Chapter 341: Temple Fair

Wang Feiyin shook his head: "You're not suited for our Mount Sanqing."

Qu Le's smile collapsed. "If you don't want to take me in, why waste so many words on me?"

"..." As expected, there were still disagreeable parts. Wang Feiyin said: "Mount Sanqing's techniques place greater emphasis on comprehension. Basically, a master only leads you through the door; cultivation depends on the individual. Your comprehension can't be said to be entirely absent, but what little you have isn't enough to let you understand the techniques, let alone contemplate them."

"So Mount Sanqing must refuse you. But because of your perseverance, I'm willing to write a letter by hand recommending you to Long Hushan."

Qu Le didn't know much about the Daoist sects, but he did know that Long Hushan was the seat of the Daoist lineage. Even Pan Sanzhu outside claimed to be a disciple of Long Hushan.

So he looked at Wang Feiyin with suspicion. "If even your Mount Sanqing won't take me, would Long Hushan take me?"

Wang Feiyin said mildly: "Long Hushan embraces all rivers. The Daoist Academy is right on Long Hushan, and the Daoists there are even better at teaching students, and their techniques are more comprehensive."

Qu Le's eyes brightened slightly. Put that way, Long Hushan was indeed more suited for him, but...

"If you recommend me, can I go?"

Wang Feiyin stroked his beard and said: "I'll do my best. Whether you can make it depends on your effort and sincerity."

"Effort and sincerity?"

Wang Feiyin: "Isn't your uncle the Lin Mengzhu of the Wu Lin? He knows everything."

Wang Feiyin paused at this point, swept a glance over his features, and still said: "As for why my little shimei refuses to take you as a disciple, she's already told you. If you don't believe it, you can also ask your uncle."

"Young man, don't presumptuously think you know many things while your elders are clueless, uncomprehending, and ignorant. The paths your elders have walked are more than the salt you've eaten."

Qu Le fell into thought.

Only then did Wang Feiyin toss him a bottle of medicine. "For treating a cold. I suggest you first drink a bowl of ginger soup, then have breakfast. After breakfast, take two pills, sleep for a while. When you wake at noon, eat, then take two more pills. In the evening, take two pills the same way. By tomorrow, you can take it twice a day, one pill each time."

Qu Le: "I've caught a cold?"

Wang Feiyin gave a slight nod, handed him the recommendation letter, turned, and left. "The matter is concluded. Farewell."

"Wait," Qu Le gritted his teeth and still asked: "Pan Sanzhu already rejected me, so why suddenly come give me a recommendation letter?"

Wang Feiyin smiled lightly: "Because yesterday's sunset was very beautiful."

Qu Le:...

Wang Feiyin left. Only then did Qu Le touch his own forehead—burning hot. "I really did catch a cold..."

Qu Le recalled his uncle's assessment of Mount Sanqing, climbed up from the ground, and decided to follow the physician's advice.

He called over a waiter, ordered a bowl of ginger soup and a big bowl of millet porridge. Breaking a light sweat from the warmth, having not slept all night, he now felt a bit drowsy.

He poured out two pills, took them, then pulled up the covers and fell into a deep sleep. When he woke at noon, he found his inner garments soaked through, his throat dry, itchy, and aching, but his head wasn't so dizzy anymore.

He silently got up, wiped off the sweat, changed into a fresh set of inner clothes, ate a hearty lunch with a clatter, took two more pills, and continued lying down.

When he woke again, the dry, itchy throat symptoms had mostly vanished, and he no longer had a fever. He felt much more spirited.

Qu Le decided to go find his uncle first thing tomorrow morning. He was going to Long Hushan to learn!

Having come out anyway, Wang Feiyin naturally didn't want to go back just like that, so he took a detour to Wang Tiejiang's place. The moment he stepped in, he called out: "Tiezhu~ how's the thing I ordered coming along?"

Inside the smithy, things were being hammered with a clatter. Besides Wang Tiejiang, there were several young men stripped to the waist.

