Chapter Ten: Seeking the Way

  The sun was setting, and Sun Guan put down the Buddhist scripture in his hand and stood up.

  "Master, are you going to Taiping Palace tonight?" the little boy asked.

  "I'll just stay here," said Sun Guanzhong, "You all take care of the lamps and fires, it's dry and windy today."

  The little boy responded and personally held up a lantern.

  The mountain road winds its way up, with a few dim lanterns leading the way.

  The Tai Ping Palace is still the same Tai Ping Palace, and the creaking door is still opened by the same Daoist boy.

  As usual, she went to Chang Yaonang's residence in person.

  "Have you cleaned it today?" she asked.

  "The flowers in this house have been replaced," said Daotong.

  Sun Guan nodded slightly.

  "Remember to do this every day, so that there will be a lively atmosphere in the house. Otherwise, when the wife comes back, it won't be good for her to live here." she said.

  Daotong responded, but in his heart, he felt it was somewhat unnecessary. His wife had just left, how could she come back so quickly? Moreover, she was taken away by her maternal grandparents' family.

  "Master, will she come back?" she couldn't help but ask.

  Cheng's family is so bad to her, being taken in by her maternal grandparents' home isn't more suitable, what's the point of coming back.

  Sun Guanzhu didn't say anything.

  For decades, there was no such wife, and I didn't feel anything. Why is it that this wife has been here for only two months, and now she's gone, leaving my heart empty?

  It's as if I've lost my backbone.

  A daughter abandoned by the Cheng family in a Taoist temple was actually considered her mainstay, and it's laughable to say so herself.

  Sun Guanzhu smiled and shook his head.

  "She won't be coming back, this is all her home now," she said.

  The young Taoist nodded and said, "That's also true. This Taiping Palace is indeed a property of the Cheng family."

  The master and apprentice turned around, closed the door and came out, and the mountain gate outside was knocked.

  "Master, someone from Bao Yuan Mountain Taoist Temple has arrived with a message."

  Bao Yuan Shan Taoist Temple?

  Sun Guanzhu was stunned for a moment, so late? What's going on?

  Sun Guan Zhu finished reading the letter under the dim light in his room, with a complex expression.

  "I'm not saying these two kids are sly, I told you to pay more attention and watch them closely, didn't I?" she said with a sigh.

  "Yes, at first they were careful, but these two children are quite honest, their homework is serious, and they work hard. They didn't say anything about how pitiful their life was, they just worked diligently...” The newcomer, also a middle-aged Taoist nun, sighed and said, “Who would have thought that they suddenly ran away, and even stole the incense money from the temple? That's our savings for winter."

  "Serves you right." Sun Guan said in a bad tone, "Don't expect me to give you the money for our winter expenses."

  The middle-aged Taoist nun smiled secretly, with a hint of embarrassment.

  "Master uncle, it's not what Master meant, I just came to say hello." she said.

  Sun Guanzhu grunted.

  "I still don't know what's on your master's mind." She said. Sighing as she spoke, "How far can two kids run in the middle of the night? Have you all looked for them?"

  "We've searched far and wide, within a hundred miles, but there's no sign of her. It's really strange, unless she was taken away by wolves." said the middle-aged Taoist nun.

  Sun Guanzhu looked at the letter in his hand and didn't say a word, pondering whether to give it to Cheng Jiaoniang. He also thought that since he hadn't left an address when he left, there was no way to send the letter.

  "It's getting late. You go down the mountain to rest first, and just run away if you have to. There's no other way, it's not that we're driving them away, but they want to leave themselves, life and death are up to fate." She said.

  The middle-aged Taoist nun replied with an affirmative tone.

  "Master." She thought of something and stood still, with a hint of a flattering smile, "I heard that the pastries here are very famous, why don't I take some when I leave, to spread the word in our place?"

  Sun Guan snorted and gave a look as if he already knew what they were thinking.

  "There's no free lunch, we're a Taoist temple, not a dim sum restaurant, what are you preaching?" she said.

  The night is deep and dark, with mountain winds blowing in gusts.

  In the pitch-black night, two small figures struggled to make their way forward.

  "Sister, I can't move anymore."

  "Even if you can't move, you must move."

  "Sister, where are we going?"

  "Go to places where those who don't want us will regret it."

  In the darkness, they finally saw two lanterns, and everyone in the convoy let out a sigh of relief.

  "Miss, miss, we've arrived at the station." The maid said excitedly, looking at the woman wrapped in a quilt inside the carriage.

