Beneath the eastern gate of the hamlet, scarce a stone’s throw away, stood an aged waystation, its foundation laid nigh unto the very establishment of Huaihuang County’s yamen. Though officially christened the “As of Old” Post, the townsfolk, with their penchant for nicknames akin to the naming of Crab Alley, still favored “Cockcrow Post.” Today, Zheng Dafeng ambled aimlessly to this very place.

The postmaster, a native son of the hamlet, had once been a petty clerk in the Dragon Kiln Overseer’s office, a shift in station rather than a rise in rank, for both were beyond the pale of the officialdom. He had climbed the rungs from the lowliest courier to finally grasp the reins as head of the post. In their youth, he and Zheng Dafeng were comrades in drink and dice, with Zheng ever betting high, and the postmaster invariably staking low, yet always winning. Then, they’d make their way to Huang Erniang’s tavern, with Zheng, of course, running up the tab. The man had amassed a tidy sum for a dowry in this manner and was now said to be seeking a quick dispatch position for his ne’er-do-well grandson.

Upon sighting the long-absent Zheng Dafeng, the postmaster showered him with warm greetings. However, his office, though small, was burdened with tasks, and couriers bearing official pouches constantly interrupted their reunion for endorsements and tallies. Zheng, loath to disturb his brother’s busy affairs, proposed they meet for drinks when time allowed. Just before taking his leave, Zheng abruptly inquired, “You aren’t a fellow disciple, are you?”

The postmaster gaped, struggling to comprehend. Zheng, flustered, waved it off. “Never mind, never mind.” He sauntered out, cursing Chen Pingan for making him prone to such paranoid notions.

Besides the waystation, Zheng Dafeng made a pilgrimage to the old Immortal Graveyard. It being the third day of the second month, Zheng ventured to the Temple of Literature, but bypassed the main hall, eschewing the veneration of cold pork-eating sages. Instead, he chose a side hall and, before a specific divine effigy, clasped his hands in reverent supplication, a rare sight of solemnity upon the rogue’s face.

Zheng Dafeng, with no desire to return to his ramshackle mud-brick dwelling near the hamlet’s eastern gate – a place barren as a spinster’s heart – sought a secluded spot away from the post road. There, he fastened his talismanic sword belt, unfurled a concealment rune, and rode the wind toward Oxhorn Ferry. With a flick of his fingers, he brandished a talisman he’d dubbed “Back Alley Peacemaker,” also known as “Rooftop Gentleman’s Charm.” A sigh, heavy with melancholy, escaped him, for he deemed such potent magic wasted in his hands, a sign of misspent talent and unbefitting occupation.

At Oxhorn Ferry’s Wrap Shop, business was slow. Zheng Dafeng, hands clasped behind his back, strode into the sparsely populated store. Behind the counter, a female cultivator from Pearl Hairpin Isle, upon hearing his tread, glanced up, rolled her eyes, and promptly resumed reading.

Leaning nonchalantly against the counter, Zheng Dafeng grinned. “Sister Guan Qing, it’s been years! You’ve blossomed.” He enunciated the final words with particular emphasis.

Guan Qing, her face flushing crimson, snapped, “Vile words from a vile mouth!”

Zheng Dafeng sighed dramatically. “Why not ‘a dog cannot change its spots’? Ah, Sister Guan Qing, ever the lady. Your insults are as gentle as a feather’s tickle.”

Guan Qing glared. “Listen here, Zheng! Get to the point, or get out!” She had suffered enough of this self-proclaimed charmer’s clumsy, antiquated attempts at “romance” during her tenure at the shop. The mere thought brought gooseflesh. How could a righteous man like Master Chen entrust such a rogue with the stewardship of Fallen Phoenix Mountain?

Zheng Dafeng clutched his chest and feigned a cough. “Where are Sister Liuxia and Sister Baique? Not with you? Upon returning to my homeland, I immediately inquired of the Mountain Lord whether they’d grown thin or stout, whether their cultivation flourished. The Mountain Lord said they were idling upon the Carp Back Isle.”

Guan Qing seized an abacus, ready to hurl it. Zheng Dafeng ducked, pirouetted, and, with a flick of his toe, launched the abacus skyward. Snatching it mid-air, he gently placed it back on the counter, spread his palm, and twirled the beads. “How’s my flourish, Sister Guan Qing? Just as elegant as before, or perhaps even more so?”

Guan Qing drew a deep breath. “Zheng Dafeng, if you continue this charade, I shall lodge a complaint with Master Chen at Fallen Phoenix Mountain! And if Master Chen plays peacemaker, I’ll abandon this shop entirely! Utter but one more lewd word, and you shall face the Carp Back Isle’s mountain gates!”

Zheng Dafeng wiped his face, and, without another word, hobbled away.

