CHAPTER 408: CHAPTER 404: A NIGHT AT THE TAOIST TEMPLE

Zhou Li lay on the bed, scrolling through Mafengwo.

Ginkgo Village was indeed one of Tengchong’s most famous attractions. Many photography enthusiasts would flock there in late autumn, causing room rates to soar. However, usually, the ginkgo leaves in Ginkgo Village wouldn’t turn yellow until after late November. It was only early October now.

The Yuanyang Terraces, another option they had considered, had just been filled with water. The water-filled terraced fields, reflecting the sky, looked stunning.

The ginkgo tree at Changping Lookout was turning yellow far too early.

"Zhou Li, Zhou Li..."

A medium-sized cat suddenly leaped from the floor onto the bed. Accompanied by her stammering, indistinct voice, a cat face holding a moth soon appeared before Zhou Li, less than ten centimeters from his mouth.

Tuanzi spat the moth onto his collarbone, held it down cautiously with one small paw, and happily shared with him, "Look! Lord Dumpling caught a little bird!"

"That’s a moth, not a bird..."

"Goose~~"

"Right, a moth."

"A goose is a bird!"

"Moths are not birds; they’re a type of insect."

"A goose is a bird!"

"You can think of it as a type of butterfly."

"Fortune Butterfly?" Tuanzi cocked her head, gazing intently at him.

"Yes."

"This isn’t a Fortune Butterfly! Lord Dumpling knows Fortune Butterflies!" Tuanzi thought Zhou Li was wrong and found it amusing. To think Zhou Li, who knew so much, didn’t even recognize a Fortune Butterfly! He wasn’t as smart as Lord Dumpling. So, she decided to enlighten Zhou Li with her knowledge. "Fortune Butterflies have many pretty patterns on them, very beautiful. This is a small bird, possibly called a goose."

"..." Zhou Li fell silent for a moment. "Anyway, just let it go."

"Lord Dumpling wants to play with it!"

"It doesn’t want to play with Lord Dumpling."

"It does!" Tuanzi corrected Zhou Li’s mistake, but even so, Lord Dumpling was still very generous. "Zhou Li, do you want to play?"

"I don’t want to play..."

Zhou Li felt helpless, particularly since he didn’t dare to move. Although Tuanzi was kind-hearted, she was, after all, just a little furkid who didn’t know her own strength. What if he moved, startled her, and she accidentally crushed the moth to death on his neck? Getting dirty was a minor issue; Zhou Li was always very tolerant. But the real problem was that Tuanzi would surely feel sad and guilty for accidentally killing the moth. Then Zhou Li would have to find ways to comfort her and mend her injured little heart. Another serious problem was, what if Brother Nan took an interest in this particular spot on his body later? He had just washed it.

At that moment, the door was pushed open, and Brother Nan walked in.

She casually glanced at Zhou Li lying on the bed. "You’re all settled in, huh?"

Zhou Li could only grimace.

Tuanzi, however, immediately let go of the moth and hastily urged it, "Run, run, moth, run! This human will eat you..."

Zhou Li gently petted her, shifting her attention.

Brother Nan, not understanding what Tuanzi was saying and not minding it, walked over to the bed. She reached behind her head to remove her hair tie, letting her hair fall, then casually tossed the hair tie on the bedside table and continued to glance at Zhou Li. "Did you find a place to wash up and brush your teeth?"

"Yeah." Zhou Li pointed outside. "There’s a water spigot, but you need to bring a basin... The water is a bit cold."

"Hmm!" Brother Nan nodded and picked up her things to go out.

She seemed much more at ease than Zhou Li. She was constantly chewing gum, and this, combined with her expression, gave her a somewhat nonchalant air. Those ruffian classmates Zhou Li knew in his childhood had the same demeanor; he wondered how they were doing now.

The moth flew up towards the ceiling, circling the incandescent lamp.

Tuanzi looked up at it. Before long, she lowered her head, turned to Zhou Li, and asked in a clear voice, "Zhou Li, are we going to sleep next to Brother Lan tonight?"

"..." Zhou Li thought for a moment. "You don’t sleep at night anyway."

"But she will hit Lord Dumpling."

"I’ll talk to her later."

"Okay, meow!"

About ten or so minutes later, Brother Nan returned. She used a blue cartoon headband to keep her hair back so it wouldn’t get in the way while she washed her face, revealing her entire forehead. Water droplets adorned her face, making her look clean and refreshed. In this state, she looked more feminine... more like a girl than usual.

