The Journey of Flower - Chapter 4

Hua Qian Gu wore Tian Shui Di on her neck and found it easier walking up Mount Mao this time around. Suddenly, she heard someone yelling. Fearing evil spirits, Hua Qian Gu hurried away from the racket, but wherever she went, the yelling followed her. She turned and headed to where the yelling seemed to be coming from to see what the trouble could be. After a while, Hua Qian Gu saw a boy about fourteen years old hanging upside down from a tree yelling loudly at no one in particular. He twisted in circles until he saw her.

“Hey! Who are you? Jerk, stop pretending! Kill me if you can, if not, I’ll cut off the meat on your body to make soup!”

Hua Qian Gu looked innocently at him swinging in the air, suddenly reminded of a spider dangling from a ceiling beam.

The “evil spirit” stared at her for a long time, she had an mysterious aura but did not seem like an immortal, an evil spirit or a demon, probably just an ordinary human passing by. He breathed a sign of relief, raised his eyebrows and ordered loudly: “Hey kid! Let me down!”

Hua Qian Gu stepped cautiously: “You’re an evil spirit?”

The boy was exasperated: “Uncle, of course I’m human! Hurry up, let me down!!”

Hua Qian Gu slowly took two steps forward then narrowed her eyes to find his shadow, but the ground was covered by the shade of the large tree, nothing could be seen.

“Brat, why are you scared like a girl? If you don’t come here, I’ll kill your entire family!!”

Hua Qian Gu became angry, turned and walked away, huh, you can be human or an evil spirit, you still cannot do anything to me hanging from a tree.

“Hey! Hey!” The boy was anxious, someone finally appeared in the forest, he could not help but softened his voice.

“Don’t go! Let me down!!”

This caused Hua Qian Gu to stop and turn around to solemnly look at him, her hands on her hips. He should act that way, asking for help should be like that, hehe.

The boy gritted his teeth, thought to himself he would show the boy a thing or two once he was free.

Hua Qian Gu walked back, then slowly circled him several times.

The boy cursed inwardly: “Why don’t you hurry up and let me down?”

Hua Qian Gu looked at his angry face and wanted to laugh, she could not resist and jabbed at his face with her fingers.

Warm, definitely human.

The boy was furious, annoyed that he could not bite off her fingers. This kid dared to be so disrespectful!

Hua Qian Gu promptly clambered up the tree, she looked at the knot of the rope and worried.

“Hurry up and let me down!”

“I’m thinking how I can let you down, this knot is hard to undo.”

“Are you an idiot? Don’t you have a sickle?”

“Oh, that’s right!”

Hua Qian Gu took out her sickle and chopped the rope.

“Ow!” The boy plunged down, laying flat on the ground, mumbling to himself.

“Are you all right?”

“Uncle! Why didn’t you warn me! You didn’t even do it correctly, you should’ve untied my hands first!” The boy awkwardly stood up from the muddy ground, his neck was twisted, oh Heaven, his head hit the ground first, his neck was now twisted and it hurt.

“Don’t move!” Hua Qian Gu walked up and grabbed his head.

“Ah! Don’t!”

He did not even finish, there was a cracking sound. His head twisted abruptly to the other side.

This is it, this is it, his neck was broken. His arrogant life finished off in the hands of a little bumpkin. He Dong! Father! You must avenge me!

“Can you try to move it to see if you’re better?” Hua Qian Gu clapped her hands, looking triumphant. She often hurt herself from being mischievous or falling from trees, Physician Zhang treated her this way! Hehe!

The boy tried to move his neck. Huh? Nothing. Let’s try again. Ah? Still cannot do it.

He kicked Hua Qian Gu’s bottom.

“How is this better? My neck was twisted to the left, now you’ve twisted it to the right!”

“Um……” Hua Qian Gu chewed her fingers, “It’s all right, your neck looks better twisted to the right than to the left!”

The boy wanted to strangle her, what is the difference? He tried to walk a few steps with his neck twisted to one side, oh Heaven, he could not let anyone see this or his reputation would be ruined!!

“Hurry up and untie my hands!”

“Oh, all right, should I use my sickle to chop at it?”

“Ah! Don’t! What if you chop off my hands too? Slowly cut it, dummy!”

Hua Qian Gu got rid of the rope, she squatted down to brush off the dirt from his clothes, she had never seen such excellent quality clothes. He was probably a wealthy landowner’s son!

Hua Qian Gu looked up at him, he appeared childish and had a foul mouth but his noble bearing was apparent. He was the handsomest boy she saw, Hua Qian Gu could not help but stared at him.

“Why were you hanging from a tree?”

“Mind your own business, don’t ask!”

“Oh, all right, take care. I’m busy, see you later!”

Hua Qian Gu said goodbye then retrieved her things to leave, she needed to hurry to make it up the mountain!

“Hey! Hey! Where are you going?” The boy asked anxiously, limping to keep up, “You’ve saved me, tell me, what do you want? Gold and silver, beautiful women, official ranking, you choose!”

Hua Qian Gu kept walking, shaking her head: “No need, it was nothing.”

“No, I don’t want to owe anyone anything. If you’re in trouble and need help, just tell me.” The boy stood in front of her to block her.

“No need to make a big deal……” Hua Qian Gu silently looked at his stubborn face, not knowing what to say, “Well, you look like a nice person, let me ask you something, do you know the Taoist priests on Mount Mao? Can they fight evil spirits? Can they fly in the air like deities?”

“You want to go up Mount Mao?” The boy squinted at her.

“Yes, I want to find a teacher.”

“A small kid like you want to find a teacher?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a referral?”

“What’s a referral?”

“What I mean is a letter of recommendation! A letter of recommendation, dummy! Right now, demons run rampant, you think anyone who wants to become a disciple can become one? Not just paying money, a letter of recommendation is also necessary!”

