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Chapter 104 Postscript
modern.

A county town in XX region.

This place is not large, but it has always been famous for its beautiful scenery and numerous historical sites.

In recent years, thanks to the government's extensive development efforts, the number of tourists has been increasing, especially now during the holidays. Although it's not as crowded as some famous historical sites, it's still quite bustling with people.

On a mountain next to the county town, a white-haired Taoist priest was holding the hand of a couple, talking incessantly.

"Please listen to me, gentlemen. This is a renowned Taoist temple with over a thousand years of history. I dare say there are few in the entire province with a longer history than us. Don't let its small size fool you; the walls, the floor, and even the well all bear the marks of time."

The man was clearly getting impatient listening to the boastful words, but the woman seemed quite interested.

Seeing his girlfriend's appearance, the man sighed. Even if he wanted to leave, he could only listen patiently.

The old Taoist priest seemed oblivious to the man's unpleasant expression and continued to promote his own Taoist temple.

"You two should know, right? This place was called Cangzhou in ancient times. One year, the prefecture suffered a severe drought, and the people were destitute. Moreover, demons roamed freely. Our two abbots of the Taoist temple drew their swords and came out to save the people of Cangzhou from their suffering."

The man immediately rolled his eyes.

"No offense, Master, but even when we make up stories, we need to pay attention to logic, okay? How can there be two abbots in a Taoist temple? Does this tiny place have a head and a deputy?"

The old Taoist priest wasn't annoyed; he just smiled and said it.

“Benefactor, you don’t know this, do you? Back then, our temple did indeed have only one abbot, but why were there two? We’ll have to wait until you come to the temple to find out.”

The man immediately wanted to make a sarcastic remark about this pretentious behavior, but his girlfriend suddenly tugged at his sleeve.

"Zheng Qiao, this sounds interesting. Shall we go in and take a look?"

The man named Zheng Qiao could only shake his head helplessly.

My girlfriend is great in every way, but she always likes to get involved in some random, pointless things, and I don't know how many unnecessary trips I've taken with her because of it.

But since they had already spoken, he, a grown man, couldn't very well spoil the mood, so he took her hand and followed the old Taoist priest into the temple.

To his surprise, although the Taoist temple was not large, it was fully equipped with exquisite pavilions and lush green pines, showing that it had undergone a great deal of renovation. There was also a stele at the entrance of the temple, which, despite the weathering, still had some characters that could be read.

Zheng Qiao, who majored in archaeology, was able to recognize the inscriptions on the stele.

"In the sixteenth year of the Zhengyuan era, this stele was erected to commemorate Wu Wenqing, the magistrate who saved the people of Cangzhou."

Zheng Qiao didn't read the rest of the text; the first part alone was enough to make him gasp in astonishment.

"Wu Wenqing? The Wu Wenqing who was famous for his integrity and outspokenness?"

This time, it was the old Taoist priest's turn to be somewhat surprised.

"What, do you know, benefactor?"

"Others might not know, but this is someone from my hometown. He eventually rose to the rank of prefectural official, which is considered a great honor for his ancestors and is recorded in the county annals." Zheng Qiao shook his head. "Judging from the inscription on the stele, this Taoist temple was rebuilt by Wu Wenqing?"

The old Taoist priest laughed.

"Yes, to repay the abbot for his great act of slaying demons and saving half of Cangzhou, Wu Wenqing, who had just been appointed magistrate, and the residents of the county specially raised some money. They also brought back several of the abbot's former disciples. Originally, they planned to completely expand the Taoist temple, but the disciples said that Master Xuanyuan never liked anything extravagant. Even the statue of the Taoist was carved by his own hand. So they settled for second best and only repaired the interior buildings."

Zheng Qiao didn't believe in ghosts or gods at all, but she was quite engrossed in listening to the story. However, the old Taoist suddenly fell silent.

Zheng Qiao looked up and realized that the guy was looking at her with a mysterious smile.

