Yao Jiang opened the bundle he carried with him. Inside were some coin shells and sacrificial meat.
Verdant Green Maiden waved him away. "I don't take disciples. Go."
Yao Jiang hurriedly asked, "Immortal Aunt, why won't you take me?"
Verdant Green Maiden looked at him strangely. "What's the problem with me not taking you? You're a strange one."
"Does Immortal Aunt think my Apprenticeship Gift isn't precious enough?"
Yao Jiang assumed Verdant Green Maiden wanted more gifts. "Please give me two days, Immortal Aunt. I'll bring you an even better gift!"
Verdant Green Maiden shook her head in distaste.
"No matter how precious a gift you bring, it won't help. I don't take disciples."
Yao Jiang looked at Verdant Green Maiden, still confused.
"Throughout history, when Immortals take mortals as disciples, it often becomes a beautiful story. I believe my aptitude is decent. Why won't you take me?"
"What does it matter to me whether your aptitude is good or not?"
"Go find whichever Immortal is taking disciples. Why pester me?"
Verdant Green Maiden frowned and walked around Yao Jiang, intending to leave.
But Yao Jiang hurriedly grabbed the hem of her robe. "Immortal Aunt, please don't go! I beg you to take me as your disciple!"
"Let go!"
Verdant Green Maiden turned back, her brows knitted as she stared at the hem Yao Jiang had seized.
Was he crazy or what?
Wasn't anyone going to do something?
"Please forgive my offense, Immortal Aunt, but if you won't take me as your disciple, I absolutely won't give up!"
Yao Jiang looked at Verdant Green Maiden with grave determination, as though he truly wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted.
"How can you be so..."
Verdant Green Maiden looked at Yao Jiang, her eyes full of confusion.
How strange!
In two thousand years, she'd met all kinds of people, but never anyone like this. Had he listened to too many tales of the supernatural, and now he was here seeking immortality?
Did he think snakes were easy to mess with?
Verdant Green Maiden yanked her robe free and stared at Yao Jiang. "You want to become my disciple, is that it?"
Hearing this, Yao Jiang thought she'd agreed and promptly fell to his knees.
"Master, please accept your disciple's bow!"
"Don't rush!"
Verdant Green Maiden stopped Yao Jiang from kowtowing. A playful smile touched her face. "I haven't given you your gift yet."
Yao Jiang smiled and shook his head. "What kind of master gives their disciple a gift?"
"No, no, no. You have to give this gift!"
Verdant Green Maiden smiled and shook her head. She set down the bundle she was carrying, and her smile suddenly vanished.
Green scales appeared at the corners of her eyes.
In the blink of an eye, she transformed from a woman into a snake!
Her true form emerged: a green serpent taller than a person. Its vertical pupils fixed on the stunned Yao Jiang. Verdant Green Maiden opened her mouth, showing off her fangs with a little shake, then flicked her tongue and asked, "Well? Do you like this gift?"
"A m-monster!!!"
Yao Jiang collapsed to the ground, scrambling away on all fours as he screamed and fled.
Verdant Green Maiden returned to human form, picked up the bundle she'd set on the ground, and brushed off the dust.
Yao Jiang's cries had woken the neighbors. They came out to see what was happening.
When they saw Verdant Green Maiden standing alone at the entrance, they looked even more puzzled.
"Qing Xian Gu, what happened?"
"Nothing. A young man was possessed, and I just cured him. Look, he even left these things behind to thank me."
Verdant Green Maiden pointed to the coin shells and sacrificial meat Yao Jiang had left behind.
Hearing her words, the neighbors praised her, saying Qing Xian Gu was beautiful and kindhearted.
After Yao Jiang's interruption, Verdant Green Maiden couldn't leave that day, so she stayed another night. Not long after setting out the next day, she saw Yao Jiang lead a large group of people carrying clubs straight to her home.
"Where's the Snake Demon? Where is it?"
