I am a wandering spirit. I have drifted through the human world for eight years.
In my ninth year, I met a bald-headed monk. He said I was an immortal from the heavens who had been banished to the mortal realm by the Celestial Emperor for a minor workplace offense. Once I completed my mission, the Heavenly Gate would open for me, and I could return to the celestial realm.
At a glance, I could tell the monk was no ordinary man.
He gave me a shabby notebook labeled “Book of Fated Matches.” It contained the names of 120 couples. My mission was to travel every inch of China, find these people, and bring them together.
Before leaving, I asked the monk for his religious name. He said he had had many names, but I could call him Tang San. “We come from the same place. I nodded off at work, just took a nap, and then spent fourteen years in the human world, traveling west and enduring countless hardships. In the end, I finally attained enlightenment.”
Seeing my blank expression, he added, “The journey west, the eighty-one tribulations? Our story was later written into a book, became a classic, and spread far and wide?”
In the end, Tang San left disappointed, muttering to himself that I was an idiot. The four of them had been so famous on their journey west, and I’d never even heard of them.
