Chapter 212

Pan Yun slept well, got up early the next morning, stood in the courtyard and looked around for a moment, then walked to the garden nearest the main residence, swept her gaze across it, spotted a rockery, leapt up onto it, and sat down cross-legged to meditate.

Miao Zhen and Miao He, one cradling a sword, the other cradling a cat, though drowsy and yawning, still stood behind her.

Pan Yun gave Miao Zhen and Miao He a look, then began to sit in meditation and cultivate.

Miao Zhen and Miao He quietly leaned against the pavilion railing by the rockery, their eyes vacant, and sensing the spiritual energy Pan Yun was drawing in, the two couldn't help exchanging a glance—Little Xiao Shishu had entered samadhi way too fast, it had only been a few breaths.

The main room Master Huang lived in was a bit taller than this garden; from the second floor of the main room one could see the situation in the garden.

And, as it happened, unlike most middle-aged and elderly folk who liked to live on the first floor of the main room, Master Huang liked to live up high.

He believed that living higher not only gave a better view, but also refreshed the mind, and the quality of sleep was better than downstairs, so he had always lived on the second floor.

Early in the morning, he habitually turned his head to look out the window, and at a glance saw Pan Yun sitting on the rockery in meditation.

He couldn't help walking to the window.

Pan Xiaohei opened her eyes and meowed once.

Miao He and Miao Zhen, who had been dozing off in their drowsiness, instantly sobered up; both sensed a gaze fall upon them.

Miao Zhen glanced at Pan Yun, who was cultivating in earnest, and according to what the three of them had agreed on that morning, the hand hidden in her sleeve quietly formed a hand-seal; spiritual energy was drawn in by her spell, instantly taking form, and like a ribbon of colored silk it wound around Pan Yun, and after one circuit it was like a fiery-red dragon turning its head to gaze at the person standing by the window.

Master Huang was greatly shocked, and couldn't help rushing to the window to look out; the fiery-red dragon shifted, and in an instant transformed into a fiery-red phoenix, but before Master Huang could see it clearly, a gust of wind came, and whether dragon or phoenix, both dissolved into a stream of fiery-red smoke that blew past Pan Yun's frost-white temples, slowly vanishing between heaven and earth.

Miao He quietly withdrew her hand, glanced smugly at Miao Zhen, and blinked, 【My gust of wind was well-timed, wasn't it?】

Miao Zhen blinked back at her, "Well-timed! The coordination was excellent."

Master Huang stared blankly, and because of his limited understanding, a great many thoughts arose in his heart all at once.

It was both a dragon and a phoenix, but this immortal lady was a woman, and of advanced years, so she couldn't be Emperor, nor could she be Empress, could she?

Master Huang was so restless he could have torn out his heart and scratched his lungs, and wanted even more to find out Pan Yun's origins.

He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then finally gritted his teeth and called the steward over, "Go call your wife here, she's sharp; have her take a tray of silver and go pry information out of those two little Daoist Priests, you must find out this immortal lady's origins."

The steward didn't understand why, after a whole night of cooling down, the master not only didn't doubt Pan Yun, but trusted her even more.

In any case, after thinking about it all night, the steward actually did somewhat doubt Pan Yun.

But he still didn't dare express his own view; since the master had said so, he would do as told. Still, "Master, isn't a tray of silver too much? Those two are only Daoist children…"

"What do you know? Following an immortal lady, what haven't they seen? I'm still afraid this tray of silver won't pry their mouths open. In any case, tell your wife to be sharp, don't be stingy with money, you must thoroughly investigate this immortal lady's origins and purpose."

The steward glanced at the master's pained expression, agreed, "I'll go right now."

After Pan Yun finished cultivating, she took Miao Zhen and Miao He back to the room; she returned to the room to keep up her act of a lofty personage cultivating, while Miao Zhen and Miao He fulfilled their duty as Daoist children, serving her tea and preparing her morning meal.

A steward's wife carried hot tea over and invited them to the kitchen to choose their morning meal, "We don't know what the immortal lady likes, so the kitchen prepared a bit more; perhaps the two little Daoist Masters should go choose in person."

Miao Zhen and Miao He went along with her.

The kitchen had indeed prepared a great deal of morning fare—mantou, baozi, congee, steamed pork ribs, steamed taro, and even dishes as lavish as those for lunch or dinner.

The steward's wife, while introducing them, asked with a smile, "May I ask how the two little Daoist Masters should be addressed?"

"Miao Zhen."

"Miao He."

The steward's wife said with a smile, "My husband's family name is Qian, my maiden name is Zhou, and I manage the kitchen here. If the two Daoist Masters don't mind, in the future if there's anything you want to eat, just come find me."

Miao Zhen and Miao He addressed her as "Madam Zhou," and asked, "The steward we met last night is your husband?"

Madam Zhou's face showed a brief blank look, and she nodded, "Yes, how did the Daoist Master know?"

Last night she had already gone to sleep, and only learned after her husband came back that three Daoist Priests had come to the residence; this morning was the first time she had met them, so by rights they shouldn't have known her.

Miao Zhen said, "I calculated it."

Madam Zhou's heart thumped, and while helping Miao Zhen pack things into the food box, she praised, "The Daoist Master calculates so accurately—I wonder how long the two of you have been studying the craft?"

Miao Zhen: "We've been on the mountain since birth; before we even understood things we began cultivating with our master and martial uncles. If you ask how long I've cultivated, I don't know either."

"Might I ask which mountain you live on?"

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He frown, Madam Zhou quickly said, "The Daoist Masters are already so formidable, the immortal lady must be even more so. Once I find out the place, in the future I'll know where to go up the mountain to make offerings."

