Okay, here’s the rewritten text, aiming for standard English grammar and retaining the xianxia novel style, including the original personal pronouns:

At that time, on the small street, the rain gradually ceased. Ning Yao turned her head to look at Chen Ping’an, whose breathing was steady and demeanor calm. Although she disliked Old Man Yang in her heart, she had to admit that the old man was a true recluse of the world.

“Old Man Yang is not a simple person.”

Ning Yao paused for a moment, then turned her gaze towards the unassuming Yang family shop. The drizzling rain had made the street gentle, and the apothecary after the rain possessed soft contours and a misty aura. The maiden modified her statement subtly, “Old Man Yang is far from simple.”

Chen Ping’an didn’t notice the difference in her words, simply humming in acknowledgement. He smiled and said, “I used to think Grandpa Yang was just a good person, very fair. Now I know he’s deeply hidden his abilities, Ning-guniang. He should also be a cultivator, right?”

Ning Yao uttered a phrase Chen Ping’an didn’t understand, “It’s somewhat similar, but actually different. However, it makes no difference to you.”

Now arriving at the south end of the covered bridge, Chen Ping’an, who had narrowly escaped death, looked back at the girl in green robes. The young man’s state of mind was vastly different.

Hearing footsteps, Ruan Xiu stood up with a bashful smile. Seeing the straw-sandaled boy and the green-robed girl standing side-by-side, the maiden with a ponytail seemed slightly anxious. Chen Ping’an dared not treat this girl named Ruan Xiu as an ordinary maiden anymore. Of course, the image that remained most deeply etched in his mind was still those four words: “living by eating away at her fortune.”

Ruan Xiu glanced at the aloof and heroically spirited Ning Yao, but didn’t dare to greet her.

Ning Yao cast a glance at the petite yet seemingly fertile and refined girl, and didn’t feel inclined to greet her either.

The three of them walked down the steps of the covered bridge together. Chen Ping’an said softly, “I heard from Mister Qi that Liu Xianyang is alright.”

Ruan Xiu nodded vigorously. “He’s awake, he’s awake! The shopkeeper of the Yang family, after seeing him, said that Yama had shown mercy and spared Liu Xianyang’s life, so he recovered. The old shopkeeper also said that as long as he could wake up, he would be completely fine. I was afraid you were worried, so I wanted to tell you as soon as possible, but my father wouldn’t let me cross the covered bridge…”

The maiden chattered away like a sparrow on a branch, chirping and hopping with excitement. In the end, she spoke with some apology.

There were things the maiden didn’t say aloud. Upon Liu Xianyang’s waking, she immediately bolted outside and ran to the covered bridge. In her haste to inform the boy of the news, she completely forgot her father’s decree that she was not to enter the small town. But, as she was about to descend the steps on the north end of the bridge, she was seized by the ear by her elusive father, and dragged back. Only after much pleading did she manage to persuade her father to allow her to sit at the south end of the steps, awaiting his arrival.

This was not budding love, nor romantic feelings of youth, but a heartfelt benevolence.

Of course, the premise was that Chen Ping’an hadn’t made the maiden feel disgusted. On the contrary, she harbored a certain fondness, or perhaps an acknowledgement of Chen Ping’an.

All of this stemmed from their first meeting on the back of the blue ox, when the boy willingly went into the water to catch fish for others. Afterwards, his left-hand throbbed with pain, yet he felt no regret. Later, when Liu Xianyang met with misfortune, the boy was willing to step forward and shoulder the responsibilities he felt he should. These were the accumulated blessings Chen Ping’an had gathered, drop by drop.

All of this was a result of the boy Chen Ping’an’s long-held persistence, merely witnessed by chance by the maiden Ruan Xiu. In fact, Chen Ping’an had missed out on far more. For example, the golden carp in the fish basket, the loach given to Gu Can, and the four-legged snake, and those fallen locust leaves, all those missed opportunities, would not be grasped in the boy’s hands, even with his thrifty nature.

