At the wellhead, Chen Ping’an said, “Come up.”

The white-robed youth at the bottom of the well shook his head and said, “I won’t.”

Chen Ping’an calmly said, “Let’s have a good chat, starting with reason, no need for fighting and killing right from the get-go. Besides, I only have so much brute strength. If we really fight, can I beat your Cui Dongshan?”

The youth Cui Chan below vigorously shook his head, “I just won’t!”

Chen Ping’an frowned, “Why?”

Cui Chan loudly proclaimed, “I’m afraid of the heat. It’s cooler at the bottom of the well.”

Chen Ping’an took a deep breath, stood up, and slowly walked around the ancient well.

A voice quickly traveled from below, “Chen Ping’an, stop pretending! You don’t acknowledge me as a student, but I acknowledge you as my *xiansheng*! Therefore, I can’t hit you, I dare not kill you. Once you insist on fighting, I’ll definitely suffer a silent loss. Also, your murderous aura is almost filling this old well. If I still go up to get beaten up, am I stupid?”

The white-robed youth spoke with a cheerful smile, stepping on the slightly rippling water. He reached out to touch the inner wall of the old well, the verdant moss, smooth and cool.

Although his words were light and casual, his mood at this moment was far from pleasant. It was even more exhausting than acting like a granddaddy at the Great Water Mansion, draining his already dwindling resources.

Because after arriving at the bottom of the well via the underground water from the riverbed, Cui Chan realized for the first time that the kid named Chen above could actually threaten his life. Although he didn’t know what earth-shattering methods Chen Ping’an was hiding, his intuition had always been accurate.

Chen Ping’an was pacing in circles, but unwilling to play games with that guy, he asked directly, “Those situation maps originating from the county magistrate’s office, did you have County Magistrate Wu Yuan secretly tamper with them?”

Cui Chan shouted, “Hey, hey, hey? Chen Ping’an, what are you saying? I can’t hear you very well.”

Chen Ping’an nodded, “So that’s the case.”

Cui Chan immediately became agitated, “What? Is that even a valid argument?”

Chen Ping’an asked, “I’ll only ask you one question. Will you harm Li Bao Ping and the others?”

Cui Chan didn’t directly answer the question, but retorted, “If I tell you the answer, will you believe me?”

Chen Ping’an answered without hesitation, “No.”

Cui Chan was so angry that he jumped up and down, “Then why the hell are you asking?!”

The youth above stopped talking.

Cui Chan pricked up his ears, listening, but there was no sound. He immediately became panicked, full of grievances, his expression tragic. He thought to himself, “Damn it, a tiger fallen in the plains is bullied by dogs!” If this were tonight at the Great Water Mansion, you could casually grab an ant and throw it in front of Chen Ping’an. Would you dare be so arrogant then?

Unfortunately, a man under the eaves must lower his head. The white-robed youth quickly stretched his neck and yelled, “Chen Ping’an, Chen Gongzi, Chen brother, Chen *daye*, Chen old ancestor! You absolutely refuse to be my *xiansheng*, fine, don’t be! But we have no reason and no grudges. Can you please not be so unreasonable? If we can’t talk about feelings, can we at least talk about some *jianghu* morality?”

Finally, there was a response from above, “I promised *Qi xiansheng* to safely deliver them to the Great Sui Academy.”

At the bottom of the water well, the white-robed youth fell into complete silence.

Beside the water well, after those words, everything was also silent.

Chen Ping’an never trusted the white-robed youth. He was very wary of this person.

The one surnamed Cui had harbored ulterior motives from the beginning. This was undoubtedly clear, even a blind man could see it.

For example, this time when they checked into the Autumn Reed Inn, the one surnamed Cui first used the City God Temple as a starting point, naturally leading to the Autumn Reed Inn. His seemingly kind-hearted words were actually using Lin Shouyi’s cultivation as bait, making Chen Ping’an proactively ask to search for the old City God Temple site.

After leaving the Dali Roughneck Pass, this journey had been too smooth compared to the previous ups and downs. Lin Shouyi was focused on cultivating, Li Huai was simply carefree, still young. Although Li Bao Ping didn’t say anything, the Zhu River and Zhu Lu father-daughter affair had hurt the little girl somewhat. Moreover, she was the most genuine “carrying books for study” on the road, often thinking about strange and unusual problems. Compared to Lin Shouyi, already a Qi Refiner, and the exceptionally gifted Li Huai, Li Bao Ping was the one who suffered the most on the path of learning.

