Chapter 131 - 128: Chen Tuan and Pure Yang Both Offer Assistance
The Daoist Equal to Heaven arrived at Guan Jiangkou and once again encountered an old acquaintance. Who could this person be?
Later generations would speak of this revered elder through a poem, which goes:
Ninefold decrees descend, and the purple seal proclaims, content with the depth of skill, he finds joy in secluded tranquillity.
The mountain hues frame his courtyard like a painted screen, the pine sings with a thousand ravines, as if they were strings of a zither.
Without desire for official rank, nor to ascend the high platforms, his aspiration for immortality brings him to the cave’s door.
Regal adornments are but clouds drifting past; worldly thoughts he abandons, wishing to sleep for a thousand years amidst the Three Peaks.
Indeed, it was the long-separated Old Sleeping Immortal, Master Fuyao, Chen Tuan by name. Upon seeing the Daoist Equal to Heaven approaching, he couldn’t help but exclaim delightedly, "I’ve slumbered for a hundred years, and upon awakening, I came here to Guan Jiangkou to visit my friend Yang Jian. To think that the Qi Tian Daoyou would also arrive, how delightful! We must drink together, it’s been far too long."
Upon recognizing Chen Tuan, the Daoist Equal to Heaven said with great joy, "So it is the Master Fuyao himself!"
Chen Tuan responded, "I have a friend who will join us shortly. Yang Jian and Qi Tian Daoyou, please wait a moment, and then we can drink together."
The Daoist Equal to Heaven inquired, "And which friend might this be?"
Chen Tuan chuckled and said, "This friend of mine is quite renowned indeed. Once the great Donghua the Great Emperor, now reborn as the Pure Yang Daoist Lu Dongbin, the leader of the Eight Immortals of the Upper Caverns."