Half-Immortal

Description

There is a Taoist temple deep in the mountains, where the incense has long withered away. I’m not a man of great talent, but at the age of nineteen, I’ve been a Taoist priest since I was a child. I have more than ten senior brothers above me, and I’m the youngest one below—commonly known as the "closing disciple" (the last disciple a master accepts before retiring). The temple was too poor, and my senior brothers couldn’t bear the hardship. Fortunately, our master (the abbot) was open-minded and let them leave one after another. Later, three of them realized their mistake and returned. By the master’s favor, he passed the abbot’s position to me before his death. However, neither my age nor my qualifications could convince others, and the three senior brothers refused to submit. It’s an unfortunate time for the temple, but I’m not a pushover—I will never back down, and thus internal strife broke out between us. In the village at the foot of the mountain, there’s a newly appointed Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial imperial examination). He’s my childhood friend. Before passing away, the master also told me to escort him to the capital for the national imperial examination. It’s my bounden duty. So let me take a trip to the mortal world first; I’ll come back to settle accounts with those senior brothers later!