Li Yundong caught the newcomer, steadying them, and upon focusing his sight, realized it was Su Chan.

Li Yundong asked with surprise, "So late, why did you fly out?"

Su Chan looked back, equally astonished, glancing between Li Yundong and Ziyuan. She wondered aloud, "Yundong, what are you and Sister Ziyuan doing so late?"

Li Yundong immediately cleared his throat and said, "I asked you first, you tell me."

Su Chan’s eyes darted, sweeping over the two of them. Though a little confused, she didn't dwell on it. She explained, "I thought I saw someone fly out from their quarters just now. I found it odd, so I followed to see, and unexpectedly ran into you."

Li Yundong dismissed it, saying, "Perhaps it was an elder martial uncle or a junior disciple from the Fox Zen Sect out for a stroll?"

Ziyuan’s heart, however, gave a stir. She pressed, "Su Chan, did you get a clear look at who it was?"

Su Chan thought for a moment and replied, "It looked like Martial Uncle Cao Yi, but also like Martial Uncle Zhuang Yating. Their figures are quite similar; I couldn't distinguish."

Ziyuan pondered briefly, then decided instantly, "Which way did they fly? Let’s chase!"

Su Chan didn't overthink it, pointed in a direction, and said, "They flew that way."

Ziyuan turned to Li Yundong, "Come on, let's follow and see!"

Li Yundong was completely bewildered, "What is there to chase?"

Ziyuan didn't wait for his argument, grabbing him and pursuing, saying as they went, "You’ll know once we catch up!"

Seeing the two speed off, Su Chan transformed into a streak of cyan light and followed close behind their trail.

The young girl trailing behind them muttered to herself: What was going on with Sister Ziyuan? Why was she acting as if facing a formidable enemy? But then again, was that person ahead Martial Uncle Cao Yi or Martial Uncle Zhuang Yating? Why would they be out so late?

Su Chan soon flew ahead to lead the way. Li Yundong, somewhat puzzled, asked beside her, "How did you spot someone flying out? What are you doing up so late instead of sleeping?"

Su Chan stuck out her tongue, looking a bit embarrassed. "Last time you said my cooking wasn't good, so I’ve been sneaking into the kitchen to practice. I wanted to ask Martial Uncle Cao Yi for some pointers, but when I checked her room, she wasn't there. Just as I was about to leave, I saw a figure fly past the window. Out of curiosity, I chased out, and unexpectedly bumped into you two."

Li Yundong’s expression shifted slightly. He glanced at Ziyuan, deep in thought, and asked no further questions.

After chasing for a while, Su Chan suddenly pointed ahead and exclaimed, "Look, over there!"

Li Yundong and Ziyuan looked toward the distance simultaneously. In the far reaches of the night sky, a very faint blue light flashed. Ziyuan and Li Yundong instantly spurred themselves on: "Chase!"

The three locked onto their target, maintaining a distant watch behind it. They flew like this for nearly two more hours, until Ziyuan suddenly remarked, "Wait, why do I feel like we've landed back on Jiangxi soil again?"

Li Yundong asked curiously, "Jiangxi? Could it be Dragon Tiger Mountain again?"

Su Chan stuck her head out at that moment, asking strangely, "Again? Why say 'again'? Yundong, have you ever been to Dragon Tiger Mountain in Jiangxi?"

Li Yundong forced a dry laugh, quickly changing the subject, "We'll talk about that later; keeping an eye on them is what matters now."

As the three were speaking, the blue light flickered in the distance and then descended swiftly.

Ziyuan's voice tightened. She said, "Let's go down too; we’re too conspicuous in the air."

The three quickly descended. As soon as their feet touched the ground, Li Yundong peered in the moonlight. He saw mountains encircling them, and at the foot of the slopes, vast stretches of fields where the autumn rice had just been harvested, leaving behind stubble everywhere.

