First achieve immortality, then cultivate immortality.

The next day, a strong and capable villager led Fan Ju up the mountain.

Once he got to the top of the mountain, he had to explore on his own.

Upon seeing the deep and dense woods, Fan Ju couldn't help but tremble.

It seemed as if monsters or beasts might be lurking in the shadows behind the tree or in the grass, watching him intently, waiting for him to take one step forward before swallowing him whole.

"You can't possibly get into the deep mountains by yourself; you'll just be throwing your life away," the villager said in a deep voice.

Fan Ju tried to muster his courage, but his legs went weak, his throat was dry, and he couldn't even utter a rebuttal.

Reason told him that even experienced hunters wouldn't dare venture into such deep mountains, let alone a scholar like him who had never even killed a chicken.

"Let's go."

The villagers tugged at him and finally pulled him back.

Fan Ju could only cry and say, "Mother! Your son is powerless to save you."

The villagers didn't say anything, but patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.

It's better than going in and risking your life, right?

Meanwhile, after the sisters pleaded with him, Xu Mu finally agreed to take them to the county town for a stroll.

They have not been in contact with the outside world for five years since they came to the valley.

Humans are social creatures after all. They want to see what changes are happening in the outside world, and they feel particularly uncomfortable if they are not satisfied.

Xu Mu himself often went to the county town to buy rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, wine, and desserts.

He would cut down trees and dry the firewood himself, and occasionally he would buy books, sheet music, chess manuals and the like for the two sisters to enjoy.

The reason I don't take them with me isn't because I really want to keep them as my own, but because it's too much trouble.

The forest has not been treated by any human intervention; it is lush with branches and leaves and overgrown with weeds. Even he himself is unwilling to walk on the mountain paths.

It's convenient for him to travel by water alone, but if he takes the two sisters with him, he'll need a larger bamboo raft. However, there's a small waterfall downstream, the riverbed is shallow, and there are many loose rocks, making it very easy to bump into them.

Therefore, to bring them down the mountain, we have to fly down, which consumes a lot of magical energy.

Even after descending the mountain, I still had many concerns.

Having two beautiful women by my side is too conspicuous. As the saying goes, beauty is a curse and easily attracts trouble, so why not just hide them in the valley and enjoy them at my own leisure? Wouldn't that be wonderful?

I emphasized this when I brought them to the valley, and they were all willing to come.

Now that they've been hiding for five years, their relationship is incredibly close, so I'm just satisfying them a little.

So, early this morning, before the weather got too hot, he secretly took the two sisters down the mountain to the county town for sightseeing.

While Fan Ju was trying to venture into the deep mountains, the three of them were already eating watermelon in the county town.

After returning to Bishi Village, Fan Ju decided to stay there for two more days to see if he could try his luck.

His elderly mother at home was being cared for by neighbors, but now that he couldn't see the old immortal, he dared not venture into the deep mountains to his death, nor was he ashamed to rush back. So he could only come to the foot of the mountain, gazing at the green hills and sighing, hoping to see a trace of the immortal.

……

Xu Mu didn't return home with the two women until the sun had set and the moon had not yet risen.

People's joys and sorrows are not shared.

Just as Fan Ju was lamenting his fate and worrying about his mother's illness, he spent the whole day playing in the county town with the two sisters.

He took the two sisters back to the mountain when it got dark, trying to avoid being seen by the villagers of Bishi Village.

The county town was large and had many people, so he wasn't worried about being exposed. However, everyone in Bishi Village was a neighbor and knew that a deity lived on the mountain. If they saw something amazing, they would immediately associate it with him.

So every time he went down the mountain, unless he needed to go into the village to collect manure, he would not let the villagers find him, especially now that he was accompanied by two beautiful women.

Unexpectedly, there happened to be a person standing by the river that day. It was so late and he wasn't going home for dinner. His eyes were still fixed on the mountain, and his face looked like he was about to commit suicide.

Xu Mu led the two sisters to the foot of the mountain, and just as they were about to fly on their swords, they spotted this guy.

Once it takes off from here, it will definitely be seen.

"Is that person going to jump into the river to commit suicide?" Kind-hearted Li Zhiyuan was worried after discovering this.

"It feels like it," Li Zhihua nodded and said.

Xu Mu thought for a moment and decided to let the two of them hide for a while, while he disguised himself as an old Taoist priest and went over to ask them.

"Young friend."

His voice startled the other person.

He then smiled calmly and asked, "What's on your mind as you stand here?"

The moon hadn't risen yet, and the surroundings were exceptionally dark. Fan Ju was so nervous that he thought he had encountered a ghost.

Upon seeing Xu Mu clearly and sensing his otherworldly aura, she was momentarily incredulous and asked with a slight tremor, "Could you perhaps be that old immortal from the mountain?"

Xu Mu raised an eyebrow, stroked his beard, and said, "That's what everyone in the village says, but I'm not some kind of immortal, just a reclusive cultivator."

"It's you! It really is you!"

Fan Ju was instantly overwhelmed with joy and immediately knelt down, kowtowing: "Please, old immortal, save my mother! Please, old immortal, save my mother!"

Xu Mu was taken aback for a moment, then sighed and said, "So you've come seeking medical help."

Having lived here for so many years, my reputation is bound to spread, and there's no way to stop it.

Therefore, in the past two years, more and more people have come to seek medical treatment.

He didn't like this situation, so he deliberately didn't help some people to prevent more and more people from gathering.

Everyone who comes seeking medical help is suffering, but who among mortals isn't suffering? He can't save everyone, nor does he have the ambition to heal the wounded and save lives; he only hopes not to be disturbed.

"Please, old immortal, show me your divine grace and save my mother!" Fan Ju sobbed uncontrollably, kowtowing repeatedly.

In this situation, even if Xu Mu were heartless, he would find it difficult to refuse.

"Well, let's just say it's fate."

Xu Mu sighed inwardly, then asked, "Tell me, what's wrong with your mother?"

Fan Ju suddenly looked up, so surprised that he was incoherent, stammering out a description of his elderly mother's condition and the diagnosis from the local doctor.

After listening, Xu Mu stroked his beard, nodded, took out a small jade bottle from the storage bag in his sleeve, and poured out a pill.

"Take this pill back and give it to your mother. She should recover by the next day."

As he spoke, he handed over the pill.

This medicine was a modified version of the original pill that was given to Master Lin's family, prepared for the health of the two sisters.

Fan Ju accepted the pills with both hands as if they were a priceless treasure, hurriedly rummaged through his pockets, took out a piece of paper, and wrapped the pills in it.

"Thank you so much, old immortal! Thank you so much, old immortal!" He kowtowed repeatedly in excitement.

"Okay, go ahead." Xu Mu waved his hand, there was no need to say more.

Fan Ju was afraid of bothering him any further, so he put the pills in his pocket, stood up, and bowed as he withdrew.

He hurriedly ran back to the village, excited but not forgetting to find someone to confirm if it was really the old sage, for fear of encountering some ghost or monster in the dark and being deceived.

Upon hearing his description, the villagers immediately confirmed that he was indeed the old sage.

Fan Ju was overjoyed.

Upon learning of this, the villagers wondered if they could actually meet the old sage at this time. So, for the next few days, people would often go there to wait around.

However, their little scheme was destined to fail.

Today was purely by chance. If it weren't for bringing the two sisters out to play, Xu Mu himself would rarely go out, let alone return to the mountain at this time.

After sending Fan Ju away, he regained his youthful appearance, embraced the two sisters' slender waists, and flew home on his sword.