471: Chapter 115 A Moment's Dilemma: Zhang Lingyu

Besides Ma Xianhong, Zhang Lingyu was also feeling lost regarding his future path.

Zhang Zhiwei had told him to descend the mountain for worldly experience.

After receiving the order, he returned to his residence to pack his bags and left immediately, without even greeting his Senior Brother Rongshan, let alone junior Disciples like Yexing and Jiyun.

It wasn't until Zhang Zhiwei informed them that Rongshan and the others realized Zhang Lingyu had left the mountain.

Later, Rongshan looked into the details and said to Zhang Zhiwei with a hint of worry, "Master, I asked the Disciple in charge of finances, and they said Junior Brother Lingyu didn't go to them to collect Travel Expenses."

"Furthermore, he doesn't have a cell phone."

"Nothing bad will happen, right?"

Hearing this, Zhang Zhiwei was momentarily stunned.

Tian Jinzhong, who was nearby, looked puzzled and asked, "Why didn't Lingyu take any Travel Expenses?"

In the generation of Tian Jinzhong and Zhang Zhiwei, Travel Expenses didn't matter when descending the mountain for experience. Because the times were chaotic and the methods of outcasts were unrestricted, any sect member sent down for experience was already accomplished in their studies and certainly wouldn't starve relying on their skills.

But by the generation of Zhang Lingyu and Rongshan, times had changed, the methods of outcasts were restricted, and making money was not easy.

And down the mountain, money was needed almost everywhere.

Therefore, the Celestial Masters Residence and even all the major Schools had made adjustments, allowing members to collect a sum of Travel Expenses when descending the mountain for experience.

This was a benefit, and also a matter of Face.

Otherwise, in this peaceful era, if a prestigious major sect sent a Disciple down for experience without a single cent, leading them to sleep under bridges or become a beggar, it would be a laughingstock if word got out.

However, since it was for experience, this sum of travel money was naturally not much.

But as long as one didn't squander it recklessly, it was enough to ensure that the person wouldn't have to worry about food, drink, or lodging for a short time.

As for what happened after that, it would depend on the individual.

Zhang Lingyu knew this, and it was compliant, legal, and reasonable. Even with his upright personality, there was no reason for him to resist. Because in this current era, without money on hand down the mountain, while one might not be completely stranded, it would be hard to accomplish anything.

Zhang Lingyu had been down the mountain before and understood this, yet he hadn't gone to collect the Travel Expenses.

What was the situation?

Rongshan was equally puzzled by this question. After scratching his head for a while, he could only speculate, "Maybe he was so eager to leave that he forgot."

Tian Jinzhong: "..."

Zhang Zhiwei's eye twitched as he waved his hand and said, "No matter. Back when your Junior Martial Uncles and I went down for experience, we also had nothing to our names, and we got through it just the same."

With that, he pulled out his phone and began calling several other Disciples down the mountain as well as Lu Jin and others. The content of the calls was uniform: his worthless Disciple Zhang Lingyu had gone down for experience; if he came to them for help, ignore him!

Rongshan and Tian Jinzhong looked at each other, unable to tell for a moment if Zhang Zhiwei was being serious or sarcastic.

However, neither of them cared too much.

After all, they knew Zhang Lingyu's capabilities; no matter what, he wouldn't starve to death.

And indeed, Zhang Lingyu didn't starve to death after descending the mountain, but his situation wasn't much better.

After receiving his Master's orders, he heard that Xia He was mixing with "some rising star" and that they were close. Although he didn't absurdly think his hair was changing color, his desire to leave the mountain certainly became more urgent. It wasn't until he left Longhu Mountain and was about to take a bus that he realized he hadn't collected his Travel Expenses.

Realizing this problem, he initially wanted to return to the mountain, but then thought that since he had already left, his experience had officially begun.

Turning back now over a little money would be a loss of Face, and it would violate the Master's order of "not returning without being summoned."

