Chapter 6

The Fox Immortal Temple was located on the Southern Mountain, in the outskirts of the city.

Years ago, the mountainsides were covered in plum blossoms. However, because of a “Peach Blossom Rendezvous” flower-viewing event in Shen City, great effort was expended to replace the plum trees with peach trees. Initially, the internet was flooded with scathing curses, saying the government always did pointless things. But later, once people grew accustomed to the “lush peach blossoms,” no one mentioned the “plum blossoms” anymore.

The weather cooperated beautifully; the appointed day dawned perfectly clear and pleasant, with gentle spring breezes.

Jiang Yiguang’s prepared excuse of “rainy day, don’t feel like going out” had no chance to be used. Under Lu Yaotiao’s soul-summoning urgency, she reluctantly changed into a casual set of hiking clothes.

The System hadn’t given any prompts, but her intuition told her she was very likely to run into Fu Juan, who had disappeared early that morning, at the Southern Mountain.

“Are we really going?” Settled in the car, about to depart, Jiang Yiguang still frowned and turned to ask Lu Yaotiao.

“Why not?” Lu Yaotiao clung to Jiang Yiguang’s arm, asking with a beaming smile. Seeing Jiang Yiguang still hesitating, she pulled out her phone from her bag, opened her social media feed, and pointed to a recent post. “This is a photo of that senior and her crush. Her wish really did come true. From this, the Fox Immortal Temple is definitely efficacious. Don’t you want Fu Juan to be utterly devoted to you?”

Upon hearing the words “utterly devoted,” Jiang Yiguang’s eyelids twitched, and her heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t control her thoughts, and images involuntarily surfaced: Fu Juan, hair disheveled, sitting on the bed, allowing her to do whatever she pleased. Her face instantly flushed a fiery red.

“What are you thinking about?” Lu Yaotiao poked Jiang Yiguang’s cheek, but retracted her hand before Jiang Yiguang could get angry over the embarrassment, sitting up straight with a prim and proper air.

Interrupted by Lu Yaotiao, Jiang Yiguang’s mind, burning with inexplicable passion, finally managed to clear. She raised her hand and patted her heated cheeks, suddenly remembering something. She said, “Xie Qingdu posted that? How come I didn’t see that post?” Let alone a “post,” before Lu Yaotiao mentioned it, she had no idea this aloof beauty even had a crush, and one who seemed completely mismatched at that.

“Hm?” Lu Yaotiao froze upon hearing this.

To confirm her words, Jiang Yiguang also took out her phone to check Xie Qingdu’s feed—apart from work and study-related posts, there were no traces of her personal life.

Yet what Lu Yaotiao saw was completely different.

In Lu Yaotiao’s eyes, Xie Qingdu displayed a vibrancy utterly uncharacteristic of herself, even if it stemmed from “loving affection” with someone else.

Lu Yaotiao held her breath, and only after a while did she ask blankly, “What does she mean by this?”

“Perhaps she only wants you to see it?” Jiang Yiguang frowned, thinking for a moment. She couldn’t be bothered to decipher Xie Qingdu’s convoluted thoughts and asked bluntly, “You heard about the Fox Immortal Temple from Xie Qingdu? Are you sure she went to worship there?”

Lu Yaotiao pursed her lips, “I saw it on her feed.” Over the years, her contact with Xie Qingdu had never broken off. They weren’t close, but couldn’t be called mere acquaintances either. In the past, Xie Qingdu was like an emotionless block of ice. This newfound “love life” of hers—Lu Yaotiao had no suitable reason or standing to ask about it, so she could only pretend not to know.

Jiang Yiguang dug up past information from her memory, scrutinizing the bewildered Lu Yaotiao from head to toe. Suddenly, she smiled, “The senior has been quite good to you.”

Lu Yaotiao let out an “Ah,” recalling some past events, and smiled until her eyes crinkled. She said, “Maybe because I helped her carry her suitcase freshman year?”

Jiang Yiguang rested her chin on her hand, “Quite a few people have tried to curry her favor, haven’t they?” She actually couldn’t recall Xie Qingdu’s current appearance, only that admirers of Xie Qingdu were numerous as cattle hair. Unfortunately, the senior was stone-hearted, shattering the hearts of many young men and women.

Lu Yaotiao boasted shamelessly, “Maybe because none of them were as good-looking as me.”

Jiang Yiguang’s gaze swept over her, and she laughed lightly, nodding with an air of seriousness, “Yes.”

Perhaps because “Xie Qingdu” was mentioned, a layer of confusion clouded Lu Yaotiao’s brow, making her quieter than usual. Jiang Yiguang didn’t speak much either, simply leaning back against her seat to rest. Half an hour passed in a blink. When they got out of the car, Jiang Yiguang’s gaze passed over the congested vehicles and surging crowds, landing on the peach blossom forest brilliant as rosy clouds.

The peach tree stands graceful, its blossoms radiant.

Jiang Yiguang frowned, “There are quite a few people here.” The open-air parking lot at the foot of the mountain was practically full.

Lu Yaotiao replied, “It’s also the season for spring outings. Not necessarily all for the Fox Immortal Temple; some might just be here to enjoy the flowers.” She stretched lazily, grabbed Jiang Yiguang, and headed excitedly towards the mountain. The Southern Mountain was actually a hill, not very tall. Because many people came for flower viewing, the local government had funded the construction of stone steps leading straight to the top, and even a barrier-free access path.

