The First Venerable of the Prosperous Age

Lu Xiaosan was taken aback by this. "Monk, what kind of logic is this?"

Wen Ying's bright blue eyes, as clear as autumn water, gazed at him with a smile for a long while. "Let's go. You'll understand when we get there."

"What? Where do you want to go for fun?"

"The Pavilion of the Immortals".

The two ate some breakfast, comforted the golden retriever and left it in the house, and then headed towards Luoyang.

Walking down the street, Lu Xiaosan thought to himself, "This little golden retriever doesn't look like someone who can freely enter and leave the Immortal Pavilion."

High-ranking officials? Literary and martial heroes? Wealthy young men?

Lu Xiaosan asked each of them, but Wen Ying smiled and denied them all.

Could it be that she's famous for her medical skills? Whatever, if anyone tries to harm her, I'll do everything in my power to protect her.

As they approached the city gate, Wen Ying scribbled wildly on her face again, leaving streaks of blood.

You could tell that Wen Ying was somewhat unwilling.

Lu Xiaosan hurriedly asked, "What are you doing? Is something bothering you? If so, just think more about how sad I am."

Wen Ying chuckled at the joke, then said seriously, "You're not allowed to look down on yourself like that. I believe in your illness, and everything will be alright in the end."

Wen Ying's eyes quickly dimmed. "And I did this only because... there are still people who are not cured, and I have to continue to empathize with them."

Lu Xiaosan scratched his head and pondered, "Maybe someone got a scratch on their face and became the little golden retriever's patient, and the little golden retriever is vain, so she was sad. Hmm... never mind, anyway, her face was back to normal the next day."

"Besides, whether this little golden retriever scratches her face or not, she looks pretty much the same, hmm...? I don't know if it's because she's too ugly or too beautiful." Lu Xiaosan shook his head and pondered.

After walking for a while, the two emerged from the rolling fields and arrived at the main road leading into the city.

The crowd grew larger and larger, and soon the magnificent walls of Los Angeles came into view.

The city wall blocked the rising sun, making the area below the city wall dark and gloomy.

As the large crowd slowly entered Luoyang City under its massive shadow, Lu Xiaosan couldn't help but feel a deep sense of awe for this oldest and most prosperous city in the world.

As the two drew closer to the bustling city gate, shouts, the neighing of horses, the crying of children, and all sorts of other sounds filled their ears.

The surrounding area was filled with either simply dressed pedestrians or distinguished people dressed in fine clothes and sitting in luxurious carriages.

The two unconsciously held each other's hands, afraid of being separated by the surging crowd.

Because of the large number of people, the city gates were poorly guarded.

Wen Ying put on a hood to cover her striking blonde hair, and the two of them quietly followed a carriage to avoid inspection, sneaking into the city unnoticed.

The two entered through Jianchun Gate, passed through streets and neighborhoods, and ahead lay the South Market, the busiest and most bustling market in Luoyang.

It was nearly noon when I saw the South Market packed with people:

The streets were lined with all sorts of shops and stores on both sides. There were grain shops, jewelry shops, food shops, silk and cloth shops, porcelain shops, and so on. The goods inside were so dazzling that it was hard to take it all in.

People from all the neighborhoods, high-ranking officials and nobles accompanied by servants, young masters and ladies, literati in their robes and books, and leisurely travelers from all over the country flocked to the area.

The sounds of hawking, laughter, and commotion were everywhere in the South Market. Everywhere you looked, you could see several scholars arguing incessantly in front of a calligraphy and painting shop.

Or one might see elegantly dressed women from noble families, laughing and chatting over the latest hairpins in a jewelry shop.

Or you might see several sturdy, dark-skinned workers, sweating profusely, sitting in a food stall, devouring noodles in front of them like wolves.

Looking at the vast array of street food, Lu Xiaosan's mouth watered. He patted Wen Ying beside him and asked, "Little Golden Retriever, Little Golden Retriever, do you have any money with you?"

"Little Golden Retriever?" Seeing that Wen Ying didn't answer for a long time, Lu Xiaosan turned around to look at her.

She noticed that every passerby she encountered would smile at her.

The person receiving the smile was somewhat surprised, "Do I know you?"

Some people will immediately become more vigilant and turn fierce.

Only a few people responded with smiles, and some even responded with infatuated laughter upon seeing Wen Yingsheng's beauty.

They wanted to get closer to Wen Ying, but they were troubled by the stinky monk next to her. They all lamented that a beautiful flower was stuck in cow dung.

“Little Golden Retriever, you smile at them, but how many of them smile back at you? Why bother?” Lu Xiaosan felt a bit indignant.

