Chapter 1 The Newcomer

  The summer weather is sometimes as changeable as a child's face.

  Li An was just on the road, and the night was still good. Putting aside the noise made by the tricycle he rode, it was quite picturesque in the clear wind and bright moonlight.

  Unexpectedly, after rushing for five or six minutes, the sky suddenly darkened completely, and after a few flashes of lightning and thunder, a heavy downpour poured down.

  "Damn it! This rain is really coming at the worst time."

  As he stared at the rain that seemed to have no end, getting heavier and heavier, Li Anran, who had originally planned to rush on his journey, had no choice but to start looking for a place to take shelter from the rain.

  The torrential rain, like a water curtain, made the view extremely blurry. With nothing but desolate fields in sight, Li Anran could only squeeze himself into his carrying pole's basket.

  Fortunately, after finishing the Buddhist ceremony earlier, in order to prevent those tools from being blown away, I specially lowered and locked the soft top of the awning, which avoided the things inside from getting wet by the rain.

  The only thing that's a pity is that fashionable Taoist robe, which was specially designed and tailored, got completely soaked in the heavy rain after being worn only once.

  "Never mind, it's wet anyway. I'll just bear with it for now. Luckily this is a three-wheeled vehicle, if it were a two-wheeler, there would be nowhere to hide from the rain."

  Li Anran quickly got into the convertible with a soft top, pulled up the wet and uncomfortable Taoist robe that was stuck to her body, and could only resign herself to listening to the sound of rain hitting the soft top outside.

  The rain outside showed no signs of stopping, and Li Anran, hiding in the carriage, was bored out of his mind. He pulled out a flat wine flask and started drinking while playing with his phone.

  Li Anran, who didn't like playing games in the first place, lost interest after playing for a while. Accidentally opening the album, he saw a familiar figure.

  "Grandpa, are you okay now?" An Ran's eyes were fixed on the photo, her heart filled with sorrow, but her thoughts had unknowingly wandered elsewhere.

  It was said that it was a cold winter, and Li Anran was still a newborn baby. However, due to unknown reasons, he was heartlessly abandoned by his parents in the roadside grass and almost froze to death.

  It was also fate that a wandering Taoist priest, Li Gui, happened to pass by this place and was attracted by the crying sound in the grass. He found it was an abandoned baby and took him in.

  With this little "burden", Li Guizhen, who was originally carefree and planned to continue traveling around, simply settled down in a small village under the county seat of Nanjing City.

  Relying on his decent medical skills and equally good brewing techniques, the two of them lived a life that was not wealthy but had no problem with food and clothing.

  After graduating from Nanjing University with a major in agriculture and forestry, Li Anran found a good job in Nanjing. Whenever he had time off, he would return home to reunite with Li Guizhen.

  Several times he wanted to bring his grandfather to live in the city, but Li Guizhen was not allowed. Just as Li Anran was about to make a name for himself, he suddenly received bad news.

  Li Guizhen, who was originally in good physical condition, left without warning. When Li Anran heard the news and rushed back home as quickly as possible, she didn't even get to see him one last time.

  The only consolation is that Li Guizhen passed away peacefully, and before her death, she deliberately left behind a very detailed and legally valid will.

  What made Li Anran depressed was that there was nothing about the house and inheritance in the will, but another hidden message mentioned a strange request.

  After reading this message, Li Anran not only knew his true identity but also discovered that his grandfather was not just a wandering Taoist.

  In Li Anran's eyes, the wandering Taoist priests should be a unified term for those who travel the world, masters of the arts, and various strange and traditional occupations.

  Who would have thought that his own grandfather was actually a true member of the Taoist family. According to the comments, he is also the 17th generation successor of Chunyang Palace.

  Never thought that I would also become a member of the Taoist family, inheriting the mantle of Li Anran, the pure Yang Palace lineage. Facing this message, it took me a long time to calm down.

  As for being an abandoned child, it's not necessary for Li Gui Zhen to explain, after so many years, Li An Ran has also sensed some clues.

  But unlike those who knew their origins and had to go find their biological parents after they grew up, Li Anran never thought of doing so.

  Even in Li Guizhen's will, it is very clear that the time and place of that year, even the personal belongings of Li Anran at that time were left behind.

  Ke Li felt a pang of sadness after reading about her own life story, but soon decided to pack everything up and bury it with her grandfather.

  In Li Anran's heart, since Grandpa saved himself and painstakingly raised and cultivated him to grow up, the two have been in a close grandfather-grandson relationship.

  Not to mention the vast sea of people, even if these clues were left behind, it would be impossible to find his biological parents. Even if he could find them, Li Anran never thought about looking for them after growing up.

  What really put Li Anran in a difficult position was the clothes and utensils of Chunyang Palace. After investigating, it was found that Chunyang Palace is a place where Lv Zu Lü Dongbin is worshipped.

  Really can't figure out what relationship there is between Lee's return to truth and being a wandering Taoist, but seeing that this matter is the other party's last wish, Li Anran naturally has to complete it.

  After completing his grandfather's funeral, Li Anran resigned from his original job and returned home to take over the work of Li Guizhen.

  Li An was reminiscing about these things, listening to the sound of rain hitting the soft top of the convertible, while hugging his flat wine jug and taking a sip from time to time.

