The party, led by Chen Ping’an, entered the mountains from the north, heading south. At almost the same time, another group traveled north, led by an old Daoist priest with a peach wood sword strapped to his back and a string of silver bells hanging from his waist. His Daoist robe was worn and tattered, his feet clad in straw sandals. He possessed little in the way of divine aura, and instead emanated a distinctly shabby air.

Behind him followed a taciturn, lame boy, burdened with a large package and a banner proclaiming “Exorcising Demons and Protecting the Dao.” The banner’s fabric had faded to white from repeated washing, and the eight characters were barely visible. A small girl with chubby cheeks, perhaps seven or eight years old, supported the blind old Daoist.

The old Daoist abruptly raised his head, “gazing” at the continuous, undulating dark green mountains. He exclaimed in surprise, “Eh? This mountain isn’t far from the River God Shrine of Embroidery River, yet it emanates such obvious demonic energy, soaring into the sky? There must be a hidden reason. While mountains and rivers have their boundaries and shouldn’t interfere, this place is strange, very strange.”

Hearing this, the rosy-cheeked girl asked with concern, “Master, what do we do? Last time you failed to capture a demon at Three Branch Mountain, and the people who hired us got so angry they didn’t even pay us travel expenses. We don’t have much money left. Should we take a detour?”

The old Daoist snorted, “Detour? If I hadn’t encountered it, fine, that demon would have gotten lucky. But now that I’ve found it, how can I let it go! The ‘Exorcising Demons and Protecting the Dao’ written on the banner isn’t just for show…”

The girl sighed and reminded him, “Master, there’s no one else here.”

The old Daoist chuckled sheepishly, “It just slipped out. Master hasn’t recovered from Three Branch Mountain yet. It was infuriating! They gained nothing, had no appreciation for labor, and refused to give even a single copper coin. The world is full of shameless, unrighteous rich people, deservedly have their ancestral graves invaded by mountain spirits, and their descendants plagued by misfortune…”

The girl reminded him again, “Master, don’t you always say we cultivators should have a calm heart?”

The once benevolent old Daoist suddenly flew into a rage, pinching the chubby girl’s arm with two fingers and twisting it hard. His face contorted with ferocity, “Who gave you the courage to lecture your master? And you dare to keep going!”

The girl cried out in pain, quickly begging for mercy, “It hurts, it hurts, Master! I won’t do it again, I won’t do it again…”

The old Daoist didn’t turn around, but heavily struck the bells at his waist, causing them to chime loudly. He grinned malevolently, “Little beast, you dare harbor murderous intent towards your master?”

The lame boy remained expressionless, but blood soon seeped from his ears and nose. Yet the taciturn boy remained silent and motionless.

The girl cried even harder, “Master, please spare Senior Brother. He must have done it unintentionally. I promise Master, I’ll try to get you an extra pound of spring water in the next three days!”

The old Daoist beamed, vigorously ruffling the girl’s head, not gently. The girl’s slender body swayed from side to side. “Not try, you must.”

The old Daoist finally withdrew his withered, tree-branch-like hand, laughing loudly, “Enter the mountains! A horse won’t get fat without wild grass. Maybe it’s a windfall. And to be honest, ever since I had you two little brats by my side, although you freeloaders, Master can cultivate in much more peace. Now that I think about it, Master thinks he should treat you better in the future, haha.”

The girl helped the blind old Daoist begin his ascent into the mountain.

The lame boy silently wiped away the blood, accustomed to this.

The girl secretly turned her head and smiled, and the boy grinned back, indicating that he was alright.

After the master and disciples entered the mountains, for a half-month, they wandered around, unable to pinpoint the source of the demonic energy. The old Daoist could always sense the subtle demonic energy permeating the nearby mountains, fields, and plants, but he could never find his way in. The old Daoist knew that the great demon’s cultivation must be strong, or it wouldn’t have the ability to use such a sky-obscuring illusion. However, the old Daoist was unwilling to give up. Every day he had the lame boy carry the banner to scout the way, while he took the round-faced girl to rest near the mountain road, occasionally taking out a wooden compass, commonly known as the Inverted Plate. It was a common style used by Daoist cultivators and yin-yang practitioners, nothing special, except that the vermilion needle at the bottom of the Celestial Pool occasionally had golden light flowing, revealing the hidden mysteries of this plate.

The sky was gloomy, and the fog was thick, with rain threatening to fall at any moment. At this moment, the old Daoist squatted by the roadside, looking down “intently” at the compass, chanting mysteriously, “Upside down, twenty-four mountains have gold and silver mountains. Downside up, twenty-four mountains have dragon pools and tiger dens.”

The old man put away the compass, turned his head towards the distance of the mountain road, and smiled softly, “Wealth is coming, Heaven never seals off all paths. It seems that when we get to Wanping County, we can have a few drinks.”

Following the old Daoist’s gaze, the round-faced girl saw a group of people slowly coming. She strained her eyes to look, and as those people got closer, she discovered that the leader was a straw-sandaled boy with a large bamboo basket on his back, holding a machete, occasionally chopping off branches beside the narrow mountain path to prevent them from snagging and piercing clothes. Behind him were three people, all young, a young lady in a red cotton jacket, a mischievous boy, and a cold-looking older brother. The three of them carried extremely cute dark green little book boxes on their backs.

Finally, there was a white donkey carrying luggage.

The girl lowered her voice, “Master, they don’t look like rich people, should we just forget about it?”

The blind Daoist raised an eyebrow, “Even a mosquito leg is meat. As half the head of the household, don’t you know how many copper coins are left in our pockets? How much silver has your gluttonous Senior Brother eaten up? If Master didn’t pity you, do you think you could survive in this world for a few days…”

The sensible girl quickly massaged the old Daoist’s shoulders, smiling sincerely and gratefully, “That’s why my brother and I work like cows and horses for Master, without complaint. But Master, if you get angry in the future, can you punish me when my brother isn’t around? That way my brother won’t get angry, and Master won’t have to punish him with the family rules.”

The old Daoist slowly stood up.