The words “chicken soup” greatly invigorated Liu Datie’s spirits. He ignored his still-thumping heart and lit up with excitement. “Is it authentic free-range chicken?”
“Um… it’s from the village. I just caught it yesterday.” Chen Ji reassured him. “The broth comes out clear and super fresh, no gamey taste at all. You’ve probably had it before, right?”
Liu Datie nodded vigorously. “I don’t know how they raise them around here, but back home, free-range chicken is all chewy and tough—super springy. I love the drumsticks the most! So tender yet bouncy; I can’t even describe the flavor!”
From there, the conversation veered into what they’d eat and the best ways to cook it.
The phone camera was pointed straight at Liu Datie. Under normal walking conditions, it couldn’t capture Chen Ji, but his voice came through clear as day.
{That young guy is so gentle. Da Tie’s face just went white as a sheet, and now he’s bouncing around like nothing happened.}
{Five-Step Snake! Who wouldn’t freak out?! My heart legit stopped for a sec!}
The two chatted the whole way until Liu Datie finally spotted the Mountain Lord Temple at the end of the path. He stared in confusion at the unexpectedly large grounds. “Your place is this big?”
Chen Ji explained, “It’s not really mine. Think of it as communal… I rented it from the village.”
Villagers could claim land allotments, and back in the day, Chen Ji’s grandfather had passed on the village plots in favor of this patch around the Mountain Lord Temple. It wasn’t exactly official at the time, but the village had said it was fine, so it was. Later, when they built the house, they expanded the temple a bit and merged it all into one property.
Chen Ji hadn’t been back in years, and nothing much had changed because it was so remote—inconvenient for daily life, with nothing valuable there. Plus, the mountain was crawling with venomous snakes and wild beasts, making it tough to grow anything. And with his grandfather’s old reputation keeping things in check, the place had just sat abandoned.
When Chen Ji returned, his household registration wasn’t local anymore, so he couldn’t claim the land outright. But as a native villager, the village leased him this plot for seventy years, all prepaid—and it wasn’t much money.
So yeah, it was communal land.
Chen Ji had poured tens of thousands into renovations front and back, and that was only because the System Cat had cheated by supplying all the materials. Otherwise, just those deep-green bricks—smooth as jade and ringing like a bell—would’ve cost more than he could afford.
He probably couldn’t buy them even if he sold himself.
They’d returned a bit late; the construction crew seemed to have already left.
As they spoke, the pair reached the temple gate. Liu Datie blurted out, “Wait, bro—you live in a temple?”
“Yeah.” Chen Ji pushed open the gate while saying, “I’ll show you to the guest room first so you can rest. Then I’ll go make dinner…”
【Chen Ji, you’re back! Hey, what’s this? Did you bring me some snacks?】
Before he finished, the livestream viewers clearly saw a streak of yellow dart out from inside, lunging straight at Liu Datie. Chen Ji reacted fast, grabbing Second Master Huang by the tail and yanking him into his arms. Liu Datie jumped. “Wh-what is that?!”
Chen Ji held Second Master Huang by the scruff with one hand, maintaining his smile. “Just a little critter. Don’t worry… Found him injured in the mountains and brought him back. I call him ‘Second Master Huang.'”
Then he lowered his head to Second Master Huang. “Second Grandpa, this is my guest. Don’t scare him.”
It was true—Chen Ji had gotten hurt in the mountains, and Second Master Huang had brought him back.
Liu Datie was a country boy himself! How could he not recognize a yellow weasel?
He said haltingly, “Hold up—you’re keeping a yellow weasel?”
Back home, yellow weasels were taboo. You didn’t just kill them; you shooed them away if you saw one. Old folks might even mutter “Great Immortal” when they spotted them… And this guy was raising one so casually?
Chen Ji corrected him earnestly. “I’m not keeping him. He just drops by to hang out sometimes.”
“He’s pretty attached to me, that’s all.” Chen Ji was straight-up lying with a straight face, not even blushing.
Liu Datie ventured, “…Can I pet him?”
Chen Ji thought for a second. “Second Grandpa has a fiery temper. Better not. If you really want to, you gotta butter him up first—compliment him till he’s happy.”
Second Master Huang, hearing this, flailed his little paws in Chen Ji’s arms. 【…?! Chen Ji, is that how your Second Grandpa rolls as a Great Immortal?!】
Liu Datie looked regretful. “Then maybe I won’t. Second Grandpa’s gorgeous, though. The ones I’ve seen before were all drab and dusty yellow. Never one with fur that gleams gold at the tips.”
Second Master Huang: 【…Huh, this guy’s got a sweet mouth.】
Chen Ji laughed. He ruffled Second Master Huang’s head and set him down, speaking gently and patiently. “Second Grandpa, stick around after dinner. I’m stewing chicken today—I’ll save you a bowl.”
【Isn’t that only right?】 Second Master Huang said as his sleek, slender body rubbed against Chen Ji’s pant leg before heading inside. He shot Liu Datie a glance. 【For being so well-behaved, I won’t eat you!】
Liu Datie caught that look and felt like Second Master Huang had real spirit—no way was he touching him now. The chat exploded.
{Why do I feel like Second Grandpa understands people?!}
{Heavens, a yellow weasel sparkling in the sunlight!}
{Aren’t yellow weasels this cute?}
{I agree, he seems super spirited… Like he really gets it.}
Chen Ji led Liu Datie to the guest room and headed straight for the kitchen. Liu Datie glanced at the spotless room but didn’t flop onto the bed. Instead, he collapsed on the floor, phone and all. “Fam, I need a breather. I’m beat…”
“Not getting on the bed… I’m covered in dirt and dust, and I still gotta sleep here later!” Answering the chat questions, Liu Datie added, “Resting… yeah, resting now. It’s not too bad—I ate plenty. I’ll lie here a bit, then shower. Otherwise, I’d be too embarrassed to sit down for dinner.”
