[T/n: note on chapter title]¹

Qin Zizhou didn’t quite understand the riddle-like cryptic conversation between Ji Yuan and the Old Dragon, but he could tell from their words that these two bigshots in the cultivation world had already arranged a path forwards for him.

After the Old Dragon had finished joking, he turned to look at Qin Zizhou.

“Fellow Taoist Qin must have some doubts. We will find out when we go to Bing Province together.”

After saying this, the old dragon immediately used his flying technique to ride on a cloud, pulling Ji Yuan and Qin Zizhou into the air.

. . .

Some time after the first crow of a rooster, dawn arrived in Deyuan County.

As the sky brightened, the Qin family members rose from their beds one after another.

Qin Yan’s dream lasted until dawn. In the dream, he had been grinding and packing medicinal herbs in the large medicine hall, helping the shop assistants sort the herbs or move them into the back yard to dry. However, after his father gave him those instructions and told Qin Yan that he was leaving, he never appeared again.

In the dream, Qin Yan thought that his father had been invited to go on a long journey to another region to visit a patient, or that he had been preparing to go up the mountain to collect some herbs.

“Husband, husband!”

An older woman called out to Qin Yan a few times by his bedside, and Qin Yan suddenly woke up. He looked around and found that he was in his room.

“Husband, it’s time to get up. We need to clean out the funeral hall and open up the shop.”

“Ah… Okay, I’ll get up right away!”

Qin Yan responded in a daze. He sat up and put on his clothes, but all he could think about was the previous night’s dream. However, he said nothing about it yet, as there was a saying in his hometown: “don’t talk about your dreams before breakfast.”

The weather was not too cold, so they got up very quickly. The Qin family went into the front hall to clean up the food that had been prepared last night, and took some of the dishes to the kitchen to make the morning porridge.

“Ah! This tofu… Could it be that Dad really came last night?”

As soon as Qin Yan approached the main hall, he heard his sister cry out in surprise, and hurried over to see what was going on.

“Brother, come and see.”

His wife and sister were most likely clearing the table, and his sister, who was in her sixties, was now pointing to one of the dishes, specifically the bowl of stinky tofu with moldy amaranth.

This tofu consisted of one whole block of tofu cut into four pieces, with eight stalks of moldy amaranth placed on top. Now, one of the pieces was missing, and the other three pieces of tofu were neatly placed on the table, with two amaranth stems that had been sucked clean.

Qin Zizhou loved this dish, but usually only ate one piece of tofu and left the rest for his family. He also liked to pour the marinade soup over his rice after his family had finished eating the tofu.

“This… It couldn’t be that a thief broke in last night, right?”

Qin Yan’s wife felt nervous and spoke subconsciously.

“No, if there was a thief, they wouldn’t just eat this one thing. Wouldn’t the fish and meat nearby taste better than this? Besides, not right, people won’t only eat this if they get into a thief, and the big fish and meat on the side are not better than this? Besides, for a day like yesterday, if there was a thief, he would have immediately climbed back over the wall and left after seeing the hall!”

In this era of widespread superstition, if a thief broke in to see a funeral hall being set up and food being prepared in the middle of the night, he would definitely be frightened, and would rather steal at a happy occasion than at a funeral.

As Qin Yan’s children and grandchildren arrived one after another, the main hall was finally cleaned up.

During breakfast, Qin Yan told everyone about his dream. Everyone in the Qin family concurred that this must have been old man Qin’s farewell before he went into the underworld.

However, in truth, Qin Zizhou had already arrived at Yun Mountain in Changchuan Prefecture, Bing Province. Because of the time difference over that distance, he was currently enjoying the beautiful sunrise over Yun Mountain with Ji Yuan and the Old Dragon.

The three of them stood on top of the clouds, their perch blending into the sea of clouds that stretched off into the mountains. Although they stood above the clouds, they felt as though they were stepping on the waves. At this very moment, the three of them watched the morning sun rise above the clouds together.

“Is this the first time that Fellow Daoist Qin has seen the sun rising over the clouds?”

The Old Dragon asked with a smile.