  As he thought of the old saying "When a son wants to care for his parents, but they do not wait", Li Anran, immersed in memories and sorrow, unknowingly shed two lines of tears.

  After Li Anran finished drinking the self-brewed grape wine from the flat wine jug, he suddenly realized that while he was reminiscing and feeling sentimental, the rain outside had subsided a lot.

  Lifting a corner of the open-top car, Li Anran took a look and found that the rain outside had indeed subsided. So, without worrying about the patter of small raindrops, he directly crawled out.

  Anyway, this Taoist robe is already soaked through, what's the point of waiting for a little more rain. It would be better to go home early and take a hot bath than to continue waiting.

  Just as Li Anran was about to start his beloved car, a loud thunder suddenly rumbled in the dark night sky, followed by a bolt of lightning that split the heavens and earth.

  He had just been frightened by that shocking thunder, and Li Anran was subconsciously patting his chest, then suddenly everything went black.

  ……

  "Old Dao, old Dao, wake up, wake up..."

  A worried and somewhat anxious male voice called out, Li Anran made an effort to open his eyes, enduring the deep-seated numbness and pain all over his body, sizing up the people around him.

  As a result, what entered the eyes was dazzling sunlight, and it was impossible to see clearly who was around, only vaguely seeing that the other party should be a man.

  "Wake up, wake up! Finally woke up, great!"

  Seeing Li Anran's action, Zhao Er's face suddenly burst into bloom with a smile.

  Unfortunately, he was squatting with his back to the sunlight, so Li Anran couldn't see his expression clearly and could only confirm that this person beside him was probably his lifesaver.

  Just as the numbness and swelling pain on his body had subsided a bit, before he could even open his mouth, Li Anran felt his stomach churn with hunger, involuntarily blurting out: "Hungry!"

  "Alright, alright, I'll go get some food for you."

  After hearing the voice, Zhao Erfei quickly ran to one side and broke the steamed buns he had brought with him into small pieces, put them in a bowl and soaked them in water from the gourd.

  "The road is long, the food has arrived, be careful, eat slowly." After the millet porridge had softened, Zhao Er carefully lifted the person up and brought the porridge to their mouth.

  Without oil or salt, the millet cake has a natural grain fragrance, but its taste is far inferior to that of white flour. In normal times, Li Anran would not treat himself so shabbily.

  But at this moment, he couldn't care about that anymore. As soon as he smelled the aroma of food, he started gobbling it down in big mouthfuls, his eating manner enough to make African refugees look up to him in admiration.

  "Slow down while eating, slow down, be careful not to choke."

  The simple-minded Zhao Er was very curious about how this Taoist priest, who was dressed so luxuriously, could be so hungry, but he didn't ask, and only carefully advised him.

  After Li Anran finished the bowl of porridge in two or three mouthfuls, he found that the hunger pangs in his stomach not only did not subside, but instead became even more intense.

  "I'm still hungry!"

  "Ah, ah, Daozhang, I'll get you another bowl."

  Taking over the clean ceramic bowl, Zhao Er broke his last corn cake into small pieces and soaked them in water.

  He downed two bowls of wonton noodles in a row, although it didn't alleviate the hunger pangs in Li Anran's stomach much, but it did help him recover some energy.

  "Where am I?"

  Enduring the already intense numbness and stinging pain, Li Anran subconsciously looked around, only to find himself in a completely unfamiliar environment.

  "Dao Chang, this is in Qinling, not far from our Zhaojia Village."

  His eyes stared at the person who was already able to sit up, and his complexion was also slightly better than before. Zhao Er's heart finally let out a sigh of relief, but he became even more curious.

  "Qinling? Zhaojia Village? No way! Then who are you?"

  Li Anran was originally puzzled that he wasn't on his way back to the village before he fainted, but after waking up naturally, he ran into the mountains instead, and it's obviously a big mountain.

  There aren't any mountains near Lijiabian Village where I live, and even within a radius of ten to eight villages, there are only a few small hills with very low elevations.

  When I clearly saw the person who had just fed me, it was a dark and handsome man with a retro outfit, with patches all over his clothes, my heart skipped a beat.

  "My name is Zhao Er, a hunter from the village. Dao Zhang, are you alright?"

  Obviously feeling the emotions of the person in front of him were not quite right, Zhao Er couldn't help but worry again.

  "Zhao Er? Hunter?"

  "Yes, I and my elder brother are hunters in our village."

  Staring at each other, it's clear that the other person is not deceiving himself, and there are no cameras or anything around. The key thing is, Zhao Er's accent is very off.

  Obviously not the dialect near Yishui County, nor is it Nanjing dialect. On the contrary, it sounds very similar to my university classmate from Xi'an City, Qianbiaozi's Guanzhong accent.

  As an 80s generation who spent four years drifting in college, the internet as a fast food for reading was naturally not uncommon, and Li Anran's sense of unease grew thicker.

  "Is it Zhao Er?"

  "Yes, Daozhang, it's me."

  "Do you know what year and month it is now?"

  "I heard from the clan elder that it is now the first year of Zhenguan."

  "Zhen... Zhen Guan Yuan... Year of Yuan?"

  Li An got the answer and was completely stunned...