“Is this scripted…? No way, why would I risk my life for a script?” The phone’s glow reflected in Liu Datie’s eyes, giving them an unexpectedly serious glint. “I swear it’s not scripted. If it is, may I stay broke forever! That guy’s just a regular dude…”
“Weird…” Liu Datie paused at one comment—he hadn’t considered that. The chat saw him pondering, and someone hammered out a flurry of messages.
{He says his eyes are bad, but you can’t even tell!}
{When you talked, he looked toward the camera like a bunch of times—on purpose or not!}
{Deep-mountain old temple, calls a five-step snake ‘Fifth Grandpa,’ a yellow weasel ‘Second Grandpa.’ Da Tie, wise up!}
The barrage halted briefly, then:
{Yeah, thinking about it, it’s kinda spooky.}
{Nobody wonders what a guy with bad eyes was doing by the water pool?}
{Exactly—he talks to the snake and weasel like they’re people!}
Liu Datie scratched his head. “Nah… don’t jinx it, you’re creeping me out!”
“Plus, he offered to walk me down the mountain at first. I begged to come back with him… Even if it was some demon or ghost, why would it be in a Mountain Lord Temple? Isn’t that like a Mountain God Temple?”
Chat: {emmm Lanruo Temple…}
Liu Datie shivered and rubbed his arms. “Eek, no way—don’t scare me… Hold on, lemme check my phone…”
He pulled out his backup phone—the one he’d used for navigation—and opened the location. Signal was weak but there. He checked WiFi next and sighed in relief, showing the screen to the camera. “See? Right there at the top—Mountain Lord Temple WiFi! Demons in this day and age wouldn’t set up WiFi, right?”
To convince everyone, he plugged in his charger to the bedside outlet. Ding—the phone started charging. He spread his hands for the camera. “See? Charging!”
“Internet and power—you could call it a scam den and I’d buy it, but Lanruo Temple? That’s stretching.” Liu Datie declared confidently.
He had no idea that before Chen Ji arrived, the Mountain Lord Temple had been pretty much a Lanruo Temple.
He blew a heart at the camera. “I know you guys care about my safety. I’ll keep the stream on the whole time—rest easy!”
In return, he got a wave of [vomit.jpg] emojis.
Meanwhile, Chen Ji dropped the chicken in the pot, blanched off the scant blood foam, added seasonings, and headed to the main hall. Before the statue wrapped in silk, he lit incense and took up the moon blocks, murmuring softly. “Grandpa Mountain Lord, the Mountain Lord Temple’s almost fully renovated. In ten days or half a month, we can pick an auspicious day to unveil the silk for you.”
“Today I brought back a guy. Remember I mentioned it? We need folks to know about the temple so they respect your authority and come up Little Azure Mountain to offer incense fire… This one’s influential—he knows tons of people, and everything he says or does is watched by over a hundred thousand right now. With him leading, they’ll see the mountain’s beauty, the great scenery, and bit by bit, the incense fire will flow.”
Chen Ji had originally planned to recast the Mountain Lord’s golden body but now ditched the idea—make do. If it worked, great; if not, toss it.
Chen Ji smiled. “I think this plan’s solid. What do you say?”
He tossed the moon blocks. They landed two yang.
The Mountain Lord’s stance: no comment—which meant Chen Ji hadn’t convinced Him yet.
Chen Ji’s eyebrows rose slightly. Feigning surprise, he said, “You don’t approve, Grandpa Mountain Lord? Once the incense fire picks up, you’ll naturally thrive… More people on the mountain, and you’ll get whatever offerings you want.”
His expression stayed mild and gentle, but his words weren’t. “Little Azure Mountain’s so treacherous— what’s a few disappearances?”
The moon blocks landed: one yin, one yang. Holy block.
The Old Codger agreed.
Chen Ji’s eyes flickered, his smile growing even warmer.
Barring those fated to die, he couldn’t exactly call on the grim reapers to resurrect anyone. But other cases? Wasn’t there still a Mountain Lord out back?
That thing on the left side altar couldn’t leave the Mountain Lord Temple or descend into the mortal world. Let it do whatever it pleased—if there was a problem, they could just say Xiangxiang was responsible. If anyone had the guts, they could go pick a fight with Xiangxiang. What did it have to do with him?
He was just an ignorant and feeble mortal. How could he possibly control Xiangxiang?
Chen Ji picked up the moon blocks again and continued, “To draw in incense fire, it can’t meet with any mishaps on Little Azure Mountain. We still need it to return safely and spread the word… You know I have no real skills for this. It’ll have to depend on you. What do you think?”
The moon blocks clattered to the ground once more: one yin, one yang. A holy block.
The Old Codger agreed.
Chen Ji nodded. He picked up the moon blocks and respectfully placed them back on the incense table.
An electronic voice rang out from beyond the door: “Is Master Chen home?! Your delivery!”
Chen Ji stepped out of the main hall. There, hovering in the sky, was a drone. The electronic voice announced, “Facial recognition successful! Master Chen, here’s your delivery!”
Whoosh! A package plummeted from the sky, landing five meters ahead of Chen Ji.
The drone leisurely flew away. Chen Ji approached and glanced at the label: Confidential Shipment: Clothing.
He gave it a shake. Something inside clinked and clanged—clearly metal objects—and the package felt quite heavy.
Oh. The things he’d bought for Xiangxiang had arrived.
