When Fu Nanhua stepped out of the house, he found the delicate-looking maidservant sitting on a little stool in the courtyard. She held a handful of corn and was feeding the chickens. An old hen led a flock of fluffy yellow chicks, all pecking at the ground.
Fu Nanhua smiled faintly at her. Whether the girl was shy by nature or simply cold, she only twitched the corners of her mouth in reply.
After Fu Nanhua opened the courtyard gate, he found Cai Jinjian waiting in the alley, looking dispirited. He turned to close the gate. Through the narrowing gap, he saw the maidservant lift her face toward him, and suddenly noticed her striking eyes. She was a poor girl who ought to have been steeped in the smell of earth, yet those eyes made her seem like a tender splash of green blooming in early spring. Fu Nanhua gave it no more thought. Women of exceptional beauty, plump or slender, graceful in every manner—Old Dragon City's Young Master had long since seen his fill.
Walking beside Cai Jinjian, Fu Nanhua asked, "What happened? Things didn't go smoothly? Fortunes are often won only after many trials. You can't expect every attempt to settle matters in a single stroke. Don't lose heart."
Cai Jinjian had been born alluring and soft of manner. Cultivation had cleansed her marrow and remade her bones; in body alone, she was naturally purer than any mortal woman, clear as crystal. Women down the mountain might seem heavenly at first glance, but in the end, they were merely sacks of stinking flesh.
The fairy of Cloud Mist Mountain looked decidedly unwell. Her mood had to be dreadful for it to show so plainly on her face. She must have been holding back a bellyful of anger while waiting in the alley, and now she could hold it no longer. "An expert got there first. Liu Zhimao, the River-Cutting True Lord, one of Book Scroll Lake's local powers. He wouldn't even entertain a discussion. The moment we met, he invoked my sect leader and patriarch of Cloud Mist Mountain to press down on a junior like me. I barely got a few words out before he drove me from Gu Can's courtyard."
Fu Nanhua considered this, then warned her, "Let's talk once we're out of Mud Bottle Alley."
Cai Jinjian asked in confusion, "Aren't all spells forbidden here?"
Fu Nanhua smiled. "Who comes here seeking fortune without a Bottom-of-the-box Skill or two? Young people like us may have it easier. Under the town's rules, the higher one's cultivation, the more heavily one is suppressed. Below a Sage, the closer one's realm is to a Sage's, the weaker one should become—like a small child. Right? But have you considered what happens if a great cultivator is willing to damage his own cultivation to use a divine ability? Could he truly be weaker than latecomers like us?"
Cai Jinjian countered, "With a Sage here, would the River-Cutting True Lord dare attack me openly?"
"We came here to find favorable ties, not make enemies," Fu Nanhua advised. "Even if our lives aren't at risk, souring relations with our seniors would hardly be pleasant."
Cai Jinjian was not one to get stuck on a point. She nodded. "You're right, Brother Fu. That's the prudent view."
Her face fell, making her look pitiful. "But I really can't accept it. I've already given you ten pieces of Cloud Root Stone. If I come away with nothing, how am I supposed to answer to my patriarchs?"
Once they left Mud Bottle Alley, Fu Nanhua and Cai Jinjian felt their spirits lift almost at the same moment. It was far more than a sudden brightening of the light. They looked at each other, then quickly averted their eyes.
Fu Nanhua, who had been brimming with excitement, grew much calmer. He carefully reviewed his trip through the alley. His alliance with Cai Jinjian had surely betrayed nothing. His deal with the young Song Jixin had been equally sound: a fair transaction that followed the rules. Why would the Sage, who sat watching the winds come and go and the waters rise and fall here, trouble himself to interfere? Then where had that pressure come from? Could it be the River-Cutting True Lord, whose name Fu Nanhua had never even heard? Cai Jinjian's thoughts were simpler. She assumed Fu Nanhua had guessed right: the River-Cutting True Lord had used some divine spell to watch her. Fear lingered in her chest. Fortunately, she had only complained, without making threats or speaking in anger.
Each lost in thought, they walked along the main street. The farther they got from Mud Bottle Alley, the lighter the weight on their hearts became. Fu Nanhua took it for the weight of fortune and fate; Cai Jinjian felt the weight of her Lineage's burden.
Looking toward the archway in the distance, Fu Nanhua asked curiously, "The River-Cutting True Lord of Book Scroll Lake? Why have I never heard of him? Old Dragon City may lie at the far south of the continent, but the rank of True Lord is illustrious. However poorly informed I am, I ought to know something about him."
