"Oh, old lady, why are the Taoist priests in Wudang Mountain so rude? I met a few on the road and tried to ask them for directions, but they not only refused to tell me, they even tried to arrest me!" Lanqin made up an excuse.
The old woman said, "Oh, young lady, I advise you not to go up the mountain."
"Why?" Lanqin asked, feigning surprise.
“Because nowadays, those Taoist priests are all focused on the Golden Elixir, not on self-cultivation. If you go in, they will only tell you how the Golden Elixir can prolong life. Young lady, I only told you this because you look kind,” the old woman said.
“Auntie, there’s a Taoist priest named Zhou here who specializes in treating people. Do you know which direction his clinic is in? I’m looking for that place. My family might be there,” Lanqin said.
"Oh, you're looking for Master Zhou! He's a good man, let me take you there." The old woman clearly knew Master Zhou, and immediately said as soon as Lanqin mentioned him.
"Mother~" Suddenly, a young man's voice rang out from outside the house.
"Oh my, my son is back!" the old woman exclaimed with a smile upon hearing the voice.
Lanqin and the old woman went out to greet him, and saw a burly man carrying a pheasant and two rabbits on his shoulders walk in. The man was tall and strong, and although his features were not the delicate kind of handsome, he had a heroic air about him, and his demeanor was dashing and unrestrained.
He noticed a young woman standing next to the old woman, and after a moment of surprise, asked, "Mother, have we had guests?"
"Oh. This young lady is lost and asked me for a drink of water," the old woman said quickly.
The man looked at Lanqin and said, "Where are you going, young lady? I'll take you there."
"Oh. I'm going to Master Zhou's house. Thank you for your trouble," Lanqin said quickly.
"Why don't you eat something first before you go, young lady? If you don't mind, please stay and have a meal with us." The old woman was naturally concerned for her son who had just returned.
The man looked at Lanqin and said, "If you don't mind, young lady, please stay for a meal so you'll have the strength to walk later. Master Zhou's house is a bit far from mine."
Lanqin had actually been running around for half a day, and the food she ate at noon had long been digested. Seeing that the two of them wanted her to stay, she quickly nodded.
The food at Auntie's house was quite good; because her son was a hunter, Lanqin was even eating rabbit meat. However, she had no appetite at the moment, her mind preoccupied with Fourth Master and Si Hua Shui Ling. She wondered if the Taoist priests had caught them after she ran away, and if Fourth Master had returned and found her missing, he would surely be very worried.
"Young lady, what brings you to Master Zhou?" the man asked.
"Well, I was passing through here when I was bitten by the four-legged monster. I went to see Master Zhou for treatment. Since we were passing through Wudang Mountain and there was nowhere to stay here, we stayed at his house," Lanqin said.
The man looked at her and asked, "Young lady, are you staying at Master Zhou's house with your family?"
Lanqin nodded, and the man continued eating without asking any more questions.
After finishing their meal, the man asked his mother for a water bottle before leaving with Lanqin. They walked along the mountain path, one tall and imposing, the other petite and delicate; from a distance, they appeared extremely mismatched.
"Young lady, Master Zhou's house was surrounded by Taoist priests from Wudang Mountain today, and it seems everyone inside has been taken away. Are you sure you want to go back?" the man suddenly asked.
Lanqin's body trembled, thinking to herself: He still found out.
“You are prey from the mountains, how did you know?” Lanqin asked.
“How would I know? That’s none of your concern. What I need to ask you is, are you still going back now?” the man said, stopping in his tracks.
"I...I want to go back." Lanqin suddenly felt a sense of fear. She had no connection with this strange man, and now she was all alone with him walking on this mountain path. If something happened, she would have no way to resist him.
“If you have nowhere else to go, young lady, I advise you not to go back. Those Taoist priests might still be guarding there; going back would be like walking into a trap,” the man said. “I won’t hurt you. If you’d like, why don’t you stay at my house for a while?”
Lanqin was surprised by his words and asked, "Why are you helping me?"
The man seemed to have anticipated Lanqin's question, and said, "Because this is the first time that you have made those Taoists in the sect mobilize so many people. It has been many years since anyone has made them send so many people down the mountain. So, you must have frightened them, and I like to help those who frighten people."
Upon hearing this, Lanqin asked, "Do you have a grudge against them?"
Seeing that Lanqin immediately revealed her secret, the man became even clearer about what he was thinking and nodded, saying, "My father died at their hands!"
Lanqin never expected to encounter another person whose family member's death was related to the Taoist priests on the mountain. She remembered that the old woman had said her husband died from the Golden Elixir, so she asked, "So your father also secretly took the Golden Elixir?"
The man was taken aback by Lan Qin's response and asked, "Who exactly are you? How do you know that consuming the elixirs made by those Taoist priests will lead to death?"
Lanqin then recounted what the woman had told her.
“When I was little, my dad took me up the mountain. Back then, the Taoist priests in the sect gathered herbs and practiced their skills, completely isolated from the outside world. Besides using the herbs to harm themselves, they also treated the villagers, and we all respected them. Who knew that over a decade ago, the sect leader suddenly changed his mind and started cultivating some kind of elixir. Not only that, his disciples also followed their master in cultivating these things. They stopped providing free medical care to the people. My dad was a hunter in these mountains. Once, after killing a bear, he got into an argument with the Taoist priests. They insisted that my dad hand over the bear's gall bladder and paws, but he refused, and they beat him to death,” the man said.
"How could you not report this murder to the authorities?" Lanqin asked in astonishment.
"Officials protect each other. Besides, the officials in this prefecture all come to them asking for the Golden Elixir. How could they possibly support justice for my father!" the man said.
Upon hearing this, Lanqin felt that the Quanzhen Sect on Wudang Mountain had truly become a local tyrant, oppressing the villagers in this way, yet no one could control them.
“Brother, if you want to avenge your father, then do me a favor, okay?” Lan Qin pondered.
"Okay, then you can tell me who you are and how you can fight against them?" the man said.
“I can’t tell you who we are, but I can tell you that we are people who can help you,” Lanqin said. “You have to trust me!”
The man looked at Lanqin, thought for a moment, and said, "Okay!"
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