Su Chan blinked, taking in her surroundings. She wondered aloud, "Where is this? Could it be Dragon Tiger Mountain?" Being a fox spirit, she naturally feared places associated with the orthodox Xuanmen (Daoism) or the orthodox Buddhist schools. The mere thought of being at Dragon Tiger Mountain sent a shudder through her, making her deeply uncomfortable.

Ziyuan surveyed the surrounding peaks and shook her head, "It doesn't look like Dragon Tiger Mountain."

Li Yundong laughed, "I know exactly where this is!"

Su Chan and Ziyuan both asked with curiosity, "Where?"

Li Yundong smiled, "Ziyuan, you were right, we are back in Jiangxi. We are at Mount Gezao!"

Su Chan grabbed Li Yundong’s arm, "How do you know? Have you been here before?"

Li Yundong pointed to a road sign about ten meters away by the roadside and said, "Isn't it written right there?"

Su Chan and Ziyuan finally noticed the road sign in the distance. However, due to the deep night, unless one possessed cultivation as formidable as Li Yundong's with exceptionally sharp eyesight, they wouldn't have noticed it.

They moved closer to examine it and saw a blue sign with white lettering: Gezao Mountain National Forest Park, and below it, the distance: 2m!

Ziyuan and Su Chan both broke into smiles. Su Chan couldn't help but turn back and playfully chide him, "I thought you recognized the scenery and figured it out! I was just about to admire you! Turns out you recognized it from a road sign—how anticlimactic!"

Ziyuan also smiled faintly. She remarked, "I didn't expect us to follow them all the way to Mount Gezao. But why would someone from the Fox Zen Sect come to Mount Gezao? This is a sacred site for our Daoist lineage!"

Li Yundong gestured to both of them with a smile, "Come on, let’s talk as we walk. We'll go to the Gezao Sect and see what’s happening. Su Chan, your tracking skills are excellent, you lead the way."

"Okay!" Su Chan replied crisply. Although the little girl knew this was a Daoist holy land and felt some fear, the thought of her beloved being nearby made her courage swell, turning the situation into something exciting.

Li Yundong, seeing Su Chan's eyes shining brightly, worried inwardly that she might cause the same kind of trouble he brought upon Dragon Tiger Mountain. He quickly warned her, "Hey, don't cause trouble!"

Su Chan glanced back at him with a grin, "No, no!"

Li Yundong turned to call Ziyuan, but saw her looking at him with a faint, peculiar smile, as if to say: It would be best if you don't cause trouble yourself.

Li Yundong hastily put on a pleasant expression, "Esteemed True Person Ziyuan? Immortal Sister? Please?"

Ziyuan gave Li Yundong a meaningful look, smiled, and followed Su Chan, ultimately choosing not to reveal Li Yundong's past actions.

Li Yundong secretly wiped a bead of cold sweat, thinking: Ziyuan is becoming harder and harder to handle.

All three had powerful legs and ascended the mountain at great speed. A paved road led all the way to the summit, and soon they arrived before a massive archway.

Li Yundong used the moonlight to see. It was a stone gate set into the road, featuring sweeping eaves, glazed yellow tiles, low white walls, and two smaller gates flanking a central, larger one. Written across the main gate from right to left in large characters were: Gezao Mountain.

On the stone pillars flanking the gate was a couplet written in traditional script. The right side read: Famous Daoist Mountain, where the azure river gathers wondrous spirit; the left side read: Sacred Ground of Medical Arts, where marvelous elixirs are perfected and rare!

Li Yundong examined the gate structure. It looked recently completed, yet bore traces of wind and rain everywhere. Weeds even grew among the glazed tiles atop the archway, clearly indicating a lack of regular maintenance. Especially the iron grille doors installed on the two smaller side gates were heavily rusted. The white lime writing on the tourism notice board to the right was mottled and illegible. He couldn't help but be startled: "The Gezao Sect is supposedly a great school of external alchemy; how could its signboard gate look like this?"

