Chapter 57: Have You Mastered Your Craft?

Hearing the shout from behind, Pan Yun quietly breathed a sigh of relief, raised the corners of her lips slightly into her warmest smile, and turned around.

The steward quickly looked her up and down, squeezed a smile onto his face as well, and handed over a red packet with both hands, saying, "Thank you, little Daoist, for making this special trip. This is just a small token of appreciation from our master."

Pan Yun did not move. Miaozhen and Miaohe both wore bewildered expressions, but Tao Yanbai reacted the fastest, stepping forward eagerly to take the red packet.

Only then did Pan Yun smile and say, "Patron Qian is too kind."

She paused for a moment and then urged once more, "Please, Patron Qian, be careful and then careful again. It is best not to leave the house within three days."

The steward nodded perfunctorily. He had not expected Taoist Tao to have such a junior sister—one who did not study alchemy or medical arts, but instead engaged in swindling and bluffing just like those ordinary Daoists out on the streets.

Pan Yun glanced at the steward, frowned, and could only caution, "If you must go out, remember to bring the safety talisman with you."

Disasters and misfortunes could usually be avoided, but kind words cannot persuade a ghost hell-bent on dying.

She had already done what she ought to do, and accepting this red packet weighed not at all on her conscience. Next, it would all depend on this Master Qian's fortune.

If he had any fortune at all, he would naturally listen to her and avert this catastrophe.

Pan Yun turned and left.

Seeing her act with such crisp and neat resolution, the steward was rather surprised. He had thought she would go on and on with a string of clichés in order to curry favor with the Qian family.

Pan Yun walked quickly, and neither Miaozhen nor Miaohe were skilled in worldly etiquette, so they immediately set off walking. Only Tao Yanbai bowed to the steward before leaving.

"Junior Uncle, Junior Uncle..." Tao Yanbai caught up with Pan Yun and asked, "Do you think Master Qian's fortune is really that bad?"

Miaohe said, "Third Senior Brother, can't you tell? Even I could see it."

Miaozhen said, "To a degree that even the likes of you can see it, if it doesn't happen today, it will happen tomorrow. So Junior Uncle telling him not to leave the house for three days was the right thing to do."

Pan Yun: "Open it up and see how much money is inside."

Only then did Tao Yanbai snap back to reality. He handed the red packet to her and said with concern, "Junior Uncle, should we tell Third Senior Brother and have him go make another warning visit? What if Patron Qian doesn't believe us and still goes out anyway?"

Seeing him dwelling on it persistently, Pan Yun turned her head and asked Miaozhen, "What do you think?"

Miaozhen shook her head directly. "Three days ago, Fourth Senior Uncle gave a lecture and said that when we perform divination and physiognomy for people, we can help them avert disaster and welcome blessings, but we must not forcefully alter their destiny."

Tao Yanbai: "Three days ago I was still tending the fire in the alchemy room for Third Senior Brother; I didn't attend the lecture."

Miaozhen then relayed the course content in a flat, matter-of-fact tone. "Third Senior Uncle said: Suppose we calculate that there is an invisible, massive pit ahead, and we therefore inform the passersby, warning them to take a detour. If some people bypass it, this is a favorable karmic connection we share with them. If some refuse to listen and insist on walking forward out of stubbornness, and we pity them for about to lose their lives, so we knock them unconscious and forcibly drag them around the detour—that is an adverse karmic connection.

"Suppose we calculate that a red packet is about to fall from the sky, and we therefore inform the passersby. If some believe it, stop, and extend their hands to catch the red packet, this is a favorable karmic connection. If some do not believe it and simply walk away, and we pity them for missing out on the benefit, so we knock them unconscious and tie them in place waiting for the falling red packet to land in their hands—that is an adverse karmic connection."

Pan Yun nodded. "We have already fulfilled our duty of warning Patron Qian, which constitutes a favorable karmic connection. Do not go any further and turn a favorable connection into an adverse one. Let's go, it's getting late, and I still need to make a trip to the courier agency."

