Immortal Samsara (沉香如屑·沉香重华)

Eldest Senior Brother.

Eldest Senior Brother, what brings you here?

Qin Qi and the others are preparing

for the Chief's birthday celebration.

The class this afternoon is canceled.

I'm here to inform you.

Miss Yandan, do you not like fish?

You enjoyed eating crabs yesterday.

Why don't we

go catch some at the stream in the rear mountain this afternoon?

The Lingxiao Sect leads a frugal lifestyle.

But the scenery around the mountain is great.

We can have a great time there.

Sure!

No.

Yandan is too irritable.

I've arranged assignments for her

this afternoon

to hone her composure.

Tangzhou,

you are restricting my personal freedom.

Well, I have some free time.

We could finish the assignment

this afternoon together.

Great!

Eldest Senior Brother.

She needs tranquility and self-restraint.

The presence of others

will affect her training.

Right?

Oh, no!

The books are outside!

This is bad.

Don't get too reckless.

You shouldn't risk yourself for books.

Thank you for catching me.

I could have been in trouble again.

Eldest Senior Brother.

Tangzhou's books are drenched by the rain.

They must have been damaged.

I must repair those books for him.

I can't go with you on a trip to the mountain.

Yandan is right.

You would make such an effort

to save Tangzhou's books.

You are very honorable.

There is always another day.

The rain will stop eventually.

As your senior,

I must warn you.

You are the future chief.

Do not ruin your future because of your personal attachments.

Don't worry.

Yandan is my sworn sister.

Educating her is my duty.

In that case,

I should leave you to it.

Why do you have my hairpin?

Did you steal it?

I didn't steal anything.

This is a keepsake my master left me.

Your master?

So the spirit

my master failed to capture

was actually you.

Even after all this time, you're still as cunning.

Old habit dies hard.

This spirit

isn't very strong,

but she is witty.

So the old geezer who let me die in the water

was your master.

You really follow the examples set by your master.

You are both just as obnoxious

and blind to the truth.

You're done for!

I'll show everyone

how despicable you truly are!

Any more criticisms about my master?

Are you going to tell anyone in the Lingxiao Sect?

Are you going to disrespect your teacher again?

Do you want me

to undo the silencing spell?

Fat chance.

This is your punishment

for slandering and disrespecting me.

Come here.

Bring your head forward.

I have no use for the hairpin anyway.

You can keep it.

Put this over there.

Be careful with it.

Senior.

What's wrong with Yandan?

She must be exhausted

from grinding ink stone.

By the way,

what brings you here?

The Zhongyuan Festival is today.

The rule says we must go to the mountain and subdue the spirits.

I've prepared

snacks and supper for us.

I'm inviting you

to come with me.

Yandan, don't be scared.

We might be keeping watch in name.

But it's actually

the annual tea party of our sect.

Everyone looks forward to this day.

We get to eat, drink, and talk about anything together.

It will be a lot of fun!

I couldn't hold it anymore.

I can finally speak!

What was that necessary?

I'll go with you.

Why are you laughing?

What's wrong?

Tangzhou!

I'm going to end you!

Here.

Yandan.

Haven't you lost your appetite?

But you said

this was a tea party.

Can't I eat here?

It's not that.

After all the ghost stories,

aren't you scared at all?

Honestly,

the ghost stories you told

are barely half as scary

as the novels.

If you're so amazing,

tell us a ghost story.

I'd like to know what it's like to be afraid.

Fine.

Since you asked so nicely,

I'll do you a favor

and tell you a ghost story.

But only on one condition.

When I tell you the ghost story,

you must all keep your eyes closed.

Whoever opens his or her eyes

will lose.

If you lose,

you must run ten laps

around this bonfire clockwise.

Then, another ten laps, but go anticlockwise.

And lastly,

go back to your seat.

Is that clear?

Alright, close your eyes.

Close your eyes.

Here it goes.

A long time ago,

there was a snake spirit that had trained for over 1,000 years.

She fell in love with a Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest appeared to have feelings for the snake spirit,

but his true motive

was to extract her spirit essence for medicine.

And in the end,

the snake spirit was blinded by love

and was unaware of his plan.

When they were about to get married,

the Taoist priest seized the opportunity

to steal her spirit essence

and pushed her off the cliff.

You're stealing my line.

I had heard this story

a long time ago.

Therefore, your plan failed.

Not bad.

Since you know

so many stories,

you should tell me one.

I'd like to know what it's like to be afraid.

Sure.

What are you doing?

Yandan, don't be scared.

It's the sound from the Spirit Suppression Hall.

When our seniors return from their journeys,

they banish the lesser spirit they capture

into the Spirit Suppression Hall.

That building is full of traps.

There is also a spirit-binding trap outside.

That's why it rings from time to time.

What? Are you scared?

No, I'm not!

Well, close your eyes then.

Fine.

Listen closely.