Miao Zhen said, "That's quite far away, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to get there. Besides, the mountain we live on is separated from the mortal world by miasma; ordinary people can't reach it."

Madam Zhou looked left and right, seeming a bit guilty; seeing no one in the kitchen, she took two ingots of silver from her bosom and pressed them into Miao Zhen's hand, saying softly, "Daoist Master, outside the mountain is different from inside the mountain; out here everything you do requires silver, and without silver you can't take a single step."

"And there are plenty of good things out here, to say nothing of the rest—even if you wanted to change into a nicer-colored Daoist robe, you'd still need money to buy fabric, wouldn't you?" Seeing Miao Zhen's tightly furrowed brow relax, and the hand pushing the silver no longer so forceful, Madam Zhou smiled and said softly, "Don't worry, Daoist Master, it's not a lot of money. I saw that the Daoist Master is about the same age as my daughter, and my heart ached seeing you two who've hardly ever come down the mountain, so I'm giving it to you."

Miao Zhen's expression softened even more, and she lowered her head with a somewhat sad look: "I had no father or mother since young; the moment I was born I was abandoned by the side of a ditch…"

Miao He, watching the plump white silver ingots in her hand, said anxiously, "Me neither—I was abandoned by my parents since I was little too."

Madam Zhou: …

She forced a smile, took out two more silver ingots from her sleeve and pressed them into Miao He's hand, "Poor children."

Miao He reached out and hugged the silver ingots, stuffing them into her sleeves one on each side, grinning so wide her teeth showed, "Not pitiful, not pitiful at all, my master treats me wonderfully."

Miao Zhen: …

She secretly pinched Miao He's waist, and Miao He immediately changed her tune: "But it's still better to have parents, better to have parents, hehehe…"

That line sounded fake at first hearing; it seemed these two children really had lived well on the mountain, and didn't seem to miss their parents or family at all.

Madam Zhou understood in her heart, and began to inquire about their master.

Miao Zhen and Miao He didn't hide anything; aside from the name of Mount Sanqing and the names and ages of their master and martial uncles, everything they said was the truth.

! 。Read

Sigh, no choice—who could blame Little Xiao Shishu for currently being a sixty-nine-year-old old female Daoist?

Madam Zhou, hearing that Pan Yun was already sixty-nine, was so startled her eyes went wide, "But the immortal lady looks so young…"

"That's because of cultivation. Look at my Little Xiao Shishu's hair—isn't it gone grey?"

Madam Zhou smiled, "If cultivation can make one return to youth, why is her hair still grey?"

Miao He's heart skipped a beat—oh no, she'd forgotten to come up with an excuse for that.

Miao Zhen's heart also panicked, but her face didn't show it, and she blurted out, "Of course it's because my Little Xiao Shishu hasn't yet broken through to the Human Immortal realm—it's all Long Hushan's fault."

Miao He: "Right, it's all Long Hushan's fault!"

Zhang Niangzi's eyes lit up. "So the immortal cultivators have a grudge against Long Hushan."

Miao Zhen paused, then said: "It's not quite a grudge, but Long Hushan is indeed annoying."

Miao He: "Right, very annoying. They even tried to snatch our little martial uncle — dream on."

Zhang Niangzi hurriedly asked: "What do you mean by that?"

Miao Zhen quickly tugged Miao He and said: "That's a matter for our elders. As juniors, it's not our place to discuss it. You'd better not ask, Zhang Niangzi."

Miao He nodded. "Right, even if you asked, we couldn't tell you."

Zhang Niangzi: …

Zhang Niangzi could only ask about other things. Fortunately, on other matters both Miao Zhen and Miao He were willing to answer.

Following Pan Yun's instructions, everything was seven parts truth mixed with three parts falsehood.

For instance, that they had some connection with Long Hushan, and some discord — that was true;

For instance, that their master's cultivation ranked among the very best in the entire jianghu — that was true; that he was currently in closed-door cultivation — that was false;

That their little martial uncle's cultivation was high, and that he was renowned throughout the jianghu — that was true; his age and other details — those were false…

By the time Miao Zhen and Miao He finally came out of the kitchen carrying two large food boxes, half a shichen had already passed. Zhang Niangzi's head was stuffed full of stories — oh, no, information.

Afraid she might forget, she hurried off to report to Master Huang.

"You're saying this immortal cultivator named Pan Sanzhu, because he couldn't break through to Human Immortal after ten years of closed-door cultivation, calculated that he needed to temper himself among the mortal world, and so came down the mountain?"

"Yes," Zhang Niangzi said in a low voice. "That little Daoist named Miao He speaks quickly. She said yesterday when they passed through here, they hadn't originally intended to come, because they dislike this area — it's too close to Long Hushan. But when they saw that our Huang Residence had severed Long Hushan's Azure Dragon qi, they came."

"They have a grudge against Long Hushan?"

"They said no, but in this concubine's view, there must be a grudge. They didn't look very happy whenever Long Hushan was mentioned."

"Did they say how the immortal cultivator is supposed to temper himself?"

"They said it was by doing good deeds," Zhang Niangzi said softly. "I didn't understand very well what they said, but from what I heard, it seems that when one advances to Human Immortal one has to be struck by lightning. To avoid being struck dead, the immortal cultivator cannot commit sins and must do many good deeds."

Master Huang's eyes lit up brightly. "Really? In other words, they can't harm me?"

Zhang Niangzi nodded repeatedly. "Yes, this concubine asked. Cultivators of the Dao cannot harm people without cause, but with cause they may."

"I'm not going to go hurt them — where would any cause come from?" Master Huang said dismissively, feeling even more reassured.

He was simply afraid these people might harm him in an uncontrollable way.

(End of chapter)