Chapter 10

Cai Jinjian was walking backward at the time, and the moment her foot stepped down, she already sensed that something was amiss.

A more unbearable thing than stepping on dog feces would be stepping on it and having it seen by others, and even worse, having the person who saw it tell you that you really stepped on dog feces.

Cai Jinjian was not a shallow woman, nor was she a delicate and pampered young lady who could not endure hardship. As one of the many offspring of the Yunxia Mountain Lord, her ability to stand out and win the final spot was a testament to her capabilities. Yunxia Mountain, with its eighteen peaks large and small, was shrouded in mist all year round, and the Yun Root Stone it produced was an important ingredient for the Daoist Alchemy School to refine external elixirs, renowned for its "flawless and pure" quality, standing out uniquely. Therefore, the people of Yunxia Mountain had to maintain cleanliness and elegance, and most of them had a strong aversion to dirt, which was certainly true for Cai Jinjian. If it weren't for the significant implications of the small town, Cai Jinjian would never have set foot in it, let alone walked through Niping Alley, which was filled with chicken and dog feces. The most awkward part was that after coming here, they, who were originally high and mighty immortals, suddenly found themselves like small fish thrown onto the shore, losing all their advantages. The families that occupied a blessed land, with the ability to move mountains and ride the wind, and the magical treasures that could subdue demons and command spirits, were all gone.

Then, there was the scene of Cai Jinjian stepping on dog feces.

Fu Nanhua originally found it amusing, thinking that the spotless Cai Fairy of Yunxia Mountain, with a boot full of smelly dog feces, was something no one would believe.

But the next moment, Fu Nanhua sternly shouted, "Cai Jinjian, stop!"

Song Jixin, standing on the mud wall, his pupils constricted, and he tightly gripped the green dragon pendant in his hand.

In the alley, Cai Jinjian seemed to have taken a step and was already in front of Chen Ping'an. Her delicate hand, as clear as white jade, swiftly moved toward the young man's head. Just as Fu Nanhua called out to stop her, she suddenly paused, then gently lifted her hand and softly patted down, as if performing a tender, affectionate gesture of an elder to a junior. After this, she bent down and gazed into the young man's eyes, which were like a clear, bottomless spring, almost able to see her own reflection. Unfortunately, her mood was extremely bad, and she forced a smile, saying, "Little guy, I know you deliberately slowed down when you spoke."

Fu Nanhua breathed a sigh of relief. If Cai Jinjian dared to kill someone here, she might be expelled from the town, and the entire Yunxia Mountain would become a laughingstock.

His face darkened, and he reminded her in the formal and elegant language of the region, "Cai Jinjian, please think carefully. If you continue to act impulsively, I believe it is necessary to abandon the alliance. I don't want to be ruined by you, ending up with nothing."

Cai Jinjian, with her back to the young master of Old Dragon City, quickly recited, "The superior sees the Buddha quickly, the inferior sees the Buddha slowly... There is indeed a pure land, there is indeed a lotus pond..."

She soon turned around and gave Fu Nanhua an apologetic smile, "I lost my composure. I promise that nothing like this will happen again."

Fu Nanhua sneered, "Are you sure?"

Cai Jinjian smiled and didn't make any grand promises to Fu Nanhua. She lowered her head again and looked at the young man, speaking in the formal and elegant language of the region, "Our Yunxia Mountain originates from one of the five schools of Buddhism, emphasizing the taming of the mind and the control of the will. Before I came here, I couldn't even understand what mind and will were, and the elders of my family never tried to force my understanding, only letting me explore on my own. I never thought that today, in Niping Alley, stepping on a pile of dog feces, I would catch a glimpse of something..."

Chen Ping'an reminded her, "Sister, you've been standing in dog feces for half a day. Why don't you scrape it off quickly?"

The immortal woman, who had felt she had entered a state of Buddhist purity, was immediately brought back to the secular world, her face turning ashen. But Fu Nanhua's warning still echoed in her ears, so she vented her anger by poking the young man's forehead with a finger, glaring at him, "At your young age, has no one taught you that a bad temper is a sign of an early death, and that being sharp-tongued and mean-spirited reduces your blessings?"

Chen Ping'an, with his tough skin, didn't mind, but he looked at Song Jixin, who was nearby, without saying a word.

The latter jumped up and shouted, "Chen Ping'an, why are you looking at me? What bad luck!"

Fu Nanhua was surprised to find that he hadn't even stepped into Song Jixin's yard, and his face turned unpleasant. He didn't hide his sarcasm, "Cai Jinjian! How interesting, there are actually people who would delay their path to immortality over a pile of dog feces."

Cai Jinjian, for the first time, didn't get angry. She looked deeply at the thin, unremarkable young man, then turned and walked away.

Suddenly, the young man behind her said softly, "Sister, your eyelashes are very long."

A vulgar and lowly mortal daring to flirt with an immortal goddess?

Cai Jinjian was furious and turned around abruptly.

