Chapter 38: The Sanqing Temple

The Fourth Senior Sister that Miaohe mentioned was called Miaozhen, who was the disciple of their Second Senior Uncle, Yin Song.

According to Miaohe, there were currently nine people in total in their Sanqing Temple, with six of them living in the temple at the moment. "With you, that makes seven."

Miaohe wriggled closer to Pan Yun, pressing against her shoulder to shoulder, and said, "The Fourth Senior Sister is far too studious. Every day, aside from doing her daily chores and homework, she only cultivates. Only the Third Senior Brother occasionally plays with me. It is so boring."

Before Tao Ji and the others returned, there were only the First Senior Uncle and the three children in the temple. One was obsessed with cultivation, one was an elder, and one was a busy senior brother. Miaohe could never find a companion for anything she wanted to do.

Oh, Pan Yun also learned from Miaohe the details about that formidable First Senior Brother—of course, all the details that Miaohe herself knew.

"First Senior Uncle's surname is Wang. How would I dare to know his given name? No one dares to address First Senior Uncle by his name anyway, but I do know his Daoist title, which is Feiyin."

Miaohe was completely devoid of guile, rattling off everything she knew about her First Senior Uncle, Second Senior Uncle, Master, and Senior Uncle. "First Senior Uncle's home is right down the mountain. Second Senior Uncle is currently a high-ranking official in the capital, and the Second Senior Brother is following him. Second Senior Uncle has the most disciples in our temple; from the First Senior Brother down to the Fourth Senior Sister, they are all Second Senior Uncle's disciples. Only I am my master's disciple."

Upon hearing this, Pan Yun's eyes lit up brightly, and she asked, "What kind of high-ranking official?"

Miaohe replied, "I don't know, but a high-ranking official in any case."

High-ranking officials were wonderful; she liked high-ranking officials the most. Overturning a verdict was something that relied heavily on high-ranking officials.

"The Second Senior Brother is with the Second Senior Uncle, the Third Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Sister are here, then where is the First Senior Brother?"

"The First Senior Brother went out to make money," Miaohe said. "Cultivation costs money. Everything we eat, drink, and wear has to be earned by the First Senior Brother."

Pan Yun's expression paused for a moment; it sounded rather pitiful.

"Listening only to you talk about Senior Uncle and the others, they don't seem very old. What about the patriarchs of the Grandmaster generation?"

"Right here." Miaohe gently tapped the tip of her foot against the floor.

Pan Yun looked down at the tip of her foot. "Where?"

Dead?

Miaohe lowered her voice and said, "It's the Mountain Deity."

Pan Yun: ……

Miaohe said in a tiny voice, "The Mountain Deity is omnipresent. As long as we are on Mount Sanqing, the Grandmaster Patriarch will always be by our side."

Pan Yun: "…… The Grandmaster Patriarch is a Mountain Deity?"

"That's right. Legend has it that First Senior Uncle met the Grandmaster Patriarch in a dream, and the Grandmaster Patriarch imparted cultivation techniques to him. Then First Senior Uncle went up the mountain, founded the temple, and began accepting disciples."

Pan Yun humbly asked for guidance, "Then did Second Senior Uncle, your master, and Daoist Xuanmiao also meet the Grandmaster Patriarch in their dreams to have cultivation techniques imparted to them?"

"That didn't happen," Miaohe said. "My master and the others were all accepted as disciples by First Senior Uncle on behalf of the Grandmaster Patriarch."

Pan Yun immediately sensed something was amiss. "Allow me to ask a bold question: how old is your First Senior Uncle this year?"

Miaohe replied, "Fifty-eight. He will be celebrating a major birthday next year."

Tao Ji and Xuanmiao looked to be only around twenty. She understood now; they had simply turned their fellow disciple into their master's master-uncle, while taking in their own disciples as junior fellow apprentices.

Yet this Daoist Master Wang still looked quite young.

Miaohe gently nudged her shoulder and asked, "Junior Sister Pan Yun, whose disciple do you intend to become?"

Pan Yun fell silent.

Miaohe gave a hearty recommendation of her master. "Become my master's disciple. My master is a wonderful person; his medical skills are renowned far and wide, and his mastery of alchemy is second only to First Senior Uncle's—even Second Senior Uncle cannot compare."

