She Could Only Obediently Do as She Was Told

This was good.

Now that he had lost his income from down the mountain, he could make up for it with income from the mountain. Since he couldn't go down, he would get more people to come up.

It was a helpless measure, but he had no choice.

If no one came up the mountain, he would have no money, and his meager savings would soon run out.

Besides, if he didn't find a way, even fewer people might come up the mountain, and the Daoist temple might eventually become almost entirely cut off from the world below. And if tourists kept coming up, Chen Du could ask them for help with things that had to be handled down the mountain, such as getting his phone repaired if it broke or buying supplies if a water pipe burst.

But he also had to strike the right balance.

If the temple became too famous-say, if it went viral online-and too many people came, they might interfere with his cultivation or even discover the temple's secrets, causing the situation to slip beyond his control.

That shouldn't be too difficult either.

For one thing, as long as he kept that balance in mind, he was unlikely to expose anything too earth-shattering. For another, this was the age of AI. Even if someone accidentally caught a yao using magic on camera and posted it online, most people would assume it was AI.

Chen Du carried the two cups of milk tea, beaming. He had an excellent impression of the two girls.

Young people were getting more and more polite these days.

It was that simple. Say you visited a Daoist temple in a fairly remote mountain and saw a relatively young Daoist priest there-even one in his thirties counted. A great way to win their favor was to share some of the snacks and drinks you'd brought along. They were guaranteed to be happy.

"By the way, Yunzhi."

"What else do you command, Immortal Master?"

"You did very well. These were left by the two visitors just now. Take one and have a drink."

Chen Du handed her one of the milk teas.

"I wouldn't dare. The credit all belongs to Senior Xie. I merely assisted from the side. Besides, you took me in and let me shelter here from danger, and even gave me garbage petals. Your blessings are profound, and I have yet to repay them. I dare not accept another gift from you."

It was I helped Senior Xie persuade the snake to leave, not I persuaded the snake to leave. Senior Xie took the lead, while she assisted. A scholar she had known years ago had taught her that principle. She had thought that, as a yao wandering among mountains and rivers beyond the mortal world, she would never have any use for it in her lifetime. Who would have thought it would actually come in handy?

"Garbage petals?"

Chen Du's first reaction was that the yao was throwing shade at him.

After a moment's thought, he understood and said with a smile:

"If I'm giving it to you, take it."

"Then thank you for your gift, Immortal Master."

Yunzhi took the milk tea, her eyes full of curiosity.

It felt icy cold in her hand, and a layer of condensation had even formed on its surface. When she shook it, she could faintly hear ice cubes clinking inside.

This so-called "milk tea" came in a small bag. The bag was neither cloth nor paper, as thin as sheep's intestine, with delicate, exquisite colored pictures on it. It looked quite valuable. The cup inside felt like neither metal nor jade. It wasn't glazed glass, yet it was translucent like glazed glass, soft and thin, and somehow neither broke nor leaked. It was rather like mica.

There wasn't even an opening at the top; it was sealed tight.

Yunzhi began to feel inadequate and unsure of herself again, and she stole a glance at the Immortal Master.

She saw the Immortal Master take a little stick out of the bag and peel off its paper wrapping. It turned out to be a straw, so she hurriedly followed suit.

She had seen these before!

When she had eaten crystal persimmons or drunk bamboo-tube rice wine in the capital before, some vendors would provide one made from a slender piece of bamboo.

But she had never seen this kind at all.

It looked as though it had been carved from mutton-fat white jade, but mutton-fat white jade couldn't be carved this thin, nor was it so flexible.

Pop! The Immortal Master pushed the straw into his cup.

Yunzhi hurriedly followed, pushing her straw into her cup.

The Immortal Master took a sip, narrowing his eyes slightly with an expression of enjoyment. She hurriedly took a sip too.

"Hm?"

It was silky smooth on her tongue. Sweetness swept over her, carrying the fragrance of peaches and milk, rich and aromatic. Then she noticed little crunchy pearls and fragrant pieces of peach pulp being drawn into her mouth together, combining into an exceptionally rich, layered aroma and texture.

After she swallowed, the tea fragrance, which had been suppressed by the fruit and milk, welled up and filled her mouth and nose.

Yunzhi's first thought was, What divine delicacy is this? Then it belatedly dawned on her that two mortals had brought it.

Do the mortals down the mountain drink such good things too?

Even the Great Ming emperor probably can't drink this.

As she sat lost in thought, the Immortal Master's voice rang out:

"Finished watching the news from earlier?"

"Huh? Oh! I finished it."

The moment Yunzhi thought of it, she was shocked all over again. She hurriedly took another sip of milk tea and barely managed to suppress it.

"That was the central news. It covers major national affairs and the global situation. Tonight I'll find you some Yizhou News. That covers people's lives in this province: what people in this era eat, wear, where they live, and how they get around."

"Thank you, Immortal Master."

Yunzhi thanked him, then hesitated to speak.