A red packet containing ten taels of silver was already quite a generous sum, considering it matched the earnings Tao Ji made from a week of working as a resident physician in the countryside.

Pan Yun was quite satisfied.

Yushan County also had a courier agency, which Pan Yun had inquired about before descending the mountain, so she had prepared the items she wished to send well in advance.

She untied the bundle from her back, opened it, and placed two boxes before the clerk. "Do you need to inspect the contents inside?"

The clerk glanced at them and shook his head. "The volume is very small, so it falls outside the scope of inspection. Are these two boxes going to the same destination, Daoist?"

Pan Yun nodded. "Yes, both are heading to Datong."

The clerk then produced a larger rectangular box, placed the two smaller boxes inside together, and reached for a strip of sealing paper. Narrowing her eyes slightly, Pan Yun stopped him and asked, "Does this box contain only my items?"

The clerk nodded and smiled in explanation, "Since the little Daoist has opted for insured shipping, our courier agency naturally has to be extra cautious. This will be transported in a separate carriage. Rest assured, it will certainly not be mixed in with other cargo, avoiding any damage or loss."

"Of course I trust you," Pan Yun said, drawing a yellow talisman from her sleeve pocket. "It's just that attaching a yellow talisman will make it even safer."

She personally affixed the safety talisman onto the large box. Watching this, the clerk wore an expression that defied words as he, under her direction, pasted the official seal right beside the yellow talisman.

Pan Yun paid the fee, collected her receipt, and hurried toward the city gate, as time was growing short.

The three of them ran wildly behind her while still finding the leisure to gossip. "Junior Uncle, what on earth did you send to your family? Those boxes looked terribly valuable."

There were quite a few people on the street, and as the four of them broke into a rudimentary form of lightness kung fu, they rushed past the crowd like a gust of wind. Many people on the main street turned back to glare at the running figures. "Where did these wild brutes come from, running amok on the main street? What if you crash into someone?"

Before the words had even faded, the four of them had already vanished from sight. Running in one breath all the way to the city gate, Pan Yun hopped onto the cart and sat down neatly before answering their question. "I sent quite a lot of things: various medicinal pills, powders, and talismans. They are all specialty products of our Mount Sanqing."

Tao Ji, who was holding the mule's reins, froze for a moment before instantly reacting. "The large quantities of pills and powders you asked me for yesterday—were those what you used as gifts?"

Pan Yun: "I'm sending them to my father and older brother."

"Oh." Tao Ji's irritation instantly dissipated. He said, "You could have mentioned it to me in advance next time; I could have refined some restorative elixirs for you. Datong is bitterly cold and barren; what good does it do to just send them medicines for traumatic injuries and common colds? They need tonics."

Pan Yun nodded repeatedly and said loudly, "Thank you, Third Senior Brother. I knew Third Senior Brother is the best to me."

Xuanmiao chimed in, "Eldest Senior Brother is the best at refining tonics."

Pan Yun replied, "Eldest Senior Brother is good to me too, just like a father."

Tao Ji: ...

Pan Yun smiled warmly. "Senior Sister is good to me as well, just like my own real sister, while Third Senior Brother is like my older brother."

Miaohe hurriedly asked, "What about me? What about me?"

Pan Yun looked at her with a smiling gaze. "You're like my daughter."

Miaohe: "... Junior Uncle, we are the exact same age."

"Alright, alright, stop bantering and get on the cart quickly. If we don't head back now, it will be dark by the time we arrive."

Total darkness was hardly imminent, as the blazing sun was still hanging high in the sky; however, Yushan County was quite some distance from Mount Sanqing, and once they reached the foot of the mountain, they still had the climb ahead of them.

Everyone immediately scrambled onto the cart and settled into their seats.

Xuanmiao distributed the steamed buns she had bought among them. Only then did Tao Ji leap onto the cart, flicking his whip to get the mule into a gentle trot while grabbing a bun to munch on alongside the others.

They had traveled a fair distance before Tao Yanbai finally remembered to inform the two adults that they had visited the Qian residence earlier.

