Lin Jue did not leave. Taking advantage of the hour—as it was not yet late and the Yang Qi had not reached its blazing peak—he climbed the nearby bamboo-covered mountain to sit in meditation and practice his breathing, attuning to the spiritual resonance to absorb and nourish the five qi.
The wind fluttered his robes and hair, rustling through the bamboo forest that covered the mountain.
At this moment, his heart was at its most tranquil.
After cultivating for a while, he took a break, ate two vegetable dumplings, and sought out the shade of the bamboo forest.
To his surprise, Lin Jue discovered that another section had unexpectedly appeared in the Ancient Book:
Dream Sending: also known as dream visitation, the method of entering and creating dreams.
Dreams are an illusory world.
There are seven or eight methods of entering and creating dreams in the world, which can roughly be divided into two categories. One is called Dream Descent; aside from Daoist priests relying on the power of dream gods, it is mastered only by deities and a small handful of demons. The other is called Dream Sending, which uses spells to send oneself—or an illusion one has created—into another person's dream, and it can be learned through practice.
This was the method of Dream Sending.
"Hmm?"
Surprised, Lin Jue thought it over carefully.
He wondered when this new section had appeared...
He must have been asleep last night, which was why he hadn't felt a thing.
Even though he was alone in the mountain forest, Lin Jue assumed his usual reading posture, naturally placing his hand on the page. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Words immediately echoed in his mind, explaining the method of Dream Sending.
However, this Dream Sending was far more complex and profound than Qi Exhalation and the Fire-Spitting Art.
Although the explanation was still thorough and detailed, that thoroughness relied on a certain foundational understanding.
For one, this spell was not something Lin Jue—who had just begun practicing the simplest, most primitive Qi Nourishing Method—could actually use. Furthermore, the spell had appeared out of thin air in the Ancient Book. If he were a disciple with a proper lineage, he would have had to master a great deal of knowledge regarding cultivation and spells, as well as learn simpler techniques related to Dream Sending, before his Master would ever allow him to study it. Listening now, Lin Jue could tell that the voice was still explaining every single aspect of the technique, but there was much he simply could not understand.
Unless he succeeded in his quest to visit Immortals and seek the Dao, he would first have to rely on this book to learn simpler, more foundational related spells.
"..."
Lin Jue had no choice but to set the book aside for the time being.
As to why his very first dream visitation at the Wang Family Ancestral Hall of Heng Village hadn't triggered a reaction from the Ancient Book, Lin Jue figured it was because the spell that entity had used was the unlearnable "Dream Descent."
Gradually, noon passed.
This was the time of day when the sun was at its most punishing.
The monks in the temple subsisted mostly on grains and had little to do each day, so they naturally grew drowsy after meals and took afternoon naps. With no guests seeking lodging at this hour, the temple was completely silent.
It wasn't just the temple.
At this hour, most merchants and travelers coming from the previous stop along the route had yet to arrive. The occasional pedestrian would also seek out a shady spot to rest and nap to avoid the scorching heat, leaving not a single soul visible on the mountain road below. Under the bright sunlight, only the verdant bamboo swayed in the wind. The mountain road was brightly illuminated, and aside from the chirping of insects, the entire world was silent.
Lin Jue had already descended the mountain and returned to the back of the temple.
There were few fallen leaves in the bamboo forest—likely because the monks had gathered them for fuel—but there were patches of human feces that he had to carefully avoid.
Locating the small mound and the little pit, Lin Jue began to dig.
Even now, the events of the previous night still felt somewhat surreal. He still couldn't be completely certain of the fact that "he could actually dig something up"; there was always a lingering trace of doubt.
That was, until he dug into wet mud and hit a hard object.
Lin Jue unearthed two clay pots.
Opening them, he found that both pots contained some official silver, Copper Coins, jewelry, and jade pieces, along with personal items like identity tags.
It seemed their wealth had been divided equally.
"Just as I thought..."
Last night's events really weren't a dream.
The two ghosts hadn't lied to him.
Lin Jue felt a profound sense of awe, followed closely by a wave of relief.
These two ghosts—especially the one surnamed Su—truly valued deep friendship and righteousness.
After hesitating for a moment, he took five liang of silver from each pot—the smallest pieces of silver available—making a total of ten liang, which was more than enough to satisfy him. This was the travel money gifted by the two spirits, and there was truly no need to refuse it. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Stashing the silver in his robes, he prepared to bury the two pots back in the ground.