As for Xie Xie and Yu Lu, they were originally brought into the team by the white-robed youth, so they were in a different category.

Chen Ping’an was busier than anyone else all day long, not only taking care of the three’s food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, but also constantly practicing stance and fist techniques on the road. When he had free time, he would use the Standing Stake Sword Furnace to nourish his body and mend his flaws. But Chen Ping’an, whether it was in the fighting at Chessboard Mountain, or Zhu Lu’s treacherous assassination at the Red Candle Town Pillow Station, or the dangerous situation after encountering the Bride Ghost, or the arduous journey across Huangting Country afterwards…

Chen Ping’an never forgot one thing: he was escorting Li Bao Ping and the other three to the Great Sui for their studies.

Tonight at the cool pavilion, before Lin Shouyi left, he reminded him that Cui Dongshan wanted to extract something from Chen Ping’an, but it might not be a physical object. It might be something very big and empty, related to the Great Dao of a cultivator.

Li Bao Ping also inadvertently mentioned that the one surnamed Cui was very skilled at playing chess. She and Lin Shouyi could only calculate a few moves ahead, but the one surnamed Cui could calculate very deeply, so far that she, Lin Shouyi, Xie Xie, and Yu Lu couldn’t imagine. When playing chess with them, the one surnamed Cui probably thought of the mid-game, even the end-game, from the very first move.

After Lin Shouyi left the cool pavilion, Chen Ping’an looked at the old well, and he felt that the knot in his heart was becoming more difficult to untangle.

Chen Ping’an thought about it again and again, but not only did he fail to sort out the clues, but his mind became even more of a mess. In the end, he really had no choice, and began to try to temporarily put aside all the complicated and intricate matters, and revert everything back to the very beginning.

For example, his hometown.

Or, for example, their first meeting.

Then Chen Ping’an thought of an outsider, County Magistrate Wu Yuan.

With a county magistrate, there would be a government office. And the real source of those large and small situation maps on his body was that government office, not Miss Ruan Xiu.

After returning to the house, Chen Ping’an began to spread out those maps. This viewing lasted a full hour.

He still couldn’t find the exact truth, but vaguely, Chen Ping’an saw a line.

This line, when all the maps were put together, might not even be a *zhang* long.

But this little length had made Chen Ping’an and the others walk so hard for so long.
Cui Chan raised both hands, “Alright, alright, you win. Can I swear to the heavens? I, Cui Dongshan, guarantee that I won’t harm those three little brats, Li Bao Ping, Li Huai, and Lin Shouyi!”

“Cui Dongshan.”

Chen Ping An hesitated for a moment, “Are you serious?”

Cui Chan patted his chest so hard that the sound could be heard near the well opening, “Believe me this once!”

Just then, a crisp, cheerful voice rang out, “Little Martial Uncle! You really are here!”

A little girl in a red padded jacket sprinted forward, rushing towards the pavilion. She leaped into the air, her slender arms swinging wildly. With a thump, her feet landed almost simultaneously, standing straight outside the pavilion. Her body swayed back and forth, wobbling, and finally stabilized. Still some distance from the old well, the little girl continued her mad dash.

Chen Ping An opened his mouth, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. *Habitual*. He quickly walked towards her and asked, “Couldn’t sleep?”

Li Bao Ping sighed with an air of maturity, “That Xie Xie snores in her sleep, it’s very noisy.”

Chen Ping An smiled without saying anything.

The little girl immediately confessed honestly, “Okay, I admit she doesn’t snore. It was me who woke up from a nightmare.”

Chen Ping An glanced at the well opening, then turned his gaze back and asked with a smile, “What nightmare did you have?”

Li Bao Ping shook her head, “Since I was little, I’ve almost had dreams every day, but when I wake up, I never remember what I dreamt. I only remember if it was a good dream or a nightmare.”

Chen Ping An pulled her back to the pavilion to sit down.

The little girl chattered on, “Little Martial Uncle, we left the small town and have been traveling for almost half a year. According to the map, we’ve already covered most of the journey. Time really flies, faster than I can run, right?”

“Alas, if the Great Sui Dynasty was at the southernmost part of our Bao Ping Continent, I could see the ocean with Little Martial Uncle.”

