Cai Jinjian was walking backwards when she realized that things were not going well the moment she stepped down.
There are things more unbearable than stepping into dog dung, of course: things like stepping into it and having someone see it. Even worse is when the person who sees it tells you directly that you've stepped into dog dung.
Cai Jinjian was not a shallow woman, nor a delicate and spoiled young lady who couldn't endure hardship. She was one of the many children of the Mountain Master of Yunxia Mountain. The fact that she managed to stand out and win the final spot in the family was proof enough of her capabilities. Yunxia Mountain had a total of eighteen peaks, surrounded by mist year-round. The mountain produced a special cloud-root stone, an important material for the Daoist alchemists of the Dan Ding sect. Known for its purity and flawlessness, it was unique in the world. Therefore, the people of Yunxia Mountain had to be clean and elegant, and most of them had obsessive-compulsive tendencies when it came to cleanliness. Cai Jinjian, of course, was no exception. If it weren't for the large-scale involvement of the town, Cai Jinjian would never have stepped foot in such a place. Let alone walk in a filthy alley full of chicken dung and dog dung. The most embarrassing part was that once they arrived, those who were once exalted immortals found themselves like fish stranded on the shore—having lost all their advantages. The family that once occupied a piece of celestial land, with the power to move mountains and soar in the sky, no longer had access to such abilities or magical tools.
And thus, the scene of Cai Jinjian stepping into dog dung happened.
Fu Nanhua originally found it amusing. The immaculate and untarnished Cai Xianzi from Yunxia Mountain stepping into a sticky, stinky pile of dog dung—who would believe it if told?
However, in the next moment, Fu Nanhua suddenly shouted in a deep voice: "Cai Jinjian, stop!"
On the mud wall, Song Jixin's pupils contracted, and he tightly gripped the green jade pendant in his hand.
In the alley, it seemed as though Cai Jinjian had taken one step forward and crossed in front of Chen Ping'an. Her hand, as clear as sheep-fat jade, swiftly moved to slap the top of the barefoot boy's head. Just as Fu Nanhua's shout rang out, she suddenly stopped, lifted her hand gently, and lightly patted him. After finishing this affectionate gesture, as if she were an elder doting on a younger one, she bent down and gazed into the boy's eyes, which were as clear as a bottomless spring. Cai Jinjian could almost see her own face in them. Unfortunately, she was in a terrible mood, forcing a smile as she said, "Little guy, I know you deliberately slowed down when you spoke."
Fu Nanhua sighed in relief. If Cai Jinjian really dared to kill someone here, she would likely be expelled from the town, and the entire Yunxia Mountain would become the laughingstock of the world.
His face darkened as he spoke in formal, authoritative language: "Cai Jinjian, please think carefully before you act. If you continue to be so impulsive, I think we'll have to abandon our alliance. I don't want you to ruin everything."
Cai Jinjian, with her back to Fu Nanhua, murmured quickly under her breath: "The superior sees the Buddha quickly, the inferior sees the Buddha slowly... truly there is a pure land, truly there is a lotus pond..."
She quickly turned around and smiled apologetically at Fu Nanhua, saying, "I lost my composure. I promise this won't happen again."
Fu Nanhua sneered, "Are you sure?"
Cai Jinjian smiled dismissively, not giving a direct response to Fu Nanhua's challenge. She then turned back to look at the barefoot boy and, speaking in the standard language of the region, said to herself, "Our Yunxia Mountain originated from one of the five Buddhist schools. We focus on subduing the monkey mind and taming the wandering thoughts. However, before coming here, I couldn't quite understand what the monkey mind and wandering thoughts really meant. My elders never tried to rush me and just let me explore on my own. I never expected that today, in your Mud Bottle Alley, I would step into a pile of dog dung and actually get a glimpse of the answer..."
Chen Ping'an reminded her, "Sister, you've stepped into dog dung, and it's been half a day already. Why don't you just scrape it off?"
The celestial woman, who had been feeling like she was entering a state of Buddhist purity, was immediately snapped back to reality upon hearing his words. Her face turned pale with anger. However, Fu Nanhua's reminder was still in her mind, and she could only take her frustration out by extending a finger and sharply poking the boy's forehead. "Aren't you taught that rashness in temper leads to an early death? That sarcasm and sharpness will diminish your fortune?!"
Chen Ping'an, with his tough skin, didn't care, only glancing at Song Jixin in the distance without saying a word.
Song Jixin immediately shouted angrily, "Chen Ping'an, what are you looking at? How unlucky!"
Fu Nanhua, to his surprise, found himself already irritated before even entering Song Jixin's courtyard. He couldn't hide his sarcasm: "Cai Jinjian! How interesting. There are people in this world who would let a pile of dog dung delay their path to immortality."
Cai Jinjian, for the first time, didn't get angry. She gave a deep look at the unremarkable, skinny boy, then turned to leave.
