Chapter 338: Because the Sunset Was Beautiful

Wang Feiyin was silent for a moment, then asked, "Who is Qu Le?"

"Lin Mengzhu of the Wu Lin Alliance's nephew," Pan Yun paused, then said, "His natural talent is decent, but his comprehension is not high."

Wang Feiyin stroked his beard and said, "For cultivation aptitude, comprehension matters more."

Pan Yun nodded; this was also one of the important reasons Master Xuanmiao had refused him. "Fourth Senior Sister felt that leading him onto the Dao would be misleading the young, so she never agreed."

Wang Feiyin: "Since you've already refused him, why suddenly change your mind?"

Pan Yun sighed and said, "He's very persistent."

Wang Feiyin understood at once. "You went soft."

Pan Yun scratched her cheek. "He might still be kneeling at the inn right now."

Wang Feiyin said, "I'll go tomorrow morning. If he's still kneeling at the inn, what's the harm in giving him a chance?"

Pan Yun's heart lifted, and she asked carefully, "When Senior Brother says a chance, do you mean one for our family, or for Long Hushan?"

Wang Feiyin glanced at her and said, "It seems he's truly not suited for Mount Sanqing. Since you're so worried, naturally it's Long Hushan."

Pan Yun laughed, then said, "To become a disciple of Fourth Senior Sister and me, he's willing to offer ten thousand taels of gold."

Wang Feiyin immediately grew solemn and said gravely, "I understand. I'll go back tonight and write a letter of recommendation."

Long Hushan is different from Mount Sanqing. Mount Sanqing has only a handful of people, is poor, each person specializes in a single Dao, and takes very few disciples.

Neither he nor Pan Yun was suited to taking disciples. Mount Sanqing's future would surely fall upon the disciples of Yin Song and Tao Ji. If nothing unexpected happened, Old Second's mantle would be inherited by Yin Qingjun and Miao Zhen.

Old Third has Miao He.

Even if he and Pan Yun were to pass on their mantles in the future, they would take people in and register them under Old Second's or Old Third's name...

Mount Sanqing values quality, not quantity.

But Long Hushan, being the seat of the world's Daoist lineage, has both elites and numbers.

Their conditions for accepting disciples are not so strict either.

They take those with talent, those with connections, and those with money...

Different paths of entry, different aptitudes, and also different teachings and curricula.

Since Qu Le is not short of money, and Wang Feiyin has the connections, there is naturally a way to get him into Long Hushan. How much he learns after entering will depend on his own ability.

Along the way, Wang Feiyin asked about quite a few matters concerning Qu Le.

Pan Yun didn't know much either, and could only start from the great battle against the Japanese pirates at Quanzhou.

Although she didn't know much, from a few incidents and his words and deeds, one could see what kind of person he was. "Judging by deeds, he dared to charge to the front line to kill Japanese pirates, so he's not someone who shirks work or seizes others' merits empty-handed. He's a martial second generation with ideals and bottom lines."

Pan Yun continued, "Judging by heart, he dared to say outright that he joined the battle to make a name for himself, which shows his candor. He's a forthright person."

Wang Feiyin glanced at her. "Your Third Senior Brother, however, took this to mean he cares only for fame and fortune, his mind is narrow, and by extension, that he's foolish without knowing it. Yet you can find his merits in it."

Pan Yun said, "People are all two-sided. The flip side of a flaw is a virtue. Senior Brother, I'm afraid of death, but you could also say I cherish my life. I'm decisive in my actions, but decisiveness pushed slightly past the line becomes arbitrariness—and who can judge whether I've crossed the line?"

"Even I cannot. Looking back from the future, everything is clear, but we stand within the flow of time, and none of us know whether our present persistence will be right or wrong in history."

"He wants to become a disciple, and I was tempted because the benefit he offered was too alluring. I refused because I didn't want to harm him and his family, and mislead the young. My heart softened now because today's sunset was too beautiful. Senior Brother enlightened me, and I don't wish to snuff out his aspiration for the Dao."

"'You are not a fish,' and we are not him either. We cannot make the choice for him—to bar him from the Dao path is not necessarily the best choice for him." Pan Yun said softly, "Cultivation is cultivation of the heart. Even if the road ahead is hard, if the heart is at peace, I am willing."

Wang Feiyin's steps paused slightly. He laughed softly, took Pan Yun's hand, and said, "Very well. Your elder brother will take this journey on your behalf."

Having said that, a flying sword appeared in his hand. He flung it out, carried her up into the air, and they flew through the mountain peaks toward the direction of the Sanqing Temple.

Mount Sanqing is composed of three peaks: Yujing, Yuxu, and Yuhua. The Sanqing Temple sits atop the tallest, Yujing Peak.

Wang Feiyin, however, had chased Pan Yun all the way to Yuxu Peak.

He carried her, weaving between the mountain peaks, and in no time they were back in the rear courtyard.

Wang Cong, who had been standing at the cliff's edge watching the sea of clouds, saw his father step on a flying sword and bring Little Auntie flying out from behind a rocky hill, heading straight toward him. He stepped aside to let them pass.

Wang Feiyin's flying sword vanished in an instant. He brought Pan Yun down gently from midair, sniffed the fragrance in the air, and asked, "Is the food ready?"

Miao He heard the sound, ran out of the kitchen with a fire-poker in hand, and said excitedly, "Almost, almost! The radishes have been in for a while now. Just another quarter of an hour and it'll be done."

She gazed at Pan Yun with starry eyes and asked with concern, "Little Auntie, where did you get hit?"

Pan Yun touched her backside.

Pan Xiao Hei, who had leapt off Pan Yun's shoulder and scurried away in a flash before the flying sword even landed, darted into the kitchen, found a warm spot by the stove to warm itself by the fire, and upon hearing this, let out a mocking sound.