Cai Jinjian lowered her voice and sneered. "What True Lord? He's merely a True Person who ranks fairly high among the unorthodox schools. No one is more sanctimonious, and he has no right to call himself a True Lord. It's just flattery from busybodies. Emperor Yuanwu is far too shrewd to confer that title on him. There are only so many places to fill. Granting one title of True Lord could mean not getting it back for two hundred years. His ancestors were so free with them that only two places remained when they passed to him. He certainly won't hand one out casually to a fame-hungry unorthodox Rogue Cultivator."
"I see," said Fu Nanhua.
Every True Lord stationed in a dynasty could gather, secure, and strengthen its National Fortune for its ruler.
For a member of a Daoist sect, the rank of True Lord was almost the pinnacle of a mortal dynasty's court. The Military Strategists' High Pillar State and the Confucians' Grand Scholar stood alongside it.
Cai Jinjian asked, as if in passing, "What was Song Jixin like?"
Fu Nanhua answered just as casually, "That boy? Ambitious, clever by nature, with a powerful backer. It's just that his vision..."
"Is small?" Cai Jinjian said with a smile.
Fu Nanhua laughed. "I wouldn't call it small. Just not big enough."
They passed beneath the archway. Full of high spirits, Fu Nanhua murmured, "When fortune arrives, heaven and earth lend their strength."
Cai Jinjian looked up at the words "Do not seek externally." Her heart felt hollow, as though she had lost something. It seemed the insight she had gained in Mud Bottle Alley had been handed straight back to the town.
That made her unusually irritable.
Song Jixin's home was one of the larger households in Mud Bottle Alley. Besides the main hall with its plaque, it had side rooms on both the left and right.
The Main Hall Plaque read "Hall of Cherishing the Distant." It bore no signature, and Song Jixin had always felt the calligraphy was no master's work.
Master and maidservant were now in Song Jixin's room. The boy was rummaging through chests and cupboards while the maidservant stood in the doorway. She asked softly, "Young Master, did the deal fall through?"
Song Jixin put down a string of bells and returned to the room's only chair. He clasped his hands behind his head and crossed his legs. "That Fu Nanhua from Old Dragon City isn't a complete fool. From the start, he didn't take me for some gullible lamb who knows nothing of the world. But he's not all that clever, either. He tried to cozy up to me. What a laugh. Later, I bluffed him a little, and out came his fox's tail. He thought a show of mystery and a few thunderous moves would let him wield kindness and force together to frighten this young master. Compared with the inscrutable Mr. Qi, he's a hundred and eight thousand li behind."
"There's a hundred and eight thousand li between them?" said the maidservant Zhi Gui. "Young Master, that's an exaggeration."
Song Jixin pulled a face. "Then let's say ten Mud Bottle Alleys!"
The boy tossed his maidservant a pouch. "Have a look. These are the copper coins mentioned in that Secret Letter. The one surnamed Chen next door got a pouch earlier, too. I reckoned having such an enormous fortune drop on his head might not be a good thing. Sure enough, he went and angered those two pairs of wretched lovers. I think he has more suffering ahead. Oh, Zhi Gui, the fellow who came to our house claimed to be Old Dragon City's young city lord. From the way he talked and carried himself, he's no mere embroidered pillow. And this jade pendant—he called it 'Old Dragon Spreads Rain.' It must be worth a fortune!"
Song Jixin patted the lovely green jade pendant, which he had already hung at his waist. Deep down, the boy felt he had taken another great step toward becoming a scholar like Mr. Qi.
Zhi Gui opened the finely embroidered pouch and asked quietly, "Young Master, could you get some more 'copper coins'?"
Song Jixin smiled. "You like them?"
Zhi Gui pinched a golden copper coin between two fingers and gave it a shake. "They shine like gold. Just looking at them makes me happy."
Song Jixin laughed in disbelief. "That's reason enough? All right. Since you like them, I'll get you a few more pouches. Outside, these coins have different names: a Suppression Charm Coin goes on a roof beam, a Spring Welcoming Coin on a peachwood charm, and an Offering Coin inside a Buddha statue or in its hand. Common folk have their customs, though, and immortal families have their own explanations."
Her eyes curved into two crescent moons as she asked, "What about Chen Ping'an's pouch?"
Song Jixin frowned. "His?"
The maidservant sensed her young master's change in mood. She carefully put the coin away, tied the pouch shut, and asked in a small voice, "What's wrong?"
