“Oh, uh, Master, why are you here?” Mei Qing’s face turned crimson as he stammered, addressing Zhang Shisan and Hou Shen in the courtyard.
Zhang Shisan had unexpectedly interrupted a tender moment between the couple in the room. Fortunately, cultivators possess many wondrous techniques, making dressing and tidying up quite convenient. In no time at all, Mei Qing and Bi Zhen emerged fully dressed.
They saw Zhang Shisan and Hou Shen standing in the courtyard. Hou Shen had sensibly kept a respectful distance by the entrance, his eyes seemingly examining the surroundings. Zhang Shisan, on the other hand, was sitting cross-legged on a stone platform by the door, holding a wine gourd in one hand and a few dried fish in the other, happily drinking while swaying his head.
Hearing Mei Qing’s question, Zhang Shisan tossed the dried fish into his mouth, took another swig of wine, and then wiped his mouth before saying, “Ah, my clumsy apprentice, I’ve always taught you to apply what you learn, but you never listen. You’re asking how we found you? You two lovebirds didn’t even cast a sound-dampening talisman or something. Your noise could be heard eight li away! If your master hadn’t rushed over to cover things up, the entire village wouldn’t have slept last night…”
As Zhang Shisan continued to ramble, Mei Qing nearly fell to the ground, his face turning red as a monkey’s behind. He quickly interjected, stammering, “Ah, right, Master, you haven’t met her yet. This is Zhen’er.” He turned to Bi Zhen and said, “Zhen’er, this is my newly sworn master.”
Bi Zhen had already resumed her usual appearance, wearing a light green dress that accentuated her graceful posture. Upon hearing Mei Qing’s words, she glanced at Zhang Shisan a few times, then frowned and asked him, “How could you have taken such an old rascal as your master?”
Zhang Shisan was just bringing his wine gourd to his mouth when he heard Bi Zhen’s remark. The wine immediately went down the wrong way, and he began coughing loudly.
Seeing this, Mei Qing quickly rushed forward to pat his master’s back, putting on a show of dutiful concern while saying respectfully, “Master, Zhen’er is innocent and speaks without thinking. Please forgive her.”
Zhang Shisan coughed for a long time, nearly choking to death. After hearing Mei Qing’s explanation, he was almost choked again and took a while to catch his breath. He looked at Bi Zhen with his small eyes and suddenly burst into laughter. “Good apprentice’s wife! Indeed, you’re a perfect match for my foolish apprentice.”
Then, with a quick glance at Mei Qing, he said, “Innocent and speaks without thinking? Are you describing your wife or praising her for speaking her mind? You’re saying your master should forgive her? Although she speaks without thinking, her heart is better than yours. Unlike you, a mischievous boy pretending to be innocent while secretly scheming.”
“Yes, yes, a master’s view of his apprentice is indeed the most accurate. But since you think my apprentice’s wife is quite good, you know, for their first meeting, there should be some kind of gift…” As he spoke, Mei Qing made a gesture of counting money.
“What… is this a technique?” Zhang Shisan blinked his small eyes and awkwardly imitated Mei Qing’s gesture with his bony fingers, saying, “Dao Tian Jue? Lie Yan? Qing Xiao? Apprentice, it’s not that your master is criticizing you, but when practicing cultivation techniques, the most important thing is precision. The technique you just used was vague at best, clearly quite wrong…”
“Mas-ter!” Mei Qing gritted his teeth, clearly annoyed, “Apprentice is not making a technique gesture! I mean that your apprentice’s wife has arrived. Don’t you think you should give her a gift? Don’t try to pass off that broken inkstone again. My wife is from a noble family and has seen many fine things. Ordinary items won’t impress her…”
Seeing Mei Qing so directly asking Zhang Shisan for a gift, Hou Shen couldn’t bear to watch anymore. Pretending not to notice, he simply looked up at the sky, feigning ignorance. Bi Zhen was very embarrassed and quietly poked Mei Qing from behind, signaling him to stop.
Zhang Shisan was first taken aback by Mei Qing’s unabashed request, then shook his head with a bitter smile. “Sigh, what misfortune for our sect that I took in such a disrespectful apprentice who only cares about material things! However, as for your wife, whether she’s a lady or not aside, she’s definitely from a noble family. Just look at what she’s wearing: ghost face flower, Tian Luo robe, the hairpin on her head, the bracelet on her wrist—none of these are easily obtained. Your wife must have quite an impressive background.”
While Mei Qing was still frowning, Bi Zhen had already stepped forward, embarrassed, saying, “Master, don’t listen to him. I don’t need any gifts.”
“Why not?” Mei Qing pulled Bi Zhen closer and whispered, “When I became his apprentice, he didn’t give me anything good. If I don’t extort something this time, I’ll never have another chance.”
Bi Zhen poked Mei Qing and said, “Now that I’ve become his apprentice, I should respect the master regardless. How can I ask for gifts in front of him?”
