How to become a Taoist priest starting from a brothel

The weather at the end of September was hardly warm, let alone the wide and deep river. Although it couldn't compare to the biting cold of the dead of winter, it was still cold enough to make people feel very cold, especially since the two of them were wearing light jackets and were soaked in water, which made them feel even colder.

"Mei Wu, are you alright?" Liu Yin grabbed Mei Wu's arm tightly, and seeing that her eyes seemed slightly squinted, she quickly reached out and patted her a few times.

"I can still hold on, girl. We need to get ashore as soon as possible, otherwise, with our strength, I'm afraid..." Mei Wu's voice was already somewhat weak.

"Don't worry, I'm here." Liu Yin gritted her teeth, dragged Mei Wu, and swam hard towards the shore.

Struggling desperately to survive in the river, this difficult situation reminded her of the first time she was being chased, when she and Zhu Mei fell into the winter river together, and she truly thought she was going to die.

But God didn't take her life, allowing her to escape with her life. And now the river is neither as cold nor as wide as it was before, so she believes that God won't take her this time either.

Her faith and perseverance paid off. Even though Mei Wu was such a heavy burden for her, she still carried Mei Wu to the riverbank.

"Mei Wu, how are you? Can you still hold on?" Liu Yin asked, taking a deep breath.

Mei Wu coughed lightly before replying, panting, "It's alright, miss, let's find a place to stay first."

"Hmm, I see a dilapidated temple over there, let's go there first." Liu Yin looked up and saw a temple not far away.

"Okay." Mei pressed her hand against the wound, the pain stimulating her nerves and immediately bringing her back to her senses.

The two of them, one supporting the other, walked together toward the dilapidated temple.

Contrary to their expectations, the dilapidated temple was deserted; instead, a father and daughter were warming themselves by a fire inside.

Seeing the two arrive in such a disheveled state, both men were startled, especially the father, who reacted quickly by standing up to protect his daughter.

Only when the two approached and saw that they were two women did the father and son feel relieved.

Upon closer inspection, both women were dressed in wet clothes and had pale faces. One of the women, dressed in men's clothing, had blood seeping from her arm.

"Are you hurt?" the girl, who was hiding behind her father, exclaimed and quickly stepped out from behind him.

"Girl!" Her father hurriedly tugged at her.

Liu Yin, supporting Mei Wu, nodded slightly to the two of them and said, "Excuse me, my sister and I accidentally fell into the river and wanted to rest for a while."

"It's alright. It's just a dilapidated temple, and anyone can come here. There's no need for you to be so formal, young lady." Seeing her dignified and graceful demeanor, the father knew that she must come from a noble family or a powerful family, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "If you don't mind, young lady, you can sit in front of the fire and warm yourself up."

"Thank you." Liu Yin didn't say much, and helped Mei Wu to sit down in front of the fire.

Carefully tearing open the sleeve where Mei Wu was injured, she took out a porcelain bottle no bigger than a thumb from her waist, carefully poured it on the bottle, then took out a handkerchief from her waist, heated it slightly over a fire, and was about to tie it on Mei Wu.

"Use mine." The father and daughter beside her had been watching for a long time. Seeing that she was about to cover her wound with a wet handkerchief, the girl quickly took out a dry handkerchief and handed it to her.

Liu Yin was taken aback for a moment before smiling and saying, "Thank you, Miss."

When the girl saw how stunning she looked after her simple cleansing, her face flushed red: "No, no, you're welcome, you're welcome."

Liu Yin helped Mei Wu lie in her arms before introducing her to the father and daughter: "I am Cui Rong, and this is my sister, Cui Wu."

The girl stared at Zhang Honglian and smiled demurely: "I...I am Dong Feng, and this is my father, Dong Kangwei."

"Uncle Dong." Liu Yin smiled and nodded to Dong Kangwei.

Dong Kangwei was also amazed by her face, and replied somewhat evasively, "Miss Cui."

Then, as if remembering something, he asked, "How did Miss Cui get into this state?"

Liu Yin gave a bitter smile: "As women, we are bound to encounter bandits when we are out and about. Even though my sister was disguised as a man, we still couldn't escape this time."

"Bandits? As far as I know, this area is quite safe." Dong Kangwei asked with some curiosity.

Dong Kangwei was a refined man. Even though he was nearing middle age in this era, his face could still be described as handsome. At this moment, he looked at Liu Yin with curiosity, but there was no malice in his eyes.

Liu Yin had naturally already noticed, and didn't try to hide it much. With a wry smile, she replied, "When we were crossing the river, we were worried that we wouldn't make it to the city in time, so we had to ask the boatman to take us a little further. Who knew that the boatman, while passing through the river, had evil intentions, and we had no choice but to jump off the boat and leave, which is why..."

Dong Kang frowned, and after thinking for a while, he tentatively asked, "Was the boatman an old man? Around sixty or seventy years old?"

Liu Yin frowned and shook her head, replying, "No, the boatman was about fifty years old and extremely healthy, not as Uncle Dong described."

Dong Kangwei became increasingly suspicious and hurriedly asked, "Is what you're saying true?"

Liu Yin replied, puzzled, "Of course it's true. Could it be that the man wasn't a boatman?"

Dong Kangwei nodded hesitantly: "As far as I know, there is only one boatman on this river. His name is Sun, and he is known as Old Sun. He is over sixty years old this year and his health is not very strong. On the contrary, he is quite old. That's why I doubted what you said earlier."

Liu Yin frowned and hurriedly asked, "Could it be... that we didn't encounter a boatman?"

"Yes, his behavior certainly doesn't resemble that of a boatman; he's more like a bandit," Liu Yin said with a soft sigh.

Dong Kangwei then said, "I'm afraid there's more to this than meets the eye. Why don't we go into the city and report it to the authorities first thing tomorrow morning?"

When the topic of reporting to the authorities came up, Liu Yin's expression changed before she politely replied, "Given my sister's current situation, reporting to the authorities is out of the question."

Seeing her like this, Dong Kangwei frowned slightly and replied as if he had realized something, "That's true. As women, it's not appropriate for you to go to the government office, lest you tarnish your reputation."

Seeing that he said that, Liu Yin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Dong Feng opened her mouth as if to say something, but her father tugged at her sleeve, causing her to purse her lips and remain silent.

Liu Yin didn't sleep very well that night, feeling as if she were still in that great river, rising and falling with the waves.

Every now and then, a soft call could be heard: "Yinniang? Yinniang?"

Or perhaps, "Girl? Girl?"

Her mind was filled with voices that sounded anxious or tentative from time to time, making her want to tell the person to shut up.

"Shut up!"

"Help! Help! The young lady is awake! The young lady is awake!"

A girl's exclamation answered her, and as the footsteps faded away, she slowly opened her eyes...