The kind-hearted farmer gave them directions: "Enter the village, then at the end of it, turn onto a mountain road. Walk for about two hours, and you will see a large lake with a suspension bridge. Crossing the bridge, you will reach Hu Yun Temple." He added: "The mountain road is narrow, not passable by mule cart. You’ll need to walk there. The cart can be stored under the village’s large pine tree. Either provide some fodder or five cents is enough. Rest assured, someone from the village will look after it for you. People often come here to seek treatment from the temple master, and they leave their carts in the village, none has ever been lost." Gu Jinli paused, so the master of Hu Yun Temple could also treat illnesses. She took two bean dregs cakes from the basket, lifted the green fabric of the cart curtain, and handed them to the farmer: "Uncle, thank you so much. This is our hometown specialty, please have a taste." The farmer looked at the golden-brown, fragrantly fried bean dregs cakes and happily accepted: "Well, I won’t be polite then." He also said: "My name is Bai Gaosi, my brother is the village chief of Da Song Village. When you go to store your mule cart, just mention my name to Sanwa." "Ah, thank you, Uncle Bai." Gu Jin’an drove the cart following the direction Bai Gaosi had pointed them to, and soon they arrived under the large pine tree in the center of the village. Under the pine tree, there were already two flatbed carts and an ox cart parked. It seemed that quite a few people were coming to Hu Yun Temple to seek treatment from the temple master. Gu Jinli and her companions got off the cart and told the villager watching over the vehicles Bai Gaosi’s name. The villager said: "Since Uncle Gaosi has spoken, just pay five cents. No need to pay for the mule’s fodder." Gu Jin’an smiled: "We have brought some food to deliver to Hu Yun Temple, so we’ll not be storing the mule cart. We need to use it to transport goods." Gu Dashan quickly unloaded the mule cart, transferred the goods onto the mule, and after giving Bai Sanwa five cents, the group of five set off deeper into Little Teeth Mountain. As Gu Jinli walked, she memorized the route. Little Teeth Mountain had many hidden spots, the trees and grass were especially lush, and she saw plenty of common herbs by the roadside just as they entered the mountain. Little Teeth Mountain was indeed an excellent place to cultivate medicinal herbs. The five of them leading the mule, walked through the mountain’s twisty pathways for two hours. By noon, they reached the suspension bridge, and after another 30 minutes, they arrived at Hu Yun Temple. Hu Yun Temple was a large courtyard within the mountains. The courtyard gate was firmly closed, unguarded. Gu Daya went to knock on the door. After a few loud bangs, the door creaked open, and a young girl in a grey Daoist robe came out to greet them. Seeing them, she asked, "Which patron are you looking for, and what brings you here?" She continued: "Our Hu Yun Temple is a place of retreat for the masters and doesn’t accept offerings from locals. If you wish to offer incense and worship immortals, please visit another Daoist Temple." Gu Jinli smiled: "If you don’t accept offerings from locals, how does the temple sustain itself?" The young girl replied: "By selling herbal medicine. Our Hu Yun Temple relies on selling herbal medicines for a living." This was the first time Gu Jinli had heard such an explanation, and she found it very interesting. Elder Qin, with his wide experience, spoke: "I have been to the Capital before, and I’ve heard that some Daoist Temples in the suburb of the Capital also don’t accept offerings. They say that opening doors to all directions for offerings disrupts the tranquility of the temple." Such temples generally have their own properties; they don’t care much about offerings and only seek to peacefully cultivate their practices. Gu Jinli replied to the girl’s earlier question: "We wish to see the temple master. We are looking for her concerning some matters in Qingfu Town." Worried the master wouldn’t agree to see them, she added: "We got the address of Hu Yun Temple from Grandpa Mi." "So it is. Then please, the two female donors come inside, while the other patrons wait outside," the young girl said. Gu Dashan and the others stayed behind, while Gu Jinli and Gu Daya led the mule, following the little girl into the Daoist Temple. The little girl took them to a side room next to the main gate and poured them two bowls of water: "Please take a seat, the Daoist will report your arrival." The little girl took quite a long time to return, almost an hour, which made Gu Daya somewhat afraid: "Why did it take so long? There couldn’t be any... trickery, could there?" Gu Jinli looked at the precious medicinal herbs planted in the courtyard and smiled: "Auntie, don’t worry, everything is fine." These herbs included ginseng, Dendrobium, Polygonum multiflorum, any of which could be worth dozens or even hundreds of taels of Silver. Hu Yun Temple was so rich, it definitely wouldn’t fancy their modest cloth-clad family wealth. Hearing this, Gu Daya was still somewhat worried, as it was their first time here and they were unaware of the situation within the temple. Another 30 minutes passed, and the little girl finally came back and said to them: "The temple master has finished his work and can see you now, please follow me." Gu Jinli and Gu Daya got up and led the mule that was left in the courtyard, following the little girl deeper into the Daoist Temple. Gu Daya gripped Gu Jinli’s hand tightly and whispered: "Don’t let go, if something happens, we’ll run." Gu Jinli nodded: "Okay." The Hu Yun Temple was sizable; Gu Jinli and her party walked for no short distance. Along the way, they saw many people, and the little girl said: "These are female donors who come here to seek medical treatment; they are rather pitiable." The master says that society imposes too many restrictions on women; many women who fall ill can’t easily go to a doctor to seek assistance and end up delaying treatment. Quite a few people die because of such delays. As female Daoists of Hu Yun Temple, apart from their devotion, they also learn medicine so they can help unwell women who come seeking treatment. "Here we are, this is the place." the little girl led them to a small courtyard, pushed open the courtyard door, and went inside. Inside the yard, wafts of medicinal fragrance filled the air, with two female Daoists decocting medicine. Among them, one was older, appearing to be in her fifties. "Master, the guests have arrived." the little girl called out to the elder and then turned to them: "This is our Hu Yun Temple’s temple master, surnamed Hu, the individual you are seeking." Upon hearing this, the temple master turned to look at them and asked: "What has happened to Kid Mi? Has he run into trouble?" Gu Jinli was surprised; the temple master looked much younger than Elder Mi. Noticing her reaction, the temple master gave a faint smile, conveying the ethereal aura of an exiled immortal: "I am well into my seventies and grew up in this temple with Kid Mi’s mother." "Immortal elder." Gu Jinli blurted out, impressed by the temple master’s maintenance; at over seventy, she appeared to be only fifty-something. Worried that her words would upset the temple master, she quickly added: "Temple master, rest assured, Grandpa Mi and his wife are in good health. I am here today for a different matter." She introduced herself: "My name is Gu Jinli, also known as Xiao Yu, and this is my Aunt. We escaped the famine from Gaoshui County in Northwest Long’an Prefecture and are now doing some small trade in Qingfu Town. Our business has grown, and we want to buy a shop, but all the shops in town are taken. So, we are seeking to buy some land to construct our own shop." "You have your sights set on the land owned by the Lu Family." the temple master said. Gu Jinli nodded: "Yes, so we have come to ask the temple master to sell that piece of land to us." She added: "We don’t need much; just a few acres to build two shops would suffice."