Chapter 46: Accidents, All Accidents

"You said today that you would spread the glory of Mount Sanqing's deity far and wide—then henceforth, walk the world as my embodiment."

Pan Yun straightened up, purely out of curiosity, "Master, if I walk the world as your embodiment, can I use your abilities, just as if I were truly Mount Sanqing?"

If so, she would gladly do it.

She would dedicate all good deeds and achievements she ever accomplished to Mount Sanqing's name.

This is becoming a deity with a single thought—names are but labels.

Hey, cultivator, would you like to be a mountain deity's embodiment? To live eternally like a deity, wield a deity's powers, a deity—plants and animals in the mountains all serve you, not to mention you won't starve, and you can even perform miracles to frighten the Emperor and the Grand Eunuch in the palace.

In just a moment, her thoughts had leapt ahead to herself, as deity, dominating the land, forcing the Emperor to pardon her father and brother, and respectfully invite them back to Jingcheng to be honored.

Her thoughts were too erratic, and this was a dream—some ideas manifested physically. Pan Gong watched the tiny figure acting out a miniature film beside him, took a deep breath, and emphasized, "It's an embodiment! You are merely the deity's embodiment, not the deity's true self!"

"So does an embodiment have the true self's abilities?"

Partial abilities, but…

The mountain deity, seeing her excitement, changed his mind at once: "Forget it. I won't make you an embodiment. Take this Merit Stone. You must swear a pact with me: half of your future merits belong to me."

Pan Yun: "Master, what if I commit sins? Of course, I'm not saying I'm evil or will definitely sin—but you know, once you walk the mortal world, you're often powerless to avoid it. What if I commit a grave sin?"

The deity looked down at the earnest little figure and suddenly felt regret—why had he chosen her, seeing her extraordinary talent, believing she would eventually attain the Dao?

Those with extraordinary talent can become deities—or demons.

The deity no longer wanted any benefit—he only wished to say one thing: after you leave, don't tell anyone you're my disciple.

The Merit Stone meant little to him anyway—it was merely a stone altered by the Dao's approval of merit.

Merit isn't stored inside it.

Every deity's rightful incense and merit naturally return to them—they never linger in the Merit Stone.

Merit merely passes through this stone, where the Dao filters and weighs gains and losses. After millennia of exposure, it slowly changed, gaining the ability to automatically recognize and measure merit.

And because steeped in merit for so long, it acquired properties that calm the spirit and attract affection.

To humans, it's a treasure. To deities, it's truly useless.

But such stones are rare—after all, not every stone touched by merit undergoes this transformation.

Just as not every stone can give birth to a stone monkey.

The deity suddenly understood: this Merit Stone appearing on Mount Sanqing wasn't a blessing from the Dao for him—it was for this child.

He turned and walked away.

Pan Yun lunged to the ground, grabbing his leg, "Master, don't leave! I'm not unwilling—I'm afraid I can't suppress my nature and one day bring disaster upon you!"

She looked up at him with pleading eyes: "Master, I'm naturally good, I hate evil, I can't tolerate even a speck of dirt. When I go out into the world…"

"You don't need to be my embodiment. I don't want your merit. From today on, take the Merit Stone and leave the mountain. Never tell anyone you're my disciple."

He turned to leave, but his leg was clutched tightly by Pan Yun.

Pan Yun: "Master, are you abandoning me now? How can I accept so much from you without repaying you? Besides the two things I mentioned earlier—whatever you ask me to do, even walk through fire and mountains, I'll do it without hesitation!"

This sounded too familiar—he'd just heard it.

Pan Gong realized it too. He looked down at her, then said after a long pause: "You're more shameless and thicker-skinned than your eldest senior brother. If he'd had your tenacity, he wouldn't have been trapped on this mountain for so long."

Pan Yun's heart jolted, but she dared not press further. Instead, she feigned innocence, gazing at Pan Gong with a blank, clueless expression.

Pan Gong considered: Pan Yun was uncontrollable. If he bound her too deeply to the Merit Stone, fortune and misfortune would be unpredictable. Better to set a demand that wouldn't harm him much.

He said: "You promised to rebuild my temple. Start with that. In your spare time, do good deeds below the mountain, spread the glory of Mount Sanqing's deity. Once you're a hundred li beyond Mount Sanqing, never say you're my disciple—or mention my name."

Pan Yun: "Why?"

Pan Gong smiled faintly: "I fear my glory won't spread before my sins arrive."

Pan Yun felt a little embarrassed.

Pan Gong shifted his leg: "Let go."

