Going Down the Mountain Together

Back at the Bamboo Lodge, Li Qingyun laughed at himself, ground ink, spread out paper, and picked up his brush to begin writing a letter home.

"Since I defied your kindly teachings, left home, and entered the temple, ten days have passed in the blink of an eye..."

"Maple Mountain is beautiful beyond compare, its scenery like a painting, yet Yun is melancholy and has no heart to admire it. Now that the true teachings lie before me, my heart is cold as ashes. Without a Dao Bone Spiritual Root, can I truly only fade into obscurity as a mere mortal?"

"The autumn wind is clear and cold, and winter snow is coming again. From afar, I think of our old residence: Father righteous, Mother kind, elder brothers friendly, younger brothers respectful, laughter and smiles all around. Whenever Yun thinks that if I achieve nothing in cultivation, disappoint everyone's high hopes, and waste this life in vain, sorrow wells up from the depths of my heart, and tears soak my lapels..."

As he wrote, he could not help thinking of how, not long after he had transmigrated here, this body's birth mother—Lady Liu, the concubine of Marquis Qinghe—had suddenly contracted a terrible illness and passed away in haste. He could not help weaving some genuine feeling between the lines.

By "Father righteous, Mother kind," that "Mother kind" naturally did not refer to Cui, that venomous main wife, but to his birth mother, Lady Liu.

After the Spirit Devouring Gu incident, Li Qingyun increasingly suspected that Lady Liu's sudden death was inevitably connected to Cui and her son!

It was only that unorthodox methods were impossible to guard against, and there was no evidence.

"Cui, heh heh..."

He put away the letter, hurried to the External Affairs Hall, and sent it home.

The cost of mailing a letter was rather steep. It actually cost him twenty taels of silver, displaying the unmistakable style of Lingbao Temple.

The External Affairs Hall handled most of Lingbao Temple's external affairs. It also had a dedicated carriage company, which sent spirit horses, pack beasts, and the like traveling throughout the land, with accomplished temple Daoists acting as escorts. They transported goods back and forth, gathered rare resources from various regions, and incidentally carried letters and such for the back-mountain disciples.

The carriage company's assignments were often fiercely contested by the disciples.

When Li Qingyun went to mail his letter, he saw more than a dozen Daoists arguing, spittle flying everywhere, their faces red and necks thick, apparently fighting over some escort mission.

He had done major business before, so he understood this perfectly well. So long as goods were being transported, a certain degree of loss could be permitted. What was more, this was a grand temple like Lingbao Temple—just a little leakage was enough to keep those disciples well fed.

Moreover, during his time on the back mountain, he had discovered that very few disciples possessed storage artifacts. When moving heavier items, everyone mainly relied on carrying them over their shoulders and backs. Thus, Lingbao Temple's carriage company was as noisy and bustling as a mortal postal station.

Only earlier, in the Dining Hall, had he seen the wealthy Gu Zizhan and that Cui Xinghuo, both with Hundred Treasures Pouches tied at their waists.

It was clear that even the lowest-grade storage artifact, the Hundred Treasures Pouch, was exceedingly expensive and difficult to obtain. Ordinary disciples could not afford one.

This was vastly different from the cultivation world he had imagined, where everyone carried a storage artifact.

Perhaps, even though he was already within Lingbao Temple, he was still separated from the true cultivation world by a single layer.

Maple Mountain Lingbao Temple was not much different from those extraordinary forces in the mortal world. They all entered the secular world and stayed close to the people, gathering incense offerings and resources while incidentally protecting the nearby common folk.

After mailing the letter, he had only just returned to the Bamboo Lodge when Zhao Yifan came looking for him.

This gave Li Qingyun a slight start. Zhao Yifan being able to find his residence meant he had investigated him beforehand.

How many days had it been since he entered the temple? Yet he had already mastered a fairly decent lightning art, comparable to a lightning-art genius!

If Zhao Yifan asks about it later, I can only fob him off by saying I'm extraordinarily gifted. Hmm, it would be fine to make up that I was often struck by lightning as a child. Would that count as having an affinity for lightning?

Or I could let Yuanbao take the blame. I ate some strange fruit it brought back in its mouth...

In an instant, countless thoughts spun through Li Qingyun's mind. He felt that was the only way to fool Zhao Yifan.

