The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 155 The Grotto of Investigation
With doubt in his heart, the man spoke first and asked:
"What exactly is this?"

The old monkey hurriedly pointed to the group of children and the troop of monkeys surrounding them and said:
"It was I, the old monkey, who asked a celestial being for a job."

"An assignment?" The man became even more curious upon hearing this.

The old monkey then explained in detail:

"The immortal was merciful and saved these poor children. However, he had important matters to attend to and could not spare the time, so he entrusted me, an old monkey, to escort them along the way and find them kind families so that they could settle down and make a living."

"Why not just send it back?" The young boy next to him overheard something strange and was about to interject when his master subtly stepped on his foot. The boy winced in pain, immediately realized what was happening, and quickly fell silent.

The old monkey glanced at him and continued:
"In this way, when the mission is accomplished, I, the old monkey, will be made a mountain god, and the children will be able to find someone to rely on and live on."

The man then nodded and said:
"Such a thing is rarely seen in this year. Please accept my bow!"

Then came another bow.

The old monkey said embarrassedly:

"I... I only did things because I received a bribe, I'm not worth you doing this for."

The man shook his head firmly and said:
Even so, it is still a rare find.

As he spoke, he glanced again at the tattered bag the old monkey was carrying and then laughed:

"You enjoy reading?"

The old monkey nodded repeatedly:
"That's right, that's right, I love reading all the time. Even if I'm not doing anything else, even if I've already read the book, I can still pick it up and enjoy it all day!"

The man was overjoyed, his eyes filled with the satisfaction of finding a kindred spirit. He then turned to the side and carefully took something out of the book box behind the child.

It was not an ordinary thread-bound book, but an old bamboo scroll carefully bound with plain hemp rope, exuding a faint fragrance of bamboo and wood. The scroll bore the marks of time, yet it was well-preserved, with its edges smooth and warm.

"I still have to teach my good-for-nothing student, so this is all I can give you."

He then grasped the old monkey's hand and instructed him:

"This scroll is a legacy of the sages of the past, containing profound meaning in concise words, and is extremely precious. Today, I am fortunate to meet a kindred spirit like you who loves books and does good deeds, so I present this scroll to you as a memento, hoping that you will cherish it."

The old monkey hurriedly declined, saying:
"Oh, no, no! It's so precious, how can I accept it?"

The man chuckled and placed it into its tattered bag, saying:

"Reading, reading, reading comes first, then books. No matter how valuable a book is, if no one reads it, it's just a piece of waste paper and a roll of rotten wood. It's very suitable for you."

The old monkey couldn't refuse, and besides, he himself really wanted a new book to read. After thinking for a moment, he slapped his forehead, raised his wine gourd, and said:
"Look at this, this is divine wine given to me by the immortal lord. He told me to drink a sip after each child I've settled, so it must be very precious. I... I'll offer you a sip!"

The man accepted the bottle with a smile, but paused when he opened the stopper.

The little boy behind him kept sniffing and said:

"Sir, this wine smells wonderful! Why aren't you drinking any?"

The man didn't move an inch, but looked at the old monkey with surprise, who showed no reluctance whatsoever, and said:

"Do you know how important this thing is to you?"

The old monkey took out the scroll of bamboo slips and said:
"Isn't this also of utmost importance to you? I've figured it out. With my meager abilities and temperament, how could I be worthy of being a mountain god? I'll be content if I can drink a few sips of this divine wine and improve my cultivation a bit."

The man nodded repeatedly, his eyes full of approval:
“Now I finally understand why that master chose you.” He carefully put the stopper back on the bottle and handed the gourd back. “My favorite drink in my life is the fine wine that my master asked my husband to shamelessly go to great lengths to obtain, and I have even stolen a sip of it.”

He laughed loudly, looking at the somewhat bewildered old monkey:
"But I dare not drink the wine in your gourd."

The old monkey grew anxious: "Don't worry, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this wine!"

The man smiled and shook his head:

“Of course I trust you. However, this is related to your great path. How could I dare to try it lightly?”

Finally, he added:

"Remember this: in the future, when you meet others, don't be so generous. The master you met was extraordinary, so this wine was exceptionally special." He had heard his husband say that a red fox had once asked him for a title. He himself had also seen spirits with merit blocking his road and asking for titles.

But neither he nor his husband had the ability to gain recognition before achieving success.

The old monkey nodded slowly, seemingly understanding but not quite.

The man then asked:
"Where are you headed on this journey?"

"Old Monkey, I plan to visit the nearby villages and towns first. What about you?"

The man looked towards the capital and said:
"With the world on the verge of turmoil, I would like to do my part."

The old monkey couldn't understand, but suddenly felt that the man at this moment was somewhat similar to the immortal lord at the time of their parting.

After scratching his head, he said:

"So, does that mean we can't travel together?"

The man thought for a moment, looked at the road behind him, and said:

"Yes, we can't travel the same way anymore, but I passed through a place called Qing'e Town on my way here, where I met some kind people. You can follow this road to find them."

The old monkey was overjoyed and repeatedly bowed to the man.

Just as they were about to part, the man suddenly remembered something, called out to the old monkey, took off the jade pendant from his waist, and stepped forward, saying:

“These children are quite promising. Although you have a divine decree given to you by a master, I don’t think everyone can recognize their talent like I do.”

"Therefore, to prevent anyone from being foolish, I'm giving you this jade pendant. When you encounter a powerful cultivator, show him this jade pendant and say that you know Meng Chengyuan, the one in the Gewu Cave who can draw porridge with broken pickles."

The old monkey instinctively accepted the jade pendant, initially not understanding why. But now, he suddenly realized and said:

"Oh, the immortal lord also said something similar to me, the old monkey."

This made Meng Chengyuan curious and he smiled:
"Oh, what did this expert say?"

“He said that if he encountered any cultivators blocking his way, he should say that he was acting on the orders of the Heaven of Separation from Hatred and the Tushita Palace.”

The Heaven of Separation from Hatred, the Tushita Palace?
How come I've never heard of it?
Unlike his peers whose innate wisdom was obscured, he also followed the path of innate wisdom, but he was not obscured by the laws of heaven, nor was he burdened by calamities.

Because his path is bright and magnificent, he owes only to his parents, not to heaven and earth!

Therefore, he was extremely puzzled by this place he had never heard of before.

But if we use "天" as a prefix and "宫" as a suffix...
Meng Chengyuan suddenly asked:
"Could that master have said he was of Taoist origin?"

The old monkey said:
"Yes, the immortal master said he was from a Taoist family."

Upon hearing this, Meng Chengyuan gave an awkward smile and then calmly took his jade pendant back from the old monkey.

Then he picked up another jade pendant that looked exceptionally precious and said:

"In that case, take this with you. When you encounter officials or anything like that, just say that you have a close relationship with Cui Yuancheng of the Cui family of Boling and consider him a confidant."

After saying that, before the old monkey could react, he grabbed the child and hurried away.

As we walked, we could still hear the child exclaiming in surprise:

"Sir, your face is so red!"

Then the man flicked his sleeve and said:

"Nonsense, it's clearly just that the weather is too hot!"

The child listened with increasing surprise and said:
"Ah, but didn't you say that you only read one book and yet you were immune to heat and cold, and your noble spirit was formed?"

Having no other choice, the man grabbed the child by the ear and disappeared into the distance as the child cried out in pain.

(End of this chapter)