A Tale of Encounters with Immortals: A Peach Blossom Temple in the Martial World

When the rooster crows, the world turns white.

The town of Linbin was awakened from its slumber, and then all sorts of sounds emerged from the sound of a cow mooing, like grass growing after a spring rain.

In Sister Gui's winery.

Now it should be called Lu's Winery. Lu Tongsheng is working on his abacus at the counter, while Sister-in-law Gui is tidying up and occasionally helping to pour wine.

The town is very prosperous.

At each of the three entrances to the town, there is a large flag, which is said to be a royal gift.

Each flag bears the inscription: "Imperial Gift: Former Residence of the Peach Blossom Immortal".

Then, the small boundary markers at the three entrances to Linbin Town were replaced with huge archways.

The town has expanded, becoming almost three times its original size, even larger than the county seat. Its population is also greater than that of the county seat. If it weren't for the emperor's strict decree, the county magistrate would have considered moving the county government office to Linbin Town.

"It's almost done. I estimate that someone should come to our door in about an hour."

Sister-in-law Gui clapped her hands, glanced at Lu Tongsheng behind the counter, and gave him a teasing look.

Lu Tongsheng's face turned bright red.

He's getting old and has even managed to have a romantic relationship, but he seems to enjoy it quite a bit, since he's been quite lonely since Lu Xiaohua left.

Without Sister-in-law Gui's help, I'm afraid she would have been depressed for a long time.

The Four Heroes of Kunshan have resigned from their posts in the prefectural government and gone to work in Linbin Town. This post was a special agency set up by the Qingfeng Guard in Linbin Town.

Kunshan's eldest brother was appointed as a deputy commander of a thousand households, while the other three became commanders of a hundred households.

The four men now commanded about a hundred men and had their own government office. In Linbin Town, the Four Heroes of Kunshan controlled a range of authority, including detective work, bodyguarding, and case-solving.

"Bring four jars of wine first!"

As soon as he plopped down on the long bench in the distillery, the fourth brother started shouting loudly.

He did it for no other reason than to show off, and he had laid out all the silver on the table beforehand, all gleaming white, which made him feel like he had a very high status in the martial arts world.

Back when we first came to Linbin Town, the four of us had to chip in money just to have a drink together.

Now that I've turned my life around and am singing, I naturally want to show off in front of Sister-in-law Gui.

This is always the case.

Sister-in-law Gui brought over some wine and slammed it on the table.

"Drinking so early in the morning, how come one or two of them haven't drunk themselves to death!"

Fourth Brother: "Hey, Sister-in-law Gui, you're not taking us customers seriously, are you? Silver...see this? Now we're rich..."

Third brother: "The four of us brothers have come to drink."

Second son: "Pay out one tael and nine centimeters of silver."

Fourth brother: "Let's start with four jars of rinsing our mouths."

Boss: "Bring on a big dish of braised pig's head."

Sister-in-law Gui: "As long as you have money!" She quickly picked up the silver on the table, served a plate of braised pig's head, and also gave her a plate of peanuts.

While eating, the fourth brother said, "There are more and more martial arts practitioners these days. Peach Blossom Temple is almost full. Should we send all those martial arts practitioners down the mountain?"

Seeing that they were discussing official business, Sister-in-law Gui stopped bothering them.

The third brother said, "Why bother with them?"

The second son nodded in agreement: "As long as they don't cause trouble, litter, spit, or make loud noises, we should just ignore them."

After they finished speaking, the three of them looked at their leader.

The eldest brother took a bite of braised pig's head, sipped some wine, and then said, "We not only bear the imperial mandate, but also the responsibility of protecting Peach Blossom Temple."

"Chicken—"

Sister-in-law Gui, who had been listening intently, couldn't help but burst out laughing when she heard this.

The four of them looked over together.

The fourth brother angrily retorted, "What does a woman like you know about chickens?"

Sister-in-law Gui laughed heartily.

“You four are now officials, so naturally you should prioritize Linbin Town. Besides, does Peach Blossom Temple need you four to protect it? Protect what? If any of those Jianghu people dare to fart there, they'll be punished by the head of the temple. They wouldn't dare even if they had ten thousand lives.”

The fourth brother looked at the eldest brother and said, "Sister-in-law Gui is right!"

The third brother looked at the eldest brother: "Eldest brother, how about..."

The second son angrily retorted, "What are you two talking about?"

The eldest brother nodded thoughtfully and said, "You can't not go just because the Taoist temple doesn't need you. Whether it needs you or not is the temple's business; whether we go or not is our business, understand?"

The three nodded in unison: "We'll do as our eldest brother says."

Sister-in-law Gui laughed and said, "You brothers are really loyal to each other!"

……

After having breakfast, the four began their patrol of Linbin Town.

As is customary, the patrol first covers Linbin Town, and then the group goes to Taohua Temple to maintain order. If anyone commits a crime during the process, the patrol will take action to investigate and apprehend them.