But after a moment's thought, he realized something was wrong.
This spot was too close to the temple. The pots had remained undiscovered when they were buried here before, but now that he had dug them up, he had displaced a lot of fresh soil, leaving traces that were hard to conceal. Never mind the monks—if a passing merchant or traveler happened to come back here to relieve themselves and spotted the disturbed earth, they might just stumble upon an unexpected fortune.
Moreover, the two ghosts probably didn't trust these monks either.
"I will take the rest of the jewelry and valuables with me and deliver them to your families. If I cannot find them, I will come back and rebury everything here. It's only two or three hundred li anyway. A round trip, including the time spent searching, will take at most ten days or so," Lin Jue said into the forest.
His conscience was clear. Not caring whether they could hear him or not, he wrapped the remaining contents of both pots in cloth and left the area.
...
With an extra ten liang of travel money, the journey became much easier.
His anxiety over his finances had diminished greatly, making his steps naturally lighter. With a sense of security in his pocket, whenever he grew tired of dry rations, he could now afford to buy a couple of steamed buns and a bowl of wontons at a roadside tea stall or small shop.
Before long, the bamboo forests along the route gave way to ordinary woods.
Danxun and Qiuru County neighbored each other, so the distance was indeed not far. Even maintaining a slow pace, Lin Jue managed to cover the two or three hundred li in just four or five days. It was locating their specific villages that took up some time.
Although the movement of people wasn't strictly policed in this era, communities remained relatively isolated. A dozen years seemed to have brought little change to these rural villages. Lin Jue successfully located Su Village and Lao Village, and he tracked down the families of Mo Laifeng and Su Xiaojin. They were living in hardship, but they were still alive.
Without hesitation, Lin Jue handed the two cloth bundles over to their respective families.
The thought of hoarding the wealth for himself had never crossed his mind.
After all, being reborn into a second life was a truly rare opportunity—a fact no one understood better than Lin Jue. A human lifespan was but a fleeting few dozen autumns; living this life with a clear conscience and at ease was more important than anything else.
"Brother Su's remains were buried by the temple's monks directly behind the pavilion, right alongside his close friend. I do not know the character of the monks residing there, so I cannot say whether any burial goods remain," Lin Jue told Su Xiaojin's family, whom he had located second. "Brother Su was unable to return home after passing, and his soul could not find peace. He visited me in a dream to seek you out, pleading that you make the journey to bring his remains back."
The people of this land placed great importance on clan and family ties—it was the strongest bond in this era. Because of this, Lin Jue wasn't overly worried about whether or not they would actually go to the temple to retrieve the two men's remains.
Mentioning the burial goods eased his worries even further.
His mind at ease, Lin Jue departed the area.
As he walked, whenever he found himself completely alone, he couldn't resist pulling the silver from his robes. He weighed it in his hand and held it up to the light to examine it.
Now that he finally had money—and having completed his task on top of it—holding and spending this silver felt far more reassuring. His footsteps grew even brisker.
And so, he continued his journey to seek out Immortals and the Dao.
He was no longer far from Qiyun Mountain.
Lin Jue did not focus solely on searching for Qiyun Mountain and Mount Yi. Along the way, he stopped at tea stalls and taverns to question passersby. When he visited Danxun County, he even sat down in a storyteller's tavern in the city to chat with the storyteller, asking if there were any formidable masters nearby who knew spells, or if there were any Realized Men or Immortal masters residing in the famous mountains and Daoist temples. Sometimes he received no answers, and other times he received a few leads, but whenever Lin Jue tracked them down, reality proved to fall far short of the rumors.
Cultivation did not seem to be very common in this world.
True masters were still quite rare.
After much difficulty, he managed to find a few sorcerers and shamans who he guessed might possess some real abilities. However, these people only cared about money. Since Lin Jue was short on funds and wary of being scammed, he felt he hadn't yet reached a point of desperation where he needed to rely on them.
Ten liang of silver wouldn't last very long to begin with, much less if he spent it like that.
Meanwhile, the weather was growing hotter by the day.
...
It was already the end of the fourth month.
The midday sun was so glaring that one could barely keep their eyes open, and many of the mountain animals had gone into hiding. Yet, along a mountain road paved with crushed stone and worn with wagon ruts, a young man dressed as a scholar was slowly walking.
