Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“A-Are you Mr. Zhang?” Looking at Zhang Lisheng, that young girl smiled reservedly and spoke in a rather reserved manner. “Do you still remember who I am?”
“You’re Miss Li, Senior Sister Guo’s secretary and we met about two weeks ago. I am not so forgetful, you know. Hey, you’re back in China, so that means Senior Sister must be back too, right?” Looking at the girl’s fair face, a beautiful figure who was at a loss of what to do more than ten days ago appeared in the young man’s mind, causing him to smile and say.
“Yes, Mr. Zhang, it’s on Director Guo’s command that I’m here looking for you in the hotel. She’s in the Fishing Mountain Village now, and she’d like to go there,” The girl replied respectfully.
The Fishing Mountain Village was located on the bank of Qingyuan Lake in the suburbs of Beijing and had existed for over 800 years. It was said that the Third Emperor of China had built a fishing platform here to purify his heart and nurture his moral character. Somebody at that time had even written a poem as a tribute, “The willows drape downward with water on all sides, a pavilion stood straight on an islet in the middle, the water rocks the raft at the low water bank where birds rest; the curved house decorated by vines and flowers stood remotely on the purple water.”
With its beauty, this place became well-known throughout the country.
In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong had even made an imperial decree to build a palace at Qingyuan Lake, making it an imperial garden that was later known as the’ acting palace.’
In the middle of the last century, the Chinese red government was established, and the palace ushered in new glory. First, it was renamed ‘Resort’ and then renamed again to become ‘Village.’ 22 pavilions and pagodas with different design styles were built, and there were another 400 over suites room. It was equipped with indoor tennis courts, swimming pools, gymnasiums, and other modern facilities that were exclusively used to accommodate exclusive foreign guests. It was also the place where Chinese leaders would take their short breaks on Sundays.
Today, this ‘Mountain Village’ was well-known in China and had already been open to the public to a limited extent, but its core area remained a mystery to the general public. It was not a place where one could go despite having a high prestige and wealth.
“Fishing Mountain Village…” Like Tiananmen and the Great Wall that was frequently heard, of course, Zhang Lisheng knew the meaning represented in this term that would always appear in the news. After a slight moment of shock, thoughts began to float through his mind, “The reason Senior Sister asked me to go there must be because she wants to introduce some senior Chinese officials to me. With her background, who deserves such a deliberate arrangement from her. Hmm, could it be…”
“Mr. Zhang, Mr. Zhang, Director Guo is still waiting for you, so…” Upon seeing that this young man in front who looked not much older than herself fell into a moment of daze, the girl began to interrupt him.
“Oh, let’s go then,” The young man felt that he might be able to have a lot of gains today, so, as he suppressed his overjoyed emotions, he snapped back to his senses and nodded.
The two of them walked out of the hotel lobby, and the girl made a phone call. In a short while, a black Passat drove over, and although the car was not exceptionally expensive, its number plate of ‘Ping A0002’ was particularly pleasing to the eyes.
After helping Zhang Lisheng to open the car door, so he could sit in the back seat, the girl sat in the co-drivers seat and no longer said any words after the car began to start slowly.
Zhang Lisheng had already calmed down at this moment, but he was still a bit puzzled. He did not understand why Guo Caiying would not call him first after returning to China but would arrange her secretary to the hotel to pick him up. However, when he looked at the girl’s straight back, which indicated that she was serving a more celebrated guest, he opened his mouth but did not say anything.
Since there was no bad feeling in his heart, and the place that they were going could also be regarded as a critical fundamental place in China, where no accidents could occur, the young man merely pondered this unimportant manner for a while without asking.
The car steadily traveled on the city’s spacious road. After a few minutes, the streetscape outside the car window changed from the bustling modern city into a quiet forest scenery. After passing by a private driveway that had its both sides covered with green trees, a giant memorial gateway that was written with ‘Fishing Mountain Village’ appeared in front of Zhang Lisheng.
“Mr. Zhang, we have arrived at the Fishing Mountain Village. Director Guo is waiting for you at Huxin Island,” The girl who had been silent all the way finally turned to inform Zhang Lisheng after the car passed the archway.
“I can’t believe that there’s actually such a quiet, beautiful garden that has a mixture of Chinese and Western-style located nearby Beijing City.” Looking through the window at the European classical castles, the Middle Eastern Islamic domes, the glass-shaped paved Chinese palaces with their beams carved with drawings, and the tropical huts full of exotic tastes, Zhang Lisheng nodded and could not help but marvel in a whisper.
“This is the place where the national leader would meet the foreign guests and to have a short term rejuvenation. It emphasizes on serenity,” The girl replied as she rolled down the window.
At this time, the car had driven through the villa’s open area, and the road that had become empty began to show plain-clothed guards patrolling around. From time to time, ordinary guests could be seen wandering around curiously and would be politely dismissed by the guards.
Several guards also noticed the car that Zhang Lisheng was riding in, but after seeing the number plate and the girl sitting in the co-driver seat, they decided not to stop it and merely allowed the car to drive into the depths of the forest to park beside a lake that was small but still sloshing in green waves under the caress of the faint breeze.
