Chapter 122: The Joy of Treasure Hunting

Although my junior brothers and sisters are foolish, the old Daoist still had to make excuses for them; over the short stretch from the back courtyard to the central courtyard, he explained twice to Wang Feiyin, “They’re young and know nothing—don’t take it to heart.”

He added, “It’s my fault—I’ve been so focused on my own cultivation that I forgot to teach them.”

Wang Feiyin comforted him, “I understand. I think you shouldn’t bother trying—some things in this world are simply destined to fail; there’s no point forcing them.”

The old Daoist twitched his lips—was this saying his junior brothers and sisters were beyond saving?

Yet he couldn’t help nodding along, feeling there was truth in what he said.

The two exchanged glances and sighed in unison—one filled with boundless sorrow, the other with boundless relief.

How could my junior brothers and sisters be so foolish?

Fortunately, my junior brothers and sisters aren’t foolish.

The two crossed the threshold together into the central courtyard, where voices buzzed and human energy surged around them.

Li Qingyin’s junior brothers and sisters, though foolish, were obedient—they were told to buy things from Sanqing Temple, so they went to buy.

When they arrived, they caught Yuling Temple’s female Daoists making purchases.

Upon seeing each other, they merely nodded; one female Daoist rose silently and turned aside, perfectly blocking their view.

The Yuling Temple group paid, packed everything into three cloth sacks, and left; only Tao Ji and Xuanmiao of Sanqing Temple knew what they had bought.

As soon as the Yuling Temple group departed, they stepped forward and bent to examine the stall’s wares—there was little left, scattered and sparse; the group frowned, “No Lei Fu or Yinshen Dan left?”

Xuanmiao was about to reach into her sack when Tao Ji looked up and said, “Gone.”

Xuanmiao immediately stopped, withdrew her hand without expression, and fell silent.

The group didn’t dwell on it, merely muttered, “Everything we wanted is sold out.”

They reluctantly selected a few useful elixirs and talismans, felt they’d fulfilled their senior brother’s instructions, and paid to leave.

Pan Yun and Wang Cong had already gone to see the sights, so only Tao Ji and Xuanmiao remained at the stall.

Without the profit-driven Pan Yun and Wang Cong, Tao Ji acted more freely—he wouldn’t even bother to solicit customers he disliked; he simply put the goods away and refused to sell them.

Xuanmiao didn’t interfere, letting him do as he pleased.

But she knew why he’d done this before—these people from Fuxing Temple…

Xuanmiao frowned and asked, “Did they bully you?”

Tao Ji shook his head. “No.”

Xuanmiao stared at him.

Tao Ji’s face flushed slightly; he whispered, “I just feel I don’t like them—but they haven’t done anything.”

Xuanmiao turned her gaze away and said calmly, “If you don’t like them, they must be bad—don’t like them, that’s fine.”

Tao Ji exhaled. “Sister, don’t tell Cong’er or the little sister—they’re obsessed with making money and will surely scold me.”

Xuanmiao nodded. “I won’t tell them.”

Tao Ji relaxed, propped his chin on his hand, and waited for the next customer.

No one came—he wasn’t worried; their goods always sold out eventually, and whatever remained could be sold to the apothecary for even more profit.

Goods from Mount Sanqing never went unsold.

The two slowly restocked their stall; the cloth sacks grew a little emptier.

Pan Yun and the others were touring the inner grounds—this was her first time in such a place; it resembled her past life’s flea market, yet wasn’t the same.

In her past life, the flea market was holographic—you could browse it online from home, instantly, and order items that were delivered to your door.

Pan Yun crouched before a stall, examining the talismans displayed—just one glance told her these were far inferior to those she and Xuanmiao had drawn, even worse than Tao Ji’s.

So her third senior brother was right—these outside goods truly couldn’t compare to Sanqing Temple’s.

Pan Yun felt reassured and turned to browse the stall’s raw materials.

The most abundant were medicinal herbs.

Daoists mostly huddled in the mountains, encountering more rare treasures than ordinary people.

Some Daoists weren’t skilled at alchemy and knew their limitations—they wouldn’t waste good materials, so they saved them for the Sanqing Gathering.

For the first time, the four saw so many raw rare treasures—some still had dirt clinging to their roots.