"Oh," Pan Yun quickly released him, pushing herself up—but for some reason, her leg spasmed violently, and she crashed back to the ground with a thud. Losing balance, she flailed her hands—and grabbed the base of the sword scabbard in Pan Gong's single hand. Pan Gong's face changed. He reached out to seize it—but too late. The sword scabbard, which Pan Yun had thought was a treasure, was feather-light. She yanked it off. She looked up—and locked eyes with Pan Gong, one hand clutching the scabbard, the other holding a broken sword: the blade severed halfway, leaving only a stub of hilt.

Pan Yun saw his face instantly flush red. He shoved her away, snatched back the scabbard, closed it over the broken blade, and vanished from her dream with a hiss.

The moment Pan Gong emerged, he saw the black cat standing stiffly on Pan Yun's knee—he knew it was the culprit. A gust of wind arose, flinging the cat off the bed, then he slammed through the door like a whirlwind.

The door slammed against the wall with a loud crack. Pan Yun jolted awake. She sat up sharply—and stared straight into the dazed, struggling face of Pan Xiaohei just getting up.

She rubbed her knee, glaring at it dangerously: "Did you knock me?"

Pan Xiaohei protested: "I saw mosquitoes buzzing around you, so I pounced on them—and accidentally bumped your leg. Don't believe me? Touch your face—you've got one huge bump. Without me, you'd have at least three."

Pan Yun touched her face—and indeed felt a large bump. She fell silent.

Pan Xiaohei crept forward cautiously and asked in her mind: 【What happened? Did your talk go badly?】

Pan Yun sneered: 【It was going fine—until that one moment. He was so humiliated he nearly killed me to silence me.】

Pan Xiaohei froze, every hair on her body standing up. What had she done? She'd just pounced on a mosquito and bumped her leg!

Pan Yun rubbed her forehead, offering no further explanation. She never imagined the mighty mountain deity held a sword that was just for show.

So… her mountain deity master was… poor?

The next day, Pan Yun went to see her eldest senior brother with dark circles under her eyes.

Read.

Wang Feiyin saw her and couldn't help worrying: "Didn't you sleep all night?"

He wanted to ask about the mountain deity, but feared she wouldn't want to speak of it.

But Pan Yun had already brought up their mountain deity master: "Eldest senior brother, is our master's incense plentiful?"

"Plentiful. Within a hundred li, when people have needs, besides going to Ge Xian Temple, Fuqing Temple, and Lingji Temple, they worship our master."

Pan Yun: "There are so many temples and shrines around Mount Sanqing?"

Wang Feiyin: "Not that many, really."

"Then how many households are there within a hundred li?"

Wang Feiyin thought for a moment and said, "About two or three Battalion Commander."

Can that many people sustain a deity? And there are so many temples and shrines nearby.

Pan Yun sighed and asked, "Senior Brother, if I want to give Master a sword, is it enough to burn a paper sword for Him?"

Wang Feiyin touched her forehead and said, "Fifth Young Mistress, what are you thinking? A paper sword in the other world is still made of paper—it won't turn into iron or copper."

You don't need to give Master a lavish gift; as long as your heart is in it, He won't care about such things."

Pan Yun silently watched Wang Feiyin; she vaguely understood why Master refused to approve Senior Brother's plea to rebuild the temple.

Probably he knows that even with sincere cultivation, Senior Brother can't achieve much anyway.

It's better not to stir up trouble.

Sigh—if it weren't for yesterday's incident, she would naturally have followed Senior Brother's example: as long as the heart is there, it's enough.

But didn't she offend Master and still gain such a huge benefit for free?

If Pan Yun didn't repay something, her heart would not rest.

She waved her small hand and declared, "I've decided—I'll earn money to build a temple for Master."

Wang Feiyin exclaimed, "Little Sister, are you really so wealthy?"

Pan Yun asked, "How much does it cost to build a temple?"

"That depends on how you build it. The cheapest would still be several hundred taels; if you go all out, there's no upper limit—tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of taels can be spent."

Pan Yun said, "Senior Brother, look down at me—I'm only eight years old this year."

Wang Feiyin said, "Then build one for a few hundred taels. To build a temple, you need land—if you build in a bustling area, you must get approval from the government office; but if you build only in a village, near the old site, you just need the village's consent."

"Bricks, timber, labor, and carving the deity statue—it'll still cost four or five hundred taels at least."

Pan Yun sighed, "If only I could meet a few more generous people like Old Zhou Wang."

When Old Zhou Wang came to mind, Pan Yun couldn't help thinking of her father. She counted on her fingers, "I wonder if my letter has reached Datong yet."

In Datong, a Minxin Bureau official took the letter and skillfully headed toward the exile village. He knocked on the door of a thatched hut slightly ajar and called out loudly, "Is Master Pan inside?"

The lucky number for this chapter is still any number ending in 6—screenshot as proof.

(End of Chapter)