Ah Dai stopped in his tracks, the chirping of insects and birdsong so vividly clear. He knew he had entered the territory of the wood cabin where Goris lived. Standing there, his body trembled slightly with excitent, as he slowly opened his eyes. Three small wooden cabins appeared before him, seemingly unchanged. The surrounding scenery was as it always had been, the yard still shrouded in a thick fog, the fresh air invigorating his spirit. At last, he was back. After seven long years, he had finally returned.
"Goris, teacher—" Ah Dai shouted loudly, oh how he wished to see Goris’s familiar and aged face!
The surroundings remained silent. Ah Dai’s shouting faded away, and the cabin remained still. Everything was unchanged; there was no sight of Goris coming out to greet him as he had imagined. Ah Dai’s heart sank, filled with an ominous premonition. He leaped forward, and in a single motion, he landed on the cabin’s steps. Ah Dai gently pushed open the door to the room he used to live in. The room was empty, everything just as it had been. The wooden bed, that chair, all remained in their original spots. On the chair was the bamboo basket he had used to pick fruits. Thick layers of dust lay on the bed, the chair, and the floor, as if no one had entered for a long ti.
Ah Dai’s heart grew heavier. Teacher Goris, could it be, could it really be that you never ca back? No, that couldn’t be. He dashed out of the room and ran towards the laboratory.
The laboratory was where Goris spent most of his ti. On entering, there was none of the ss Ah Dai had expected. Everything was neat and tidy, just as it had been when he left, all the experintal items in their original places. Cabinets around the walls stood silently, all covered in a thick layer of dust, just like the bed and chair in his own room. Ah Dai walked step by step toward the small cauldron where Goris used to practice alchemy; his heart had turned numb. Goris was not there, he was gone, and it seed he had been gone for a long ti. Had the teacher never returned after he left?
The lid of the small cauldron was securely in place, and beside it lay a dusty garnt. Ah Dai clearly rembered that this garnt had not been there when he left. His hands trembled as he picked it up and gave it a gentle shake, causing dust to fill the room. Shielded by his own fighting spirit, the dust could not touch him, but it clouded his vision.
After a while, the dust settled, and once again everything ca into clear view. Holding the garnt in his hands, Ah, this was the Black Magician’s Robe Teacher Goris always wore! His previously heavy heart lifted; the teacher had co back, Teacher Goris had returned. Excitedly, Ah Dai embraced the robe. Suddenly, he noticed a sheet of white paper in the spot where the garnt had been, with clear writing on it. Ah Dai set the Black Magician’s Robe aside and carefully picked up the slightly yellowed paper.
The writing was indeed in Goris’s hand, crisply inscribed in the language of the Empire of Tian Jing, "The only ones who could co here are my brother Gorisong and my Apprentice Ah Dai. Gorisong, if it’s you who has co, please leave imdiately. Big brother is gone. If ever you et my apprentice, please take care of him for . All of my belongings are to be left to my apprentice, no, I now recognize that he is my true disciple, Ah Dai." Ah Dai’s eyes welled up as he read those words, Teacher Goris, you, you recognized as your disciple. I finally beca your disciple. His lips trembled slightly as he continued to read, "Ah Dai, if you have returned, your teacher is truly happy. Do you rember the gift I gave you? The one wrapped in Silver Tin. Go to the cabinet with the Soul Extinguishing Grass, pull out that drawer. It will bring out a tal plate. In the square on the tal plate, write the na of the gift I gave you in the language of the Empire of Tian Jing, and you will be in for a surprise." The writing stopped there. Ah Dai clearly rembered that the Soul Extinguishing Grass was in the sixth drawer from the left in the fourth row. He went over to the cabinet and carefully pulled out the drawer, which contained the now dried pale-red Soul Extinguishing Grass. He knew from Goris’s notes that it was a highly poisonous herb and dared not touch it. Wrapped in his protective fighting spirit, he slowly pulled the drawer all the way out. Just as Goris had described in the note, a tallic plate, ornate and shiny, was attached behind the drawer, carved with two square compartnts.
Ah Dai, of course, knew the gift Goris referred to. He extended his index finger and wrote out the two characters for "Stead Bun" in the squares. A strong suction suddenly erged from the gap created by the pulled-out drawer, startling Ah Dai. He instinctively released the drawer, and the wooden drawer containing the Soul Extinguishing Grass and the tal plate was sucked back into place.
A rustling sound ca from beneath the floor, and Ah Dai felt a slight trembling of the ground. Although sowhat astonished, he firmly believed that Goris would never harm him; this must be a chanism the teacher had set up. He stood still, waiting. Sure enough, Ah Dai’s assumption was accurate, and the seemingly seamless wooden floor of the laboratory’s center split open. The crack widened, a soft yellow glow emanating from below, and a series of steps appeared in the opening. The chanism the teacher had left was indeed astonishing!
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