Jia Mo

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and a group of people pushed in, chattering and clamoring. Qi Yin was startled to see that they were all his senior brothers and sisters.

The first to enter was a young girl wearing a light green bamboo cloth dress, holding a small black tray with two bowls of soup and two plates of vegetables. The girl put the tray on the table and smiled. “I’m Sang Ruo, your senior sister. Little junior brother, you must not have had dinner yet. Since the Elder of Precepts is not here, just have what we made for now, and return the bowls and chopsticks to us tomorrow morning.”

Qi Yin thanked her repeatedly. He introduced Fu Lan, and everyone greeted each other. It turned out that the Elder of Precepts, Ye Qing Ming, had eight male disciples, all with the surname Liu, and six female disciples, all with the surname Sang. This small sect, from top to bottom, had only twenty-one people including the fat cat that Fu Lan brought. Adding the disciples serving the sect leader, there were only twenty-six people.

A little girl with her hair in two buns squeezed in. She was around eight or nine years old. She clapped her hands, laughing. “Great, I’m not the last to join anymore. I’m your senior sister, Sang Ya. If you don’t understand anything, just ask me.” She then saw the black cat and her eyes lit up. “A cat! Can I touch it?”

Qi Yin was about to warn her to be careful as the cat may scratch her, but when he turned his head, he saw the fat cat already lying in Sang Ruo’s arms, eyes closed, rubbing against her chest.

Qi Yin: “……”

“You guys are so amazing.” Sang Ruo scratched the black cat’s chin and said, “The sect leader hasn’t accepted any disciples for a long time. Senior Brother Yun Zhi has been his only disciple. I never thought that you would join his group as soon as you arrived.”

Qi Yin thought with a wooden face that it was probably because they were easy targets, and had handed over one or two silver coins as soon as they arrived.

“I heard that you are Master Qi’s son. We took you away, and now Wan Fang Mountain must be furious. Oh, by the way, our sect is relatively poor, so please don’t mind. If your clothes are torn or broken, just come to me or Sang Ya to have them mended. Since you’ve just joined, we’ll be kind to you and only charge two copper coins per piece,” Sang Ruo said with a smiling face.

Qi Yin laughed dryly and said, “Thanks for your concern, Senior Sister, but I can sew my own clothes. You don’t have to trouble yourselves.”

Sang Ruo seemed disappointed. “Oh.”

A group of senior brothers came over to ask Qi Yin about his hometown. When they heard that Qi Yin was from Jiangnan and had come all the way to Cixi, one of them was deeply moved and chatted with him for a long time. Qi Yin didn’t realize until he had chatted for a long time that Fu Lan, who was not good with words, had been silent like a girl all the time. Qi Yin was worried that he couldn’t get along with his fellow senior brothers and sisters, so he turned his head to look for him. Upon closer inspection, he and the black cat were surrounded by a group of women. Sang Ya was sitting directly on his lap, holding his arm and chatting with him.

“What did you do before? What does your family do?” a senior sister asked.

Fu Lan shook his head. “I have no family. I wandered around with the cat.”

Everyone’s faces showed a look of pity. Sang Ruo sighed and said, “No wonder you have gone astray and become a demonic practitioner without parents. Fortunately, you came to Feng Huan Mountain. Don’t worry, we will take you on the right path in the future. Junior Brother, from now on, you just need to send your clothes, shoes, and socks here, and we will help you mend them for free.”

They all entered the door together, but why was the treatment so different? Qi Yin looked back at the pillars, where his shadow was reflected in the black paint. His thick eyebrows were still handsome, even though his face was a little tanned. He asked himself why he was not as popular with women as Fu Lan was. He stopped looking at Fu Lan, walked to the threshold, and sat down. Several senior brothers either stood or sat beside him, and they chuckled and said, “Women like pretty boys, especially those who have a cat. Don’t worry; we’ll teach you how to approach girls.”

A guy named Liu Bai came over and leaned against Qi Yin’s shoulder. He had fair skin, a pair of flirtatious phoenix eyes, and a teardrop mole under his right eye. He leaned his elbow on Qi Yin’s shoulder and spoke excitedly, “You can ignore everything else in our sect’s Daoist arts, but there are two things you must learn. The first is sword control.”

“Why?” Qi Yin was not very interested and was drooping his eyelids.

