The Temple of the Third Prince was built against the mountain, with dougong brackets and carved beams, winding outer corridors, flying eaves and upturned corners, and a treasure roof reaching the sky. The stone plaque in front of the gate is inscribed with the words "Palace of the Third Prince".

There is also a temple dedicated to the Prince, where a statue of Nezha sits cross-legged, depicting him as having three heads and six arms. He is draped in red silk, rides on two wind-fire wheels, "Azure Phoenix" and "Fire Phoenix," and wears a Qiankun Ring on his head. He is wondrous, intelligent, and possesses a refined and elegant appearance. Truly a celestial son of the Qilin, indeed a fairy of the clouds and mist.

Exquisite lotus reliefs can be seen everywhere in the temple. There are many devout men and women, and the incense is burning brightly. A thin temple keeper hurried over, straightened his clothes, and bowed to Xu Milu.

The temple keeper, dressed in a gray long robe, appeared even leaner, with piercing eyes and a slightly comical goatee on his chin.

"I am the temple keeper of this Third Prince's palace. The magpies are chattering all day, which means we have a guest. My Third Prince has just gone to the Heavenly Court for his duty. Before he left, he instructed me to say that an old friend has come to visit today and that we should treat him well. Tea has been brewed in the backyard. Would you please come with me to the backyard for tea?"

Xu Milu hurriedly returned the greeting, but she was a little puzzled. Logically speaking, there should still be some time before the Third Prince went to the capital for his morning roll call. Why did he go now?

According to the rules of this Journey to the West world, one must first introduce oneself before meeting someone; otherwise, it would be impolite to arrive unannounced. So, she imitated the temple keeper and bowed.

“My master is a monk from the Water Curtain Cave of Flower and Fruit Mountain. I was originally a lay disciple named Xu Milu. I have come to visit the Third Prince today because I have something to ask of you. Please don’t stand on ceremony, Temple Master.”

Because she wanted to avoid calling her master by his full name, she used a nickname instead. After all, everyone knew that among all the travelers on Flower Fruit Mountain, there was only one who was the most famous.

Hearing Xu Milu say this, the temple keeper's smile became even more genuine:

"So you're a disciple of the Great Sage, then you must be the fairy Xu who stole the show at the Dragon King's birthday banquet a while ago—come with me quickly, the backyard has already prepared fine tea, snacks, and fruits to entertain you—"

Xu Milu glanced at the statue of the Third Prince, nodded slightly in greeting, and then followed the temple keeper to the backyard.

...

...

Compared to the incense smoke in the front yard, the back yard seemed more tranquil. A towering ancient tree seemed to support half the sky, and under its lush branches and leaves, strips of red cloth, written with wishes, were visible.

Xu Milu couldn't help but stop and carefully examine the wishes on the red cloth—she had learned to read with Wei Ying some time ago and could barely recognize most of them.

Wang Dani, born in the first year of the Zhenguan era in Wangjia Village, has an elderly mother and a young brother, and has yet to find a husband. She begs the Third Prince for mercy...

[Li Maocai, a virtuous man from Lijiaba, born in the second year of the Zhenguan era, has studied diligently for ten years, but his future is uncertain. He has traveled to Chang'an to beg the Third Prince for mercy...]

[The Li Wang family of Wangjiaba, Xinwang, was born in the Sui Dynasty. They had a son and a daughter-in-law. Three years after the daughter-in-law entered the family, they had not yet had the fortune to conceive a third prince...]

[A virtuous man from Suzhou and Hangzhou, Wanlu, prays for prosperous business and immense wealth. If his wish is fulfilled, he will surely rebuild the golden statue of the Third Prince...]

Aside from those praying for marriage, a bright future, wealth, or prosperity, she even saw several red ribbons praying for children, one of which was even more outrageous:

Tao Xiuer, a devout woman from Taojia Village, was born in the third year of the Zhenguan era. Her family's sow had not conceived for three years, leading them to suspect an evil spirit. They begged the Third Prince for mercy, who bestowed upon them supernatural powers...