At Yao Jiang's command, the group smashed up the house as they searched for Verdant Green Maiden.
Hearing the commotion, the neighbors all rushed outside!
When they heard Yao Jiang call Verdant Green Maiden a Snake Demon and claim he'd come to capture it, they unhesitatingly took her side and confronted him.
There was something to be said for treating others kindly. At least now, people were willing to speak up for her.
Verdant Green Maiden silently thanked the neighbors, then shouldered her pack and left Luoyang.
After she left, the tale of Qing Xian Gu in Luoyang City gradually faded. Meanwhile, a Cultivator named Yao Jiang began to make a name for himself. Under the pretext of hunting demons, he gathered a group of people and founded a so-called Immortal sect called Tian Yuan Palace.
They searched the whole world for traces of Verdant Green Maiden!
By the time she heard about it, twenty years had passed since she'd left Luoyang City. Tian Yuan Palace had also grown into a sizeable organization, and at a glance, it even looked the part.
But finding a snake in this vast world was like fishing a needle out of the ocean.
How could it be that easy?
Besides, Tian Yuan Palace's cultivators called themselves practitioners of immortality, but they were more like a bunch of people who'd gathered to work on their health. They hadn't just failed to learn how to hunt demons; they hadn't even found the path to cultivation.
They weren't even as capable as the three Daoists who'd stopped her outside Chao Ge City all those years ago.
At least those three had possessed some genuine skill.
Still, the arrival of Tian Yuan Palace brought Verdant Green Maiden a little entertainment in her spare time.
As the saying went, "If no one offends me, I won't offend them."
Since the other side had publicly vowed to eliminate her, why should she bother with reason?
Whenever she had the chance, Verdant Green Maiden would let her whereabouts slip just enough to draw a few Tian Yuan Palace cultivators into investigating.
Then she'd toss every last one of them into Xiao Mountain to feed the wolves!
Over the years, the wolves in Xiao Mountain grew fat and sleek, and were so grateful to Verdant Green Maiden that they even stopped eating passing travelers. They just waited for her to bring them fresh cultivators.
Could it be that trained meat tasted better than untrained meat?
After she'd fed the wolves for a few more years, Tian Yuan Palace suddenly stopped its large-scale search for Verdant Green Maiden. That took away a fair bit of her amusement.
Gradually, legends of the Queen Mother of the West began to spread.
They said that far to the west lay Kunlun Mountain, where a female Immortal lived, called the Queen Mother of the West.
If one could meet the Queen Mother of the West, one could obtain the way to eternal life!
Nothing attracted a king more than immortality. The reigning King Ji Man of Zhou summoned cultivators from across the land and led the Western Six Divisions on a Western Expedition to seek immortality.
Verdant Green Maiden suddenly understood!
No wonder Tian Yuan Palace had abruptly stopped pursuing her.
She figured the cultivators of Tian Yuan Palace must have thought: though the common people of the land are living in misery, once we Immortal Masters become Immortals, surely we can fix everything with a casual wave of the hand!
What could demon-slaying possibly offer compared to the bliss of eternal life?
Verdant Green Maiden knew the tale of Mu Tian Zi meeting the Queen Mother of the West. According to legend, King Mu of Zhou Ji Man had reached the farthest western edge of Heaven, met the Queen Mother of the West, and enjoyed a warm conversation with her.
As for whether the records in the Tale of Mu Tian Zi were true, and whether the Queen Mother of the West really existed—
Verdant Green Maiden didn't know.
Outside Hao Jing, Verdant Green Maiden sat cross-legged before Jiang Ziya's grave.
Alone, she chattered on and on.
"Jiang Ziya, do you think I should go have a look? But Kunlun is so far away. Still, what if the Queen Mother of the West really exists? Surely an Immortal that powerful would know how to become a dragon?"
A breeze passed, and the leaves rustled.
Verdant Green Maiden gazed at the quiet grave mound and patted the ground.
"Show yourself! Aren't you Jiang Tai Gong?"
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