Yu Dynasty, Shenlong era.
After parting ways with Cui Dongshan, Wang Zhu kept only Gong Yan and Wang Qiongju by her side. The other three water manor attendants—Jade Daoist Huang Man, a Ghost Immortal; Li Ba, whose Daoist name was Cuizhang; and Xi Man, an Earth Dragon of terrestrial origin—had all been conscripted by the Qingping Sword Sect. They needed to survey on the ground the course of the future great river and the mountains and waterways along its route. Since they were putting in both labor and effort, they could not be suckers who had their wages docked as well. Wang Zhu and her group, meanwhile, were more like tourists wandering through mountains and rivers, stopping and going as the East Sea Water Lord pleased. The two parties thus went their separate ways, agreeing to meet at Jucui Temple in Luojing on a set date.
Between the Palace City and imperial city of Luojing lay an alley called White Rice Alley. Jucui Temple, presided over by State Protecting True Person Lü Bilong, stood there.
The Daoist temple's buildings were all roofed with Green Glazed Tile fired in the imperial kilns. Ancient pines and cypresses flourished within the temple, their evergreen shade lush throughout the year. Hence its name, Jucui, "Gathered Greenery."
Yet Huang Man and the others arrived in Luojing before the three who had nothing pressing to do. They waited at a tea stall outside a post station beyond the capital. Sure enough, at noon beneath the blazing sun, a plain carriage appeared on the official road. The driver was Young Man Wang Qiongju, carrying a red leather gourd slung diagonally across his back. One look at his attire told outsiders that he was a cultivator. No mortal Master traveling abroad would be foolish enough to carry such