Little Lin awoke from a long dream, stretching lazily and scratching his head as he looked around.

Why was he sleeping on the floor of a cell?

Fragments of last night's events flashed through his mind as he tried hard to recall.

Oh right! He had met the Emperor!

The Emperor had come to visit the Taoist!

So... where was the Taoist?

Little Lin hurried to the familiar cell. The luxurious furnishings inside had all disappeared, along with the person who had been imprisoned there...

Gone, escaped?

He was shocked and panicked. Could it be that he had drunk a little too much last night and accidentally let the person go?

Just as he was worrying, the jailer brought in a new prisoner. Seeing the young guard standing there woodenly, the jailer impatiently scolded him.

"What are you standing there for!"

"Yes! Uh, I..."

"This is the new one, from today on, you're responsible for him."

The jailer's mouth kept moving, giving various instructions.

Little Lin looked at the new prisoner in the cell, a man in his fifties or sixties who didn't seem quite right in the head, constantly muttering, "I'm innocent."

"But, what about the original..."

Before Little Lin could finish his sentence, the jailer smacked him on the back of the head.

"I told you to talk less and ask fewer questions. You don't listen, do you?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Little Lin bent over and lowered his head, feeling a strange sensation in his abdomen.

After the jailer left, he turned his back to the others, reached into his clothes, and found a bulging paper package.

Inside was a stack of banknotes and a palm-sized note.

"Thank you for your care. The weather is cold and snowy, take care of yourself."

The Taoist had really left.

...

Tao Mian brought two young servants to settle down at Peach Blossom Mountain, as the spring snow began to melt.

Chu Liuxue wore a water-red jacket, holding several quilts in her arms, and came to the courtyard.

After several days of snow, the quilts were full of moisture. Finally, the weather cleared, and she took out the quilts and blankets from the three-person room to dry in the sun.

This was hard on the cold-averse Immortal.

"San Tu! Leave me a blanket! I'm going to freeze to death."

A plaintive voice came from inside the room.

Chu Liuxue didn't care.

"I called you to get up for breakfast half an hour ago, but you didn't. I told you I was going to dry the quilts."

Tao Mian mumbled, complaining about something. A lake-blue figure flashed across the courtyard.

Chu Liuxue thought she was seeing things.

"What just flew past..."

Soon, a howl came from Tao Mian's room.

"Ouch! What hit my waist... Si Dui! You were supposed to control the sword, and you stabbed it into Shi Fu's bed! Why don't you just chop my head off! Such filial piety!"

"Since Shi Fu has such a request—"

"Stop it! Are you really going to chop?"

After a series of crashes, Chu Suiyan was thrown out the door by Tao Mian, who grabbed him by the back of his collar.

"Go, go! None of you are making my life easy, don't bother Shi Fu!"

Chu Suiyan was scolded by Shi Fu, but he still had a cheerful expression. The nurturing environment of Peach Blossom Mountain had even made the once timid boy, who used to hide behind his sister, more lively.

Chu Liuxue thought that settling down here, ending their wandering, was indeed a blessing.

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That day, they were resting in the palace as usual. Tao Mian had been detained by the Emperor, leaving the two children anxious and uneasy.

Chu Suiyan was so worried about Tao Mian that he cried in his sleep. Chu Liuxue could only hold his left hand, unable to sleep all night, worried about the person in the cell.

At dawn, an unexpected person appeared before the siblings, and Chu Liuxue thought she was dreaming.

"You..."

"Shh."

Tao Mian raised a finger, signaling Chu Liuxue not to ask questions. They quickly packed their belongings, which weren't much. Tao Mian didn't take any jewelry or valuables, leaving everything behind.

Finally, he carried his sleeping brother with one arm and held his sister's hand with the other, and the three of them quietly left the palace. Clean and tidy, leaving no trace, as if they had never been there.

In the dim morning light, they rode a carriage, swaying along the dirt road.

Chu Liuxue asked why the Emperor let him go.

Tao Mian covered the sleeping Chu Suiyan with his coat, tucked it in, and broke the dry food in his hand, giving most of it to Chu Liuxue.

"She didn't let me go; I escaped from the cell."

"...?"

Chu Liuxue almost choked on a piece of sugar cake.

"Doesn't that make us fugitives?"

She thought to herself, great, they went from being beggars to fugitives after following Tao Mian, going backward in life.

What a punishment, truly a punishment.

Tao Mian handed her a jug of water, smiling as he watched her glare at him while gulping down the water.

"Not really, she won't send anyone to chase us."