  "It's already so late, we might as well hurry along," said Cao Guan Shi and Chen Si Ye.

  Chen Siye naturally agreed, and when they came, they were like this day and night without stopping. On the way back, bringing this woman made them walk much slower.

  "Go and tell that woman," he said.

  "Me?" Cao waved his hand busily, "You'd better go, Fourth Master."

  All the way, Cao Guanshi almost never appeared in front of Cheng Jiaoniang. Mr. Chen naturally saw it and thought about what happened at the Taoist temple. He naturally understood that Cheng Jiaoniang didn't like Cao Guanshi or maybe she didn't like the Zhou family?

  "Our daughter has been strange since she was a child, and it's all because of what our old lady said, it's her who took care of her since childhood." Cao Guan Shi said casually.

  Mr. Chen nodded and said, "This child was raised by Old Lady Zhou, so she should be very close to the Zhou family. Patients are always a bit eccentric, this spoiled girl is just naturally eccentric."

  He turned and went to the front of the carriage saying something.

  "How can this be? It's too tiring! How can you bear it?" The maid immediately objected.

  She was a healthy person and couldn't stand sitting in the carriage for so long, let alone Cheng Jiaoniang who had a poor body.

  Mr. Chen looked at Chong Yuniang and knew which of the two was the real speaker.

  "My daughter, your father's condition is really..." he said with a tone of apology.

  "The faster, the slower," said Jingniang.

  "Haste makes waste." The maid nodded and said to Old Man Chen, "My mistress is exhausted from overwork, when she gets there, she won't have time to take care of your father's illness."

  That's also true, Old Master Chen nodded.

  "It was my fault," he said. "Please forgive me, wife."

  Deciding to take a break, the crowd of people noisily headed towards the post station. Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, the post station was even more lively than their side.

  This was a long-abandoned and dilapidated relay station, where the courtyard was filled with carriages and horses, mostly cargo carriers, and the air was mixed with all sorts of strange smells.

  "Get out, get out, there's no room left, people are going to die and can't come in." Two chubby clerks were driving away four or five men.

  Four or five men were carrying a door plank with someone covered in a quilt on it, being driven away by the post-house clerk. The men were all muttering to themselves.

  "What are you doing? You bunch of deserters who can't even defeat the Western bandits, want to show off your might here?" The station chief scolded.

  "You scoundrel!"

  These words were like a knife stabbing into the hearts of these men, instantly their faces turned red with rage and they raised their fists.

  "Alright, alright, he didn't say anything wrong." A man shouted to stop others, glancing at the county magistrate, "We'll just spend the night outside then."

  "Big brother, it's Third Brother, his illness..." another man said, his voice choked with emotion.

  The man didn't say anything and looked over this way.

  On this side, Mr. Chen's carriage drove in, with high heads and big horses, brocade clothes and jade belts, and it was clear at a glance that he was not ordinary.

  The station officer who was good at observing people's words and expressions immediately smiled and accepted it.

  "Sir, will you stay at our hotel?" they greeted warmly.

  Cao Guan Shi took out the posthouse certificate and saw the bright red Kyoto Gunbei official seal on it, and the posthouse clerk almost bowed his head to the ground.

  They were overjoyed and thrilled to see such a high-ranking official from the capital in their small town.

  "The upstairs is not enough."

  "It's not enough, drive all those merchants out."

  The relay station was suddenly filled with excitement and commotion.

  The men outside who had lit bonfires looked on coldly, some of them spat heavily.

  "It's really a matter of life and death!" he said.

  "Big brother, Third Brother is done for." a man shouted, looking at the man under the door plank.

  A crowd gathered around, but were helpless, and finally hung their heads in tears.

  "A person's life is predetermined by heaven, just accept your fate." The man at the front muttered to himself, his expression was extremely sorrowful, his hands clenched tightly.

  Who wants to resign themselves to fate! Who wants to resign themselves to fate! Alas! Alas!

  "A person's life is indeed predetermined by heaven." A female voice rang out, "This patient has met me, and it's truly a blessing in disguise."

  What?

  The station was bustling with activity, with several horse-drawn carriages passing by. One of them happened to stop on this side, as if waiting for someone inside to finish up before entering. At that moment, the carriage curtain opened, and in the dim light of night, a woman's face seemed to be looking over.

  I actually updated 3,000 words this morning. The meaning of one update per day is 2,000 words per update. I didn't say it before, so it doesn't count. Today, I'm saying it specifically: if one update has more than 3,000 words, then there won't be a second update.