In the garden of the White Jade Palace on Penglai Immortal Island, White Deer Immortal and Chen Renfeng quietly watched the water mirror. As usual, the white crane stood silently behind Chen Renfeng.
Suddenly, Ancestor Lu's clear laughter rang out from the garden. "How is it?"
White Deer followed the sound and saw Ancestor Lu floating down from the sky, accompanied by a Heavenly Venerable who stood atop a Black Tortoise Spirit Beast. She hurriedly leaped up from her stool and bowed. "White Deer pays her respects to Emperor Xuantian!"
Chen Renfeng was startled when he heard this. He quickly bowed as well, while the white crane flapped its wings.
"Fellow Daoist White, there's no need for such formalities."
"I heard that you sent those two pieces of jade into the mortal world to undergo tribulation at the Queen Mother of the West's command. I came specifically to observe the karmic consequences in the human realm." True Martial Great Emperor's voice was gentle.
"Emperor, please take a seat." White Deer stepped aside and gestured to the seat with one hand.
True Martial Great Emperor nodded with a smile and sat down beside Ancestor Lu.
True Martial Great Emperor's mount, the Black Tortoise Spirit Beast, considerately found a tree beneath which to rest. Seeing its chance, the white crane flapped its wings and ran over to circle around it. Chen Renfeng did not stop it, thinking, Why did True Martial Great Emperor come here? Did Ancestor Lu invite him himself?
Ancestor Lu asked, "White Deer, have Bai Yu and Qing Shi grown up?"
White Deer pursed her lips and smiled. "Emperor, eight years have already passed in the mortal world since you left."
"Oh? Where are Qing Shi and Bai Yu now?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?" White Deer Immortal lightly tapped the water mirror with her fingertip, and the scene within began to shift—
A small boat was cutting across the water. Strange peaks towered along the banks, encircled by the Yunling Mountains. Standing upright at the bow was a person wearing a bamboo hat. A pearl-white headband held back their hair, which fell to their shoulders. They wore a long robe of fine silk in the same color, a pearl-white sash around their waist, and had a wooden-frame pack resting at their feet. They looked every inch a refined young physician.
The boatman at the stern wore a bamboo hat and rowed with steady strokes as he sang a local ballad:
"Seeking immortals at Yuyuan Immortal Site and Immortal Lake, A stretch of misty waters dotted with reeds.
Heaven has always been linked to the Azure Sea, Yet no one in the human world speaks of Penglai.
Wild ducks and gulls drift over the sandy islets, Peach and willow shade turns the scene into a painting.
Most beautiful is when the moon palace opens deep at night, Glazed waters stretching for miles beneath a single lonely streak of light."
Hearing this, the young person at the bow carefully savored the rhythm before laughing aloud. "Old sir, you sing wonderfully. I could tell right away that you have the accent of the Luoqie Tribe."
The boatman laughed in reply. "Ha-ha, you can actually understand our Luoqie Tribe accent? That's rare!"
The young person answered, "My ancestors came from the Luoqie Tribe. They lived around the lake, farming, hunting, and fishing for hundreds of years."
Seeing that the young physician had a fair complexion and clearly spoke with the accent of Shànchǎn Prefecture, the boatman did not fully believe them—quite a few outsiders came to tour the lake during this season.
Halfway through the journey, the boatman reminded them, "Miss, that little island ahead is Gushan Island."
The young physician froze for a moment, then asked with a smile, "Uncle, how could you tell I'm a woman? I'm clearly a man."
"Ha-ha, I, Meng San, have been ferrying people for over thirty years. I've seen all kinds of travelers coming and going. Though you're tall and dressed like a traveling physician, you don't smell of sweat, your clothes are neat, and you even have pierced earlobes. No offense, cough, cough..."
The young physician smiled faintly, impressed by the boatman's sharp eyes, then asked with concern, "Uncle Meng, you've been coughing all this way. From the sound of it, you have dampness and cold in your lungs?"
"Good eyes, miss. The moisture on the lake is heavy. It's an old ailment." Meng San took a drink from his water flask and laughed. "Our Southern Expedition Country has believed in Buddhism for hundreds of years. I often visit temples to burn incense. Looking at your face, miss, you even resemble a bodhisattva!"
"You can read faces too?"
Meng San laughed. "Your forehead is full and your jaw broad and round; your brows are radiant, your eyes like stars; your nose is like a jade pillar, your lips like vermilion pearls, and your ears have well-defined rims. You have the living appearance of Guanyin Bodhisattva."
