I became an immortal in the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 22 The Most Important Matter for Mortals

Jiang She calculated the time.

He invited, "I am going to visit the God of Deer Mountain, and together we will meet the treacherous Zhang Zhenmei to settle our previous disputes."

Would you like to come with me?

The mountain god has helped him a lot these days. This is partly due to the incense stick, but it is also due to the mountain god's own nature. He is a benevolent god who is happy to help people.

He should also help the mountain god sever his ties of gratitude.

Li Bai put down the wine pot, took a sip, and, his whole body reeking of wine, casually sat in a half-lotus position.

The mind roams freely, unrestrained and carefree.

At this moment, he regained his previous unrestrained and somewhat lofty and detached scholarly air.

he laughed.

"It's what you wish for."

The two finished the wine, emptying the cups, and then left together.

Not long after Jiang She left, the courtyard fell silent.

The afternoon sun shone brightly on the courtyard again, and the sounds of neighbors drifted over: a husband and wife fighting, a child wailing. An old woman muttered under her breath, and a man suddenly uttered a harsh word.

In the distance, vendors could be faintly seen calling out their wares.

"Fresh, hot steamed buns, three coins a piece—"

A bird perched on a branch, tilted its head, and plucked an exceptionally plump worm from under a leaf, swallowing it in two gulps.

Half an hour later.

Yuan Danqiu brushed off the dust and walked in, looking disheveled.

He continued to curse, "That scoundrel is no good. How could he hit someone and almost hit me? So what if a neighbor's tree is growing on my wall? Just sweep it up, why resort to violence?"

He called again.

"Mr. Jiang—"

"Taibai—"

"Huh? Not here?"

He looked around but couldn't find them in the room. He asked the servants who were staying in the south room and learned that the two had left half an hour earlier.

Yuan Danqiu muttered to himself for a while, venting his frustrations. After recovering from the near-fatal accident of being hit by a hoe, he gulped down two bowls of well water to cool down.

I saw a book of papers spread out on a table in the courtyard, with what looked like words on it.

He walked over, picked it up, and glanced at it.

Yuan Danqiu was stunned for a moment.

A sheet of white paper lay flat in front of him.

"I thought I saw something written on it just now? Is this... my eyes playing tricks on me?" Yuan Danqiu rubbed his eyes, looked around, flipped through the paper several times, and almost unfolded the paper to see what it was.

Indeed, there was not a single word on it.

He looked up and frowned.

Suddenly, I saw many branches and leaves above the table, with light shining through the gaps.

Suddenly, it became clear to me.

Yuan Danqiu suddenly realized, "Perhaps it's a reflection on the tree."

Yuan Danqiu didn't pay much attention, only glancing at it briefly, and felt that the shadows of the trees reflected on the paper had a special kind of simple beauty. He then returned to his room, recalling the gains he had made from visiting his friend, and took out a notebook that was already half full.

Yuan Danqiu casually flipped through the pages, found a blank page, ground ink, dipped his brush in it, gathered his sleeves, and began to write and read aloud.

He said:

"Lead is the White Tiger, and mercury is the Azure Dragon."

"Yin and Yang restrain each other, water and fire are in harmony... Alas, lead is the primordial essence of kidney water, and mercury is the primordial spirit of heart fire. Thus they restrain and harmonize each other..."

"Wonderful!"

"I'll go to the pharmacy to buy some medicinal ingredients, and then I'll use this method to start a batch of pills. I'll also show Jiang Langjun my method of refining medicine, hahaha..."

After he entered the house.

The branches of the tree lay askew, casting green shadows. The writing on the rattan paper on the table, faint and indistinct, reappeared.

The brush and ink were still laid out on the table, exactly as they had been before Jiang She left.

……

……

The streams of Lumen Mountain remain unchanged.

Standing at the foot of the mountain, gazing at the lush greenery and dazzling sunlight, Jiang She recalled that the last time it rained in Xiangyang was eight days ago, the heavy rain that had forced him to take shelter in the mountain temple.

I also thought of that porter.