“The waters of the Iron Talisman River and the Embroidered Flower River are already so vast, how big must the ocean be? I heard my older brother say there’s an Old Dragon City over there, and when you look south from the city walls, the waves are so high they’re like ten-story buildings. Isn’t that scary?”

Chen Ping An smiled, “If we travel that far, we’ll wear out many, many pairs of straw sandals. But this time, we’re going to the Great Sui Academy. I heard that once we enter the Great Sui territory, there will be fewer mountain roads, so you won’t have to wear straw sandals anymore. We’ll all buy comfortable boots.”

Li Bao Ping looked down at the thick straw sandals on her feet, then looked up, grinning, “I’ll wear the same boots as Little Martial Uncle, just a different size. We agreed on that.”

Chen Ping An teased, “What, are you嫌棄 *xianqi* (dislike/think lowly of) Little Martial Uncle for continuing to wear straw sandals and embarrassing you when we get there?”

The little girl looked surprised, her eyes widening, “Wow, Little Martial Uncle, you even joke with people now!”

Chen Ping An was stunned.

Li Bao Ping sat on the long chair, swinging her little feet clad in straw sandals. She looked up and inadvertently noticed a string of small wind chimes hanging under the eaves.

She said, “Little Martial Uncle, I always feel like Sir is missing us.”

Chen Ping An nodded.

The little girl leaned her head against the vermilion pavilion pillar, closed her eyes, and listened intently.

It was as if the last wisp of spring breeze in the world was blowing, causing the bells under the eaves to chime.

*Ding dong, ding dong, ding ding dong…*

The little girl waited a long time, but she couldn’t hear the sound of the second string of wind chimes. She suddenly jumped off the chair and ran away, waving her hand as she ran and turned her head: “Little Martial Uncle, I’m going to sleep now!”

Chen Ping An smiled and waved back, then returned to the old well.

The white-clad youth remained in place, neither leaving from the bottom of the well nor appearing at the well opening.

The mountains west of Dragon Spring stretched endlessly. Among them was a mountain peak called Fallen Phoenix Mountain (落魄山 *Luo Po Shan*). A literary secretary named Fu Yu, as County Magistrate Wu Yuan’s top confidant, had previously gotten into a dispute with outsiders in the county town. Wu Yuan, unwilling to create unnecessary trouble at this juncture, and even more unwilling for anyone to make a fuss about it, had Fu Yu responsible for overseeing the construction of the mountain god temple, effectively as a way to避风头 *bifengtou* (avoid trouble).

On a starry, moonlit night, this young man from a prominent Great Li family, who had been reduced to a petty official in the murky waters, found a strange fellow building a bamboo house on Fallen Phoenix Mountain, all alone.

The fellow saw Fu Yu and asked with a smile, “Shouldn’t it be County Magistrate Wu, the student of that State Preceptor Cui, who personally seeks me out?”

Fu Yu’s expression was indifferent, and he explained directly, “Wu Yuan is a pawn that the Consort has placed beside his teacher, and I am a pawn that State Preceptor has placed beside the Dragon Spring County Magistrate.”

A handsome appearance, the bearing of a scion of a noble family, indifferent eyes, and finally, cold and icy wording, were vastly different from the gentle and refined impression Fu Yu had always given in the yamen.

After Fu Yu revealed the secret, he held out a palm, spreading it open in front of the other party.

The other person picked up a black chess piece from Fu Yu’s palm and gestured for Fu Yu to sit on a bamboo chair, his face full of smiles, “I understand, so we’re one side asking for the sky and the other side bargaining on the ground, engaging in despicable deeds under this clear moon and gentle breeze?”

Fu Yu looked at this former North Mountain 正神 *Zheng Shen* (Orthodox God) of Divine Water Kingdom, Wei Bo, and nodded. He was not angered by Wei Bo’s sarcasm. He sat calmly on the small bamboo chair and glanced at the bamboo house, which was far from completion in the night. The bamboo house was not large, but it had taken a long time, and was only half built. This was because Wei Bo had not spent money to hire young and strong men from the small town, nor was he willing to greet the Dragon Spring County Yamen to borrow a batch of Lu family convicts, but had always done it himself.

Because currently only Fallen Phoenix Mountain and a few other mountain peaks did not have mountain bans, woodcutters and villagers could still enter Fallen Phoenix Mountain to cut firewood. The rest of the mountains had gods of all kinds having mansions built, in full swing, and every day the mountain peaks would be covered in dust.