“If you master sword control, you can take a girl out for a ride.” Liu Bai wagged his eyebrows. “If you have a top-grade immortal sword and a sword control technique that allows you to travel thousands of miles in a day without dropping a sweat, how could a girl refuse to climb onto your sword?”

“What’s the second thing?”

With a wave of his hand, Liu Bai took out a pen and a piece of yellow talisman paper from nowhere and started drawing on it. “Buy Senior Brother Yun’s ‘Complete Idiot’s Guide to Talisman Magic’,” he said. “Flip to Volume 2, Fourth Talisman, the Shapeshifting Talisman. Look!” With a flick of his brush, he produced a bunch of bright red wild azaleas, dazzlingly beautiful. “See that? Last time, I gave a bunch of flowers like this to Xiao Hui, the girl from the herb shop at the foot of the mountain, and she was so enchanted by me.”

“Learned anything?” one of the senior brothers laughed. “Yun Zhi was the first to learn how to control a sword and use shapeshifting talismans. He’s held hands with all the senior sisters except that little brat Liang who’s always up to no good.”

Qi Yin’s heart was as cold as ashes. Nothing was serious here on this thieves’ den.

Well, he consoled himself, he was just here to kill time. If he could really learn some flashy magic tricks and cheat a girl into marrying him, then this trip wouldn’t have been in vain.

“By the way, where does Senior Brother Yun live?” Qi Yin asked. “He led us here earlier, but we didn’t see him again.”

“Senior Brother doesn’t live with us. He lives with our sect leader,” Liubai said. “He always has nightmares at night, and our sect leader worries that he’ll be possessed in his dreams, so he often exorcises his nightmares for him.”

“Nightmares?” Qi Yin was puzzled. Did he kidnap a woman from somewhere and feel guilty, afraid that she would come to him in his dreams for revenge?

“That’s right.” A group of senior sisters walked ove. Sang Ya carried a black cat and sat down on the doorstep, saying, “Senior Brother is so pitiful. When he was seven years old, he saw his parents swallowed by a snake demon with his own eyes. The snake demon even raised Senior Brother as food and tied a rope around his neck to lead him around. Later, our sect leader happened to pass by and saw him, and that’s how Senior Brother was saved.”

Qi Yin was stunned. The mischievous smile of Yun Zhi, that little brat, floated before his eyes. He didn’t look like he had suffered such a terrible disaster.

“After that, Senior Brother always has nightmares. Our sect leader even called us to take turns to exorcise the nightmares. He said he saw us beat the snake demon in his dreams and Senior Brother wouldn’t be afraid anymore.”

Suddenly, Qi Yin had a guess in his heart and asked, “What about you guys? Why did you come here to cultivate?”

“We’re all orphans,” Liu Bai said. “I have a heart disease and was abandoned by my parents when I was a child. When our master went down the mountain to collect scrap metal, he found me in a broken basket and carried me up the mountain.”

“Sang Ya and I were abandoned by our parents because they wanted sons, not daughters.” Sang Ruo combed Sang Ya’s hair with her fingers. “Our master spent a lot of money to buy us from slave traders, and then we followed our master to practice cultivation.”

A strange feeling surged in Qi Yin’s heart. The sun had set, and the last ray of light disappeared. The night slowly fell, and the brilliant Milky Way flowed quietly in the sky. Everyone sat together under the doorstep and looked at the night sky.

This is the feeling of home, Qi Yin thought.

“Wait a minute.” Qi Yin suddenly realized something. “Why do me and Dai Ge have to pay to join the sect?”

“Have you ever shown off your wealth in front of Senior Brother?” Sang Ruo covered her mouth and laughed. “Senior Brother is very cunning. He must have talked to the sect leader and divided your money among themselves.”

Qi Yin: “… I really shouldn’t have expected too much from them.”

Tomorrow they still had to attend classes, so everyone went back to their rooms to sleep. Sang Ya gave them a few light talismans, and Qi Yin put the talismans on the wall. The room instantly lit up. Fu Lan didn’t seem to need to eat or drink, so he let the black cat and Qi Yin finish the soup and noodles.

After a satisfying meal, Qi Yin wanted to go out to relieve himself. He pushed the door and saw the shadows of trees outside. He remembered Yun Zhi’s warning earlier and couldn’t help but feel scared. Could there be a nine-headed bird monster or something in the immortal mountain? But he really needed to pee, so he dragged Fu Lan to accompany him and walked along the dirt road with his hands in his pockets.

