Visitors on the Mountain (Thanks to "Seven Lifetimes of Red Fate" for the alliance leader support)

Yunzhi was still watching television, while Chen Du went to the study to look through the old books and brought out the diaries he had written to burn them.

He looked through the books as he burned the diaries.

[Someone asked, "People speak of immortals. Is there any truth to it?"]

[He replied, "Alas! I have heard that Fuxi and Shennong passed away, that the Yellow Emperor, Yao and Shun perished, that King Wen was laid to rest in Bi, and Confucius north of Lu City. Are you alone unwilling to accept death? Immortality is beyond human reach. The idea of immortals is of no benefit to your kind."]

"What is all this?"

Chen Du frowned, feeling rather helpless:

He had searched for so long, but apart from old, damaged books, all he had found was a jumble of useless material. Had nothing of use been passed down?

The books he had looked through already formed a stack on the table.

The pages of these old books had yellowed and were covered in signs of damage. Perhaps one missing corner had ended up in a bug's belly decades ago; perhaps one grease stain had come from an ancestral master reading by lamplight in the Ming dynasty. They were plainly very old, but he had looked through quite a few, and they were all full of jumbled nonsense.

It wasn't that he hadn't looked carefully. He had already read them closely once in middle school. The books contained poetry and prose, stories and biographies, essays and anecdotes of every kind, but no spells or cultivation.

Take the one on top, Model Sayings. It was a philosophical work by Yang Xiong of the Western Han, written in imitation of the Analects, and contained a few lines about immortals.

The passage he had just read meant:

Someone asked, "People say there are immortals. Is it true?"

Yang Xiong sighed and said, "I have heard that Fuxi and Shennong passed away, that the Yellow Emperor, Yao and Shun also perished, that King Wen of Zhou was buried in Bi, and Confucius north of Lu City. Are you alone unwilling to accept death? Becoming an immortal is beyond human ability, and the idea of immortality is of no benefit to the world."

Now, with spiritual energy already revived and a monster that had gained sentience and lived from over four hundred years ago to the present, the stories of immortals and longevity were very likely true as well.

Even the great philosophers of antiquity had been limited by the scope of their vision.

As for books that truthfully recorded immortals, let alone cultivation and specific spells, Chen Du hadn't found a single one.

"Were they lost back then?"

Though he felt helpless, Chen Du also thought it was only natural.

The blue seas become mulberry fields, and change is beyond anyone's reckoning. Many ancient palaces, temples and shrines remained among China's mountains. Some were still inhabited, while others had been abandoned. Most were alike: aside from things like the buildings themselves, which were not easily moved or destroyed, few things inside them had truly survived from hundreds of years ago.

It was already fortunate that his own Daoist temple had managed to keep this much.

Rip!

He tore out a few more pages of his diary and tossed them into the brazier.

Watching the pages curl and blacken in the flames, he remembered things he had seen on television growing up. So he brought over the old books and held each one over the fire, then dripped water onto them, hoping that the founding master had indeed left something behind but had used some method to conceal the true contents behind these ordinary ones, and that some method was needed to make them appear.

The experiment failed.

As he continued burning the pages, a woman's voice came from outside. "Immortal Master, someone is knocking at the gate."

"Oh, they might be tourists. Go and open it."

In a few quick movements, Chen Du tore out all the remaining pages of his diary, ripped them into tiny pieces, mixed them up and threw them all into the brazier.

And he didn't leave immediately after throwing them in. He watched until they had burned completely to ash, only then going to open the door.

Yunzhi was still wearing the same clothes. She stood respectfully by the door, bent forward with her head bowed and eyes lowered, waiting for him.

"Hm? Why didn't you go open the gate?"

"Oh!"

Yunzhi immediately turned to open it. Only after turning away did she dare raise her head.

A Daoist temple, an immortal master, a study and burning paper, to the point that he even ignored visitors at the gate-it was clearly some important ritual, very likely a way of communicating with the gods. A little monster like her didn't dare look too closely.

Before she got near the temple gate, she heard voices outside.

They were the voices of two young women:

"What's there to see at a Daoist temple?"

"The guide said this temple is really peaceful, with hardly anyone inside, so it's nice for a stroll. Some of the buildings are from ancient times, too. If you find the right angle, the photos will look great."

"I hate going into temples!"

"We're already here, and there's no admission fee."

"The gate isn't even open!"

"Maybe the Daoist priest isn't up yet. The guide said you can just knock, and if you feel awkward about it, bring the priest some snacks and drinks... Someone's coming to open the gate."

The gate creaked open.

It was early morning, and the mountain mist washed over them with a damp chill. Yunzhi saw two young women in brightly colored outdoor jackets, one rose-red and the other yellow-green. Both wore hats to keep off the mountain mist, carried hiking packs and had dyed hair. The sight struck her as novel and made her eyes light up.

The two women were completely dumbstruck.

What they saw was a breathtakingly beautiful woman who might have been a fairy descended to the mortal world. Her ancient-style clothing in particular made them stare for a moment before they involuntarily looked away.

She was so beautiful that they were a little afraid.

The two looked around. Moisture had gathered on the temple gate, water was still dripping from the tiled eaves overhead, and the mountain mist had yet to disperse, making the green woods seem especially deep and secluded. Inside the gate, the woman and the hall behind her both seemed to come from a thousand years ago.