The weather was fine that day; I wondered if he was gathering herbs on the mountain or haggling over the weight with the shopkeeper at the foot of the mountain. After watching for a while, he called out.

"Mountain God of Lumen, please come and meet me."

Li Bai examined it closely, and even though he had already witnessed it once at the Lu family's residence, he still found it strange.

"The distance between the mountains and rivers is at least several miles."

He asked curiously, "How could the mountain god hear Jiang Langjun's call? Is there some mystery to it that I am unaware of?"

"Have."

Li Bai waited for a long time.

But there was no follow-up.

Just as I raised my head to ask another question, I heard an old voice.

"gentlemen."

The Old Deer Mountain God arrived at some unknown time.

The old deer mountain god stroked his white beard and answered Li Bai with a smile: "Young Master Li, have you ever seen a temple keeper offering incense in front of a local earth god temple?"

"Or have you ever seen monks or Taoist priests burning incense and praying before statues of gods in temples or monasteries?"

This is a very common scene; anyone who has ever been to a temple has surely seen believers offering incense. Moreover, Li Bai was always a devout follower of Taoism and had previously visited many temples and monasteries to pay homage to Taoist masters and priests.

The Old Deer Mountain God saw that he understood somewhat.

Smiling and nodding.

"The mountain god can hear people's words, the statues in the temple can convey meaning, or the divination sticks in front of the temple are magical. This is the reason."

He downplayed it.

"All methods are interconnected."

Although I don't know why the master always carries this mortal with him, the Old Deer Mountain God is willing to be lenient and offer some explanation. Perhaps the master has a particular fondness for talented people.

Several hundred years ago, there was Pang Degong, a hermit who gathered herbs on Mount Lumen.

Throughout his life, he never had such good fortune to receive teachings from a local mountain deity.

In the end, he only achieved a full lifespan of 120 years.

The mountain god of Lumen Mountain asked, "Why did you summon me, sir?"

Jiang She rose, his clothes spotless. He gazed at the winding mountain stream, sunlight dappling its surface like scattered gold dust. His eyes dazzled. A few fish could be vaguely seen swimming in the clear water, their tails swaying as they moved.

In the mountains and forests behind us, we could vaguely see a few wild deer, their antlers peeking over the treetops.

"Jiang wants to go with the mountain god to see Zhang Zhenmei."

Jiang She said, "We should make them return the money."

The mountain god rarely interacted with people, preferring to cultivate in seclusion in the mountains. Occasionally, he would adjust the earth's veins and preach to the spirits of the mountains and wilderness, but he rarely manifested himself in front of humans. In matters of human relationships and worldly affairs, he was not as knowledgeable as the old clerk in the county government.

"That's how it should be!"

"I almost forgot, but for mortals, this is the most important thing."

When they were talking.

In the courtyard of a certain household.

Qingyu was squatting on the ground, curled up in front of the box, counting money.

The surrounding area was filled with copper coins, which they counted one by one and strung together. This was the money they had obtained by swindling and cheating along with Zhang Zhenmei. It was money they had saved up themselves, which they used to buy some novelties to eat and play with at the market, and they never spent it easily on ordinary days.

The boy next to him was also counting his loose change.

The two of them counted the coins and found they were less and less. They strung them together into a string, wrote down the amount, and put them in a box.

I felt increasingly upset.

The boy counted a dozen or so coins, but there wasn't enough left to string together. The chests were all full, except for the bundles in front of them, which were empty.

The boy couldn't help but look at the few pieces of official silver, reaching out to touch the treasury silver, then touching the strings of coins in the box, his heart aching as if someone had ripped his skin off and pulled out his tendons.

A tear fell to the ground.

He sniffed and finally couldn't hold back his tears.

The thought of him spending the rest of his life making money and preaching to the wild animals in the mountains for ten years is unbearable.

He was sobbing uncontrollably.

It was both out of worry and fear for their future that they realized their previous happiness was a mistake.

I only realized it belatedly.

No longer the naive and innocent person she once was.

Once he thought of this, he felt afraid and was no longer as carefree and happy as before. He only thought that it was very, very good to have money.

(End of this chapter)