Chapter 155: Meeting Qingsong Again

Ji Yuan, who had ascended on mist, did not fly too high or too far. He slowly descended to the ground just over ten li outside the capital prefecture city.

He was dozens of feet above the ground, with mist like smoke drifting with the wind. It took him nearly half an hour to land outside the city.

This was Ji Yuan’s first attempt at flying, so he was a bit cautious. At that height and speed, even a major accident wouldn't be an issue; he could land safely with just his qinggong.

However, the whole process was much easier than Ji Yuan had imagined. Perhaps it was due to the old dragon's magical cloud-riding technique, or perhaps the white piece—the Old White Flood Dragon—in his hand played a role.

Although he didn't fly high, the feeling of flight was excellent, and landing greatly boosted Ji Yuan's confidence.

‘But if I were to apply Patriarch Bodhi’s evaluation from *Journey to the West*, I probably wouldn’t even count as “climbing on clouds,” would I?’

With a touch of mischievous thought, Ji Yuan quickly walked towards the Tongtian River nearby.

It was already March, spring, and even though it was only early morning after dawn, the area between the Tongtian River wharf and the capital prefecture was exceptionally busy. Carriages and horses came and went in an endless stream, a stark contrast to the quiet of deep winter.

Ji Yuan, a lone passerby with a backpack and an umbrella, looked like a scholar returning home after failing the imperial examinations. No one paid him much attention. On his way, he occasionally heard people discussing the *zhuangyuan* who had achieved the "Three Firsts" in this year's imperial examinations.

Upon reaching the riverbank, Ji Yuan did not head towards the large wharf on the left. Instead, he turned right, walking south along the riverside path, where an old man was already waiting. This was the old dragon, who had anticipated Ji Yuan’s arrival.

The old dragon stroked his beard, watching his friend approach from a distance. As Ji Yuan reached a suitable distance, they simultaneously cupped their hands in greeting.

"Mr. Ji!" "Old Mr. Ying!"

After exchanging greetings, the two walked along the riverbank together.

The old dragon glanced at Ji Yuan’s satchel and his yellow oil-paper umbrella.

"Sometimes, I rather envy you, Mr. Ji, for your patience and leisure to play in the mortal world."

Ji Yuan looked at the old dragon as well; he was almost always dressed the same way every time they met.

"Old Mr. Ying could do the same. With your cultivation, walking in the mortal world, what deity could see through your true dragon form? Even if they did, they wouldn't say anything, would they?"

"Heh heh, I don't have that kind of patience. Some things might be interesting, but they're not as comfortable as taking a nap."

The old dragon said this half-jokingly, but in Ji Yuan's view, it ultimately meant the old dragon simply wasn't very interested in mortal affairs. If one were to speak of patience, this true dragon wasn't actually lacking.

So, one man and one dragon slowly walked several li along the riverbank.

When it was time to part, the old dragon reminded Ji Yuan not to forget to inform him of his meditation retreat location. After a simple farewell exchange, they bid each other goodbye.

One dragon entered the water and submerged into the river, while the other walked away on a cloud.

Bing Province was located in the southeastern part of Dazhen's central plains. Among the thirteen provinces of Dazhen, it was considered relatively small, with only five prefectures in total.

Yet, Bing Province was a crucial grain-producing region for Dazhen. Its suitable climate and vast plains of farmland made Bing Province a veritable granary of Dazhen. There were many historical records of grain being dispatched from Bing Province during times of national disaster.

Changchuan Prefecture was the capital of Bing Province. In addition to its prefectural city, it administered twelve large counties, and Dongle County was one of them.

Ji Yuan practiced his cloud-riding technique along the way, asking for directions as he went. With a few minor scares but no major incidents, he arrived in Dongle County, Daoist Qingsong's hometown, by the end of April.

To be honest, Ji Yuan was quite surprised when he first learned that Daoist Qingsong and his disciple Qi Wen lived in Bing Province.

Bing Province was quite far from Ji Province. Ji Yuan had initially thought that the two Daoists, one old and one young, would only wander around Ji Province or even Desheng Prefecture, but he hadn't expected them to travel so far.

Given an ordinary person’s walking pace, and the fact that the master and disciple were often short on money and unlikely to hire carriages, combined with their lack of a clear destination, according to the young Daoist boy Qi Wen, they had been wandering for two and a half years.

Bing Province had few mountains, and Dongle County was no exception. Yun Mountain in the county was easy to find; Ji Yuan simply asked around and located Daoist Qingsong’s Yunshan Temple.