Wen Ying looked puzzled and pouted, asking, "So many people are walking on the same street, yet everyone goes their own way and does their own thing. Aside from money and interests, there's no interaction between them. Isn't this kind of relationship strange?"

Lu Xiaosan looked up and pondered for a moment, "Aren't we all like this?"

Wen Ying's blue eyes gradually lost their luster as she smiled, and she shook her head. "I feel like this... isn't right..."

Lu Xiaosan said lazily, "Then what do you think would be good, Great Sage?"

"I think that even just greeting a stranger you bump into on the street or giving them a smile can make someone who's in a bad mood happy all day." She finished speaking and looked at Lu Xiaosan with a serene smile.

Her smile was like a burst of light, enough to illuminate every dark corner of the world.

Lu Xiaosan paused for a moment, then said, "That's a good idea. I'll put it into practice for you."

He targeted a woman buying groceries who was walking towards him.

The woman could smell the stench from afar, and sure enough, she saw a filthy monk in front of her.

Apart from a beautiful girl, no one else dared to stay near the monk.

Upon seeing this, the woman quickly covered her nose and walked around him.

To her surprise, the monk kept staring intently at her, and even seemed to be deliberately welcoming her.

The woman was frightened and quickened her pace. When she looked up again, the monk was already standing in front of her.

She cried out in surprise, then her hand trembled, and the vegetable basket rolled off the ground, spilling the bright green vegetables covered in golden egg yolk.

Passersby either watched coldly or hurried away, covering their noses. Only Lu Xiaosan, that stinky monk, was willing to bend down and help her pick up the vegetables.

Seeing him touch her things again, the woman took a few steps back in fear, swallowed hard, and said in a trembling voice, "What...what do you want to do..."

The foul-smelling monk picked up the good vegetable basket, raised his head, and all the youthful vigor he should have had was completely hidden by the filth on his face.

His expression was a mixture of a smile and anger.

He hesitated for a moment, carrying the vegetable basket, then grinned at the woman.

Look at that smile. His uneven eyebrows slanted down, his eyes narrowed into two barely visible deep grooves, his once straight nose was now deeply sunken into his dirty face, and his mouth, with two creases, pulled down his entire face.

The smile was sinister, terrifying, bizarre, and ugly; it was hard to believe that a monk could make such an expression on a woman in the street.

"Ah!" the woman screamed and ran away.

In the end, Lu Xiaosan had to rely on Wen Ying to return the vegetable basket to the woman.

Seeing Wen Ying return with a smile, Lu Xiaosan turned his mouth aside and said smugly, "You saw it too, not everyone can use this idea."

Wen Ying patted his shoulder and laughed, "Aren't you hungry? Watch me put on a show for you."

She arrived at a sesame seed cake stall:

"Freshly baked, piping hot sesame cakes!" the vendor shouted.

"Little girl, would you like some sesame seed cakes?"

Wen Ying asked with a sweet and innocent smile, "Big brother, how's business today?"

Upon seeing such a beautiful sight, the vendor couldn't help but smile and chuckle, "Not...not bad, quite...quite nice..."

Then, seeing her eyes sparkle and her face full of innocent pleading, she said, "Big brother, I know this request is a bit much, but a friend of mine is really hungry, could you..."

The vendor hesitated for a moment, then said, "Okay, no problem."

He readily agreed and handed over two steaming hot flatbreads studded with sesame seeds.

Wen Ying smiled and said, "Thank you, big brother, you're so kind."

That smile left the vendor completely mesmerized. Only after Wen Ying turned and walked away did he stammer, "It's...it's alright..."

Lu Xiaosan gave a wry smile, thinking to himself, "Others wearing hoods and covered in smudges are more popular than me. Is it because I'm too handsome or she's too ugly? It must be both, hahaha. No matter what others say, I'm still the most handsome man in the world! Hahahaha."

When Wen Ying returned, she handed a sesame seed cake to Lu Xiaosan with a smile, saying, "See? As long as you are sincere to people, they will naturally reciprocate with kindness."

Lu Xiaosan put away his smile, chewed a piece of sesame flatbread, shook his head, and said with a disdainful look, "You're not relying on sincerity at all. Look at those sesame flatbread sellers, they're practically gouging out their own eyes."

Wen Ying quietly ate a bite of the sesame seed cake, a satisfied and happy smile spreading across her face.

The two walked through the bustling city and finally arrived at the Sky Street covered with cherry blossoms. Further ahead was the Immortal Pavilion, which had captivated countless people.

"How do you plan to get in?" Lu Xiaosan asked.

Wen Ying smiled and replied, "Don't worry, just watch me."