Chapter 123: Fishing Old Man

After the night passed, the people in the temple didn't know when they had fallen asleep. It wasn't until the sun was high in the mountains that someone woke up and then roused the others.

The doors of the Mountain God Temple were still closed, and the rain outside had already stopped.

Mo Tong got up and looked around, but he couldn't find Ji Yuan.

"Where is Mr. Ji? Has Mr. Ji left?"

Someone opened the temple doors and searched around, but still found no trace of Ji Yuan. They realized that the immortal figure must have already departed.

"Mo Tong, will the immortal technique Mr. Ji left last night be useful? What if we encounter demons or monsters again...?"

A woman asked anxiously. Seeing evil spirits for the first time, the impact on their worldview was secondary; the main concern was the profound sense of helplessness they felt.

But before Mo Tong could respond, the young child Mo Yu began to shout.

"It will definitely be useful! After Mr. Ji wrote two characters for me with water yesterday, I'm not scared anymore! It will definitely work!"

Mo Tong also spoke reassuringly.

"How could we mortals presume to guess the actions of an immortal? If it truly comes to it, we'll follow Mr. Ji's advice: as soon as the young master senses something is wrong, we'll quickly take refuge in the City God Temple!"

"That's all we can do..."

The group packed up. Before leaving, they put the three prayer mats back in place and then very solemnly kowtowed to the statue of the Mountain God. Had there been incense in the temple, they would certainly have offered a stick.

Only after completing all these actions did they leave the Mountain God Temple, closing its doors behind them.

In fact, Ji Yuan had left directly, partly because he had left a magical decree to conceal Mo Yu's spiritual aura and even alter his presence, and partly because he had observed the boy's qi last night and determined that Mo Yu's tribulation was over.

As for the alarming incident yesterday when Mo Yu's soul left his body, his nominal master must have sensed the change in qi and would surely rush over quickly.

In this world, practitioners of orthodox immortal cultivation paths either cultivate a pure heart with few desires, accumulate good deeds, reside in mountains, or engage in arduous cultivation to attain enlightenment. Although their personalities vary, few cunning individuals would scheme against an ordinary child. This holds especially true for those with higher cultivation realms. While they might not need to rely on introspection for enlightenment, they certainly cannot act contrary to its principles.

Ji Yuan had no intention of meeting the master, nor did he wish to be treated with excessive reverence like an ancestor throughout his journey. Therefore, he decided to leave ahead of them.

Sure enough, about half an hour after the Mo family group had descended Banana Leaf Mountain, someone arrived on the wind from the sky, though the Mo family members on the ground couldn't see them.

The newcomer wore a long purple robe that flapped in the wind high above. Having ridden the wind for half the night, following the qi fluctuations, he was surprised to find that upon arrival, he could no longer detect the aura of his uninitiated disciple.

He fixed his gaze on the ground and saw a child, significantly shorter than the household servants, skipping along the road. He only relaxed after confirming it was indeed his disciple.

Frowning, he performed a divination using his disciple's birth characters and the qi fluctuations from last night. Aside from the hexagram indicating that danger had turned into safety, everything else was blank.

Unable to comprehend, he decided to question those involved directly.

As he rode the wind downward, the winds on the ground gradually picked up. The immortal, revealed by the strong breeze, manifested his form, and only then did the others notice an additional person standing directly in front of them.

"Who is it?" "Protect the young master!"

Mo Tong's men were on high alert as if facing a formidable enemy, while Mo Yu excitedly shouted, "Master!" Although they had only met once or twice, his familiarity was as if they had spent every day together.

Mo Yu's reaction made the Mo family members breathe a sigh of relief. They quickly bowed, feeling considerably more at ease after encountering immortals twice in a row.

The newcomer, wearing a small crown, a jade hairpin, and a purple robe, had a beautiful black beard about a foot long. He merely nodded in response to the greetings from the other Mo family members. Then he walked up to Mo Yu and reached out, intending to examine the child with his spiritual power. However, the moment his hand touched Mo Yu, the obscure and hidden aura on the boy's body vanished.

"Yu'er, did you encounter any danger yesterday?"

Mo Yu still felt a lingering fear when asked about it.

"Yesterday, four bandits tried to capture me, but the household servants couldn't fight them off. During our escape, I was so scared because I didn't want to be caught, and somehow my soul just flew out..."

Mo Yu prattled on, roughly explaining how he had overcome the danger, which made his master stroke his beard in thought.

"The Daoist friend you met is named Ji? And what about this Mountain God of Banana Leaf Mountain? Why did he voluntarily come to find your soul? Was he just passing by?"

Hearing Mo Yu describe the Mountain God as more like a monster than a human, his master could basically conclude that the other party's cultivation was not high. Otherwise, unless it was a true elemental spirit of mountains and rivers, a mountain god with a temple would usually be close to human form. A minor deity like that wouldn't dare get involved in such trouble just by passing by, would he?