“Jiang Jiang, what are you looking at?” Lu Yaotiao followed Jiang Yiguang’s gaze to the damp stone surface. Besides a few withered yellow leaves and leftover cat food, there was nothing else. Maybe she was curious about the barrier-free path? Thinking about it, she said, “Would someone with mobility issues climb to the mountaintop? Isn’t that just unnecessary?”

“Not necessarily.” Jiang Yiguang’s expression became complicated as she glimpsed two figures.

She had anticipated it, but truly encountering them still stirred her heart in turmoil.

Lu Yaotiao: “…” Her expression turned subtle. She quietly moved closer to Jiang Yiguang, asking in a trembling voice, “Is there something wrong with this Fox Immortal Temple?” If she just saw Wang Xuanming, she wouldn’t be so puzzled. But Fu Juan also appeared—with her condition, the likelihood of her coming out to sightsee was minimal.

Jiang Yiguang glanced sideways at Lu Yaotiao, snorting lightly, “Now you’re scared?”

Lu Yaotiao shivered but retorted, “Who’s scared? There are so many people here. If something really happened, the Dao Court would intervene directly.”

Seeing her blustering while inwardly fearful, Jiang Yiguang didn’t expose her. She secretly slipped a True Form Chart of the Five Peaks into Lu Yaotiao’s pocket.

Wang Xuanming, heading up the mountain, also spotted Jiang Yiguang and Lu Yaotiao. The smile on his face faded, and his brows furrowed deeply. He couldn’t help but ask, “Did you follow her here?”

“No.” Fu Juan’s tone was very indifferent. She gazed ahead at Jiang Yiguang—or rather, at the brief glimpse of the True Form Chart of the Five Peaks—her eyes darkening slightly.

“That’s good.” Wang Xuanming breathed a sigh of relief, afraid Jiang Yiguang would cause a scene at such an inappropriate time. If there really were evil spirits at the Fox Immortal Temple, the first to be targeted would be someone with wicked thoughts like Jiang Yiguang. Yet, looking at her, a persistent unease gripped his heart. His rock-bottom impression of her made him unwilling to be anywhere Jiang Yiguang was. His hand fell onto the wheelchair handle. “Keep going forward?” he asked.

Fu Juan withdrew her gaze and answered faintly, “Mm.”

Wang Xuanming felt reassured. Cultivators were different from ordinary people. A vague, intangible “Qi” ran beneath their feet, making mountain climbing a trivial task. A few minutes later, they caught up with Jiang Yiguang and Lu Yaotiao. Upon hearing the words “Fox Immortal Temple,” he couldn’t resist turning his head to glance over.

Jiang Yiguang met Wang Xuanming’s eyes for a moment before looking away.

The spring breeze blew, and peach blossoms from the branches fell like crimson rain.

Watching a splash of that rouge color land on Fu Juan’s shoulder, Jiang Yiguang’s hand itched. She endured it again and again, and finally turned to look deeply at Lu Yaotiao, reaching out and patting the fallen blossoms off her.

“Hisss—” Lu Yaotiao winced, glaring at Jiang Yiguang and complaining, “So heavy-handed! Did you lose your soul at the sight of Fu Juan?”

Jiang Yiguang looked innocent, “It’s about the same as usual, right?”

Lu Yaotiao said nothing, just glared at her.

Jiang Yiguang suddenly remembered the points added to her physical strength stat—the small parenthetical note “weak and frail” had disappeared. It seemed crossing the “25” threshold brought a qualitative leap. When she added enough to reach “100” points, could she transcend mortality based purely on physical fitness?

“They’ve already gone far. What are you grinning foolishly about?” Lu Yaotiao thought Jiang Yiguang’s mood was still swayed by Fu Juan. “Have you considered changing your target?” From the moment Fu Juan appeared until she vanished into the distance, she hadn’t even given Jiang Yiguang a glance. That wasn’t the closeness expected between childhood acquaintances, but the aloofness and hatred reserved for a foe.

“I smiled?” Jiang Yiguang raised a hand to touch the corner of her lips.

In the plot, Jiang Yiguang’s “joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness” were only stirred by Fu Juan. But now, she clearly just wanted to be her own person.

Up the mountain.

There were many visitors, groups of two or three, mostly young adults in their early twenties.

In front of the Fox Immortal Temple stood an old peach tree. Red silk ribbons hung from its branches, suspending small wooden plaques engraved with names, swinging in the wind, occasionally clacking against each other.

Wang Xuanming held his Eight Trigrams Luopan compass, secretly performing hand seals. After a moment, he turned and looked at Fu Juan beneath the peach tree. Briefly dazzled by her radiant, peach-blossom-like complexion, he then put his compass back in his bag, walked over to her, and said with feigned calmness, “I’ve checked. There are no abnormalities in the ‘Qi’ here.” Seeing Fu Juan staring persistently at the “matchmaking wooden plaques,” he added, “These plaques also show no traces of Daoist arts.”

Fu Juan stared intently, then after a moment said coldly, “A blinding spell.” After the Spiritual Energy Revival, the state wouldn’t exterminate all sentient demons and monsters, but rather, as much as possible, register them for unified control. Yet the nature of demons was often wicked and unpredictable; who knew what beings hidden in the shadows might eventually become?

Wang Xuanming added, “People from the Noble Clans came before, too. Like the Dao Court, their rating was low-risk.”

Fu Juan hummed absently. Hearing the words “Noble Clans,” her eyes grew even more somber and dark. The Zhang family, one of the Four Great Mystic Arts Clans, was her maternal family. In the past, members of the Zhang family often came to inquire about her. However, ever since that tribulation eight years ago, they had never appeared before her again.

Human sentiment, it seemed, was only this fickle.