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The Taoist temple was located on the mountain, and due to the falling of snowflakes, the path was not easy to navigate.

After walking a little while, Yingbao refused to continue, and sat under a tree by the roadside, motionless.

She had no desire to eat any glutinous rice balls, all she wanted was to go home, and be cozy under her warm cotton quilt, listening to her brothers recite their lessons.

Observing that Yingbao wouldn’t budge, Brother Kui eventually picked her up, but feeling that it was too tiring, he decided to carry her on his back instead.

Yingbao was delighted by the leisure, laying on Brother Kui’s back and looking around.

A good number of people had already gathered at the entrance of the Taoist temple. They were all there to send offerings.

They saw that worshipers placed bundles of food in front of the Supreme Elder Lord’s statue and burned incense to pray.

Brother Kui, looking at the offerings, couldn’t stop the saliva in his mouth.

There were glutinous rice balls, steamed bread cakes, as well as whole chickens and entire fishes.

Among them, the chicken and fish would be taken back by the worshippers, but the scattered glutinous rice balls and bread cakes wouldn’t be carried away.

Brother Kui put Yingbao down and pushed her forward, prompting her to collect the discarded offerings.

Out of necessity, Yingbao moved forward, looked around, and then dashed to the altar to pick up the leftover bread cakes after the worship.

Once the first round of worshippers had completed their ceremonies, they took their offerings away, and then the second round of people would place their offerings.

In the meantime, scattered cakes would fall to the ground, ignored by all.

Yingbao wasn’t particularly lucky. There were other children picking food too, so she had to wait off to the side.

People were queuing up to worship, also chatting in twos and threes.

Suddenly, a person wearing a Taoist robe in the crowd caught Yingbao’s attention.

This man was in his thirties, wearing a black turban, handsome and kind-faced, sporting short whiskers on his chin. However, his neck had a lump the size of an egg, covered by a kerchief. Despite this, Yingbao, with her sharp eyes, could still see it.

What attracted her attention was not the lump on his neck, but the shiny, large gourd that he carried over his shoulder.

At the waist of the gourd, there was a colorful silk ribbon tied. At the end of the ribbon were tassels, attached with several jade beads.

With such fine adornments on the gourd, it’s clear this gourd was deeply cherished by its owner.

Was this… Wu Daozi?

In her previous life, she had encountered Wu Daozi, the man obsessed with gourds, a few times. She had never imagined that this was what he looked like in his youth.

If it weren’t for the large gourd he carried, Yingbao wouldn’t have recognized him.

In the old days, when she first met him, he was already destitute, his hair almost gone, his body thin as a bag of bones, and the lump on his neck was as large as a melon, tilting his head to one side.

Despite this, he was a brilliant man: not only was his calligraphy excellent, but he was also skilled in playing the guqin and sword dancing. In his early twenties, he had achieved the rank of Top Scholar. He went to Beijing to participate in the imperial examination and earned the second-highest qualification.

For some unknown reason, he became a wandering Taoist, carrying a large gourd and roving around to treat people. He was known as the Gourd Divine Doctor.

As for whether he was a Divine Doctor, Yingbao wasn’t sure, because he never healed the large lump on his own neck.

Despite this, he was a man of his word, honorable, and generous. He would even lose money treating the poor, giving them medicine for free.

She never thought she would be so fortunate to meet Wu Daozi in his youth right here, right now.

Yingbao was secretly delighted and approached him to initiate a conversation: “Mister, your gourd looks very nice. We have many of this kind of gourd at home too.”

Wu Daozi glanced at her and, recognizing her as a little beggar, didn’t pay attention to her comment.

Seeing that he was ignoring her, Yingbao stepped forward and said, “We really do have this kind of gourd at home, much bigger than yours, this big!” She stretched out her arms to illustrate.

Ultimately, Wu Daozi broke his silence and asked, “Where is your home?”