"I don't understand. If you could do this, why escape today?"

"I'm a man of principle; naturally, I had to choose an auspicious day to break out."

"...Do you hear yourself?"

Tao Mian leaned back slightly, resting against the carriage wall, his fingers relaxed on his knee.

"The so-called auspicious day is naturally the time when she willingly lets me go."

Tao Mian wasn't released by Lu Yuandi, but he knew clearly. After that day, even if Lu Yuandi knew he had escaped, she wouldn't pursue him.

This was the tacit understanding between master and disciple, known only to them.

Chu Liuxue didn't understand the intricacies, but seeing Tao Mian so confident, she figured he had his reasons.

Since the master wasn't worried, why should she trouble herself?

Chu Suiyan woke up rubbing his eyes, an hour later. By then, they were nearing Tao Mian's territory, with the majestic mountains faintly visible through the clouds.

He was young, and though puzzled by leaving the palace, he quickly shifted his attention. He knelt on the soft cushion inside the carriage, lifted the curtain, and marveled at the mountains outside.

Snow was falling outside, and Chu Suiyan's nose was red from the cold. He opened his hand to catch a clean white snowflake.

Tao Mian also looked through the gap in the curtain, gazing at the familiar scenery. His moon-white robe made him look like a personified mountain snow. His breath synchronized with the land's every exhale. Chu Liuxue finally understood why he insisted on returning to Peach Blossom Mountain; he was one with this place.

Upon returning to Peach Blossom Mountain, Tao Mian had three things to do.

Feed the chickens, take on disciples, and visit the graves.

Not long after arriving at Peach Blossom Mountain, under Tao Mian's coercion and enticement, Chu Liuxue and Chu Suiyan became his disciples.

Chu Suiyan was eager, while Chu Liuxue was more than a little dissatisfied.

She said, "Banknotes, your disciples don't seem to have good fates."

...

As a result, Tao Mian was upset with her for three days because of that comment!

Chu Liuxue found it unbelievable and exasperating that someone over a thousand years old could sulk like a three-year-old.

He wouldn't leave his room during the day, wouldn't come when called for meals, and avoided her whenever he saw her.

Chu Suiyan, siding with his sister, pleaded with his sister while supporting the listless Tao Mian slumped on the table.

"Liuxue, just apologize and make peace. What if he cries?"

Tao Mian immediately buried his head in his arms.

Chu Liuxue: ...

"Stop giving him ideas. Fine, I was wrong. Didn't you want to take me as a disciple? I agree."

Tao Mian still played hard to get.

"Do you think becoming my disciple is that easy? I won't take you."

"Suit yourself."

Chu Liuxue couldn't be bothered with his antics.

Seeing that Tao Mian was about to unilaterally sever ties with his sister, Chu Suiyan quickly intervened to mediate.

"Let's all say less! Little Tao Shi Fu, didn't you promise to teach us Immortal techniques?"

Tao Mian's temper flared up quickly and subsided just as fast. Since the Chu siblings had become his disciples, he naturally had to teach them some real skills.

He taught them the "Soul-Devouring Palm" and the "Six Transformations of the Sky's End," and the two disciples did not disappoint, mastering them fully.

Chu Suiyan mastered nine and a half parts, while Chu Liuxue only learned half a part.

The information provided by the Golden Finger was indeed accurate; Chu Liuxue's talent wasn't high, and her understanding of cultivation techniques was far inferior to her brother Gu and sister Lu, not even as good as her brother picked up along the way.

However, Chu Liuxue wasn't anxious, and Tao Mian, as her master, wasn't worried either.

The only one concerned was Chu Suiyan, who privately asked Tao Mian several times if there were any Immortal pills or elixirs to help his sister cultivate.

At that time, Tao Mian was in the courtyard walking Wu Changzai and another rooster, something Chu Liuxue forced him to do. She said he lay around all day, and his limbs would become useless, and if he couldn't walk, he'd be bedridden, and she wouldn't take care of him.

Tao Mian suddenly felt a sense of crisis, thinking that as an old fellow over a thousand years old, he should pay attention to his legs.

So every evening after dinner, he would take the two chickens out of the coop for a forced walk.

When Chu Suiyan asked, Tao Mian maintained his lazy and relaxed demeanor.

"San Tu has her own destiny. Si Dui, not everyone needs to achieve something in cultivation. My First Disciple is a sect leader, the Second Disciple is a supreme ruler, and the Third Disciple is an ordinary person, and that's fine.

