My days and nights had been reversed lately, and I was starting to get used to it. Although it was after four in the morning when I went to sleep, I woke up clear-headed at seven in the morning.

Waking up in a strange place, I was confused at first. I looked around and saw Xiao Ning asleep beside me. All the b.u.t.tons of his black shirt were undone, revealing his firm chest and abs.

Eh? What happened? Was it possible that I"d been so tired that I"d...

No. It was possible to have drunken s.e.x, but was there really such a thing as exhausted s.e.x?

Looking down, I saw Xiao Ning was still wearing his pants. Only the fly was open, revealing a very narrow and firm waist.

I stared at his waist and chest muscles, wondering whether I should touch them. Xiao Ning had gone to sleep even later than me last night. He was sleeping so heavily now that if I touched him he probably wouldn"t wake up.

But taking of advantage of someone that way isn"t the conduct of a gentleman. Xiao Ning had put me to bed last night and hadn"t done anything. A peach was presented to me, and I returned a white jade[1] — I should take a lesson from Xiao Ning and act with decency and propriety.

When I"d made up my mind, I pulled my hand away from Xiao Ning"s waist and patted him on the shoulder twice.

Xiao Ning groaned, opened bleary eyes, and, catching sight of me, said sleepily, "Oh, it"s Teacher Shen. Why not sleep some more? It"s only seven, let"s sleep in."

Heh, it turned out that as serious a person as Xiao Ning could also sleep in. His languid appearance now was a stark contrast to his usual stern-faced countenance. It was very cute.

I used my whole lifetime acc.u.mulation of willpower to resist the impulse to kiss Xiao Ning"s cheek and go on saying properly, "Your Shifu... Sect Leader Ning, shouldn"t we go see how his back is doing?"

"Not for the moment." Xiao Ning shook his head. "This past decade, every time he performs a rite he"s completely sapped of energy. He"ll sleep till noon at least. There"s no need to disturb him."

But a slipped lumbar disc would hurt something awful…

I had a tutor in college who had a disc slip during cla.s.s. He was delivering the lecture sitting down. During the break, he went to get up to go to the bathroom; as soon as he stood up, he fell right back to the floor and couldn"t get up however he tried.

I immediately carried him on my back to the school clinic, and the school doctor said he needed physical therapy. So I went to the nearest hospital with my teacher on my back to get physical therapy, and then I learned from the doctor what a painful complaint a slipped lumbar disc was. Never mind that it wouldn"t heal, it could also oppress the nerves in the legs and cause pain while walking. It was excruciating.

Later, after a period of physical therapy, my teacher felt a lot better and was very grateful to me. As a graduate student I tested in as his student... Wait, did I pa.s.s the graduate student interview because my teacher used some influence behind the scenes?

Forget it. That wasn"t important. What was important was Sect Leader Ning.

Since Xiao Ning wasn"t getting out of bed, I"d take it upon myself to go see the elder. It was fortunate that I was male, so there wasn"t a problem with me being in Sect Leader Ning"s room. If I had been female, however worried I was, I still wouldn"t be able to do anything, since I"d have to avoid suspicion.

Sect Leader Ning"s bedroom door was ajar. Through the gap I could see Sect Leader Ning, lying on his front, flailing his limbs apparently trying to get up. His back hurt too much; however he tried not to, after a little movement his hands went to his back.

His expression was miserable, but he didn"t make a sound. This really was...

Keeping face even while dying, enduring while alive.

I gently knocked on the door. "Sect Leader Ning, are you awake?"

The calm and dignified voice of Sect Leader Ning came from the room. "Come in, please."

I went in and saw that Sect Leader Ning had changed his position. He was lying on the bed with his legs together, his palms folded in prayer, his eyes closed and his mouth reciting words.

Seeing me come in, he relaxed his hands and said, "Oh, it"s Mr. Shen. This is my Maoshan Sect"s position for cultivating before getting up in the morning. No doubt you think it"s funny. I must spend half an hour reciting scripture. Could I ask you to wait outside for a little while?"