Suddenly, the boy's voice came from behind her, "Sister, your eyelashes are very long."
The crude, vulgar words of a common ant dared to tease a celestial goddess?
Cai Jinjian was furious. She turned around suddenly.
Her mind was made up—she would teach this seemingly simple but actually sly country boy a lesson. Although they were restricted here, unable to use their magical arts or treasures, the benefits from years of cultivation were not to be underestimated. For someone who had practiced since childhood, even without the best cultivation, she was more than capable of dealing with a boy from the streets of the town. With a simple gesture, she could easily harm him, causing him illness and shortening his life.
But in the dimly lit alley, all she saw was a dark face and a pair of bright eyes.
A moon rises over the sea.
Cai Jinjian's eyes brightened, and a trace of pity welled up in her heart. Her smile grew wider as she realized, "I have found it. The monkey mind, the wandering thoughts I need to subdue."
This was her chance.
She raised her hand again, pressing it gently on the boy's chest. The movement was quick and fluid, almost like lightning. Even though the boy tried to take a step back, he couldn't escape her reach.
Fu Nanhua, with his eyes fixed on the graceful, alluring figure of Cai Jinjian, felt not the slightest ripple of attraction. Instead, his killing intent surged, almost forming into a solid, unyielding heart. He concealed his murderous thoughts, then shouted loudly, "Earlier, you tapped the boy's forehead, causing him to suffer from years of illness. Such a punishment should have been enough! Why, Cai Jinjian, are you out of your mind? Do you really want to throw away your path to immortality for the sake of a worthless child?!"
Cai Jinjian pretended not to hear. Fu Nanhua lowered his voice and resumed his noble air, sneering, "Cai Jinjian of Yunxia Mountain, quarreling with a common boy—how embarrassing would it be if this were to spread?"
Cai Jinjian turned around, laughing, "This alley really has a special connection to me. Who would have thought that I'd gain an opportunity here? Though it's small, it's still something. Even mosquito meat is meat, and it's a good omen. I now have even more confidence in that boy, Gu Can!"
Fu Nanhua was stunned.
Could it be that this woman really had an epiphany?
Cai Jinjian lifted her foot and looked at the disgusting, filthy mess beneath it, chuckling, "What a stroke of good luck!"
Song Jixin's face darkened, and his thoughts were unreadable.
The unnoticed maid, Zhi Gui, stood still, silently. In a certain instant, golden eyes appeared in her gaze, one set of eyes on top of the other.
Fu Nanhua vaguely felt a sense of unease, quickly looking around but finding nothing amiss. Finally, he scrutinized the young maid, but seeing nothing wrong, he attributed his discomfort to Cai Jinjian's influence, mistakenly thinking that the gaze from the saintess of the town was the cause of it.
Cai Jinjian felt at ease. All the thoughts that had been stuck in her mind flowed freely now.
What was just a small opportunity?
If Yunxia Mountain wasn't lacking a powerful "immortal treasure" to stabilize the mountain's fortunes, and if she didn't need it to secure her position as the next Mountain Master, she would have already left this place and returned to Yunxia Mountain for a decade or twenty years of seclusion.
Cai Jin Jian walked toward the maid of Fu Nan Hua in the shabby alley.
The boy behind asked, "Did you do something to me?"
Cai Jin Jian didn't even turn her head, "Little one, you're thinking too much."
The boy fell silent.
Cai Jin Jian glanced back and smiled, "You'll be dead in less than six months."
The boy was stunned for a moment.
She smiled sweetly, "You really believe me? I was just joking!"
Chen Ping An grinned.
At the same time, both Cai Jin Jian and Fu Nan Hua, these two celestial figures, had the same thought in their hearts.
A frog in a well, an ant on the ground.
Song Jixin, who had been crouching on the wall watching the scene, rubbed his temples, his face unusually serious.
Even though Zhi Gui had already taken that peculiar sister of hers to find the booger-eating Gu Can, and the young man who would throw money around without a second thought had entered his own courtyard.
Song Jixin, with his sharp mind, still sat there in a daze. In the sharp-eyed young prince's view, a thin boy stood in the mud bottle alley, watching the tall woman's back for a while. Then, he quickly averted his gaze and headed for his house's door, but the gate didn't open for a long time.
Song Jixin hated this feeling. There was a person who usually kept a low profile, but at certain times, like a stone in a latrine—it was annoying if left, and dirty if moved.
As a result, Fu Nan Hua's words behind him went unheard.
The Young Master of Long Dragon City had to repeat himself, "Song Jixin, do you know that there are people in this world who are very different from you?"
Song Jixin finally came to his senses and turned around to continue crouching, looking down at Fu Nan Hua, who was wearing a tall crown and elegant clothes, and said plainly, "I know."
Fu Nan Hua nodded, satisfied, "We can be considered half friends in the way of the Dao."
