Chapter 3: The Junior Disciple of the Star Lodge

Ding Chunqiu laughed long and loud, folding his hands behind his back, and said arrogantly, “Jiang Mingzhe, the immortal in your dream guided you to my Star Lodge Sea to become my disciple. This shows that our fates are deeply intertwined. I am usually very selective in accepting pupils, but today, for the immortal’s sake, I shall make an exception. Kneel and pay your respects!”

Was he really going to become the old demon Ding’s disciple...?

Jiang Mingzhe pursed his lips slightly. Ding Chunqiu had a notoriously bad reputation as a famous villain in the martial world, and the atmosphere of the Star Lodge sect was even more complicated. If he had any choice, he would never submit. But at this moment...

“My disciple thanks the honored master for accepting me! Master’s divine power is vast and boundless. It is my great fortune to join this immortal sect!”

With no other option, Jiang Mingzhe bowed deeply and recited the sect’s phrases without hesitation.

“Hahaha!” Ding Chunqiu laughed triumphantly, waving his feather fan and pointing, “Azhi, from now on you will be the senior sister. Explain the sect’s rules clearly to your junior brother so he won’t stray and cause trouble. As for...”

His words were cut off by a sharp, piercing cry from the northwest.

Ding Chunqiu’s expression changed suddenly. “The six-winged iron centipede! Strange indeed. I have yet to summon the precious cauldron, so how could this creature be stirred into crying out?”

It seemed he had long been scheming about this six-winged iron centipede. Though puzzled, a gleam of joy appeared in his eyes. He hurriedly said, “Azhi, take your junior brother back and arrange his lodging and meals. We will discuss the rest when I return!”

With that, he sprang up, stepping through waist-high wild grass, his great sleeves flowing like white smoke as he shot off toward the northwest.

Jiang Mingzhe, ignoring whether Ding Chunqiu could hear him, shouted, “Master’s power is unparalleled! My eyes have been opened, and I am truly fortunate to join this immortal sect!”

Azhi rolled her eyes and retorted, “Flatterer! Master has long gone far ahead! Immortal? There are no immortals in this world. Master was just using our sect’s lightness skill, Moon Chasing Star Pursuit!”

Jiang Mingzhe stood up and brushed the dirt from his knees, smiling casually. “If martial arts can reach this level, why not call it immortal? Besides, are there really no immortals in this world?”

Azhi scoffed, “You big ginger, do you take me for a child? Then tell me, what exactly does an immortal look like? Stop saying you met one in a dream. Humph, Master is old and confused to believe you, but I don’t.”

Big ginger?

Jiang Mingzhe’s face darkened. Ancient young girls were so annoying. In other stories, Di Yun from “City Secret” was called Hollow Vegetable, Shi Potian from “The Swordsman” was Big Rice Dumpling, Zhang Wuji from “Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre” was Big Clumsy Bull... Now he was Big Ginger. Were they planning to cook him?

Sighing, Jiang Mingzhe said, “Master told you to take me back, so why don’t we talk while we walk?”

Azhi glanced unwillingly toward the northwest and stomped her foot, “I begged Master for a long time before he agreed to let me come catch the six-winged iron centipede. And you messed it all up! I originally wanted to... Humph, let’s go, you big ginger who won’t even wear clothes!”

The girl hesitated, and Jiang Mingzhe’s heart stirred. In the original story, Azhi stole the Divine Wood King Cauldron and escaped from Star Lodge Sea. Could she already be scheming this now?

What was she planning? Most likely to spy on how Ding Chunqiu used the Divine Wood King Cauldron!

Yet his face showed no emotion as he respectfully said, “Please wait a moment, senior sister. In this state, junior brother is not presentable. Allow me to cover up.”

With that, he began breaking tall and thick wild grass all around. Soon, he had gathered a great bundle and sat down, weaving rapidly.

Jiang Mingzhe had learned grass weaving from a neighbor uncle when he was young. His family wasn’t well off, so every day he’d make dragonflies and butterflies to sell to classmates. Little by little, it helped cover his schooling expenses.

Recalling those days, Jiang Mingzhe sighed silently. He had struggled and finally made some achievements, only to encounter such a “strange adventure.”

He wondered how his proud parents would feel if they knew.

Shaking his head lightly, he decided not to dwell on unsolvable problems and focused on weaving the grass clothes.

