"Taibai isn't coming this time. He went off with that Young Master Jiang to seek immortality. It's a good thing, in its way."
Yuan Danqiu and Meng Haoran stood inconspicuously at the back, listening to the guests' chatter. They watched as the guests composed themselves again.
The two exchanged amused looks.
Yuan Danqiu raised his eyes and surveyed the residence.
The Lu Family's old house had fallen into ruin. Many of its decorative screens and furnishings had been sold off, leaving the reception hall bare, as though bandits had ransacked it. Still, it was clear that the place had excellent feng shui, and that the family had once kept an upright household.
A locust tree stood in the courtyard. Though many years had passed, its crown was thick with leaves. Its trunk and roots were partly withered, yet it still offered shade to those beneath it.
"This tree is dead, yet its branches and leaves remain so lush," Meng Haoran said.
Yuan Danqiu had a sharp eye.
"There's an anthill underneath it, too."
Meng Haoran lowered his head to look. "Anthills are perfectly ordinary. Come on, let's go wish the Grand Matriarch a happy birthday. Since Taibai couldn't come this time, we should give an extra gift on his behalf."
Yuan Danqiu asked, "What did you prepare?"
Meng Haoran was three parts more worldly than Yuan Danqiu, the Daoist, and Li Bai, the mad poet.
"Some gold and silver trinkets, as a small token of consolation."
Yuan Danqiu nodded.
"That will do."
They registered their gifts at the entrance. Seeing that the young servant was busy attending to the guests, they made their way through the reception hall and went to greet the Grand Matriarch where she was receiving visitors.
"When we came last time, the household had four servants. Were the other three all sold off?"
Meng Haoran looked around and couldn't help shaking his head.
"The family's fortunes have dwindled, and its descendants are unworthy."
"What a pity. What a shame."
It was the Grand Matriarch's birthday banquet. Though it was not yet time for the evening feast, she was already dressed and made up, wearing a dark blue, gold-embroidered shawl. A hairpin adorned her head, though it was neither gold nor silver, but a piece of white jade, slightly dulled with age. It was probably an old keepsake she had saved at the bottom of her trunk.
Though the Lu Family had fallen on hard times, the old matriarch refused to show any weakness before her guests.
When she saw the two men, she was delighted, her voice warm and familiar.
"Haoran, you've come."
Meng Haoran, whose given name was Hao and courtesy name was Haoran, smiled and nodded, then bowed to the old matriarch.
"May you be well, Old Madam. I wish you a long and healthy life, bright as the ever-shining moon and steadfast as an unmoving mountain."
The old matriarch smiled and returned his greeting, saying he needn't be so modest. But she was pleased all the same. She looked past the two of them, only for her gaze to find nothing.
"Has that boy Taibai come? Where is he?"
Meeting the old matriarch's expectant gaze, Yuan Danqiu privately cursed Taibai for slipping away and leaving them to deal with the Grand Matriarch. With a smile, he said:
"Taibai had meant to visit the Grand Matriarch with us, but the rainy road was slippery, and he took a fall and hurt himself. I told him to go see a physician."
"Another day, I'll have him come in person to offer you his congratulations."
The Grand Matriarch asked with concern, "Was he badly hurt?"
"I still have some medicated oil," she said. "It's made from a prescription of Immortal Sun's. It works best for sprains and bruises. Xiuxiang, fetch a bottle and bring it to our two guests."
Immortal Sun was Sun Simiao, who had passed away forty years ago. His disciples and their disciples still practiced medicine across Tang Land, and many prescriptions had been passed down—or attributed to him.
The Lu Grand Matriarch was genuinely eager to arrange a marriage for Li Bai and save her family.
Her concern at that moment was genuine, too.
"True feelings are the most complicated of all."
Jiang She spoke, glancing sideways at Li Bai.
They stood right in the hall, among the guests. They watched Meng Haoran pause for two breaths in response to the Grand Matriarch's question, deliberately drawing attention to Yuan Danqiu. They also saw Yuan Danqiu shoot Meng Haoran a covert glare before replying.
Six or seven guests were in the room, along with two or three servants. Meng Haoran and Yuan Danqiu stood before the seats, while the old matriarch sat in a chair, welcoming guests and receiving their congratulations.
Twelve people, yet not one noticed Jiang She and Li Bai.
They went unknown.
They went unseen.
Li Bai looked around in astonishment. He realized that even their conversation went unheard by anyone in the room. He wondered what profound immortal art had been used.