Wang Feiyin looked at them curiously.

Wang Tiezhu frowned. Seeing the roast chicken in his hand, his expression eased slightly. He nodded toward the back courtyard and said: "Wait for me in the back courtyard."

After quite a while, Wang Tiezhu came over wearing a shirt and said: "The meteorite has been melted down and divided. I'm keeping two-thirds; take the rest back."

Wang Feiyin nodded. "Then..."

"I can only refine at night now. During the day I have to forge weapons—this is work assigned by the military camp, can't be refused."

Craftsmen had to be registered so the imperial court could conscript and assign labor.

Although Wang Tiejiang had entered the Dao, living in the mundane world, he was no different from an ordinary person.

He too was on the craftsman registry and had to obey imperial court assignments.

No matter who you were, as long as you hadn't left this world, you were bound by imperial court control and had to obey the law.

Even the Zhang Celestial Master of Long Hushan couldn't be exempt, let alone them?

Wang Feiyin frowned slightly. "In such a rush? Is it not just because of the fighting in Yunnan—have the armaments gone wrong?"

Wang Tiejiang lowered his voice and said: "I heard a large army at Luchuan had problems with its armaments and suffered a crushing defeat on the battlefield. Many soldiers died. The army has already retreated."

Wang Feiyin looked astonished. "A crushing defeat because of armaments? The little Emperor must be furious."

Wang Tiezhu: "Who knows. Anyway, they've assigned me a lot of tasks. I have to get the weapons forged before the first month. I heard from a soldier delivering iron that after New Year, they'll have to escort the armaments to Yunnan, and also pick out an army to send to Yunnan to join the fight."

Nobody wanted to go, so lately there's been a bit of a slowdown—the iron's been delivered at a crawl.

They could slack off, but Wang Tiezhu and the other blacksmiths couldn't.

If the task wasn't completed, the blacksmiths would be held accountable. In serious cases, they'd just have their heads chopped off.

Wang Tiezhu had no desire to flee into the deep mountains to live as a wild man. He quite liked running his smithy and forging iron here.

Wang Feiyin, hearing this, didn't hold him up any longer. He clapped his shoulder and said: "Then put your back into it. After finishing this imperial court order, be sure to remember my shimei's ritual implement." "Don't worry, I won't forget. Once the weapons are done, I'll focus on forging her ritual implement."

Only then did Wang Feiyin return to the mountain.

Pan Yun and the others had already been working half the day in the Mountain God Temple.

With three extra people, the work speeded up considerably. Soon all the blessing bags were packed, and the medicinal ingredients were sorted and put away.

The day of the Mountain God Temple fair arrived quickly. The physician sent by Magistrate Ming arrived overnight with medicine boys and stayed in the village, led by the Sanqing Abbey, lodging in the villagers' homes.

Nearby Daoist abbeys and Buddhist temples also gave the Sanqing Abbey face, sending quite a few Daoist priests, monks, and nuns to attend.

Of course, they weren't here to collect blessing bags. Just like the year-end temple fair, they came to preach, do merit, and exchange with one another.

Pan Yun was extremely welcoming and specially arranged tables, chairs, and signs for them along the way.

Not only did the common folk of Yushan County hear of the fair and come to attend, but poor folk from neighboring counties, hearing that the fair not only offered blessing bags but also free medical consultations, also came running.

Early in the morning, the nearby villagers arrived first. They collected their items, paid respects to the Mountain God, the sick went to see the doctor, and even those without illness squeezed over to the medicine area to grab a packet of cold-preventing medicine before leaving.

Just as they left the village, other villagers began to come in, and townspeople living in the county seat also arrived one after another.

!.

This was Xiao Qi's first time coming to Mount Sanqing; she had long known that her benefactor was a Daoist Priest of Mount Sanqing, but had never visited before.

Before entering the village, she saw many people; the grass on both sides of the road had been neatly cut and fenced off for stalls.

