Who could have done such a vicious thing to an old man?* These thoughts flashed by in a split second.

"It hurts, it hurts! You little brat, trying to commit treason against your master before you've even been initiated? Why are you pinching my philtrum?" The old man suddenly opened his eyes. I was still deep in grief, and his sudden movement nearly scared the soul out of me.

"I was just worried! You had your eyes shut tight and your mouth looked bloody; I thought you’d ascended to the heavens," I replied calmly.

"Watch your tongue! You're the one who’s going to ascend! This was a dragon fruit given to me by your neighbor, Auntie Wang. I just ate a bit of it, and you almost pinched me into meeting the ancestors," the old man said, eyeing me suspiciously. He clearly didn't look convinced that I was someone capable of caring about him.

"Ah, haha! In my panic, I used a bit too much force. Master, hurry up and take me to perform the apprenticeship ceremony," I said, hastily changing the subject.

"Let's go. Follow me upstairs. Since you're officially my apprentice now, you're allowed on the second floor," the old man said, not dwelling on it, and turned to head up.

I followed him up the stairs. Once on the second floor, I took a look around—it was just a standard apartment layout, nothing special. If there was anything unusual, it was an eight-trigram disk hanging on the wall. The old man opened the door on the right and went inside. I glanced to the left and saw Brother Dog lounging by the door; that must be Moli’s room. Brother Dog lifted his eyelids to look at me, ignored me, and laid his head back down. *Hmph, this lousy dog, what’s with the arrogance?* I thought, giving the dog a look of pure disdain. Perhaps sensing my gaze, Brother Dog suddenly stood up. I was so startled that I bolted into the room the old man had entered in two or three strides.

Inside, I saw two portraits on the wall. On the left was a Taoist priest in robes and a crown, holding a sword in his left hand and sitting on a tiger stepping on auspicious clouds. It was labeled: "Celestial Master Zhang of the Zhengyi School." On the right was a priest holding a star chart and a sword at his waist, but there was no inscription. In front of the portraits was an antique long table with an incense burner, offerings, and a tortoise shell.

Although I didn't know why there was a tortoise shell there, I generally assumed it was for fortune-telling. There were three prayer mats in front of the table. A sword hung on the side wall; it looked quite valuable—no diamonds, but it was encrusted with gemstones.

"Come here. Before the ancestors, I will ask you one more time. Once you become my disciple, you will be a true Taoist. Because our lineage also inherits the art of divination, you will be subject to the 'Five Misfortunes and Three Deficiencies.' You will face various dangers—you might be injured, die, or even have your soul scattered. Are you still willing to apprentice under me?" The old man beckoned me over and said with great seriousness.

"Um, if I don't apprentice, will you teach me the Taoist arts?" I asked in a low voice.

"No!" The old man’s temples throbbed as he choked out the word.

"Then why bother asking? I agree to the apprenticeship," I said. This old man was really something—no apprenticeship meant no Taoist arts, no Taoist arts meant no big money, and no big money meant no steamed buns. Since I couldn't live without steamed buns, I didn't have any other choice.

"Kowtow to the Ancestors," the old man said, ignoring my comment. I obediently complied, walked to the prayer mat, knelt down, kowtowed once, and got back up.

"Why are you standing up? Three times!" the old man barked.

"What are you yelling for? You didn't say how many just now," I retorted firmly. So what if he was my master? That didn't mean he didn't have to be reasonable. I stood my ground—justice was on my side, and I was not to be cowed by force.

*Clang!* The old man drew his sword and held it in his hand. The blade was so bright it was clearly razor-sharp; it could probably skewer me with just the tip.

*Oh, give me a break. Who are you trying to scare?* But then again, respecting one's master is a noble virtue. I promptly plopped onto the mat and knocked my head against the floor three times with a loud *thud, thud, thud*. I stood up, took the incense, offered it with a grave expression, and placed it in the burner. My fluid, seamless performance left the old man stunned.

"Master, I'm done. What’s the next part of the ceremony? I'm all ears," I said, bowing my head respectfully while eyeing the big sword in his hand. *You’ve got a big sword, old man, so you’d better believe I’m scared! Can’t afford to offend you.*

"Since you have entered my sect and become a practitioner, you should have a Taoist name. My name is Qingfengzi, so when I give you yours, it will also end with the character 'Zi'," the old man said, looking at me with satisfaction.

"Yes, yes, I'll listen to whatever you say," I replied respectfully.

"Disciple has taken a new student today; I ask the Ancestors to grant a name," the old man said respectfully to the portraits.

He picked up the tortoise shell, pulled some copper coins from his robe, stuffed them inside, shook it gently, and poured the coins onto the table. As we watched, the coins on the table glowed with a golden light, stacked themselves up, and then the light faded.

"Thank you, Ancestors, for granting the name," the old man bowed again in reverence.

*What’s going on? What happened? What did the Ancestors say? The name is already granted? How come I don't know about it?* A mountain of question marks danced through my mind.