Chapter 89: Smoke and Mist Wanderer

At this moment, upon hearing the sound of another carriage passing by and the conversation from within, Ji Yuan fully awoke from his semi-dreamlike state.

One reason for his awakening was the realization that his cultivation session should soon conclude; even though the cultivation consumed little energy, his body was becoming quite hungry. The other reason was that Ji Yuan heard a familiar voice.

It was the servant, Wei Tong, whose angry shouts at the boatmen, after his young master fell drunkenly into the water from the pleasure boat, had resonated that day.

Ji Yuan had only met the young master once and naturally had no particular desire to see him again. However, Ji Yuan felt it was necessary to meet this rich young man.

It wasn't for himself, but rather for the large green fish. This fish had saved the young master, and perhaps it had saved others before. Such a kind spirit deserved some form of recompense, and this young master was certainly in a position to provide it.

So, before the carriage could reach him, Ji Yuan stood up, shook the water droplets from his clothes, and lightly leaped down from the tree.

Although it was daytime, this area was exceptionally foggy, with visibility less than two *zhang* (about 6.5 meters). Ji Yuan considered the situation and decided that directly blocking the road would be inappropriate, so he walked slowly along the roadside.

After a short while, three slowly moving carriages caught up to Ji Yuan, appearing as if they were about to overtake a lone pedestrian.

The coachmen and the servant Wei Tong, who had been peering out, instinctively observed the plainly dressed, solitary traveler, but thought little of it.

The coachmen, being more experienced, vaguely noticed that the traveler's clothes were somewhat damp.

Ji Yuan could already hear the breathing of the people inside the carriages. Just as the first carriage was about to pass him, he seemingly casually turned his head to look at it.

A clear and measured voice rang out.

"Young master in the carriage, do you recall falling into the Chunmu River?"

Ji Yuan's voice, though not loud, reached everyone's ears. The coachmen were perplexed and didn't react immediately, but those inside the carriages were startled.

The servant Wei Tong looked at Ji Yuan and immediately asked,

"Were you also a guest on the pleasure boat?"

The servant assumed Ji Yuan recognized him and thus knew his young master was in the carriage, not realizing that Ji Yuan hadn't clearly seen him before.

The angle of the question made Ji Yuan slightly pause, but upon reflection, it wasn't entirely wrong. He merely shook his head in denial.

"Heh heh... I was certainly not a guest on that pleasure boat. It was merely a fortuitous encounter..."

By now, the young master inside the carriage had put down his book but did not get up to look outside. For a martial artist, being so drunk as to fall into the water and need rescuing was rather embarrassing, even if he couldn't swim.

The young master remained silent, but the servant was relentless and disbelieved Ji Yuan's explanation.

"What? Are you happy our young master fell into the water? You must have been secretly laughing in some corner of the pleasure boat, weren't you? Look at you, so shabby, I don't know how you even got on the boat!"

In truth, Ji Yuan's attire, though not opulent, was far from shabby; the servant's words were merely an intentional jab born of anger.

Swayed by the servant's line of thought, the others in the carriage, who had previously felt nothing, now also felt uncomfortable.

"Enough, Wei Tong, stop talking! Tell the coachman to hurry up!"

The young master inside the carriage snorted coldly, believing he had expressed his displeasure with great restraint.

The coachman quickly picked up the pace, guiding the horses forward.

As the commotion continued, the young lady and her maid in the middle carriage began to whisper.

"Chunfang, did you hear that voice just now?"

"Yes, I heard it too. It sounded like the traveler had something to say, and that Wei Tong fellow is arguing with someone again."

"Who was that person?"

"I don't know, but he seemed to be saying he also saw the young master fall into the water from the pleasure boat that day..."

In the third carriage sat an old nanny and two other house servants. They also lifted the curtains to look ahead, but due to the fog, it was hard to see clearly from a distance, and their expressions also showed displeasure.

Seeing the carriages speed up, Ji Yuan frowned. He had indeed considered that bringing up this matter might cause annoyance, but for them to just curse him and leave without allowing him to explain was simply too brazen.

Ji Yuan opened his eyes wider, gazed at the servant, and after scanning all three carriages, he spoke again, his voice resonating clearly.

"Please stop the carriages!"

This time, his voice was slightly louder, and the end of his words carried a subtle vibration, a combination of martial arts technique and magical power. Though not particularly loud, it made the listeners feel an inexplicable tickle in their ears.

What slightly surprised Ji Yuan was that before the people could react, the old draft horses pulling all three carriages stopped abruptly, causing the coachmen to stumble. Yet, they couldn't budge the horses, which seemed absolutely unwilling to move.

The sudden halt jolted many inside the three carriages forward. Wei Tong, who had been leaning out, stumbled with a cry of "Ouch!" and nearly fell out of the carriage.

