Chaoyan didn't dwell on the previous matters for long...
Because she knew that even if she did, she could only wait until everything was over to complain to her master.
So, when Su Qing called her to set off together, Chaoyan quickly gathered her spirits and followed.
Once again, they set out, traveling through the wind and sleeping by the water...
This journey lasted for a long time.
It was unknown how many days had passed...
Su Qing and her companions arrived before a great mountain.
This mountain was truly magnificent.
It was steep and majestic, its presence formidable. Its roots were connected to the Kunlun veins, and its summit brushed the very heavens. Compared to the Qinling Mountains, it was not lacking in the slightest.
Looking at it, Chaoyan said, "We have passed many rugged and steep places along the way, but we haven't encountered such beautiful mountain scenery. I wonder what this mountain is called, and if there are any demons within."
Looking at the mountain, Su Qing gave a faint smile and said, "This mountain is called Wanshou Mountain. There is a Daoist temple within called Wuzhuang Temple, and in that temple resides an immortal whose Daoist title is Zhenyuanzi. Since it's getting late, why don't we go to Wuzhuang Temple to stay for the night?"
Su Qing naturally knew the details of the temple in this mountain...
After all, she had recorded the events of Journey to the West long ago.
Going to that temple to find the Zhenyuan Great Immortal wasn't for the sake of any Ginseng Fruit...
She was already as old as heaven and earth, and those around her were all immortals. Even Chaoyan had now reached the Human Immortal realm.
They truly had no need for something like the Ginseng Fruit.
Going there was simply because she wanted to stop by and see the legendary sights.
She also wanted to see what the legendary Ginseng Fruit Tree actually looked like.
Yudie didn't say much upon hearing this, only saying with a smile, "Alright, alright! I happen to be tired of walking too!"
Chaoyan, however, couldn't help but ask curiously, "Godmother even knows about this mountain?"
Hearing this, Su Qing shook her head with a smile and said:
"You silly girl, you forgot again. I've lived much longer than you; what's so strange about me knowing this mountain? However, although I know who lives here, I am not very familiar with them. I'm not sure if our request to stay the night will be successful."
These were Su Qing's honest words...
After all, she truly wasn't acquainted with the Zhenyuan Great Immortal, and she wasn't certain if he would allow them to stay.
At Su Qing's words, Chaoyan playfully stuck out her tongue and said, "Wasn't I just expressing my usual surprise? But Godmother, you are indeed knowledgeable; it's truly enviable."
Su Qing didn't say more, only chuckling before leading the group up the mountain.
The path up the mountain was smooth. In the vicinity of the Zhenyuan Great Immortal's Daoist field, there were naturally no evil demons; even if there had been, they would have been cleared away long ago.
Now, regarding Wuzhuang Temple.
The Zhenyuan Great Immortal had lived for untold years and had countless disciples, though only about forty remained now.
Inside the temple.
The Zhenyuan Great Immortal was currently preaching the Dao.
Suddenly, he seemed to sense something and couldn't help but pause to calculate with his fingers...
Then, he raised an eyebrow and said calmly, "Today's lecture ends here. Everyone may return, except for Jingyue, who shall stay."
The sudden cancellation of the lecture naturally caused a stir among the disciples.
Someone suddenly asked, "Master... has something happened?"
"It's nothing major, just two friends have arrived," the Zhenyuan Great Immortal said plainly, hiding nothing.
Hearing this, everyone became even more confused. "Master's friends?"
"Yes, one can be considered an old friend, but the other is not my friend—she is an old acquaintance of Jingyue. Alright, don't ask any more questions. If you must do something, go prepare some tea to welcome the guests," the Zhenyuan Great Immortal shook his head, offering no further explanation.
Hearing this, everyone fell silent and withdrew.
Only the female disciple named Jingyue remained by the Zhenyuan Great Immortal's side.
After everyone had left, Jingyue asked curiously, "Master... you said an old acquaintance of mine has come. Could you tell me which one it is?"
The Zhenyuan Great Immortal stroked his beard and said with a smile, "Speaking of which, how many years has it been since you came to my Wuzhuang Temple? And for what reason did you come?"
Jingyue fell silent for a moment, feeling that her master's answer was somewhat indirect. But since he asked, there must be a reason, so she replied:
"It has been about six or seven hundred years... At that time, I came to find a sister! Unfortunately, I accidentally entered a secret place and nearly died. Fortunately, Master saved me, which is how I've lived until now."