"What else?"

"Immortal Master." Yunzhi couldn't resist asking, "I heard on the news that down the mountain there's something called an airplane that can carry people through the sky, like an immortal's auspicious clouds and mist. Is that true?"

"Haha!"

The people down the mountain were amazed that a single word from her could make a great snake leave, while she thought nothing of it. But airplanes and cars, which the people down the mountain thought nothing of, amazed her as if they were the work of immortals.

"It's true."

"There's another thing called a missile, which can fly on its own for several hundred-something li and easily blast a towering building into ashes. How can mortals down the mountain be so formidable?"

"That's nothing! There are nuclear bombs too!"

"Nuclear bombs? What are those?"

"It's like firewood. Burn it slowly and you get flames; burn it violently and you get gunpowder. But it actually contains even greater power, which has to be unleashed another way. Once unleashed, a single one can destroy a city like the Great Ming capital in an instant."

Wouldn't that make them just like immortals?

Yunzhi was startled.

And the Immortal Master spoke of it so casually, his expression so calm, as if he had long since grown used to seeing such things.

Is this the Immortal Master's knowledge and bearing?

"I've heard that immortal masters are the same," Yunzhi said with a sigh. "Ordinary cultivators cultivate a little mana and can use a few minor spells. Those with profound cultivation merely cultivate more mana, but true immortal masters can use that same small amount of mana to turn stone into gold, ride the clouds and mist, even move mountains and fill seas, mend the heavens and bathe the sun. This is the Great Dao."

"That's right."

Chen Du took a sip of milk tea.

"Ahh~"

One of life's great pleasures.

It wasn't easy to get a cup of milk tea now.

After savoring it for a moment, he added:

"The two benefactors just now also scanned the code to give a little incense money. It's just enough to improve our lunch. The town is lively in the morning, so go buy a few jin of meat and some vegetables."

He made no deliberate effort to hide the fact that the temple needed incense money to improve their living conditions.

"Yes."

Yunzhi held her milk tea too. On the one hand, drinking it had put her in a good mood, and she was willing to do whatever he asked. On the other, she had been awed by the news and the Immortal Master, so she wouldn't refuse anything he said now.

The Daoist temple finally had a somewhat better meal.

There was a plate of traditional twice-cooked pork, the slices curled into little lamp-cup hollows, red oil fried out of the bean paste and fragrance coaxed from the green peppers; and a plate of stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, the tomatoes cooked down to a grainy pulp and the tender, fluffy eggs soaked through with their juices. Both dishes looked and smelled immensely appetizing, especially with two bowls of white rice to go with them.

Even Side-Swept Bangs had a bowl of boiled chicken.

He had always been fair about food. When he ate human food like instant noodles or biscuits, the cat ate cat food. When he had a simple meal of egg congee, the cat got some egg yolk too. And if he treated himself to a better meal one day, the cat got something good as well.

Yunzhi, meanwhile, sat silently beside him.

Though she had been modest that morning, she had actually been quite confident in her cooking. But when she went down the mountain to shop, she discovered that there were many fruits and vegetables she had never seen before. Back in the kitchen, she found a whole array of bottles and jars she didn't recognize either. In the end, the Immortal Master had to cook himself.

After tasting a bite with her chopsticks, she felt another wave of shame.

Fortunately, she hadn't boasted that morning.

Modesty really was a virtue, and human wisdom really was useful. It had saved her life today.

"Oh, Immortal Master, I haven't reported this to you yet," Yunzhi said. "While I was walking down the mountain today, I noticed that a shop had some yin qi in it."

"Yin qi?"

Chen Du was taken aback. He hadn't seen it before either.

All he could do was ask calmly:

"Is it serious?"

"No. It may simply have gathered by chance because the spiritual qi of heaven and earth is reviving. At most, it could make people sick and give them many dreams. When I had just attained the Dao, there was still plenty of spiritual qi in the world, and everyone benefited from it. That little bit of yin qi wouldn't even have required a master mage. Any martial artist with vigorous blood qi could have dispersed it just by walking through."

"Mm."

Chen Du nodded and thought for a moment.

"I've been cultivating a secret technique lately, so I shouldn't go down the mountain or take action. If they don't come to us for help, we'll leave it at that. If they do, I'll have to ask you to make the trip."

"Immortal Master, you do me too much honor!"

Yunzhi immediately grew alarmed and even stood up.

But in her heart, she was thinking, The Immortal Master really is busy cultivating, and he's using me as an unpaid servant.

Alas...

But what could she do? She was just a little yao. Against an Immortal Master who could shake mountains and rock the earth with a casual gesture, she had no power to fight back. Now that she was here, she was like a little insect that had strayed into someone's home. She could only obediently do as she was told.

"Oh, and from now on, don't call me Immortal Master or anything like that in front of other people. That title really isn't suitable these days. Just call me Daoist Priest."

"Yes, Immortal Master."

Only then did Yunzhi sit down, sighing to herself.