Rumor had it that Fallen Phoenix Mountain had bottomless cliffs and stone caves. Around it, one could see a huge crushed trail. The yamen runners and young and strong people building the mountain god shrine on Fallen Phoenix Mountain had said that they had seen a black snake as thick as a well opening, often going to the stream to drink water. When they saw them, that behemoth neither feared and retreated, nor did it主动 *zhudong* (take initiative to) harm people. It simply drank water and swam away.

Wei Bo made himself a delicate and elegant bamboo-bone paper fan, sat on a bamboo chair, crossed his legs, and gently fanned a refreshing breeze.

This year, almost no days of extreme heat occurred throughout the summer, and now it was almost autumn, taking people by surprise.

It was as if the little girl in the red padded jacket in Fortune and Prosperity Street was jumping on the squares drawn with charcoal on the ground, jumping from spring to autumn in an instant.
Fu Yu hesitated, first saying something unrelated as an opening, “Although we’re on different sides, Lord Wu is a good person, and will be an even better official in the future.”

Wei Bo smiled, his face full of disagreement, “He needs to be alive for that to happen.”

Fu Yu’s expression darkened somewhat.

Wei Bo deliberately ignored this, his bamboo fan slowly waving, the mountain breeze gently blowing, causing the hair at his temples to flutter, making him seem more immortal than the immortals themselves.

Wei Bo lazily said, “I have so little I can offer for a deal. Why don’t you tell me first what I can get in return?”

Fu Yu took a deep breath, “Become the Great Li’s Northern Mountain Deity!”

Wei Bo remained calm and smiled slightly, “If I remember correctly, your Northern Mountain Deity was still safe and sound after that great war. The Great Li Emperor can’t just casually remove such an important figure’s divine position, right?”

Fu Yu lowered his voice, “Previously, His Majesty proposed raising the Cloud-Veiled Mountain here to become the new Great Li Northern Mountain, but it was put aside. However, there has been new progress recently, and His Majesty has decided to push this matter forward aggressively.”

Wei Bo asked, “Really?”

Fu Yu nodded, “Really.”

Wei Bo said with a playful smile, “Isn’t it a bit rushed? Not to mention the Great Sui’s Gao clan, your Great Li hasn’t even conquered the Yellow Court Kingdom yet, and you’re already placing the Northern Mountain at the southernmost point of your territory?”

Fu Yu remained resolutely silent, his mouth tightly sealed, refusing to easily comment on the Emperor’s decision.

Wei Bo closed his folding fan, pondered for a long time, and sighed, “Great Li is drawing such a big *bing* for me!” (*Bing* is a type of flatbread, here referring to a grand but potentially empty promise.)

He stood up, tapped his palm with the folded fan, and glanced back at the bamboo building.

“Haha, your Great Li Emperor has a good eye. I, Wei Bo, am someone who can still be alive and kicking even after being stabbed by A-Liang! So, being this Northern Mountain Deity is more than enough.”

Finally, he stared at Fu Yu, his eyes narrowed, “Alright, you can tell me now, what exactly do you want me to do?”

At this moment, Wei Bo was no longer the white-haired Land Deity who first appeared on the Chessboard Mountain stone platform. Nor was he the handsome young man holding the delicate yellow wooden box. Not the pitiful person who brushed past a certain young girl on the mountain road.

Fu Yu was a little nervous, because the person in front of him was very likely to be the most influential Northern Mountain Deity in the entire Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent in the future, without a doubt.

Two hundred *li* west of Red Candle Town, on the upper reaches of the Embroidered Flower River, there is a small lone mountain in the center of the river, commonly known as Mantou (steamed bun) Mountain. The incense offerings to the Land Deity temple there are only so-so.

A short, stocky man “walked out” of that dilapidated clay statue, and after landing, reached into the incense burner and picked up a Scarlet-Clad Child, only the size of his palm, who was the last remaining Incense Offering Child of this Land Deity temple. The man placed it on his shoulder and began to walk away. The river water surged, and the man walked directly across the river.

The drowsy Scarlet-Clad Child lay on his shoulder, cursing loudly, “Damn you, why are you disturbing Grandpa’s sleep?! After that unsuccessful siege last time, you’ve been acting strange. Did you see the Red Candle Town boat girl’s enticements, and since you don’t have the money to sleep with them, has it gotten you all riled up?”