Chen Ping’an, Ning Yao, and Ruan Xiu walked down the covered bridge. The boy and the maidens didn’t realize that droplets of water, of varying sizes, quietly fell into the stream.

Some of these droplets originally clung to the eaves of the covered bridge, others gathered on the railings, and still others collected in the potholes along the outer edge of the bridge’s walkway. Yet all fell into the small stream, merging into its flow.

At the same time, in the Yang family shop’s backyard, filled with puddles and small pools, ripples spread, and the yard regained its muddy, turbid appearance, just like any backyard in the world. Above the surface of the water, stood a blurry figure shrouded in smoky mist. It was vaguely discernible as a hunched-over old crone with indistinct features.

Old Man Yang was unfazed by this. He lit his water pipe again and asked, “What did you see?”

The figure, like a water plant, swayed involuntarily “with the water,” and said in a hoarse voice, “That little girl is the only daughter of the next Saint of this place, her status so revered. Why would she favor a boy from the impoverished alleyways?”

Old Man Yang scoffed, “Is that it?”

The old crone on the water trembled, daring not speak again.

The old man said slowly, “Now that you’ve reached this stage, some rules need to be made clear to you, lest you die and disappear in the future, without understanding why, and feel wronged.”

The old man seemed to be brewing some heavenly secret, not rushing to speak.

After the rain stopped, the accumulated water in the courtyard gradually receded, and the old crone’s figure became even blurrier. She pitifully said, “Great immortal, I only wish to see my grandson a few more times.”

Interrupted from his train of thought, Old Man Yang was a little impatient. “What you think is your business. I’m too lazy to interfere.”

Speaking to this point, the old man’s eyes went blank, muttering to himself: “Consider yourself lucky. If you’d fallen into the hands of the Three Teachings, whether or not you had an afterlife would be uncertain, let alone the situation now. The Buddhists have a saying about subduing the mind’s monkey and the will’s horse; the arising of thoughts and the making of vows are of utmost importance. The Confucians are a bit better, they don’t manage things so broadly, simply offering earnest guidance, warning their disciples to be mindful when alone. The Daoists, on the other hand, elevate the importance of ‘how you think,’ even seeing inner demons as a great enemy to cultivation, even stricter than the Buddhists. Therefore, many people take a wrong turn, and there are many so-called heretical paths. Because the Daoists pursue purity, valuing introspection, once one is stumped by the questions left behind by the Daoist patriarch, one’s mind becomes a jumbled mess…”

The old man smoking his pipe was like a hidden dragon in the billowing sea of clouds. The old crone, listening, felt even more lost in the fog. After all, she was a native of this place and hadn’t read books, so she naturally couldn’t understand these profound academic principles. She could only stubbornly memorize them.

Old Man Yang suddenly laughed. “You don’t need to remember these, because we don’t care about that.”

The old crone froze.

Old Man Yang repeated, “We don’t care what you think, we only look at what you do.”

The old crone said nervously, “Great immortal, I will remember.”

Old Man Yang twitched the corner of his mouth and said, “Since you are the River Granny, you must be responsible for all matters within the river. This is not only to accumulate Yin virtue for yourself, but also to earn the incense offerings of the people of this land. If you can get people to build a shrine for you, sculpt a golden statue, and have a wisp of your spirit reside within it, that is your ability. After that, you must strive to have the imperial court accommodate you, joining the orthodox record of mountains and rivers within the country, gaining an officially recognized identity. At the very least, you must be recorded in the local county records. If the shrine dedicated to you is ultimately deemed an immoral shrine and ordered to be destroyed by the government, and your golden statue is toppled, then your days will be difficult, even worse than a wandering ghost.”

The old crone mustered her courage and asked, “Great immortal, as you said earlier, everything is strictly prohibited here. So, what can this small River Granny do, besides clinging on for life? As for the shrines, incense, mountain and river records, and the local county records you mentioned…”

Old Man Yang said, “That was the past. It’s hard to say about the future. In the future, this place will be downgraded from a small secret realm to a small blessed land without any threshold. Anyone can come here, and they no longer need to pay those three bags of copper coins. This is also the root cause of why the Dali Emperor is so unscrupulous. Some things, doing them sixty years earlier, or sixty years later, will have completely different results.”

