Chương 163: Liu Yanchang

Before Yang Jian could return from Heaven, a scholar arrived at the foot of Mount Hua.

He had delicate features, resembling a pretty boy from a traditional Chinese novel. Judging from his clothes, he seemed to come from an ordinary family, and he climbed Mount Hua alone without any servants or pages accompanying him.

The scholar slipped while climbing the mountain and fell down the steep cliff.

Inside the Taoist temple, Richard looked at Yang Chan with a smile; her destiny had arrived.

Who else could this scholar be but Liu Yanchang?

In terms of the divine duties of the Third Holy Mother, it wouldn't be considered dereliction of duty for her not to save Liu Yanchang from falling off the cliff, since her greater responsibility is to protect the area from monsters.

She shouldn't interfere with the grudges between mortals, or their births, aging, sickness, and death.

But what can the Holy Mother of the Third Princess do? She is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see innocent mortals die in front of her.

Just like now, even knowing that this was Liu Yanchang, she only glared angrily at Richard before conjuring a gust of wind to save Liu Yanchang.

This time, she didn't show herself at all, only casting spells from a distance. After saving the person, she left and returned to her Taoist temple. She had no intention of ever meeting them again.

Liu Yanchang, perhaps out of his mind, even after falling off a cliff and suffering such a great shock, still insisted on climbing the mountain.

I felt that this was the mountain god's blessing, so I had to go up and offer incense to fulfill my vow.

Yang Chan was speechless.

She desperately wanted to appear right now and drive Liu Yanchang away, far, far away, so that he would never set foot in Huashan territory again in his entire life.

But she also knew that matters of marriage were not something she could easily sever.

If the law of cause and effect were that simple, why would her second brother be in such a difficult situation?

She even agreed to Richard's suggestion that she run away.

I just didn't expect this guy to arrive so quickly. My second brother had just told me that there was a problem with her marriage line, and then Liu Yanchang appeared.

Isn't this a bit too fast?

They're not giving her any time to adjust. If this continues, she won't be able to escape, will she?

Second brother, when will you be back?

And so, Liu Yanchang climbed Mount Hua step by step, and this time there were no accidents.

Meanwhile, in the Taoist temple, Yang Chan and Richard kept watching him through the water mirror.

After all this time, Richard hadn't found anything wrong with him. He wasn't a reincarnated deity, and his soul was normal.

There's nothing wrong with the cause and effect; you can even see his future fate—he'll just be an ordinary student who keeps failing the imperial examinations.

Even the sudden fall off the cliff just now was not wrong; it was just an ordinary mortal who accidentally lost his footing and fell.

There was nothing wrong with him. Neither before nor at the moment of the fall did Richard realize that there was anything wrong with him on the causal level.

As for whether someone used magic to cause trouble? That's even more impossible.

If someone could use magic to play tricks without Richard noticing at all, then Yang Chan wouldn't need to struggle anymore; she could just give up.

If such a powerful being wanted to scheme against her, she simply couldn't escape, nor could she let Yang Jian discover that Yang Chan's marriage destiny was abnormal.

Forget it, Richard stopped watching the spectacle. He used illusion magic on Liu Yanchang, making him believe that he had already entered the Temple of the Three Holy Mothers to offer incense and pay his respects.

Then he sent Liu Yanchang down the mountain, and only then did the illusion break.

Liu Yanchang turned around and looked at the mountaintop with a puzzled expression. He clearly remembered entering the temple to worship, but he always felt a sense of unreality.

Forget it, I won't think about it anymore. I still need to get back to the city, otherwise I'll have to sleep in the wilderness.

"Is everything alright for now?" Yang Chan asked.

"I'm not sure." Richard shook his head.

"Why don't you carry the Lotus Lantern with you at all times? Just keep it in your hand and communicate with it spiritually at any time."

"In this situation, your fate will carry more weight, and the difficulty for someone to scheme against you will increase dramatically," he advised.

"Okay, that works too." Yang Chan nodded.

"Forget it, I'd better avoid it for now. Let's go find Sister Chang'e to play."

"Xiao Yao, please continue to keep watch for me. When Second Brother attends the Peach Banquet, I'll treat you to peaches." She thought for a moment and then said.

She can't afford to offend them, but she can avoid them. Let Liu Yanchang chase her all the way to the Moon Palace if he dares.

Mortals fear the consequences, while bodhisattvas fear the causes. Even immortals abhor entanglements with cause and effect.

