What Salt

Yuezhou, at the foot of Heavenly Pillar Mountain.

Worthy indeed of its former renown as an immortal mountain and scenic wonder—

Ten years ago, Yuezhou had still been a barren wasteland, inhabited only by demons and ghosts, with not a trace of human life. When the imperial court first relocated people northward, Song You, Three Flower Lady, and Swallow had come along. Only then had Yuezhou begun to have people. Even now, Yuezhou was still far from recovering its former glory. Flying all the way here atop an immortal crane, the human presence below had been nowhere near that of the several provinces in the Central Plains. Yet this Heavenly Pillar Mountain already had quite a few people.

There were even two tea stalls, a wonton shop, and a fermented drink stall at the foot of the mountain. Some local villagers had also converted their homes into thatched inns for passing visitors to stay in.

There were quite a few people climbing the mountain today.

Likely because it was the New Year.

At that moment, the Taoist priest sat at a tea stall at the foot of the mountain, with three bowls of tea set beside him, steaming warmly.

His cat had transformed into a little girl and gone to the fermented drink stall with a waterskin. She was bargaining with the stall owner, hoping that ten coins would be enough for him to fill her waterskin to the brim.

Swallow had transformed into a youth and gone to buy wontons on the other side.

The Taoist priest sat still, patiently waiting to be fed.

"Customer, you really are stingy..."

In the end, the fermented drink seller was persuaded by the little girl. Or perhaps he saw Song You in Taoist robes and took her for the acolyte of an