Song Jixin pursed his lips, placed both hands around his neck, and gave it a twist. "Nothing. Just remembered some rotten business. There's no hurry with the one surnamed Chen. No point bringing trouble down on ourselves. But that bookworm Zhao Yao will probably get some coins, too. He's much easier to trick. I guarantee I'll bring you back a pouch of his."
The maidservant looked puzzled, but Song Jixin did not explain. Seeing that her young master had no desire to talk, she did not press him.
Zhi Gui stepped out into the courtyard and spotted that Four-legged snake she had always found an eyesore. It lay half-dead in the sunlight, rolling over now and then as if enjoying itself.
Anger flared in the girl. She strode over, planted a foot on the Four-legged snake's head, and ground her toe down hard.
The poor little creature let out miserable cries.
She lifted her foot, and the Four-legged snake shot away, racing around the courtyard and repeatedly running into the walls.
Their ocher-yellow Four-legged snake.
The golden carp whose greed had led it into the Fish Basket.
The black loach Gu Can kept in a water jar.
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth: three of the five had appeared.
Looking at the horned Four-legged snake, the girl grinned in contempt. "Stupid thing!"
In the courtyard of young Gu Can's home, the old man and the woman still sat facing each other. The old man held out his palm and studied the spreading lines on it, his mood far from easy.
He withdrew his hand and looked up. "Madam Gu, are there many women in this town like you who married men from elsewhere?"
The woman shook her head. "Probably not many. Around Mud Bottle Alley and Apricot Blossom Alley, I'm the only one."
The old man hesitated, then revealed a little of heaven's secrets to her. "For girls, six and twelve are two great thresholds. For boys, they come at nine and eighteen. The first must be crossed on one's own; for the second, outside help can still give a push. After that, there is another matter that can improve the odds. The wealthier the household, the greater its advantage. Opening the door, entering the hall, and stepping into the inner room—of these three tasks, the first two truly depend on fortune and fate. The first especially. Success or failure comes down to whether heaven grants you a meal."
The woman's eyes shone with delight. "Since you picked out my Gu Can at a glance, Immortal Master, he must be someone who can take that first step himself?"
The old man gave her an inscrutable smile. "Any child who remains in this town while growing up is bound to have less-than-outstanding Root Bone and aptitude. Your Gu Can may not be nine yet, but he is no exception."
The woman's face fell at once.
The old man raised a foot and stamped the ground. Smiling, he said, "Don't worry. Root Bone matters, of course, but it isn't the most important thing. If heaven takes a liking to a roadside dog or a wild weed, even it can gradually cultivate the great Dao and, in the end, Ascend to Heaven and soar among the clouds. The town had no choice but to make an exception and allow so many outsiders in this time. Even the finest farmland, after thousands of years of tilling, planting, and harvesting—and several bouts of draining the pond to catch every fish, whatever the cost—will decline and decay. One day, it must become utterly barren. The foundation of this place's feng shui has finally reached its last great year. When a person is close to death, a final blaze of returning light can make their vitality especially mighty. Your Gu Can has benefited from precisely that. His fortune is far greater than you imagine, far surpassing that of the town children who were born with extraordinary gifts before him."
The woman's lips trembled as she struggled to contain her joy. Her eyes glistened, lending her a touch of alluring charm.
The old man glanced at her and smiled. "Of course, don't be greedy. Your son is certainly not the only person to receive such great fortune. To put it bluntly, across the vast East Treasure Bottle Continent, anyone qualified to claim all this fortune alone—if such a person exists—has yet to be born."
The woman clasped both hands to her chest and murmured, "It's enough. It's enough."
The old man thought of the junior woman from Cloud Mist Mountain and scoffed. "Busy from dawn to dusk, racking her brains, yet she only knows how to chase things outside herself. She picked up a sesame seed and lost a watermelon. What a fool."
Then he smiled. "Then again, those old things at Cloud Mist Mountain never could see far. Otherwise, I wouldn't have seized this chance before them. They have a treasure mountain that is almost inexhaustible. Wealth should be rolling in and their fortunes climbing with each passing day. Instead, they've fallen so low they need a junior disciple to keep up appearances."
Inside the house, the child had spent ages punching and kicking the door. Now he stood on a bench, leaning over the windowsill with a pleading face. "Mother, let me out, please! I promise I'll listen to you!"
The woman glanced at the old Immortal Master, who nodded.
Only then did she open the door and lead the child into the courtyard by the hand. With a stern face, she said softly, "Little Can, no causing trouble. Do you hear me? Mother had never hit you before. If you don't behave, I really will hit you again."
