Part-Time Taoist Priest 22

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Whispering Sprite

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Eager to test Shi Changxuan’s prediction, Xie Lingya took out his sneakers even before dinner time. Zhang Daoting thought he was going for a jog.

“Tonight, I’m going for a hike with Shi Daozhang. I don’t know what time we will be back. If we are late, don’t wait up for us,” Xie Lingya told Zhang Daoting.

Zhang Daoting thought it was strange. Why would these two go hiking at night? Suddenly he thought of something and shivered. “Boss, could it be that you are going to Boshan to look for that mountain goblin that disturbed He Zun, to show it who’s the boss?”

Xie Lingya: “……”

“Am I that kind of a person in your heart?” he growled. “Isn’t it enough that I’ve already remotely exorcized it? You think I’m going to bring someone along to kill it?”

Zhang Daoting stuttered back, “No, no… I meant, maybe you want to search for it to see what it is?”

“How would I even find it?” Xie Lingya was speechless. He hadn’t seen the thing for himself that night. It was not like he was bringing He Zun along to lure that creature out.

But this was another matter altogether. Xie Lingya put on his shoes. “Anyway, we are going for a hike. You will know why when we get back.”

He wanted to know what good things could happen to Shi Changxuan too.

Because the exact time at night the prophecy was referring to was unknown, Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan headed out after dinner once the sky started turning dark. Xie Lingya put on an extra jacket in case it was cold in the mountains.

There were many mountains in Niuyang. Shi Changxuan made another divination using some grass and brought Xie Lingya to Niushan. This mountain was on the outskirts but not too far away. The place was never developed so it was a wilderness with the occasional hiker and people foraging for bamboo shoots. 

The two took a taxi to get there. The driver asked them, baffled, “What are you doing there at night?”

Not batting an eyelid, Xie Lingya bullshitted, “Going up the top and viewing the night scenery.”

“That’s romantic,” the driver laughed and added, “Wish you a good time then.”

“Hahaha, thank you.” Xie Lingya waved to the driver jovially. “Let’s go!”

Shi Changxuan: “……”

The place was not a developed tourist attraction, therefore there were no paved pathways in the mountain. Thankfully, the slope was not very steep. Xie Lingya lit the way up the mountain with a torchlight he had purposefully brought along.

Regrettably, after an hour of wandering around the mountain aimlessly, nothing good had happened. They didn’t even find 50 cents, let alone five yuan.

The night was still young and  Xie Lingya was still confident in the fulfillment of Shi Changxuan’s prediction. But he was tired. He sat on a tree stump and said, “Maybe it’s not yet time. Let’s sit here and wait.”

As he said that, he took out his phone and worked on practice questions for his graduate exam.

Shi Changxuan had no better suggestion, so he sat on the ground.

Xie Lingya chatted with Shi Changxuan while working on the questions. Time passed quickly and it was soon 11 p.m. Xie Lingya was sore from sitting down for so long. As he stood up to walk around, a flash of white lit up the night sky, followed by the low rumbling of thunder.

Boom! 

Shortly after, it began to drizzle.

“No way—” Xie Lingya raised his head in disbelief.

He had made all kinds of preparations, he had even brought a power bank, but he failed to anticipate that it could  rain tonight since the sky had been clear and sunny during the day.

“Don’t tell me that we’ll find an umbrella now and that is considered a good thing,” Xie Lingya said, not knowing if he should laugh or be annoyed.

“……” Shi Changxuan was speechless. “…Let’s find shelter.”

It was a long way down the mountain and the path was slippery from the rain. Leaving now was not the best option, so the two looked around for a spot with a heavier canopy to hide from the rain.

“I remember there was a banana tree over there just now…” Xie Lingya mumbled, heading in a certain direction.

Thunder roared and lightning flashed. The rain got heavier and heavier, making the atmosphere become eerie.

Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan, however, weren’t scared. After all, they had even seen ghosts. Besides, ghosts and spirits would not come out in this weather—creatures of the yin realm were afraid of thunder and fire.

Using their jackets as cover, the two ran towards the banana tree and hid under its wide leaves.

Their jackets were drenched and it was inevitable that the rain got to their clothes too. It was cold and wet. No matter how one looked at the situation, nothing had happened this whole night that could be considered good.

Xie Lingya was about to ask Shi Changxuan to make another divination to see when the rain would stop, but he noticed Shi Changxuan staring at something off to the side. He reached over to see and asked curiously, “That’s a mountain carrot. What’s wrong?”

