I am a wandering immortal in the mortal realm.

"You ask me why I dwell in the green mountains, I smile but do not answer, my heart is at ease. Peach blossoms drift away on flowing water, a world apart from the human realm."

The Jiangnan region, with its scenic landscapes and beautiful scenery, has always been a favorite of scholars and poets.

Within Texas, there is a unique mountain called "Linquan Mountain". This mountain is high and steep, with smooth cliffs as smooth as a mirror, as if it were sculpted by a master craftsman. Apart from a secluded stream winding around the mountain, it does not show any of the delicate beauty of the mountains in southern China.

The snow on the summit never melts, and although the vegetation on the mountain is lush, it is often shrouded in mist.

Looking closely, outsiders can only see its shape, not its depths. In addition, the mountain is full of poisonous insects and wild beasts, so only a few herb gatherers at the foot of the mountain dare to enter.

At this very moment, in the deep mountains where tourists often gaze in awe at the peaks, two voices suddenly rang out.

"Oh dear, why is it suddenly raining? Didn't Uncle Zhuang check the stars yesterday and say there wouldn't be any rain today?"

Another voice immediately rang out, tinged with reproach: "Hey, little sister, how could you be so foolish? Uncle Zhuang is just a lazy old man who only knows how to farm; how would he know anything about astronomy? If I had known you were asking him, I shouldn't have gone out today, and now we're both soaked to the bone!"

It was late spring, and the temperature was gradually rising, but there was still a bit of coolness in the mountains. However, the weather was as changeable as a child's face, with frequent sudden rainstorms.

It was sunny and bright at noon, but in no time, a light drizzle started to fall.

As the rain intensified, the mountain mists began to gather, and suddenly a man and a woman emerged from the fog.

Both of them were dressed in coarse linen clothes and looked quite young, probably only fourteen or fifteen years old.

The woman shielded herself from the rain with her hands, tightly protecting the medicine basket at her waist, and said somewhat displeasedly, "Fourth Brother, you keep criticizing me. The weather is determined by fate. If it hadn't rained today, who could have predicted it?"

Besides, what's wrong with Uncle Zhuang? Even though he's not educated, he's still a seasoned farmer. His ability to understand things by observing the heavens is surely better than yours or mine, isn't it?"

The man, however, seemed unconcerned: "The Taoist priests of the Jade Emperor Palace can't make mistakes!"

"Heh!" the woman scoffed. "Of course I know the Taoist priests at the Jade Emperor Palace are good, but why don't you go ask them yourself? Is it because you think the entrance fee is too high, and you can't afford the fifty coins?"

The man's face stiffened, and he immediately shut his mouth sheepishly, pleading, "Little sister, look at you, I only said a few words, why are you angry? If I really didn't want to, I wouldn't have come up the mountain with you today."

The woman, already upset from the rain, sighed upon hearing this, "Fourth Brother, although it rained today, we still managed to gather a basket of Solomon's Seal, so it wasn't a complete loss. This should have been a happy occasion, but your few words have made everyone unhappy. You know, 'water can be warmed when it's cold, but a cold heart can never be warmed.' If you continue to speak so recklessly, I'm afraid you'll only push those close to you further away!"

The man's face flushed red and then turned pale, but he was speechless. He could only turn his face away, but then he saw a wisp of green smoke drifting in from not far away.

"Little sister, look!"

The woman was startled by the shout, thinking her fourth brother was up to his old tricks again. She immediately turned around, glaring at him, and said, "Fourth brother, what's all this fuss about? It's raining so hard, the most important thing is to find somewhere to take shelter!"

"Little sister, look!" The man didn't answer, but kept patting her shoulder and pointing in a certain direction.

Helpless, the woman looked in the direction the other person pointed and indeed saw a pillar of smoke, clearly visible in the fog.

She paused, then murmured, "There..."

"Could it be a herb gatherer like us? Little sister, should we go take a look? Since there's smoke, maybe someone is taking shelter from the rain there?" the man said happily. The mountain path was slippery and the rain was cold, and he had been looking for a place to take shelter for a while.

The woman frowned, looking surprised and uncertain, and said, "Fourth Brother, look over there, isn't that the direction of the Taoist temple?"

"A Taoist temple?" The man was slightly taken aback, then instantly realized what he meant. His expression changed slightly, and he stammered, "No... that can't be, right?"

It turns out that there used to be an old Taoist temple on Linquan Mountain called "Yiyuan Temple". The year it was built is unknown, but it is known that a lame Taoist priest always guarded it.

The main hall does not enshrine the Three Pure Ones or the Jade Emperor, so when pilgrims come, they don't know which god to worship, resulting in a lack of worshippers and a rather miserable life for the temple.

Until more than a decade ago, when the old Taoist priest died, the imperial court never sent abbots again, and the Taoist temple gradually fell into disrepair, becoming a place for hunters and herb gatherers in the mountains to stay.

Later, rumors of demons and ghosts spread in the temple, and even the herb gatherers and hunters began to avoid it, and the temple was completely deserted.

It's no wonder the man was so nervous. A Taoist temple rumored to be haunted was suddenly emitting blue smoke; anyone would be terrified.

"Little sister, let's hurry down the mountain!" The man shivered slightly and said cautiously, "Actually, the rain isn't that heavy. We can just grit our teeth and get through it. We'll take a bath when we get back anyway..."

"Fourth Brother, I want to go over there and take a look!"

"Wh...what?!" The man stammered, then, upon hearing his younger sister's words, he froze for a moment, then jumped up like a startled cat, shouting, "Are you out of your mind? Everyone in the village says that place is haunted!"

The woman snorted lightly, completely unconcerned: "The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits. There are no such things as ghosts and spirits in the world. They are just ignorant people making trouble for themselves!"