In front of them, Qi Yin saw two people, one tall and one short, pushing each other in the middle of the road.

The man said, “I’ll escort you back to your room, and I’ll leave after you go in.”

The woman giggled for a while and said, “No, I’ll escort you. You go first.”

The man said again, “No, I have to escort you.”

The woman said in a coquettish voice, “Don’t…”

The two of them were blocking the way. The dirt road was too narrow, and Qi Yin and Fu Lan had no way to pass, so they had to wait and watch from a distance. After suffering the chilliness of the night wind for a long time, the man escorted the woman back to her room and went back to the opposite tiled house with his sleeves rolled up.

Qi Yin: “…”

Damn, these two idiots live so close by. Why did they waste so much time just now?

They walked around the village but couldn’t find the toilet. Most of the people who practiced cultivation in the immortal mountain abstained from eating and drinking, so there was no such demand. Qi Yin had to pull Fu Lan into the forest. But before they entered, Fu Lan stopped him and said, “There are many people inside.”

“Ah? Where are the people?” Qi Yin looked at the dark forest, and the shadows of the trees seemed to overlap like human figures.

Qi Yin suddenly realized that the “people” that Fu Lan mentioned may not be real “people.” He shuddered and quickly took a few steps back, leaning closely to Fu Lan.

As Yun Zhi led them down the slope, he said, “The mountain slope below is the vegetable garden of the Elder of the Precepts. Before you start fasting, you can go to the kitchen there to eat. However, as your senior, I advise you to fast as soon as possible because the vegetable garden only has carrots and greens, and the only meat is the green caterpillars crawling in the field.”

As soon as the black cat heard that there was nothing to eat, his face turned green.

Yun Zhi continued, “The bamboo building in the North Bamboo Forest is the Elder of Medicine’s furnace.”

Qi Yin’s eyes lit up and he said, “Is the elder good at refining many elixirs and miraculous medicines that can increase your cultivation by leaps and bounds?”

“You’re thinking too much. His pills can only treat colds and injuries. But his medical skills are not very reliable. A few years ago, a senior brother broke his leg while riding his sword, but he failed to heal the broken leg and instead, he broke the good leg.”

Qi Yin asked weakly, “Where is that senior brother now?”

Yun Zhi shrugged and said, “His family took him away, and our master had to compensate them with a good amount of silver.” He then lifted his chin towards the south. “If you walk three hundred steps in that direction, you’ll reach the Repentance Cliff. You can meditate there, and the scenery is great, but you can’t go below the cliff. That area is our sect’s forbidden ground. There are ten peaks in the Feng Huan Mountain, and only the northernmost peak is our sect’s residence, while the other nine are all forbidden areas. It’s said that all the demons and monsters captured by our sect since its establishment are locked up inside, and those with a long lifespan can live for several hundred years. Don’t be tempted to go there and play around.”

“They’re being kept close by. Aren’t you afraid they’ll come out and cause trouble?” Qi Yin asked.

“It’s guarded by the Heavenly Boundary Array.” Yunzhi pointed to the southern sky. “Take a closer look.”

Qi Yin looked over and saw a row of geese flying over the mountain cliff. There was an almost invisible light shimmering and rippling like a wave.

“If you have demon or evil energy on you, you won’t be able to pass through that array. But Junior Brother Fu Lan should be fine. He is a bit stupid, and he has very weak demon energy, almost none,” Yunzhi said as he walked down the slope with his hands behind his back. “Don’t be fooled by our ranking as the last among the Four Immortal Mountains. It is said that in ancient times, we received favor from the Great Goddess Yu, the famous Witch of Mount Jiu Li. The Heavenly Boundary Array was laid down by her and is probably the oldest thing in our mountain.”

Qi Yin didn’t quite believe it. This thieves’ den was probably established by some fraudulent Daoist who settled here, teaching his disciples to scam people while pretending to pass on immortal techniques and Daoist spells.

Yun Zhi sighed. “These past few years have not been good. Spiritual energy is becoming scarce, and our Daoist magic is declining. It is said that there were three thousand immortal gates, but now many sects have closed their doors and ceased to exist. Who knows how many are left? Master said he will take a look at the Feng Shui (1) some other day. If the Feng Shui changes, we might become the largest sect in the mortal realm.”

