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

Lingzhou is far from Linbin Town.

The journey was 120 li, which would take three days by water and four days by official road. Guo Lanying, who traveled by night and hid during the day, took five days to arrive. Upon arrival, she found no trace of Zhang Zhengdao at the Taoist temple. So she went to the peach grove in the backyard to sit quietly and recuperate.

"Master, thank you so much!"

The town supervisor handed a silver coin to Zhang Zhengdao and bowed.

With the monks gone, Zhang Zhengdao's prestige has soared. The town supervisor is equivalent to a town mayor on Earth; he's the head of the town, a powerful figure, and also a gentry member.

"You're too kind, Magistrate Sun!"

With the money and goods exchanged, Zhang Zhengdao didn't waste any more time and prepared to leave.

"Taoist Priest..."

Sun Zhenjian seemed to have something he couldn't say.

"Is there something you need, Supervisor Sun?"

Zhang Zhengdao immediately saw through Sun Zhenjian's predicament.

A dark complexion, grayish hair, thinning hair, dark ears, a nose like a cut tube, and flat, uneven fingers are symptoms of insufficient kidney qi, resulting in erectile dysfunction and weak erections.

"I've long heard that you are a Daoist immortal, with fine wine at home and a new method for brewing wine from Mount Fan. Why don't you give it a try?"

Sun Zhenjian speaks in a very formal and scholarly manner.

The more difficult the secret, the more archaic and literary the language, with phrases like "a gentleman's principles" leaving people only half-understanding. It's a pity that no one here dares to laugh, and there's no joyful atmosphere.

Zhang Zhengdao has no problem with it.

Doing business, running a temple, or treating patients are all the same thing, it doesn't matter, as long as you get paid.

Sun Zhenjian's residence was smaller in scale than the residence of Guo Lao, whose entire family had been wiped out.

Upon arriving at the residence, after about two rounds of drinks, the banquet was ready. Only Sun Zhenjian and Zhang Zhengdao were at the table. Sun Zhenjian had three daughters, the youngest eight or nine years old, the eldest fourteen or fifteen, who were to be betrothed next year.

But his biggest regret is that he has no son, and in the last three or four years, he has become increasingly weak, and neither his wives nor concubines have been able to bear him a child. Family members know their own situation; they have tried countless medicines and spent a fortune, but nothing has worked.

Seeking help from Zhang Zhengdao was a desperate measure.

After a satisfying meal, it's time to enjoy some tea to aid digestion.

Zhang Zhengdao gave Sun Zhenjian three pills, specifically instructing him to take them every three days at Chenshi (7-9 AM). He said that after nine days, the stubborn illness would disappear, he would be full of energy, and he would definitely have a son.

Sun Zhenjian was pleased and gave him a sum of money.

We saw him to the door, bidding him a reluctant farewell.

Zhang Zhengdao walked back along the mountain path, opened the silver envelope. One of the envelopes contained money for the people who died in the massacre at the Guo family mansion. The money was provided by the government and amounted to three taels.

The silver coin was given to me by the town magistrate. When I opened it, I found it contained ten taels of silver.

Sun Zhenjian is really arrogant!

I wish we could have more of these kinds of orders!

Sun Zhenjian: ...

My heart was pounding the whole way. My steps were light, and I arrived half an hour earlier than usual. But once I got there, I felt something was off.

Outsiders have been here.

Next time I need to study the Taoist Bagua formation properly, otherwise a random demon might barge in, lurking in the shadows, and deliver a fatal blow. Then my head would be chopped off, my limbs severed, and my torso pickled in a jar to be eaten in winter. My limbs would be washed clean, salted, sun-dried for a few days, and then hung in the kitchen to smoke until they were practically oily by autumn…

That scene was terrifying.

As I cautiously reached forward, I realized the smell was somewhat familiar, carrying a hint of blood and perfume.

Under the peach tree in the backyard, a girl dressed in simple clothes sat there with her eyes closed and her face pale.

"Master Daoist—"

"Heroine Guo—"

The two said in unison.

"Thank you so much for saving my life, Daoist Master!" The Guo family's daughter was straightforward. She had just stood up when she knelt down in front of Zhang Zhengdao with a "plop".

Zhang Zhengdao tentatively asked, "How is this a life-saving grace?"

Guo Lanying trembled with excitement: "Master, you are a reclusive master, naturally you would not stoop to such a trivial matter. Master, with a single talisman, you saved Lanying and killed my enemy. I have no way to repay you..."

Will you pledge yourself to me?

Zhang Zhengdao was shocked when he heard this.

This woman is actually repaying kindness with enmity! I was careless!

"I would be willing to be a slave or a maid!"

Guo Lanying spoke with unwavering resolve and an air of inescapable duty.

Zhang Zhengdao: ...

You're overthinking it.

He tentatively asked, "Is Miss Guo's enemy this time a monster?"

"No!" Guo Lanying shook her head in surprise.

"Could he be a cultivator?"