Pan Yun said, "My primary focus is talismans and array formations."

"Ah," Miaohe sighed with deep regret, "then you can only look for Fourth Senior Uncle. However, Fourth Senior Uncle does not like taking in disciples, and her lectures are very strict; we are all a bit afraid of her. But Fourth Senior Sister likes her very much."

Miaohe sighed.

Pan Yun sighed as well.

She truly lacked any reverence or filter of respect when facing Tao Ji and Xuanmiao; she did not want to become their disciple.

She actually felt that Daoist Master Wang was quite good. First Senior Brother, abbot of Sanqing Temple, advanced in age, knowledgeable, and kind-natured—if one must become a disciple, naturally, one should choose the highest-ranking master.

She asked Miaohe, "Is it mandatory to become a disciple to stay in the Daoist temple? Can one simply join without becoming a disciple?"

Miaohe wore a look of utter puzzlement. "I don't know. The senior brothers and senior sisters have all become disciples. If you don't become a disciple, what shall we call you, Junior Sister?"

Sanqing Temple was too small, and there were very few people. All disciples were direct personal disciples, and the curriculum was by no means single-tracked; every senior master held independent lectures.

Take Miaohe, for instance. Aside from learning alchemy from her master, she also studied cultivation, astronomy, talismans, array formations, and ghost-catching from the other senior uncles and aunts.

The sheer variety of subjects she studied was not a single bit less than the courses offered in schools of the twenty-sixth century.

Pan Yun listened in dumbfounded amazement and wanted to ask for more details when she heard the sound coming from the black cat—Daoist Master Wang had finished his meditation and emerged from isolation.

She immediately let out a yawn and said with a sleepy expression, "I'd love to keep listening to you talk, but I'm far too tired right now, Miaohe. How about tomorrow morning, right after waking up, I'll come find you and we can continue our chat?"

"Alright, alright," Miaohe hopped off the bed and said, "Then you get some rest first. I'll come look for you tomorrow morning."

Pan Yun saw her to the door, closed it behind her, blew out the lamp, and sat cross-legged on the bed. Her consciousness sank into the spiritual realm, connecting through it with Little Black Pan, and through Little Black Pan, she observed Wang Feiyin.

At this moment, Daoist Master Wang appeared much taller. Stroking his beard, he said, "Fortunately, although that child's cultivation technique has flaws, it is merely due to a low efficiency in utilizing Qi, rather than walking down a wicked path."

Xuanmiao remarked, "She is extremely talented."

Daoist Master Wang nodded as well. "She is indeed the most talented person I have ever seen."

His gaze shifted to Xuanmiao, and he said with a smile, "Even higher talent than yours."

Xuanmiao nodded. "Therefore, I ask First Senior Brother to cultivate her well."

The First Senior Brother asked, "There are many ways to repay a favor. Bringing her out of the capital and covering up her killing of a Jinyiwei guardsman would have settled the favor owed to the Xue family. At worst, you could have entrusted her to a reliable family. Yet you chose to bring her back to Sanqing Temple instead. This shows that you genuinely cherish her talent. Since that is the case, why not take her as your disciple and raise and teach her yourself?"

Xuanmiao replied, "Senior Brother, I am cursed with the lonely star of ill omen. Anyone who gets close to me never meets a good end; why bother harming someone else?"

"The destiny in this world can always be broken. It is precisely because you are overly cautious and concerned that your destiny becomes all the more rigid and unyielding. I see that her destiny is also exceptionally tough. The two of you—one with the lonely star of ill omen, the other with a destiny as hard as rock—are a perfect match."

Xuanmiao simply stated, "I do not like trouble, I do not like worrying, and I do not like being anyone's master."

The First Senior Brother's beard twitched, thoroughly irritated. "So you've just handed the trouble over to me?"

Xuanmiao frowned at him. "I never intended for First Senior Brother to take her as a disciple. Anyway, she can just be raised in the Daoist temple just like Miaozhen and Miaohe. Raising two is no different from raising three; what real difference does it make?"

The First Senior Brother insisted, "There must still be a formal title."

Xuanmiao suggested, "Just register her under Second Senior Brother's name. Anyway, Second Senior Brother already has so many disciples; one more won't make a difference."

The First Senior Brother was choked into silence, unable to speak for a long moment.