To give you half an hour to get up? With your back already in this condition, you couldn"t flail around without making the problem more serious.

Fortunately, I had experience carrying patients. I walked steadfastly into Sect Leader Ning"s room and lifted him off the bed.

The patient was very uncooperative. In a loud, clear voice he said, "Mr. Shen, what are you doing? I can"t just move around while cultivating or else it will break my concentration. Please put me down!"

Was this the time to be projecting like a news anchor? I paid him no mind. Carrying Sect Leader Ning on my back, I called to the sleeping Xiao Ning, "Xiao Ning, Sect Leader Ning has a slipped lumbar disc, I"m going to call a cab and take him to the hospital for physical therapy, call me when you wake up!"

"Mr. Shen, you… Why are you forcing me to do this?" Sect Leader Ning leaned feebly on my shoulder. "I really was cultivating."

"Fine, fine, then you can do that on my back." I wasn"t going to refuse to give an elder some face, so I followed along with his words. "When we get to the hospital and get you physical therapy, you can also cultivate. It"s all right."

I carried Sect Leader Ning all the way to the hospital and got in line. By the time we"d gotten x-rays done it was already noon. After looking at the x-rays, the doctor chided me, "The herniation of the lumbar disc is so serious. How could you still let the old man do manual labor? He needs rest and recuperation, don"t you know?"

"Yes, yes." I nodded.

Sect Leader Ning closed his eyes and didn"t speak, just pretend to be above it all.

"Go to physical therapy. It will be more effective if it"s physical therapy you haven"t done before. You should be able to sit up after you"re finished today. But don"t let him sit up too long," the doctor exhorted me after writing out an order.

Seeing that it was noon, I figured that we would have to wait in line for a while. I asked Sect Leader Ning, "Do you need to go to the toilet? I"ll help you."

"No need!" Sect Leader Ning"s eyes suddenly opened wide. "This poor cleric can do it himself."

Saying so, he tried to get up supporting himself against the wall and holding his back.

I sighed. "Sect Leader Ning, I won"t look. I"ll carry you to the toilet. After you"re standing and firmly holding the wall, I"ll leave, and when you"re finished you can call me back in, OK?"

Probably because he really was suffering, Sect Leader Ning gave a long sigh and nodded slightly. It looked like he was agreeing.

After he"d answered the call of nature, I took Sect Leader Ning to wash his hands. He sighed. "Even a cultivator can"t refuse to accept old age. Back when I was young, I could sit in meditation for three day and three nights without a problem…"

"Three days and three nights?" I asked. "But Xiao Ning said you travelled through Russia on the K2 line for seven days and nights."

"Don"t you think I got up and moved around while he was asleep?" Sect Leader Ning said, glaring at me. "What living person can manage without going to the toilet for seven days and nights?"

He wasn"t maintaining his elevated manner around me anymore. I"d already carried him to go to the toilet, anyway. What was there worth keeping face about?

"Say, your Maoshan Sect isn"t short on money. What"s your obsession with hard train seats?" I asked.

"Alas, it"s because people"s hearts have been inconstant in recent years, and our disciples have grown more proud and extravagant by the day. As a Sect Leader I must set an example, establish a firm tradition of hard work. Only by withstanding poverty and bearing loneliness can we successfully cultivate and suppress human desires. Humans have their emotions and desires, and excessive desire will be used by evil. Doing battle with ghosts is dangerous. I don"t want to see my school"s disciples die at a young age, the white-haired burying the black-haired."

This sounded familiar to me. It seemed that the Maoshan Sect"s values were in line with the values being promoted by the state. This was keeping up with the times!

I suspected that Xiao Ning hadn"t heard the words I"d shouted to him in the morning at all. He called me after noon to ask where I had gone with his Shifu. Sect Leader Ning"s face was full of pleading, so I had to help him cover up, saying that the sect leader and I had gone out… to buy books. I told him to handle lunch on his own.