In my eyes, you are all my disciples, and that's all that matters."

"Shi Fu, I still don't understand..."

Tao Mian flicked the boy's forehead.

"If you don't understand, you don't understand. There's no need to grasp all the truths. If someone insisted I understand the wisdom of a seventy-year-old at twenty, I'd slap them and tell them to learn to be human first."

"Oh," Chu Suiyan covered his forehead, feeling wronged, "but Shi Fu didn't have to hit me."

"I wasn't hitting you; I was enlightening you."

"…"

Tao Mian returned to Peach Blossom Mountain to do three things.

Feed the chickens, take on disciples, and visit the graves.

The day for visiting the graves was approaching.

"Since you've become my disciples, it's time to introduce you to your senior brother."

Tao Mian said seriously to his two newly accepted disciples. Disciple number one yawned, while disciple number two looked bright-eyed.

"San Tu, don't disrespect your senior brother."

Chu Liuxue pursed her lips.

"My mistake, banknotes. But in the end, everyone returns to dust, and I'll eventually be buried next to my senior brother."

Onlooking Chu Suiyan: ?

"Oh, Suiyan too."

Onlooking but inexplicably included Chu Suiyan: ??

Tao Mian scratched his chin with his fingers.

"You're right. Then later, when we go up the mountain, we'll dig two more pits."

Chu Suiyan: ...

Tao Mian was usually lazy, but when it came to burying disciples, he was enthusiastic. On the agreed day, he prepared hoes and shovels early, followed by the two children, and went to Gu Yuan's grave.

Today wasn't the official day of commemoration; it was just a spontaneous visit by Tao Mian to take a walk up the mountain.

Gu Yuan's grave was nestled by the mountains and water, flat and serene.

It wasn't the overgrown scene Chu Liuxue imagined; it seemed someone regularly tended to it.

Who else could come here?

A square tombstone stood silently under a peach tree, engraved with Gu Yuan's name. Tao Mian ignored the stone and instead circled nearby.

He tapped the ground with his shovel.

"I've decided, you siblings will be buried here."

Chu Liuxue cooperatively stepped forward, grabbed a handful of slightly damp soil, and nodded.

"Not bad here."

Chu Suiyan didn't know what expression to make.

His senior brother's grave was here, so he didn't dare wander, standing obediently in place, looking around.

He noticed that the spot where Shi Fu stood was quite far from Gu Yuan's stone, curious.

"Little Tao Shi Fu, this place is empty."

"Oh," Tao Mian's tone was calm, as if discussing how many bowls of rice to eat for lunch, "this spot is reserved for your sister Lu."

"…"

Chu Suiyan closed his mouth, feeling he shouldn't have asked.

Tao Mian seemed to make a decision, eagerly swinging the shovel to dig a pit, specifically for Lu Yuandi.

The two children watched, accompanying him all morning. When he complained about his sore waist, they returned to the Taoist temple at the foot of the mountain.

On the day of the memorial, a gentle rain began to fall, the first rain of the year on Peach Blossom Mountain.

As the raindrops started to dampen the earth, the two children were still in their dreams.

Usually fond of lazing in bed, Tao Mian had risen early, carrying a basket of flowers, fruits, and wine, walking through the forest and climbing the steps.

He had his own familiar routine: weeding, leveling the soil, cleaning the tombstone, and arranging the offerings. The offerings had a specific order: flowers, fruits, and a cup of wine.

Then he would stand before the stone for a long time, recounting the past year's events.

At this point, Tao Mian became more spontaneous, speaking whatever came to mind. Mentioning Lu Yuandi, he even whimsically moved the empty stone he had set aside days ago for polishing.

He had brought an oiled paper umbrella up the mountain, but in his busyness, he forgot about it. The fine rain gradually soaked his clothes and hair, and as he crouched, wiping the water from his lashes with the back of his hand, someone held an umbrella over his head.

Lu Yuandi had been standing under a peach tree to the west, watching Tao Mian's every move. She had been there as long as he had.

When Tao Mian brought over an empty stone, she felt a stir in her heart and approached slowly.

Looking down, she saw Tao Mian carving the character "Lu" on the stone.

Lu Yuandi: ...

"Little Tao, I only locked you up for a few days, do you hate me this much?"

Tao Mian chuckled awkwardly.

Lu Yuandi's gaze shifted forward, catching sight of the partially formed pit.

"Is this also reserved for me?"

To break the awkwardness, Tao Mian suggested an idea.

"Since you're here, why not lie down and try it for size? While you're still alive."