The four watched with great interest; Tao Yanbai spotted a ginseng root and wanted to buy it—when he asked the price, it was one hundred taels, and he pulled his hand back.

Pan Yun bargained for him. “That’s way too expensive…”

The stallholder cut her off: “This ginseng is at least fifty years old. Look—it’s nearly human-shaped. How rare is that? One hundred taels is already cheap because it’s inside the Sanqing Gathering grounds—in an apothecary, it’d cost at least one hundred twenty.”

Tao Yanbai quietly tugged Pan Yun’s sleeve and nodded slightly—this Daoist spoke the truth.

He’d asked the price hoping to find a bargain, like his third uncle had advised—but no such luck.

Pan Yun surveyed the bustling inner grounds, where disciples debated rare treasures, elixirs, and talismans; she asked Tao Yanbai, “Does this look like a place to find bargains?”

Tao Yanbai glanced around and shook his head sadly. “Our third uncle has picked up bad habits from Grandmaster and Little Uncle.”

Pan Yun refused to take the blame. “This has nothing to do with me—maybe Third Brother was always like this, and you’ve just been fooled.”

Miaohé said, “Little Uncle, our master is the most upright, kind, and honest person in the temple—he would never deliberately deceive us.”

She added, “I think times have changed. Our master hasn’t visited the inner grounds in years—he’s always stayed in quiet corners watching stalls. He probably doesn’t realize that today’s monks and Daoists aren’t as ignorant as before.”

Miaozhen nodded. “And the goods they bring out aren’t as precious or rare as before, so the chance of misidentifying them is low.”

After scanning the area, Pan Yun waved her hand. “Forget it. The inner grounds aren’t that big—we’ll just look at every rare treasure, ask about everything. If we can’t buy anything here, we’ll go to the outer grounds and find Wang Cong.”

“Good, good!” Miaohé was the first to respond. “I think the outer grounds are way more fun.”

The four immediately began browsing. Miaohé was right—vendors knew exactly what they were selling; the chance of someone selling ginseng as a radish was nearly nonexistent. But…

The herbs in the inner grounds were still cheaper than outside, and some Daoists, though aware of their goods’ value, didn’t know current market prices.

They named random prices—some high, but mostly low, and some absurdly below market rate.

When encountering such fools, when else but now to take advantage?

Midway through, Tao Yanbai ran back to Tao Ji for more money.

The four finally discovered the joy of treasure-hunting—buying things was truly delightful, especially spending temple money with no limits. They scurried like treasure-hunting mice, peering everywhere, occasionally buying armfuls of goods.

When they returned with their haul of rare treasures, they had spent every last coin.

Tao Ji glanced at their purchases, estimated their value at a glance, calculated how much money they’d brought, and nodded slightly. “Though unprocessed, bringing back this many herbs isn’t a loss.”

Xuanmiao glanced over and said, “You spoil them—they’ll eventually suffer for it. Buying such mixed herbs like this? Only Sanqing Temple has enough elixir formulas to make use of them; otherwise, they’d just sit useless.”

“Even with formulas, you need additional herbs to balance them—many temples can’t afford it.”

Tao Ji smiled. “Yanbai and Miaohé are learning herb blending—once they make it, selling to apothecaries won’t hurt us. Besides, I see several herbs here that can boost cultivation—I can make pills for them to use. Little Sister has been with us long enough—she’s never taken any medicine.”

Pan Yun stepped back, eyes wide. “I have to take medicine?”

Tao Ji snapped, “What are you afraid of? Outside, countless people would kill to get the medicine that benefits your cultivation.”

Even Xuanmiao nodded. “If you take elixirs with your cultivation, your progress will be faster.”

Pan Yun swallowed. “But isn’t medicine three parts poison?”

“Hmph,” Tao Ji coldly replied. “That’s medicine from outside. Sanqing Temple’s medicine is different—we extract as much toxicity as possible. Just eat it without fear.”

!. Read

Xuanmiao understood Pan Yun’s concern—she’d been through it herself. She told Pan Yun, “When you’re ready to advance, take one elixir—you’ll understand everything.”

Pan Yun nodded. “Alright.”

She was open-minded; though doubtful, she was willing to try.

Xuanmiao said, “I know you want to go to the outer grounds—go help Cong’er sell all the toothbrushes.”

