Free Web NovelChapter 294: Chapter 293: Excuse Me, Daoists, Can You Do Magic?
Taoist Xu Ning chuckled and glanced kindly at Jingyi, waving for her to take a seat. "Sit down and rest. Let these old guys pour their own."
Jingyi simply smiled, but still brewed another pot of tea on the small stove before finally sitting down. "Thank you, Master. It’s no trouble."
After she spoke, she glanced curiously toward Gu Zhao.
When the young man had first come over to rest, he hadn’t drawn their attention. They simply took him for an ordinary tourist.
But they had been chatting for a long time now, and the tea had been refilled twice. ’Why is that young man still sitting there resting?’
’Although the scenery here is nice, it’s not as magnificent as Taiqing Palace, nor is the view as open and vast as the one from Lao Ding. It isn’t even particularly tranquil or secluded—just a pavilion for a mid-way break.’
’It was only built a bit larger because the local Daoists often relax here. In fact, since it’s not far past Shangqing Palace, the walk isn’t that tiring, so few tourists ever stop to rest here.’
’This young man doesn’t look out of shape, so why can’t he keep going?’
Then she saw the young man toss the empty water bottle in his hand. It traced a perfect arc toward a nearby trash can.
THUNK!
The empty bottle landed squarely in the can.
The young man then stood up, but instead of leaving, he walked over to their pavilion with a wide grin.
"Greetings, Daoists!" Gu Zhao said, cupping his hands in salute. "I’ve run out of water. Might I trouble you for a cup of tea?"
"Of course!" Taoist Huai Yi said with a smile, scooting over to make a space for Gu Zhao. "Please, sit."
"Thank you, Daoist." Gu Zhao sat down and added with a smile, "I could smell the fragrant tea from a ways off. Is it a premium-grade Maofeng?"
Taoist Tai Xian was also a tea lover. His eyes lit up, and he chuckled. "You have a good nose, young friend. This isn’t Maofeng, though, just a local Lao Mountain green tea. It was cultivated from a Wannan tea strain, however, so you could consider it an offshoot of Maofeng."
"Oh?" Gu Zhao asked with a smile. "I thought it was the legendary Lao Mountain tea."
Taoist Tai Xian knew Gu Zhao was referring to one of the legends of Lao Mountain and couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle. "Perhaps there was some fine tea here in the past, but the Lao Mountain green tea we have now was all brought up from the south several decades ago. It’s a product of the people’s hard work and professional expertise."
After a pause, Taoist Tai Xian concluded, "You can’t live on legends. You still have to do the real, practical work."
Gu Zhao couldn’t help but chuckle. "I see. I honestly had no idea. My apologies."
"There’s no need to apologize for that," Taoist Tai Xian said with a wave of his hand.
Jingyi glanced at Gu Zhao with renewed curiosity. She took out a clean cup, rinsed it with hot water, and placed it in front of him. Then, she lifted the teapot and poured him a cup of tea.
"Thank you," Gu Zhao said, tapping his fingers on the table.
"You’re welcome," Jingyi replied with a nod.
With a tourist present, the old Daoists naturally wouldn’t continue their conversation about the Taoist Office. Instead, they took Gu Zhao’s lead and started chatting about tea.
"Where are you from, young friend? What kind of tea do you usually drink?" Taoist Tai Xian asked.
"I’m from Yangcheng," Gu Zhao replied. "I drink a pretty wide variety, both black and green teas. Lately, I’ve been drinking a new tea called Luo Cui. You can’t really find it on the market."
Luo Cui Tea came from a type of tea tree that grew on the back of Cuiluo Mountain. Unlike ordinary tea, it carried the faint, clear fragrance of Light Spirit Qi, making it taste even better than the tea they were drinking now.
"Luo Cui Tea?" Taoist Tai Xian shook his head, admitting, "I’ve honestly never heard of it."