“My home is in Chuanhe Town, Qinchuan County.” Yingbao, seeing that he had caught his interest, cheerfully replied, “Everyone in our village says that our gourd was gifted by an immortal, and touching it can bring good luck.” “Oh?” Wu Daozi laughed, “Then why didn’t it bring you good luck?”

With a darkened face, Yingbao argued, “That’s because I encountered a bad person who stole me away and brought me here.” Wu Daozi surveyed the child and asked, “Is everything you said true?” “Yes,” Yingbao nodded, “Whoever lies turns into a rat.”

Wu Daozi laughed again, saying: “I was asking about your family’s gourd.”

Yingbao’s smile faltered, immediately replying: “Our gourd is also real, if you don’t believe it, you can go to Simen Town in Qinchuan County and see. A cloth shop owner there paid thirty taels of silver for our big gourd, and it is still being used in the shop.”

Wu Daozi mused: “Really?”

“Really, really.” Yingbao looked around and whispered, “If uncle doesn’t believe me, I can take you there.”

Before Wu Daozi could answer, Kuige suddenly came over, his face was very unpleasant, and he picked up Yingbao and walked out of the shop.

Yingbao struggled a few times and, seeing that she couldn’t escape, she gave Wu Daozi a pitiful look, trying to squeeze out a few tears.

As expected, Wu Daozi followed them.

“Young man, please wait a moment.” He quickly caught up with Kuige, “What is your relation to her? Put the child down first, I have something to say.”

Kuige cast a wary look at him and coldly asked: “What are you trying to do? She is my sister!”

Hearing this, Wu Daozi hesitated.

Yingbao struggled mightily, shaking her head violently: “No, I’m not his sister.

Uncle, save me.”

Wu Daozi frowned, took a few steps to block the young man’s path, and still spoke gently: “Young man, it might be best if we let her down and let her explain whether or not she is your sister.”

Kuige grew angry, yelled out loud: “Mind your own business! Get lost! Or else you’ll see what I’m capable of!”

Wu Daozi was unyielding: “Young man, if this child is really your sister, I won’t say another word, but it’s clear she’s not…”

“I’ll say it again, get lost!” Kuige growled menacingly: “She’s mine, whether she’s my sister or not, I was the one who found her first! From now on, she’s following me!” Wu Daozi: .

Angered, Yingbao lunged forward and bit him sharply on the neck.

Hurt by her bite, Kuige quickly pulled her off his neck and threw her to the ground.

Yingbao quickly got up from the ground and threw herself at Wu Daozi, crying, “Uncle, save me!”

Wu Daozi also reacted swiftly, pulling Yingbao behind him, and warned Kuige, who was rushing towards them: “I know the clerk at the county government, young man, if you dare to act rashly, I can bring you there to settle this.”

At this moment, passersby began to notice the situation and came to investigate.

Someone remarked: “Isn’t this the beggar from up ahead? What’s happening, is he trying to hurt someone?”

“If he dares to hurt someone, we’ll send him to the county government!”

Kuige indeed hesitated, stepping back a few steps, he glared at Yingbao fiercely and then turned away.

Watching the young beggar leave, Wu Daozi squatted down and asked Yingbao,

“Now, tell me the truth. Where is your home and how did you end up here?”

This time, Yingbao was really crying. She stuttered and whimpered as she recounted everything, at last saying, “I want to go home. Uncle, can you take me home? My parents will reward you, they will even give you gourd seeds. The gourds grown in our house are big, from now on, we’ll give them all to you.”

Wu Daozi smiled, saying, “I’m on my way to Qinchuan County anyway, might as well take you there.”

“Great!” Yingbao’s tears turned into laughter, she asked, “What’s your name, uncle? Where is your hometown? My parents will visit your home to thank you.”

Wu Daozi patted Yingbao’s head and laughed, “My last name is Wu, and my hometown is a long way from here, so your parents probably can’t make it..”