Chapter 110: Fellow Daoist, Have You Heard Of...

In front of the thatched cottage by the lake, under the clear blue sky dotted with white clouds,

Qi Yuan, the old Daoist who had just been summoned back by his eldest disciple, landed on the ground. Li Changshou and Lan Ling'e quickly stepped forward, blocking their master's path.

This scene immediately brought to Qi Yuan’s mind the last incident in the alchemy room.

The old Daoist instinctively took half a step back, his expression serious as he looked at his two devoted disciples...

"What scheme are you two cooking up now?"

"Master, please rest assured. This time, Junior Sister and I will absolutely not knock you unconscious," Li Changshou said with a kind and humble smile.

Lan Ling'e chimed in, "Master, this senior uncle of yours hasn't given you any news for so many years, and now she's suddenly sent two letters in the past few months, even arranging to meet you. Isn't that a bit...

A bit too sudden?"

Qi Yuan sighed and said, "Your senior uncle was just angry with me back then for not being up to par."

Li Changshou quickly interjected, "Master, a man should never utter the words 'not up to par'."

Qi Yuan looked bewildered, while Lan Ling'e glanced at her senior brother with a meaningful, yet shy, smile.

Li Changshou continued, "Master, this senior uncle of ours is also from the Xiao Qiong Peak lineage. If she wants to see you, why doesn't she return to the sect? When she left, she hadn't become an immortal yet, and her excuse was to find our traveling grandmaster. But she hasn't returned in nearly a thousand years, which, according to sect rules, should be considered betraying the sect. Master, if you go to meet her rashly, how will you explain it to the sect? If the elders question you, how can you answer with a clear conscience?"

Qi Yuan frowned in thought, gripping his fu chen and pacing back and forth on the grassy lake shore with his hands behind his back.

Lan Ling'e secretly gave Li Changshou a thumbs-up, but he just lowered his eyes and said nothing more.

Li Changshou knew that he occasionally had a tendency to overthink things a bit.

But thinking too much was always better than not thinking at all.

Besides, there were suspicious elements everywhere in this matter involving his master.

Although he had just said they wouldn't knock out their master, if verbal persuasion failed, setting up an illusion array wouldn't exactly be breaking his word.

Just as Li Changshou was about to continue reasoning with his master, he heard Qi Yuan sigh,

"That's true. Your senior uncle left without a word back then, and the sect has already removed her from the disciple registry."

Qi Yuan looked at Li Changshou; although it was difficult for him to admit, he still asked,

"Changshou, what do you think I should do?"

Li Changshou used a voice transmission technique and said,

"Master, how about writing a letter and telling your disciple the meeting location? I can use a paper effigy to deliver the letter for you, just like when I went out to buy herbs before—you've seen that. No matter what, we can't just look at this from our own perspective. In the letter, you can first advise your senior uncle to return to the sect and admit her mistake. Our sect rules are strict, but the punishments aren't too severe—probably just a thousand years of secluded reflection. Master, does that make sense?"

Qi Yuan pondered silently, already somewhat swayed.

Li Changshou then used a voice transmission to Lan Ling'e, instructing her on what to say, and the two of them tag-teamed their argument.

Before long, Qi Yuan nodded, convinced by the pair.

The old Daoist hurried back into the house and used a transmission jade talisman to write a letter. He revised it repeatedly, carefully choosing his words, and after bustling about for two hours, he solemnly handed the jade talisman to Li Changshou.

"Don't peek at it!"

"Master, rest assured," Li Changshou laughed, "I already read it while you were writing."

"You!"

"Just kidding, just kidding. Don't get angry, Master."

"You're going to give me a heart demon one of these days, you two!"

Afterward, Qi Yuan mentioned the meeting location—

In the mortal world of Nan Zhou, on the shore of the East Sea, a large mortal city called Lin Dong; the appointed time was two months later, at the east wall of the city, after sunset...

Li Changshou advised his master to stay in the house and cultivate for now, and he reinforced the protective arrays around the thatched cottage to block external detection.

"Senior brother, what are you going to do?"