Just as Guan Qing began to feel a pang of guilt for her harshness, the rogue suddenly leaned back into the doorway, peering inquisitively. “Sister Guan Qing, are you truly so heartless? I shaved my beard and donned clean attire just for you. Won’t you ask where I’ve been these years, whether I’ve wed or fathered children…”

Remembering a foolproof trick, Guan Qing mimicked her junior sister Baique, and with two fingers extended, made a swift gesture. “Vanish!”

Zheng Dafeng promptly reached out, as if grasping a tangible object, and tucked it into his cloak, a satisfied grin upon his face.

Zheng Dafeng visited every shop tended by a female cultivator from Pearl Hairpin Isle, engaging in similar banter with each, much to their chagrin.

The invigorated rogue, with his spirits lifted, approached a shop bearing the sign “Eternal Bloom Abode,” straightening his robes. Today, he vowed, he would not be turned away.

Oxhorn Ferry’s wharf housed but a few Wrap Shops, two of which were claimed by Long Spring Palace for a trifling rent.

The shopkeeper, a middle-aged female cultivator, neither unsightly nor exceptionally beautiful, was engrossed in a well-worn copy of “Orchid Compendium.”

No stranger to Zheng Dafeng, she greeted him with a forced smile. “Well, well, if it isn’t Brother Dafeng, out bird-watching again. Come, come, release that little sparrow from its cage, let your sister have a play. Why the hesitation? No need to be shy when the shop is empty. After wandering for so many years, still such a soft heart? For shame!”

Zheng Dafeng grimaced, unable to parry such bluntness. “Daoist Lianlong, such is no way to greet a guest. You’ll scare them away.”

The woman, known as Daoist Lianlong, plucked an orange from a fruit platter and hurled it toward the rogue’s crotch. “The bravado from the other shops, where has it gone?”

Zheng Dafeng hastily caught the projectile. “Alas, lacking in handsome features, I must labor over my words.”

Lianlong’s post was merely a diversion, a way to pass time. She and the current Mistress of Long Spring Palace were peers and of the same lineage, but of a higher generation. However, she, though younger, was a close disciple who ultimately failed to pass the threshold of Dragon Gate Realm. Disheartened, she volunteered to tend the shop. Zheng Dafeng, with his penchant for gossip, had been a frequent visitor, and the two shared a fondness for bawdy jokes. Thus, Lianlong felt a genuine, albeit platonic, fondness for the long-absent Zheng Dafeng.

Leaning against the counter, elbow resting upon the wood, Zheng Dafeng smoothed his hair and boasted of his acquaintance with Zhu Ou, the author of “Orchid Compendium,” promising to introduce him to Sister Lianlong. He then waxed lyrical, declaiming: “To dwell quietly in the mountains, a master of mist and cloud, makes one day feel like two. To live ninety years is to live one hundred and eighty! Is that not abundance? And to live in seclusion brings three joys: to eat spring bamboo shoots, to wear ivy robes in summer, and to read forbidden books on snowy nights…”

Lianlong favored the rogue’s learned air. In truth, had Zheng Dafeng been less homely, he might not have remained a bachelor.

Long Spring Palace and Fallen Phoenix Mountain had fostered a goodwill, thanks to the rogue “Yu Mi,” who had masqueraded as a guest elder from Shroud Cloud Mountain, and a Ocean Gazing Realm cultivator.

Yu Mi, under the guise of protection, had accompanied several female cultivators from Song Yulin’s lineage on a journey south. A Grand Li hunt inspector needed branches from a ten-thousand-year pine for medicine, and tasked the Long Spring Palace cultivators with obtaining them from the Snowdrift Temple. However, the ancient pine, named “Longing,” grew upon the Divine Terrace, and Great Swordsman Wei Jin, sole guardian of the terrace, held the sole authority to grant or deny the request. Thus, despite Long Spring Palace’s esteemed standing in Grand Li, the delegation met with predictable rejection, returning empty-handed. Upon their return to Oxhorn Ferry, Yu Mi secretly gifted Han Biya a twig from “Longing.” The branch, upon examination, proved genuine, relieving the anxieties of the Dragon Gate Realm elder, and satisfied the hunt inspector.

Furthermore, Chen Pingan had once appeared upon Long Spring Palace’s Sweet Spring Ferry with Xiao Mo, meeting Gan Yi, the ferry’s administrator, and bearing the moniker Frost Pine.

Only Sweet Spring Ferry, in the entirety of Treasure Bottle Continent, could dock at any wharf without toll, and, during times of war, move freely through all Grand Li military checkpoints.

A new female cultivator entered the shop, unfamiliar to Zheng Dafeng. Hearing Lianlong’s whispered introduction, she spoke. “Greetings, Master Zheng. My name is Gan Yi, from Long Spring Palace.”

Zheng Dafeng nodded. “Good day, Aunt Gan. Very good, very good. Call me Dafeng, or Little Zheng.”