Qin Zizhou was straightforward.

“Not really. Before I turned eighty, I could still go up the mountain to collect herbs by myself. I have been to some tall peaks and seen similar scenery a few times. Of course, if the Dragon Lord is referring to the act of standing on a cloud to watch the sun rise, this is indeed my first time.”

“Naturally!”

As soon as the sunrise passed, there was movement in the Cloud Mountain Temple. The three of them floated to Yanxia Peak. When they stood atop the cloud, they could see Taoist Qingsong and his disciple getting up to wash up, then doing morning exercises and health-improving closed-palm martial arts.² They also watched as Qi Wen carried an empty bucket down the mountain to fetch water.

What was particularly interesting was the sight of the two little martens hiding sneakily in Cloud Mountain Temple. While Taoist Qingsong was practicing his punches in the open-air space in the Taoist Temple, the two little martens were tucked in the corner of the temple, peeking out.

“Haha, Mr. Ji, these two little beasts seem to have gained enlightenment!”

The Old Dragon joked. He was very happy to see this scene. Just like how the first thing young birds and young animals saw made a deep impression on them, the same was true for enlightened beasts. Although the Taoists in Cloud Mountain Temple were not true cultivators, the Taoist philosophy of tranquility was still very beneficial to the marten spirits. It would not be so easy for them to deviate from the path after being influenced for such a long time. The same was true for Buddhist temples.

“Oh, these two little martens. Mr. Ying may not have paid much attention to them, but I do remember how, back when you and I were discussing fish in Cloud Mountain Temple, there were two fairly intelligent wild martens eavesdropping in the bushes outside. I think they may have gained some benefits and grown spiritually aware.”

“Huh? So something like that could really happen!”

This gave the Old Dragon a feeling of having inadvertently achieved success, and his perception of the two little martens subconsciously improved. Qin Zizhou also looked at the little martens in amazement.

However, at this point, Ji Yuan bowed to Qin Zizhou once more.

“After seeing you off for thousands of miles, we must bid you farewell. Taoist Qingsong Qi Xuan and his disciple Qi Wen are good people, and the Cloud Mountain Temple is also beautiful and has quite the natural charm. Mr. Qin, you should concentrate on cultivating here. You must also ponder more during this period. Once you integrate the Taoist method of worshipping the stars, carrying them within one’s body, you will surely be able to embark on the path of the Wandering God.”

Qin Zizhou didn’t say much in thanks. He simply nodded and bowed solemnly to Ji Yuan and the Old Dragon in the clouds, then floated to the mountainside outside Cloud Mountain Temple like a fallen leaf drifting in the wind.

At this moment, Taoist Qingsong has just finished a few rounds of health-improving martial arts, and was in the breathing stage of the exercise, to finish it off. In the past two or three years, he had felt himself becoming more and more energetic. When he couldn’t help but tell people’s fortunes, he felt more confident in his abilities.

“Knock knock knock…”

“Excuse me, is there anyone in residence?”

There was a knock on the door of the Taoist Temple, and a slightly old but nonetheless deep voice rang out in inquiry. Although the door was half-open, the person outside was obviously not going to push the door open by himself.

“Yes, yes, yes! I’m here!”

Taoist Qingsong quickly walked to the courtyard gate to open it. He saw an old man dressed in gray standing outside.

The old man’s beard and hair were all white and he had a rosy complexion. A pair of long eyebrows extended an inch down over the corner of his eyes.³ He definitely did not look young, but it was unclear whether he was in his seventies, eighties, or even nineties. When he saw Taoist Qingsong come out, he bowed and greeted him.

“Hello, Taoist priest. I wish to become a Taoist priest in Cloud Mountain Temple. I wonder if you could please take me in?”

Faced with such a straightforward question from an old man who might very well be old enough to be his grandfather, Taoist Qingsong was confused.

“Uh… old man, you must be quite old. Why do you want to be a Taoist priest? Did you climb up the mountain all by yourself?”

Taoist Qingsong subconsciously glanced behind the old man, but as far as he could see, he could not see any young men accompanying him.