Zhou Li couldn’t help but steal a few more glances at her.

Meanwhile, Tuanzi stared at him expectantly, her eyes shining brightly.

Zhou Li gathered his thoughts, shifted his gaze away from Brother Nan, and finally spoke, "So... was the water really cold?"

"Yeah! Freezing..."

"So..." Zhou Li saw Brother Nan applying a facial mask with her back to him and continued to make conversation to ease the awkwardness. "I asked Huai Xu to go into town earlier to withdraw a thousand in cash. We should contribute some offering money tomorrow, right?"

"Huh?" Brother Nan turned around, looking at him in surprise. "You actually have that kind of awareness?"

"Brother Nan taught me well."

"That’s true." Brother Nan turned back to apply her face mask. "A thousand is a bit much; staying one night doesn’t cost that much. But it’s fine. Master Xuanqing and the elder of the observatory rely on each other here in this secluded place, and it isn’t easy for them. Besides, from what I can see, the elder’s health probably requires daily medication. Even with health insurance, there are still expenses."

"Mm..." Zhou Li could smell medicine on the elder of the observatory.

Many elderly people are like this, especially in the countryside. There are too many old people who are merely hanging on to life with medication. And the elder of the observatory was already over eighty years old.

Zhou Li could sense his condition. Perhaps describing it as being like an oil lamp about to run dry was a bit blunt, but it was true. Zhou Li had seen many such elderly people when he was a child. They often seemed healthy, but you never knew when they might pass away. He still remembered a great-uncle from his village. The day before, the great-uncle had visited his home to chat with his grandfather and had given him candy. The next day, the great-uncle’s family came to invite them to a vegetarian memorial meal.

At that time, Zhou Li had been truly saddened for a while. Because his peers didn’t like him, adults were always busy, and other old folks were superstitious, it was only these old people, on the verge of death, with amiable characters, always idle, and fearless, who were kind to him.

But birth, aging, sickness, and death are just like that.

At this point, Brother Nan had finished applying her face mask. She walked over to the bed, saying, "I just checked, their observatory doesn’t have a donation box. So tomorrow, let’s have Huai Xu go back and buy a red envelope; wrap it up nicely."

"Brother Nan, you always think of everything."

"Move over a bit."

"Oh..."

Brother Nan lifted the blanket and crawled in. She sniffed the blanket, noticing a slight damp smell mixed with the scent of laundry detergent from Zhou Li’s clothes, but she didn’t seem to mind.

Now, the two of them were lying under the same blanket.

Zhou Li felt very stiff and embarrassed. He didn’t know where to put his hands or where to look. He ended up just glancing at Tuanzi.

Huh? Why did Tuanzi seem to be pouting?

Zhou Li couldn’t help but reach out and pinch her cheek, only for her to turn her head and bite him. He was somewhat baffled, but the tension inside him eased a little.

Out of the corner of his eye—Brother Nan had started playing on her phone.

That was good. After all, Tuanzi was there.

Huai Xu was also in the next room. According to the bed arrangement, only a wall separated them, their heads probably no more than half a meter apart. With the Old Monster’s vast supernatural powers, she could clearly hear their heart rates and breathing frequencies. So, it was best if Brother Nan didn’t say a word. Otherwise, anything she said could become new material for Huai Xu to tease him with later.

Just then—Brother Nan’s voice suddenly rang out, "Hold me!"

Zhou Li’s heart skipped a beat.

DING DONG!

The phone chimed.

Huai Xu: Hold me

Huai Xu: /silly smile

Zhou Li: ...

So, Zhou Li silently held Brother Nan and kept quiet.

About half an hour later, Brother Nan finally removed her face mask, turned off her phone, and also turned off the light in the room.

The temple’s night was so quiet. You could hear a pin drop. Brother Nan’s breathing was very even. The face mask was bitter. Tuanzi was unusually quiet. This should have been a perfect night.

But in the middle of the night, a knock suddenly came from the door. Although the knocker was trying to be gentle, a sense of urgency could still be felt in the rapping.

Zhou Li woke up immediately.

"Who is it?"

"It’s me! I’m sorry!"

It was Master Xuanqing’s voice, apologizing first. She sounded very anxious, speaking rapidly, "Master has suddenly fallen ill! You came by car, could you please help us take Master to the hospital?"

Zhou Li and Brother Nan were instantly wide awake.