Good heavens, it's one thing to pray for a child all the way to the Nezha Temple, but your sow won't give birth and you come to the Third Prince for help?

Xu Milu looked completely bewildered.

She looked up along the tree branches and saw countless plumes of smoke carrying the wishes of believers converge into a blurry golden light, which poured into the main hall of the Third Prince's Palace. Even the ancient tree seemed to have come to life, swaying its branches slightly and rustling its leaves.

When the temple keeper saw her stop to observe the ball of energy, a childlike look of surprise flashed in his eyes. The next second, he coughed a few times, raising his fist.

"Ahem, ahem, ahem, may I ask what brings Fairy Xu to the Third Prince? I've heard that the Great Sage is incredibly powerful, with seventy-two transformations and the ability to summon wind and rain. Why would Fairy Xu have to go to such lengths to seek help from so far away?"

Xu Milu suddenly raised an eyebrow, glanced at the temple keeper without showing any emotion, and honestly confessed the truth:

"I have only recently become a disciple of my master and have not yet learned any great skills. I haven't even learned how to ride the clouds yet, I've only learned some skills in controlling qi. Some time ago, I accidentally obtained a white jade lotus root and wanted to learn the skill of refining an external body. I heard that some immortals have special techniques for cultivating by using an external body, so I came here to ask the Third Prince for some white jade lotus roots to take back."

The temple keeper coughed even more violently, glanced at Xu Milu, and then cried out "Ouch!" before collapsing onto her.

A stone had appeared on the ground sometime during the night, causing the temple keeper to stumble forward and nearly fall. Fortunately, Xu Milu reacted quickly and caught the thin old man.

"Is the temple keeper alright?"

"Oh dear, as people get older, their legs and feet are not as nimble as before. Thank you for saving me, Fairy Xu."

The temple keeper rubbed his lower back, then leaned his entire weight on Xu Milu:

"Ahem, the Third Prince already instructed that whatever Fairy Xu wants, she should be given it; the lotus pond is just ahead! It's just that my old back is bad, so I'll have to trouble Fairy Xu to carry me to the lotus pond—"

Xu Milu didn't say anything, squatted down and carried the old man on her back. But after a few steps, she felt that her back was getting heavier and heavier, as if a small mountain was pressing down on it. It was difficult to take a step forward.

[Host! There's a monster! Your stress level has been rapidly increasing. Do you need to perform an emergency dimensional jump?]

Xiaoqi also noticed something was wrong and immediately jumped out.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

Xu Milu took a couple of breaths and secretly replied to Xiao Qi:

"Can't you see? This temple keeper is clearly Nezha in disguise. Otherwise, what demon would dare to deceive people in Nezha's territory if it thinks it has a long life?"

She continued walking forward, each step adding a bead of sweat to her forehead and a footprint deep into the ground. The temple keeper on her back had long since disappeared, replaced by a stone statue of the Third Prince.

Seeing the lotus pond right in front of her, Xu Milu didn't throw off the "temple keeper" on her back. Instead, she gritted her teeth and walked step by step toward the lotus pond before finally putting the stone sculpture down.

"boom--"

The stone sculpture fell to the ground with a loud thud. Xu Milu straightened up and let out a heavy breath.

"You're a strange person. You know I'm playing a trick on you, yet you still carried this stone over here. How strange, how very strange!"

Lying on the cloud is a young boy with black hair and red clothes. His hair is tied in two topknots, and his black hair reaches his shoulders. He wears a silver collar around his neck, a pink lotus robe, a brocade belt with lotus leaf patterns around his waist, two wind-fire wheels on his feet, and a red Hun Tian Ling wrapped around his body. His face is indescribably delicate.

The boy, however, was filled with curiosity:

"Even I can't figure out your origins? What kind of monster are you? I heard that you were the one who painted the birthday banquet picture for that old mudfish in the West Sea, and also found a unique mount for Sudhana?"