Chapter 190: Fortuitous Land!
Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu
The two jeeps arrived at the parking lot outside Mount Longhu very quickly. Bei Feng and the rest got out wordlessly and went directly towards the scenic area.
“My apologies, Sir, but the attraction is under renovation at the moment and is inaccessible for the time being.”
A staff ran over to Bei Feng’s group and stopped them.
Su Bai and the rest who were following behind them also heard the staff. “Let’s go back. Our luck is not very good today since the attraction is under renovation.” Lin Qingya said with some disappointment.
Su Bai’s face stiffened at that. He had spent so much effort to bring the girls here. In addition, this place was exceptionally out of the way. In addition, the sky was turning dark as well. By that time, they would not be able to return easily.
He had already done his research on the mountain attraction area. There was only a single hotel here, and it was almost always full. Thus, he had already made a reservation for a single room long ago. At that time, with only one room and two beautiful ladies by his side, wouldn’t they just be dishes on his table for him to gorge himself on?
“I know your manager personally. Could you do us a small favor and let us in?”
Su Bai patted the staff on the shoulder and took out 2,000 yuan from his wallet.
“This… this is not a simple matter.”
Tie Kui glanced to his back and seeing that there was no one nearby, he said with some uncertainty.
“It’s just a small favor. How about it?”
Su Bai saw that the staff was somewhat unsure, so he quickly took out a few more notes and pressed it into the staff’s hands. Added together, the total amount was at least about four-five thousand yuan!
Tie Kui’s heart was beating furiously as he looked at the money in his hands. This amount was even slightly higher than his entire month’s pay! And all he had to do to obtain it was to let these people through.
‘The higher-ups told us not to let the tourists in, but the attraction is not really under construction. They’re probably doing this to cook the books! Since there’s no renovation going on, it shouldn’t be a big deal to let these people in, right?’
Tie Kun ruminated seriously. The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He just had to let a few people in, and he could easily earn a month’s worth of pay!
“I can let you in, but please take note that you can only go as far as the Taoist Temple. Any further, and there may be trouble.”
Tie Kun warned seriously as he led the group towards a small path.
“Don’t worry, we’re just here to walk around a little bit. We won’t make things difficult for you.”
Su Bai nodded and promised with a sly smile. As long as they could get in, they could still do anything they wanted!
After entering the small path, Su Bai walked off with the two girls, resolutely separating himself from Bei Feng’s group. Each group went on their own way.
Mount Longhu was not very tall, and was only a few hundred meters above sea level. However, the scenery here was absolutely captivating. As they rowed down the river, Bei Feng and the rest could not help but feel their spirits lifted. The wide river stretching between the vast mountainous peaks had the vestiges of ancient beauty in them. Graceful man-made structures and natural formations with wondrous names could be seen everywhere. Flying Cloud Pavilion; Chessboard Cliff; Soaring Jade Cliff; Goddess Viewing Flowers; Golden Armlet Summit; Divine Ladle Rock; Sword Testing Stone; Lotus Boulder, and so forth.
Some of these structures could be seen from the boat, while some required the guests to leave the comfort of the boat and row up to the shores to be fully appreciated. The river was framed by 24 peaks and beautiful stalactites. Many of these attractions could only be viewed from afar, and visitors couldn’t get close to them. In fact, some of the beautiful scenes required one to trek through the the forest and mountainous peaks to view in full. Numerous caves of all shapes and sizes could be seen between the peaks. Inside were countless hanging coffins left by the traditional people. This was so fascinating that the caves became known as the Heavenly Cliff Tomb Museum.
Traveling through Mount Longhu’s scenic area was a form of relaxation in itself. It caused one’s spirit to quieten down into a tranquil state. A thick sense of history permeated the entire mountain.
“Wow, this place can already be called as a land of paradise on earth… “
Bei Feng sighed with amazement. The scenery here was not only beautiful, but the Ling Qi here was also much denser as compared to other similar places. The Ling Qi was at least two to three times stronger here!
Regular people living in this kind of environment might not feel anything in the short term, but as the years passed, they would find that not only would they rarely fall sick, they enjoyed full and abundant long lives too!
