Chapter 59: The Memorial Service

The medicinal potency had been completely absorbed, leaving the medicinal bathwater in the wooden tub thin and diluted. Moments later, driven by the circulation of her cultivation technique, impurities within her body were expelled, turning the water murky once again with a foul, fishy odor.

Pan Yun was woken up by the stench.

Xuan Miao stood by Miao Zhen and Miao He, nodding at Pan Yun as she said, "You are done. Go bathe and change."

Pan Yun looked at herself, then at Miao Zhen and Miao He, bewildered. "Why am I smellier than them?"

"First, what you ate growing up was a jumble of things. Second, you have been taking medicine since childhood, and all medicine is three-tenths poison."

Pan Yun asked, "Then wouldn't First Senior Brother and the others, who attained the Dao through pills, be eating poison?"

Xuan Miao replied, "Alchemy involves the rational formulation of ingredients to remove toxins and maximize the medicinal properties. It is quite unlike your simple decoction of crude herbs."

Pan Yun accepted this explanation, got up, and went to bathe and change.

Halfway through dressing, she suddenly snapped to attention as the golden bar on the Spirit Realm interface surged forward by a segment, displaying a value of 99.

"Meow—" Pan Xiaohei pushed the window open and leaped inside, shouting at her excitedly, "Did you see that? You've earned merit!"

Pan Yun's eyes shone brightly. "I see it. It seems benefactor Qian is safe and sound. But can saving one person really yield this much merit?"

Pan Xiaohei was just as clueless as her; how could it know?

Yet, this did not prevent it from sharing in the joy.

The person and the cat exchanged glances, letting out silly chuckles. This business of accumulating merit was entirely viable—not only could one accrue virtue, but one could also make money.

Pan Yun finished putting on her clothes and ordered Pan Xiaohei, "Note this down in your little booklet. Record the exact time and location: sold two peace talismans to benefactor Qian, earning 99 points of merit."

With just a thought, Pan Xiaohei recorded it instantly.

Pan Yun felt that her title as the Junior Master of Talismans of Mount Sanqing was now firmly established. The next step was to spread her reputation far and wide.

The next time she saw Master Qian, she would have to ask him to introduce a few more friends.

A rich man's friends were mostly rich men, and those who cherished their lives naturally had friends who cherished their lives just as much.

People with money who valued their lives—surely they all needed talismans for protection, right?

Calculating the money and merit to be reaped from a single talisman, Pan Yun chuckled gleefully.

She stepped out of her room in high spirits and called out toward the neighboring alchemy chamber, "Fourth Senior Sister, I'm heading back first."

Fourth Senior Sister's cool, aloof voice drifted out, "Go back and cook. No cold water is to be drunk today."

"Oh." Still immersed in the joy of making money and earning merit while crossing the bamboo grove back to the Taoist temple, Pan Yun spotted the Qian family's steward standing before the mountain gate, bowing repeatedly to Tao Ji.

Pan Yun was taken aback.

Steward Qian caught sight of Pan Yun as well, trotting over eagerly to bow. "Little Daoist Master, I've finally laid eyes on you! My master encountered a falling rock landslide yesterday, and it was entirely thanks to your warning and the peace talisman that he escaped with his life."

He pulled a thick red envelope from his bosom and presented it respectfully. "Little Daoist Master, this is a token of appreciation from my master. Please graciously accept it."

The smile on Pan Yun's face lost some of its radiance. She reached out to take the red envelope and asked, "Benefactor Qian met with danger yesterday?"

"Indeed! Not long after the little Daoist master left yesterday, a letter arrived from our brother-in-law's household saying he was gravely ill, so my master set off to visit him. Who would have expected a landslide on the way? It was likely due to the rain over the past two days, which loosened the mountain soil and caused the boulders to roll down..."

Pan Yun asked, "Then what is Master Qian's itinerary for today?"

Seeing her solemn expression, Steward Qian felt his heart leap into his throat. "Our master went to the Sun Family Village this morning to attend a funeral. Little Daoist Master, could it be that my master's tribulation has not yet passed?"

Pan Yun harbored the exact same doubt. Logically speaking, that shouldn't be the case, right?