Azhi had expected him to just bunch the grass haphazardly to cover himself, but Jiang Mingzhe’s fingers flew deftly. Though clumsy at first, soon a finely woven grass robe took shape under his hands.

Curious, she tugged at it. It was surprisingly sturdy. She admired him, “Didn’t expect you to be so skillful. You’d be good at throwing hidden weapons.”

Jiang Mingzhe replied casually, “Can’t help it. Senior sister is like an immortal, and if I follow you around looking untidy, wouldn’t that disgrace you?”

Azhi giggled, “You big ginger really are a flatterer. But I’m not buying it.”

Jiang Mingzhe praised, “Senior sister is wise! But I speak only the truth.”

He thought: flattery is always welcome, just hold back your laughter for now, and then decide if you’ll buy it.

After finishing the robe, Jiang Mingzhe went to the lake to wash off the mud. Shivering, he put on the grass robe. His arms were bare, but his torso and thighs were covered. Without buttons, it would fall open unless he held it tightly.

He then went to pull more grass. “I’ll make a grass rope as a belt. Please wait a moment, senior sister.”

Azhi frowned. “A belt? No need for a grass rope. Wait here!”

She turned and soon returned, holding out her hand. “Here, use this as your waist belt.”

Jiang Mingzhe’s scalp tingled. In her pale hand was a gorgeous, thick snake about the size of a wrist!

Its back was grass green, with orange and black stripes near the head fading into black and green toward the tail. The triangular head resembled an arrowhead.

Jiang Mingzhe recognized the snake. The tour guide had introduced the area’s poisonous snakes, including this tiger-striped snake, locally called “wild chicken neck” or “bamboo green,” fond of living near water.

The guide said these snakes grew to about a meter at most, but this one was over two meters long—perhaps a mutant.

Fear gripped Jiang Mingzhe, and he hesitated to take it.

Azhi was impatient. “Afraid? Afraid I’ll poison you? If I wanted to, I wouldn’t bother with all this.”

Jiang Mingzhe thought: since he had joined Star Lodge, he would have to face poisons eventually. With Azhi nearby, even if bitten, she probably wouldn’t abandon him.

Summoning courage, he reached out and took the snake. It felt soft and limp, clearly alive but as if drunk and motionless.

Knowing Azhi must have drugged it, he swallowed his fear, tightened the grass robe, and tied the snake around his waist like a belt.

Seeing his pale face, Azhi said nothing but finished tying the snake. She showed a hint of approval. “That’s more like it. If you can’t even touch a snake, you won’t last long in the sect. Let’s go.”

Before leaving, Jiang Mingzhe glanced back at Zhaling Lake, thinking his phone was lost there and could not be retrieved now. If he really learned some powerful skills in the future, he could come back and search, as a keepsake.

He also mused that since he had traveled through time from this lake, it might hold some mystery. If he could unravel it, perhaps he could return home.

He had been doing well in the modern world and truly did not want to stay in this terrifying place where life was as fragile as grass.

Taking a deep look at the terrain and remembering where he came ashore, he quickened his pace to catch up with Azhi, who asked, “Tell me, what exactly does an immortal look like?”

Jiang Mingzhe replied offhand, “There are many immortals—monks, Taoists, men, women, even demon immortals. My uncle from Hangzhou once told me a story about the thousand-year-old white snake who repaid a favor by transforming into a beautiful woman and marrying the reincarnation of her benefactor. That white snake was a demon immortal.”

Azhi, raised in Star Lodge, had never heard such stories. Hearing of the white snake repaying kindness by marriage, her eyes lit up and she eagerly asked for more.

Jiang Mingzhe, using his experience entertaining children, calmly recounted the legend: “...Later, the monk Fahai said humans and demons cannot marry, so he hid Xu Xian in Jinshan Temple. The white and green snakes were furious, summoned their powers, and stirred up massive floods to inundate Jinshan. Fahai, powerful himself, flew into the air to fight back, wielding his magical kashaya robe, shouting, ‘Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon, Prajnaparamita!’ The snakes each shot flying swords, and the sky and earth shook violently...”

The story made Azhi tremble with excitement, sometimes jumping for joy, sometimes frowning fiercely and cursing Fahai for bullying others. Her eyes even glistened with tears.

After a moment’s thought, she suddenly brightened, “Since Lady White is trapped under Leifeng Pagoda, when I master my skills and leave the sect, I’ll go tear down that pagoda. Lady White will surely be grateful and might teach me her magic.”