Next to the banana tree was a low bush with long oval leaves and green stems. 

Shi Changxuan said softly, “Pokeweed…”

“Right, it seems to be called pokeweed,” Xie Lingya said. This stuff was not uncommon in the mountains. It had purple-red berries and thick taproots. It supposedly had medicinal uses, therefore it was commonly known as mountain carrot or earth ginseng.

Shi Changxuan took a couple of steps forward, exposing himself to the rain. He squatted down and swept aside the leaves.

Xie Lingya was confused, but quickly followed and bent down to look—

There was a particularly thick bush among the vegetation. Its yellow root was half exposed above the ground. Just looking at the exposed root, it looked very much like the upper body of a human child with lifelike facial features. The two “hands” of the root were propped on the ground as if pulling itself out from beneath.

“Wow, how did it grow like this?” Xie Lingya squatted down, ignoring the falling rain, and pointed his flashlight at the plant. Indeed, the root looked lifelike and it was naturally grown, not carved.

Another thunder crackled. Shi Changxuan stopped hesitating and dug out the pokeweed plant with its root intact.

Removed from the ground, the lower half of the root was shaped like two human legs. Xie Lingya felt his head going numb. “Damn, has this plant gained sentience?”

“More or less.” Shi Changxuan wiped the plant clean and wrapped it up. “Have you heard of the pokeweed sprite or whispering sprite?”

“I have heard of whispering sprites. I used to call our class monitor a whispering sprite. He always liked to snitch to the teachers…¹In Chinese 耳报神 is also used to refer to a tattle-tale or spy (people who whisper in other’s ears)” But that was something else. Xie Lingya asked with interest, “So what is it exactly?”

Shi Changxuan explained, “Pokeweed sprite, willow sprite, these are all whispering sprites. They can be classified as wood spirits. According to the legend, after Lü-zu’s page boy died, his spirit was bonded to a willow tree. Lü-zu carved a human figure out of the root of the willow tree and blessed it with his magic. The spirit of the page boy was purified and refined to become an immortal. This method was later passed down.

“Since then, the method has been further developed. The bark of willow, peachwood, the root of pokeweed, all of these could be carved and enchanted. After the ritual was successful, the whispering sprite could report matters by the ear of its master, and that was how it got its name. What the sprite knows would be determined by its spiritual power.

“Its spiritual power depends both on the cultivation of the person who cast the spell and the sprite itself. This pokeweed that has grown in the shape of a human is a natural whispering sprite. It is a wood spirit with innate spiritual power. A normal carved root on the other hand would need to be enchanted with a wandering spirit for it to become sentient. If the spirit accumulated good karma, it could then be purified.

“In the past, there were even Taoist priests who specialized in the making and selling of whispering sprites. There were also priests who used the power of the whispering sprite to earn a fortune, however, the effect and consequences of such actions varied.”

“…So, it can speak?” Xie Lingya was shocked after listening to the ins and outs. He got closer, intending to hear what it sounded like when a wood spirit spoke.

A root growing into the shape of a human was an incredibly rare occurrence. Basically, it was the Xie Lingya of plants, born with a celestial bone.

That last time He Zun went hiking in the mountains, Xie Lingya had suspected that he had encountered a maple sprite. The maple sprite was also a type of wood spirit but it was a maple tree gaining sentience.

“It can’t speak now. All whispering sprites, whether with innate powers or not, require spells to ‘open’ their mouth, otherwise, the wood spirits can’t speak in the human tongue.” Shi Changxuan took a step back—Xie Lingya was leaning so close to the pokeweed root that he was nearly in his arms. “Besides, this pokeweed just barely matured,” Shi Changxuan continued. “By chance, there’s a storm tonight and these creatures are afraid of thunder, causing the pokeweed sprite to fall short in the final moment and get stuck in the ground.”

Xie Lingya didn’t understand and asked, “What do you mean by fall short? Did it lose its powers? Can it still be a whispering sprite?”

“……” Shi Changxuan thought for a while on how he should explain this. After a moment, he said, “You could consider it… scared silly.”

Xie Lingya: “……”

Xie Lingya nearly laughed out loud. “Hahaha, so it still has spiritual powers but you need to give it some ‘treatment’, right?”

The more Xie Lingya thought about it, the funnier he found the situation. This really could be considered a good thing, both to Shi Changxuan and the pokeweed sprite.