The man, unusually, did not scold this foul-mouthed Incense Offering Little Person, and said in a dull tone, “We’re going to Red Candle Town to find that carp demon and give him a snake gallstone from the Li Bead Grotto Heaven. He will soon become the Water Deity of the Swiftly Washing River. If you’re willing, you can follow him in the future. The incense offerings at a Water Deity temple will definitely be more prosperous than at my tiny Land Deity temple…”

The Scarlet-Clad Child was first stunned, then enraged, jumping up and slapping the man’s cheeks repeatedly. However, this little fellow was, after all, just a little thing, and the other party was a genuine Land Deity, which was no more than tickling. The Incense Offering Little Person jumped and cursed, “Damn you, you’re not allowed to insult me!”

The Scarlet-Clad Child finally slumped down on the man’s shoulder, sobbing sadly.

The man grinned, “If you don’t want to enjoy yourself, then just stay at home and suffer. Continue to loaf around and wait for death on Lone Mountain. I can’t be bothered to care about you.”

The Scarlet-Clad Child immediately wiped away his tears upon hearing this, breaking into a smile through his tears. “A golden den is never as good as one’s own straw hut. Oh yeah, don’t get me wrong, I don’t have the slightest attachment to you or that broken temple. Grandpa is just reluctant to part with that incense burner!”

The man did not say a word.

The Scarlet-Clad Child was silent for a moment, then asked softly, “You’re the longest-serving Land Deity in our state. Many of your former colleagues, who are of the same generation as you, are now City Gods at the very least. You obviously have a good relationship with them, and many people want to visit Lone Mountain, so why are you unwilling to see them no matter what?”

The man was clearly unwilling to bring up this matter and remained silent.

The Incense Offering Little Person, who depended on him for survival, was unwilling to let his master off the hook, and chattered endlessly, “Our neighbor, that Embroidered Flower River slut, secretly looks at you every time, her eyes brimming with spring water. Even I’m about to lose control! Why are you so hard-hearted? If those shrimp soldiers and crab generals under her command knew that you also had these connections, how would they dare to bully us all day long? As long as they’re water creatures with spiritual intelligence, they spit in our Lone Mountain’s banks for no reason, it pisses me off! It makes me go out to the towns every time, and the other Incense Offering kids never want to play with me, they dislike my poor background, that I’m a dirt-poor peasant, it’s all your fault!”

The man was in a good mood and smiled, “A son doesn’t despise his mother for being ugly, you just talk too much.”

The Scarlet-Clad Child rolled his eyes and huffed, “Over the years, I’ve also heard many stories about how you offended a big figure in the Great Li capital’s Ministry of Rites back then. When they brought their families to Lone Mountain to burn incense and worship, you didn’t even offer them proper worship, and you were very rude to them. There’s also a rumor that you harmed a young maiden from a certain immortal residence, causing her to have trouble with matters of the heart, delaying her cultivation. The sect leader then pressured the Great Li court to have you guard a broken temple and be a Land Deity for the rest of your life. And there’s also…”

The man laughed, “Alright, alright, I’ve already forgotten the muddled account of the old sesame seeds and rotten millet. What are you blindly guessing? The emperor isn’t worried, but the eunuch is.”

The Scarlet-Clad Child jumped up and slapped the man’s face, “Who are you calling a eunuch?”
The brawny man, unperturbed by the little fellow’s insubordination, suddenly produced a crystal-clear, tender-green stone from his bosom, placing it on his shoulder. “This is the legendary Serpents’ Gallstone, allow you to broaden your horizons. Water-based creatures, especially those of the Jiao Dragon lineage, once ingested, provided they can withstand the power, will experience a meteoric rise in cultivation realm, without any lingering adverse effects, equivalent to a top-tier elixir of the immortals.”

The scarlet-clad boy hastily steadied the “half-a-man-tall boulder” with both hands, curiously asking, “Who gave it to you? Why didn’t they directly give it to that Koi Carp going by the name of Li Jin?”

The brawny man shook his head, “Was too lazy to ask then, too lazy to guess now.”

The scarlet-clad boy cupped his face in his hands, tears welling up, “Oh, Heavens! Why did I end up with such an unambitious master? Have mercy, and as compensation, bestow upon me a lively and adorable, of breathtaking beauty, knowledgeable and reasonable, and of noble birth young maiden as my wife, please?”

The brawny man took back the Serpents’ Gallstone, teasing, “Based on you? In your next life, perhaps.”