It was a beautiful scene. Even the girl who usually liked only natural scenery, hated cultural attractions most and claimed never to enter temples was struck by the sight and felt an urge to raise her camera.

But that would have been impolite.

Then Yunzhi spoke. "Are you two here to offer incense at the temple? Please come in."

She turned and gestured for them to enter.

"Oh, right!"

The two girls exchanged a look and stepped through the gate.

One of them quickly caught up with Yunzhi, her steps bouncing. "Miss, are you here to take photos?"

Miss? That's an interesting way to address someone.

Take photos? What does that mean?

Yunzhi again felt a pang of inferiority born of ignorance. She didn't dare answer casually, afraid of revealing that she was a monster from over four hundred years ago. She thought for a moment before saying:

"I live here."

"Live here? Last night, you mean? So are you here to hike or offer incense?"

"I live here."

"You live here all the time? Are you practicing in seclusion here, or looking after your health? Or are you staying here while traveling? Are you an internet celebrity? Do you make online content?"

The woman in the red outdoor jacket talked a lot.

What is she talking about? I can't understand her at all!

There were too many questions, too. Yunzhi had no idea which one to think about first. Besides fearing that she would give herself away, she was also afraid that answering incorrectly would show disrespect to the Immortal Master. After struggling for a while, she said:

"I'm a servant at the Daoist temple."

"A servant?"

The two young women exchanged a look and laughed. "Are there still slaves in New China?"

They naturally assumed she didn't want to answer and was joking. Thinking the young woman was rather aloof and didn't want to talk to them much, they asked no more questions.

Yunzhi, meanwhile, realized she had said the wrong thing. She hurried away from them, went over to the Immortal Master and apologized to him.

"It's all right. A lot of young people are into absurd humor these days. There are all kinds."

Absurd humor? What does that mean?

"Then is there anything I should do?"

"You don't need to do anything. Just remember, when tourists come in the future, open the gate and let them in, then let them do as they please. You don't have to be too welcoming. People nowadays, especially young people, care a lot about social distance. Many only come to have a look around, and if you're too welcoming, they won't be comfortable with it."

Social distance?

Yunzhi thought for a moment and asked, "Treat it as if I haven't seen them?"

"More or less. At most, nod and say hello. If they ask you anything, answer as you see fit. Just don't let them know you're a monster or that you're from ancient times," Chen Du said. "As for the rest, Side-Swept Bangs will take good care of them."

"Yunzhi will remember."

Yunzhi stood under the eaves some distance away and watched quietly.

The two women took out their phones and filmed videos, then raised their cameras and took many photos of each other.

Of course, Yunzhi understood none of it.

But she was stubborn and eager to learn. Even if she didn't understand, she still watched, watching and learning in secret.

As for what the Immortal Master had said about Senior Xie taking care of them, she did see that-the two women had not been taking pictures for long when they spotted the cat lying and rolling around under the temple eaves. They cried out in surprise and immediately ran over and crowded around the cat, petting the cat, taking photos and filming videos. Only when the cat got fed up and ran away did they stop, still wanting more.

"Daoist priest, miss, we're leaving."

The two girls were very polite and said goodbye to Chen Du and Yunzhi as they left.

"Mm." Chen Du nodded. "Are you going up the mountain today?"

"Yes! The forecast said it would clear up today, so we're climbing to the summit to camp for the night, watch the sunset, and see the sunrise tomorrow morning. Then we'll come down the mountain and go back to being beasts of burden."

"It rained a couple of days ago, so the mountain paths are slippery. Be careful."

"Thank you, Daoist priest."

The two girls went out the gate.

Like most young people who came to visit the Daoist temple, they hadn't worshipped the statues of the gods, much less left any incense money. They had simply come to stroll around, take photos and look at the ancient buildings.

But not long afterward, Chen Du heard a scream outside the temple gate, and the two girls actually came running back.

"Daoist priest! There's a snake on the path!"

"What kind of snake? What does it look like?"

"It's black and yellow, and huge, almost as thick as my arm. But it isn't very long. It's lying on the path and won't leave."

"It might be a king ratsnake."

Chen Du frowned too. Fortunately, it wasn't a highly venomous snake.

He was already unable to go down the mountain and had lost an important source of income. If a venomous snake injured someone on the mountain and word got out, even fewer tourists would come. Wouldn't he starve to death then?

"Don't be afraid. King ratsnakes are beneficial and nonvenomous, and generally pose no danger to people. It's probably just come out of hibernation and is moving slowly. We just need to drive it away."

Chen Du first reassured them, then thought for a moment and called out:

"Side-Swept Bangs!"

"Meow!"

The black-and-white cat with side-parted, side-swept bangs immediately ran out of the hall.

"There's a snake outside, right on the path. Go drive it away, and when you come back, I'll boil you an egg yolk."

The cat solemnly accepted the order and solemnly set about carrying it out.

"Yunzhi."

"Immortal Master."

"Go and keep an eye on things too. Don't let Side-Swept Bangs get hurt, and don't let the cat bite the snake to death either. Just persuade it to leave. It would be best if you could get it to stay off the path from now on."

"Yes."

Yunzhi bowed respectfully and headed outside as well.

The two young women stared in bewilderment. Seeing the cat leap out through the temple gate and the woman follow empty-handed without taking anything with her, they exchanged a look and hurried after them.