“What’s a letter of recommendation? What’s it for?”

“It assesses your traits and ability by a distinguished person who has achieved enlightenment, it also explains the reason for the referral, et cetera, et cetera. Ah, it’s using the backdoor to be honest……” The boy tried to remember what his teacher told him.

“Is that necessary?”

“Of course, you can eat and sleep in a Taoist sect, you can learn martial arts and cultivate to become immortal, if a referral isn’t needed then beggars on the streets don’t need to beg for food, they can come here to study with a teacher.”

“I have 30 pieces of silver, I’m not a beggar.”

“You say you’re not a beggar with that, but that’s nothing to me.”

“Ah! But I don’t know anyone, where can I get a letter of recommendation?”

“Letter of recommendation? Easy. Beg me, beg me, if you beg me, I’ll write you a letter.”

“You? You’re a distinguished person who has achieved enlightenment?” Hua Qian Gu pointed at his crooked neck and laughed out loud.

The boy paled: “Huh, you better believe me, my teacher Huan Xi Tian You Luo He Dong is famous. If he gives you a referral, entering Mount Mao is a piece of cake, guaranteed you can become Taoist Priest Qing Xu’s disciple, you might even get a bell.”

“Ah! Really?” Hua Qian Gu happily grabbed his arm and swung it side to side, “What bell?”

“Oh that…… bells, flowers, jades, feathers…… there are other types, they represent cultivation levels, each type is divided into different colors, usually worn on the hip. They represent ranking, each type, each color and the amount mean cultivation status, power level, which of the five elements, et cetera…… I can’t remember the other things…… Anyway, there are lots of Taoist priests on Mount Mao, based on your ability, before you can go near enough to touch a bell you’re already tossed to a random Taoist priest to be his disciple!”

“How complicated! Why is it so hard to become a Taoist priest? I only want to find a quiet place to study, it doesn’t matter who’s my teacher.”

“You should care. Mount Wang Wu, Mount Wei Yu, Mount Kuo Cang, Mount Kun Lun, Mount Tian, Mount Wu Dang, Mount Qing Cheng, Mount Long Hu, Mount Qi Yun, Mount Mao, Mount Lao, Mount Tai Bai, Mount Wu Yi, Mount Gui Ji……there are also Hai You Yu Zhou Peak, Peng Lai Island, Mount Chang Liu, all of these famous places are known for cultivation with hundreds of large sects and thousands of small sects, too many to count. It’s normal for sects to secretly compete with each other for better standing. Mount Mao is known for helping the weak and being kind to people, its disciples study briefly then go down the mountain to fight demons and evil spirits, this is why it’s praised and well-known. Based on strength, it’s not even in the top 10.”

“Huh?” Hua Qian Gu was stunned, the boy thoroughly enjoyed her reaction.

“I’ve been to many places already! I even went to the peak of Mount Mao, Taoist Priest Qing Xu is a good friend of my teacher! Last year, I followed my teacher and met him. He’s a kind and gentle old man, much better than Wu Yue San Ren, Ni Shui Qian Fan or whatever.”

“So what’s your sect?”

“Mine?”

The boy scratched his head, his teacher was invited by his imperial father from somewhere, belonging to no particular sect, based on origin, would it be Tai Bai? Um, might as well invent his own sect.

“I belong to the Invincible Tai Bai Sect, my teacher is the Sect Leader, I’m the Deputy Head, do you want to join and become my disciple?” The boy tempted his first possible follower.

“No, I want to become a Taoist priest on Mount Mao.” All of this information was new to her, “Can you ask your teacher to write me a letter of recommendation?”

“Fine, fine, an honorable man keeps his promises, I said I’ll help you so I will!”

“Where’s your teacher? Why were you hanging upside down from a tree by yourself?”

“Don’t remind me, my teacher and I were fighting demons around here. It’s my fault that I was impulsive and chased after a turtle demon and fell into its trap. Otherwise, it could never beat me. Don’t worry, my teacher is very powerful, he’ll be here soon! I’ll ask him to write you a referral!”

“Ah! Thank you so much! You can have this bread!” Hua Qian Gu was excited and thrilled.

The boy looked at the hard bread, not wanting to eat it but his stomach growled, he reluctantly accepted it and bit into it.

“Oh right, what’s your name?”

“Hua Qian Gu.”

“Qian Gu? What a weird name! I’m Xuan Yuan Lang. Since you saved my life, asking for a letter of recommendation is nothing, let me give you this hook jade, if you’re in trouble in the future, you can ask for help from local officials. When they see it, they’ll obey you.”

“What a spell…… how amazing! Even officials can be controlled! Thank you, Lang gege! Hahaha!” Hua Qian Gu accepted the hook jade Xuan Yuan Lang took down from his neck and put it around her neck, slipping it underneath her shirt beside Tian Shui Di. This boy had a foul mouth, but he had a good heart, even giving her a gift! But why are people giving her pendants lately?

Xuan Yuan Lang scowled at her, is this kid a dummy?

“Lang gege, I spit, now I’ve become Lang gege! Are you a girl? You speak timidly, your skin is soft, make sure to study well on Mount Mao. Don’t lose the jade, it can ward off evil, it’s an ancient treasure my father gave me.”

“Ah! It’s too expensive, I don’t need it, I’ll give it back to you!” She thought it was like those amulets worth a few pennies sold outside temples.

“Huh, my family has a lot! Don’t be long-winded! Oh right, where are we going, why do I feel like we’ve returned to the tree? Look, isn’t that mark where the rope was chopped off?” Xuan Yuan Lang looked around, the sky was turning dark.

He saw Hua Qian Gu, thought the Qi Xing Mi maze was broken, if it was not, how was she able to enter?