Yun Zhi led them to the cluster of tile houses they had passed by while flying on their swords. This was a small village, where mud walls and tile houses were unevenly arranged. In front of the houses were wells, water tanks, and clotheslines. Each senior brother or sister had their own fenced-off area. Looking up, several white dresses were hanging in front of the houses. Qi Yin had sharp eyes and also spotted a few red bellybands and green shorts.

In the middle of the tile houses, there was a winding muddy road that stretched towards the mountain steps. Yun Zhi pointed to the last house and said, “That one happens to be vacant. You two can stay there for now. The senior brother who lived there before you left behind some bedding, so you can use that too.”

“Where did the senior brother go? Why didn’t he stay?” Qi Yin asked.

“He couldn’t continue learning the Dao, so he went back home to farm,” Yun Zhi explained. He leaned over and put his arm around Fu Lan’s shoulder, smiling. “My dear junior brothers, cultivating the Dao is not easy. Since you’ve entered the gate, I will provide you with some convenience.” Yun Zhi took out a blue booklet from his sleeve and handed it to Fu Lan. “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Talisman Magic. I personally compiled it. It contains everything from transformation talismans, fire talismans, to water avoidance spells. Every disciple on Feng Huan Mountain has one. With this talisman magic guide, you’ll definitely succeed in class. As for you, my dear junior brother, I see you only have three copper coins. It’s okay, I’ll give it to you as a gift.”

Fu Lan looked at Qi Yin for guidance, but Qi Yin was speechless. He took out three copper coins from his pouch and gave them to Yun Zhi. Then he pulled Fu Lan into the house and closed the door.

“Alright, senior brother. You can go now. We won’t send you off,” Qi Yin said.

Yunzhi’s head popped up from the window sill again, revealing a mouthful of white teeth as he grinned. “Oh, right. One last reminder. Don’t run around or go into the forest at night.”

What did he mean? Was this place haunted at night? Before they could ask, Yun Zhi had already run far away. Qi Yin closed the window and realized the room was pitch black. He reopened the window, and saw that the orange sun was setting. The unfamiliar senior brothers and sisters were outside, chattering and laughing while folding their clothes. Perhaps it would rain in the mountains at night, and everyone was busy collecting their clothes. No one had time to get to know them. Yun Zhi didn’t even mention where Qi Yin was staying, making it inconvenient for the others to visit.

Fu Lan sat cross-legged in front of the desk, staring at him with a pair of big eyes. The black cat patrolled the room. There were two beds occupying each corner of the wall, a black lacquer long table in the middle, and a standing copper lamp on the side, with no lamp oil, only a lamp stand. A bamboo curtain separated the inside and outside, with an octagonal table and a few curved stools placed in the outside area. There was a vase of withered dry flowers on the table – so dry they were as hard as wire.

This was his new home from now on. Qi Yin sat opposite from Fu Lan, feeling a little melancholy.

He would never go back to that home in Wu Tang.

“Are we married?” Fu Lan asked him. “Only couples live in the same room.”

“We are brothers,” Qi Yin said expressionlessly. “Brothers live in the same room, and couples sleep in the same bed.”

“When can we sleep in the same bed?” Fu Lan asked.

Qi Yin sighed and said, “Give up that idea, I will not marry you. We are both men, and who knows, I might even be bigger than you when I take off my pants.”

Fu Lan stared at him blankly, apparently not understanding what he meant.

The black cat jumped onto the desk and said earnestly, “Far from it. When you were bowing earlier, this old cat took a glance, and your size is much smaller than that fool’s.”

Qi Yin: “……”

Qi Yin wisely didn’t continue this topic, and instead opened the “Complete Idiot’s Guide to Talismans” that Yun Zhi had sold them. Qi Yin didn’t have much hope for that guy, guessing that he was just trying to cheat them out of their money. But the guy had worked hard to bring them here and had shown them around, so they could consider those three copper coins as a fee for his trouble.

The book was quite well-organized, with a symbol drawn on each page, labeled with the name and function of the talisman. The farther back it went, the more difficult the symbols became, and at the end, it was completely messy and looked like a ghost drawing, making their heads ache just looking at it.

“Do we have to memorize all of this?” Qi Yin cried out.

“Of course.” The black cat put its paw on the page. “Talismans are a way for ordinary people to harness the power of the heavens and the earth to repel evil spirits. In ancient times, the great shamans communicated with the gods through a book, known as the ‘Forbidden Golden Book’. Now that the Forbidden Golden Book is lost, only a few words and sentences remain, and they have become talismans. If you understand the Forbidden Golden Book, you naturally don’t need to memorize them, but since you don’t, you can only memorize them.”