There were vendors selling food, yellow paper and firecrackers, and various handicrafts.

Even cloth, tea, and porcelain were for sale.

Xiao Qi and the others held hands, closely following the old woman, looking puzzled. "Grandma, these things are sold in the county town too—why come here to buy them?"

The old woman said: "They're cheaper here."

But they weren't here to buy these things; she led the group past the stalls and into Fen Shui Village.

Fen Shui Village was bustling—every corner of the villagers' homes was lined with stalls, and many households had opened their doors wide, smoke curling from their kitchens, specifically to host wealthy devotees.

Wealthy people traveling didn't want to suffer discomfort, so they would stay at villagers' homes, drink tea, eat meals, and then, once their servants had waited in line, they would rise themselves to collect the Blessing Bags, seek diagnosis, and receive medicine.

Yes, they had their servants wait in line, but to collect these items, they must personally handle them.

County Magistrate Ming had also come; he wore casual attire, accompanied by his secretary and two Retainers, pushed through the crowd into the Mountain God Temple, and saw Pan Yun seated cross-legged on a mat, wearing a Daoist robe, speaking gently to someone. He stepped forward and heard her say: "Why trouble yourself, good person? Fortune is fleeting—today's divination may be one thing, tomorrow another."

The devotee pulled out money and placed it on the table beside Pan Yun, bowing repeatedly. "Please, Temple Keeper, bless me and change my fortune—let my luck improve."

Pan Yun readily agreed, placed the money into a nearby merit box, and said: "I will bless you, but that alone is not enough. Go down this path to the back courtyard—there's a young Daoist Priest named Seeing Miao Zhen. Ask her for a Luck Charm. Carry it with you, and your fortune will slowly improve."

The devotee accepted, then walked away devoutly.

County Magistrate Ming: …

His gaze followed the devotee to the back before returning to Pan Yun.

Pan Yun saw him, rose from the mat, bowed to him, and invited him outside to speak.

The two found a corner to stand.

There was no choice—too many people; they couldn't sit, and even standing, they were squeezed against the wall.

It was merely a wall about a meter high, built along the slope to prevent mudslides from reaching the square before the Mountain God Temple.

Standing atop it, leaning against the temple's wall, they were unobtrusive yet could see the entire scene.

County Magistrate Ming saw the devotees divided into two groups: one group first paid respects at the temple, then joined the queue for Blessing Bags;

the other group went straight to the Blessing Bag queue, collected their bags, then came to pay respects at the temple, and finally went up the mountain path to receive medicine for preventing colds.

Everyone who received a Blessing Bag had a stamp placed on their hand—that was the Blessing Stamp;

those who received medicine for preventing colds received another stamp—that was the All-Ailments-Cured Stamp.

Because of these two stamps, no one could repeatedly collect items.

Among those waiting in line for Blessing Bags were elderly people, sixty or seventy years old, bent-backed and white-haired; and also young children who could barely walk, brought by others.

Whoever reached the front of the line, the Mountain God Temple gave them a Blessing Bag.

County Magistrate Ming scanned the long queue and said: "It's only the first day, and already so many people—are you prepared with enough Blessing Bags?"

Pan Yun said: "Since you had the village head spread the word so widely, you clearly already know about my multiple trips to the county town to buy rice, don't you? A while ago, Old Man Qian donated another cartload of rice, and I also had the grain shop deliver three more carts."

County Magistrate Ming struggled to suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth: "I'm concerned your Mountain God Temple is under too much pressure."

Pan Yun waved her hand: "No problem—collecting the bounty once covered the cost."

County Magistrate Ming recalled the official verification notice he had received from Guangxin Prefecture: "A while ago, I received a notice from the Prefect's office requesting verification of your information—you…"

Pan Yun lifted her chin: "No need for praise. Exterminating evil and protecting the good is the duty of any decent citizen."

County Magistrate Ming: "... I'm glad you're happy."

See you tomorrow.

(End of Chapter)