This kind of Heaven-blessed pokeweed sprite could only be discovered by chance and never sought out deliberately. Moreover, the pokeweed sprite encountered a thunderstorm just as it reached maturity. Not only was it saved,²The pokeweed is at a turning point from “normal plant” -> “supernatural being”, gaining sentience etc. It was already pulling itself out of the ground, but suddenly there is a thunderstorm and it got scared silly, halting the process. If Shi Changxuan and Cie Lingya weren’t there, maybe the pokeweed wouldn’t be able to pass the stage into a supernatural being by itself. by being with a Taoist priest like Shi Changxuan, it even had the chance to be purified.³Essentially, wandering spirits or wood spirits, they are just normal spirits. The “purify” here means to get elevated to a higher stage.

Truly, this was better than five yuan. Xie Lingya was satisfied and impressed, the prophecy was correct.

After the rain subsided slightly, the two carefully descended the mountain. Originally Shi Changxuan wanted to wait a while longer but Xie Lingya pointed out they didn’t know when the rain would stop, so it was better to head back early. And he was eager to see how Shi Changxuan would purify the pokeweed sprite.

“…This is not a one-day process,” Shi Changxuan told him. But then again, they were both drenched and if they stayed outside they might fall sick.

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When the two got back to the temple, Hai Guanchao and Zhang Daoting had both long gone to bed. After Xie Lingya changed out of his wet clothes, he went to observe Shi Changxuan “process” the pokeweed. 

First, Shi Changxuan cut off the stem and other excess fine roots to make it look even more humanoid.

“The divine light of Heaven, the divine light of Earth, the divine light of the Sun and Moon, shine upon thee. Open the sight to see the world, open the mouth to speak to the people…” At this moment, Shi Changxuan drew a symbol with the blood of his middle finger to awaken the pokeweed’s sentience and five senses.

Shi Changxuan then lit some incense and offered it on the altar to the newborn whispering sprite.

Shi Changxuan did not avoid Xie Lingya’s observation when performing the ritual. By the time he stopped, it was one in the morning.

Xie Lingya yawned. “When will it be considered successful?”

“That’s hard to say.” Shi Changxuan wasn’t certain. The situation with this pokeweed sprite was different and it was actually his first time performing the enchantment for a whispering sprite. Following this, he needed to recite a spell to it every day, then it would slowly start waking up.

Xie Lingya asked curiously, “So what ability will it have? Can it help you predict the lotto numbers?”

Shi Changxuan: “…That is uncertain for now.”

Each whispering sprite had their own area of expertise and their potency varied. The most common abilities were prediction, helping their masters gain good fortune and avoid calamity. These predictions could be as big as matters of life and death, or as small as trivial domestic issues. This power was innate to the whispering sprites, unlike human divination which required the practicing of various skills and magic.

Xie Lingya was disappointed for a moment, then perked up again. ”Then when it can ‘whisper’, you must tell me what it says!”

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The next day, Zhang Daoting asked Xie Lingya, “Boss, it rained last night. When did you get back? Did you get caught in the rain?”

“I did, but luckily I didn’t fall sick,” Xie Lingya replied. “Hey, don’t ask me what I did last night. I can’t tell you yet.”

Zhang Daoting was originally going to ask that, and after Xie Lingya’s words, he got even more curious. What could the two have been up to in the mountains so late at night?

Xie Lingya couldn’t be bothered with him. He took out the Baoyang notes again. The pokeweed sprite from yesterday had piqued his interest. After some quick searches, he found that a previous abbot had encountered a whispering sprite.

The sprite belonged to another priest. Carved out of willow bark and peach wood, it was about two inches tall. Dressed in specially tailored clothes, it looked like a tiny child.

Usually, it was pinned to the inside of its master’s robes. It could always tell its master where to find new business opportunities or who was speaking behind its master’s back, and although the priest didn’t get wealthy from the information, it was still a great help. The abbot’s interest and enthusiasm were clearly written in the notes.

Xie Lingya flipped to the next page but the pages following were only records of medicinal pills and elixirs related to the art of alchemy.

Zhang Daoting passed by and saw the content of the page he was on. He asked, “Boss, you are interested in alchemy too? We don’t have an alchemy stove though.”

Xie Lingya raised his head slowly and gave him a glance. “Can’t I just use the rice cooker?”

Zhang Daoting: “……”

“I’m pulling your leg. I was just looking,” Xie Lingya laughed out loud.

With a slight feeling of terror, Zhang Daoting stared at him. It was not that Zhang Daoting was overthinking things, but he did feel his Boss could scarily do anything.