“Ah…” Qi Yin looked down at the “ghost drawing” symbols, which were even harder to draw than reading the Four Books and Five Classics (2).

“What ‘Ah’? You still have a lot to learn.” The black cat glanced at him. “The drawing of talismans has strict rules, which is to mimic the ceremony of the great shamans summoning the gods. The great shamans danced to summon the gods, and their dance steps and rhythms followed strict procedures, otherwise the gods would not be pleased and would not come. Drawing talismans is the same. Every stroke and every stop must be in place, otherwise you cannot harness the power of the heavens and the earth.”

“Can you draw one for me to see?” Qi Yin asked.

The black cat patted Fu Lan’s shoulder and said, “You draw.” Fu Lan’s fingertips gathered a faint blue glow, and he drew several winding lines in the air. The glow flowed calmly from his fingertips, and a small flying fish swam in the air. The room gradually lit up, and a soft halo enveloped them. The room seemed to be filled with invisible water ripples, and the light shimmered.

Qi Yin opened his eyes wide in surprise and asked, “What is this?”

“My avatar,” Fu Lan replied.

“It’s so beautiful,” Qi Yin said excitedly. “Teach me, Ge.”

“You can’t learn it, and your spiritual power is not enough,” the black cat said. “Fu Lan’s void drawing relies on his spiritual power. You can only use yellow paper and cinnabar to draw symbols.”

“Why don’t you draw?” Qi Yin asked the black cat.

The black cat snorted and said, “My spiritual power has been sealed. I don’t even have any demon energy, let alone spiritual energy to draw symbols.”

“I will teach you,” Fu Lan suddenly said.

He walked over to Qi Yin and sat down next to him, his left hand stroking his back, and his right hand holding Qi Yin’s hand. Qi Yin was startled and wanted to break free, but Fu Lan whispered, “Don’t move.”

He felt a chilly touch on his back. It was Fu Lan transferring his spiritual power into his body. The cool spiritual power flowed through his meridians and condensed in his fingertips. Fu Lan held his hand and drew the symbols in the air. The glow flickered, and a small fish shimmered with a gentle halo as it swam out of his fingertips.

In an instant, Qi Yin’s senses became extremely sharp. He couldn’t tell if he was “seeing” things himself, or if it was the fish “seeing” things. Every corner of the room was visible to him, from the spider webs in the corners to the cracks in the walls and tiles, and even every hair on the black cat’s body.

However, the clearest thing was Fu Lan. This man sat next to him, and his breath completely enveloped him. The cool and clear scent reminded him of the mountains after rain, with wet grass and broken leaves on the ground. He couldn’t help turning his head to look at him. Fu Lan silently tilted his chin slightly upward, and his eyes reflected the faint blue fish. The halo softened his facial features, revealing a unique tenderness.

This guy… actually looks quite handsome…

Qi Yin suddenly felt that it was nice to have Fu Lan with him, even though he was not very smart and always had ulterior motives. But when they were together, he didn’t feel lonely. They had spent some money to learn the tricks of swindling people in this thief mountain. In the future, they could be two brothers who bluffed and deceived people. He would be responsible for fooling people, and Fu Lan would be the bait. This guy looked honest, so people wouldn’t suspect him.

“Dai Ge.” Qi Yin pulled his hand out of Fu Lan’s palm and asked, “What’s the story behind our engagement when we were young?”

Fu Lan: “A Fu said you are my child bride, and we’ll get married when we grow up.”

Qi Yin was speechless. This was just nonsense. What mother would marry her son off to a demon as a bride, especially when they were all scared enough to move out of town?

Qi Yin scratched his head and asked, “Why do you want to marry a mortal as your wife? Don’t you monsters hate mortals?”

“Well, mortals make empty promises and tell lies.”

“Yeah, I don’t keep my promises either, and I lie too.”

Fu Lan touched his head, his big, black eyes focused and serious.

“But you’re cute.”

Footnotes

1. Feng Shui – a Chinese philosophical system of arranging objects and buildings in a specific way to create a harmonious flow of energy, or “chi,” in a space. It can be used to change the fates of people in a small household, but certainly not revitalise an entire Daoist sect’s former glory, so the sect leader is just saying nonsense here.

