After leaving Langshan Mountain, the lion carriage headed north and soon reached Wuling.
True Lord Cheng had said he was going to Kuizhou, but while passing through Western Hunan, he descended again, landing among the mountains.
Near the border with Shizhou in northwestern Western Hunan stood a mountain with eight sheer faces and a flat summit, towering in grandeur.
This was Eight-Faced Mountain, home to True Martial Temple and the Heavenly True Boy's place of cultivation.
The lion carriage landed before the temple.
"Ah! Greetings, True Lord!"
Perhaps owing to the Heavenly True Boy's easygoing aversion to trouble, True Martial Temple had never had many disciples. There were only a few people on the summit, among them his eldest disciple, Ji Kaiming, who was guiding the younger disciples in their cultivation. He was delighted to see Cheng Xinzhan arrive and hurried forward to salute him. When the younger disciples heard Ji Kaiming address him as True Lord, they naturally recognized the visitor too. All looked excited, but none dared approach, merely bowing and saluting from a distance.
"Kaiming, is the Abbott home?"
Cheng Xinzhan asked with a smile.
Ji Kaiming promptly replied, "Reporting to you, True Lord, Master is away. Some time ago, fellow members of our lineage invited him to preach at Wenfeng Temple in Kuizhou. He has been gone for over half a month."
"Oh? He went to Kuizhou? That works out nicely."
Cheng Xinzhan broke into a smile and said, "Then I won't interrupt your work. I was just heading to Kuizhou myself. I'll contact Master Wen once I get there."
"Won't you come inside for tea, True Lord? If Master finds out, I fear he'll blame me for my discourtesy when he returns."
Ji Kaiming hastened to speak.
"There's no need for such formalities between our