This scarlet-clad boy, filled with indignation, climbed onto the brawny man’s head, sitting amidst the messy hair. After a moment of silence, he began to squirm and writhe.

The brawny man questioned, “What are you doing?”

The scarlet-clad boy replied angrily, “Your words just now were too hurtful, I want to take a dump on your head.”

“Three days without a beating and you’ll be lifting the roof tiles!”

The brawny man, enraged, grabbed the little fellow and hurled him towards the opposite shore.

The scarlet-clad boy tumbled through the air, laughing gleefully, “Wow, it feels like an immortal is flying with their sword!”

The brawny man, striding across the river, chuckled, “You little rascal.”

A plume of rolling black smoke surged from the earth, appearing before the grand mansion with the plaque “Exquisite Waters, Lofty Winds,” solidifying into a human form.

The once lifeless mansion lit up with a thousand lanterns simultaneously, a crimson glow soaring into the heavens.

A woman with a snow-white complexion flew out from within the mansion, hovering before the plaque, her voice sharp with rage, “What do you come for? What, the time you went mad and nearly ruined my source of vital energy wasn’t enough? Or what are you hoping to achieve?”

For some unknown reason, the female ghost was no longer wearing that bright red wedding dress.

The Yin God spoke, “Do you wish to leave this place? If you do, you’ll need to pay a considerable price, such as allowing me to become the new master of this manor.”

The female ghost burst into laughter, holding her belly, “Madness, you’ve truly lost your mind this time.”

The Yin God said expressionlessly, “You know I’m not joking. Don’t you want to go to Viewing Lake Academy, to retrieve the skeletal remains from the lakebed? Don’t you want to seek out any clues, to avenge him? It’s been so many years, if you drag it on any longer, the enemies from back then will probably all be comfortably enjoying their twilight years, before passing peacefully one by one.”

The female ghost fell silent abruptly.

She asked a critical question, “Even if I’m willing to hand over this place, on what basis will the Great Li Dynasty recognize your status?”

The Yin God answered perfunctorily, “I have my own means, no need for milady to concern herself.”

The female ghost suspended in mid-air turned to look at the plaque, then turned her head to look at the mountain path in the distance.

Once upon a time, right there, there was a thin scholar, shouldering a tattered book chest, walking unsteadily in the rainy night, perhaps to embolden himself, loudly reciting the contents of Confucian classics.

The impoverished scholar heading to the capital for the imperial exams, his eyes were very bright.

She floated down to the ground, asking, “Can this plaque remain unchanged?”

The Yin God nodded, “Why not? At most a century, and I will return this manor to milady exactly as it was.”

The female ghost walked forward slowly, passing the Yin God, and walked away in that manner.

She said to herself, “Mountains and waters meet, never to meet again.”

She turned her head and smiled, “The manor’s crux lies in the plaque. I have already relinquished control over it, how much Mountain-and-River Qi Luck you can obtain after that, depends on your own ability.”

The Yin God asked doubtfully, “Do you not hate the Great Li Dynasty? They deliberately concealed the truth from you, in order to keep you here as the guardian of the Qi Luck.”

The female ghost said nothing, floating away.

There was a villa, hidden deep within the northern mountains of the Yellow Court Kingdom, its landscape precipitous, but due to the nearby scenic spot with cryptic and unfathomable cliff carvings on the mountain walls by the river, each character as large as a Dou Li hat, it attracted a constant stream of tourists. Moreover, since this residence had constructed a wide mountain road passable by carriages, it couldn’t be considered completely deserted, with people occasionally passing by to seek lodging or rest.

The villa’s owner was a sprightly old man in his twilight years, with a rather distinguished identity, the former Minister of Revenue of the Yellow Court Kingdom. The old man was consistently hospitable, treating anyone who came to his door with great warmth, be they high-ranking officials or humble woodcutters.

Tonight, the moon was full, its light blanketing the mountains, forests and river waters.

At a certain small ferry crossing that went ignored for the entire year, an old man, carrying a dim yellow lantern and clutching a yellowed ancient book under his arm, walked out of his residence alone, descended the mountain and arrived at the ferry crossing, which lacked any stray boats or ferry vessels. From his sleeve, he drew out a thumb-sized wooden boat model, gently tossing it into the small cove. When it was still a Zhang above the water’s surface, the small wooden boat suddenly enlarged, eventually becoming the same size as an ordinary boat. With a loud crash, it struck the water surface, sending countless sprays of water, the sound especially startling in the still night.

