A done deal

"Huo Old Freak is beating apart a pair of mandarin ducks! I can't very well fall out with him, but next time you go to the Main Mountain, I'll make sure you learn what I'm capable of!"

Xin Li took out a clean Daoist robe and tossed over a bottle of pills. "Here's your deposit! Stop looking so poverty-stricken all day. You won't fetch a good price like that!"

Having said her piece, Xin Li left Deer Island with Zhou Xin urging her along.

Meng Yuan looked at what Xin Li had left behind and thought that if he accepted it, he really would have sold himself!

He changed into the brand-new Daoist robe, and a cool sensation surrounded him. After taking a Tiger-Wolf Pill, Meng Yuan broke out in sweat all over.

He meditated to dispel his stray thoughts, then headed down the mountain with light steps to amuse himself at Old Turtle Pit.

Since he had originally borrowed Du Yueyi's boat to go to sea, Meng Yuan had stayed holed up on Chaolong Mountain ever since arriving at Deer Island, never going down to wander around.

It was already summer. Only a few old willows stood beside Old Turtle Pit, with no peach trees laden with fruit.

In this life, Meng Yuan had neither tended to his family nor settled down at Old Turtle Pit, so naturally, he had never planted the peach trees either.

Someone was hoeing in the fields. It was none other than Li Nineteen.

In this life, Meng Yuan had planted no peach trees, so there had been no peach blossoms in spring. Naturally, Wang Zhinong had never come, nor taken Li Nineteen away.

One little turn of Meng Yuan's wheel had already changed Li Nineteen's fate.

In his previous life, Meng Yuan had exchanged letters with Li Nineteen and heard him say that Wang Zhinong looked after him very well. The two spent their days buried in the Medicine Garden, ignoring outside affairs, and found contentment in their own way.

The boy had always been a sealed gourd of few words. He had no parents or siblings and was frail and sickly to boot. Now he looked even thinner.

"What are you doing?" Meng Yuan asked.

"H-hoeing." Taciturn as Li Nineteen was, even he felt a little puzzled. I'm standing in a field holding a hoe. What else could I be doing?

"Hoeing the grain beneath the midday sun, sweat drips onto the soil below. How virtuous!" With one hand behind his back, Meng Yuan swept the sleeve of his Daoist robe with the other. "Good boy, you and I share a fated connection. Follow me from now on."

Meng Yuan brought Li Nineteen back to Chaolong Mountain and had him change his clothes. "Rest a few days and shed some worldly dust. Then I'll teach you cultivation."

Five days passed. Li Nineteen bathed in the mountain spring for several days and planted several peach trees with Meng Yuan.

"We should be able to see peach blossoms next year," Meng Yuan said with a sigh.

When he tested Li Nineteen's Root Bone, it turned out he had Water, Wood, and Earth Three Spirit Roots, and his Life-Bound manifestation was a green tree.

"You're suited to practicing the Azure Wave Qi Gathering Art." In truth, Meng Yuan only knew the Circulating Heaven Qi-Gathering Method and the Azure Wave Qi Gathering Art, both commonplace fare!

"To think this tiny Deer Island held a pearl overlooked in the vast sea! Though he has Three Spirit Roots, they complement one another. With a green tree as his Life-Bound manifestation as well, he may achieve something if he pursues the path of spirit plants." Seeing Meng Yuan teach in earnest, with many insights coinciding with his own, Huo Old Freak sighed in admiration. "The Azure Wave Qi Gathering Art hardly counts as a superior method. This child is better suited to my Bright Garment Art."

Go to hell!

"Why not teach me the Bright Garment Art, Brother Huo?" Meng Yuan asked with a smile.

"I saw promising talent and got carried away. Just a joke. What are you saying, little brother?" Huo Old Freak then asked, "Does this mean you've taken a disciple?"

"Not at all. I'm only five or six years older than him. How could I be his master?" Meng Yuan smiled and took Li Nineteen's hand. "From now on, we'll call each other brothers. Remember, my full name is Meng Yuan, and my Daoist name is Yuanyuanzi."

Li Nineteen agreed without quite understanding.

Huo Old Freak then drew Meng Yuan aside, talked about how shabby his place was and so forth, and mentioned that he had replaced the illusion formation protecting his cave abode. He invited Meng Yuan to try it.

"You're not planning to seize me, are you? I even got the few coins on me by trading with you!" Meng Yuan put on a look of alarm and suspicion.

