We Didn't Know

"Jinyu?" Yunzhi thought it over. "The jade that ghosts and gods could partake of in ancient myths?"

"That's right."

Chen Du nodded and said:

"That monster smashed the jade tablet that originally sealed it. Even if you caught it and brought it back, you couldn't seal it again. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to use my magic, and I'm afraid I'd have trouble restraining it, so I need new spirit jade to carve a new tablet to control it, or even seal it again."

"I see." Yunzhi frowned. "But even in our time, Jinyu was hard to find. Now that the world's spiritual energy has only just begun to recover, can we find any?"

"Let's try."

Chen Du couldn't be sure either.

He was also hoping to get lucky with this attempt.

Back then, spiritual energy had risen and fallen like the tide, but it had never been completely exhausted. If spirit jade appeared back then, it would likely be spotted and bought up at once by qi refiners, or even by people who could see spiritual energy but had yet to start cultivating. There might even have been qi refiners who sought out spirit jade specifically to absorb its energy because the world's spiritual energy was so thin. Naturally, that left little spirit jade on the market in ancient times.

Now that spiritual energy had only just begun to recover, as long as the spirit jade had also regained its spiritual energy, they might be able to pick up a bargain.

On top of that, mining technology was advanced now, and jade was plentiful enough for ordinary people to afford it. It might be easier to find than in ancient times, and cheaper too.

"Then Yunzhi will go right away!"

"Get some sleep."

"It's all right. I'll just close my eyes and rest for a bit."

"Then thank you for the effort." Chen Du paused, then added, "Remember the way on the road. If Jiang Xi gets scared and takes the chance to run away, you'll have to find your own way back."

"If she runs away, do you want me to catch her and bring her back?"

"? What kind of person do you take me for!"

"Yunzhi spoke out of turn!"

Jiang Xi put on her backpack, filled a flask with water, and brought a few mooncakes. Then she took Yunzhi down the mountain.

Both the human and the monster were on edge.

What a wide, smooth road!

This car rides so smoothly! It's going so fast! That bird beside us doesn't even seem to be flying as fast as we are!

Yunzhi's eyes were wide the whole way.

Jiang Xi stole glances at the sister beside her, who was too beautiful to look human. The closer she looked, the less human Yunzhi seemed. Staring at her for too long was even a little frightening. Only now did Jiang Xi understand why, in old folk tales, some people with no cultivation or magic could recognize ghosts and monsters at a glance.

The one comforting thing was that Yunzhi looked inhuman because she was too beautiful. Other than that, she hadn't shown any other frightening features.

Was she a monster? Or had she cultivated as a human until she became like this?

She probably wouldn't eat me, would she?

Right, the temple master should be human, shouldn't he?

"Sister Yunzhi, are you all right? Are you carsick?" Jiang Xi asked with concern. "I thought a rideshare would be more convenient for the two of us, and it isn't expensive. The only thing is, you might get carsick."

"Carsick? No."

As soon as Yunzhi said that, she turned her head and her eyes widened a little more.

There really is a road built in the sky!

Such a long train going past! So fast! Even faster than this car!

Just like they said on the news.

Jiang Xi followed her gaze out the window and saw a high-speed train passing over an elevated bridge. Without a change in expression, she looked away and turned to her own side.

The car gradually made its way into the city.

Yunzhi also glanced at Jiang Xi several times. Only when she saw that Jiang Xi hadn't looked at her again did she relax and focus on studying the skyscrapers she had previously seen only on the news.

With her view limited, she sometimes had to duck down and look up to see the top of a building. Sometimes she couldn't see it even then.

Only now did she see for herself the bustle and prosperity the immortal master had spoken of.

How extraordinary!

The place down the mountain really was just a bigger village.

Too bad I haven't seen a missile.

She glanced at Jiang Xi several times, but was too embarrassed to ask.

"We're here."

The rideshare slowly came to a stop.

Across the street was a huge market. The words on its gate read:

Immortal-Sending Bridge Antiques and Curio Stones Art City.

They had arrived right at their destination!

The fare wasn't high either, and it had saved them a lot of transfers, sparing them the trouble of taking the subway and the possibility of being stopped at security. It was a very smart approach.

Yunzhi carefully observed Jiang Xi's technique for opening the door, learning it to herself, and followed her out of the car.

Now she had set foot on the streets of a big city.

"Red light!"

Jiang Xi reminded her, looking straight ahead.

"It's green!"

Liu Yun called to her friend to cross the road, a little black-and-white cat in her arms.

Although it was also a little black-and-white cat, it didn't have side-parted, side-swept bangs, nor was it delicate and quiet. Instead, its markings were a riot of colors, and its head was so round that it looked a little strange.

The cat was a stray she had just met, and it insisted on following her no matter what. With the ideas that fate trumped everything, kidnapping beat buying, and those who were too slow missed out on the pick of the flowers, she decided to take it home.

"Have you noticed its coloring is a bit like a giant panda's?"