The old man boarded the small boat, but there were no oars to paddle with.

The old man raised the lantern in his hand, releasing his fingers. The lantern, which should have fallen, hovered eerily in the air, emitting a soft, pure-white light.

The old man sat cross-legged, holding the book in one hand and flipping through its pages with the other. The small boat began to sail out of the small cove, heading towards the main river where the waters converged.

The old man turned the pages extremely slowly. The river waters tonight were exceptionally calm, an anomaly, and the small boat experienced almost no rocking.

When the old man’s boat arrived beneath the stone cliff, he finally raised his head, looking towards those ancient characters that no one could decipher.

To be precise, someone had recently given the correct answer, a white-clothed youth from the Great Li Dynasty, appearing to be no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, was able to reveal the hidden secret in one sentence, saying that it was “Engraved personally by a Thunder God, an Imperial Edict of the Heavenly Emperor scolding the Jiao Dragons.”

Even though the old man had witnessed countless springs and autumns, his heart still surged with turbulent waves at that moment, though his expression did not betray this inner turmoil.

The old man retracted his gaze, his mood complex, sighing softly.

The tree desires tranquility, but the wind will not cease.

Beneath the river surface, weighed down by the lone leaf of a boat, all fish, shrimp, snakes, crabs, turtles, and everything else that lived in the water, lay prostrate on the riverbed, trembling in fear.
The old man stowed away the lantern and books, both he and the boat bathed in the tranquil moonlight.

The old man then conjured a wine pot. Not rushing to drink, he looked around, sighing, “Extinguish the reading lamp, and one’s whole being is immersed in moonlight.”

“Since ancient times, sages and worthies have all been lonely, only drinkers leave their names behind. Drink up, drink up!” The old man laughed heartily, starting to drink, gulp after gulp. The small wine pot, appearing to hold no more than a jin and a half, yet the old man had taken no less than a hundred sips.

Finally, the old man became thoroughly drunk, his head swaying. He casually tossed the wine pot into the great river, then fell backward with a plop, landing directly in the small boat, snoring loudly.

The small boat continued upstream. Suddenly, the bow of the boat tilted slightly upward, leaving the water. Then, the entire boat left the great river in this manner, drifting toward the high sky.

Higher and higher.

The small boat pierced through layer after layer of cloud seas. The great river had long become a silken thread, the entire Huang Ting Kingdom a soybean, and the Dong Bao Ping Continent a thumb-sized vase.

When the old man slowly awoke, he had no idea how far the boat had left the earth, how close it was to the celestial dome.

The small boat gently swayed.

It was another great river, but unlike the mortal realm. This great river seemed to have no end, stars glittered, incomparably brilliant.

The old man’s expression was sorrowful, his lips trembled as he murmured, “The wine?”

The elderly man lay back down again, closing his eyes, as if recalling the most unbearable memories, his face full of pain, repeating over and over, “My wine, my wine, the wine…”

Drunk, unaware that heaven is in the water, a boat full of pure dreams weighs down the starry river.

A suave Confucian scholar stood on a stone cliff beside the great river, waiting for the return of that single leaf of a boat.

It was Cui Minghuang of Guanhai Academy, one of the two most famous Confucian gentlemen of Bao Ping Continent. He had personally participated in the conclusion of the Li Zhu Cave Heaven.

After receiving two secret letters, he had rushed to this place, to make a deal with this old Jiaolong on behalf of National Preceptor Cui Chan and Old Man Yang of the small town.

Because Da Li now possessed the last half of a True Dragon in the world.

This was the biggest bargaining chip, and in fact, the only bargaining chip.

The old site of the City God Temple, Autumn Reed Inn.

The wellhead and the well bottom.

Standing were two youths who appeared to be of similar age, but whose identities were absolutely disparate.

Chen Ping’an gently stepped onto the edge of the wellhead, leaning forward slightly, looking into the dark, deep well, and called out, “Cui Dongshan.”

The white-clad youth stood with his hands behind his back, looking up, smiling, “What, finally figured it out?”

Chen Ping’an continued, “When we first met, what did you call yourself?”

In an instant, the youth Cui Chan was suddenly alarmed, his scalp tingling, his heart lake boiling.

Immediately afterward, a snow-white rainbow light crashed into the well from the wellhead!

Sword qi poured down like a waterfall, filling the entire well.

(End of this chapter)