Mount Longhu was also only recently developed for tourists. At the time, all the old residents of the mountain raised strong objections, saying that too many tourists would taint and destroy this beautiful piece of land.
However, all the objecting voices were forcefully suppressed by the Taoist Temple. After the protest, a series of new requirements were added. All the necessary safety installations were added, and visitors were prohibited from harming a single blade of grass or tree here!
In this era, almost everything required money to obtain. The same went for Mount Longhu. How else was the Temple supposed to buy precious herbs or sustain the existence of the Temple without money?
After the country was founded, the Daoists of Mount Longhu were prohibited from conducting business outside of the mountain. That essentially broke off the main income source of the Temple. They also couldn’t continue letting the disciples take money from their families to sustain the Temple, right?
So, with these considerations, Mount Longhu was opened for tourists. 70 percent of the ticket profits went to Longhu Temple. As for the rest, they were in charge of collecting the money, and did not have to care about anything else.
The group drifted down the river, twisting and turning until they reached the Taoist Temple. Casting a glance over, one could see a multitude of storied pavilions, covering the vast grounds!
Ever since the Temple was founded, it had been home to sixty-three generations of Daoist masters. Throughout their long 1900-years history, a total of ten Taoist Palaces, eighty-one Taoist Temples, and fifty Tao Halls was built. But, by now, most of these palaces, temples, and halls no longer remained. Even so, part of the large, early Qing dynasty palace structures and Taoist Master residences still remained.
Upon setting foot in this place, one’s heart would naturally become still and peaceful. A faint smell of history permeated the air, not dissipating despite the years!
“Eh? How did you guys get in?”
A young Daoist who was sweeping the steps suddenly spotted Bei Feng’s group and he hurriedly came over to ask.
“I’m here to visit a friend.”
Bei Feng regarded this 20-something year old Daoist carefully. He had a vibrant blood and Qi aura on him, and was clearly at peak Light Jing cultivation, almost breaking through to Dark Jing realm. Bei Feng could not help but feel astonished at how resourceful a major power like Mount Longhu was. Even a random sweeper had the capabilities to be a well-known expert outside!
“Hm? What name does Sire’s friend go by?”
The young sweeper clasped his hands and asked.
“Danxia Zi.”
Bei Feng stated plainly.
The young daoist widened his eyes with shock. Not daring to be slow, he brought Bei Feng’s group to a guest hall, poured them tea and hurriedly left.
‘Something’s strange, why does it feel like the atmosphere at this Mount Longhu is a little off?’ Bei Feng mused.
Bei Feng and the rest did not wait for long before a middle-aged Daoist came out. “The abbot is occupied at the moment, and is not able to leave. We still ask for our esteemed guests to forgive us for being poor hosts.”
“No offense taken. Is there something happening at Mount Longhu?”
Bei Feng directly asked, without trying to twist his words.
“I shall be candid, the previous abbot is refining a batch of pills right now. At the same time, we are holding a ceremony to appoint the new abbot. Thus, numerous other sects had been invited to witness the affair.”
The middle-aged Daoist did not bother to hide anything. This was information that had been released to the public already anyway. Only, he could not help but view Bei Feng with some diminished impression. If the latter was really a friend of the abbot, how could he not know about the events here?
‘This person said that he’s here to visit a friend, and the friend is even the abbot. Most likely, it’s just a senseless young master of some small clan, coming here to expand his world view.’
The middle-aged Daoist could clearly sense Mystic Four and the rest’s cultivation. They were just a little stronger than regular people, and were probably people who had just started on the path of martial cultivation. As for Bei Feng himself, he was quite clearly a completely normal person without any cultivation.
The reason he even came here to greet them so quickly was because he thought that these people might really have some connections with the abbot. But after seeing Bei Feng, he felt like he had probably been overthinking things.
Since they were already here, he was also too lazy to send them away lest the guests thought that Mount Longhu was lacking in etiquette. The middle-aged Daoist half-heartedly exchanged a few words with Bei Feng before turning to leave.