She was determined that even if it cost her some fortune, she would teach this seemingly simple but actually cunning village boy a lesson. Although they were confined like prisoners in a cage, with their hands and feet bound, and all their magical techniques and tools temporarily useless, the benefits of her early cultivation, such as the strengthening of her body, were still present. Although the effects were not significant and far inferior to those of martial artists who focused on this path, it was enough to easily deal with a young man who had grown up in the muck of the city. A casual palm strike, affecting some important acupoints, could plant the seeds of illness and shorten his lifespan.

But in the dimly lit alley, she only saw a dark face and a pair of bright eyes.

The moon rose over the sea.

Cai Jinjian's eyes first lit up, then a natural sense of compassion arose, and finally, the regret in her phoenix eyes faded, her smile becoming brighter as she suddenly understood.

Cutting off the mind demon was precisely the opportunity.

It should be known that the Yunxia Mountain lineage, starting from the founder, Old Immortal Yunxia, has always advocated the idea that each cause and effect is a tribulation.

Of course, this method of tribulation has no fixed rules or numbers, and everything depends on the individual to solve the puzzle and break the deadlock.

For example, the current Cai Jinjian.

She felt she had found the mind and will that needed to be tamed, which was the seemingly innocent but actually obstructive young man.

So she raised her hand again, covering the young man's chest and gently pressing down. The entire action was smooth and swift, like a bolt of lightning. Even though the young man tried to step back half a step, he couldn't escape the tall woman's move.

Fu Nanhua stared intently at the alluring back view, with no trace of lust in his heart, but rather a surge of killing intent, almost hardening his heart. He deliberately concealed his murderous thoughts and loudly shouted, "When you lightly tapped the young man's forehead, you made him suffer from chronic illness for the rest of his life. One punishment was enough! Why are you doing this again, Cai Jinjian? Have you lost your mind? Are you really willing to abandon the opportunity for immortality for a lowly person?"

Cai Jinjian ignored him, and Fu Nanhua lowered his voice, recovering his noble demeanor, and chuckled, "The great Cai Jinjian of Yunxia Mountain, bickering with a city boy, wouldn't you be ashamed if it got out?"

Cai Jinjian turned around and smiled, "This little alley is truly my lucky place. I never thought I would find an opportunity here, even if it's a small one. It's a good omen. I have more confidence in the young man named Gu Can!"

Fu Nanhua was stunned.

Could this woman really have had an enlightenment?

Cai Jinjian lifted her foot and saw the disgusting mess, laughing, "I really had a stroke of bad luck."

Song Jixin's face was dark and unreadable.

The unnoticed maid, Zhigui, stood still, silent. At a certain moment, two pairs of pale golden eyes appeared in her eyes, one eye with two pupils.

Fu Nanhua vaguely sensed something, turned his head quickly, and looked around, but found nothing unusual. After examining the young maid, he found nothing wrong and could only attribute the discomfort to Cai Jinjian's actions, which had attracted the gaze of a heavenly sage in the town.

Cai Jinjian felt relieved, and the stagnant thoughts that had accumulated in her mind flowed away like a flood breaking through a dam.

More than just a small opportunity?

If it weren't for the fact that the hollow Yunxia Mountain needed a sufficiently weighty "immortal treasure" to stabilize the leaking mountain gate's fortune, and she needed it to solidify her position as the next mountain lord, Cai Jinjian would have left this place immediately and returned to Yunxia Mountain to seclude herself for ten or twenty years.

Cai Jinjian walked toward the maid in the shabby alley.

The young man behind her asked, "Did you do something to me?"

Cai Jinjian didn't turn around, "Little guy, you're overthinking it."

The young man fell silent.

Cai Jinjian turned and smiled, "You have at most half a year to live."

The young man was stunned.

She smiled sweetly, "You really believed it? Sister was just teasing you!"

Chen Ping'an grinned.

Cai Jinjian and Fu Nanhua, the immortal couple, almost simultaneously had the same thought.

A frog at the bottom of a well, an ant at the foot of a mountain.

Song Jixin, squatting on the wall, rubbed his temples, his face unusually serious.

Even after Zhigui had taken the eccentric sister to find the snotty Gu Can, and the young man who was willing to spend a fortune on a whim had entered his own yard, the perceptive Song Jixin still squatted there, lost in thought. In the gaze of the extraordinary young man, a thin young man stood in Niping Alley, looking at the tall woman's back for a while, then quickly turned his gaze and walked toward his own gate, but the gate remained closed for a long time.

Song Jixin hated this feeling. There was someone who usually didn't show much, but at certain times, was like a stone in a latrine, annoying to leave alone and dirty to move.

So much so that he didn't even hear Fu Nanhua's words behind him.

The young master of Old Dragon City had to repeat, "Song Jixin, do you know there are people in this world who are very different from you?"

Song Jixin finally came to his senses, turned around, and continued squatting, looking down at the elegant and well-dressed Fu Nanhua, and said calmly, "I know."

Fu Nanhua had to swallow the words that were already on the tip of his tongue, but he still felt a bit reluctant and laughed, "Do you really know?"