Mo Yu's master had only heard Mo Yu's narrative, naturally missing some details of the process. Hearing the immortal master's question, Mo Tong, who was nearby, quickly added to the answer.

"To reply, Immortal Master, we saw it clearly. The immortal master named Ji lifted his leg and stamped it on the ground last night, uttering, 'I invite the Mountain God of Banana Leaf Mountain to appear.'"

Mo Tong imitated Ji Yuan's posture and tone, physically re-enacting the scene.

But after he finished speaking, the others clearly noticed that the immortal master, who appeared far more otherworldly than Mr. Ji had last night, stiffened slightly.

"Did you truly see him summon the Mountain God like that?"

"Absolutely true!"

The immortal master was momentarily lost in thought.

'He actually invoked a deity! Which highly cultivated master of the Dao came through this place? Someone named Ji...'

"Master, Master, I even asked Mr. Ji if he was more powerful or if you were, and Mr. Ji said you definitely were! I think so too; Mr. Ji can't even fly, and he said he walks through mountains and rivers on his own two legs, so he's definitely not as powerful as you!"

His master's expression stiffened again, and he was both amused and frustrated.

"Yu'er... you... beyond mountains there are mountains, and beyond heavens there are heavens... That Mr. Ji was merely being humble. Some masters truly prefer to walk slowly... Never mind, you wouldn't understand yet... Oh, by the way, did that gentleman ever tell you his full name?"

"No, I asked, but Mr. Ji didn't say!"

It was a good thing Mo Tong and the others hadn't seen Ji Yuan use his "Immobilization Technique" when he pursued them; otherwise, there's no telling what the purple-robed immortal master would have thought had they mentioned it.

Meanwhile, Ji Yuan, who had long since departed and was far away, didn't see the purple-robed cultivator arrive. However, he noticed that the rain-water decree he had left with special techniques had dissipated, indicating that Mo Yu's master must have arrived.

However, if Ji Yuan knew that Mo Yu's master said he didn't like to fly, Ji Yuan would probably have had mixed feelings.

Unbeknownst to them, the season had already turned to the winter solstice. On a certain riverbank along the Tongtian River section west of Youzhou, a small black-canopied boat was moored on the water. On the boat, a man wearing a bamboo hat and a straw cloak was fishing with a self-made verdant bamboo rod.

Ever since the beginning of winter, this person had been sitting at the bow of the boat, fishing in this section of the river, sometimes on the opposite bank and sometimes on this side.

This side of the river section belonged to Youzhou, while across the river was the bureaucratic power center of Dazhen, where the Capital Prefecture was located.

This fisherman was none other than Ji Yuan. He had rented the black-canopied boat from an old man for a period of half a year, with the bamboo hat, straw cloak, and oars all included in the rental.

About a dozen li south of Ji Yuan's small boat was the renowned Scholar's Ferry, one of the many crossings on the Tongtian River.

Legend has it that it was once just a small ferry crossing, but in the history of Dazhen's founding, six tribute scholars from east of the kingdom's borders once crossed at that ferry to the Capital Prefecture and subsequently topped the imperial examinations to become *zhuangyuan*.

Ji Yuan didn't care to delve into whether this legend was true or merely a "money-making idea" conceived by local villagers. Nevertheless, it was undeniable that many tribute scholars traveling from the east for the imperial exams would often make a detour to Scholar's Ferry to seek good fortune and pay respects to the River Godess.

Presumably, Yin Zhaoxian would also pass this way, so Ji Yuan planned to personally ferry his friend across.

The *Waidai Chuan* (Unofficial Biographies) couldn't cover everything; it generally only recorded content that was "story-like and interesting." For instance, tales like the old flood dragon of Chunmu River failing to transform into a dragon were included.

Although the Tongtian River was a great river, perhaps because it had always been calm and uneventful, the *Waidai Chuan* didn't even mention it. Ji Yuan only learned upon arrival that the River God of Tongtian River was a female.

Ji Yuan had already visited the River God Temple and inquired with worshippers and local villagers, learning that the River Godess's true name was Ying Ruoli. He presumed she was related to the old dragon Ying Hong.

Ji Yuan was not in a hurry to find the old dragon for a drink. He had been idling by the river for so long that the old dragon surely wasn't home; otherwise, he would have discovered Ji Yuan by now. And it was even less likely to directly visit the temple and send a spiritual message to the River Godess. What if the old dragon hadn't mentioned Ji Yuan to his family? How awkward would that be?

He decided to simply enjoy the pleasure of being a fisherman while quietly awaiting two friends, one mortal and one dragon. It would be quite interesting to see who he encountered first.