She pinched her fingers to calculate, frowned, and after a moment of hesitation, decided to trust her own divination. With a reassuring smile, she said, "According to my divination, the tribulation has already passed. Master Qian can rest easy; just be a bit more careful when traveling in the future."

Steward Qian let out a long sigh of relief.

Tao Ji waited for them to finish speaking before stepping forward to invite Steward Qian into the temple to offer incense.

Indeed, Master Qian was extremely generous—truly deserving of his reputation as a renowned philanthropist in Yushan County. He had sent his steward not only to supplement Pan Yun's red envelope but also to contribute incense money to pray for blessings for his family.

Sanqing Temple often lost pilgrims due to its high altitude and treacherous mountain paths. At least, in all the time Pan Yun had been at Sanqing Temple, she had never seen anyone climb the mountain solely to burn incense.

Had it not been for their own offerings to the Patriarchs of the Three Pure Ones, this sanctuary would have long since disbanded.

While Steward Qian went off to offer incense, Pan Yun felt the need for some quiet contemplation. She squatted down on the large boulder in front of the mountain gate and muttered to herself, [Tell me, if he met with danger yesterday, why did the merit only just arrive? Could it be that merit delivery can be delayed?

It surely can't be that the merit only registers once they actively return to thank us in person? If that's how it works, it's far too deceitful. Master Qian happens to be generous and unbothered by trouble, but others might not send someone over. Besides, I'm safe in Sanqing Temple for now, but what if I descend the mountain in the future to travel and wander the entire world?]

She couldn't possibly have a trail of people chasing after her just to offer their gratitude and trigger merit notifications, could she?

Pan Xiaohei had no idea either, but judging by its limited experience, it ventured, "Meow, you might be looking in the wrong direction."

With a deep gaze, Pan Yun said, [Note the exact time of today's merit arrival down to the hour. When we see Master Qian another day, I'll ask him.]

Pan Xiaohei agreed.

Pan Yun brushed off her backside and stood up, preparing to return and cook, when she noticed a group of people panting as they climbed up the mountain path.

Pan Yun's eyes lit up—work had arrived!

Having climbed the mountain with such sincere devotion, how could the Patriarchs of the Three Pure Ones refuse to bless them?

She put on a beaming smile and prepared to step forward, but then checked herself. She stopped, stood there with a subtle smile, dialed her enthusiasm back by three notches, and gazed calmly straight ahead.

The exhausted climbers also spotted Pan Yun. They hurried over, supporting one another, and asked, "Little Daoist Master, is your abbot in?"

"Yes, he is. Benefactors, please follow me."

Pan Yun led them to... Tao Ji.

Glancing left and right, she sidled up to Tao Ji and asked, "Where is First Senior Brother?"

Tao Ji replied, "First Senior Brother went to practice his martial arts."

As Tao Ji went to receive the newly arrived visitors, Steward Qian, having finished offering incense, emerged and froze at the sight of them, then hurried over. "Old Sun?"

The man turned around and gasped in astonishment as well. "Old Qian?"

Upon inquiry, it turned out the man was the steward of the Sun family from Sun Family Village, who had come to invite the Taoist priests of Sanqing Temple down the mountain to perform ancestral rites.

After clarifying the schedule and the required number of people, Tao Ji readily agreed.

Once the Sun family representatives had also finished offering incense and departed, Pan Yun sidled up to Tao Ji again. "Third Senior Brother, can I go down the mountain too?"

Tao Ji consented without hesitation, "You can!"

When Miao Zhen and Miao He emerged and learned about the ritual, they hurried back to their rooms to pack their gear.

Miao He even dug out a bronze hand-bell and handed it to her. "This is a Sanqing bell. Here, take it. I'll teach you how to use it later."

Pan Yun lifted the Sanqing bell to examine it closely, sensing a dense reservoir of potent energy emanating from it. This was a genuine ritual instrument.

She gave it a gentle shake—*tinkle, tinkle*—and felt her mind instantly clear and her spirit invigorated.

"What a fine treasure..." Pan Yun dangled the Sanqing bell and asked, "Do you normally just keep these ritual tools tucked away without using them?"

Miao He explained, "Since we aren't performing rituals, and there are no demons or ghosts on the mountain, why would we need to use ritual tools?"