The mysterious young man from the town, with a cold look, sneered, "Are you going to say they can revive the dead, heal the sick, live forever, and have boundless Daoist powers?"

Fu Nanhua nodded, relieved, "We can be considered half-fellow Daoists."

Song Jixin glanced at the neighboring gate, slightly distracted and inappropriate.

Fu Nanhua spoke frankly, "Then I'll be straightforward. Whatever you have, as long as you name a price, I'll buy it, even if I have to sell everything I own!"

Song Jixin asked in confusion, "I can see that your family status is higher than hers. Since she can treat the neighbor like that, why are you willing to treat me so... equally?"

Fu Nanhua took over, "On equal terms?"

Song Jixin nodded and praised, "You're a good person to talk to, not difficult at all."

Fu Nanhua didn't mind the young man's condescending attitude, whether in position or tone.

Unlike Cai Jinjian, who saw the young man in straw sandals as a lowly ant, Fu Nanhua felt a sense of kinship with Song Jixin and always had a sense of reverence for Niping Alley, though he couldn't explain why.

So Fu Nanhua genuinely considered the young man in front of him a fellow Daoist.

On this path, the further one goes, the distinctions of status, gender, and age are all illusions, meaningless.

Song Jixin jumped off the wall and said in a low voice, "Let's talk inside."

Fu Nanhua nodded, "Okay."

As Song Jixin stepped over the threshold, he asked casually, "Just asking, what's your relationship with that obviously well-bred sister?"

Fu Nanhua answered without hesitation, "We're temporarily a team, but not the same kind of people."

Song Jixin said, "Oh, then you're being too indecisive and not decisive enough. I heard that in the outside world, with immortals and demons, once there's a grudge, shouldn't it be eliminated to prevent future trouble?"

The eldest son of the Fu family, having grown up in Old Dragon City, had seen many ups and downs and showed no emotion on his face when he heard this.

He laughed and asked, "Do you have a grudge with her?"

The young man widened his eyes, feigning surprise, "What are you talking about?"

Seemingly realizing that the man in front of him didn't believe him, Song Jixin reined in his exaggerated expression, sat down on a chair in the hall, and gestured for Fu Nanhua to sit down as well. Then he said seriously, "I've been neighbors with Chen Ping'an, who lost his parents at a young age, for many years, and we've never had a fight. Believe it or not."

Fu Nanhua instantly understood the young man's subtle meaning.

The neighbor, a rootless reed, would be dead if he died, and no one would investigate.

The young master of Old Dragon City was both amused and exasperated, suddenly realizing that the turmoil in this small alley was absurd and ridiculous.

The poor young man next door, in an attempt to deliberately hide the address of Song Jixin and his servant, had brought a disaster upon himself, which could cost him his life.

Ironically, the young man from the noble family, Song Jixin, was now trying to use someone else to kill him, ensuring his death.

One blow wasn't enough; he wanted another.

Fu Nanhua couldn't help but feel a deep sense of admiration. No wonder the ancient text "Shizi" says: "The cubs of tigers and leopards, though not yet fully grown, already have the spirit to eat cattle."

——

In Gu Can's yard, the child had been locked in the inner room by his mother, and the woman sat opposite the old man who called himself a "True Lord."

The old man retracted his palm, with its intricate lines, and smiled, "The situation is settled."

The woman asked in confusion, "May I ask what the immortal master did to make Chen Ping'an..."

She stopped when she saw the old man's eyes suddenly flash with sharpness, and she quickly closed her mouth.

The old man looked toward the gate, gently waved his sleeve, and a gentle breeze swirled in the small yard, lingering. He then said, "A person of my status, stepping into this place, the deeper I get involved, the more helpless I become, though I'm not in danger yet. The longer it takes, the more... as the young man Song Jixin said, it becomes a messy and entangled situation, leading to a life full of karmic entanglements. Fortunately, that person, hated by heaven and people, even after taking a big step back, still can't escape a disastrous end. It's a pity, as the situation that could have brought him eternal blessings has taken a sharp turn for the worse, a tragic sight... This is the opportunity for me to make some plans for your son, to see if I can end the young man's life and cut off the future investigations by certain sages and immortals, avoiding any future retribution, so that my new disciple can ascend to immortality with the power of wind and thunder, ultimately transforming into a dragon..."

The woman, sitting beside him, listened, sweating profusely.

The old man smiled and asked, "Isn't it strange that someone who eats the essence of the sun and moon and doesn't care about worldly affairs, after cultivating for so long, seems to have only cultivated a deep and ruthless nature, not much better than you, an ignorant village woman with shallow eyes?"

The woman quickly lowered her head and trembled, "I would never dare to think such a thing!"

The old man smiled and waited quietly for Cai Jinjian's knock on the door.

On the path of cultivation, there are boundless techniques and infinite powers. Principles have their sizes, and the Dao has its levels.

Cai Jinjian sees you as ants, but don't I see her and Fu Nanhua as ants as well?

Why should I explain anything to the ants under my feet?

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