He even reached out and touched the fruit plate on a nearby table, finding that he could touch it.
He was all the more amazed.
Li Bai came back to himself. "The Lu Grand Matriarch is a good person. She's just stubborn."
Jiang She asked with interest:
"If you were in Taibai's place, what would you do?"
"Scholar Lu has an eldest son. He could raise him to adulthood and make arrangements for the future. The old matriarch manages the household's finances, then hands them over to her granddaughter, making sure Scholar Lu can't get his hands on the family's money."
"As for Scholar Lu himself..."
"Whether he's delusional, possessed, or dead or alive..."
"What does it have to do with me?"
His tone was indifferent. He clearly disapproved of the Lu Family's conduct, and had even less regard for the eldest son's actions. He showed Jiang She exactly what he thought, without reservation.
After speaking, Li Bai watched Jiang She intently, waiting to see how he would react.
Though he was carefree and proud, and regarded ordinary people as fools, he cared especially about Jiang She's opinion.
After all, he had seen it with his own eyes.
This was an immortal.
Just then, a noise came from the doorway.
A servant boy came over and leaned close to the Grand Matriarch's ear to whisper.
Jiang She raised a finger slightly.
At his gesture, the servant's whisper grew loud in the small room, clear enough for the two of them to hear.
"Grand Matriarch, the eldest young master asks you to come over..." The servant boy stammered, hesitated, then added, "The eldest young master wants to sell the last eighty mu of land."
The Grand Matriarch's face turned deathly white, then flushed red with anger.
Mindful of the guests filling the room, she held back her outburst. Instead, she seized her maid's sleeve and let herself be helped to her feet.
The instant she stood, rage surged through the Lu Grand Matriarch. Her anger overwhelmed her, and she fainted, collapsing to the ground.
The guests cried out in alarm. They had no idea what the servant boy had said to make the Grand Matriarch fall, and hurried to lift her, all hands reaching at once.
"Grand Matriarch!"
"Careful!"
"What happened?"
Jiang She and Li Bai stood at a distance. Compared to the other guests, they knew best what had happened. They had heard the servant boy's words.
"Come on, let's go see that Scholar Lu," Jiang She said.
Li Bai carried the bamboo basket of gifts from Old Deer Mountain God and followed him out.
As they walked, a thought stirred in Li Bai's mind.
The Lu Family's troubles were hardly rare in the world: unworthy descendants failing their family's legacy. He had heard of countless such cases himself.
But when linked to a Mountain God and an Earth Deity, the story took on another meaning.
Scholar Lu, who had made a pact with Deer Mountain God, had died eight hundred years ago. In those days, the land was still Han Land.
Mortals couldn't see the causes and connections of the past; they saw only a family fallen into decline.
This was how a leaf could obscure the eye.
The strangeness of it kept Li Bai studying Jiang She as they walked.
The world of mortals, as immortals saw it...
What did it look like?
A small courtyard.
"I want to seek immortality!"
"I've already met an immortal master!"
"Bring Grandmother here! The immortal master has promised to accept me as his disciple once I have another hundred and fifty strings of cash! Don't ruin my chance or make me miss my immortal fate!"
A scholar-looking man in his early thirties, wearing a gauze cap and a white scholar's robe, was held fast by the servants around him. Cries rose all around, mixed with one plea after another.
"My lord, don't be deluded!"
A servant knelt and begged. "We've never seen any immortal fate, and who knows where the immortal master is? We've already thrown away so much money for nothing... My lord! Those eighty mu are the last fields the Lu Family has. We'll need them to farm and study in the future!"
"We absolutely mustn't sell them."
"We absolutely mustn't..."
Scholar Lu shouted at them.
"Once I become an immortal master's disciple, what sort of family estate couldn't I acquire? Don't begrudge these worldly possessions! Then, let alone passing the imperial examinations, I could become a high official, take a princess as my wife, and deserve every bit of it!"
As he listened to these words, the servant kept wiping at his tears, rubbing his face over and over with the back of his hand.
Scholar Lu finally broke free and shoved him hard to the ground, steadying himself against the table.
"Don't stand in the way of my path to immortality!"
"Go fetch Grandmother at once—"
"I have something important to discuss with her!"
Looking at the servant on the ground, wiping his tears and weeping, Scholar Lu turned his head slightly and murmured:
"When I've gathered enough money, when I've gathered enough money..."
Before you continue