Besides, that aura was pure and righteous, unlike anything demonic or evil; perhaps some kind of treasure was about to be born?

"What kind of treasure is this? I'm sure it's just some kind of trickery by demons. You're not allowed to go!"

"I'm going!"

"No!"

"I want it!"

"..."

"You, you, you..."

The two argued fiercely, neither willing to give in. The man stopped, ignoring the drizzling rain, and pointed at his younger sister, his voice trembling, whether from anger or anxiety, "I told you I shouldn't have sent you to school, but your father wouldn't believe me. You learned a few pedantic phrases, and your heart has become wild. When faced with such supernatural events, instead of avoiding them, you actually went forward to confront them. It's simply... simply..."

"Overestimating yourself!" The woman added this sentence for him after he couldn't come up with a coherent explanation for a while.

"Yes, that's just overestimating yourself!" A sudden thought flashed through the man's mind, and he emphatically agreed. Then, realizing his mistake, he became angry and yelled, "Who told you that? Is this something that's overestimating yourself? You...you...anyway, I'm absolutely not going!"

"If you won't go, I will!"

The woman pursed her lips slightly, ignoring her anxious fourth brother, and, protecting the medicine basket, turned and ran towards the smoke column at the foot of the mountain.

"You...you can't go! Don't go, little sister!"

The man shouted from behind, but the woman showed no sign of stopping. He couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Women are such a hassle. If I had known, I should have spent fifty coins to go to the Jade Emperor Palace to have my fortune told. I shouldn't have come here to cause trouble."

As I pondered, the girl's departing figure gradually disappeared into the thin mist.

He looked around and saw that the mountains and fields were deserted, with only one or two chirps of insects and birds, drifting far away; the rain was refreshing and the ground was soaked, making people feel cold to the bone, and he couldn't help but shiver.

For a moment, he no longer cared about anything supernatural, stomped his foot, and chased after them down the mountain.

……

Yiyuan Temple is built on the mountainside, right where the fog is thickest in Linquan Mountain. Occasionally, it floats with the mountain wind, hazy and indistinct, appearing and disappearing from a distance, giving it a somewhat celestial abode feel.

But when you get closer, the desolation of more than a decade of deserted life becomes apparent.

The surrounding walls were either collapsed or missing, and were covered with vines and grass. Every now and then, a few birds would fly by, stop, and peck at the food.

The main gate of the Taoist temple is still there, but it is badly dilapidated. The couplets on both sides have all faded, and only the three characters "Yiyuan Temple" can be faintly seen on the plaque.

As for the interior, the closed doors made it difficult to discern the contents, but one could roughly guess from the view outside.

The woman stood at the entrance, looking at the desolate and cold Taoist temple with no smoke rising from it, feeling somewhat uneasy.

As she walked along, her initial indomitable spirit had almost completely dissipated.

Adding to the chill of the spring rain, and recalling the rumors circulating in the village, the desolate Taoist temple suddenly felt eerily eerie.

She swallowed hard, hesitated, and was about to turn and leave when she suddenly heard her fourth brother's voice behind her. She couldn't help but curse inwardly, "That wretched fourth brother! He's usually so timid and cowardly, why is he here so quickly today?"

Thinking back on those bold words he had spoken earlier, he suddenly found himself in a dilemma.

"I see no one here, so we must be mistaken. Let's hurry up and leave."

The man glanced around, secretly relieved, then began to complain again: "You, it's raining, and you always have to make trouble. You'll only realize how dangerous it is when you actually encounter a ghost. Don't make your fourth brother go and invite a shaman or sorcerer for you then!"

Upon hearing this, the woman's anger flared up instantly.

Her fourth brother's foul mouth really needs a needle to sew it up.

She had originally thought that finding a way out and taking her fourth brother away would be the best course of action, but now she insisted on going in to see the whole picture!

"Fourth Brother, I didn't beg you to come up the mountain to gather herbs today. You were short of pocket money and insisted on following me. If you think my actions are inappropriate, you can go down the mountain now. I'm telling you, even if I encountered a ghost today, I wouldn't ask you for a single penny!"

The woman uttered a resentful remark, snorted coldly, and stepped onto the steps in front of the temple.

The man's expression changed as well, realizing that his sharp tongue had surely offended the young woman again. He immediately felt a pang of regret and wished he could slap himself twice.

But in that short moment of distraction, his sister had already grasped the rusty door knocker on the temple gate.

He was startled and immediately tried to speak up to stop them, fearing that the knocking might startle the demons inside.

But it was too late.

Three muffled thuds were heard, and the door opened with a bang. A shadow stretched along the edge of the door crack, like the open mouth of a giant beast.

The door opened so quickly that the woman was stunned. She was just pretending, but she didn't expect there to actually be something inside.

I wonder if it's a human or a ghost?

Thinking of this, her heart jumped into her throat.

A thought of retreat crossed her mind, and she staggered backward involuntarily. But in an instant, she regained her footing, as if she had been frozen in place by a spell.

The fourth brother behind her was getting unsteady, thinking that his little sister had been ambushed by a demon. Although he was terrified, he still stepped forward to pull her away.

As soon as he reached the door, he stopped abruptly, just like his sister had reacted earlier.

The one who opened the door wasn't some demon or ghost, but clearly a handsome and extraordinary young Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest had a faint smile on his face, and even though he was wearing an old Taoist robe, it couldn't hide his gentle and warm temperament, as bright as the moon.

The woman was captivated by the sight, completely mesmerized, and a blush uncontrollably crept up to her ears.

The fourth brother next to him was completely baffled. Just as he was about to turn around and ask, he saw his sister looking shy and awkward.

A sudden alarm bell rang in my mind—"Oh no, my sister is going to die!"