Song Jixin cast a glance at the door of the next courtyard, seemingly distracted, out of place.
Fu Nan Hua said earnestly, "I'll be frank with you. Whatever you have, if you're willing to sell it, I'll break the bank to buy it!"
Song Jixin was confused, "I can tell you have a higher social standing than that woman. Since she treats that guy from next door like that, why are you so…"
Fu Nan Hua took the lead, "Treating you equally?"
Song Jixin nodded and complimented him, "You're a man of principles. It's easy to talk to you."
Fu Nan Hua didn't mind the boy's condescending attitude, whether in position or tone of speech.
Unlike Cai Jin Jian, who treated the boy like a lowly ant, Fu Nan Hua felt an inexplicable closeness to Song Jixin and a kind of awe toward the Mud Bottle Alley. He couldn't quite explain why.
Thus, Fu Nan Hua truly regarded the boy in front of him as a fellow traveler on the same path.
On the grand path of the Dao, the further one goes, the more irrelevant status, gender, age, and such distinctions become. They are all meaningless.
Song Jixin jumped off the courtyard wall and said in a low voice, "Let's talk inside."
Fu Nan Hua nodded, "Alright."
As they crossed the threshold, Song Jixin casually asked, "Just curious, what's your relationship with that sister, who looks like she would be easy to marry?"
Fu Nan Hua replied without hesitation, "For now, we're working together, but we're not from the same faction."
Song Jixin hummed in response and said something confusing, "I heard that in the outside world, gods and demons, strange and wondrous things abound, but whenever cultivators have a grudge, shouldn't they eliminate the root of the problem once and for all?"
Fu Nan Hua, the young master of Long Dragon City, who had grown up in a world of grand events and seen much, didn't show any emotion after hearing this.
He smiled and asked, "Do you have a grudge against them?"
The boy widened his eyes in fake surprise, "What are you talking about?"
It seemed like he realized the man didn't believe him. So, Song Jixin composed himself, sitting down on the chair in the hall. He gestured for Fu Nan Hua to sit as well and said seriously, "I've been neighbors with Chen Ping An from next door for many years. We've never had a quarrel. Believe it or not."
Fu Nan Hua immediately understood the boy's hidden meaning.
The boy from next door was just an orphan, a rootless drifter.
If he died, no one would care.
The young master of Long Dragon City couldn't help but smile wryly, realizing that the commotion in this alley had become somewhat absurd and ridiculous.
The poor boy from next door had, in order to keep the address of Song Jixin and his servant hidden, brought about an unforeseen disaster that would cost him his life.
And precisely, this boy, who seemed to come from a distinguished family, was now going to kill someone with his own hands.
One stroke wasn't enough. Let's add another.
Fu Nan Hua couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy, recalling the lines in Shizi: The cub of a tiger or leopard, though not yet in writing, already has the scent of devouring cattle.
In the courtyard of Gu Can's house, the child had already been locked in the inner room by his mother. The woman and the old man, who called himself a "True Lord," sat facing each other.
The old man withdrew his hand, which had intricate palm patterns, and smiled, "The situation is settled."
The woman, puzzled, asked, "Dare I ask what the immortal master did just now to make Chen Ping An…"
As she spoke, she noticed the old man's gaze suddenly sharpen. She quickly shut her mouth.
The old man looked toward the courtyard gate, lightly waving his sleeve, causing a breeze to swirl in the small yard. After a while, he said, "For someone like me, to step into this place and become entangled in this helpless situation... Although it's not that I can't take care of myself, the longer it drags on, the more… Hmm, as the boy Song Jixin said, it's like dragging mud, resulting in a messy outcome. The good thing is that he is hated by both heaven and people. Even if he has taken a step back, his reputation is still ruined, and he can't escape disaster. It's a pity. The situation that once promised to enjoy eternal incense is now turning tragic… This is my opportunity to plan for your son, to see if we can end that boy's life and sever the future traces of certain sages and immortals, avoiding any retribution in the future. This way, my newly accepted disciple can ride the winds and thunder on the road to immortality, eventually transforming into a dragon…"
The woman sat to the side, listening, drenched in sweat.
The old man smiled and asked, "Isn't it strange? A person who doesn't care about worldly matters and practices Dao, yet in the end, the only thing he cultivates is this kind of cunning and resentment? Isn't it just like the shallow-minded village women like you?"
The woman hurriedly lowered her head, trembling, "I dare not think such thoughts!"
The old man smiled dismissively, then quietly waited for Cai Jin Jian from Yunxia Mountain to knock on the door.
On the path of cultivation, the ways of the arts are boundless, and divine powers are limitless. There are differences in principles, just as there are levels in the Dao.
Cai Jin Jian sees them as ants, but how different is the "True Lord" from her or Fu Nan Hua?
Why speak of Dao with mere ants?