Pan Yun and the three agreed.

Xuanmiao pulled out five taels in silver notes. “You’re out of money—take this. Buy whatever you want to eat.”

Pan Yun took it and dashed toward the gate with Miaohé, Miaozhen, and Tao Yanbai.

Two Daoist acolytes guarded the gate.

They were responsible for keeping watch—those inside could leave, but only monks and Daoists could enter the inner grounds from the outer.

The acolytes opened the gate for them. “Once you leave today, you can’t come back in.”

Miaohé: “You know we’re from Sanqing Temple—why won’t you let us back in?”

“It’s the rule. No one who leaves can re-enter.”

“But they’re adults—you can’t verify their identities. We’re children—only three children are in the entire inner grounds. Why deny us?”

The acolyte pointed at Tao Yanbai. “He’s not young—there are many Daoist acolytes his age inside.”

Miaohé: “Then stop him—but why stop us too?”

Tao Yanbai: …

The acolyte was speechless. “You’re together—I can’t just stop one of you.”

Pan Yun: “You could stop none. You’ve already recognized him—you know he’s with us.”

“No—I’ll forget him soon.”

Pan Yun sighed. “I see. We forgive you.”

Miaohé protested. “Little Uncle, why forgive him?”

“He’s this foolish—show some mercy,” Pan Yun said. “People vary in ability. Learning to accept others’ stupidity is a kind of tolerance.”

The acolyte’s face flushed red. “Who are you calling stupid?”

Pan Yun looked at him with the pitying gaze one reserves for the mentally deficient, gently saying, “Don’t be angry—we mean no insult. We’re merely stating facts. Don’t worry—we’ll treat you kindly if we meet again.”

The acolyte was furious, ready to strike—but the other acolyte grabbed him and said to Pan Yun, “Go quickly. If you want to return later, just register.”

Pan Yun was satisfied. She grabbed Miaohé’s hand and marched out, head high.

Behind them, the two acolytes argued: “Why did you let them go?”

“Why are you harassing them? The senior Daoists dislike Sanqing Temple, but our master has an excellent relationship with them. You’re acting on their gossip—what if things escalate? Will they protect you?”

“You see, you know it won’t work, so why bother?”

The four walked past a five-meter-long corridor, pushed open the door, and the world burst into noise—as if they had stepped from one world into another.

As Pan Yun crossed the threshold, she couldn’t help looking up at the lintel, and there, sure enough, were two yellow talismans.

She couldn’t help exclaiming, “Using talismans to create a special magnetic field, isolating the two spaces so sound can’t pass through this door—impressive. Who drew these talismans?”

Miao He shook her head; Miao Zhen studied them carefully and said, “It looks like Fourth Master’s handwriting.”

Pan Yun tiptoed to look, and after a long moment said, “It’s Fourth Sister’s handwriting. Looks like Fourth Sister has a good relationship with Fuxing Temple.”

“Grand Master and Master Li are close, so Third Master and Fourth Master are also close to Master Li.”

Master Li is Li Qingyin, the abbot of Fuxing Temple.

Pan Yun nodded, closed the door tightly after crossing the threshold, and waved her hand. “Come on, let’s go eat!”

“Aren’t we going to find Senior Brother first?”

“He’s surely too busy to eat right now. Let’s eat first, bring food to him afterward, then join him at the stall—perfect, isn’t it?”

Miao He and the others also thought it perfect, so they smiled, turned together behind the Three Pure Ones statue, then instantly closed their eyes and held their breath.

Even so, the four were still overwhelmed by the stench, coughing several times before rushing out of the main hall.

Outside the hall, there were even more people, the air thick with incense smoke, filled with worshippers burning incense and paying homage—but even more vendors selling goods.

The grounds were packed with stalls, and along both sides of the path, every inch was lined with stalls.

Everything was sold here: combs, jewelry, incense, candles, paper money and ingots, plus all kinds of food.

Daoists held up banners with inscriptions: “Disciples of the Three Pure Ones—fortune-telling and divination. If inaccurate, no charge.”

Pan Yun’s heart burned with excitement. “I have a banner too—it’s gathering dust in the storage room. I’ll find it tomorrow. No—I must find it tonight. Tomorrow I’ll bring it out and set up my stall.”

Suffix 9

(End of Chapter)