The old crone gritted her teeth and asked, “Great immortal, the reason you are willing to shelter me, is it because of my grandson?”

Old Man Yang nodded, not hiding his original intention.

The old crone then asked, “Since that is the case, why did you allow the soldiers of True Martial Mountain to take my Ma Kuixuan away? Why didn’t you cultivate him yourself?”

It turned out that this old crone who had transformed into the River Granny was none other than Granny Ma from Apricot Blossom Lane, who had been struck dead with a single palm.

Old Man Yang lightly tapped his pipe on the edge of the stone bench. The water figure formed from the old crone’s spirit twisted and distorted, wailing incessantly.

This sudden pain was like a mortal suddenly suffering excruciating torment. How could the old crone endure it?

Old Man Yang said indifferently, “Although in my eyes, there is no good or bad, no right or wrong, and I don’t use these to measure Yin virtue, it doesn’t mean I approve of what you have done. I couldn’t bother to argue with you about anything in the past, but in the future, even if I were to obliterate you, it would only take a thought. So, don’t get greedy.”

The old crone kneeled on the ground, begging for mercy, “Great immortal, I dare not, I dare not!”

The True Martial Mountain sword cultivator had spent a great price to summon that Lord Yin god. Facing the rude questioning of the young Ma Kuixuan, even the soldier’s sword cultivator had felt palpitations, fearing that he would provoke the god’s thunderous wrath. Why, in the end, did Lord Yin reply to the youth with such seriousness? Even answering with the seven words in human language: “It is not that I will not, but that I cannot.”

This was not a conversation that should occur between humans and gods.

But this strangeness was likely something even the sword cultivator, whose status was already extraordinary, did not comprehend. He simply assumed that Lord Yin had his own unknown rules and considerations, but the old man in the small courtyard knew perfectly well.

That youth was the one to whom the Mandate of Heaven belonged.

Not even half a bit inferior to the maidservant Zhi Gui.

Wang Zhu, Wang Zhu.

Together, they formed the character Zhu(珠, pearl/gem).

To a True Dragon, what is most precious?

A pearl!

Why did she choose to attach herself to the Dali Prince Song Jixin?

Emperors of the world have always been fond of claiming to be True Dragons, and one’s personal fortune can be linked to the dynasty’s destiny. It was obvious that the two of them were forming a strong alliance, complementing each other.

But then again, cultivation is a long and arduous path. Luck, talent, aptitude, opportunity, temperament, all are indispensable. But in the end, the path of cultivation consists of both gaining an early start and accumulating strength for a late bloom, and therefore is far from absolute.

In this generation of the small town, besides Ma Kuixuan and Zhi Gui, there were Song Jixin, Zhao Yao, Gu Can, Ruan Xiu, Liu Xianyang, and those other children, each with their own opportunities and fates, all of whom could be called favored children of Heaven.

Even the unfathomable Old Man Yang dared not say whose achievements would surely surpass those of the others.

Old Man Yang glanced at the accumulated water in the courtyard and said, “Go, for now, you only need to keep an eye on the activity at the covered bridge.”

The old crone said fearfully, “Great immortal, that area of the covered bridge, especially that deep pool, even I cannot approach. Every time I get a little closer, it’s as if I’m being boiled in oil…”

Old Man Yang smiled. “You don’t need to get close. Just keep your eyes on that covered bridge. For example, if something flies out from under the covered bridge one day, just keep track of where it goes.”

The old crone quickly acknowledged the order and departed.

The misty figure like smoke vanished from the accumulated water in the courtyard instantly.

“Shifu, Shifu!”

From the back door of the Yang family shop’s main hall, Zheng Dafeng shouted joyfully, hurrying to report the good news.