Lan Ling'e sneaked over and whispered. Li Changshou didn't say much, just told her not to wander around during this time.

"I'll skip the alchemy room for these two months and just cultivate in my thatched cottage," Li Changshou said, his gaze still calm.

Lan Ling'e tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and asked softly, "Do you need me to send the paper effigy out of the sect?"

"Not necessary," Li Changshou glanced at his junior sister and smiled. "You're quite familiar with the process. Just focus on your cultivation. Once you've passed your immortal ascension tribulation, I'll let you get more involved in things like this."

"Okay! I'll work hard, senior brother!"

Lan Ling'e responded with enthusiasm.

After Li Changshou returned to his own thatched cottage to cultivate, she snapped back to reality and lightly pressed her forehead.

Now, even to be used as a 'treasure' by her senior brother, she needed at least the cultivation of an immortal...

That little granduncle was really something!

He had skewed her senior brother's sense of scale and raised the bar for what counts as a 'treasure person'!

As she was complaining inwardly, Lan Ling'e suddenly heard a shout from the sky, growing louder as it approached:

"Little Ling'e—"

She looked up, and a black shadow hurtled toward her.

She instinctively clutched two jade bottles, but then remembered her senior brother was nearby, so no outsider could attack Xiao Qiong Peak...

In a flash, she looked up again.

She didn't even need to see the person's face clearly; just one glance at the overwhelming aura of mischief told her it was that little granduncle she'd just been complaining about!

As she let out a soft cry, Lan Ling'e quickly put away the jade bottles, only to be tackled full-on and scooped up by Jiu Jiu. They spun around on the spot in front of the thatched cottage, laughing and playing.

"Granduncle, you're squishing me so much..."

"Hahaha, feel the porcelain-like care and affection from your granduncle! Little Ling'e!"

"Granduncle, I was wrong, hahaha!

Don't tickle me... Granduncle, I was wrong..."

In the neighboring thatched cottage, Li Changshou saw this and smiled faintly.

But inwardly, he was a bit worried about Lan Ling'e's cultivation.

Playing around with Jiu Jiu every day would inevitably delay her practice—he'd have to remind her about that.

Before long, unable to withstand her granduncle's assault, Lan Ling'e diverted the trouble and shouted for her senior brother to save her...

Jiu Jiu's eyes lit up. "Huh? Your senior brother is out of seclusion?

Call him over for a big god fight! I haven't seen him in half a year!"

Li Changshou shook his head helplessly and strolled out of his thatched cottage.

He hadn't even warmed his meditation cushion yet.

Lan Ling'e's thatched cottage soon became lively.

Li Changshou brought out two jars of fine wine, Lan Ling'e fetched the snacks she'd made for her granduncle, and the three of them played card games with the paper cards Li Changshou had made.

"A pair of true immortals!"

"Hmph! A pair of heavenly immortals!"

"This round, we're the little immortals, and Senior Brother is the big god! Granduncle, why are you pressing on me?"

"Uh... just a slip of the hand, a slip of the hand."

"I think you two should just give up," Li Changshou said calmly, shaking his head. "I have both golden immortal cards in my hand. How can you two turn the tables?"

Lan Ling'e huffed lightly, "Nonsense, the little golden card is clearly in my... Oh no, I fell for it!"

Jiu Jiu burst into laughter, hugging her knees and nearly rolling over. "Look at you, still trying to mock your granduncle..."

Just then, an old Daoist wandered over from outside—it was Qi Yuan.

"Master!"

"Qi Yuan senior brother!"

The three of them started to stand up, but 'Qi Yuan' waved for them to stay seated. "Carry on with your game. Changshou, Ling'e, make sure to keep Jiu Jiu junior sister company. I have some business and need to go out for a bit."

Lan Ling'e blinked in surprise, and Li Changshou stood up to bow.

'Qi Yuan' waved it off with a chuckle and rode a cloud toward the sect gate.

As if remembering something, Lan Ling'e winked at Li Changshou, who smiled slightly and gestured for the two of them to continue playing.

Jiu Jiu immediately boasted, "Did you hear that? Your master wants you to keep your granduncle company!