The young master in the carriage was also startled. He immediately grabbed a sword leaning against the side and swiftly leaped out of the carriage.

Seeing that the young lady and her maid in the following carriage also seemed intent on dismounting, he quickly called out to stop them.

"You stay in the carriage, Chunfang, look after the young lady!"

Having said this, the young master, still clad in white, looked at the coachmen pulling at the horses, then fixed his gaze on Ji Yuan, who stood not far from the carriage. He felt a vague sense of familiarity.

"Who are you, sir? What business do you have with me, Wei?"

The voice had been strange, and the way the carriages stopped was even more eerie. Moreover, whether due to the distance or something else, the man seemed to subtly blend into the fog.

Observing the coachmen struggling with the stubbornly immobile horses, everyone present, including the young master in white, felt a subtle shiver of dread, as if they had encountered a spirit or malevolent entity.

Only now did Ji Yuan halt his slow steps, turn around, and fix his gaze on the young master, who was still dressed in white. His bearing was much the same as Ji Yuan had observed that morning.

"Indeed, this young master is quite a skilled martial artist!"

After saying this, Ji Yuan first offered an apologetic bow towards the coachmen.

"Forgive me for the brief interruption. I will leave once I have spoken my piece."

As his words faded, Ji Yuan's gaze returned to the young master, and his tone shifted.

"Young master, when you fell from the boat in your drunken state, do you recall anything of the underwater scene?"

"Underwater?"

Seeing the young master frown, and considering it had been night, Ji Yuan deduced he likely had no memory of it. He did not press the issue, and his clear voice, now a little softer and tinged with emotion, spoke again.

"That night on the Chunmu River, while the pleasure boat bustled with song, dance, and revelry, you, young master, fell into the river in a drunken stupor. You would have drowned in the Chunmu River, had it not been for a large green fish that brought you to the surface, where the boatmen eventually found you. How much of that do you remember?"

Since Ji Yuan was no longer cultivating, the fog had thinned considerably. However, his astonishing appearance and words had captivated everyone present, making them oblivious to the change in the mist.

A large green fish saved him?

The young master's face was filled with shock. That night, he had vaguely dreamt of a greenish-white streak through the murky water, and the memory had remained fuzzy even the next morning. Could it truly have been a green fish?

Then, something suddenly occurred to the young master in white, and he looked at Ji Yuan, saying,

"Are you the man who was eating congee on that small boat?"

"Heh heh, perhaps, perhaps not. You may believe it or not, young master. If you have a grateful heart, then every year at the same time, you may send someone, or go yourself, to that section of the Chunmu River and pour out a jar of rice wine. At home, you can carve a small statue of a green fish and, when you have leisure, offer it your respects. This would be a way to repay the life-saving kindness."

Although some things cannot be forced, Ji Yuan did not want his efforts to be in vain. A small display of his power would not hurt.

Too lazy to wait for anyone else's reaction, Ji Yuan glanced at the servant, then offered a slight, unenthusiastic bow to the young master.

"Observe a man by his clothes, but observe the master through his servant. Take heed!"

After speaking, Ji Yuan turned and walked away. The moisture on his damp clothes dissipated as he moved, making him appear mysteriously wreathed in mist. In stark contrast, the surrounding fog rapidly faded.

In a matter of a few breaths, before the fog had fully dispersed, Ji Yuan had already vanished into it. Yet, only a few more breaths passed, and the fog completely cleared, revealing no trace of the grey-clad gentleman, either nearby or in the distance.

"The fog has lifted? And that man, where did he go?"

"Did you all see that? He wasn't an ordinary mortal, was he?"

"This, this person, could he be an immortal?"

"I don't think he was an evil spirit either... Could we have truly met an immortal!?"

The coachmen were both astonished and excited, shouting loudly and growing increasingly convinced that they had encountered an immortal. The fact that the comfortable and refreshing mist dispersed with the man's disappearance only solidified their belief.

The young master in white, still clutching his sword, remained stunned and speechless for a long time.

In the carriages behind, the maid, young lady, old nanny, and house servants had all dismounted; no one could possibly stay inside in such a situation.

Gazing at the suddenly clear world where the mist had vanished, and listening to the increasingly excited coachmen, everyone felt an extremely mystical sensation, especially the young master in white himself.

"Brother, brother~~!"

"Huh?"

The young master in white looked at his cousin as if waking from a dream.

"Oh dear! Brother, why didn't you chase him? You know martial arts!"

The young master in white turned to look ahead, then up at the overcast sky... His cousin spoke so lightly, "Chase him?" How could he chase him?

Legends said immortals could ride clouds and mists. With the fog gone, he likely had already ridden off on a cloud and flown away...