The two of them, one in front and one behind, arrived in the backyard. Zheng Dafeng, in front, moved with the wind beneath his feet. “Eldest Brother has returned! It’s great news!”

Old Man Yang looked towards the honest and simple man behind Zheng Dafeng, who nodded.

But that man hesitated, filled with questions. However, being dull-witted and inarticulate, he didn’t know how to ask.

In the end, the man merely said in a muffled voice, “Shifu, why did you accept Ma Kuixuan as a disciple and not that boy? I don’t like that Ma kid.”

Old Man Yang glared at him. “So, you took it upon yourself to grab that golden carp and sell it to Chen Ping’an?!”

The middle-aged man had much more backbone than Zheng Dafeng, who was always restrained in front of the old man. He sat down on the wooden stool where Chen Ping’an had sat earlier. “So what? I wanted to. Shifu, don’t you also like that kid?”

If Chen Ping’an were here, he would be shocked because the middle-aged man he had met on the street selling fish was none other than this person.

Old Man Yang laughed angrily. “And the result? Both the fishing basket and the golden carp ended up in Chen Ping’an’s hands? Hmm?!”

The man was sullen and silent.

Zheng Dafeng fanned the flames from the side. “Eldest Brother, it’s not my place to say, but you wasted that Dragon King Basket. You could’ve given it to anyone, but you had to give it to the Dali’s mortal enemy, that Sui Dynasty little prince. Be careful Song Changjing settles the score with you later. Besides, good fortune shouldn’t flow to outsiders. It would be fine to leave to my nephews and nieces, why, did Eldest Brother find the treasure too hot to handle? If that’s the case, giving it to me would be fine too.”

Old Man Yang’s cold gaze fell over, and Zheng Dafeng fell silent, not daring to say another word. He raised his hands and obediently sat on the steps.

The old man said, “Take Fu Nanhua with you to Old Dragon City.”

Zheng Dafeng was filled with surprise. He turned his head to look, only to see the old man’s expressionless, weathered face.

This bachelor who guarded the gate of the small town slowly withdrew his gaze, patted his knees, and rose with a bitter smile. He didn’t say a word as he walked down the steps and towards the back door of the shop.

The old man’s imposing voice came from behind, “Remember, never reveal your origins, even if you die!”

Zheng Dafeng smiled even more bitterly and nodded, not turning around as he quickened his pace.

After reaching the corridor of the main hall’s back door, the man turned around, knelt down, and kowtowed three times, saying in a deep voice, “Shifu, take care of your health.”

From beginning to end, the old man didn’t say a word.

Zheng Dafeng left the Yang family shop dejectedly.

The man Li Er, sitting on the stool, felt somewhat aggrieved for his fellow disciple Zheng Dafeng. “Shifu, you’re too…”

The old man laughed. “Inhuman?”

The man nodded. “Although Junior Brother is never serious, he truly cares for you from the bottom of his heart. To be honest, I can’t compare to him in that regard.”

The old man didn’t comment on this. “Anyway, he’s a rootless duckweed, not even as good as roadside weeds. Dying anywhere is the same.”

The man sighed. “Junior Brother will definitely leave the small town with an unhappy heart this time.”

“Generally speaking, if one wants their lineage to be carried on, and their fire of inheritance to be passed down, one requires three disciples. The first is one who ‘can be of great use’, one who can promote the school and carry on its glory. After the Shifu dies, this disciple can take on great burdens, and handle important situations, both on the surface and beneath. One who ‘continues the incense’, who may not seem as talented as the former, but excels in resilience. Even if the Heavens fall, and even if that talented disciple dies, this disciple can guarantee the school’s inheritance will not be extinguished. During times of prosperity, their role may not be obvious, but they are important in the face of dangers and setbacks that may threaten the school’s existence. Lastly, one must ‘be interesting’, with good talent, good foundation, good in every way. And that makes them very interesting. They might not even need to be grateful to their Shifu or the sect. The Shifu will not force rules or formalities on a disciple such as this. As the saying goes, ‘teach a disciple and starve the Shifu’. The last disciple is often like that.”

