Old Deer Mountain God

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Old Deer Mountain God (老鹿山神)
Alias(es)	Lumen Mountain Deity; White Deer Mountain God; Deer Mountain God 3 11 24
Species/Race	Spiritual white deer; local mountain deity 3 4
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Lumen Mountain
Occupation/Role	Master and protector of Lumen Mountain; formerly guardian of the Lu family’s descendants 3 21 24
Status	Alive; still cultivating 33
First Appearance	Chapter 3

Background / History

Before becoming Lumen Mountain’s deity, the Old Deer Mountain God was a spiritual deer with no knowledge of cultivation. A hunter shot him in the leg and intended to sell him, but Scholar Lu recognized his sentience after the deer pleaded for mercy. Scholar Lu treated his wound, released him, lent him Daoist books, and recited scriptures to him for ten years, giving him his first glimpse of the Dao. 4

In repayment, he promised to protect Scholar Lu’s descendants. He kept that vow for roughly eight centuries and thirty-two generations, witnessing the Lu family’s rise, decline, births, marriages, and deaths. Though he believed the debt had long been repaid, he chose to intervene one final time when Scholar Lu’s descendant fell into Zhang Zhenmei’s swindle. 3 4

His paired white-deer counterpart died after his Dao power waned and his natural lifespan approached its end. Jiang She later extended the Old Deer Mountain God’s life by ten years with a single stick of incense. 3

After Zhang Zhenmei’s fraud was exposed and the Lu family’s stolen money recovered, the Old Deer Mountain God’s ancestral bond with the Lu family was formally ended. The family returned the crude clay deer statue that had preserved their connection. 24

Appearance

The Old Deer Mountain God appears either as a pale, sacred old deer or as a frail but dignified elder with entirely white hair and beard. His human form carries the bearing of an ancient immortal despite his visible age. 3 11

• In deer form, he is a pale white deer whose movements appear divine and sacred. 3
• In human form, he has snow-white brows hanging past his ears, a deeply lined face, and a long white beard. 11
• He wears a crane-feather cloak, cloud-patterned shoes, and garments embroidered with pines, cypresses, and wild deer. 11
• His age is physically apparent; mortals describe him as trembling and unsteady, with no black remaining in his hair or beard. 24

Personality

The Old Deer Mountain God is conscientious, grateful, and deeply bound by old kindness. Although obtaining an audience with Jiang She represented a rare chance to seek a longer life or higher Dao, he spent that opportunity asking for help for the Lu family instead. He later acknowledged the regret in that decision, but did not deny his responsibility to Scholar Lu’s descendants. 4

He is reflective about mortality and cultivation. Having watched generations of mortals die and fellow cultivators exhaust their lifespans, he understands both the difficulty of the Dao and the limits of divine longevity. 4 37

Around Jiang She, he is humble and reverent, consistently calling himself a “minor deity.” In dealing with fraudsters or guiding lesser spirits, however, he can be stern, authoritative, and instructive. 11 22 26

Abilities & Skills

Mountain Deity Authority

As master of Lumen Mountain, he possesses the authority of a local god over the mountain and its surrounding spiritual affairs. 21

• Can hear human speech within his domain. 18 22
• Can manifest in response to Jiang She’s summons, appearing at the Lu residence almost instantly. 11
• Can make himself visible to mortals when he chooses. 21
• Maintains barriers that conceal supernatural activity from mortal perception. 26
• Protected those placed within Jiang She’s dream and understood their location within it. 14
• Agreed to guard the path of those who received Jiang She’s “thread of fate.” 12

Transformation

He can shift between his natural deer form and a human elder’s form. 3 4

• Appears as a pale, spiritually awakened white deer. 3
• Assumes the form of an aged human deity to converse with other gods and mortals. 4 11

Daoist Knowledge

The Old Deer Mountain God has cultivated for centuries and is recognized among local spirits for his profound Daoist skill. 26

• Lectures spirits and beasts on the methods by which mountain and river deities regulate earth veins. 11
• Taught the Earth Deity Mountain Demon how to regulate earth veins and protect nearby lands from disaster. 28
• Explains the connection between divine perception, temple statues, and shrine spirit slips. 22
• Understands the difficulty of orthodox cultivation, emphasizing virtue, freedom from vanity, good deeds, and a worthy master. 5

Longevity

The Old Deer Mountain God has lived for more than eight centuries, though he remains subject to the limits of a mountain spirit’s lifespan. 4 21

• Received ten additional years of life from Jiang She’s incense. 3
• Cannot preserve his cultivation through the ghostly path without abandoning his connection to the earth veins and starting anew. 27

Relationships

• Jiang She — Revered benefactor and traveling companion. Jiang She extended his lifespan by ten years, resolved the Lu family’s crisis, and later traveled with him. 3 11 37 40
• Scholar Lu — Mortal benefactor who saved him from a hunter, treated his wound, and introduced him to Daoist scriptures. 4
• Lu Family — Descendants of Scholar Lu whom he guarded for eight centuries; their ancestral bond was severed after the Zhang Zhenmei affair. 3 24
• Earth Deity Mountain Demon — Fellow local deity and friend. The Old Deer Mountain God guided him in Daoist understanding and earth-vein regulation. 4 26 28
• Li Bai — A mortal seeker of the Dao whom he invites to observe the feast of ghosts and gods; Li Bai later travels alongside him and Jiang She. 25 26 40
• Old Temple Master of Pure Void Temple — The Old Deer Mountain God saved him as a child by sealing his Heavenly Eye and arranging for him to grow up at the temple. 32 33

Story Role / Major Arcs

Lu Family Crisis

The Old Deer Mountain God asks Jiang She to investigate the Lu family after his own exorcism fails to help Scholar Lu. Jiang She’s intervention reveals that Zhang Zhenmei and his companions had deceived the family rather than possessed its heir. 3 11

He assists in confronting the swindlers and later accompanies Jiang She and Li Bai to recover 680 strings of cash for the Lu family. 22 23

End of the Lu Family Bond

After the Lu family’s wealth is returned, Jiang She reveals the mountain god’s eight-century pact with their ancestors. The Old Deer Mountain God accepts the return of the family’s deer statue, ending his duty to watch over them. 24

Feast of Ghosts and Gods

He invites Li Bai and Jiang She to an Earth Deity’s celebration, then serves as a respected senior figure among the gathered gods, ghosts, and spirits. He reassures the Earth Deity Mountain Demon about Jiang She’s arrival and gives the immortal a place of honor. 25 26

Journey from Xiangyang

The Old Deer Mountain God leaves Xiangyang with Jiang She, Li Bai, and Yuan Danqiu, traveling northwest toward Luoyang. 40 41

Ru Prefecture Incident

He accompanies Jiang She to the Fourth Young Master Temple and recognizes that its deity relies on incense offerings and believers’ wish-power—an approach he identifies as heretical in the eyes of true immortals. 49

Notable Quotes

“This is the last time I will look after his descendants.” 4

“But what difference is there between a cicada and a human?” 5

“For us who walk the path of cultivation, from the moment we set foot on it, we can see the remainder of our own lifespans.” 37

Trivia

• He was originally one of a pair of white deer serving as Lumen Mountain’s deity; his counterpart died before the main story. 3
• The Lu family’s ancestral statue of him was crude, lopsided clay, with uneven antlers. 24
• A mountain deer attending the Earth Deity’s feast is identified as his distant descendant. 27