The scale of this Yunshan Temple was comparable to the Old Hua Mountain outside Ji Province’s Desheng Prefecture’s Jiudaokou County, which was considered quite large for Changchuan Prefecture.

At this moment, Ji Yuan stood outside Yunshan Temple on Yanxia Peak, circling the temple.

This Daoist temple appeared small in scale, but it was fully equipped, with everything from a main hall dedicated to the constellations to side rooms, living quarters, a kitchen, and a backyard.

Some vegetables were planted in the backyard. Because it was located halfway up the mountain, there was no well, so water had to be carried up from the Yunshan mountain stream below.

The entire temple covered about an mu and a bit more, and was home to only Daoist Qingsong and his disciple Qi Wen.

Judging by the atmosphere of the temple, Daoist Qingsong and Qi Wen seemed to have returned quite a while ago.

Currently, there was no one in the temple, indicating they had probably gone out. There were likely no thieves on this mountain, so nothing was locked, neither inside nor out.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... Daoist Qingsong hasn't gone out to tell fortunes again, has he?"

Ji Yuan pushed open the temple gate and entered. Instead of looking at their living quarters, he went straight to the main hall.

The hall did not house the Three Pure Ones of Daoism, as Ji Yuan remembered from his previous life, but rather the Zhou Tian constellations. There were no clay statues of gods; instead, a black cloth constellation map hung there. Perhaps because the constellations were somewhat special, though his vision was blurred, Ji Yuan could still easily distinguish them.

Most prominent were the Big Dipper (with nine stars, seven visible and two hidden) and the Six Stars of the Southern Dipper. In addition, the Eastern, Western, and Central Dippers, along with many other constellations, were embroidered on it.

"Hmm, worshiping stars but not gods. This Daoist sect is quite interesting."

In fact, whether in *Records of Heretics* (*Wai Dao Zhuan*), *Strategies of Enlightenment* (*Tong Ming Ce*), or some books Ji Yuan later obtained from the old dragon, Buddhist Bright Kings were often mentioned, but there was not much about Daoist matters.

Those "masters" frequently hired by common people in the mortal world were mostly monks, or people wearing vaguely similar "robes," but Daoists were few.

Ji Yuan observed the constellation map for a while before leaving.

There was an incense burner outside the hall, but the incense offerings were not particularly abundant. However, looking at how the incense dissipated, the constellation map in the temple neither needed nor could use such offerings.

"No wonder common folk don't like coming to this temple to offer incense. There isn't even a deity statue. What could they pray for...?"

Dongle County city was twenty to thirty li south of Yun Mountain. Ji Yuan didn't want to wait endlessly in the temple, so he decided to go there to see if Daoist Qingsong was around, and to buy some food.

Floating on a cloud to the outskirts of the county, he headed directly to the Temple Affairs District. Sure enough, beneath a large tree outside the City God Temple, he found a small table with the disgruntled-looking Daoist Qingsong sitting there, and beside him was a now grown-up Qi Wen.

Although Ji Yuan couldn't clearly see the sign of the small stall, Daoist Qingsong's occasional enthusiastic greetings to pilgrims fell clearly into Ji Yuan's ears.

"Ah, young sir, are you here to seek a marriage match?" "Ah, young lady, are you here to seek a destined partner?"

"If you've drawn a marriage fortune stick, come to me for an interpretation! It's cheap!"

Ji Yuan secretly nodded. It seemed Qi Xuan had taken his words to heart.

However, no sooner had he praised him in his mind than a middle-aged pilgrim, dressed in a grey *zhiju* deep garment and wearing a square cap, approached the stall and asked,

"Daoist priest, do you interpret household and safety fortune sticks?"

Daoist Qingsong's demeanor immediately changed. Qi Wen, who was beside him, had only managed to utter "No..." when Qi Xuan's voice boomed over his.

"Yes! Of course! And if the interpretation isn't detailed or accurate enough, I can even give you an additional divination, no extra charge!"

"Oh? That's good, that's good. Please interpret this fortune stick for me, Daoist priest."

"Heh heh heh, sit, sit, sit. Actually, I was observing your face just now, but I refrained from asking until you came."

Daoist Qingsong greeted the pilgrim with great kindness and enthusiasm, inviting him to sit down.

Both Qi Wen, from his spot, and Ji Yuan, from a distance, sighed simultaneously.