The man asked curiously, “Which of those are we three, I, Junior Brother, and Ma Kuixuan?”

Old Man Yang laughed, “After so many years, who said I only have the three of you as disciples?”

The man was stunned, and his smile became somewhat awkward. “I forgot about that.”

Old Man Yang asked with a smile, “How about that Song Changjing?”

The man considered carefully for a moment, but only blurted out two words, “Not bad.”

Old Man Yang puffed on his pipe, emitting smoke, and marveled. “That means he’s very powerful then.”

The man said, “Song Changjing promised…”

Before the disciple could finish speaking, Old Man Yang stomped his foot, and the world went silent.

The man laughed. “Shifu, what we’ve been doing all these years can’t be considered hidden, so why bother being so concerned about such things?”

Old Man Yang said slowly, “You’re not even bothering to pretend, are you trying to rebel?”

The man asked back, “Do you have any?”

Old Man Yang looked up at the sky, his gaze passing through three layers of Heaven and Earth. The old man was silent.

The man’s heart grew heavy, and he asked, “Shifu, are my two children really going to that Cliff Academy?”

Old Man Yang, “Since Qi Jingchun is willing to use this as an exchange, why not go? This kind of opportunity, it’s no exaggeration to say that it only occurs once every hundred years.”

The man asked, “Why didn’t Qi Jingchun give it to Chen Ping’an in one go?”

Old Man Yang laughed. “Do you think that would be helping Chen Ping’an? It’s pretty much wishing for that child to die quickly. Do you believe that if you had successfully sent out the Dragon King Basket and golden carp at that time, Chen Ping’an would definitely die in some place in the small town within three days?”

The man asked with confusion, “Chen Ping’an had his natal porcelain broken by his father before he was six, so there were no more restrictions. It’s true that this child can’t hold onto great opportunities, but that is both a bad thing and a good thing at the same time. He’s like a lamp in a dark room, and so many moths are drawn to the flame. During this period, it’s pretty normal for the poor kid to get his hands on something, right?”

Old Man Yang explained, “As long as he’s in the small town, Chen Ping’an won’t have any good luck. If the opportunity is too great, the child can’t take it, can’t hold onto it. He’s destined to be poor and have nothing. It’s already quite rare that he’s survived until now. Swap him out with the so-called favored children of Heaven, and they’d die seven or eight times.”

The man grinned and laughed, “So, that’s also why Shifu is willing to help him. Shifu can give what Chen Ping’an can actually receive.”

Old Man Yang hesitated for a moment, and then released a cloud of heavy smoke. “Then do you know, that the opportunity you tried to give Chen Ping’an almost killed him. The Sui Prince and eunuch, Ning Yao, the assassin, that strange Daoist… Chen Ping’an almost died from that line.”

The man frowned.

Old Man Yang changed the subject. “The Saints who were responsible for guarding this region in the past, the first thing they would do upon taking office was to check the four ancestral treasure talismans. The second was to come to my side and say hello. But even among these Saints, the majority only know the result, but not the reason why. There are also two kinds of people who won’t come to my side. The first are from the early years, when the Buddhist forces of Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent were thriving and there were many bald donkeys and monks. This group was afraid to come, afraid of being tainted by karma. The other is someone like Qi Jingchun. The authorities deliberately didn’t tell him the truth. They were even hoping for Qi Jingchun to clash with me and start a fight. Qi Jingchun came today because he had found out something or he…”

The old man’s expression was grave. “This situation is too unlikely, and the consequences are too great, unimaginable. I hope it’s not, and… it shouldn’t be.”

Within the small realm, there was another realm.

Qi Jingchun guarded one side, while Old Man Yang seemed to have separated the region, and there were no signs of depending on others.