“Alright, alright,” Zhang Shisan said with a bitter face, “This girl calling me ‘Master’ is already a thousand times better than you, you rascal. Mm, very good, this girl really warms this old Taoist’s heart. I guess I’ll have to spend a bit today.”
Saying this, he closed his eyes and pulled out a small jade vial from his bosom, gritting his teeth as he extended it toward Bi Zhen. “Here, take it!”
Mei Qing was delighted to see his unscrupulous master actually willing to spend something. He immediately opened his eyes wide and saw that the small vial was actually made entirely of crystal, clear and transparent, with a tiny red fruit inside, no bigger than a fingernail, bright red and tempting.
“What is this? A hawthorn? Or a cherry?” Mei Qing didn’t recognize it and asked curiously.
Bi Zhen quickly bowed to Zhang Shisan and said, “Master, I don’t like cherries. You can keep it for your wine!”
“Don’t, don’t,” Mei Qing quickly grabbed the small vial from Zhang Shisan’s hand, saying, “Gifts from elders should not be refused. We can take it and have it as a snack tonight.”
“Go away!” With a “slap,” Mei Qing’s head was hit again from behind as Zhang Shisan said, “You foolish boy, you don’t even recognize a precious treasure and want to eat it as a snack! You’re too wasteful!”
After speaking, Zhang Shisan placed the small vial in front of him, looked at it repeatedly, and suddenly sighed deeply. Turning to Bi Zhen, he said, “Actually, this item is most suitable for you, my girl. If my old eyes haven’t failed me, the ghost face flower you used earlier when you disguised yourself as a street performer was indeed the real thing, right?”
“You could tell that?” Bi Zhen’s eyes widened as she said, “Yes, it was the ghost face flower. I… I heard that using ghost face flower for disguise makes it impossible for anyone to recognize you.”
“That’s indeed the case,” Zhang Shisan nodded. “However, that ghost face flower had to be refined before it could be used. I once participated in the refining of such an item, so naturally I could recognize it.”
Then, turning to Mei Qing, he continued, “At that time, you insisted that the street performer was suspicious, but your master said otherwise. You must have been不服气 then, right?”
Mei Qing chuckled. He had naturally found Bi Zhen suspicious when she disguised herself and followed them, and then disappeared after the case occurred. He had even deduced the case in front of Hou Shen, who was greatly impressed. He never expected that he was completely wrong, and now thinking back, it was somewhat amusing.
Zhang Shisan’s ability to determine that Bi Zhen, disguised as a street performer, had nothing to do with Tian Niu’s death clearly indicated that he recognized the ghost face flower, which gave him such confidence.
“Now that you have the ghost face flower, you must know about the one flower and three fruits, right? The bottle contains one of them—the Qiong fruit. What do you think now, still want it?” Zhang Shisan chuckled.
“Ahh?” At the mention of “Qiong fruit,” Bi Zhen immediately gasped, then covered her mouth with her hand, her beautiful eyes fixed on the small red fruit. After a while, she finally regained her composure and hurriedly bowed to Zhang Shisan again, saying, “Thank you, Master, for your kindness.” Then she carefully took the small vial, holding it in her hands, looking at it repeatedly, clearly delighted.
“One flower and three fruits? Qiong fruit? What are those?” Mei Qing also leaned in to take a long look but couldn’t figure out anything. He had never heard of the terms “one flower and three fruits” or “Qiong fruit” before, so naturally, he was completely confused.
“Hehe, I won’t tell you,” Bi Zhen wrinkled her nose, quickly put the vial away, and happily laughed, jumping up and down a few times while repeatedly thanking Zhang Shisan, “Thank you, Master, thank you, Master.”
“You little girl,” Zhang Shisan smiled helplessly, then hesitated before saying, “Although you’re my apprentice’s wife, calling me ‘Master’ still feels a bit inappropriate. Looking at your background, you’re definitely not from an ordinary family, so this old Taoist dares not claim you. However, this old Taoist has been around the cultivation world for some years and might have a few tricks to teach you. I’d like to take you as a formal disciple. What do you think?”
“Great! Great!” Bi Zhen clapped her hands joyfully, saying, “Master, Master, from now on, that’s settled! If he dares to bully me, Master, you must help me!”
“Sigh,” Mei Qing shook his head and sighed, “Just now she was calling him an old rascal, and now she’s bought off by a single fruit! Indeed, women and small-minded people are difficult to deal with.”
“Master!” Bi Zhen angrily stood beside Zhang Shisan, pointing at Mei Qing and saying, “He’s bullying me! Master, you saw it, help me beat him up!”
“Alright!” Zhang Shisan was furious, pointing at Mei Qing and shouting, “Daring to bully my apprentice! Just see if I don’t make you crawl from now on! If I can’t make you walk on all fours from now on, I’ve wasted all these years of talisman practice!”
“Ahh?!” Bi Zhen was greatly alarmed upon hearing this and quickly shook Zhang Shisan’s arm, saying, “Master, please go easy on him. What if you really hurt him?”
“…”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage