Taoist priest goes to America

Li An sat in the driver's seat and dialed the number Gu Jinghong had given him while driving. The phone rang a few times before being answered immediately.

"Hello." A woman's voice came from the other end, languid, as if she had just woken up or was lying down, with a long trailing tone and a nonchalant, relaxed feel.

"Is it for rent?"

Yes. I saw your information online.

"Your English is very fluent!" she said. "You have almost no accent. I can't really guess where you're from—Europe? Asia? Or are you mixed race?"

"Asia."

"Interesting." She chuckled, her tone becoming excited as if she had heard something pleasant.

"Drive to the entrance of the residential area, and we'll talk when we meet."

What kind of car do you drive?

Ang Lee gave the model number.

"Okay, I'll tell security. When we get there, tell him Miss Fineria sent you." She then added, "What do you look like?"

Ang Lee said, "Yellow skin, black hair, black eyes."

"Yellow skin...anything else?"

"Wear a dark black suit."

"That's all?"

That's all.

A soft laugh came from the other end of the phone. "You're so quiet. I'll wait for you." She hung up quickly.

Ang Lee took his phone away from his ear, put it back on the passenger seat, started the navigation, and merged the car into the traffic on the street.

It took about ten minutes to drive there, and soon the navigation indicated that we had arrived at our destination.

He slowed down and followed the road signs into a residential area.

The entrance to the residential area is a black wrought iron gate, flanked by neatly trimmed shrubs. A dark stone plaque stands at the entrance, with the name of the residential area engraved in gold lettering.

Next to the license plate recognition gate stood a black security guard in a gray shirt and black tie, holding a tablet in his hand.

Ang Lee parked the car in front of the gate, rolled down the window, and the night wind blew in from outside, carrying the scent of grass and a slightly damp, earthy smell.

"Miss Fineria sent me," Li An said.

The black security guard glanced at him, then looked down at the tablet, which seemed to have a visitor list on it. He swiped the screen, then looked at Li An again, scrutinizing the dark black suit.

"Yes, sir. Please come in."

He picked up the walkie-talkie, said a few words, then nodded, pressed the switch on the iron gate, and gestured for Li An to go in.

The residential area looks much more spacious than it does from the outside. Trees line both sides of the main road, their canopies intertwining to form a continuous sea of ​​leaves beneath the streetlights. Light filters through the gaps in the branches and leaves, scattering countless tiny spots of light on the road.

The shrubs on both sides of the trail were trimmed into rounded spheres, their leaves swaying gently in the night breeze, with a thin layer of dew on their surface.

Several off-white buildings lined the road, their exteriors freshly painted. Some of them had their lights off, while others were still illuminated by warm yellow light.

The lawn in the middle was neatly trimmed, and there was a row of children's slides and swings on the side. In the distance was an artificial lake, the surface of which rippled slightly in the night breeze.

Ang Lee slowed down, parked the car in the designated parking space, and turned off the engine. He covered Chigurh's body with the cloth again, picked up the dark red body bag, got out of the car, locked the car, and walked along the walkway towards the building entrance.

He walked along the gravel path to the entrance of the corresponding building. It was a five-story apartment building with light beige paint on the exterior walls and a row of low holly bushes planted in the corner.

The white landlady, Fineria, stood on the steps, leaning against the door frame, her body slightly turned to the side, one leg casually stretched forward.

Her hair was light brown, curly and falling over her shoulders and back, with the ends curling outwards, reflecting a soft sheen in the night.

Her skin was very white, so white that it was almost translucent under the light. Her neckline was loosely open, revealing her collarbone and a small patch of skin on her chest below, so soft that it seemed as if you could squeeze water out of it.

Her features are exquisite, and together they create a harmonious look that is hard to look away from. She has a straight nose, full lips, and a naturally charming smile at the corners of her mouth.

She wore a black short skirt that reached just above her ankles. The fabric was very thin, and when the night breeze gently blew, it clung to the contours of her calves and then loosened.

She was holding a phone in her left hand, looking down at the screen as she stood and talked to someone.

The other person was a white male, who looked to be in his twenties, wearing a red suit, with neatly combed hair, and looking like a playboy.

The white man humbly bent towards Fineria, extending his right hand as if trying to persuade her. Fineria stood on the steps, her posture relaxed, her right hand casually resting on the railing beside her. She nodded occasionally, her gaze still fixed on her phone, seemingly not wanting to pay much attention to this man.

"...I just wanted to buy you a drink, I promise I didn't mean anything by it." The man's voice was gentle, as if he was trying hard not to sound like he was pestering someone.

"You've rejected me three times now, Fineria."

The night wind blew through the trees, lifting a few strands of Fineria's light brown curly hair before letting them fall back to her ears.

"Then why aren't you leaving after I've already rejected you?" She tilted her head and tidied the stray hairs that had fallen beside her ear.

"But--"

"No buts," she interrupted the man, her voice still languid. "Go back."

The man's shoulders slumped, his lips twitched as if he wanted to say something more, but in the end he didn't speak.

As he slumped down and turned to leave, he suddenly saw Li An walking in his direction.

"?" The white man looked Li An up and down in shock, then turned to look at Fineria.

He spoke, this time with an undercurrent of barely suppressed anger, as if someone had stolen his most precious possession. Pointing at Li An, he demanded, "Finnelia! Who is he?"

Fineria turned her head in the direction he was pointing, and her eyes lit up when her gaze met Li An's.

She straightened up, lowered her hand from the railing, stepped aside around the man, and walked towards Ang Lee, leaving the white man on the steps.

"Are you here to rent a room?" Fineria's voice was slightly higher than it had been on the phone earlier. The languid feeling was still there, but there was an undisguised joy in her tone.

The man's questioning was interrupted. He turned to the side, somewhat stunned, his eyes following her gaze to Li An.

"Yes," Li An replied, adjusting the body bag slung over his shoulder. "Are you the landlord?"

Fineria approached and extended her right hand in front of him.

Ang Lee reached out and shook her hand. Fineria's fingers were cooler than his, with slender knuckles, and they felt both cool and soft to the touch.

As soon as she loosened her grip with her right hand, her left hand reached up and together they tightly grasped Ang Lee's hand.

"No..." Li An's hand was being touched by Fineria's hands, and he subconsciously pulled it away forcefully.

"Dude, even though I was mentally prepared, this is just too much of a pervert. I wonder if I'll catch some kind of disease?" Li An thought to himself.

Before Li An withdrew his hand, Fineria's fingertips lightly scratched his palm, a very small movement, as if she had accidentally touched it.

Her nails were smooth, and the touch left a cool sensation in his palm before she withdrew her hand, letting it hang at her side.

The white man was still standing on the steps. He had seen what had just happened. His mouth opened wide, then closed, then opened again.

"You—you know him?"

"Whether I know him or not is none of your business," Fineria said, turning her head away with a cold expression.

After she finished speaking, she turned to Ang Lee, and the coldness on her face was like a mask being lifted, revealing a softer expression underneath.

"Come on, I'll take you to see the apartment." After she finished speaking, she turned and walked towards the apartment door, but stopped after taking two steps, turned back to look at Li An, and said, "Come on."

Ang Lee went up the steps, and as he passed the man on the steps, the man was biting his lip and staring at him with fiery eyes.

"Who are you to her?" The man's voice was very soft, as if he was afraid that Fineria would hear him.

Ang Lee adjusted the body bag on his shoulder and glanced at the man.

"Her tenants."