Wielding the Thunders Across Two Worlds

Taoist Fang De and Taoist Wu Zhi were playing Go.

They had, of course, noticed the six tourists who had climbed the mountain waiting respectfully nearby.

However, they didn’t stop their game to greet them. They had already encountered this sort of thing several times in recent days—people who, after learning that the Extraordinary existed, would come to the mountain seeking the Dao and immortality.

Taoist Fang De placed a black stone and chuckled softly, "How many groups is that now?"

"The seventh." Taoist Wu Zhi shook his head and sighed. "I’m starting to think we should move. More people have come to bother us in the last three days than in the past three years."

"I know." Taoist Fang De nodded. "A few more groups, and we’ll run out of food. We’ll have to go down the mountain to buy more. By the way, how much money do you have on you?"

"Three hundred seventy-nine point five." Taoist Wu Zhi replied while contemplating his move, then placed a white stone. "Are you broke?"

"Of course I’m not!" Taoist Fang De retorted. "I still have over two hundred!"

Taoist Wu Zhi stroked his chin. "Did you secretly buy alcohol the last time you went down the mountain?"

Taoist Fang De pursed his lips. "If you’re so good with numbers, why don’t you go tell fortunes in the city?"

Taoist Wu Zhi replied nonchalantly, "People in the city use artificial intelligence for fortune-telling these days. It’s more accurate than I am."

Taoist Fang De couldn’t help but laugh out loud. "Times are changing so fast. Not only do we have AI, but now we have Immortals, too."

Hearing this, Taoist Wu Zhi smiled as well. "You really believe they’re Immortals?"

Taoist Fang De raised an eyebrow. "Aren’t you envious?"

Taoist Wu Zhi shot back, "Aren’t you?"

The two old Daoists exchanged a smile and continued their game.

They had been playing Go for decades. It was just for fun, so they didn’t spend much time pondering their moves. After about twenty minutes, Taoist Wu Zhi captured two more of Taoist Fang De’s black stones, prompting Fang De to concede the game.

As the loser, Taoist Fang De began to clean up the game pieces. The winner, Taoist Wu Zhi, took a sip of cool tea, then turned to see the six visitors approaching with eyes full of expectation. He spoke bluntly, "You’re the seventh group to come by. We’re just ordinary people, not the Cultivators you’re looking for."

Taoist Fang De chimed in, "Wasn’t one of those who revealed themselves a Daoist from Qingcheng Mountain? Why aren’t you going there?"

The man leading the group couldn’t very well admit that the competition on Qingcheng Mountain was too fierce and that this was their indirect approach. Instead, he just smiled and said, "South Mountain is known as the Celestial Xia Ancestral Vein. I’m sure the Cultivators here must be the most powerful."

’A smooth talker!’

Taoist Fang De and Taoist Wu Zhi looked at each other and smiled.

Taoist Fang De finished putting the game pieces away under the stone table, then stood and dusted off his clothes. "It’s getting late, and it couldn’t have been easy for you all to travel so deep into the mountains. Why don’t you stay here for the night? I’ll go make some dinner."

"No, no, that’s quite alright," one of the men said hurriedly. "We brought canned food and tents."

"How many more days are you planning to stay in the mountains? Do you have enough supplies?" Taoist Wu Zhi asked with a smile, then added, "Best to save what you can, when you can."

The visitors fell silent. To conserve their supplies, they had been buying food and drinks from villagers and guesthouses since entering the mountains, and they had to admit, the prices the mountain folk charged were steep!

Taoist Fang De laughed heartily. "Meeting is a matter of fate. Our cabin may be simple, but it’s better than a tent. The nights here in the mountains get very cold. It’s not good for you to be without shelter from the elements."

"In that case, thank you, sirs," the group quickly replied.

"Don’t mention it," Taoist Wu Zhi said with a wave of his hand.

The visitors observed the two old men—their long hair tied up with hairpins, their half-length robes, and the cloth shoes on their feet. They looked something like Daoists, but not quite. They couldn’t resist asking, "Are you two gentlemen Daoists as well?"

"We’re just wandering Daoists of the mountains, not officially registered," Taoist Wu Zhi replied casually.

Taoist Fang De brought a basin of flour out from the cabin and began adding water to knead it. Though he looked to be in his seventies or eighties, his hands were still powerful. In no time, he had formed a large ball of dough, which he set aside to rest.

Next, he washed a large handful of wild vegetables, then sliced off a piece of cured local pork. With a series of rapid chops—THWACK THWACK THWACK—he diced it into thin slices, revealing impressive knife skills.

"We’re having noodles tonight," Taoist Fang De announced. "Authentic Guanzhong oil-splashed belt noodles. You all can handle spice, right?"

"Yes, yes, we can!" the group replied, nodding eagerly.

"Could I have a bowl, too?"

Just then, a gentle voice called out. Everyone turned to look and saw a young man who had just reached the top of the mountainside steps, waving in their direction.

Gu Zhao walked up to them and looked at the group of four men and two women. "Are you all here seeking the immortal path and looking for Cultivators, too?"

The word "too" gave away his own purpose.

"You too?" one of the women asked. Her use of "too" was its own answer.

"Immortals aren’t that easy to find," one of the men said. "These two old gentlemen are just ordinary people, living as recluses in the mountains."

"Come on up. It can’t be easy coming into the mountains alone," Taoist Fang De said, beckoning to Gu Zhao. He then looked Gu Zhao up and down. "You came all the way up here dressed like that?"

Gu Zhao was dressed in casual clothes and sneakers. Although there were a few dirty spots on him, he looked remarkably clean overall. But there was one other important detail...

"Where’s your luggage?" one of the women asked in shock. "Don’t tell me you came with nothing at all!"

Gu Zhao spread his hands. "The mountain path was treacherous. I lost it along the way."

"No way!"

"It’s amazing you made it here alive!"

"It’s not that bad. This isn’t exactly a no-man’s-land."

"Quick, come have some water and rest." Taoist Wu Zhi offered a bowl of water, reaching out to help Gu Zhao up onto the platform where they were standing before handing it to him.

"Thank you." Gu Zhao drained the bowl and handed it back to Taoist Wu Zhi.

"You should stay here for the night, too," Taoist Fang De said to Gu Zhao. "Tomorrow, I’ll take you down to the village and find a local to guide you out. You might not make it out on your own."

"Alright, thank you," Gu Zhao said again.

He sat down with the other tourists and listened as they chatted with Taoist Wu Zhi, who responded to them in a casual, noncommittal way.

"Grandmaster Wu," one of the women couldn’t resist steering the conversation back to their main topic, "have you ever seen any Cultivators here on South Mountain?"

"South Mountain is full of Cultivators," Taoist Wu Zhi chuckled. "But not a single one who can fly."

One of the men scratched his head. "That can’t be right. There are some on Lao Mountain and Qingcheng Mountain, and videos have even surfaced from West Mountain. It makes no sense for South Mountain to have none!"

"You idiot," the other woman chided. "Even if there were, do you think they’d let you find out?"

"Sigh... Does this mean we really have to venture into the uninhabited zones?"

"Let’s head further north tomorrow. There are plenty of small Taoist Temples on the North Slope of South Mountain. We can try our luck there."

SIZZLE—

With the sound of splashing hot oil, Taoist Fang De set his ladle aside and pointed to the bowls of noodles on the counter. "Noodles are ready! Come and get them!"