As a "lucky fellow" with a Fortune Cat as a pet, having a few unusual encounters was reasonable enough...

Whether Zhao Yifan believed him or not would depend on how "wise" Senior Brother was!

Under the Qi Concealment Art, the aura of spiritual power on his body appeared to be only at the level of having cultivated qi sensation. With Zhao Yifan's meager cultivation, he could not see through him.

Even if something were exposed later, by then Li Qingyun's cultivation would have increased greatly, and he could fully control the situation.

"Junior Brother Qingyun, have you prepared everything these past few days? How about we go down the mountain now? The temple is pressing us hard!"

Zhao Yifan's thick brows relaxed. It was clear he was in an excellent mood.

He wore a satchel made from the hide of some exotic beast. More than a dozen pockets densely covered it, holding talisman paper, bottles and jars, pills, gold, silver, and other items sorted into categories for easy access.

Together with the somewhat conspicuous Peachwood Sword on his back, he was dressed in the standard fashion of a Daoist heading down the mountain on a long journey.

"Heh heh, that fellow Gu Zizhan has returned, and I happened to borrow this Thousand-Year Peachwood Sword. With your lightning art, Junior Brother, this time we'll quell ghosts and bring peace to the people without a hitch..."

Zhao Yifan proudly pointed at the Peachwood Sword on his back.

Li Qingyun gathered spiritual power into his eyes and looked over.

The Peachwood Sword, which had originally appeared plain and unremarkable, immediately burst forth with a blaze of dazzling red radiance in the vision of his Spiritual Eye. It seemed wreathed in dark crimson flames, remarkably mystical.

"This Peachwood Sword truly is a fine thing!"

Li Qingyun could not help praising it.

Zhao Yifan smiled. "Naturally. Otherwise, why would we have waited all these days specifically for it? Qingyun, is there anything you need to pack?"

"My pockets are as empty as if they'd been washed, so I can't compare with Senior Brother's wealth. A change of clothes will do—oh, and this cat..." Li Qingyun turned and stuffed a set of clothes into his bundle.

While rummaging around, he saw the bottle of Minor Grass Pills Yuanbao had brought back in its mouth last night. He took it along as well, thinking it would be just right for concealing things a little.

Then he let out a whistle.

"Meow!" The Big Black Cat, which had been sleeping on the roof, immediately leaped down.

Over the past few days, Yuanbao had secretly eaten all sorts of strange things on the back mountain. Its injuries had completely healed, and it now cut a dashing figure. Even its advancing and retreating feline steps carried considerable majesty, like a miniature black tiger.

"Qingyun, you're something else! I never thought you had such a helper! Fine, since you have this spirit cat, I'll give you another ten percent of this trip's gains!"

The instant Zhao Yifan saw the Big Black Cat, his eyes lit up. Seeming to realize something, he praised it repeatedly.

Well-traveled and knowledgeable as Zhao Yifan was, he naturally recognized Yuanbao as a rather rare spirit cat. On this trip to Yinshan Town, they had gained another powerful assistant!

It was said that certain special black cats could ward off evil, not to mention that this was an even more imposing spirit cat!

Zhao Yifan knew the value of a spirit cat. In his delight, he generously yielded another ten percent of the mission reward.

If not for Junior Brother's handsome face, then at least for the cat's face!

"Heh heh, then let's go! Oh, I need to report before going down the mountain, right?"

"No need. Before coming here, I reported for you as well. Us brothers can head straight down the mountain!"

"Alright, then let's go. Once we're down the mountain, I hope Senior Brother will look after me!"

Li Qingyun closed the door to his room and walked shoulder to shoulder with Zhao Yifan. Behind them, the Big Black Cat followed intermittently, appearing and vanishing.

From time to time, it slipped into the bushes, sometimes disappearing for a long while. It had been born to avoid the beaten path.

Li Qingyun did not bother with it. The Big Black Cat was highly capable; there was no chance it would get lost.

It was already afternoon, and the two men and one cat hurried along, racing against time to go down the mountain.

Along the way, some elite disciples of the temple greeted Zhao Yifan, while looking at Li Qingyun with curiosity and a touch of envy.

Their expressions were quite something, as though they were saying: This useless mortal sure is lucky, to receive such care from Senior Brother Zhao!

Li Qingyun remained calm and indifferent, paying it no mind.