Zhang Daoting left with a stomach full of questions and Xie Lingya continued browsing the recipes. When it came to things to be consumed by mouth, he wasn’t too keen on learning about medicinal pills, but there were some recipes of cakes and pastries that caught his interest.

This was because there was a recent increase in the younger temple patrons, or rather, tea patrons, who had suggested that there should be more varieties in the supply of snacks. Some people would bring food from the outside, like cakes or milk tea.

Actually, Xie Lingya had wanted to sell more food items too. Latiao and bread were quick sellers, but as a Taoist temple, selling these items felt improper.

Now that Xie Lingya found these recipes, he got serious.

Healthy living was an important aspect of Taoist practice. Physical cultivation,⁴In modern terms: exercising consumption of medicinal pills, etc. were methods to achieve a strong body unaffected by illness and subsequently attain immortality. Among these methods was the use of food in cultivation, for which the Baoyang notes included many recipes, such as Ginseng Fortune Cake, Spring Snow Cake, Jiugong Cake, etc. These were both medicine and, at the same time, desserts.

They seemed quite suitable to be sold to the tea patrons or added to the menu for the worshippers…

Should they get a factory to supply these cakes? Or have them homemade? The latter could only provide a limited quantity but was more exclusive.

Xie Lingya’s mother died when he was young. His father was single for a long time and his uncle was a Taoist priest. Growing up with the two men, he had learned early on how to cook. He might not be very skilled, but he was familiar with most kitchen tools and appliances. There should be no problem as long as he followed the recipe.

This was an era where unique and creative ideas shone. When the idea formed in his head, Xie Lingya immediately took action and headed out to the market to purchase the ingredients.

The Ginseng Fortune Cake required the use of ginseng, so it was temporarily set aside. The ingredients for the Spring Snow Cake were fu ling, yam, lotus seeds, and glutinous rice, all of which were easy to procure.

After the ingredients were bought, Xie Lingya started. This cake was not difficult to make. The ingredients were ground into a fine powder, then steamed until it was cooked. Sugar was then added and the cake was split into smaller pieces to be sun-dried.

Xie Lingya even carved the words “Baoyang Temple” on them. To speed up the drying process, he dried the cakes next to the stove instead of under the sun.

While he was making the cakes, Zhang Daoting came to the backyard and saw the closed kitchen door. In a panic, he yelled, “Boss, are you cooking dinner at this time? What are you doing?”

Annoyed, Xie Lingya replied, “Practicing alchemy!”

Zhang Daoting: “……”

Xie Lingya adjusted the fire on the stove before stepping out and saw Zhang Daoting standing outside the door, stunned and holding a glass of water.

Zhang Daoting swallowed hard. “Boss…”

Then his Boss took out a round black pill and handed it to him, “Swallow it with warm water.”

“For real?” Zhang Daoting really didn’t want to believe him, but he remembered that Xie Lingya could learn a talisman in ten minutes and exorcise a ghost remotely. Alchemy didn’t seem like that far of a stretch.

This was too scary, he could even refine pills.

Zhang Daoting took the pill with shaky fingers and sniffed it. He jumped. “What pill is this? It smells like…”

“Chocolate,” Xie Lingya said coldly. “The shopkeeper’s daughter gave it to me when I went shopping at the market.”

Zhang Daoting: “……”

Zhang Daoting was crestfallen when he saw the mocking gaze Xie Lingya gave him. He wanted to say, I am not an idiot, I’m just too confident in your talents!

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When the Spring Snow Cakes were properly dried, Xie Lingya asked Zhang Daoting to taste test. The cakes were small white blocks with some simple words on it. Because Xie Lingya had ground the ingredients finely, the cake’s appearance was smooth.

“I didn’t add much sugar. Try it with tea. The cake can be stored for some time. If it tastes good I can make a batch and try selling it,” Xie Lingya said. “They say one could bigu after eating the Spring Snow Cake. This is, of course, not possible, but from the ingredients, it should be good for the digestive system.”

Zhang Daoting took a bite. The texture of the cake was smooth and soft; there was a faint sweet smell but it didn’t feel overwhelming. Xie Lingya didn’t add much sugar, it was the natural sweetness of the fu ling.

“It’s not bad. Quite tasty actually,” Zhang Daoting took a sip of tea. It was just right. “And this is handmade. Boss, this is too sincere.”

“How can we be insincere when doing business? Our venerable founder is watching.”  Xie Lingya set aside some of the cakes for Shi Changxuan, sent some to Taisu Clinic, while the remainder were placed on the makeshift altar in Shi Changxuan’s room.