Pan Yun asked, "To practice attunement?"

Miao He replied, "Anyone in the Taoist temple can use the ritual tools. Since we are still young, we wait until we are a bit older. Then, Master and the others will provide us with exclusive materials to forge our own ritual tools, nurturing them from childhood so they'll be easy to wield later."

In a hushed voice, Miao He added, "Fourth Senior Uncle has a ritual sword that was reportedly nurtured since childhood. It's incredibly powerful."

A wave of yearning welled up in Pan Yun's heart.

"How are your results from the medicinal bath and body-tempering?"

Miao He immediately circulated her cultivation technique and stamped her foot down with a sharp *crack*. A lightning-like fissure split right through the stone slab beneath her feet.

Pan Yun couldn't help letting out a "Whoa—", but before she even had a chance to marvel, Miao He was already clutching her own foot and howling in pain.

Pan Yun: "...Understandable, after all, force is reciprocal."

Nearby, Miao Zhen looked at the two of them in speechlessness.

Under their guidance, Pan Yun searched all over and dug out numerous ritual instruments and vestments, packing them away.

The more Pan Yun looked, the more strange she found it. "You're heading down the mountain, Third Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Sister are heading down the mountain, and this ritual robe... could First Senior Brother be going down the mountain as well?"

Miao He nodded. "Yes, for a ritual. It's a pity Second Senior Uncle isn't here; otherwise, he would be coming with us too. Second Senior Uncle holds an official government post; if he goes, the alms collected will be even greater."

The entire mountain was mobilizing.

Upon returning from his practice and hearing about the ritual, Wang Fei'yin immediately went to pack his personal belongings, then went to offer incense to the various Patriarchs in the main hall. Afterward, carrying a stick of incense, he walked to the edge of the back cliff and muttered incantations under his breath.

Planting the incense at the cliff's edge, he turned around to find three youngsters staring at him with burning gazes.

He waved a hand at them. "What are you staring for? Hurry up and come over to pay your respects to your Patriarchs!"

Pan Yun stepped forward, bowed repeatedly, and then looked down the cliff. "So Patriarch lives right down the cliff? In this direction, does it happen to face that mountain god temple down the mountain?"

Wang Fei'yin said, "Pretty much. Quickly pack up your clothes; we're heading down the mountain immediately."

Tao Yanbo rushed out from the kitchen and asked, "First Senior Uncle, what about the meals...?"

"What cooking? Just grab a quick bite. The ritual is a matter of utmost importance; we cannot keep our hosts waiting too long." Wang Fei'yin prepared to descend the mountain right away.

Perhaps because he hadn't left the mountain in a long time, Wang Fei'yin seemed even more high-spirited than the four juniors, chattering incessantly all the way down.

At the foot of the mountain, Tao Ji hitched the mule cart as usual, loaded up the entire household of Sanqing Temple, and set off toward Sun Family Village.

Pan Yun remained in a daze even after boarding the cart. Feeling rather guilty, she asked, "First Senior Brother, I don't know how to perform rituals..."

Wang Fei'yin reassured her, "It's fine. I'll teach you; it's very simple."

Being somewhat more reliable than Wang Fei'yin, Tao Ji added, "You won't actually need to perform it. This time, you're going to gain experience and help out. The ritual will be handled by First Senior Brother and us."

Hearing this, Pan Yun felt completely reassured. "I wonder if Master Qian is still at the Sun family residence when we arrive."

Wang Fei'yin declared, "According to my divination, he will definitely be there. Master Qian and Master Sun are on very good terms."

With that, Pan Yun urged Tao Ji to drive the mule a bit faster.

Complying, Tao Ji instructed the mule, "Let's go, pick up the pace."

True to his word, the mule quickened its stride, and they arrived at Sun Family Village before nightfall.

Entering the village, one could see numerous wooden sheds set up along both sides of the road. Not far away, inside a large courtyard with grey tiles and blue bricks, the sounds of weeping shook the heavens, and thick plumes of incense smoke billowed into the sky.

Given this grand display, either someone had suffered an unnatural death, or the descendants were exhibiting an extraordinary degree of filial piety.