Chapter Two.

"Is anything wrong with wanting to live long?"Xiao Yi asks innocently.

The asked man snorts in response,' Immortals wants to deceive the heavens by wanting to live longer yet they claim they harbor no selfish desires.How ridiculous!'He curses inwardly. Seeing how innocent Xiao Yi looks,the other man drops the subject.

Xiao Yi suddenly remembers his purpose for coming to the lake and immediately walks away to fetch water. But before he fetches water he looks at the water in scrutiny.

"How come the water is still clear after having contaminated by you?"

The other man laughs in disgust,"Contaminated? I only swam for a while to cool myself down. Moreover I swam further from here so there's no way I would contaminate the water here. Besides the water from this lake definitely has an outlet somewhere so the so called contaminated water will flow out after a while and be replaced by the clean incoming water."

Xiao Yi loves how the other man expresses himself eloquently despite feeling offended. He can't help but apologize,"I'm sorry for offending you I just couldn't find the right choice of words to use." The other man now picks up his dry clothes and puts them on.

"Speaking of which,may I know where you are from?"Xiao Yi asks hoping to continue the conversation.

"Just someone insignificant from Baiduo County. You can call me Xuan Lu."

"Baiduo County? You must have travelled for long."

Baiduo County is located in the Eastern region of Qian State while Fenghua is located in the Western region so they are practically further away from each other.

"May I ask why you travelled that far to Fenghua County?"

"I have been a sickly child since I was young and my parents didn't favour me much so when a drought struck our village,the Village Head said I should be offered as a sacrifice to the God of Rain so he can bless our village with rain so I escaped and ran as far as I could"Xuan Lu explains with a pitiful look on his face. Xiao Yi can't help but sympathize with him. It's true that Baiduo County has experiencing drought for a while and everyone in the Qian State is aware of it so immediately Xuan Lu mentions it Xiao Yi believes him and doesn't suspect his identity as well.

"I hear people in Fenghua County rarely bathe,what could you be fetching the water for?"

"I have a sensitive skin so I have to bathe everyday."

"Bro Xiao ,would it be possible for me seek refuge at the Temple with you before I find a new place to stay?"

"Sure but only if you help me carry out a few tasks."

"That's easy,"Xuan Lu speaks confidently.

"Carry this wooden pail for me,"Xiao Yi commands.

"This wooden pail must made of mahogany so it's too heavy for you carry."

Xiao Yi is surprised by how quick Xuan Lu realizes the real reason why he wants him to carry the pail. Since Xuan Lu already said he is a sickly fella ,so he has to pause after a few meters each time to take a deep breath. Xiao Yi seems to be the ruthless type so he lets the sickly Xuan Lu carry the heavy mahogany pail by himself up to Lotus Temple. Immediately they enter the Temple,the monks are busy reciting a few scriptures so they didn't dare go to disturb them. They walk quietly to Xiao Yi's room. Xuan Lu stays in the room as Xiao Yi's goes to take a shower.

A while later Xiao Yi introduces Xuan Lu to Elder Mo,the eldest monk and the Master of Lotus Temple. Elder Mo is known to be lenient so he allows to offer Xuan Lu accomodation. The real reason why Elder Mo accepts refugees is that he hopes to turn them into monkhood unfortunately Xiao Yi has been a tough nut to crack all these years he has stayed there.Although Xuan Lu looks a little rebellious,Elder Mo wishes him to have softer heart than Xiao Yi. At night Xuan Lu takes dinner with Xiao Yi and the rest of the boys who have embraced monkhood. Xiao Yi is a chatterbox,so the whole night he was chatting with the young monks here and there and introducing them to Xuan Lu.

Later as they go back to Xiao Yi's room,Xiao Yi gives Xuan Lu a mat to sleep on the floor with. He then borrows a quilt from the young monks for Xuan Lu to cover himself with. For someone as keen as Xuan Lu ,he notices how Xiao Yi is friendly to all of the monks treating each of them equally.

"You're impartial,you truly deserve to cultivate immortality,"Xuan Lu comments after a while breaking the silence between them.

"That's why Elder Mo insists that I should enter monkhood claiming I'm the saviour to mankind. Despite the fact that I treat everyone equally I still value what I have especially my hair."

Xuan Lu chuckles softly at the slight arrogance in Xiao Yi's voice.

"So when are you going to the Immortal Village?"

"The day after tomorrow. Those who want to go there should be at the foot of the Spirit Mountain by noon."

"Where is the Spirit Mountain?"

"I don't know but Elder Mo said he would show me the direction."

"What if it's far from here? What if he lies to you so you can give up and enter monkhood instead?"

"He won't lie to me. Spirit Mountain is an invisible mountain that only appears the day the Immortal Village is recruiting disciples."

"How do you know where it's located?"

"The compasses will be delivered somewhere but the problem is if you can find the real compass because some people make counterfeits."

The next second Xiao Yi looks at Xuan Lu,he's surprised to see the latter sleeping without strain as if he has been sleeping for a while.