“Why not? As the saying goes, young people don’t practice Taoism, and old people don’t practice martial arts. It’s just the right time for me to go up the mountain to practice! Thus, I have now come up the mountain. Taoist priest, won’t you let me in for a cup of tea?”

Qin Zizhou was old and wise. After all, he was a man with one hundred years of lived experience. It was inevitable for him to be reserved in front of Ji Yuan, the Old Dragon, and the assembled ghosts and gods. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t spin a clever phrase. If he really wanted to wield his words, then he could certainly do so fluently.

“Oh, oh, come in quickly, please come in quickly!”

Taoist Qingsong didn’t dare to keep such an old man in the temple now. If he got hurt, there would be no time to seek medical treatment. However, it was impossible to leave him standing at the door, so he considered taking care of him for a while before sending him down the mountain.

Taoist Qingsong ushered him into the kitchen and poured him tea.

“How old are you, old man? Where do you live?”

“Let me think… I’m maybe one hundred years old, give or take a couple years. As for my family, since I am going to become a priest, I will no longer consider matters of the secular world!”

Qin Zizhou drank tea while talking. His remark made Taoist Qingsong choke. He was about to persuade him again, but he suddenly thought of something. He sat down opposite the old man and inspected his face carefully.

Just moments ago, he merely felt that his face was full of vitality and energy, but the more he looked, the more blurred it became. He even forgot the features he had seen before, and was suddenly shocked.

‘I’m afraid this person is not a mortal! ’

Taoist Qingsong always felt that Cloud Mountain Temple had become extraordinary ever since Mr. Ji had visited, so he subconsciously asked a question.

“Sir, do you know Mr. Ji?”

Qin Zizhou smiled. He put down his tea cup and bowed to Qi Xuan.

“I am Qin Zizhou. I have come to Cloud Mountain Temple to practice cultivation, following the instruction of Mr. Ji and the Dragon Lord. I wonder if you might accept me as a long-term guest?”

Taoist Qingsong swallowed subconsciously.

“Accept…I accept!”

Qin Zizhou nodded, glancing sideways at the upper corner of the kitchen door. Above Cloud Mountain Temple, Ji Yuan and the Old Dragon smiled at each other. In the next instant, they had already flown away on a cloud.⁴

. . .

Ji Yuan and the Old Dragon separated halfway. The former went east to Ji Province, and the latter went west to the Tongtian River.

With Ji Yuan’s flight speed, it only took half a day to return to Ju’an Pavilion. It was also the weekend, so Yin Qing and Hu Yun were laying down and taking a nap on the stone table in the courtyard of the pavilion, to rest in the afternoon.

The breeze in the courtyard made the branches and leaves of the jujube tree rustle from time to time.

Ji Yuan made no sound when he landed on the ground. He walked over to the table and gazed at the scene. The man and the fox slept soundly.

On the stone table were two letters. One read, “For my son, Ying Qing,” and had been opened. The other read “For Mr. Ji,” and was still unopened.

As soon as Ji Yuan saw the handwriting, he knew it must be a letter from his good friend Yin Zhaoxian. He couldn’t help but smile at the sleeping Yin Qing, and murmured.

“You can escape on the first day, but you can’t escape on the fifteenth.⁵ It seems we must go to Chunhui Prefecture!”

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1. Either literally “you avoided a thing on the 1st of the month, but it took until the 15th of the month for it to catch up to you” or metaphorically “you can’t run/avoid things forever”
2. Fist-based martial arts, heavy emphasis on punching. That whole description was too long to leave in the sentence, though, so I shortened it to “boxing” even though it kind of isn’t. Edit: thank you mindsystem for the suggestion “closed-palm martial arts”
3. The length/shape of the eyebrows is significant for face-reading in divination. Long eyebrows (I believe Qin’s are referred to as “longevity eyebrows”) indicate a strong vitality, wisdom, and compassion, as well was a deep interest in academics and the arts.
4. T/n: They just enjoy watching Taoist QS getting trolled
5. i.e. YQ been avoiding traveling to reunite with his family and/or go to higher-level school, JY is saying he can’t avoid it forever

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read