Chapter 120: Traitors Know No Boundaries of Time or Space

“There is a Zhang Celestial Master from the Zhang family of Dragon and Tiger Mountain; Brother Chen must be aware of him,” Zhang He said.

“Of course I know. How could Taoist practitioners not be familiar with Zhang Daoling, the Celestial Master of the Taoist sect?” Chen Jin nodded in response.

“This Zhang family of Mount Emei was actually established personally by that Celestial Master of Dragon and Tiger Mountain during his lifetime,” Zhang He smiled.

“Really? It was personally founded by the Celestial Master? Then why has it declined to this extent?” Chen Jin said in surprise.

Chen Jin was genuinely astonished by what Zhang He said. He had assumed that the Zhang family of Mount Emei merely migrated down from Dragon and Tiger Mountain due to historical upheavals and wars, but to learn that it was directly allocated by the Celestial Master himself was truly baffling.

“Heh heh, Mount Emei is one of the Thirty-Six Minor Grotto-Heavens of the Central Plains. Who wouldn’t want a slice of that? Back then, the Celestial Master was the foremost figure in the world. The Dragon and Tiger Mountain Taoist sanctuary had not yet been firmly established, so he occupied Mount Emei. However, since he already possessed Qingcheng Mountain—one of the Ten Great Grotto-Heavens—the world naturally forbade him from claiming both. Thus, there ensued numerous debates on Mount Emei. You wouldn’t know the spectacle of those Taoist debates back then... tsk tsk, I don’t really know either,” Zhang He chuckled.

Chen Jin was speechless at Zhang He’s teasing, but refrained from retorting, mindful that he still awaited the rest of the story. It wouldn’t do if Zhang He grew displeased and stopped talking.

Those Taoist debates likely involved many contests of mystical arts. Considering the profound cultivation of the Celestial Master, such battles must have been earth-shattering. Even the junior disciple Ge Hong, who came after the Celestial Master, was able to create such upheavals—let alone the Master himself.

Yet these debates held deep significance. After all, Mount Emei is one of the Thirty-Six Minor Grotto-Heavens. The struggle was not over the primal energies of heaven and earth, but over the succession of Taoist orthodoxy and principles. Those highly cultivated beings no longer needed the energies of the world; what they sought was the inheritance and recognition of their ideologies.

Hence the division of grotto-heavens and blessed lands, acknowledged by heaven and earth, which made these places all the more coveted. Although cultivators are supposed to be serene and desireless, that applies only in worldly matters. When it comes to the path of immortality, which cultivator can remain truly desireless? At least Chen Jin could confidently say that he could.

But if such good fortune were to fall upon him, then his so-called serenity and desirelessness could be thrown to the winds.

“Towards the end of the debates, for reasons unknown, the Celestial Master suddenly announced his departure from Sichuan and journeyed to Yunjin Mountain to refine elixirs. After succeeding, he emerged amidst the winds and clouds of Dragon and Tiger Mountain and renamed Yunjin Mountain as Dragon and Tiger Mountain. Thus was born the Zhang family of Dragon and Tiger Mountain. As for the connections and causes behind this, I cannot see through them, but the Master’s actions surely had their reasons,” Zhang He said, his expression dreamy yet reverent.

“And what of the Zhang family of Mount Emei?” Chen Jin asked.

“The Zhang family of Mount Emei was also left behind then, but they did not reside atop Mount Emei itself. Instead, they settled in what is now Liyuan Town,” Zhang He replied.

“I noticed among the ancestors of the Zhang family here, there was one named Zhang Liyuan. Could it be that Liyuan Town was named after him?” Chen Jin inquired.

Nowadays, places once visited by famous people often bear their names, like Mount Gehong.

“Not so. Liyuan Town was always Liyuan Town. Zhang Liyuan was named after the town because he was born there,” Zhang He explained.

“Seems Zhang Liyuan was quite renowned here. That was centuries ago, yet Brother Zhang knows so much,” Chen Jin teased.

He was testing Zhang He, for his appearance seemed too coincidental, and the ease with which he was persuaded to recount the Zhang family’s history made Chen Jin suspicious.

“He is only famous within the Zhang family,” Zhang He retorted playfully.

“...Looks like your surname carries quite the legacy,” Chen Jin laughed.

Chen Jin had indeed suspected Zhang He might be from the Zhang family, but since he had not encountered him the previous night, he dismissed about sixty percent of the suspicion, leaving forty percent to the possibility that Zhang He had visited earlier days but not last night.

“Haha, there are still many bearing the Zhang surname in Liyuan Town. Brother Chen, do you want to hear my story, or would you prefer to continue with the deeds of the Zhang ancestors?” Zhang He asked.

“Of course, the deeds of the Zhang ancestors,” Chen Jin chose without hesitation.

After all, Zhang He was present here, and Chen Jin could casually learn more about him while wandering Liyuan Town.

“Very well, I shall continue with the story of the Zhang ancestors,” Zhang He nodded contentedly.

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The Celestial Master later ascended to immortality, no longer meddling in mortal affairs. Consequently, the Zhang family of Mount Emei and that of Dragon and Tiger Mountain gradually drifted apart. Yet, sharing the same root, a trace of ancestral veneration remained, with the Mount Emei Zhang family visiting Dragon and Tiger Mountain daily to honor their forebears.

At some point, the Western Buddhist sect transmitted its teachings eastward, entering through Siam into Sichuan. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva manifested a mortal form on Mount Emei, transforming the grotto-heaven there into his own sanctuary. This undoubtedly stirred countless Taoist masters. A great number of earthly immortals of the Taoist sect surged into Sichuan, seeking to expel him from the Mount Emei grotto-heaven. But Samantabhadra’s cultivation was extraordinary, incomparable to ordinary earthly immortals—only the supreme celestial beings could match him.

Zhang He spoke with some indignation. His frustration was understandable, for Samantabhadra’s high cultivation and status made his descent to this world and bullying of juniors utterly shameless.

One might say the entire Buddhist sect shamelessly blurred the timeline of their arrival in the East, transforming it into a myth so the common folk believed they had always been born from the mountains.

“What about the Zhang family?” Chen Jin suspected they must have done something dishonorable here, or they would not have fallen to such a state.

“At that time, the head of the Zhang family of Mount Emei became a disciple under Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, a junior monk in his retinue. Because he was the family head, the fate of the Mount Emei Zhang family fell under Samantabhadra’s authority. Yet, the Celestial Master had left one safeguard on Mount Emei—a divine talisman granting true dominion over the grotto-heaven, which he entrusted to the Zhang family of Mount Emei,” Zhang He explained.

“The family head’s allegiance to Samantabhadra naturally handed that divine talisman to the Bodhisattva. Because of this talisman, Samantabhadra could quietly and unnoticeably settle in the Mount Emei grotto-heaven, transforming it into his own sanctuary. Otherwise, Mount Emei would still be one of the Thirty-Six Minor Grotto-Heavens of the Taoist sect,” Zhang He said with bitterness.

Chen Jin was stunned. So many traitors and turncoats existed even back then?

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