2. Four Books and Five Classics – the authoritative book on Confucianism, written by Confucius himself.

The wind howled in his ears and Qi Yin rubbed his eyes awake. Yun Zhi insisted on riding his sword through the night, afraid that Qi Yin would run away. Later, Qi Yin learned that this guy had no money to stay in an inn. They had been traveling all night, and the sky was already bright. A faint hint of red and golden light appeared at the far east, and the edge of the clouds was dyed golden, like a large embroidered border.

However, the wind was strong in the sky, and Qi Yin sneezed several times. Wrapped in his coat, he squinted his eyes and came back to his senses, only to find himself leaning on Fu Lan’s shoulder. He quickly sat up straight. Fu Lan was also holding the black cat, who was snoring. Qi Yin felt embarrassed. Did this guy let him lean on him all night? It was all because Yun Zhi’s sword was too small, and the three big men could only sit shoulder to shoulder.

Feeling embarrassed in his heart, but pretending to be indifferent on his face, Qi Yin sat with his sleeves folded, and Fu Lan didn’t speak, just looking at him sideways. He usually had no expression, and his indifferent appearance made Qi Yin unable to figure out what he was thinking. Looking back at the road, all he could see was the vast sea of clouds. Wu Tang Town was already nowhere to be seen. Occasionally, he could glimpse the white waters and mountains of the countryside from the palm-sized gaps, and sometimes he could see a few scattered villages and cities in the mountains and rivers, but they passed by in a flash. People were not even worth mentioning.

“Uh.” Qi Yin scratched his head and broke the silence first. “Um…that…”

Fu Lan turned his head to look at him, his large, black eyes clear and clean, with the light and shadow of the sky and clouds hovering in them.

He didn’t look like a demon, not even like a man, but more like a teenager. Qi Yin asked in a low voice, “Have you ever eaten people?”

Fu Lan shook his head.

Qi Yin breathed a sigh of relief. Yun Zhi said next to him, “Those who cultivate the Dao have sharp ears and clear eyes. I can hear everything you say even if you whisper. Don’t worry, the aura of demons who have eaten people is very heavy, but this young man has almost no demonic aura on him, and…” He glanced at Fu Lan, and Fu Lan also stared at him blankly. “And he doesn’t seem very smart either. He doesn’t even know how to control his sword. He probably hasn’t been on the path of demons for more than three months. Fortunately, the monster you encountered before was just a newly hatched Jiutou Niao, and it couldn’t even walk properly. If it was a monster with some cultivation, ten demons wouldn’t be enough to fill its teeth.”

Fu Lan said, “I have been on this path for a long time.”

Yun Zhi showed an interested smile. “As far as I know, demons usually travel in groups. Fu Lan, you don’t have any companions around you. Could it be that you were kicked out for being too stupid?”

“I have companions. I have a cat.” He glanced at Qi Yin, “I used to have Xiao Yin too.”

The cat woke up at some point and was busy nibbling on the bread in Fu Lan’s hand. This fellow had saved the bread for his black cat. They depended on each other, and since their brains were not very bright, they were quite pitiful. Qi Yin sighed and gave half of the bread to Fu Lan, saying, “Okay, I’ll be your friend. Just don’t mention marrying me as your bride again. If you don’t understand anything in your studies, just come to me, and I’ll help you.”

Fu Lan was stunned for a moment before he realized that Qi Yin had once again refused his marriage proposal. He nodded disappointedly and looked down at the rolling sea of clouds below, looking a bit dejected.

Qi Yin didn’t pay any more attention to him, and they arrived at the territory of Feng Huan Mountain at noon. It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t looking forward to it. Qi Yin had never dreamed that one day he would really be able to climb the immortal peak like all the legendary sword immortals in the stories, with fluttering clothes and the ability to soar to the heavens and travel the earth.

Qi Yin looked down and saw rolling mountain ranges, with clouds lying between them like cotton in a nest. A gust of wind blew by. A group of white cranes flapped their wings and flew over their heads. Qi Yin reached out and took a floating feather.

This place was unlike anything he’d ever seen before – it didn’t even look real.