"Yes... indeed, I didn't realize time passed so quickly; six or seven hundred years have gone by in a flash. When you first arrived, you were just a little macaque. Now, you're a grown woman..." The Zhenyuan Great Immortal's thoughts seemed to wander as he asked again, "Speaking of which, during a past Ullambana Gathering, you met her, but you didn't choose to leave with her then. Instead, you chose to continue your cultivation with me?"
Jingyue fell silent again, seemingly reminiscing while also guessing her master's intentions.
As she remembered, she said with a sigh, "Yes... I thought that after I achieved the right fruit, I would go and reunite with my sister. Unfortunately, even after cultivating for so long, I have only barely reached the Earthly Immortal realm!"
At this point, Jingyue suddenly froze.
The confusion in her heart was instantly resolved.
She understood why her master was saying these things.
"Master... do you mean that the sister I was looking for has come to Wuzhuang Temple?" Jingyue suddenly stood up and asked hurriedly.
The Zhenyuan Great Immortal chuckled and stroked his beard. This disciple of his was good in every way—hardworking and talented—but her only flaw was that she was a bit slow. It took this much prompting for the girl to react.
"Yes... however, your old friend is no longer who she used to be. Her status now is incredibly noble; even Taishang Laojun converses with her joyfully," the Zhenyuan Great Immortal said. "So, even so, do you still wish to reunite with her?"
Jingyue smiled and said, "Regardless of whether Sister still recognizes me... or what her status is now, she is my sister. Besides... I never thought Sister's status was low. Even when I was a macaque, I was certain that Sister was a person of noble status, a celestial immortal from the heavens."
Hearing this, the Zhenyuan Great Immortal burst into laughter, stroked his beard, and said, "Good, good, good! As expected of my disciple, such a temperament is worthy of praise! Excellent, excellent!"
Jingyue looked at her laughing master and said, "Alright, go and prepare! Your old friend will be here soon."
"Yes, Master..." Jingyue nodded quickly, then asked curiously, "By the way, if one is my old friend, then who is the other?"
"Naturally, she is an old friend of mine... but my old friend's situation is somewhat strange. It's as if her soul is incomplete, or perhaps its essence has been obscured. I can only calculate that she is the reincarnation of that old friend, but I cannot determine what happened to her." The Zhenyuan Great Immortal didn't hide much from his disciple, only saying with a chuckle, "But no matter, it's enough for me to know she is the reincarnation of my old friend..."
"I see..." Jingyue nodded blankly, scratching her head. This talk of souls and reincarnations made her head itch with confusion.
Deciding not to think about it further, Jingyue smiled and bid her master farewell.
She returned to her room to change her clothes, preparing to meet the sister she had longed for all these years.
After Jingyue left, Zhenyuanzi smiled and looked out into the courtyard, stroking his beard.
However, his eyes seemed a bit glazed, as if his gaze had pierced through the courtyard to land on someone on the road.
"Strange, truly strange... what exactly is that old monk, the Buddha, planning?" Zhenyuanzi shook his head and sighed softly before withdrawing his thoughts, deciding not to dwell on it: "Forget it, whatever the Buddha is planning has nothing to do with me. Now is not the time for that. I should focus on welcoming my old friend!"
Inside Wuzhuang Temple, things began to get busy.
Back to Su Qing.
After walking along the mountain path for a while.
They finally saw Wuzhuang Temple.
From the outside, the temple didn't look particularly special... except for a stone tablet at the mountain gate that read: "Blessed Land of Wanshou Mountain, Grotto-Heaven of Wuzhuang Temple."
But Su Qing could faintly sense an exceptionally unique aura inside.
It felt like the aura from the dawn of creation.
Well, to be honest, Su Qing couldn't quite describe the feeling... it just felt incredibly special.
"I suppose that aura must be from the Ginseng Fruit Tree," Su Qing thought, then stopped her horse.
She said, "This is Wuzhuang Temple. I'll go knock on the door."
Usually, the one responsible for knocking was Chaoyan, who looked like a nun, but since they were asking for lodging at a Daoist temple, it was naturally better for Su Qing, a fellow Daoist, to handle it.
Su Qing dismounted and walked under the lintel. She saw a couplet posted on the door that read: "The Immortal Abode of Eternal Youth, The Daoist Household of Longevity Equal to Heaven."
Looking at this couplet.
Su Qing couldn't help but smile to herself.
This Zhenyuan Great Immortal truly wasn't subtle at all...
It was as if he couldn't wait to post the fact that he was an ancient immortal right on his door.
Oh, wait, the couplet on the door already did exactly that.