"What sort of man do you take me for, little brother?" Huo Old Freak grew agitated.

Thus, after resolutely refusing, Meng Yuan finally took Huo Old Freak's friendship into consideration and accepted two bottles of pills and ten stalks of nightlight grass. Only then did he agree to test the formation.

Azure Sea Tidebirth produced no blood tide. Meng Yuan took a turn through the illusion formation, then strolled back out.

"That trick of yours really is something, little brother!" Huo Old Freak praised him repeatedly.

Afterward, Huo Old Freak went silent again and never brought the matter up.

He didn't take a liking to me? Does he think I'm too loose in my conduct? Or has he not made up his mind? My lips are tightly sealed. Keeping secrets is what I do best! Ten days later, Meng Yuan brought Li Nineteen along to bid farewell.

"You've treated me like your own younger brother, elder brother, and I'm deeply grateful. I've imposed on you for so long that I dare not disturb your peace any further. The two of us brothers have no livelihood, so we're thinking of going to Longstone Island and catching a Flying Vessel to the Starsea Alliance's Main Mountain. At least we can broaden our horizons and find a living."

Meng Yuan wore the look of someone grieving at parting.

"Don't rush, little brother." Huo Old Freak caught hold of Meng Yuan and would not let go. "Stay one more night. Tomorrow morning, I'll introduce you to a friend."

Meng Yuan was naturally willing.

The next day, Meng Yuan entered Huo Old Freak's cave abode and met the black-clad girl, Du Xingyi.

Du Xingyi was expressionless. She offered no greeting, but that Yuanyuanzi was a frivolous sort himself. He merely tipped his chin at her, looking for all the world as though he wanted to seduce an innocent young girl.

"This is Junior Sister Du, Du Xingyi! This is Fellow Daoist Yuanyuanzi!"

"Junior Sister Du."

"Junior Brother Yuan."

Huo Old Freak began, "Here's the situation. My junior sister was away on official business. While coming to visit me for old times' sake, she happened to discover some ruins along the way. We wanted to ask whether you might..."

Away on official business, my ass! Happened upon them along the way, my ass! Those ruins are right under my backside!

"Elder brother, it's not that I won't give you face." Meng Yuan refused at once. "I'm no good at magical combat, and that younger brother of mine is a fool. Wouldn't we just be throwing our lives away? Say no more, elder brother. I'll leave right now and at least scrape together a living at the Main Mountain, with three or five Spirit Stones coming in each month."

"There's no danger! I guarantee it! You won't earn more than a few coins selling yourself at the Main Mountain!" Huo Old Freak looked utterly serious. "You know what sort of man I am. I've never told anyone a single lie! Are you still afraid I'll scheme against you?"

"You misunderstand, elder brother. I'm simply afraid of dying. How could I not know that you're trustworthy, kindhearted, and worthy of placing one's trust in?" Meng Yuan said.

"There is absolutely no danger! What we mainly want is that ability of yours to withstand illusions that temper the heart and probe the spirit!" Huo Old Freak laid it out plainly.

"Well..." Meng Yuan lowered his head and stroked his chin for a long while, but still shook his head. "Elder brother, I... ah, I..."

"Give your elder brother some face!" Huo Old Freak sprayed spittle everywhere.

Meng Yuan still would not agree.

"We'll pay you monthly at the salary rate for Early Qi Refining cultivators in the Starsea Alliance," Du Xingyi spoke up. "If we succeed, you'll receive a handsome sum, and I'll point you toward a future as well. If you suffer any injuries, not only will we heal you, but you'll also receive a gift of thanks."

Meng Yuan stroked his chin, still deep in thought.

"Let's make friends. Whether we succeed or not, I promise to help you with one thing in the future," Du Yueyi said.

Meng Yuan stroked his chin again, nearly rubbing sparks out of it, but she said nothing more.

With this sort of thing, there was no settling all the benefits at the outset. He had to ask for them bit by bit, drawing her in little by little until she could no longer turn back.

That was how Meng Yuan used to play with Sister Chen.

Thus, Meng Yuan said, "Brother Huo and I felt like old friends from our first meeting, and Junior Sister Du is like a clear breeze and a bright moon. To befriend such a worthy brother and sister is truly..."

"Stop rambling!" Du Xingyi interrupted.

"I'm in!" Meng Yuan said.