Saying this, the sect leader and I were sitting in line at the physical therapy department, each with a box of food in our hands, sad as you could ask for.

After we"d eaten, it was finally our turn. I accompanied the sect leader to physical therapy, after which he was finally able to stand up and walk slowly.

In fact he was still in some pain, but he insisted on maintaining his elevated appearance in front of Xiao Ning.

Before going back, in order to support my lie, I really did take Sect Leader Ning to buy some books, all about leaders" speeches, how to preserve good traditions, various legal books. I returned to the hotel carrying a bag.

We reached the hotel at three. Xiao Ning had changed. He was wearing a white shirt, slightly transparent, that faintly showed the skin underneath. I stared for a long time without being able to pull myself together.

"How did Shifu think of going to buy books with Teacher Shen?" Ning Tiance asked in bewilderment.

"You"re never too old to learn. This master also needs to know more about different beliefs." Sect Leader Ning sat on the sofa looking like an ascended immortal, with Principles of Marxism in his hands. It really was... unique.

My heart ached for him. It must have hurt so much to sit like that.

I hurriedly intervened. "Shouldn"t the sect leader go and rest? You didn"t sleep very much last night, and you came with me to buy books."

"That"s true." Sect Leader Ning nodded slightly, and I held out my hand to help him up.

Xiao Ning asked, "Shifu, when you opened your third eye last night, what was it you saw?"

Sect Leader Ning, who had just started to get up, showed a restrained smile. Although I suspected he was using this expression to help him bear the pain, I had to admire his perseverance.

"Mr. Shen is a rare man of integrity," said Sect Leader Ning. "Through the third eye his righteous energy appears as a golden dragon protecting Mr. Shen"s whole body. No wonder all the little ghosts dare not approach."

"And the talismans..." Ning Tiance was still very puzzled about this.

"I understand that." I helped Sect Leader Ning invent. "According to the law of conservation of energy, Yang energy or righteous energy can be converted and conserved. Your talisman has the function of absorbing and transforming. It turned part of my righteous energy into Yang energy, which was then absorbed by the talisman, isn"t that right, Sect Leader Ning?"

Sect Leader Ning lowered his head slightly. "That"s precisely it."

"But... can righteous energy alone really have such power?" Ning Tiance still couldn"t accept it.

"I have never seen such a spectacle, but in fact there is a record of it in ancient books," Sect Leader Ning said. "In the past, Li Shimin, a king of the Tang, killed too many people when he was young. At night he received incursions from ghosts and G.o.ds, always waking suddenly from his dreams. Later he hung the portraits of two generals, Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong, on the door. From then on, ghosts and G.o.ds dared not enter. The two generals were not cultivators, and their portraits weren"t talismans. They could repel the ghosts and G.o.ds because of their righteous energy and murderous energy.

"As for Mr. Shen, he has never killed, and he has no murderous energy. His righteous energy is enough for him to drive away ghosts. However, his portraits couldn"t prevent ghosts and G.o.ds from entering a door."

"I think it"s only a matter of time..." Ning Tiance said, looking at me. "I feel that in another couple of days, Teacher Shen"s photo will have the effect of a talisman."

After explaining, I helped Sect Leader Ning back to the room. As soon as he lay down, he grimaced in pain. He didn"t look at all like that ascended immortal just now.

"Why put yourself through all this?" I shook my head. "Keeping face even while dying, enduring while alive, even tricking Xiao Ning about the righteous energy. There"s no such thing as ghosts at all."

"Y-you… You…" Sect Leader Ning pointed at me with trembling fingers. "You"ve caused so many fierce ghosts to transcend, and yet you still think there"s no such thing as ghosts?"

"Huh?" I jumped up and said, "Sect Leader Ning, with our relationship, surely we don"t need deliberate mystification?"

[1]The next line of this poem is: Not in return, but so our friendship would last, AKA, give more than you take in a relationship.