Ziyuan sighed softly, "There's nothing to be done; this is where temporal power outweighs spiritual authority. During the Song Dynasty, this place boasted over 1,500 halls and temples, more than 500 Daoists, and three thousand acres of fertile land; the Daoists called it the 'Abode of Immortals.' But by the late Qing Dynasty, Mount Gezao, like Dragon Tiger Mountain, suffered repeated calamities, and the temple incense burning for over 1,600 years finally declined. Especially after Wan Zhenyuan succeeded as the Sect Master of the Gezao Sect, he worked hard to move the sect’s worldly influence into the cities, turning the power into an intangible, corporate structure, while his ancestral home withered almost beyond recognition."

Su Chan looked up at the plaque bearing the words "Gezao Mountain" and sighed mournfully, "Yes, our Fox Zen Sect was glorious in its day, but look how withered it is now. This shows that rise and fall, success and defeat, are matters of heavenly destiny and cyclical fate; there's nothing to be done about it."

Li Yundong smiled slightly, cutting off their shared melancholy, "Let's go, we'll go up the mountain first."

The three sped up the mountain path again along the asphalt road, passing famous historical sites like Jiexian Bridge, the Mountain Gate, Yitianmen Gate, and Mingshui Bridge. Although Li Yundong only took a cursory glance, these ancient sites, steeped in time, still gave him a sense of cold, lonely desolation. Especially at Mingshui Bridge, the mountain stream beneath was nearly dry, the riverbed stones covered in moss and weeds, resembling a lonely old man sighing over the merciless march of time.

Not long after, Li Yundong, Ziyuan, and Su Chan arrived at the main courtyard entrance of the Gezao Sect. It was a large square courtyard. The entrance was a grand gate with red walls and yellow tiles, two stories high. Between the top and bottom levels were the characters Chì Fēng (Imperial Decree Conferred) written in large gold characters on a green background. Beneath Chì Fēng were even grander characters in gold on a black background, written majestically: Dà Wànshòu Chóngzhēn Gōng (Grand Palace of Longevity and Pure Truth)!

Although the plaque of this Daoist temple still looked ancient, with weeds growing atop it, these words shone with solemn authority, still displaying their past glory to the world.

Ziyuan murmured with emotion, "There are countless Daoist temples in China, and many are named Chongzhen, but among all the temples across the nation, one prefixed with a 'Dà' (Grand) before Chongzhen is absolutely unique! What a pity that a famous mountain from the Song Dynasty has declined to this state!"

Li Yundong laughed, "Stop sighing. If you keep sighing, be careful your Linggong Sect doesn't end up like them. Come on, let's go in and see what’s what. If we delay too long, we might lose track of the person."

Saying this, he gestured to Su Chan to go in, but as he moved, Ziyuan suddenly grabbed his arm.

Ziyuan’s expression became solemn. She said, "Don't be careless. Although the Gezao Sect has declined, only its ancestral home has fallen; in fact, the sect’s influence in the mortal world remains vast. Even a centipede dies hard. This is the sacred ancestral ground of the Gezao Sect; even a rotting ship has three sound planks. Don't underestimate it! Furthermore, major sects fought fiercely on Mount Gezao not long ago; the Gezao Sect must be on guard. It’s highly likely the place is laced with formations. Allow me to cast a spell to investigate first."

Li Yundong nodded. He turned to Su Chan, who had been leading the way, "Are you certain the person entered here?"

Su Chan snorted, sounding rather proud and self-assured. "Though my combat skills aren't top-tier, my skill in escape and tracking is first-rate. I can feel the aura of the person we were chasing entering the Dà Wànshòu Chóngzhēn Gōng. I'm absolutely certain! It’s just that this person’s aura resembles Martial Uncle Cao Yi, yet also Martial Uncle Zhuang Yating. I can’t tell which uncle is here, and why they would choose this place?"