A piece of cloth was draped over the top of his scholar's book chest, perfectly blocking the sun overhead and providing him with a bit of shade.
His shoulders and arms, however, had long since grown hot under the baking sun.
"Why is there no one on this road?"
Lin Jue stopped by the river, took out his bamboo water flask, took a sip of water, and then bent down to refill it from the stream.
The emerald river curved in a semi-circle, reflecting the blue sky and White Clouds. The road snaking alongside it was flanked by lush, overgrown grass, its surface glaring under the baking sun. Insects chirped loudly, and the occasional cry of an ape echoed through the mountains, but aside from that, there was truly not a single person in sight.
Could everyone be resting and taking a nap in the shade by the side of the road?
But he hadn't seen anyone napping, either.
Lin Jue couldn't help but feel perplexed.
Could this area be plagued by some wild beast?
Or perhaps demons?
However, there were no large predators like tigers in this area—at most only jackals, wolves, or clouded leopards. Furthermore, demons and ghosts did not typically show themselves on the official roads during the day. What Lin Jue actually feared more were mountain bandits.
Let alone Lin Jue, a young man who had only learned some Stage Magic Art, even many of the formidable masters and extraordinary figures from the stories—those with deep cultivation who knew countless spells—were still afraid of a martial artist's blade or a cold arrow shot from the shadows. Whenever the royal family or the nobility ordered their capture and execution, they often had no choice but to go into hiding.
"..."
Lin Jue steadied his nerves, hoisted his scholar's book chest, and continued on his way.
The road followed the bend in the river, and Lin Jue followed the bend in the road, gradually walking into a shady patch of woods.
The surrounding trees were thick and sturdy, with only apes leaping through the branches in the distance. There were no signs of mountain bandits, nor any tracks of people passing through, which allowed Lin Jue to relax slightly.
Perhaps he should also find a shady spot to rest and take a nap?
Or maybe find a hidden spot, wait for other travelers to catch up, and then journey together in a group?
Lin Jue pondered this as he looked around.
"Something's wrong!"
Lin Jue suddenly froze—
Weren't those apes in the distance a bit too large?
They were almost as tall as full-grown men!
More importantly, the moment Lin Jue spotted them, they had spotted him as well.
One of the apes leaped to the top of a tree, peering down at the road from its high vantage point. Even from a distance, its gaze felt aggressive. It let out two sharp cries, and the rest of the apes all turned to look in his direction.
"Rustle..."
The woods began to shake violently as the man-sized apes leaped through the branches, rapidly closing in on Lin Jue.
One ape let out a loud shriek, baring a mouthful of sharp fangs.
"!"
Lin Jue suddenly understood exactly why there was no one else on this road.
Without a moment's hesitation, he turned and ran for his life!
But apes were inherently fast runners and climbers, easily keeping pace with humans. While it was unknown whether a normal person could outrun them, Lin Jue, weighed down by his scholar's book chest, certainly could not.
Gasping for breath as he sprinted madly, Lin Jue kept glancing over his shoulder. All he could hear was the sound of the rustling treetops drawing closer, and he could see the canopy violently shaking right behind him. Panic set in.
"This won't work!"
Making a split-second decision, Lin Jue twisted around and shrugged off his scholar's book chest. Reaching inside, he grabbed only the Ancient Book and his small knife before sprinting off again.
Yet, a pained look of deep reluctance flashed across his face—
All of his silver was still in the scholar's book chest!
He had gone through so much trouble just to get those ten liang of silver!
Although the Ancient Book would have a profound impact on his future path of seeking Immortals and the Dao, and was naturally his most precious possession, money was still incredibly useful.
Just as Lin Jue was thinking this, he suddenly realized he was no longer being chased. He couldn't help but glance back.
A dozen or so man-sized apes had surrounded his scholar's book chest. They savagely ripped the canvas canopy to shreds and dumped out its contents, making an absolute mess. Finding his dry rations, the group of apes immediately fought over the food and devoured it. When they found his water flask, they casually tossed it aside, and his clothes were scattered everywhere.
Lin Jue's eyes immediately widened.
Then, an exceptionally large ape stood up straight. It lifted its head and locked eyes with him, sizing him up with a calculating gaze.