Felling the Osmanthus Tree

Rumor had it that the young master of the Cheng family, Cheng Muan, was neglecting his proper duties and devoted to seeking immortality and the Way.

When the young master heard the rumors, he replied, "They're right. I don't just want to do it, I'm actually doing it!"

Sure enough, after coming of age, the young master went to a mountain temple to devote himself to cultivation.

And every day at the temple, he would discuss the Way with people, flirt, and profess his love.

One day, as the young master was heading down the mountain, he found a...unconscious man at the temple gate, so he took him back to the temple.

Think he brought the man back because he was kind?

Nope, you're wrong.

Young Master Cheng Muan said, "Leaving someone half-dead right in front of the temple is an eyesore."

The unconscious man, Xie Yunlan, had a thank-you caught on his lips, unable to come out or go back in. He thought, Did we get our scripts mixed up? Wasn't he supposed to save a dying man out of the goodness of his heart?

Never mind. Rumors can't be trusted.

Don't believe or spread rumors. Start with me.

Yunzhong Xian, an attack whose true nature is nothing like the rumors, * the young master, a recipient, who thinks about cultivating immortality all day

Cut down the osmanthus tree in the moon, they say, and the moonlight will shine even brighter.

--- Xin Qiji,