Come on, bring out the good wine and food, and go easy on me in the cards!"

The senior and junior disciples each laughed lightly and continued playing with Jiu Jiu.

At that moment, Li Changshou was multitasking, but it didn't affect his string of victories...

The Qi Yuan who had just appeared was naturally a paper effigy disguised by Li Changshou, with his master's consent.

Having operated multiple paper effigies before, multitasking was no burden for him now.

While his true self played cards and chatted with his granduncle, the effigy had already slipped out of the sect and was flying south on a cloud...

A short while later, Li Changshou checked the detection stone carried by the paper effigy in the form of his master, and saw a faint light flickering on it.

An immortal sense was continuously scanning the paper effigy.

Li Changshou remained unfazed and kept flying south. The paper effigy's expression grew complex—part nostalgic, part urgent, and a touch of timid reluctance, making it seem even more like his master than his master himself...

That immortal sense followed for over four hundred li before gradually fading.

Though he didn't know who was probing, based on this, the intruder's cultivation was likely mid True Immortal realm.

It matched his earlier guess.

But this was just a guess; Li Changshou wouldn't base any judgments on it—the information was still too sparse.

Simulating his master's turbid immortal aura was tough, especially that hint of turbidity.

Li Changshou had come up with a clever workaround, using his master's fu chen, which was often used to discipline disciples, to suppress most of the effigy's aura and make it realistic.

He planned to get his master a new fu chen with softer bristles when he returned...

Traveling a thousand li from the mountain, heading toward Nan Zhou.

Flying birds and light clouds played, mocking his excessive worries.

The paper effigy, disguised as his master, was flying through the air when Li Changshou's immortal sense detected a white cloud three hundred li to the east, where several Du Xian Gate immortals were returning from duties...

It was Wine Wu, Wine Shi, and two other sect attendants.

Wine Wu also spotted the figure of 'Qi Yuan.'

The short Daoist looked worried and said something to Wine Shi beside him, then had the others head back to the sect while he veered off on a cloud to follow.

However, Wine Wu didn't approach directly; he stayed about three hundred li back, using his immortal sense to lock onto 'Qi Yuan,' wanting to see what he was up to.

Li Changshou thought to himself: ...

Was Wine Wu senior uncle mistaking his master for a spy...?

Since he was disguised as his master, whose immortal sense range wouldn't detect Wine Wu, Li Changshou pondered briefly and decided not to interfere, letting him follow.

While chatting and playing with Jiu Jiu, he controlled the paper effigy to fly slowly toward Nan Zhou.

Wine Wu was quite patient, maintaining that three-hundred-li distance and occasionally stroking his chin in thought...

This pursuit lasted half a month...

Li Changshou even wondered if Wine Wu might be connected to his master's enemies.

But after careful consideration, Wine Wu had just run into them by chance, and he had no real ties with his master—they'd only met a few times without any odd behavior.

Traveling this way, with stops along the route, 'Qi Yuan' arrived at the meeting place a month and a half early—the city of Lin Dong, on the East Sea coast in northeastern Nan Zhou.

Transforming into an ordinary wandering Daoist, the paper effigy held the fu chen and furrowed his brow as he slipped through the city gate into the bustling city.

Wine Wu, however, landed outside the city and scratched his head, clearly puzzled by his junior brother's movements.

'Could this be related to the sect's last great calamity?

And it's Changshou's master, so I can't just ignore it...'

As soon as this thought crossed Wine Wu's mind, his immortal sense caught 'Qi Yuan,' who had just entered the city, being approached by another Daoist in robes who whispered something.

"Problem, definitely a problem."

Wine Wu immediately concealed his aura and sneaked toward the city for a closer investigation.

Of course, the short Daoist was mistaken.

When Li Changshou's paper effigy entered the city, that Daoist in robes, with Spirit Severing realm cultivation, had strode right up to him—not to make contact or discuss anything about 'Wan Jiang Yu.'

The Daoist had an upright face and a calm aura. After approaching, he first bowed with clasped hands and then said,

"Daoist friend, have you heard of the South Sea Sea God Cult?"