Qi Yin had heard many legends about immortal mountains, and there were always people claiming to have come from the four immortal mountains, sitting in teahouses and talking casually, while also tricking the hosts into giving them two pots of hot tea and several plates of fennel beans. The one he had heard the most about was the Hanging Annihilation Peak of Wu Fang Mountain, with four mysterious iron chains in the southeast, northwest, and disappearing into the vast sea of clouds. There was also the Wu Fang Hall in the center of the Annihilation Peak, where disciples of Wu Fang Mountain would meditate and practice swordsmanship in front of the hall every morning and evening. The sound of chanting scriptures and the swords whistling could be heard, and the people at the foot of the mountain would wake up and work to the sound of immortal music every day, and go to bed with a blown-out lamp.

The four immortal mountains were Wu Fang, Kun Lun in the west, Zhong Gu in the north, and Feng Huan, which was ranked last, but for the ordinary people, it was still an elevated existence like heaven.

Yun Zhi lowered his sword, and Qi Yin saw a long street at the foot of the mountain, with buildings of varying heights on both sides, crowded with people.

“That’s Chang Le Fang at the foot of the mountain, where they sell clothes, shoes, hats, and food, and there are also things to play with, but it’ll cost you some silver.” Yun Zhi smiled at the two of them. “You’ve just arrived. As a senior brother, I’ll take you to the Si Hai Sheng Ping Brothel to see the world another day.”

Qi Yin had a feeling that it wasn’t a good place and said, “Shouldn’t cultivators be content with simple living and few desires?”

Yun Zhi shrugged. “Just don’t let the teachers and elders know.” This person was flighty and liked to break the strict rules of the mountain. Qi Yin decided to keep his distance from him in the future to avoid being implicated by him.

After flying for a while, they entered the mountain. A long green-stone staircase stretched across the mountain, with a gate standing on it. In front of the mountain, there was a huge stone, on which Qi Yin saw red characters that read: “No swords allowed in the mountain.”

Yun Zhi didn’t even glance at it and flew straight over the gate.

Qi Yin: “…”

Flying all the way through, Yun Zhi led them through the trees, but there was no Feng Huan Hall or three thousand disciples in sight. Qi Yin gradually had a bad feeling in his heart. They finally saw some buildings. There were several scattered thatched cottages, surrounded by a fence with a small empty space in the middle, where a few small children were practicing swordsmanship. They flew over the roof, and someone poked their head out of the window on the second floor and shouted, “Damn you, Yun Zhi. Zhang has come to collect a debt. You borrowed his clothes for three days, but you haven’t returned them for a month!”

Yun Zhi didn’t even turn his head. He took off his spotless silk robe, threw it to the person below, and flew away with his sword. His lazy voice drifted through the wind, “Thank Zhang for me!”

Qi Yin looked at Yun Zhi in shock. He had stripped off his immaculate silk robe and revealed a patched-up bamboo cloth undergarment. Yun Zhi smiled and said, “If I’m going to pick you up and bring you back to the mountain, I have to dress and act like a gentleman.” He took out an outer garment from his sleeve, which had been washed so many times that it was hard to tell what color it used to be.

Fu Lan was calm, but Qi Yin felt that he was simply expressionless.

“Come on, I’ll take you to see the sect leader.” Yun Zhi led them to a high cliff and landed his sword in front of a thatched hut.

Qi Yin hesitated for a moment and said, “Um, what about your hall?”

Yun Zhi was puzzled and asked back, “What hall?”

“Like the Wu Fang Hall on Wu Fang Mountain, you should also have a Feng Huan Hall on Feng Huan Mountain, right?” Qi Yin gestured, “A white jade stupa, a dome that is as high as three floors, colorful painted beams, and a Qilin relief…”

Yun Zhi said seriously, “Junior Brother, you’re wrong.”

Qi Yin was stunned for a moment.

Yun Zhi said, “Why do we cultivate? It’s naturally to train the body through ascetic practices and the mind through limiting desires. We don’t approve of extravagance and excessive desires like Wu Fang Mountain. It is not our style at Feng Huan Mountain.”

“Oh… I see.” Qi Yin scratched his head in confusion. But it was Yun Zhi who had suggested taking him to have fun at Si Hai Sheng Ping Brothel?

“Come, I’ll take you to see the sect leader,” Yun Zhi said.

Qi Yin became nervous again and hastily put away the coat he had draped over himself, adjusting his appearance under the sunlight. He also helped Fu Lan tidy his hair and straightened his collars. After giving each other a glance and confirming that they both looked presentable, they left the black cat outside to bask in the sun and followed Yun Zhi inside.