Gan Yi, catching the rogue’s playful misinterpretation, chuckled. “The ‘Gan’ of sweetness, and the ‘Yi’ of heart’s delight.”

Zheng Dafeng feigned offense. “What else would I think? As if I wouldn’t know the esteemed Administrator Gan of Sweet Spring Ferry!”

The sparkle in her eyes marked this Golden Core cultivator as one truly deserving of praise; two dimples danced on her cheeks as she smiled.

Beautiful.

Gan Yi merely smiled, accustomed to rogues both mountain-borne and town-bred.

Zheng Dafeng, sensing his welcome waning, prepared to depart, his throat parched from his loquacious encounter with Sister Lianlong. He resolved to seek refreshment at his brother’s, the Northern Peak Mountain Lord’s, manor.

Few, even modern historians, understood what Sweet Spring Ferry truly meant to Grand Li’s Song family.

When the Song clan was but a vassal state of the Lu clan, droughts were common. To avert these, the Sweet Spring Ferry was borrowed from Long Spring Palace, and the palace’s immortals were invited to beseech the heavens for rain.

In Grand Li’s darkest hours, the ship was a symbol of hope, a beacon in cracked lands.

Long Spring Palace’s records told a tale of smoke and cloud, of purple and gold.

Three Grand Li emperors had visited Long Spring Palace, and Empress Dowager Nan Zan had secluded herself there to recover. Ciu Chan had personally attended two palace celebrations. This was unthinkable for the tiger Xiu!

Gani heard Lianlong and with a heart, in heart told Zheng she would sell jumping fish mountains. could he ask the mountain lord to help?

Zheng immediately said yes!

Falling phoenix was near 3 other mountains. 天都峰, 跳魚山,扶搖麓, but they kept to themselves.

turns out jumping fish mountain was hers.

Lianlong was surprised!

Walking through the streets, Zheng frowned. Gan Yi smelled of ancient times.

Zheng, with his repaired soul, didn’t remember much but suddenly knew things and he could feel Gan Yi was tied to lost lands.

Yu Mi had secretly guarded the 长春宫 people and there was one young girl who was related to the 讨要 万年松.

Zheng pulled records from the northern mountain lords and there he found that all 長春宫people were out traveling or out!

Zheng cared so much because of the women.

寶瓶洲 and the barbaric lands were mixed.

Autumn temple was a thing and people couldn’t take it by force they needed to get there naturally.

There were 3 spots for 正陽山, 雁盪山龍湫畔,仙君曹溶’s Tao temple, etc.

Changchun was up there and there were a lot of good things happening!

Zheng met an elder with a maid named 情采, and they were from 梳水國.

They heard that Zheng was related to Chen and it seemed that he and the young female were acquainted.

Cao Mao visited 洪州豫章郡.

He didn’t tell anyone! the head guy wasn’t there, 林正誠

Cao asked who he was.

Cao said they were told to come to the 採伐院 where the emperor would reside!

採伐院 was a side place for the officialdom and they just dealt with cutting down trees.

豫章郡南氏 was a big powerful family.

林正誠 after he got the spot, the illegal wood cutting stopped!

He sold porcelain there.

The other official didn’t ask them to sit and have tea! He basically said he didn’t want to deal with that.

林正誠 also said they needed to pay to get the wood.

The girl sold Apricot trees and asked to be next to the wall since she was afraid of seeing them.

Cao asked 林 if he had a relationship with falling phoenix. and林 said it was ok but he didn’t have one.

The officials said 林 seemed sad.

There was a letter to 林正誠 from his son! he wanted more money!

崔瀺 told 林 to send more money to林守一!

崔瀺 told the emperor they needed to find a guy that was local.

陸沉 asked the old man about it!

林正誠 really didn’t regret any decision he made.

吳鳶 visited 高平. They talked about 水神 empty spots.

高平 said落魄山 had made people change there mind! 落魄山 was powerful!

Was hard for Wei to raise places with the moon parties!

林守一 went to a weird place which was 長春宮, it had the 春長駐山水 and it was away from everyone.

There was 亥 woman who had a sign, and water all around.

There were also 寅, and 丑 who all had signs.

There was 大驪地支 one and all had one sign!

袁化境 and 宋續 are all swordsman, and they had something in common

隋霖 and改艷 they were just really fighting hard!

周海鏡was the only woman out of this!

They didn’t help out the team!

The team had to get something from long ago but didn’t know much and it had been lost for 10,000 years.

They were to bring an item that had an object.

袁化境 said there was a relationship with 林守一and they said he had a good opportunity in the future.

林守一 did things like 雲上琅琅書 to get better at the Taoist way.

魏檗 appeared at the side of 披雲山.

郑问好不好。

郑 asked for a relationship with the women! but he had no chance.

郑 said there was a relationship.

There was also a friendship.

魏 gave him something which was supposed to be great.

small asked the Lord if they were allowed to leave.

” Since she wanted to go, then you shouldn’t go.