Taoist Huai Yi chuckled. "There are so many kinds of tea in this country. It’s like cigarettes—many local brands don’t even make it outside their own city, let alone their province. You simply can’t buy them unless you go there."
Taoist Huai Yi picked up his cigarette again and sniffed it, prompting a laugh from Taoist Tai Xian. "If you want to smoke it, just smoke it. The wind will carry it away."
But Taoist Xu Ning disagreed. "Don’t you dare. Secondhand smoke is a health hazard. If you want to smoke, do it when you get back."
"I’m not, I’m not. Just taking a sniff." Taoist Huai Yi carefully tucked the cigarette back into its pack.
"Yangcheng?" The Short-bearded Daoist looked at Gu Zhao, thinking it quite a coincidence that a tourist from Yangcheng would appear right after they had been talking about it.
"Yes, Yangcheng," Gu Zhao confirmed with a nod. "When I used to read *Strange Tales of a Chinese Studio*, I noticed Pu Songling basically only wrote about this area, Lu Province. There wasn’t a single story about Yangcheng, which bothered me for a long time. It wasn’t until I was older that I learned he was actually from Lu Province himself."
Hearing this, Taoist Tai Xian chuckled. "And isn’t there a story in there called ’The Lao Mountain Daoist’?"
Gu Zhao nodded. "That story is certainly a memorable one."
Taoist Huai Yi also smiled. "A good deal of Lao Mountain’s fame really does come from *Strange Tales of a Chinese Studio*. We have to admit, we owe it a debt of gratitude."
The old Daoists then casually chatted about the folk tales of Lao Mountain, including its various legends and, of course, the tale of the Lao Mountain Daoist.
"There’s a Pu Songling Pavilion inside Taiqing Palace," Taoist Huai Yi said, pointing down the mountain toward the palace. "Legend has it that’s where he wrote ’The Lao Mountain Daoist,’ after personally witnessing the abilities of the Daoists here on Lao Mountain."
"Turning a mirror into the moon, an ever-full wine pot, entering a mirror to drink, and the art of walking through walls?" Gu Zhao asked with a smile, raising an eyebrow.
Taoist Huai Yi raised an eyebrow in return. "What, do you want to learn how to walk through walls too, young friend?"
"Walking through walls? That’s just the Earth Escape Technique used horizontally!" Gu Zhao said with a dismissive wave. "In fact, I can explain all of those Magic techniques."
Taoist Huai Yi asked in surprise, "And how would you do that?"
"Turning a mirror into the moon is probably a Magic technique similar to the Taoist Golden Light Curse, just one that can be cast on objects," Gu Zhao said with a perfectly straight face.
"Oh?" All the Daoists turned to look at Gu Zhao.
"The ever-full wine pot is even easier to explain. It’s a Pot World, isn’t it? A small dimension inside. You could probably fit an entire pond of alcohol in there."
Gu Zhao explained each in turn. "Entering the mirror to drink is the tricky one. It’s either another spatial Magic, or it’s a Blinding Technique that just projects one’s reflection into the mirror."
Taoist Huai Yi nodded with a smile. "That’s a reasonable explanation."
Gu Zhao smiled as well. "Lao Mountain is a famous peak in Daoism, hailed as the ’Number One Mountain Over the Sea.’ And you Daoists all have such an ethereal bearing. I wonder, do any of you know Magic?"
At his words, all the Daoists laughed. Even Taoist Xu Ning and Jingyi shook their heads with a chuckle.
Although they all possessed Magical Power, and could certainly perform feats that would astonish an ordinary person, they were nowhere near capable of the things described in "The Lao Mountain Daoist."
Things like walking through walls or Pot Worlds were out of the question. Ironically, the feat Gu Zhao considered the most difficult—entering a mirror to drink—was actually achievable. They could use Magical Power to create an illusion, accomplishing it with something akin to Hypnosis or a Blinding Technique.
Of course, they had no intention of telling Gu Zhao this, much less demonstrating it for him. Even if he was a little handsome and they were enjoying the conversation, it was still out of the question.