Miao He cast a sympathetic glance at her backside and said, "I already spotted the meatiest piece of lamb spine earlier. I'll give it to Little Auntie in a bit."

Pan Yun was touched. "Thank you, Miao He."

Wang Feiyin: "Is the hot water ready?"

Miao Zhen, leaning against the doorframe, said, "It's ready."

Wang Feiyin said to Pan Yun, "Go bathe and change your clothes. You have a quarter of an hour. Cong'er, go grab a few eggs and make some poached eggs." Wang Cong said, "There's already plenty of food tonight—all that lamb and lamb spine..."

Meeting his father's gaze, Wang Cong manually closed his mouth, then said, "Alright, I'll go now."

Wang Cong went to fetch eggs.

It was winter now, and the hens on the mountain had stopped laying. The current eggs were all stored from before.

Previously it had just been the father and son at home, using at most two a day. Sometimes they were too lazy to even boil eggs, preferring to eat and fast down the mountain, so quite a few had accumulated.

Wang Cong crouched before the basket filled with rice husks, picked through them, selected the seven largest eggs, and went into the kitchen.

Poached eggs are easy. Boil water in a big pot, add a few slices of ginger, then a little oil, crack the eggs in, add a pinch of salt, and once the eggs are cooked they can be served.

Pan Yun took a quick bath, got dressed, and rushed over following the aroma.

It was cold now, so the dining table had been set up in the kitchen. The poached eggs were already done, and the other dishes had all been served. Seeing Pan Yun arrive, Tao Yanbai began ladling out rice.

He asked Pan Xiaohei, "How much do you eat?"

Pan Xiaohei meowed at length.

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Tao Yanbai then served it a bowl of rice.

Pan Yun took it casually and asked, "Do you want it soaked in lamb soup or egg soup?"

Pan Xiaohei fell silent for a moment, then began meowing.

Tao Yanbai: "It's over, too complicated, Little Xiao Shishu, I don't understand."

Pan Yun took an empty bowl, split the rice in half, and said, "It says it wants both — half soaked in egg soup, half soaked in lamb soup."

Miao He: "It really knows how to eat, I want it like that too."

Wang Feiyin glanced at her and said, "No soup-soaked rice, the soup and the rice must be eaten separately."

Miao He's shoulders slumped, but soup-soaked rice really was so delicious — she could even skip the meat and just soak her rice in lamb soup or egg soup...

Miao He swallowed her saliva, pressed her little belly, and felt so hungry.

In the end, while Wang Feiyin wasn't looking, she used the ladle to scoop up lamb scorpion and sneaked half a ladle of soup for herself, soaking her rice in it.

The rice dissolved into the lamb soup, she took a blissful bite, and immediately couldn't stop.

Wang Feiyin ate and sighed — among the four children, she was the one who knew best how to eat; no wonder, no matter how she cultivated, her little belly just wouldn't go down.

Wang Feiyin sighed, but seeing her eat so deliciously, he still couldn't help but smile, and couldn't help but pick up a piece of meat for her.

After picking it up, Wang Feiyin couldn't help muttering inwardly that it was a sin — she had eaten enough already, so why couldn't he stop feeding her?

Wang Cong was also feeding Pan Xiaohei; he picked up an egg for it. "One egg each."

Pan Yun answered, picked one up herself, and bit straight into the yolk in one bite — mm, today's sun really does look like a fried egg yolk.

As she ate, she also looked around and asked, "When I went back to wash just now, I passed by the guest room — it seemed empty inside. Where's Hong Yan?"

Tao Yanbai said, "She came out of seclusion. As soon as she did, she said she wanted to go out for training, and Little Red went with her."

Pan Yun was stunned. "Gone?"

Wang Feiyin said, "After she took the Kai Zhi Dan, she's become even more like a person — her ears can already transform to look just like a human's, only her tail still can't be completely hidden."

"But that's not hard to fix — wearing a long skirt can cover it, and it's winter now, with more clothing the tail is even less conspicuous," Wang Feiyin said. "I saw she wanted more insight, so I let her go down the mountain. It happened that lately Little Red has been wandering behind people and vaguely recalled something, so I sent the two of them down the mountain together."

Pan Yun worried, "It's New Year, there are plenty of Daoist Priests and nuns down the mountain, they..."

Wang Feiyin smiled and said, "I cast a divination for them — this trip will have scares but no danger, more good than harm. Don't worry."

Pan Yun immediately gripped her chopsticks tightly. Wang Cong also looked up and couldn't help muttering, "Your divination... makes me even less at ease."

Wang Feiyin turned to look at him. "What did you say?"

Wang Cong immediately lowered his head and shoveled rice, mumbling, "Nothing."

Wang Feiyin snorted.

Pan Yun didn't dare speak either, and could only silently pray that Eldest Senior Brother's divination would be a bit more accurate, and that the one fox and one ghost would be clever and come back safe and sound.

After eating and drinking her fill, Pan Yun silently went to wash the dishes.

Wang Cong went to help, Tao Yanbai boiled hot water for them — one washed while the other rinsed, working in perfect coordination.

Wang Feiyin then said to Miao He, "Go, bring the account book, and report the expenses of the last few days to your Little Xiao Shishu."

Miao He didn't move and said, "It's only a few days' accounts, I've got them all in my head."

She recited them straight off.

After hearing it, Pan Yun did some mental arithmetic and then set her mind at ease, saying, "Seeing Miao Zhen and I earned a hundred and eighty taels in reward money on this trip, plus another forty-eight taels in talisman fees and gratitude money. The expenses were all paid by my Senior Martial Nephew, and with the five hundred taels he gave, the money for this temple fair is more than enough."

(End of chapter)