His intentions were immediately clear.

Sure enough, the old Taoist priest said with a smile.

“Since you’re here, please bring a few sticks of incense. Our temple’s incense is known for its affordability and quality. Many people even come here specifically to buy it. If you buy more than 10 sticks at once, we’ll give you VIP treatment. From then on, you won’t need a ticket to enter the scenic area—just pretend you’re a staff member of our temple—no one will check anyway.” Zheng Qiao sighed silently.

Sure enough, it's the same old trick.

However, out of consideration for Wu Wenqing, a famous figure from his hometown, and his girlfriend, he still decided to go through with it.

But just as the old Taoist priest announced the price, the man suddenly paused in surprise.

It's not too expensive, it's too cheap.

Zheng Qiao had visited many famous mountains and ancient temples before, and knew that the incense in such scenic spots could cost anywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands of yuan, but the amount the old Taoist priest mentioned was quite unusual.
It's not exactly extremely rare, but it's certainly one of a kind.

Thinking back to his previous persistent, sales-like approach, Zheng Qiao began to find it somewhat suspicious.

"Master, are you sure you didn't misquote the price? Don't end up saying the incense cost was wrong and asking for more zeros later."

The old Taoist priest chuckled.

“Benefactor, what kind of talk is that? This has always been the number of incense we sell. We're not selling incense to get rich, but just to earn some money for daily maintenance. After all, the county's funding is not very generous, and we can't let our ancestors' legacy collapse, so we, the descendants, have to find a solution.”

Zheng Qiao's impatience gradually faded, and looking at the white-haired face, his expression unconsciously became solemn.

After paying, he took the incense from the old Taoist priest, first went to the main hall to pay homage to Lingbao Tianzun, and then, led by the old Taoist priest, went to the side hall of the Taoist temple.

And this is where the real person is.

But as Zheng Qiao entered the hall, she rubbed her eyes again, wondering if she was seeing things.

He had expected to see two imposing Taoist statues, but instead found a headless body and a severed head standing inside.

It's clear the craftsman poured a lot of effort into it; both sculptures are incredibly lifelike. But for some reason, the severed head looked rather odd to him.
A strange sense of familiarity?
At that moment, the Taoist priest began to explain.

"As you can see, this is the statue of the two abbots who vanquished the demon in our temple. Back then, Cangzhou suffered a severe drought, and a demon called 'Tai Sui Xing Jun' took advantage of the chaos. Our abbot, Master Xuan Yuan, was ambushed by it and had his head severed. It seemed that the entire Cangzhou was about to fall into its clutches when suddenly an immortal descended to earth, entrusting his soul to this severed head. Together with Master Xuan Yuan, they finally slew the demon. Later, Wu Wenqing invited a one-armed craftsman to erect a statue for worship, but because the head had been transformed into the appearance of an immortal, it had to be carved separately."

Zheng Qiao ignored the rest of what was said, staring blankly at the head until his girlfriend noticed something was wrong and tugged at him.

"Zheng Qiao, what's wrong?"

He then snapped out of his daze and answered instinctively.

"No, I just think the head looks very familiar, like a classmate from college."

His girlfriend laughed at that moment.

"Are you out of your mind? This statue must be at least several hundred years old. Is your classmate some kind of old monster in human form that can live from hundreds of years ago to the present day?"

Zheng Qiao thought about it for a moment and couldn't help but chuckle.

At this point, the old Taoist priest's explanation came to an end. The two lit incense and offered sacrifices to the two sculptures, then politely declined the old Taoist priest's offer of a free vegetarian meal.

However, just before leaving, his girlfriend asked a question quite casually.

"By the way, you said you have a classmate who looks a lot like this person, what's that person's name?"

Zheng Qiao shook her head, and then said.

That person's name is...

"Travel around".

　The script for Tai Sui has ended, and starting today, updates will revert to two short chapters per day.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)