Summoning the Gods

Wang Fei Yin glanced over everything, nodded in satisfaction, and had them place it all on the table. "Pick out some good apricots and pastries too. The patriarchs of our Sanqing Temple are exceedingly kind and compassionate. So long as we prepare them with sincere hearts, They will like it very much."

Pan Yun silently went to make preparations. She used the prettiest plates in the Taoist temple, arranging the finest offerings before carrying them over. Then she quietly asked, "Senior brother, who exactly are they?"

Wang Fei Yin had already put up the talismans, with another stack laid out on the table. Hearing this, he glanced at Pan Yun and said, "Fifth Junior Sister, Lord Pan is our Master, but all our abilities were learned from Immortal Master Ge. Thus, both of Them are our patriarchs."

Pan Yun suddenly understood. No wonder Ge Hong's stone statue and memorial tablet were enshrined so prominently in the main hall. So Ge Hong was the one who had truly passed down the teachings?

Wang Fei Yin had Pan Yun and the others retreat to one side. Sword in hand, he stepped on the Big Dipper, chanting softly as he invited the two patriarchs to descend...

Pan Yun watched curiously. In her previous life, rituals such as fasting offerings and sacrificial ceremonies had rarely been held. After spiritual energy revived, humanity had gained different kinds of power. Everyone's goal had become cultivating themselves and creating gods.

In the past, few spoke of gods. It was as though they had vanished from human memory of their own accord.

Over thousands of years, not a single miracle had shown that the old gods still existed in the world. Thus, humanity had tacitly assumed that there were no more immortals or gods.

Yet the Heavenly Dao had also taken pity on them, allowing their generation to begin cultivating. Without gods, they could create gods themselves.

This understanding and goal had been instilled in Pan Yun from the moment she began to understand the world, so she had never thought there was anything wrong with it.

But now, as she watched the rhythm surrounding Wang Fei Yin stir the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, an invisible, intangible, yet profoundly mysterious aura descended. Only then did she begin to doubt everything from her previous life. If immortals and gods could not be seen, did that truly mean they did not exist?

Had divine power truly vanished?

Wang Fei Yin turned and withdrew his sword, holding it upright before his eyes. He abruptly opened his eyes and glared furiously ahead, then collapsed cross-legged onto a meditation cushion, his eyes slowly closing.

A breeze swept past. Pan Yun's cultivation method began circulating on its own, energy gathering in her eyes. Beneath her Heavenly Eye, everything around her seemed veiled in clouds and mist. A shadow appeared at the horizon. With one step, It crossed to the cliffside. It cast her a faintly smiling, faintly mocking glance, then took another step and vanished into Wang Fei Yin's body, as though entering him...

Pan Yun: ...Oh my god, it really was her Master!

Senior Brother could really summon Master!

Ah, no, there really were immortals and gods in this world!

Pan Yun secretly pinched her thigh hard. The pain made her shudder. It was real after all!

She had always adhered to the principle of rather being superstitious than offending the gods when facing every strange thing she encountered. Who would have thought she had stumbled into the right answer by blind luck?

Pan Yun carefully recalled everything she had done these past two days. Once she confirmed that she had not offended Master, she finally relaxed.

Only after relaxing did she notice that someone else was hurrying over from the horizon. Oh, no—not a person, but a god.

The shadow drew closer and closer. It was an elderly Daoist in a broad-sleeved robe, with a kind and benevolent face.

He slowly drifted to the cliffside without approaching, merely smiling as he watched Senior Brother and the gathered group.

His gaze swept over these disciples and grand-disciples. When it met Pan Yun's curious scrutiny, he paused slightly and looked back at her with equal curiosity.

This child could actually see him?

Just as he was about to drift over for a closer look, Wang Fei Yin opened his eyes. The martial general holding a treasured sword floated out of his body, glanced once more at Pan Yun, then stopped to look at the shadow.

The shadow repeatedly saluted him. It only had time to give Wang Fei Yin a slight nod before rolling up a portion of the food essence from the table and leaving. The remaining food essence drifted toward the martial general.

Pan Yun watched the two shadows disappear. The moment she withdrew her gaze, she met Wang Fei Yin's complicated look.

Their eyes met. Not only was his gaze complicated, but so was his expression. He looked at Pan Yun as if there were too much to say and no way to begin.

Pan Yun's whole heart rose to her throat. What did that mean?

Wang Fei Yin rose to his feet and respectfully lit incense and candles for the two patriarchs once more. Only after paying his respects did he say to Pan Yun, "Pack up. I'll take you down the mountain shortly."

Pan Yun nodded blankly. Her thoughts twisted and turned a thousand times before she ultimately decided to obediently listen.

Wang Fei Yin returned to his room and changed out of his ritual robes into a lighter Daoist robe, then packed some incense and candles into a basket.

Pan Yun was already waiting at the entrance to the main hall, holding the black cat.

Miao He was chattering enviously at her. "I haven't gone down the mountain in nearly half a year. If you see Wang Xiaojing when you go down, thank him for me. Tell him his apricots are especially delicious..."

Only after Miao He had finished did Miao Zhen say, "Don't worry."