The four men left the distillery and arrived at the yamen (government office). A group of Qingfeng Guards were already waiting outside. With a wave of their hand, the group split into four teams, with each of the four brothers leading one team, to patrol several streets in Linbin Town.

After lunch, we'll gather together and head to Peach Blossom Temple.

When the four brothers came out of the distillery, Butcher Hu came in.

His business is booming now, and he no longer slaughters and delivers meat himself.

He hired many workers, and they handled all the slaughtering and delivery, while he could simply sit at home and wait to collect his earnings.

His main clientele is still Peach Blossom Temple.

Peach Blossom Temple now has a large number of disciples, reportedly over four hundred. They are all outstanding disciples sent by various sects, or the direct descendants of those sects.

There are also young men and women with exceptional potential who come to Peach Blossom Temple to seek apprenticeship each year.

"These four simpletons are truly blessed with good fortune!"

Butcher Hu looked down on the four men.

Back when these four people came to Linbin Town, they were so down on their luck that they had to scrape together money to buy drinks. Now they've actually made it big and are even acting all high and mighty in front of me.

Last time, all they did was put their own pork shop on the roadside, and their men drove them away.

Haha, once they have a little power, they forget their origins.

Sister-in-law Gui couldn't help but retort.

"Hehe, Butcher Hu, you're talking nonsense. It's not just those four. When the Taoist priest came to Linbin Town, he was only doing business for one or two taels of silver. It's nothing compared to your Hu family's wealth and power."

Butcher Hu was taken aback and hurriedly said, "Don't talk nonsense. Where did I say anything about the Taoist priest? You've made it all up."

Master Zhang is now the god of wealth in Linbin Town.

But that's all.

Everyone knows he's made a fortune. Although no one knows where the Taoist priest went recently, the Taoist temple has been thriving in recent years and even has a plaque bestowed by the imperial court.

Moreover, Linbin Town became larger and more prosperous because of the imperial decree.

Everyone made money, so everyone thought that the richest person was Master Zhang.

Moreover, Linbin Town was bustling with activity because of the martial arts practitioners who came to learn from the masters.

If this path is cut off, I'm afraid life will go back to what it was before.

Now that everyone is used to having money, why would they want to go back to the way things were before?

Butcher Hu was indeed a little flustered. He was afraid that he would be scorned by the people of Linbin Town for speaking ill of the Taoist priest's friend, which would cause his business to plummet.

"Bring a pot of wine and a braised pig's head."

"Can you finish this all by yourself?"

"I can finish eating, as long as you don't make fun of me."

Sister-in-law Gui couldn't help but burst into laughter.

At that moment, a girl in a wide Taoist robe skipped down Peach Blossom Mountain, followed by a chubby boy of about four or five years old, panting heavily.

"Wait for me, Seventh Sister."

The chubby boy bumped into the girl who had suddenly stopped, bounced off, and landed on his bottom on the floor. He quickly got up, dusted himself off, and then shook the dust off his bottom.

"I told you not to come with me, but you insisted."

The girl couldn't resist poking the chubby boy's forehead with her finger.

The chubby boy said, "If I don't come along, who's going to pay for your meal?"

The girl nodded: "That's true, but we're going to my brother's house today, so you should go back to your own room. I'll come pick you up later."

The chubby boy shook his head: "I don't want to go home. It's annoying. I've gotten so fat, and every time I go back, they stuff food into my mouth."

"Can't you not eat?"

"The meat is already in my mouth, why would I spit it out? I'm not stupid!"

The girl sneered at him: "You deserve it. Let's go!"

Upon arriving in town, they saw the eldest of the Four Heroes of Kunshan rushing over in a panic, saying to the girl, "My dear aunt, my seventh princess, why did you come down here?"

The Seventh Princess twirled the end of her braid with her fingers, her eyes darting around as she said, "My senior brother sent me down here. I heard you're holding some kind of martial arts talent show."

The eldest corrected: "It's a martial arts beauty pageant."

Seventh Princess: "No wonder there are so many people here. Why is it being held here?"

The leader chuckled and said, "You don't know this, do you? This place is now a sacred place for martial arts. Most events, big and small, in the martial arts world consider it an honor to hold them here. But we don't take on just any event. It has to be of a certain scale and have a certain status before we can take on a job."

Seventh Princess: "Why wasn't I notified about this beauty pageant? Is Sun Zhenjian a traitor?"

The eldest brother said, "Seventh Princess, what is your status? What do you look like? The martial arts beauty pageant is too low-class. There should be a fairy gathering at Yaochi to be worthy of you."

The seventh princess patted him on the shoulder: "I'll forgive you this time. Sigh—"

Boss: "Why are you sighing?"

The Seventh Princess said, "Old Zhang has been missing for five years. When will he come back?"