Chapter 311 - 153: Duan Chenzhou’s Identity Revealed, Ji Xiu: "Hold on, Master, You’re Not Dead?

Chapter 311: Chapter 153: Duan Chenzhou’s Identity Revealed, Ji Xiu: "Hold on, Master, You’re Not Dead?

Hearing footsteps behind them, several Daoists turned. Seeing someone arrive at the gate after dark and disturb the Deer Ancestor while it was eating, they spun around, their expressions turning hostile:

"If you wish to become a disciple, the Flying Immortal Temple is open from eight in the morning to six in the evening, and only accepts applicants during daylight hours. That is the rule set by the Observatory Master. If you are here to pay respects, the same hours apply. Regardless of your purpose, please return tomorrow. Or else..."

However, before they could finish speaking, the Flying Immortal Temple Daoists felt a gust of wind WHOOSH past them. In the blink of an eye, they saw the previously relaxed Deer Ancestor...

...scramble over in an instant and start nuzzling against the young man’s side. It was a completely different picture from its usual high-and-mighty demeanor, where it would aloofly accept their offerings while surrounded by them!

The sudden contrast left them stunned, unable to process what was happening.

’What in the world is wrong with the Deer Ancestor!?’

’Where is its dignity as a Spiritual Object!?’

The Flying Immortal Sect Members were shaken to their core, feeling their preconceived notions shatter with a loud CRACK.

"You..."

One of the disciples began to speak, his voice strained. He felt a sense of powerlessness, the kind that comes from watching a revered figure you’ve tried desperately to please suddenly start fawning over someone else. Even his pride in being from the Flying Immortal Temple began to fade.

Just as he was about to say more, he turned and saw a young Daoist walking out from the temple, a duster in one hand. The disciple immediately called out:

"Senior Brother Qin! Senior Brother Qin!"

"Come quickly!"

This Senior Brother Qin’s full name was Qin Yu. He was the young master from the Direct Bloodline of the Paper Trade, one of the Thirty-Six Professions. The Qin Family’s monopoly on the paper industry in Jiangyin Prefecture, from the finest silk paper down to the coarsest straw paper, afforded them an exceptionally high status.

He personally made offerings to the Observatory Master every year and was Fan Guan’s favorite disciple, held in very high regard.

One could say that when the Observatory Master was away, he was the one in charge. Having followed the Observatory Master for several years, he had not only forged his spiritual intent but also learned several Daoist Skills, making his abilities quite profound.

The disciples couldn’t ascertain Ji Xiu’s origins. Seeing the Deer Ancestor being led away, they grew panicked, terrified of being punished by the Observatory Master and the recently returned Fairy Wei.

After all, the Deer Ancestor was the mount brought by Fairy Wei. And rumor had it... that she was a disciple of the head of the Daoist Lineage supporting their Observatory Master. If she discovered that her Spiritual Object had been lured away...

...all of them would be in terrible trouble!

Qin Yu heard the commotion and ambled over. Before he even had a chance to speak, he saw Ji Xiu...

Instantly, a lump formed in his throat as unpleasant memories surfaced.

Meanwhile, the disciples at his side were all talking at once:

"Senior Brother, this man’s origins are a mystery! He showed up and immediately made off with the Deer Ancestor... It’s all very strange!"

"Should we inform the Observatory Master? He personally instructed us to look after Fairy Wei’s Spirit Deer. If it runs off with someone, how are we supposed to explain this..."

The disciples were on the verge of tears.

Qin Yu, however, just looked at Ji Xiu in silence. ’There’s nothing to even say,’ he thought, exasperated.

’Of course the deer ran off with him.’

’It was his mount to begin with. It’d be weirder if it didn’t!’

He recalled the first time he accompanied Observatory Master Fan Nansong to pick up the Little Ancestral Master. It had been a case of mistaken identity, and as soon as they met, his Master had "robbed" him of a Spirit Pill...

Though his heart was still bleeding from the memory, Qin Yu forced a smile.

"So it’s... Boss Ji."

"You must be here to see my Master and the Little Ancestral Master, right?"

"The Little Ancestral Master has hit a bottleneck in her Cultivation and has reached the stage where she must cultivate a True Technique. Plus, after not hearing from you for over half a month, she was worried sick and insisted on coming to Jiangyin."

"So, my Master decided to contact a senior from the Ten Thousand Laws Sect to come here, both to pass on the True Technique and to have a powerful figure on hand to prevent any mishaps. That’s why he brought the Little Ancestral Master back to Jiangyin Prefecture."

"Only yesterday, after we arrived in Jiangyin Prefecture, did we hear the news: that you, Boss, had shot down the Fishermen’s Great Sacrificial Banner twice, wiped out an entire Daoist School Street, and even earned the esteem of the Young Lady Heir of the Beicang Marquis’s Mansion, and were now cultivating within its walls. Only then were we able to relax a little."

"We had already sent an invitation and were preparing to visit you tomorrow. I didn’t expect you to arrive first tonight, Boss. Please, come in. I’ll take you to see my Master."

After speaking, Qin Yu turned and shot a vicious glare at the disciples who had been tending to the Jade-Horned Spirit Deer.

"’What do you mean, ’made off with’? You people have no idea how to talk!"

"This Spirit Deer was raised by Boss Ji in the first place. It was only temporarily left in the care of his younger sister, our Little Ancestral Master, Fairy Wei. It’s only natural for it to go with him. Making such a fuss is completely improper!"

"If the Master saw this, he’d punish every last one of you!"

Ji Xiu led the Spirit Deer, nodding with a smile to Daoist Qin Yu—the very same attendant of Fan Guan who had previously been stationed in Anning County—and followed him.

As for the Jade-Horned Spirit Deer beside him, it was perfectly behaved, not daring to make a peep or even breathe too loudly. It remembered being ruthlessly bullied by that ’master and disciple’ duo, and its spirit seemed to deflate.

Watching the two people and one deer disappear into the depths of the Daoist Temple...

The Daoist Temple disciples were left completely stunned.

’Shot down the Fishing Trade’s banner, wiped out Daoist School Street?’

A considerable storm had recently swept through Jiangyin Prefecture, and the name Ji Xiu had spread among the Grand Lineages and Daoist Schools.

There was nothing new under the sun. Unlike the poor folk in the rural counties who were too busy slogging through the mud to make a living to care for idle gossip, most citizens of the prefecture loved to hear about such scandals in their leisure time, and they spoke of it with great relish.

But...

What they hadn’t expected was,

...that the poor boy from the countryside, the "mud-leg" who was rumored to have no backing whatsoever...

...was actually the older brother of their Flying Immortal Temple’s Little Ancestral Master?!

Didn’t that mean the young man from a moment ago had a chance to rise in station through his sister’s prestige, enter that ancient Daoist Lineage of the Outer Dao, and find meteoric success within the Great Xuan!?