Jiangnan Province, Maoshan.
One of the Ten Great Daoist Mountains under heaven, a 5A-rated tourist attraction, ticket price one hundred eighty yuan.
Pine and cypress hidden deep in the mountains, slender vines twining old trees, distant calls of secluded birds, clear springs murmuring gently. In the layered valleys, orchids and ganoderma encircle, moss grows upon every sheer cliff. The undulating peaks nurture great dragon veins—surely, here high masters conceal their names.
Before a simple and ancient Daoist temple, incense smoke curled upwards; an old Daoist with white hair and beard, dressed in coarse cloth, wearing straw sandals, leaning on a broom, was hunched over, sweeping the ground.
"Master, did you call me?"
Just at that moment, a youth dressed as a Daoist walked over from afar; as he approached, he bowed respectfully to the old Daoist.
The old Daoist continued sweeping the ground, as if he had not heard.