Su Qing shook her head; different people had different styles.
If it were her, she would never be so high-profile.
With that thought, Su Qing knocked on the door.
Before long, two Daoist boys came to open the door.
The Daoists had clear spirits and refined features, with their hair tied in twin buns. Their Daoist robes seemed to be woven from mist, and their feathered sleeves fluttered like the wind. Their sashes were tightly bound with dragon-head knots, and their straw sandals were lightly wrapped with silk. Their extraordinary bearing was far from ordinary; they were none other than the two immortal boys, Mingyue and Qingfeng.
The boys bowed and said, "Senior, please come in. Master already knows you were coming."
Su Qing wasn't surprised.
The Zhenyuan Great Immortal was a great deity; how could he not know she had arrived?
Besides, even if he didn't know she was coming...
Could he not have calculated that Chaoyan was coming?
Based on their experiences along the way, many people had mistaken Chaoyan's identity... even if the Zhenyuan Great Immortal had mistaken it, it wouldn't be strange.
Su Qing returned the greeting slightly, then signaled the other two to follow the two thousand-year-old boys into Wuzhuang Temple.
On the way, Chaoyan clearly didn't realize the boys weren't young.
She couldn't help but praise how cute they were.
Seeing this, Su Qing suppressed a laugh, while the boys accepted the praise in silence.
They didn't expose the truth, so as not to embarrass their master's old friends.
However, Su Qing later quietly sent a voice transmission to Chaoyan to tell her...
After all, she had to prevent the girl from saying anything else embarrassing.
Upon learning the truth, Chaoyan's entire mood soured.
Her face instantly flushed red.
It turned out the two boys in front of her were already of her grandfather's generation... no, even older, she didn't even know what their seniority was.
This was simply too embarrassing.
Su Qing smiled and stopped teasing the girl.
Seeing Chaoyan's red face, Yudie said, "Don't worry, sister... many people make that mistake."
Clearly, Yudie's comfort didn't help much.
Su Qing shook her head helplessly and said no more, instead looking around at their surroundings.
Wuzhuang Temple didn't look like much from the outside, but the inside was quite impressive...
Compared to the Puti Daoist Academy where she had once cultivated, it was much more magnificent and solemn.
This likely had a lot to do with Zhenyuanzi's personality.
Along the way, Su Qing also saw many disciples. It seemed Zhenyuanzi still kept many followers around him.
But Su Qing didn't pay much attention, simply following the two Daoist boys all the way to the main hall.
Inside the main hall, there were no statues of the Three Pure Ones. Instead, a large tablet with the two characters for 'Heaven and Earth' decorated in five colors hung there. Below it was a vermillion carved lacquer incense table, upon which sat a golden incense burner and vases, with incense ready nearby.
Su Qing wasn't surprised to see this...
The Zhenyuan Great Immortal's status was high, so he naturally didn't worship the Three Pure Ones, the Four Emperors, or the various celestial rulers.
After all, in the legends.
The Zhenyuan Great Immortal was a friend of the Three Pure Ones, an acquaintance of the Four Emperors, an elder to the Nine Luminaries, and a distinguished guest of the Twelve Zodiac Deities.
Therefore, in his Daoist temple, he only worshipped Heaven and Earth and nothing else.
However, while Su Qing knew this, Chaoyan did not...
So after offering incense, she asked the two boys about it.
Upon hearing the boys' answer, Chaoyan couldn't help but gasp...
It was hard to tell if she was truly surprised or if she thought the two boys were just bragging.
"By the way, where is your master?" Su Qing asked before Chaoyan could say anything else.
The two boys looked at each other and said, "Seniors, please don't be in a hurry... Master has gone to fetch something."
Then they brought out tea sets, poured a cup for Su Qing, and said, "Senior, please have some tea."
Su Qing nodded and looked at the two boys. Clearly, they could more or less sense that her strength was higher than theirs.
She smiled faintly but didn't explain.
The three of them didn't wait long...
Su Qing had just raised the teacup to her lips, about to take a sip, when Zhenyuanzi appeared with a female Daoist in green.
"My apologies. I went to fetch something just now and was delayed. I've kept you waiting," Zhenyuanzi said to Su Qing with a smile.
Su Qing rose and bowed, then shook her head. "It's no trouble. It is we who are intruding on Senior."
Although Su Qing was speaking to Zhenyuanzi, her attention was on the female Daoist in green.
For some reason, she felt that the female Daoist was staring at her, and... she also felt a sense of familiarity from her.
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