Guo Lanying was increasingly puzzled. Cultivators? Do such things even exist in this world? They only exist in novels, right? What's wrong with the Taoist priest?

Still puzzled, he shook his head.

If he's neither a demon nor a cultivator, then he's just a mortal!

This talisman is incredibly effective against mortals.

At least that's what Zhang Zhengdao thinks. So far, no demons or cultivators have appeared, so there's no way to verify the actual effect. *Sigh*

Guo Lanying was increasingly puzzled. A single talisman had killed a master of the Innate Realm, and yet she was still sighing?

"You go!"

Zhang Zhengdao waved to Guo Lanying, somewhat dejected.

Guo Lanying was taken aback. They were just chatting happily a moment ago, what happened? Such a big change in mood. Do men, like women, have a few days each month when their emotions are unstable?

“I don’t care about being a slave or a maid, I have hands and feet.”

Zhang Zhengdao had long seen through the girl's sinister intentions.

You're dressed like this, you're a penniless wretch. Even if you're a slave, I still have to pay you. Even the people who collect night soil in town get a tael or two of silver a month.

Back when my business first opened, a single Taoist ceremony only cost five qian of silver.

Is it worth one tael and five mace of silver? Then I'd have to perform another ritual. Besides, I have hands and feet, and I can cook and do laundry. Wouldn't it be better to earn the money myself?

He was pretending to thank himself; his real intention was to use this opportunity to find a long-term job.

The working environment is bad now, and the economy of the entire Great Xia Dynasty is declining. There are more and more poor people without land or capital, and it's getting harder and harder to find a job. This woman has a good plan.

"No, I am a Taoist priest, I don't need servants!"

Guo Lanying was disappointed, thinking that she had almost avenged her great grudge. As for what other dark forces were behind it all, she was powerless to do anything about it. She would do what she could, preserve her health, find a good husband, have children, and continue the family line for generations to come, outliving those wicked people who gave birth to sons without an anus. That would be her revenge.

The descendants will continue endlessly, so why suffer injustice and hatred?

Just do what you can, and you'll have a clear conscience!

"Then this humble woman bids farewell to the Taoist priest, hoping to meet again someday!"

Guo Lanying was deeply disappointed that she could not become a slave or maid. She bowed, turned, and left. Once she left, she was gone forever, never to be seen again in the world.

First, go back to your sect and tell your master what happened. Then, find a good family to marry into and raise your children.

As I walked along, my thoughts were a jumbled mess.

She had considered offering herself in return. But who was this Taoist priest? A celestial being, a figure comparable to the four greatest masters. How could he possibly be interested in a weak woman like her?

They didn't even have the right to be slaves or servants.

The Taoist priest rejected her without hesitation, and she felt bitter inside, but dared not show it.

If I were to become a slave or maid, and the Taoist priest later finds a suitable partner, I might be able to serve as a bed warmer and massage girl. That would be acceptable.

The shattering of her hopes and the resulting despondency led her to suddenly entertain the idea of ​​retiring from the world and marrying an ordinary person.

Seeing that Guo Lanying didn't persist, Zhang Zhengdao breathed a sigh of relief.

Back in the room where the Taoist temple stored the scriptures, I found a few Taoist books and started reading. At the very least, I had to learn the Eight Trigrams Formation first, and then set up the formation based on observations.

It rained that night.

A rain shower knocked all the peach blossoms down.

This also shattered the spirits of some people in Lingzhou City.

Inside Juxianlou, the largest chamber of commerce in Lingzhou City, the lights burned all night. In one room of the three-story building, the lights were blazing, and huge whale fat candles burned high in the flames.

The flickering firelight caused the expressions on the faces of the four people seated to change unpredictably with the movement of the lamplight.

"A master of innate level!"

"The Soul-Chasing Sword, Cui Yiming!"

"It's shattered into a pile of flesh!"

……

An old man shouted angrily, "Shut the hell up! If you're so good, then you do it!"

The middle-aged man in the scholar's robe who had spoken disdainfully sneered: "Fine, then go for it!"

"Damn it!" The old man rolled up his sleeves and prepared to get to work.

"Alright, can't you speak properly!" an old woman in a floral dress scolded impatiently.

"The most urgent task is to find out who killed Old Cui!"

The speaker was a delicate young woman, and her voice was equally sweet. She wore a red dress, had exquisite makeup, and looked incredibly charming; her captivating eyes seemed to sparkle with every blink.

"Who else could it be? It can't be that girl from the Guo family!"

"Don't we know her capabilities?"

"It's definitely not her master. Even her master, Fairy Butterfly, doesn't have that ability."

……

"Damn it, we don't even know who our enemy is, and we've been discussing it all night. I'm impressed by you three old men. I'm leaving!" The alluring woman in the red dress pushed open the window, lightly touched the ground with her toes, and floated out.

Like swallows in the rain, they rise with the wind and drift further and further away.

"The more seductive a woman is, the better her kung fu is!" the old woman said indignantly.