Chapter 618 seems to involve bandits.

"Who wants to go to Xuliang Mountain?"

The Taoist priest was puzzled. “I never said I missed my master. You’re overthinking it. My master isn’t in Xuliang Mountain anymore. I saw him once at the beginning of the year.”

That's true. Her senior brother disappeared for two years. How could she possibly know what he had seen and what he had done?

But she really didn't want to go to Jiangnan anymore.

"Why don't you want to go anymore? Haven't you always wanted to visit Jiangnan?"

The Taoist priest sighed helplessly, "Do you think we're no longer fellow disciples? Do you think I was bluffing when I said I'd help you establish a sect on Five Springs Mountain? Do you blame me for deceiving you?"

"Actually, the master you've taken on doesn't have time to teach you personally. He's just giving you a backer. If you're willing, you can go back and teach your two newly accepted disciples..."

"Oh right, those two kids got lucky. By some strange twist of fate, they've become the grand-disciple of that purple-robed immortal. How about I become your apprentice someday?"

Song Chunxue looked at him expressionlessly. She was in no mood for jokes and couldn't quite put her finger on it; it all seemed like an illusion to her.

"You, you're making such a fuss. This is clearly a good thing." He changed the subject. "But since you're not going to Jiangnan, let's just wander around. We'll go back when you want to. It's terribly hot, and it gets hotter the further south we go."

"Hmm, let's take a detour back, otherwise it'll be pointless." Going back the way we came would make her seem like a child throwing a tantrum.

The Taoist priest lowered his head in thought, realizing that if he didn't want to go south, then he must want to go north.

He happened to want to go somewhere.

"Shall we go to Chang'an then?"

He stroked his beard, a hint of sadness in his eyes, and said, "I'm going to see an old friend."

Song Chunxue looked at him, a faint urge to cry welling up inside her. "You're not angry that I changed my mind?"

The Taoist priest shook his head slightly. "Originally, I was thinking of going to Chang'an when I came back. That place is where you should go. It's a water town in Jiangnan. People who are used to dry loess might suffer from water and soil incompatibility there, vomiting and diarrhea, and even lose half their lives. It's better not to go."

"Well, let's go to Chang'an then. It's an ancient capital, and I've always dreamed of seeing its city walls."

She was feeling down, but this idea brought a surge of joy to her heart.

"I'll go home after I've seen it. The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and I still feel more comfortable staying in the fort in Zhuanglang County."

The Taoist priest raised his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his neck. "Hmm, that's the truth."

He also missed that place where he wouldn't sweat in the summer.

But he may not have time to go back.

If they go to Chang'an, they might even run into Xie Zheng, who is heading north.

Two days later.

Song Chunxue's chestnut horse looked tall and imposing, but it was indeed far less stamina than her senior brother's Akhal-Teke horse. As it walked, it couldn't keep up and fell far behind.

But the Taoist priest would stop and wait for her, saying whatever he saw and sharing his experiences from his youth. He would also talk about the historical sites and monuments he visited, occasionally bringing up the subject of history.

The Qin and Han dynasties, the Three Kingdoms period, and the Three Kingdoms period is the most talked about.

When Song Chunxue was a child, she heard all sorts of folk tales and occasionally historical anecdotes, all of which were fragments she heard from elderly people who loved watching plays. She only knew that people in ancient times were very powerful and that many heroes emerged.

After listening to her senior brother's explanation today, she realized that although they had lived through relatively few dynasties, it was more than 5,000 years since the time of the Yellow Emperor.

People always say that the Yanhuang period is a mythical period, but the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic says that people in ancient times were divided into three ancient periods: upper, middle, and lower. The real history is far longer than ten thousand years. Song Chunxue listened to this as if it were a book written in heaven.

She could only nod repeatedly, marveling at the wisdom of the ancients and her own insignificance.

She couldn't help but sigh, "What have I done to deserve this? An old woman who can barely read a few words has been given this chance to start over. She has gone from only knowing how to nurse babies and farm, from facing the yellow earth with her back to the sky, to leaving that small place, Lijiazhuang, and riding horses with her senior brother. What makes me so special?"

The Taoist priest smiled and said, "Didn't you say you knelt in the temple and prayed for it? Perhaps your sincerity moved the gods."

"Actually, you are not bad. Although you have not become outstanding, you do not steal or rob, you are not wicked or evil, and you have experienced all the hardships of life. The gods think you are a promising person and will let you cultivate and change your nature in your next life so that you can change the fate of people who suffer like you."

What good is being knowledgeable about the past and present, and understanding everything from astronomy to geography? People often lose the purest and most genuine aspects of their humanity as they climb the ladder of success. Song Chunxue, who worked diligently her whole life, may have made mistakes and been foolish, but she eventually realized her mistakes and had a heart of repentance.

Song Chunxue is lucky, but she deserves it.

“Look, your children, your sisters and cousins, aren’t they all living good lives because of you?” The Taoist priest advised her, “Don’t think about those useless things. You have to believe that you are a rare talent, one in a million.”

"Yes, senior brother is right."

The Taoist priest pointed to the sky, "Do you think there are stars during the day?"

"No, where would stars come from during the day?" Song Chunxue felt that her senior brother was starting his strange lecturing again.

"There are stars during the day, but the sun is too bright for people to see. The twelve constellations and countless stars are there day and night, but we mortals can only see them at night."

"Speaking of which, there should be a shooting star tonight. We should find a high mountain to get a good look at it. It's said that you can only see one once every 60,000 years."

Song Chunxue exclaimed in surprise, "Sixty thousand years? We must take a good look! After dinner tonight, how about we stay at the temple on the mountain?"

The Taoist priest's face lit up with joy. "That's exactly what I was thinking."

"But Song Chunxue, sixty thousand years sounds incredible and extremely rare, but do you know that only one like you appears once every hundred thousand years?"

"..." Song Chunxue paused, remaining silent for a long time.

Yes, although she is poor and insignificant, there is only one her in this world.

She clasped her hands in a fist salute, saying, "Your words, senior brother, are worth more than ten years of study."

"You flatter me, haha."

They walked ahead, chatting and laughing, unaware that a group of bandits hidden in the woods had been following them for two miles.

The three men rode their horses along a narrow mountain path, with a dozen or so henchmen following around them.

"Are you sure that old Taoist priest was riding a Ferghana horse?"

“That’s right, absolutely true. My grandfather used to raise Akhal-Teke horses when he was young. He said that although the horses looked thin and slender, they were actually very resilient and were excellent steeds for long battles. It’s just a pity that they have lost their purebred lineage due to crossbreeding in recent years, and they can no longer be found in the army. I didn’t expect to find one here. We will capture it later and deliver it to Lord Qin. It can bring us many years of peace.”

Another leader, mounted on horseback, whispered instructions along the tree-lined path, "Then have them stopped at the checkpoint ahead. Keep the two horses, and kill the men to sell to the military ration collectors."

"yes!"

Song Chunxue suddenly felt a chill down her back.

She looked around. "Senior brother, could there be bandits here? I have a feeling someone is behind me. Let's run away from here quickly."