The fish in the lotus pond swam lazily.

Chen Changsheng sat by the lotus pond, taking a deep drink from the wine inside his gourd.

He sighed softly, declaring the mortal world is beautiful.

Wine dripped from the corners of Mr. Chen’s mouth, falling into the lotus pond.

Chen Changsheng didn’t mind at all, fully immersed in the beautiful lotus pond scenery and fine wine as dusk approached.

A red fish swam over.

The fish that had gathered nearby suddenly scattered, driven away by the red fish.

The red fish poked its head above the water. Mouth open, the falling wine landed right into its mouth.

One or two drops didn’t seem enough; it caught several more mouthfuls in a row.

“Hm?”

Chen Changsheng looked down and spotted the red fish stealing the spilled wine. It was caught red-handed.

‘Do fish crave wine too?’

Chen Changsheng found it amusing. He said, “Well, no one is here to drink with me, so you’ll have to do.”

Playfully, Chen Changsheng lifted the gourd and tipped wine right into the red fish’s mouth.

One mouthful, two mouthfuls, three mouthfuls…

At first, the red fish seemed fine, but slowly, the flapping of its fins grew slower.

Before long, it started to wobble and sway.

It got drunk and passed out!

Chen Changsheng paused, blinking. “Drunk?”

“Glug, glug…”

Bubbles escaped from the red fish’s mouth, and it sank, gurgling, to the bottom of the pond.

Chen Changsheng laughed, shaking his head. “Brother Fish, your tolerance is terrible, haha…”

He raised his gourd and took another swig. Seeing the sky darken, he got up to leave.

Chen Changsheng brushed off his sleeves, speaking to the red fish sunk at the bottom: “Tomorrow, I’ll come drink with you again.”

With that, he wasted no more time at the pond and headed back to the inn in the civic district.

Before he even reached the inn, however, he spotted Headman Cao waiting at the inn’s entrance from afar.

Headman Cao immediately noticed him and hurried over.

“Mr. Chen!”

Chen Changsheng paused. “Why the urgency, Caravan Leader?”

“Sir, our Proprietor wishes to meet you,” Headman Cao said.

“Huh?”

Chen Changsheng paused. “Your Proprietor?”

“He is currently at the inn.”

Just as Headman Cao finished speaking, a man emerged from the inn.

The man wore elegant robes with a jade pendant at his waist. His gaze changed the moment he saw Chen Changsheng.

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“When Manager Cao mentioned it, I had a feeling it might be you, Mr. Chen! And it really is!”

Tang Mingjing approached, respectfully cupping his hands upon seeing Chen Changsheng.

“So it’s you.”

Chen Changsheng smiled slightly. “I wondered why anyone would want to see me for no reason.”

Tang Mingjing said, “It’s not without reason! You saved my caravan. Even if we hadn’t met before, I should have come to thank you.”

Chen Changsheng waved it off. “It was the Mountain God Lord who saved them. Had nothing to do with me.”

Tang Mingjing paused for a second, then caught on. “Oh, yes, yes. The Mountain God Lord’s divine intervention.”

With just a few words, the matter was brushed aside.

Chen Changsheng glanced at him, noticing the aura of death that had clung to him before was now gone. “The tribulation is over?”

Tang Mingjing paused, then confirmed: “Over.”

He sighed deeply, recalling the incident. “It was all thanks to the words you left behind. Otherwise, Mingjing might not be alive today.”

“Please, come inside, Sir. Let’s sit and talk properly.” Tang Mingjing invited Chen Changsheng into the inn.

After asking the waiter to bring some simple wine and snacks, Tang Mingjing recounted the events of that day to Mr. Chen.

“It was almost nightfall. Thinking the road wasn’t far, the four of us decided to push on under the cover of night. Out of nowhere, several silver ingots appeared by the Imperial Road…”

“Two of my traveling companions spotted them immediately and raced down to pick them up. I was about to get off my horse, but suddenly remembered your warning… so I didn’t go down.”

“The road became littered with silver ingots, leading from the Imperial Road straight into the mountains. That’s when I knew something wasn’t right…”

Tang Mingjing continued: “Then Shiyuan and his friends decided to go into the mountain. I tried to stop them, but none of them would listen. So I just stayed waiting on the Imperial Road.”

Chen Changsheng asked, “Are those three still alive?”

“They are.”

Tang Mingjing said: “I went into the mountain later and dragged them out.”

“Huh?”

Chen Changsheng gave him a sharp look upon hearing this.

Tang Mingjing, however, reached into his robes and pulled out a jade pendant. “This thing saved me.”

Chen Changsheng took the pendant and examined it.

Exquisitely carved on the jade was a vivid scene of a lotus pond. Traces of lingering magical power could also be felt – likely this pendant shielded him from the danger that day.

“That day, the pendant emitted a golden light. The next moment, I heard a weird scream. The silver ingots surrounding us all instantly changed… transformed into paper spirit money! The evil ghost causing all this vanished, no one knows where it went.”

“Though they were saved, Shiyuan and the others all fell gravely ill upon returning. They haven’t recovered yet. I’d planned to take them to the Flowing Cloud Temple… little did I expect you, Sir, would come to Yan County.”

Finally, Tang Mingjing also understood why he’d felt something strange back at the Taoist temple that day.

No wonder Tong Zhihuan had said those things.

After the incident with the silver money ghost, he completely understood.

This gentleman definitely possesses immense power.

Chen Changsheng wasn’t terribly concerned with that. His gaze was fixed on the pendant in his palm, yet he couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

This pendant was, at best, a simple magical artifact. Yet, such an ordinary piece of jade hadn’t appeared in his divination earlier.

He definitely hadn’t overlooked it. The problem must lie within the pendant itself.

“Mr. Chen?” Tang Mingjing called out.

“It’s nothing.”

Chen Changsheng came back to the moment. “This pendant shielded you from calamity.”

Tang Mingjing nodded solemnly. “Indeed. Otherwise, all four of us might never have returned.”

Chen Changsheng asked, “Where did this pendant come from?”

Tang Mingjing replied, “It’s a family heirloom.”

Chen Changsheng raised his hand and began calculating silently.

He suddenly stopped midway.

He calculated three generations back for Tang Mingjing, but anything further was completely obscured.

“Your family line holds some unusual secrets,” Chen Changsheng remarked.

Tang Mingjing looked puzzled, “Unusual?”

Chen Changsheng explained, “This pendant is no ordinary object. Your ancestors likely encountered some profound opportunity or fate.”

Tang Mingjing thought hard but shook his head. “I haven’t heard anything like that mentioned. But this pendant has been with me since birth, always worn against my skin.”

Chen Changsheng suggested, “You might want to ask your family elders when you return. Perhaps they know something.”

Tang Mingjing took this advice to heart. Mr. Chen’s words sparked a deep curiosity within him about this jade pendant.