The child gave a subdued "Oh" and hung his head, looking listless.
Gu Can brought over a little stool and sat down on his own, the three of them forming a three-legged standoff. Propping his cheeks in his hands, he asked, "Mother, what were you and the storyteller talking about? I couldn't hear clearly from inside. Tell me again, will you?"
The old man gave a soft exclamation. After a moment's thought, he shook his wrist, and the large white bowl reappeared in his palm. He lowered his head and stared intently into it, his expression unreadable. Ripples spread across the water's surface, with occasional splashes. A black line darted about the bowl, striking its sides from time to time. The old man murmured, "So be it. Have it your way."
To take this apprentice, the old man had gone to great lengths in Mud Bottle Alley. He had sacrificed decades of cultivation and managed to interfere three times.
The first was making that woman step in dog shit.
The last was using a secret art to make her firmly believe she had attained enlightenment. Outside the town, that would have been utterly impossible. Even a true Daoist True Lord would likely not have dared attempt it. But here in the town, Cai Jinjian was no different from an ordinary mortal. By paying a great price, the old man had found his opening.
The second interference had been the most exquisite. Even the old man considered it a stroke of divine inspiration: he had made the woman mistake the straw-sandaled youth's well-meant warning for a sly act of revenge. At the time, the old man had slowed the youth's words just enough for her to notice.
He could hardly have been more calculating.
On the path of cultivation, between Fellow Daoists, a favorable tie and a fated grudge lay only a hair's breadth apart.
In the courtyard, Madam Gu's heart rose into her throat again. She was terrified the old Immortal Master would bring bad news.
The old man's mouth twitched. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the child rise stealthily, then bolt for the courtyard gate.
The woman screamed.
Holding the white bowl, the old man rose unhurriedly. "Apprentice, your master will first show you how vast heaven and earth are, lest you fail to grasp what is at stake and ruin the thousand-year enterprise of master and disciple!"
The woman's vision went black, and she fainted to the ground.
The old man swept his sleeve out sharply.
In the next instant, just as the child was about to touch the gate's bolt, he stumbled and fell. When he realized something was wrong, he looked around in bewilderment. Finally, he raised his head toward the storyteller standing beside him. "Where are we?"
The old man clasped his hands behind his back. "Inside the bowl."
The child looked more confused than ever. Then the old man suddenly thundered, "Get up!"
The child sprang to his feet on instinct and stood motionless.
Gu Can found himself standing at the edge of a cliff. Far ahead, a sea of clouds rolled and surged.
Then the child's eyes widened in horror. In the vast whiteness, an enormous body broke through the clouds and moved slowly across the sky.
But it was so immense that he could not make out its full form.
The child was about to step back, but the old man pressed a hand to his head. His face stern, he said, "Take one step back now, and you'll find it impossible to advance even an inch on your future path of cultivation! Stand firm!"
Tears spilled from Gu Can's eyes. This unruly child, who had never feared any rule or consequence, did not even dare cry aloud.
The child could not control his body. His legs shook, and his lips trembled.
The sea of clouds in the distance began to boil.
The misty white clouds seemed to thin.
More of the black shape appeared in the sky, impossibly long and immense. It looked like... the Little Loach he kept in the family water jar, if the creature had suddenly grown to a colossal size.
The thought sprang into the child's mind from nowhere.
At that moment, Gu Can seemed to lose himself. He took a step forward without thinking and stretched his slender arm toward the sky.
A head as huge as a mountain slowly swam out of the sea of clouds toward him.
The child's eyes lit up. He was not afraid in the slightest. He even beckoned and called, "Come here, quick! So you've grown this big! No wonder I always thought so many of the fish, shrimp, and crabs I dropped into the water jar had disappeared by the next day."
Standing behind Gu Can, the River-Cutting True Lord of Book Scroll Lake felt a tangle of emotions. Bitter disappointment and envy mingled with a growing sense of satisfaction.
He himself would certainly never receive fortune this immense. But having such an apprentice was a blessing, too. The trip had unquestionably been worth it!
The old man watched the head draw near with his own eyes and murmured, "A wonder of the world."
Chen Ping'an suddenly told the black-clothed girl he needed to go inside. In the end, he crouched in a corner with his back to her and hid something in his palm.
When he came out, he said he was going to buy her an earthenware pot for boiling medicine. They lacked one at home.
After the straw-sandaled youth hurried away, the girl glanced toward the shadowy corner, where an old pot stood.
And the girl's hearing was very good.
What he held in his palm was a shard of porcelain, razor-sharp.
Before you continue