Visiting Relatives Down the Mountain

Two years later.

Liu Jin opened his eyes in front of the stone wall on the back mountain. He looked down at his body. When he circulated his energy, his entire body, from head to toe, was completely transformed into Qi, appearing as a translucent pale white color. In the sunlight, one could see the Qi flowing slowly along the meridians.

Reversal of Life, Second Peak.

Two years. From a single finger to both hands completely transformed into Qi, and then to the arms, torso, head, and legs, each step was guided by the automatic cultivation device, each step precise and flawless. But at this point, the automatic cultivation device suddenly slowed down. It wasn't a standstill, but rather like a river encountering a watershed; it seemed unsure which direction the water should flow next.

Liu Jin suppressed his inner energy, and his hands returned to their normal skin color. He stood up, brushed the grass clippings off his Taoist robe, and walked up the mountain.

Zuo Ruotong was flipping through an old book in the lecture hall. When he saw Liu Jin come in, he closed the book and looked him up and down.

"Is it complete?"

"Peak of the second level." Liu Jin sat down opposite him. "Any higher, and you lose your way."

Zuo Ruotong nodded. Although he had expected it, it still felt unreal. He poured Liu Jin a cup of tea, the teapot spout emitting white steam, which was particularly noticeable in the autumn chill.

"What do you think of the third level of the Reverse Rebirth Triple Stage?" Zuo Ruotong said. "At this point, there's nothing more I can do to help you. You'll have to walk the rest of the road yourself."

"So many of the senior disciples have gone down the mountain?"

"Yes. Find an opportunity, or an answer." Zuo Ruotong picked up her teacup, took a sip, "But none of them have gone as far as you."

Liu Jin didn't reply immediately. He looked out the window. The bamboo forest was still the same bamboo forest, but its color was a bit darker than it had been two years ago. In the past two years, he had hardly ever gone down the mountain. Every day, he would get up at dawn to do his morning prayers, study theory with Zuo Ruotong in the morning, meditate in the afternoon, and read books in the evening.

He would occasionally go out for a stroll, to check on the new disciples and the progress of Lu Jin and Li Muxuan. His days were as quiet as still water.

But the water was too still; he couldn't tell if there were any undercurrents. He didn't know if the calamity of the Sanyi Sect was still waiting ahead. Wugensheng wouldn't come; would Zuo Ruotong go to find him? Would he ultimately die? Could he break through to the third level before all of this happened?

For the past two years, he has been cultivating diligently on the mountain, but he has never forgotten this matter. Now that he has reached the peak of the second level, the automatic cultivation device has played its full role. If he does not supplement the theory and improve the technique himself, he can only use it to help him refine his meditation skills.

Staying on the mountain won't bring him the third opportunity. He needs to go down. He needs to see things he can never see from the mountain.

"Master," Liu Jin put down his teacup, "Is Li Muxuan going home to visit his family?"

Zuo Ruotong raised her eyes, a slight smile playing on her lips: "You want to go with him?"

"I'd like to visit Mr. Dongshan; I haven't had a chance to properly thank him yet."

Zuo Ruotong glanced at him. That glance held scrutiny, worry, but mostly reassurance—the kind of reassurance only one has for their most reliable disciple. "Go. Keep an eye on Ruotong while you're at it. He's changed quite a bit in the last two years, but I'm still a little worried about him going home alone. However, since you went out with him, you need to bring him back to me before you go about your business."

When Li Muxuan heard that Liu Jin wanted to go down the mountain with him, his expression was complicated.

"Senior brother, are you going on a journey or are you going to keep an eye on me?"

"It's on my way," Liu Jin said. "Can I give you a ride?"

Li Muxuan looked at him suspiciously for a long time, but in the end he did not refuse. In the past two years, his relationship with Liu Jin could not be described as close. Liu Jin did not teach him any skills or give him any guidance. All the teaching was handled by Zuo Ruotong personally.