Pan Yun looked up at her and smiled. "I'm not worried. Why would nephew-disciple say that?"

Miao Zhen said, "But you're very worried right now. Though I don't know what you're worried about, First Martial Uncle is here, so don't worry."

Pan Yun froze for a moment, then nodded.

Wang Fei Yin soon came out carrying the basket and beckoned to Pan Yun. "Let's go."

Pan Yun hurriedly followed him with the cat in her arms. Wang Fei Yin only glanced once at the cat and did not stop her from bringing the little thing along.

Tao Ji and the three young disciples stood at the doorway, watching the two walk away. All four sighed in unison.

Seeing that the three little ones had somehow sighed in perfect sync with him, Tao Ji could not help smacking them on the heads. "What are you sighing for at such a young age? Hurry up and practice."

None of the three feared Tao Ji. Miao He directly asked, "Master, can junior martial uncle stay?"

Tao Ji said, "I thought all you cared about was eating and drinking. Why have you started thinking about that too?"

Miao He said, "Our Taoist temple has never asked the gods when accepting other disciples. Only junior martial uncle—she had only entered the sect for one day, and First Martial Uncle was already asking the immortals."

Though Tao Ji was worried too, this was not what worried him. "Don't worry. If the patriarchs didn't want to accept your Junior Martial Uncle, your First Martial Uncle would not be taking incense and candles down the mountain with her. He would be taking her luggage down the mountain."

Pan Yun silently followed behind Wang Fei Yin, saying nothing along the way.

Wang Fei Yin glanced at her several times before finally being unable to hold back. "You really can keep your composure. What, don't you want to know what decree Master passed down?"

Hearing the fondness in his tone, Pan Yun immediately beamed. "Is Master very pleased with me as a disciple and having Senior Brother give me a meeting gift on His behalf?"

Wang Fei Yin fell silent.

Pan Yun's smile stiffened for a moment before she suddenly reacted. "Could it really be a meeting gift for me?"

Wang Fei Yin studied Pan Yun. After a moment, he said, "That's right. Master indeed has a meeting gift for you."

He paused, then said worriedly, "Fifth Junior Sister, earning Master's affection and esteem is a good thing. With the patriarchs' protection, whether you cultivate or travel this world, things will be more convenient for you than for others. But I see that your fortune is shallow. You should not have received such an opportunity. Since you have accepted it, you must pay a price."

Afraid that she was too young to understand and would lose herself in the benefits alone, he explained carefully, "Those of us who cultivate the Dao cultivate this life: this lifetime's body, this lifetime's virtue and reputation, this lifetime's divine sense and soul. Yet in this world, not one person has attained the Dao in thousands of years, so people begin to pin their hopes on the next life.

"Why is it that some are born wealthy and noble, yet end in destitution, while others are born ordinary but enjoy extraordinary luck their whole lives, with favorable winds and smooth waters?"

Wang Fei Yin said, "That is fortune. It is Feng Shui, and it is fate. These three things are connected to the present life, to ancestral blessings, and even more to one's past life.

"Those who accumulate virtue will always have better luck than others. Yet judging by your features, your luck is only a little better than that of an ordinary person. You should not have such an opportunity today."

Pan Yun grinned. "I know. It's because I was just an ordinary person in my past life. I died early too, before I could accumulate much reputation or merit."

Wang Fei Yin said, "...You even know about your own past life?"

Pan Yun said half-truthfully, "Senior Brother, I don't know whether you believe it, but I was born knowing things."

Wang Fei Yin said, "There's nothing to believe or disbelieve. You can see the mountain god without performing a ritual, and you dreamed of the patriarchs for two nights in a row. What else could possibly be impossible?"

Wang Fei Yin accepted it quite well now. Even if she claimed at this moment that she was a reincarnated immortal who had descended to undergo tribulations, he would believe her to some extent.

Being born with knowledge was nothing. It was not as if there had never been such people in the world. His Junior Sister was already so extraordinary—what was one more remarkable trait?

"Since you know your past-life merit was unremarkable, then you should understand even more that the opportunities of this life are too good for you, and may instead harm you. So you must hold fast to yourself," Wang Fei Yin sighed. "Do not forget your original heart."

"Mm-hmm, I won't forget. So, Senior Brother, what meeting gift did Master send me?"

Wang Fei Yin said, "You'll know soon enough."

"Oh, just tell me now. It's still a long way from here to the foot of the mountain."

Wang Fei Yin took her hand and stepped forward. The trees on both sides flew rapidly backward, and the two crossed a long stretch of mountain path. With another step, they arrived halfway down the mountain...

As he led her across the distance, Wang Fei Yin said, "It isn't that I don't want to tell you. It's that I don't know how to explain it. Once you see it, you'll understand without me saying anything."

After only a few more steps, they reached the quickest path down the mountain. Wang Fei Yin released her hand. The village was just ahead, and it would not do for them to move so quickly any longer.

The two slowly emerged from the forest and immediately saw the tea shed belonging to Wang Xiaojing's family.

There was not a single person in the tea shed. Wang Fei Yin merely glanced at it before leading Pan Yun around a bend and following the road at the foot of the mountain. They walked and walked until they finally reached a small shrine built of piled stones.