Old Man Yang lamented, “One of the Confucian Saints before Qi Jingchun’s teacher said, ‘The Saint exhausts his eyesight, using the compass and straightedge, to make the square and round and straight’. What does this mean? Simply put, it means all you people should be grateful for the great kindness of the Saintly Teacher, who spent great effort and exhausted his eyesight to establish these rules and frameworks, so that future generations can walk within them without suffering disaster and misfortune, and have the opportunity to be reborn as humans in their next life.”

The man scratched his head and said, “Shifu, why are you telling me these things? I don’t understand them. Zheng Dafeng can talk about these things with you.”

Old Man Yang laughed, “If you, Li Er, could talk about them, I wouldn’t open my mouth. One person speaks, one person listens, one person asks, one person answers, just right.”

Old Man Yang stood up and looked into the distance. “If one day, that child can live and leave the small town, and wanders outside for decades, he will be surprised. The original hometown was so big.”

The Shifu has stood, and so the man follows him and stands. While he may not be flattering, he knows the proper rules.

Old Man Yang said, “Don’t stay here. Take that shrew of yours and go to one place. In Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent, there is no hope of breaking through your bottleneck in this life. Song Changjing is petty, you’ll be suppressed by him later. You may not find it disgusting, but I find it disgusting as your Shifu. Oh right, for your son and daughter, if you really can’t bear to leave them, take one. It’s only a matter of giving up a small bit of Qi Jingchun’s gift.”

The man asked, “Shifu, what if my wife wants to take both children? What should I do?”

Old Man Yang raged, “Who’s the boss at home?!”

The man said naturally, “Her!”

The old man took a deep breath and waved him away. “Scram, scram scram, all four of you get out. Whatever you wish!”

The man walked down the steps and suddenly turned his head to ask, “Then what about you, Shifu?”

The old man sat back down on the wooden stool, reached into his pocket for his pipe tobacco, and discovered it was empty. After withdrawing his hand, he said calmly, “What else can I do? Just wait for death.”

The man walked to the eaves on the side and inexplicably turned his head to laugh. “I don’t think Ma Kuixuan can take that thing away.”

The old man’s expression was dim, and he mocked himself. “If he can’t take it, then truly no one can.”

——————

The small town’s four surnames and ten clans suddenly received news that all outsiders must evacuate the small town within three days. The Li Zhu Secret Realm would temporarily only allow exits, not entrances.

Although there were complaints everywhere, in the end, no one questioned this matter.

Among the eastward-bound groups, the Li family’s ancestor even personally escorted the Zhengyang Mountain’s Little Ancestor away in secret.

The next day, a series of rumbling sounds came from a very distant place west of the small town, like the earth turning over. The tremors were earth-shattering.

It turned out that the Zhengyang Mountain’s mountain-moving ape had truly uprooted a massive mountain peak.

The old ape, revealing its thousand-zhang true form, was about to carry it on its back.

Suddenly, the old ape’s shoulder tilted, as if a heavy object was pressing down on it. The old ape raised its head and squinted.

On top of the mountain peak on its shoulder, there was a “grain”-sized, tiny figure.

Qi Jingchun.

The old ape laughed loudly. “Qi Jingchun! Don’t be so stingy and ruin the grand plan!”

Qi Jingchun said in a deep voice, “Put this Cloud-Shrouded Mountain back.”

The old ape’s shoulder rose upwards, it roared with anger, shouting arrogantly, “What if I don’t?!”

The next moment, the mountain-moving ape suddenly removed its hands from the base of the mountain peak, and with a side roll, its massive body crashed down, crushing countless nearby trees.

The next moment, the thousand-zhang ape was crushed into the ground by a foot.

That person was truly standing between the heavens and the earth. Compared to him, the mountain-moving ape seemed like an ant beneath his feet.

Another footstep, crushing the old ape, who was attempting to struggle to his feet, into the ground again.

Another footstep.

The thousand-zhang old ape was slumped in the large pit, covered in blood, on the verge of death.

That person was hunched over, as if his head was supporting the firmament, looking down at the mountain-moving ape, and sneering, “If it were me sixty years ago, the first thing I would do after going out would be to flatten Zhengyang Mountain with one foot!”