"Now that I look closely, it really is! It's got the makings of an internet celebrity! You lucky dog, you snagged it!" her friend said with a grin.

"I couldn't help it. It insisted on coming with me."

"You must be blooming with joy inside, huh? If you let it appear in your everyday videos, won't you gain tens of thousands more followers?"

"Hehe..."

"By the way, what happened to that giant panda we ran into that day?"

"Speaking of that makes me mad! They still won't let me visit, and they won't even send me a video!" Liu Yun looked a little angry as she spoke. "I came across news videos about it again at work today. Those marketing accounts keep reposting them. I saw people in the comments looking for an update too. They said there still wasn't one, so it probably didn't survive in the end."

"Hey, tell me! This kitty looks so much like a giant panda. Could it be that giant panda transformed?"

The cat in her arms jolted and turned to look at her.

"Haha, it's looking at me!"

The cat in her arms jolted again and turned its head back.

"Haha, now it's stopped looking!"

The cat in her arms froze on the spot, at a loss.

"Don't get so close to it. You'll scare it. Even reincarnation isn't that fast!"

"What a shame."

"Sigh..."

The girl let out a long sigh.

"By the way, isn't your boss really awful? Didn't he catch you watching short videos at work?"

"There are cameras everywhere. How could he not catch me? I got scolded again." The girl continued angrily, "If I were a man, I'd give him a proper beating!"

"Let's go out and unwind again next week. If it doesn't work out, just quit."

"I still have a car loan to pay off."

The two chatted as they walked past the Immortal-Sending Bridge Antiques and Curio Stones Art City. They found a nearby pet hospital, had the cat checked, got some deworming medicine, and bought a few necessities before heading back.

"I asked Doubao. Yidu isn't a jade-producing area or a major wholesale center; it's a consumer and transit market for the southwest. There aren't many places selling rough stones, and this is the biggest one. They even have stone gambling inside."

Jiang Xi lowered her gaze, looking only at the lower half of Yunzhi's body. She had read some novels and watched some short dramas about stone gambling and found it very interesting. She hadn't expected to get to try it herself today:

"Sister Yunzhi, even though you're not wearing that hanfu anymore, you still look very rich. The temple master only transferred me three thousand yuan, so let's go separately in a bit. Don't be too obvious when you're choosing. If you pick one, tell me, and I'll find a way to bargain."

"Okay!"

Yunzhi knew that although she could use illusions, the immortal master would never allow her to use them to hoodwink people just to save a little money.

They had no idea that they had just brushed past that monster.

Once home, the cat behaved itself and was extremely well-behaved.

The girl stroked the cat while scrolling through videos, and took time to chat with her friend on WeChat as well.

Auntie Zhang: How's the kitty doing now that it's home?

Liu Yun: Very well

Auntie Zhang: I heard that when kitties first get home, they go all around inside and out, sniffing things to get familiar with the place. Open all the doors so it can go have a sniff

When the girl saw the message, she looked down at the cat, which had been sprawled on her sleeping soundly ever since they came inside. She picked it up and asked:

"Panda, what's with you? They say kitties go all around inside and out when they first get home, sniffing things to get familiar with the place. Why did you lie down on me as soon as you got home?"

"..."

The cat looked at her silently, then turned to survey the living room. It didn't know whether to go or stay.

Fortunately, her friend shared another short video with her just then.

Auntie Zhang: We were saying last Friday that we should visit the Taoist temple, but it closed on Saturday morning. It looks like half the peach blossoms have fallen too. I wonder if we could have stayed there if we'd insisted on going that day

The girl opened the video and found that it had been filmed by another visitor. It showed the peach blossoms at the temple gate and the notice posted on the door. The notice said, in essence, that Earth Sage Temple had closed and told people not to visit for the time being.

The comments said all sorts of things.

Some said they were disappointed to find the door shut. Some said it had probably been taken over by the state and turned into a paid tourist attraction. Some said the temple master would charge admission next time too, while others said that lousy place wasn't worth visiting.

Liu Yun had previously posted a video about the temple. She was quite pretty and spoke in a rather risqué way, so she had quite a few followers, and many people had seen it.

She felt that the temple's popularity online had something to do with her, so she was also responsible for the snide remarks people were making about it now. Unable to resist, she left a comment:

[This temple was a secluded place for quiet cultivation to begin with, and the temple master is also an expert who lives in seclusion and cultivates quietly. Now that so many people have started going, maybe they disturbed his cultivation. As for that bit of incense money, I've been to the temple and talked with the temple master. He probably doesn't care about it]

To her, it was an immortal mountain beyond the mortal world, and she wouldn't allow it to be maligned.

After posting, she stroked the cat on her belly, then switched apps to continue chatting with her friend.

She also had no idea that the temple had closed because the cat in her arms had escaped and its whereabouts were unknown.

The cat stretched before climbing off her. It made a show of walking around the rooms, sniffing and smelling everywhere.

It had even less idea what she had posted.