Jiang Mingzhe, unsure if Leifeng Pagoda even existed yet, said casually, “She’s a demon immortal; she can disappear in a puff of smoke. Where would you go to chase her?”

He inwardly chuckled. Just moments ago, she insisted there were no immortals, now she was becoming quite the idealist.

He recalled how in the original story there was a recurring scene—

Whenever a character encountered a much stronger opponent they couldn’t understand, they would immediately suspect: could this be dark magic or demonic arts?

This showed that most people at the time deeply believed in gods and ghosts.

Moreover, the Legend of the White Snake began in the Southern Song dynasty, flourished through the Ming and Qing, and was embellished by countless dramatists and filmmakers, making the story deeply rooted and believable in that era.

Azhi frowned angrily, “I saved her, and she doesn’t know how to repay kindness? If that’s the case, I’ll prepare some realgar in advance. If she wants to teach me magic, fine; but if she tries to fly away—humph, humph!”

Jiang Mingzhe found it amusing that she threatened a thousand-year-old snake demon so boldly, and smiled, “But to repay her benefactor by marrying Xu Xian, Lady White must not be ungrateful. She’d probably be willing to teach you magic.”

Azhi was delighted and nodded repeatedly, folding her arms and raising her chin, imagining, “Once I master the magic, humph, who could surpass me as the senior sister of Star Lodge? Then, humph, humph...”

She shrugged and gave a sly grin.

Jiang Mingzhe smiled too. Azhi’s delicate features and snow-like skin, combined with her youthful innocence, made even her sly grin seem playful rather than deceitful.

After daydreaming a while, Azhi suddenly remembered Jiang Mingzhe beside her and said generously, “Big Ginger, you told me this story. I’m not unfaithful. When the time comes, I’ll take you along so you can benefit too. When I become senior sister, you’ll be second senior brother. I’ll be Lady White, and you’ll be my little Qing. Humph! If anyone dares bully you, just say my name!”

She made grand promises, patting her small chest with a thump.

Jiang Mingzhe was secretly pleased. Having a senior employee to guide him in a new company would save him many detours. As for being little Qing, well, in the original story, little Qing was male anyway. He quickly agreed, “Alright, then junior brother will rely entirely on senior sister’s protection!”

Azhi hadn’t heard “protection” before but roughly understood and liked the term. She patted her chest again, “Don’t worry, senior sister will definitely protect you!”

Then her face turned serious, “But if the senior brother bullies you, I’m afraid I can’t protect you. Our Star Lodge doesn’t follow seniority by joining order or age. Whoever’s stronger is the senior brother. When the senior brother speaks, junior brothers must obey. Especially the senior brother, who serves as the law enforcer. Anyone who breaks the rules is dealt with by him. He’s really impressive!”

Although Jiang Mingzhe had read “Heavenly Dragon,” he couldn’t remember all the details. Hearing Azhi, he recalled that Star Lodge indeed ranked status by strength.

He frowned, “Doesn’t that mean disciples fight each other all the time?”

Azhi laughed, “What, afraid someone will hit you? Don’t worry. Our rule is that newcomers can only challenge others for the first two years. No one can challenge you during that time. Even if someone dislikes you, they have to wait two years. If you work hard and gain real skill, even the senior brother won’t dare challenge you!”

A two-year newcomer protection period? That was an unexpected bonus.

Jiang Mingzhe relaxed slightly but said modestly, “Only two years? Even if I don’t eat or sleep, how strong can I get? Would the senior brother really not dare challenge me?”

Azhi was displeased at his doubt, “Humph! Would your senior sister lie to you? It’s not that he fears you, but that other juniors might see through his weakness! Unless he’s sure to defeat you in one move, he won’t act recklessly.”

She chattered on, telling stories of juniors overthrowing seniors and seniors suppressing juniors, with losers either dead or crippled—terrible fates.

She exaggerated their misery to scare Jiang Mingzhe and kept glancing at him to see if he was frightened.

To Azhi, any ordinary person hearing this would be terrified. This was less a sect and more a breeding ground for poisonous intrigue.

But Jiang Mingzhe felt a strange familiarity. He thought: damn, strong on top, weak below, forming cliques, scheming, flattering, sabotaging, sweet-talking but stabbing in the back, passing blame, stealing credit... isn’t this just a modern workplace?

At twenty-five, Jiang Mingzhe had already stood out in a sales team of over a hundred. Could he really be outmatched by these ancient flatterers of Star Lodge?