Chapter 222: Peach Blossom Calamity

Daoist Mayi?

Mu Feng quickly thought of the elusive Hemp-robed Old Taoist. Sure enough, when he walked outside to look, this old Taoist had somehow also come to Wangjiang Tower. He was sitting cross-legged in a pavilion on the highest level, facing the river that flowed east, playing his worn-out erhu.

“Young Master Mu, we meet again!”

Hearing Mu Feng’s footsteps, the old Taoist raised his head and gave a faint, mysterious smile.

“Yes, we meet again.”

Mu Feng walked over and sat on the floor facing the Hemp-robed Old Taoist. “Daoist Mayi, the Immortal Sword Sect dominates the Great Thousand World and has obtained the Great Extinction Sword Manual. Instead of hiding away to cultivate in secret, you travel around everywhere. Aren’t you afraid the Immortal Sword Sect will come after you again?”

“Hahaha, I’m not afraid. As long as the Devil Leader Nine-Fingered Black Demon remains alive, Ren Pingsheng won’t come after me.”

Daoist Mayi chuckled, put down his erhu, and watched the river flowing east. Suddenly, he said, “Young Master Mu, do you know, you remind me of someone? Over twenty years ago, I met with him here, just like we are sitting face to face now, talking all night.”

“Who?” Mu Feng was a bit surprised.

“A man full of learning, with a heart as vast as the sea. His name was Mu Yuan.”

The Hemp-robed Old Taoist glanced at Mu Feng intentionally or unintentionally, smiled faintly, and went on, “Your figures are very similar, both tall and straight. Sadly, though your temperament is outstanding, and you have ambition and moral integrity, compared to him, you are at least a hundred times lesser. Your knowledge is also good, but it’s not even one percent of his.”

“What, Mu Yuan?”

Mu Feng was shocked and asked loudly, “Daoist, you know my father? Were you his friend?”

“I wouldn’t call us friends. We only met once.”

Daoist Mayi smiled, then said, “The grudges and favors of the mortal world are endless. Rather than muddling through life in a daze, it’s better to travel the world and wholeheartedly cultivate the Way. Though the Xiangshan Academy, passed down for a thousand years, still has majestic grandeur, it is no longer a sacred place for cultivating the mind and nourishing one’s nature. Young Master Mu, you have a connection with our Immortal Sect. Why not simply follow me into the Immortal Sect and cultivate the immortal divination powers of our Immortal Divination Sect? Predict major events of the world, deduce changes over billions of years. What do you say?”

“Daoist, I’m very sorry.”

Mu Feng shook his head. “Billions of years are too long; I only strive for the present moment. I am but a poor scholar. For me, studying is the foundation. The Way of Immortals is elusive. Rather than spending a lifetime’s energy searching for it bitterly, it’s more practical to find a quiet hut, brew a cup of steaming mountain tea, and leisurely read an ancient book. Besides, even if I were to join an Immortal Sect and one day master the immortal divination powers, what if I clearly foresee my own fate and that of my loved ones but lack the ability to change it? Wouldn’t that be even more painful?”

“Hahaha, good, good! ‘Billions of years are too long; I only strive for the present moment!’”

Seeing Mu Feng’s polite refusal, Daoist Mayi did not press further. Just then, a waiter hurried over. Daoist Mayi laughed heartily, stood up, and stepped directly over the railing. With a flicker of his figure, he disappeared without a trace, leaving only an ethereal voice drifting from the clouds, “Peach blossom luck arrives, peach blossom calamity comes. When fortune turns, what is fate? What is luck?”

Peach Blossom Calamity?

Mu Feng murmured to himself, lost in thought.

The elusive Daoist Mayi had brought him even more confusion. Like the endless river flowing east, it was impossible to cut through, and hard to sort out.

For some reason, images of several young women suddenly appeared in his mind. The understanding and gentle as water Shuang’er, the pure and aloof Mu Qingling, the woman who called herself the General of Jiangling’s wife, the Black-clad Woman, and the seemingly fresh and tender but somewhat unsettling Rushui Li Niang…

“Hey, where did that fortune-telling old Taoist go?”

While Mu Feng was lost in thought, the waiter quickly came over. Seeing the pavilion empty except for Mu Feng, he rubbed his eyes in confusion. “That stinky old Taoist didn’t have a single copper coin on him. After I chased him out, he sneaked back up. Strange, I clearly saw him sitting here just now. How did he disappear? Where did he hide?”

The waiter looked around bewildered, checking even the roof tiles and under the railings, but found nothing. Daoist Mayi, who had barged in under the pretense of fortune-telling, seemed to have vanished into thin air. Finally, out of options, he mustered his courage and asked Mu Feng, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, “Young master, may I ask… where did that fortune-telling old Taoist go? How did he disappear so suddenly?”

“Fortune-telling old Taoist? Did he come? And then he left?”

Looking at the sweaty, flustered waiter, Mu Feng smiled and slowly stood up.

“Uh…”

Hearing this, even the usually sharp waiter was momentarily dumbfounded.

He didn’t know what evil he had encountered today; nothing seemed to go smoothly. Early in the morning, while busy wiping tables, a fortune-telling old Taoist suddenly rushed in from somewhere, grabbed his hand, and insisted on telling his fortune, saying he would face a bloody disaster today.

After finally driving the old Taoist out, the old fellow had slipped straight upstairs. When the waiter searched floor by floor, climbing exhaustedly to the top level, before he could catch the old Taoist to vent his anger, with just a blink, the old guy was gone, nowhere to be found.

Helpless, and not wanting to lose face, he mustered his courage to ask Mu Feng. And he got this utterly maddening reply.

“Alright, they’re all lunatics. If I can’t deal with them, I can at least avoid them. Better get back to work quickly!”

The waiter quickly snapped out of it, gave up searching, turned, and left, muttering under his breath. Soon after, he brought Mu Feng a bottle of wine and a pot of fine Longjing tea, then turned and departed.

“This waiter is quite young, but he seems pretty good!”

Watching the waiter’s retreating figure, Mu Feng smiled, gazed at the distant scenery, and slowly savored the steaming Longjing tea.

Compared to so-called fine wine, he preferred tea. On this high tower, brewing a cup of excellent hot tea, slowly sipping it while enjoying the view of Jiangling City, had a unique flavor. He imagined back in the day, when his mother and father had leaned against each other, climbing up step by step, standing on this highest level gazing at the distant landscape where sky and water merged, they must have looked very happy.

Thinking of his mother, whom he had depended on since childhood, Mu Feng felt warmth in his heart. But thinking of her illness, he couldn’t help feeling a trace of worry.

Lost in thought, suddenly, angry shouts and sounds of fighting came from downstairs, mixed with a few screams. Soon, a group of people stormed up and headed straight toward the private seat where he was. The young man leading them had a fierce glare and was dragging a bloodied person—none other than the waiter who had just left not long ago.