Traveling Down the Mountain Together

Returning to his bamboo hut, Li Qingyun gave a self-deprecating smile. He ground ink, spread paper, and picked up his brush to write a letter home.

"Since leaving your teachings and the family to enter the temple, ten days have passed in a flash..."

"Maple Mountain is beautiful, its scenery like a painting. Yet, I am filled with melancholy and have no heart to admire it. The true methods are before me, but my heart is as cold as ashes. Without Dao Bone or Spiritual Root, am I truly destined to be just an ordinary person?"

"The autumn wind is clear and cold, and winter snow will soon arrive. I fondly recall our home, where father was righteous, mother was kind, elder brothers were friendly, and juniors were respectful, with laughter and joy. Whenever I think of failing in my cultivation and disappointing everyone's high hopes, and of wasting this life, sorrow overwhelms me, and tears wet my clothes..."

As he wrote, he couldn't help but think of his birth mother, Lady Liu, a concubine of Marquis Qinghe, who had suddenly fallen ill and passed away not long after he transmigrated. He couldn't help but infuse his letter with genuine emotion.

When speaking of "father's righteousness and mother's kindness," the "mother's kindness" naturally referred to his birth mother, Lady Liu, not the vicious matriarch of the Cui family.

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

However, such unorthodox methods were hard to guard against, and there was no evidence.

"Cui family, hehe..."

He put away the letter and hurried to the External Affairs Hall to mail it.

The postage was quite expensive, costing him twenty taels of silver, a clear sign of Lingbao Temple's style.

The External Affairs Hall handled most of Lingbao Temple's external affairs and also operated a dedicated transport service. They used spirit horses and beasts to travel across various regions, with accomplished Daoist priests from the temple providing escort. They transported goods, collected rare resources from different places, and also carried letters for disciples in the back mountains.

The tasks of the temple's transport service were often sought after by disciples.

When Li Qingyun went to mail his letter, he saw over a dozen Daoist priests arguing, spitting and red-faced, seemingly fighting over a particular escort mission.

Having been involved in big business before, he understood this well. For any cargo transport, a certain percentage of loss was acceptable. Moreover, for a large temple like Lingbao Temple, even a small leakage was enough for these disciples to live comfortably.

Furthermore, during his time in the back mountains, he hadn't noticed many disciples possessing storage artifacts. When moving heavy items, they mainly relied on shouldering and carrying them. Thus, Lingbao Temple's transport service was bustling, much like ordinary post stations in the mortal world.

Only earlier, in the dining hall, he had seen the wealthy scholar Gu Zizhan and Cui Xinghuo, both wearing Hundred Treasures Pouches at their waists.

This showed that even the lowest-grade storage artifact, the Hundred Treasures Pouch, was very expensive and rare, beyond the reach of ordinary disciples.

It was far from the image he had of the cultivation world, where everyone had a storage artifact.

Perhaps, even though he was now at Lingbao Temple, he was still a layer away from the true cultivation world.

Maple Mountain's Lingbao Temple was not much different from extraordinary forces in the mortal world; they engaged with the populace, collected incense and resources, and incidentally protected the surrounding common people.

After mailing the letter, he had just returned to his bamboo hut when Zhao Yifan showed up.

This made Li Qingyun slightly startled. The fact that Zhao Yifan could find his residence indicated that he had investigated him beforehand.

Considering how many days it had been since he joined the temple, he had already grasped a decent Lightning Method, comparable to a lightning method genius!

"If Zhao Yifan asks about this later, I'll just have to use 'extraordinary talent' as an excuse. Hmm, fabricating a story about being struck by lightning often as a child wouldn't hurt either. Does that count as having a natural affinity for lightning!"

"Or, I could let Yuanbao take the blame, saying I ate a strange fruit it brought back..."

Li Qingyun's thoughts raced in an instant. He felt this was the only way to fool Zhao Yifan.

As a "lucky one" with a money-cat as a pet, having some special encounters would be considered reasonable, right...

Whether he believed it or not would depend on his senior brother's discernment!

Under the Qi Concealment Art, his mana aura appeared to be at the level of having sensed Qi. Zhao Yifan's cultivation level wouldn't be able to see through his true depth.

Even if his true abilities were exposed later, by then Li Qingyun's cultivation would have greatly increased, allowing him to control the situation.

"Junior Brother Qingyun, have you made all your preparations these past few days? Shall we head down the mountain now? The temple is urging us!"

Zhao Yifan's thick eyebrows unfurled, and he looked to be in high spirits.

He wore a saddlebag made of exotic beast hide. The saddlebag had over a dozen pockets, neatly organized for talismans, vials, pills, and silver, allowing for easy access.

Coupled with the somewhat conspicuous Peachwood Sword on his back, it was the standard attire for a Daoist priest heading out on a journey.

"Heh heh, that fellow Gu Zizhan is back, and I managed to borrow this thousand-year-old Peachwood Sword. With your Lightning Method, Junior Brother, this ghost-suppressing and peace-restoring mission will surely go smoothly..."

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

Li Qingyun focused his mana, looking over.

The seemingly ordinary Peachwood Sword, in his "Spiritual Eye" vision, suddenly emitted a blinding red glow, as if wreathed in dark red flames, appearing quite mystical.

"This Peachwood Sword is indeed a good item!"

Li Qingyun couldn't help but exclaim.

Zhao Yifan chuckled, "Naturally. Otherwise, why would I have waited all these days! Qingyun, do you have anything you need to pack?"

"My pockets are empty, unlike my generous senior brother. A change of clothes will suffice. Oh, and this cat..." Li Qingyun turned and stuffed his clothes into a bundle.

While searching, he saw the Minor Grass Pill bottle Yuanbao had brought back last night and decided to take it along, thinking it could serve as a slight cover.

Then, he let out a whistle.

"Meow!" The big black cat, which had been sleeping on the roof, immediately jumped down.

Yuanbao had been secretly eating various good things in the back mountains these past few days, and its injuries had already healed. Now, it was majestic and spirited, its feline movements exuding a powerful aura, like a miniature black tiger.

"Qingyun, you're amazing! I didn't expect you to have such a helper! Alright, since you have this spirit cat, I'll give you an extra ten percent of the spoils from this trip!"

Zhao Yifan's eyes lit up when he saw the big black cat. He seemed to understand something and praised it repeatedly.

Zhao Yifan, with his extensive knowledge, naturally recognized Yuanbao as a rather rare spirit cat. With an additional helper for their trip to Yinshan Town, it was even better!

Rumor had it that certain black cats could ward off evil, and this was an even more magnificent spirit cat!

Zhao Yifan knew the value of a spirit cat and, in his good mood, generously offered to give up ten percent of the mission reward.

Even if he didn't consider his junior brother's handsome face, he should at least consider the cat's!

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

"No need, I already filed a report for you before I came. We two brothers can head down the mountain directly!"

"Alright, let's go. I hope my senior brother will take care of me more once we're down the mountain!"

Li Qingyun closed the door and walked side-by-side with Zhao Yifan. Behind them, the big black cat trailed them, appearing and disappearing.

It would occasionally slip into the bushes, sometimes vanishing for a long time. It had never been one to take the usual path.

Li Qingyun didn't pay it any mind. This big black cat was quite capable and wouldn't get lost.

It was already afternoon, and the two men and one cat hurried down the mountain, eager to make good use of their time.

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

Their expressions were telling, as if to say: This useless mortal is truly lucky to have received such special attention from Senior Brother Zhao!

Li Qingyun remained nonchalant, unfazed.