The two fellow apprentices stared at each other in silence for a while until the First Senior Brother conceded defeat. Waving his hand, he said, "Fine, off you go. I'll ponder this further."

Xuanmiao turned and left, exceedingly decisive and brisk.

The First Senior Brother silently watched her figure disappear. The black cat, sensing that everything was settled, stood up and prepared to leave. Pan Yun was also about to withdraw her spiritual awareness when she heard the First Senior Brother say, "Come up here and let me take a look."

Pan Yun paused for a fraction of a second, and then she felt her entire body tumble into Wang Feiyin's embrace.

Oh, right, it was the black cat's body.

Little Black Pan's entire body stiffened, staring up at him with wide eyes alongside Pan Yun.

The First Senior Brother stroked its head, his eyes crinkling into a smile. "Truly a genius, truly a marvel."

Had she not walked into Sanqing Temple of her own accord, passing right in front of the Sanqing statues and heading into the back courtyard, he would have nearly suspected her of being a spirit possession.

Otherwise, how could a mere child master so many magical arts at such a tender age?

The First Senior Brother suspected that she had once been instructed by a teacher, only unable to speak of it due to some unknown reasons.

However, regardless of the reason, since she had entered their Sanqing Temple, she was now a member of Sanqing Temple.

The First Senior Brother stroked the black cat with an amused smile and said, "When were you left here? I actually failed to notice you all this time. Do not misunderstand Xuanmiao; she is someone with a harsh tongue and a soft heart. Nor should you fear her destiny; everyone in our Sanqing Temple—except for myself—has some sort of affliction, but the lonely star of ill omen cannot afflict you."

Pan Yun: …… Was he praising himself, or was he trying to frighten her?

"Xuanmiao previously owed a favor to Xue Xuan, the Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Your... your master's father was exiled largely due to Xue Xuan's influence. Therefore, when Xue Xuan returned to his hometown, he happened to run into Xuanmiao about to repay that favor, and he entreated Xuanmiao to help escort your... your master's family to Datong.

"Pan Hong refused, and instead entrusted Xuanmiao to look after your master's family. They originally only intended to secretly escort the Pan family's second household back to their ancestral home in Changzhou Prefecture, never expecting that before they even had a chance to visit your household, they would run right into your master committing murder."

The First Senior Brother sighed with emotion, "This is what they call a predestined affinity bringing people together from a thousand miles away. The bond that both you and this cat share with our Sanqing Temple is simply unstoppable."

Pan Yun and Little Black Pan: ……

The First Senior Brother placed it back on the ground, smilingly patted its round head, and said, "Alright, the story is finished. The weather is cold and dark; even a cat shouldn't catch a chill and fall ill. Off you go."

Little Black Pan shook its feline body, bolted on its legs, and vanished in a flash of smoke.

The First Senior Brother smiled, stroking his beard as he murmured, "That's more like it. If there's an issue, talk it out openly. Keeping things hidden and harboring secrets only invites unnecessary worry. Look at what kind of state a fine child was driven into—she even had to actively attach her spirit to a cat."

Which eight-year-old child was as suspicious as this?

The First Senior Brother sighed. Truly, the children of poor families had to mature and shoulder burdens early on. With Pan Yun's family exiled, she would likely have to worry and exert her mind even more in the future.

The First Senior Brother shook his head, walked back to his room with his hands behind his back, and muttered to himself, "Where on earth did I stuff that half-volume of cultivation techniques before?"

Upon returning to his room, he began rummaging through chests and cabinets. First was the bookcase for books—not found. Then came the chest for garments—still not found. In the end, he even dragged out the money chest hidden under his bed, thoroughly searching through it, yet it was nowhere to be found.

"No, I definitely put it in the room. Even though it's only half a volume, I wouldn't have thrown it out. It must still be in here, let me look again."

The First Senior Brother retraced his steps through the search, finally collapsing in exhaustion upon a pile of books and sundries, his brow furrowed deeply. "If I go find the Fourth Junior Sister to divine it for me now, I wonder if she'll fly into a rage."

After some consideration, he decided against disturbing Xuanmiao and instead ran to the front room himself to retrieve a set of turtle shells for divination.

"My divination skills might be a bit lacking, but I still have some grasp of it."

The First Senior Brother offered a sincere prayer in his heart, and then tossed the turtle shells...