The young physician's cheeks reddened at his words. She lowered her head, took a white porcelain bottle from the medicine case in her pack, poured out a pill, and said with a smile, "I'm only a servant boy working for Guanyin Bodhisattva. If you don't mind, Uncle, try taking this Dampness-Expelling Pill."
Meng San accepted it without hesitation and swallowed it. The pill melted the instant it entered his mouth. A warm current flowed from his throat into his abdomen and through his organs, heating his entire body and instantly invigorating his spirit.
After the medicinal power was absorbed, Meng San exclaimed in amazement, "Miss, are you really a servant of the bodhisattva? After taking this divine medicine, I feel like a completely different person!"
The young physician smiled. "Uncle, I was only joking."
Meng San scratched his head, growing even more curious. "Where are you from, miss? What brings you here?"
The young person smiled, revealing white teeth, and answered frankly, "I'm from Fujian Road in Gongjiao Country. I've come back to Southern Expedition Country to find someone... and avenge my mother."
Meng San was startled. This girl looks so well-behaved. How can she speak so bluntly about revenge? He kindly advised her, "Forgive an old man for saying too much, miss. Gushan Island is deserted. Deep in the forest, there are not only pythons and beasts, but perhaps criminals hiding there as well. You're alone. You really shouldn't... go..."
The young physician ignored his warning and interrupted, "Uncle Meng, look at the water of Luoqie Lake. It's so blue."
"Rivers carry sand. They can't become clear without sedimentation. The upper reaches are Xingyun Lake. The mud, sand, and dead branches from the mountains and water settle there before flowing into Luoqie Lake," Meng San explained.
The young person nodded without speaking, gradually sinking into her memories. When she was little, she had once asked her mother why Luoqie Lake was so blue. Her mother had gently stroked her head and told her that there was a Green Fragrance Tree beneath the lake. It kept the water clear and sustained the tribespeople living along Luoqie Lake.
Meng San stopped disturbing her and continued rowing. Gushan Island drew closer.
The young physician lifted her pack and prepared to go ashore when she suddenly saw an unmanned boat drifting over from the waters to the south.
"Uncle Meng, look at that boat drifting over there!"
She pointed toward the water three li away. A small boat was slowly moving north with the current.
Meng San glanced over. "It looks as though it drifted down from Xingyun Lake. The person rowing it is probably asleep."
"It doesn't look like he's asleep. Look, he's lying facedown, with one hand hanging outside the boat. Something must have happened. Hurry, let's go take a look." As she spoke, the young person set down her luggage.
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the two boats were less than ten zhang apart. The young physician's sharp eyes caught sight of the occupant, and she shouted, "It's a little novice monk! He's been shot in the shoulder and injured. Row faster, Uncle!"
Meng San rowed harder, but the young physician still found him too slow. She tapped the water with her toe and flew across its surface, leaping onto the other boat in two breaths. On closer inspection, the little novice monk lay motionless against the side of the boat. A feathered arrow as thick as a finger pierced his right shoulder, and blood dripped down his arm, drawing a school of small fish that fought over it.
The young physician placed two fingers against his left wrist. His pulse was still present. She turned and said, "Uncle Meng, he's still alive."
Meng San tied the bows of the two boats together with a rope and jumped over as well. He helped the young physician carry the little novice monk into the middle of the boat. Only after moving him did they see that he was a chubby, fair-skinned boy of around fourteen or fifteen. His face was deathly pale, and his breathing was faint. Holding him, Meng San felt that his chances were slim and nearly began chanting a rebirth sutra—Buddhism was widely practiced in Southern Expedition Country, and people of all ages could recite scriptures.
The young physician hurriedly took a Returning Yang Rescue Reversal Heart Protecting Pill from her medicine case, pried open the little novice monk's mouth, and fed it to him. She then used an acupuncture-point sealing technique to block his Jianjing, Jianzhen, and Jianliao acupoints.
The sun was blazing, and the boat rocked gently with the waves. The young physician knew this was no place to remove the arrow and treat his wounds. She quickly said, "Uncle Meng, let's get to Gushan Island and find somewhere sheltered from the wind and sun to treat him. If we wait any longer, his arm won't be salvageable."
"All right, all right, miss. I'll row us there right away." As Meng San spoke, he gently laid the little novice monk facedown on the boat planks.
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