Moreover, he remembered that his Master, Zhang Zhiwei, had also been penniless when he first went down for experience, yet he returned to the mountain in Perfection. As the Master's Disciple, even if he couldn't surpass his teacher, he couldn't be too pathetic, otherwise, it would bring shame to his Master's reputation.

Furthermore, he believed he had some skills, and since it was now a peaceful era, it shouldn't be hard to earn some money through self-reliance.

As it turned out, the idea was ideal, but reality was harsh.

When Zhang Lingyu started considering how to make money, he found that the only skills he could offer were Physiognomy and Fortune-telling.

Then, he went to a crowded place to put them into practice, only to find that this money was truly hard to earn.

He didn't have the proper gear or a sign, and he couldn't bring himself to shout and solicit customers. Naturally, no one paid him any attention.

By the time he managed to put together a sign, there were other competitors around with better gear and appearances.

When business finally came his way, Zhang Lingyu suffered one setback after another.

The first person to approach him for a reading was a heavyweight woman who looked quite wealthy.

The way she looked at him was like a long-starved tigress encountering a stray lamb, as if she wanted to swallow him whole. She clearly had other intentions and was even getting handsy.

Zhang Lingyu truly couldn't take it and had to dismiss her with the excuse that they were not fated.

An uncle at a nearby stall saw this and shook his head. "Young man, you just bypassed a shortcut that could have saved you decades of struggle."

Zhang Lingyu gave a forced smile, didn't respond, and continued to wait for customers.

More than half a day later, a new customer arrived.

It was another woman, heavily made up and dressed flamboyantly.

Her gaze and actions also hinted at ulterior motives, making Zhang Lingyu feel uncomfortable, though not as intensely as with the previous heavyweight woman.

Compared to continuing to go hungry, Zhang Lingyu felt this discomfort was bearable, so he attended to her.

However, when he looked at this woman's Face, he found she had applied too much makeup to see clearly. He could only vaguely see that her features had been altered and were not her original appearance. In this situation, trying to calculate anything through Physiognomy was difficult—at least, he couldn't do it with his current level.

Reaching this conclusion, Zhang Lingyu spoke the truth.

To his surprise, after hearing this, the female customer lashed out at him with a barrage of insults and left in a huff.

Zhang Lingyu was bewildered, not knowing what he had said wrong.

The uncle on the side was thoroughly amused. Only after the woman left did he give Zhang Lingyu a thumbs up. "Young man, you are truly brave! That woman's Face was full of 'technology'; it was obvious she'd gone under the knife. This kind of thing is best left unsaid. Some people are open about it, but for others, it's a minefield that explodes at the slightest touch."

"That woman was clearly the latter."

"You actually dared to step right on the mine. Truly brave!"

"It's a good thing you don't have a stall, otherwise she would have flipped it just now."

Zhang Lingyu: "..."

Following these two, Zhang Lingyu encountered several more female customers with impure motives but normal behavior.

He thought he would finally have some income, but...

They didn't have cash and could only pay by scanning a code.

And he didn't have a phone, so he couldn't receive payments.

In the end, it was the uncle at the neighboring stall who couldn't bear to watch and helped as a middleman, letting a customer scan his code to exchange for some cash.

Only then did Zhang Lingyu escape his penniless predicament, but he hadn't earned much money—not even enough to afford a hotel.

Thus, despite not being expelled from the sect due to the butterfly effect brought by Meng Li, Immortal Master Lingyu still couldn't escape the fate of sleeping under a bridge because of that single misstep.

As for places like internet cafes or parks...

He had no experience with them and didn't know.

Hiding under the bridge, Zhang Lingyu watched the drizzling rain outside. Recalling his experiences over the past few days, he felt a wave of dejection in his heart.

It turned out that away from the Celestial Masters Residence, even making a living was difficult for him.

Then, he felt lost again.

Master had told him to descend for experience but hadn't specified a goal.

Where should he go next, and what should he do?