The thatched cottage was rundown on the outside, but inside it was tidy. A painting hung in the center of the main room, but it had faded over time, making it difficult to discern the details of a dark-haired girl combing her hair by the river. Two bamboo tables were placed below the painting, both with gilt bronze incense burners on top, their lacquer worn and mottled with a smoky filament emerging from within.

A disciple came over to bow and said, “The sect leader fell off his sword accidentally and broke his leg the other day. Please wait a moment.”

“What an incompetent sect leader.” Qi Yin was shocked.

“Why so careless?” Yun Zhi was also surprised and asked with concern, “Is the injury serious? Will it affect his life?”

“There is no major problem. He used a bone-setting ointment and will hum and moan in bed for a few days, but he will recover as good as new in a short while.”

Yun Zhi looked disappointed.

Qi Yin inadvertently caught his expression and numbly thought, “Is this kid thinking about betraying his master and destroying his sect?”

After a while, the Feng Huan Mountain sect leader finally arrived. He was slumped in an old rattan wheelchair, pushed by two identical-looking disciples. They came out from behind a golden mountain and green water screen. Those two disciples looked strange with their powdered cheeks, resembling chubby little dolls from a New Year’s painting. But what stunned people even more was the sect leader himself. He was as fat as a newly released pig from the pigsty, with all his meat squeezed into the rattan chair.

Qi Yin now understood why he fell off his sword. It was really difficult for him to control his sword like this.

A disciple handed him a teacup. The sect leader took the tea, pinched the green porcelain lid, and stirred the tea froth. His fingers were thick and white, resembling pig trotters. He wore a jade finger sleeve on his thumb with finely carved lotus patterns. When he drank half the tea, tea leaves got stuck in his teeth. He broke off a small piece of rattan from under the chair with one hand and picked his teeth with it. While picking, he raised his eyes and looked at Qi Yin and Fu Lan up and down.

This scoundrel’s behavior was not at all like that of the leader of a cultivation sect. Qi Yin began to suspect that he had entered a den of swindlers.

After picking out the tea leaves, the man threw away the teacup and smiled at Qi Yin, saying, “So you’re Qi Yin, you look quite…”

Here it comes again. Qi Yin knew what the chubby man was going to say next – something like “you look just like your father” or “you should inherit your father’s legacy.” He had heard it from Zhao Ran and Yun Zhi so many times that his ears now had calluses.

But Qi Yin didn’t care. He came here just to find a place to stay and a roof over his head. When he saved enough money, he would leave.

“You look quite spirited!”

Qi Yin was taken aback and looked up. The leader rolled up his sleeves and said with a smile, “Although the two of you have a special identity, once you enter the sect, you are no different from our disciples. But entering the sect is not something you can do just by saying so. I still need to see if you have what it takes.”

Was this a trial? Qi Yin had heard of it. The first test for entering the Wu Fang Mountain sect was a trial with a thousand people, where they fought in pairs. Only the top hundred could become inner disciples, while the others had to leave. He and Fu Lan were the only ones who came to apprentice here. Did that mean they had to compete against each other?

The leader reached out his hand, and his broad palm was presented under Qi Yin and Fu Lan’s eyelids. “If you want to enter, you have to pay first. It costs one guan per year, but if you pay for three years at once, it’s only two and a half guan. Pay one guan at a time. I’ll teach you as long as I live. Since you two came together, I’ll give you a discount. You only need to pay for one person.”

Qi Yin stood still.

Fu Lan took out his purse and poured a couple of silver coins into the leader’s palm.

“Good job!” The leader gave them a thumbs up. “From today on, you are my disciples. My disciple names are ‘Yun.’ Your Dao names are ‘Yun Yin’ and ‘Yun Lan.’ Yun Zhi, go arrange their lodging. The other elders don’t need to see them unless they’re going out to exterminate demons.”

Qi Yin still hadn’t come to his senses until he left. Did they just lose those silver coins for good?

He looked at Fu Lan in shock. “Why did you pay?”

“He said we had to,” Fu Lan said, confused.

“You just paid because he said so?”

Fu Lan was at a loss. “We shouldn’t have paid?”

“Oh my god, one guan silver coin is enough for both of us to live on for a year, and that silver coin was even the one I gave you!” Qi Yin scratched his head. “We must have entered a den of thieves. Feng Huan is a den of thieves!”