Chapter 600: The Daoist and the Cat’s Reward
At the foot of the mountain, an official road wound its way into the distance.
The guide sat alone by the roadside, waiting. The sun was far too harsh, so he had to hide under the trees. If not, he’d be scorched all over in no time. But even under the trees, the sunlight filtering through the leaves made his eyes dizzy. In such sweltering weather, drowsiness quickly crept in.
The gentleman had said he would come down the mountain to find him.
The guide had wanted to follow the gentleman up the mountain to witness what it was like when an immortal exorcised demons, but he also feared that, as a mere mortal, he might get caught up and lose his life by accident. So in the end, he stayed behind.
At first, he felt this job was truly a heavenly task. There was no need to hustle at the city gates for passengers, no worrying about bad luck and making no money, nor about envy from fellow guides when business was good. He had steady income each day and even got to enjoy a fine meal at the Zhu family estate.
But after waiting too long at the foot of the mountain, he began to feel that being alone with no one to talk to left him oddly uncomfortable, not knowing how to pass the time.
He had heard people say that everyone had their fate, and maybe his was just a laborious one.
These thoughts swirled endlessly in the guide’s mind.
Suddenly, a loud rumble echoed from the mountain above, startling him nearly awake. Listening more closely, it sometimes sounded like thunder, sometimes like a landslide, and sometimes like violent collisions. There were even the sounds of tree branches crashing to the ground. The terrifying commotion made him shiver with fear. Even when turning to look, he did so cautiously, thinking a fierce battle must be raging on the mountain.
He could only feel thankful. Thank goodness he hadn’t gone up.
By about mid-afternoon, the noise from the mountain finally ceased. Not long after, the jingling sound of bells rang through the forest, and the Daoist party descended the mountain with their jujube-red horse.
The guide immediately looked at the little girl’s cloth pouch at her waist. Seeing it was bulging again, he quickly averted his eyes, but he couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked, “What kind of demon was it today?”