They would occasionally bump into each other at the training grounds and only exchange a nod. But Li Muxuan knew in his heart that the figure standing outside the courtyard gate that night was his first benefactor at the Sanyi Sect. Although he would never admit it to his face, even if it meant death.

"Alright," Li Muxuan slung the bundle over his shoulder, "but don't bring up Sun Wukong on the way."

"What's still on your mind?"

"I don't care. It's just annoying to hear."

Liu Jin smiled. He'd smiled more often in the past two years. Zuo Ruotong said that after reaching the peak of the second level, he felt much more relaxed, like a string that had been stretched for too long finally learning to loosen itself. He carried a simple bundle and walked down the mountain path one after the other with Li Muxuan.

At the foot of the mountain, Lu Jin stood at the crossroads waiting to see them off. He handed a bag of dry rations to Li Muxuan and another to Liu Jin.

"Eat on the way."

"Aren't you going to reply?" Li Muxuan asked.

"My home is nearby, I'll go back for the New Year," Lu Jin said.

The two walked out of the mountain gate and headed towards the town along the dirt road. After walking quite a distance, Li Muxuan looked back and saw that Lu Jin was still standing at the crossroads.

"This guy is really something," Li Muxuan muttered, "He takes even giving someone away so seriously."

"You got a gift too," Liu Jin said casually.

Li Muxuan was silent for a moment, then turned his face away: "Who cares?"

But his steps became a little lighter.

......

"Haha, little Mu Xuan is still all talk and no action."

"Here it comes, the family visit episode!"

"If Li Muxuan is visiting his family, won't he run into that person?"

"Wang Yaozu, Ghost Hand Wang. That old scoundrel from Quanxing."

"Yes, a two-year timeline. We should encounter it. Why does it feel like a plot-correcting force?"

"But this time it's different. In the original story, Li Muxuan was one person. Now there's Liu Jin too."

"With a senior brother at the peak of the second level following him, does Wang Yaozu still dare to cause trouble?"

"It's hard to say. Wang Yaozu is the kind of person who never uses force. What he's good at is planting a seed in your heart and waiting for it to sprout on its own."

"Liu Jin knows about this. His going along is definitely not just for sightseeing."

"Nonsense. He's already involved, he'll definitely see it through to the end, otherwise he'd be wasting his time."

......

The two walked for half a day and stopped to rest at a roadside tea stall. Li Muxuan drank his coarse tea, then suddenly remembered something and put down his bowl.

"Senior brother, is the answer you insisted on finding when you went down the mountain related to Trinity?"

Liu Jin held his teacup, watching the pedestrians coming and going on the official road in the distance. There were peddlers carrying loads, cart drivers, and wives carrying children back to their parents' homes. Everyone was going about their own business.

"It's related," he said.

"Do we really have to go down the mountain to look for it?"

"There aren't any on the mountain." Liu Jin rolled his eyes.

Li Muxuan frowned. But he didn't press the matter. The two finished their tea and continued on their way.

As they passed through several villages, the population grew denser, and fields of rice began to appear along the roadside. Li Muxuan walked faster and faster, though he didn't say it aloud, he still missed home after two years away.

Liu Jin followed behind, at a leisurely pace.

He silently calculated in his heart. Wang Yaozu. Quanxing. If everything went according to the original plot, this time would be a turning point in Li Muxuan's fate. In the original story, no one was by his side. This time, there was, and Li Muxuan had already become a disciple; it was hard to say what kind of thoughts Wang Yaozu would dare to harbor.

He didn't know how or how Wang Yaozu would appear, nor how much appeal Quanxing's rhetoric would still hold for a child already won over by Zuo Ruotong. But he knew that some seeds, once sown and watered, would grow on their own. What he needed to do wasn't to block every seed, but to beat up the person who sowed it before it was even planted.

Li Muxuan called out to him from ahead, "Senior brother, hurry up! If you dawdle any longer, we won't get there before dark!"

Liu Jin quickened his pace.

The setting sun cast long shadows of the two figures eastward. Ahead lay the smoke rising from the chimneys of Qing Shi Town, and further away, the hidden currents yet to emerge.