A snowflake landed on Yan Sanhe’s brow. Her heart stirred, and she asked again: “Do the monks on the mountain stay up there all year round?”

“No.”

Shiran: “They go up the mountain in winter. During the other three seasons, they come down the mountain to walk around, or travel the world.”

Yan Sanhe had been waiting for exactly this sentence.

“Tell me, among all the hundred-plus temples of Mount Wutai, which monk most enjoys traveling the world? Which monk is most learned? Which monk is the cleverest?”

“This…” Shiran was stumped.

“I know!”

Everyone turned around.

Donkey Egg, frightened, quickly retreated inside the threshold, his voice furtive like a thief’s.

“…It’s, it’s Xuyun!”

“Go, go, go—don’t cause trouble.”

The young monk beside Shiran flicked his sleeve. “Let my master think carefully.”

Who’s causing trouble!

Donkey Egg looked earnest. “It is Xuyun. Can’t be wrong.”

Yan Sanhe walked before him. “Tell me, why is it him?”

Only then did Donkey Egg truly see Yan Sanhe’s features clearly. So pale, so beautiful!

“He helped our family write a letter once. Oh, it was written to my eldest brother. My eldest brother works as a blacksmith in Taiyuan Prefecture. His handwriting was really good.”

Yan Sanhe: “Anything else?”

Donkey Egg: “That time he passed by our home, he was about to go travel in western Yunnan.”

Yan Sanhe: “Anything else?”

Donkey Egg: “Many things he said I couldn’t understand, but my father said he was a clever man.”

“Pfft!”

The young monk covered his mouth and laughed, waving at Donkey Egg. Alright, you silly boy—go cool off somewhere!

Yan Sanhe treated a dead horse as if it were alive. “Come with me to look at the portrait.”

The young monk was astonished. “Female benefactor, you’re really going to…”

“What if?”

Yan Sanhe grabbed Donkey Egg’s sleeve and pulled him to the table. “It’s this person. Look carefully—is it Xuyun?”

“This…” Donkey Egg scratched his head.

“That…” He scratched his head again.

The young monk sniffed haughtily. “See, I told you…”

“If you draw a full beard on the face, it would look like him.”

Donkey Egg extended his hand. “Here, here, here—draw it all over.”

The room instantly fell silent.

To the young monk, these words were shocking, but to Yan Sanhe and her group, they were thrilling news.

Yan Sanhe immediately picked up the brush and drew a full beard where Donkey Egg had pointed. “Does it look like him?”

Donkey Egg alternated between frowning and pursing his lips, looking very profound.

“If you make him look a bit older, it would look even more like him.”

The Geng Songsheng on paper was from his scholar days. Donkey Egg had seen him after he’d become a monk—several years apart.

With just a few strokes, the man on the paper aged ten years.

Yan Sanhe raised her chin. “Does it look like him now?”

“Yes, yes.”

Donkey Egg nodded vigorously. “It’s exactly the same.”

Yan Sanhe handed the portrait to Shiran. He looked at it for quite a while before recognizing him. “It’s Xuyun. He’s Master Chanyue’s disciple.”

With these words, joy appeared on everyone’s faces, especially the Zhu family siblings, who were nearly moved to tears.

Truly—wearing out iron shoes in a fruitless search, only to obtain it effortlessly.

Found him, really found him.

Having found the person, Yan Sanhe wanted to learn more. “Abbot, who is Master Chanyue?”

Shiran’s expression became respectful.

“An enlightened master who appears once every three hundred years. When pilgrims come to Mount Wutai to burn incense and worship Buddha, besides that, another wish is to see Master Chanyue.”

Yan Sanhe: “See him for what?”

Shiran: “Fortune-telling!”

Fortune-telling?

Young Master Pei sneakily glanced at Zhu Yuanzhao, thinking: How is it that this heart demon, no matter which way you turn, always involves charlatans?

Yan Sanhe also glanced at Zhu Yuanzhao, saying nonchalantly: “Is Master Chanyue’s fortune-telling very accurate?”

Shiran: “More than accurate—he’s practically a divine calculator.”

Yan Sanhe: “Who did he learn fortune-telling from?”

“Supposedly he knew it from the womb.”

Shiran stroked his sparse beard and sighed. “His mother’s family practiced this trade. His father was a lama.”

A lama?

Tibetan?

Everyone was stunned.

Yan Sanhe: “Lamas can marry and have children?”

Shiran: “They can!”

Everyone was stunned again.

“Master Chanyue only spends the three coldest winter months on the mountain practicing. The rest of the time he’s nowhere to be seen. Xuyun is a disciple he took while traveling. It’s said that after the master took him in, he never accepted any other disciples, and whenever he travels, he only brings this one person.”

Young Master Pei winked at Li Buyan: We came at exactly the right time—otherwise where would we go to find him!

Li Buyan glared at him: Stop interrupting. Keep listening.

Yan Sanhe walked to the table and picked up the registry, examining it carefully once more.

“There’s no name Xuyun in this registry. Is he a wild monk?”

“Of course it can’t be there.”

Shiran smiled bitterly. “The old monk treasures his disciple. He’d rather let him be a wild monk, would rather support him with his own stipend, than report him to the authorities—says he’s afraid other temples will snatch him away.”

Zhu Weixi, who had been quietly listening at the side, suddenly spoke: “Master, have you seen him?”

“Who?”

“Geng… Master Xuyun.”

“Just once, and only for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. It’s said he’s even more elusive than his master—hardly anyone in all of Mount Wutai has seen him.”

Zhu Weixi hesitated, then asked anyway: “What, what does he look like now?”

Shiran looked at Zhu Weixi with some curiosity.

“Very tall, standing behind the old monk without saying a word, looking quite fierce…”

“Nonsense.”

Donkey Egg protested. “When he was at our house, he wasn’t fierce at all. He even gave me a handful of peanuts to eat!”

Yan Sanhe’s gaze shifted to Donkey Egg.

Donkey Egg pouted aggrievedly. “I’m not lying.”

Yan Sanhe stepped forward and placed her hand on Donkey Egg’s shoulder, giving it a light pat. “If it were you, would you go up the mountain now or wait until tomorrow?”

“You, why are you asking me?”

Donkey Egg’s dark face turned purple like an eggplant. “I, I, I’m not married yet. Quick, quick, take your hand away.”

Yan Sanhe deliberately leaned her face closer. “If you don’t tell me, I won’t remove it.”

Mother, mother, a fair and tender young lady is teasing me!

Donkey Egg’s face burned. His hand sneakily protected his crotch.

“If, if it were me, I’d go up the mountain right now. After a night of wind and snow, the, the mountain road will be even harder to travel. We won’t be able to go up at all.”

The young monk’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. He scolded: “What nonsense are you spouting? If you fall off a cliff climbing in the dark, what then? These are all noble people from the capital.”

Donkey Egg feared the young lady but not the young monk. He stuck his head up defiantly at the young monk.

“Tie ropes around your waists and go up one after another like grasshoppers, and you’ll be fine.”

Yan Sanhe turned his face to make him look at her. “How do you know this?”

Mother, mother, now she’s touching my face!

Donkey Egg lifted his waist and stuck out his bottom. “I, I… climb mountains every day. What don’t I know!”

Every day?

Yan Sanhe’s gaze pressed closer.

“Thirty taels of silver to lead us up the mountain right now. Will you do it or not?”