Run away, run away.

"Okay. Are the peaches delicious?" Xiao Yao readily agreed, since it was just a matter of releasing an avatar.

"It's delicious! The Queen Mother of the West's peach tree root is one of the few innate spiritual roots in the world."

The peach trees cultivated from the mother root are divided into three levels: It ripens once every 3000 years, produces small fruits, and eating them can make one healthy, light, and even achieve immortality.

It ripens once every 6000 years, produces medium-sized fruit, and eating it grants one the ability to ascend to heaven and achieve immortality.

It ripens once every 9000 years, with purple veins and a fine kernel. Eating it grants one longevity equal to heaven and earth, and the same age as the sun and moon.

I've only ever eaten a peach that ripens once every six thousand years. After eating it, my magical power increased significantly, by at least several hundred years.

My second brother should have a chance to get a peach that ripens only once every nine thousand years. I'll ask him to save one for us so we can all enjoy it together.

Yang Chan introduced it to Xiao Yao.

Richard smiled and nodded. This world does indeed have many good things. Besides the peaches of immortality, there are also the ginseng fruit of Wuzhuang Temple, the missing yellow plum, and the mulberry fruit on the Fusang tree.

I wonder what it would taste like to make wine from osmanthus blossoms on a laurel tree.

He would like to try it if he had the chance.

So Yang Chan and Richard left Mount Hua after a short time.

This move is somewhat reminiscent of Han Kuo-yu's "runaway" style. Although it's certainly a bit undignified, at least it's safe.

As long as she runs fast enough, cause and effect cannot catch her.

Although the Moon Palace is also in the Thirty-Three Heavens, it does not need to go through the Heavenly Court.

With Yang Chan leading the way, Richard finally had a chance to show off his advanced metallic life form.

Inside a dragon-shaped metallic life form, Yang Chan curiously looked around.

"This is a specialty of my world—metal lifeforms, a common mode of transportation used by the powerful beings of the divine plane when traveling."

Despite its fierce appearance, it has only average fighting ability; its only advantage is its speed.

"And it lacks intelligence and requires human control," Richard explained.

"That's quite fast indeed." Yang Chan looked at the layers of heavens that were being traversed so quickly.

"You dragon up ahead, stop and undergo inspection." A slightly childish voice came from behind.

Soon, a child riding on wheels of fire caught up quickly.

Well, what a slap in the face! I just finished praising their speed, and Nezha caught up with me.

"Nezha, it's me," Yang Chan said.

"The Holy Mother of the Third Princess?" Nezha asked in confusion.

Richard put away the metal life form; it was now only good for transportation, and its speed couldn't even match Nezha's Wind Fire Wheels.

Then Richard, Xiao Yao, and Yang Chan appeared in front of Nezha.

"It really is you, Holy Mother Nezha!" Nezha exclaimed in surprise.

"Nezha, long time no see. What are you doing? On patrol? This isn't Heaven's territory, is it? Besides, with your position, why would you need to lead a patrol?" Yang Chan asked.

"Hey, that's not a patrol, I just came back from suppressing a rebellion in the lower realms."

"I saw a dragon flying ahead. You know I don't get along with dragons, so isn't it normal for me to pick a fight with them?" Nezha explained.

"Who are these two?" Nezha asked, looking at Richard and Xiao Yao.

"These are my new Daoist friends, Richard and Xiao Yao. We're on our way to the Moon Palace to visit Sister Chang'e. Nezha, would you like to come along?"

"Greetings, fellow Daoists. The friends of the Holy Mother of the Third Princess are my friends, Nezha. You are welcome to come and visit me."

"No, I have to go back and report. Maybe next time. I'll come to Mount Hua to visit you next time," Nezha said to Yang Chan after greeting Richard and Xiao Yao.

Well, Nezha really couldn't leave; the heavenly soldiers and generals behind him were still huffing and puffing as they rushed over.

Nezha couldn't abandon his duties and go play with them.

Xiao Yao glanced at him a few more times. Richard had once told her that this older brother would never grow up either. Unlike her, she didn't want to grow up, while Nezha's body was fixed after being reforged from lotus roots, making it impossible for him to grow.

This is the price he paid for his impulsiveness when he was a child.

Nezha ignored her gaze and chatted with the Third Holy Mother for a while, talking about some interesting things that had happened in Heaven recently. After his heavenly soldiers and generals caught up, he took his leave.