Journey to the West: Cultivation Begins at Jindou Mountain

Chapter 375 'Big Business'

A month passed quickly at Jindu Mountain. Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie bid farewell and left to visit Tang Sanzang and the others at Lingshan.

Daojun also left Jindu Mountain and returned to Daojun Mountain to cultivate. This time, he also retrieved the nine-headed worm, which was used as a medicinal snake, from the local earth god, and prepared to continue his cultivation of incense and alchemy.

Although the Hunyuan Furnace cannot be used to suppress the Duobao River for the time being, his Hundred Herbs Cauldron in the Heavenly Palace is now a rare medicine cauldron in the world.

In addition, Daojun discovered that after consuming a large number of pills, the nine-headed worm was able to digest them on its own, making the energy within them mild and filling its body. This resulted in its highly poisonous blood containing a large amount of mild spiritual energy, which Daojun then used to study its medicinal properties and pill refining.

On the other side, Lü Yan, who was following Zhongli Quan to cultivate Taoism on the mountain, was also making good progress. He had once again descended the mountain to travel around the Zhongnan Mountain area to refine his mind in the mortal world. In just over a month, his cultivation speed was much faster than when he was cultivating in seclusion on the mountain.

On this sunny day, Lü Yan was helping an old man in a village in the Zhongnan Mountains to wash rice and cook.

Wearing a Taoist robe and carrying a sword, Lü Yan stood by the earthen stove in the house, looking at the rice soup in the rice basin in his hand, which had more water than rice, and sighed slightly.

The longer he traveled, the more he couldn't bear to see the suffering of the world. The old man's family he was now living with had a son and a daughter, and they were living a fairly happy life.

A few years ago, his son actually believed the words of another man from the same village who had been away for a long time but suddenly returned, and went out with him to do 'big business'.

Seven years have passed since their eldest son last returned home, leaving only their daughter to take care of the elderly couple. She remains unmarried to this day.

But now, the old woman's wife is seriously ill and bedridden, and the family of three barely has enough rice and flour to survive. If Lu Yan hadn't passed by today, the old woman would probably have passed away in a few days.
"Sigh, this big business opportunity has blinded this man. Perhaps he's also trying to make a name for himself."

"But how many big businesses in this world are eager to come to you? If it were that easy, wouldn't others have already done it? Such 'big businesses' that are actively and enthusiastically sought out must be a huge trap."

Lu Yan murmured, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes.

He also learned some fortune-telling skills from his master Zhongli Quan. Although he dared not claim to be able to predict heavenly secrets, he could predict human affairs with a high degree of accuracy.

Actually, the eldest son of this old man was kidnapped by a man from the same village years ago. He said it was a big business, but in reality, he was kidnapped to become a bandit.

Unfortunately, the life of these mountain bandits was also fraught with danger. Two years ago, when this group robbed a shipment, the eldest son was also slashed in the shoulder and rolled down a cliff, leaving no trace of his body.

The poor old man was still at home, missing his eldest son day and night. Little did he know that his eldest son had not only become a bandit but had also been dead for two years. At this moment, he was probably already in the underworld, being punished in the eighteenth level of hell because of the killings he had committed over the years.

Of course, Lü Yan would never tell this family about these things. He had just cured the old woman's illness, and besides, how could these two elderly people bear such a blow?

After traveling, he had seen many similar situations, and even more tragic ones. All Lü Yan could do was try his best to help.

"Master Lü."

Hearing a crisp sound behind him, Lü Yan turned around and saw a woman, still somewhat dusty, carrying firewood as she walked in. She looked at Lü Yan somewhat apologetically and said:
"I am so sorry, Master Lü. You cured my mother, and I truly don't know how to thank you enough for your great kindness. It's really too much for me to need your help."

Lu Yan smiled and shook his head, saying:

“Miss Wu, there’s no need for that. Your mother has just recovered from a serious illness and needs your father-in-law to accompany her. I am a young man, and although I am a Taoist priest, I have been practicing swordsmanship and learning skills with my master for many years. I am certainly strong enough to wash rice and cook. It’s nothing to me.”

Seeing Lü Yan's reaction, Miss Wu nodded gratefully and thanked him repeatedly.

She remained unmarried to stay home and take care of her parents, and is now a veritable old maid. She has been the subject of much gossip in the village, causing her parents considerable worry.

But she didn't care about the gossip; all she cared about were her parents and her older brother, who had been somewhat slow-witted back then.
Since her older brother is not here, she will take care of her parents!
Perhaps it was because the Daoist Lord took pity on their family that he sent this Daoist Master Lü Yan to save her mother's life.

A moment later, wisps of smoke rose from the kitchen and drifted into the sky.
As dusk fell, Miss Wu, supporting her elderly father, watched the Taoist priest's figure gradually disappear into the sunset, her eyes filled with tears, and bowed deeply.

In her hand, however, appeared a small money bag, about the size of a palm.
She initially refused to accept the money, but in the end, she only accepted it because Lü Yan said that his mother had just recovered from a serious illness and needed to nourish her body and regain her strength.

She had made up her mind to personally carve a wooden statue of Lü Yan, and to worship it day and night in the future to express her gratitude for Lü Yan's great kindness and virtue.

Meanwhile, Lü Yan was pondering what Miss Wu had said earlier.

Ms. Wu had previously mentioned that there was a Taoist temple on the mountain west of the village. Although the temple was not large, people would come up the mountain to worship year-round, and the incense offerings were quite prosperous.

Moreover, after her mother fell ill, she went up the mountain to pay her respects. Not long after, Lü Yan appeared in the village, which made her mistakenly believe that she was also a disciple of Daojun Mountain.

Previously, Lü Yan would have only shown slight interest, since Daojun Temples were extremely common in the Tang Dynasty, and there were even Daojun Temples in the Lü family's territory in Hezhong Prefecture.

However, ever since he heard his senior brother Baihe talk about the Dao Lord's incarnation, Daoist Jin Lingzi, some time ago, he has become somewhat concerned.

When he first began cultivating, the immortal wine that Daoist Jin Lingzi gave him laid a solid foundation for his cultivation. Regardless of whether that Daoist was actually Daoist Jin Lingzi, he should go and pay his respects to him out of both courtesy and reason.
Carrying his sword, Lü Yan walked up the mountain in the sunset, following the mountain path upwards. Before long, he arrived at the gate of Daojun Temple.

Lu Yan looked at the vermilion temple with its open gates and the statue of the Divine Physician Daoist Lord sitting upright with a kind smile on his face. He slowly exhaled and stepped into the temple.

Lu Yan slowly walked to the statue of the Daoist Lord, reached into the incense box on the altar in front of him and took out three sticks of incense. With a flash of magical light, the incense sticks in Lu Yan's hand were quickly lit, and wisps of smoke rose continuously.

"At the summit of Hefeng Peak in Zhongnan Mountain, Lü Yan requests an audience with the Daoist Master."

As Lü Yan spoke, he respectfully bowed to the statue of the Daoist Lord in front of him and inserted incense sticks into the incense burner on the altar.

(End of this chapter)