It was uncertain how much longer the pokeweed sprite needed before awakening. Xie Lingya made a deal with Shi Changxuan that when Shi Changxuan went to class, Xie Lingya would help him change the offerings and burn incense.

“You get some too.” Xie Lingya stared at the pokeweed sprite. Its body was about three inches high and shaped like a small child. Just looking at it like this, it was no different from other inanimate objects, but according to Shi Changxuan, a tiny wood spirit resided inside.

Xie Lingya thought for a moment, then took out a handkerchief to cover the pokeweed sprite, muttering, “Since you are sentient, let’s cover up the butt, shall we…”

Xie Lingya got a few more people to provide him feedback on the cakes and made some adjustments to the recipe in order to improve the quality where he was able to.

In this period of time, Xie Lingya also began inquiring about the price of ginseng and decided not to try the Ginseng Fortune Cake for now. He would reconsider if the Spring Snow Cake sold well.

As a consequence, Zhang Daoting and Shi Changxuan had to eat cakes everyday… Oh, and that included the pokeweed sprite.

When Xie Lingya was finally done adjusting the recipe, he went and made some molds—it would be too much trouble to hand-carve “Baoyang Temple” on each of the cakes. After all the preparations were done, Xie Lingya made 15 kg of cakes to test the waters.

On the first day that the Spring Snow Cake was for sale, Shi Changxuan had no classes in the afternoon, hence he was already back in the temple at noon.

Xie Lingya was sitting in the front yard, with the Spring Snow Cake in hand, telling the tea patrons stories. Shi Changxuan listened for a while but couldn’t tell if the story was real or just made up.

Xie Lingya waved at him in greeting and asked if he had eaten yet.

Shi Changxuan nodded and indicated that he was going to take a nap. He performed rituals for the pokeweed sprite every night and thus hadn’t been getting enough sleep recently.

“Xiao Xie, who is that young man?” an aunty asked. “I’ve seen him twice. Is he your friend? A priest? Quite a handsome lad but doesn’t seem to like speaking.”

“He… he’s shy,” Xie Lingya answered evasively and smoothly changed the subject. “Aunty, let us continue the story about our Spring Snow Cake.”

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Shi Changxuan returned to the room and retrieved the pokeweed from the table. These couple of nights, he could already hear some low humming sounds. This should be a sign that the pokeweed sprite was starting speaking. It was nearly successful.

Shi Changxuan leaned on the bed with the pokeweed in hand. Its light yellow body was wrapped in a small plaid handkerchief like a robe. This was Xie Lingya’s handkerchief.

Shi Changxuan felt helpless just thinking about it. Then he continued  reciting spells to the pokeweed spirit, hoping it would awaken earlier.

After reciting the spell six or seven times, Shi Changxuan became sleepy. Placing the pokeweed next to his pillow, he fell into a deep sleep.

Perhaps it was because he had been thinking about it, or that the pokeweed sprite entered his dream, but Shi Changxuan dreamt that the whispering sprite started speaking. He even dreamt that Xie Lingya asked for some doll clothes from a worshipper’s granddaughter to dress up the whispering sprite.

This really seemed like something Xie Lingya would do.

Then, Shi Changxuan woke up. He laid his head on his arm and let his thoughts wander.

“…Gu gu gu… Ling…”

Shi Changxuan heard some soft mutterings—the whispering sprite was probably doing an “audio test” again. He turned his head to look. This time the voice was louder and clearer than the previous times.

That little taproot child tried its best to vocalize. “…%$#…”

This time it sounded like a full sentence. Shi Changxuan leaned in closer, curious what his pokeweed sprite would say.

A tiny voice was shouting with all its strength, “Xie Lingya is coming to the back yard!”

Shi Changxuan: “???”

A sliver of confusion appeared on Shi Changxuan’s handsome face.

At this moment, the sound of footsteps came from beyond the door. Then, the sound of Xie Lingya yawning.

The sprite was straining its voice to its breaking point, but when it reached the person’s ear, it was still tiny, “Xie Lingya is going to fetch water!”

Shi Changxuan: “???”

Indeed, a few moments later, the sound of pouring water came from outside.

Pokeweed’s tiny voice broke. “Xie Lingya is going to wash his face. His skin is so fair~”

Shi Changxuan: “……………………………..”

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Translator: Velvet
TL checker: Darkchocolatesan
Editor: Miiya, Taalia
Proofreader: Taalia, Eques
QC: Eques

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