Tao Ji was not particularly bothered by Pan Yun going to the Qian family to peddle talismans; he was merely curious. "Master Qian is extremely shrewd. How on earth managed to sell talismans to him?"

"I didn't sell them; I gave them to him as a gift. He insisted on giving me a red packet, and it was simply impossible to refuse," Pan Yun said. "If you don't believe me, ask Tao Yanbai. The moment Patron Qian and I met, we hit it off like old friends—we had such a strong affinity. Master Qian trusted me the moment he laid eyes on me."

Tao Ji turned his gaze toward Tao Yanbai.

Right under Pan Yun's watchful eyes, Tao Yanbai could hardly contradict her, and could only nod stiffly.

Tao Ji looked Pan Yun up and down. "You don't exactly look like someone who inspires a deep sense of trust, though?"

Xuanmiao tilted her head to look at her and asked, "Is there something amiss with Master Qian?"

Pan Yun said, "His space between the eyebrows had a dark, greenish tint; his fortune has been exceptionally poor these past few days."

Xuanmiao: "Have you already warned him?"

Pan Yun: "Of course. I took the initiative to seek him out myself. Since I saw a disaster looming, how could I not warn him?"

Xuanmiao nodded. "Since we have done all that human effort can do, we leave the rest to fate."

Fate perhaps still favored Master Qian after all.

The steward watched them depart into the distance, and as he turned back to re-enter the main hall, he still faithfully relayed Pan Yun's repeated cautions to Master Qian.

Master Qian waved a hand dismissively. "I've only just recovered my health, and I have no travel plans for the immediate future. Her warning is of no use to me."

The steward thought the same. Glancing at the safety talisman resting on the table, he asked, "Then this..."

"Put it away."

Master Qian never wore items of unknown origin picked up from outside; when it came to things like safety talismans, he would only ever personally go to temples to beseech eminent monks for them.

The ten-tael silver red packet was merely meant to cultivate goodwill toward Mount Sanqing and avoid making enemies of them. After all, Mount Sanqing's prowess in alchemy and medical arts was genuine, and should he fall ill in the future, he would still need to invite their Daoist priests to treat him.

Knowing Master Qian's taboos, the steward collected the safety talisman, intending to have it burned later.

Master Qian walked back to his chambers with his hands behind his back to rest, but no sooner had he seated himself than a servant hurried in reported frantically, "Master! Master! A letter has arrived from the Sun family, saying that Master Sun took a turn for the worse this morning, and it might just be a matter of today!"

Master Qian sat up abruptly. His brother-in-law, Sun Quan, was not only his sister's husband but also his close friend and confidant; the two shared a profound bond.

"Quickly, have someone prepare the carriage! We are going to Sun Manor right now."

The servant acknowledged the command and rushed off to make arrangements.

As Master Qian was being supported as he hurried out, his heart gave a violent wrench. In a sudden flash of realization, he grabbed the steward's hand tightly and asked, "The talisman—where is that safety talisman?"

The steward was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly replied, "It's still here, hasn't been dealt with yet. I'll go fetch it right now."

The steward trotted back to retrieve the talisman and, returning out of breath a moment later, handed the two folded safety talismans over to Master Qian.

Master Qian took them with both hands, inspected them briefly, and then tucked them into his pouch, hanging it at his waist. "I am going to Sun Manor immediately. Have someone summon Physician Zhao from the east of the city, and send another person to Mount Sanqing to invite Daoist Tao. Make sure everyone is invited to Sun Manor."

The steward assented, seeing Master Qian safely into the carriage before turning to attend to the arrangements.

Sitting inside the carriage, Master Qian fingered the pouch at his waist and felt a measure of relief, comforting himself inwardly: *Those youngsters' divinations might not necessarily be accurate; after all, they are still so young...*

Yet deep down, a lingering unease remained. Prior to this, he had never imagined he would be leaving his estate today.

*But I brought the safety talisman with me. I brought the safety talisman.*

At this moment, Master Qian simultaneously hoped that Pan Yun's divination would prove wrong and that her abilities would live up to her claims.