"Wait, don't go! What do you want? Tell me!"
Seeing the duck already at his lips about to fly away, the fortune-teller reached out and grabbed White Snake's robe.
"Then tell me, what is the Black Tortoise's turtle?"
White Snake turned around and asked irritably.
"The Black Tortoise's turtle? A turtle in the sea, of course!"
"No, it lives in darkness!"
White Snake replied irritably. That simple answer had already told her that this fortune-teller was no good; he had little spiritual cultivation.
"Could it be a ground beetle?"
The fortune-teller tried another guess.
"Get lost!"
With an angry roar, White Snake kicked out, overturning the fortune-teller's stall.
What utter nonsense.
It seemed she would still have to ask the Bodhisattva about this.
But Guanyin was currently attacking the Heavenly Court, so it did not seem quite appropriate for her to go there now.
"How can you behave like that? If you're looking for the Black Tortoise, go to Mount Wudang! I hear they have one in the Daoist temple there."
The fortune-teller spoke irritably.
White Snake thought his words made some sense.
Yes, folk legends sometimes had some truth to them and could reveal a little of what really lay behind things.
She took out some silver pieces and gave them to the fortune-teller. That night, she rode the wind to Mount Wudang.
Mount Wudang was lush and green, its slopes steep.
A magnificent temple stood amid the mountains, weathered by wind, frost, rain, and dew, and rich with ancient charm.
White Snake could ride the wind. When she arrived in the mountains, she immediately startled all the Daoist priests, who hurried to escort her to the Daoist master of Mount Wudang.
"Ah, you mean the Black Tortoise's turtle?"
"A turtle and a snake combined? A snail, of course!