Lu Zheng frowned; Aunt Li was obviously lying.

"Really?" Lu Zheng smiled slightly, looked at the old woman, then at Aunt Li. "When will Xiaomei be back? Can I wait for her at home?"

"Of course!" Aunt Li nodded without refusal.

They were all poor people, with nothing that could attract the covetousness of this young master who appeared to live in town.

"Please find a place to sit; I’ll pour you some water." Aunt Li put down the bowl in her hand and helped the old woman sit down. "Granny, you take a rest first; I’ll attend to this young master."

The old woman patted Aunt Li’s hand in gratitude and nodded to Lu Zheng. "Our house has little to offer; I hope you won’t mind, young master."

Lu Zheng chuckled, "Yang Xiaomei saved my life; how could I mind?"

A warm smile appeared on the wrinkled face of the old woman. "That’s what Xiaomei should do. She’s not skilled at much but knows medicines. When someone encounters such circumstances, it’s only natural to help."

Lu Zheng nodded politely to the old woman and then turned around, retreating into the yard. He looked around and sat on a nearby stone bench.

Moments later, Aunt Li finished settling the old woman and came out holding a bowl of warm water. "This is water freshly heated from the well; it’s still warm. The weather is cold; please drink it while it’s hot, young master."

Lu Zheng received the clay bowl, missing two parts, and looked at the slightly murky warm water inside, placing the bowl lightly on the table. Then he saw Aunt Li poking her head out to look outside the courtyard.

"What is Aunt looking for?" Lu Zheng asked.

"Did the young master come alone?" Aunt Li couldn’t help but ask. "The mountain roads are difficult; did you not bring guards while traveling in the mountains for amusement?"

"I know a couple of martial arts moves and have good stamina, so I didn’t bring guards." Lu Zheng smiled slightly, his eyes sharpening. "Just now, I saw Aunt Li’s face showing difficulty; isn’t Yang Xiaomei out gathering herbs?"

Aunt Li felt a pang in her heart from Lu Zheng’s gaze and couldn’t help but confess, "Xiaomei, Xiaomei...she went up the mountain..."

"Up the mountain?" Lu Zheng couldn’t help but turn back, looking at the surrounding mountains outside the village, not quite understanding her meaning.

"No, it’s, it’s Old Peak Mountain behind there." Aunt Li’s gaze directed towards the deep mountains southwest of the village.

"Old Peak Mountain?" Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow. "Is there something strange about that mountain?"

Aunt Li nodded repeatedly. "There’s a Daoist temple in the mountain, where an old Daoist used to live, a kind-hearted person who often came down to help villagers drive away fierce beasts, cure illnesses, and save lives. A few years ago, the old Daoist passed away, and the temple was taken over by a Daoist none of us have seen before, known as Daoist Qingzhao."

"Daoist Qingzhao?" Lu Zheng’s eyes flashed. "Go on."

The women outside the courtyard still did not reveal their forms but all had their ears pricked.

"The Daoist is hot-tempered, no longer helping the villagers with illnesses. He often demands offerings from the village and doesn’t allow us to go up the mountain freely." Aunt Li said shakily. "Occasionally, hunters from the village who pursued prey into Old Peak Mountain met him and were beaten and sent back to the town with broken legs."

Lu Zheng frowned, "Have you not reported to the government?"

"Old Peak Mountain belongs to the Daoist temple; the government has no jurisdiction over the temple." Aunt Li replied, puzzled. "What could we report to the government?"

Lu Zheng was momentarily at a loss for words, so he could only ask, "Then why did Yang Xiaomei go up the mountain?"

"Xiaomei said she had a friend who accidentally entered the mountain and worried she’d be discovered by Daoist Qingzhao, so she wanted to go into the mountain to find them." Aunt Li sighed, her face troubled. "She went up the mountain the day before yesterday; I couldn’t dissuade her, nor dared to tell her grandmother.

If she’s discovered by Daoist Qingzhao, what if he breaks both her and her friend’s legs together?"

Lu Zheng laughed upon hearing this, "So you wanted to see if I had brought guards and could go up the mountain to bring Yang Xiaomei back, in case she encountered Daoist Qingzhao, it wouldn’t leave her powerless?"

"Exactly, exactly." Aunt Li nodded repeatedly, her eyes full of anticipation.

Lu Zheng smiled slightly and asked, "Is there a little Daoist in the temple besides the old Daoist?"

Aunt Li was taken aback by the question, curiously looking at Lu Zheng, "How does the young master know? The old Daoist brought two children up the mountain from the village to help. However, Daoist Qingzhao said they were heartbroken by the passing of the old Daoist and went down the mountain to wander."

Case solved, Lu Zheng understood and said, "That Daoist temple is called Feishan Temple."

Aunt Li was even more surprised, "Young master, how do you...know all this?"

Lu Zheng nodded, standing up tall, "I’m going into the mountain to find Yang Xiaomei; this bowl of water is still warm; please drink it while it’s hot."

Aunt Li turned her head and saw steam rising from the bowl of water Lu Zheng had just placed on the table.

"Ah? How did it get hot again?"

Aunt Li exclaimed in wonder, and upon turning back, found that the Young Master Lanshan who had just been sitting nearby had disappeared without a trace.

"Abnormal People...?"

Aunt Li’s eyes narrowed, a flash of excitement passed through her eyes, "Xiaomei knows an Abnormal People; then she must be fine!"

She said this and immediately realized it, picked up the bowl on the table, drank a mouthful while it was hot to warm herself, hurried to shield herself from the cold wind with her sleeve, and rushed back inside, "Granny, get up and have some hot water, won’t you?"

...

Elsewhere, Lu Zheng concealed his form, and with a wave of his hand, he and several women soared into the air, flying towards the direction Aunt Li had indicated. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

In just a moment, they saw a Daoist temple halfway up a relatively higher mountain peak, four mountain peaks away from He Mountain Village, with green bricks and black tiles, hidden between the woods and rock walls, difficult to find unless one paid attention.

Lu Zheng’s sharp eyes spotted a small figure hiding behind a higher rock at the back of the temple.

It was the deep winter season, and the mountain wind howled fiercely. The small figure crouched between some rocks sheltered from the wind, wrapped in a tattered cotton coat, with bits of dry grass poking out from the seams; strands of hair occasionally lifted by the cold wind made for a pitiful sight.

Nevertheless, the figure’s face was filled with seriousness, the body without a tremble, occasionally poking their head to look at the temple below, holding a short-handled herb hoe.

After observing the temple below for any movement, a trace of anxiety appeared on Yang Xiaomei’s face, she bit her lip, trying to calm herself, then her stomach began to rumble.

Yang Xiaomei pouted, randomly pulling out a blackish-green flatbread from her chest, taking a bite, and slowly dissolving it with saliva.

But the next moment, Yang Xiaomei unconsciously sniffed, picking up a hint of meat aroma.

Almost involuntarily, she turned her head and saw a steaming roasted chicken drumstick hovering beside her, held by a fair, jade-like hand, which was nudged closer to her.

"That flatbread is too hard; eat this instead."