At the same time, when the car stopped, several Taoist priests who were wearing absolutely nothing but green dopo robe with cloth shoes were sitting cross-legged in a formation in accordance to the Eight Trigrams of Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen and Kun in a pavilion.
Right now, they were meditating and chanting in a grave expression. Every time their mouth moved, the yellowish color appearing on their face would deepen, and not long after, rust-like dark red spots began to faintly appear on their faces.
“That scoundrel is going to board the boat soon. Please persist a little while more, Senior Brothers. A while more and we’ll be able to succeed,” A middle-aged man dressed in a tailored, brown, casual outfit looked at the bright water ball suspended in the air, showing an image of the lake in front of him and clenched his fist as he whispered in a voice that had begun to tremble over his nervousness.
“We still have to persist for a while? A while more and Junior Brother Hong would die from having their blood essence depleted,” When the thin old man who was crouching on a mahogany chair like a monkey on the right-hand side of the middle-aged man heard this, he gnashed his teeth and roared, “I’ve long said before that now is the ‘world of great change’ that has never been seen before in eons, so don’t enter the ‘society’ too deeply and don’t make enemies if possible! Still, all of you just ignore my words blatantly! Now see, we need eight Taoist priests to meditate and embrace the power of the topographical dragon’s power to disrupt Heaven’s secret to confuse the heart of that ancient witchcraft’s successor and not only that, all eight of them have to exhaust their power to succeed. Such a strong enemy has strength no way inferior to a human immortal, and if we couldn’t trap and kill him today, then the trouble we would face in the future would be so big that it’s absolutely unimaginable. Who knows, it might even transform into an inexorable doom, and if worst comes to worst, it will become a toppling disaster!”
The people in the pavilion became silent when they heard this. Some of the young people among them even showed an angry look but still dared not speak openly in fear of the prestige of the thin old man. Only an old woman with an icy stare that looked like she had the same age as the old man replied, “Senior Brother Liu, the strength of that ancient witchcraft’s successor is indeed far beyond our expectations, but the more so, the more correct our decision in planning to kill him today. Otherwise, if we allowed him to grow freely and become powerful in the future, then he would truly become the calamity of our Gate of Dao. Besides, we’re eliminating him on the order of the emperor, and now that we even have the help from the paradise’s power, we can be said as having the advantage of favorable timing, geographical, and human conditions. How could we possibly fail? On top of that, Senior Brother, the world of great change is also the world of great struggles. If we don’t enter the ‘society’ to compete for our fortune destiny with the Gate of Witchcraft, then I’m afraid that the foundation of our Gate would be wiped out overnight!”
“Sigh…” The thin old man sighed and nodded, “Junior Sister Lu, now that things have already reached this stage, I was merely complaining about it a bit. Alright, go to the meditation room to look at your disciple. This place is not ordinary, and if the commotion gets big later, it will become a huge disaster.”
Upon hearing this, the old lazy nodded silently. After making a gesture with her hands, she vanished on the spot without a trace. At the same time, when she vanished, several green-clothed Taoist priests who were sitting in the Eight Trigrams Formations suddenly showed weird expressions on their faces disappeared. Their skin became as luster and smooth as white jade, with two streaks of ‘jade veins’ gradually flowing down their nostrils.
Upon seeing this, the Gate of Dao’s people in the pavilion could not help but had a change of expressions to an inconceivable and sad expression.
“They cultivated the True Dao for hundreds of years, but they passed away in meditation and turned to ashes early in the morning,” In this deadly silence, a short old man suddenly jumped down from a wooden chair in a melancholic manner and began to bow deeply at the green-clothed Taoist priests that were scattering into ashes, “I’m Liu Shichang, may all of you Junior Brothers rest in peace.”
“May all of you Senior Brothers and Senior Uncles rest in peace,” several dozens of Gate of Dao’s disciples standing around the old man solemnly repeated. Once their words left their mouths, the sky outdoor abruptly changed to become dense raindrops slowly fell.
Standing under the canvas tent of the cruise boat, Zhang Lisheng looked at the small Huxin Island that could already be seen through the unexpected drizzle and felt a sudden surge of agitation in his moods.
“Miss Li, did you say that Senior Sister Guo is in one of the several short old buildings in that Huxin Island?” The young man frowned and asked the girl behind him.
“Yes, Mr. Zhang, the director told me on the phone that she’s waiting for you on the Huxin Island in the Fishing Mountain Village.”
“Senior Sister didn’t inform you directly in person?” Zhang Lisheng asked again.
“No, I received a call from her when I was working…” Before the girl could finish her sentence, the boat had already docked at the small pier on Huxin Island. Immediately, several staff members hurriedly came up to welcome them. Some pulled the rope, some held out umbrellas, and some offered their hands while speaking politely and enthusiastically, “The ground is a little slippery because of the rain, so please pay attention to your steps.”
Now that people were bustling around, the young man could not ask any more about it and could only jump ashore. The girl, on the other hand, continued to stand on the boat and did not disembark. Standing up, she said with a smile, “Mr. Zhang, the director only told me to send you to Huxin Island, so I’ll bid goodbye here.”
It was very reasonable for a secretary to evade from a private meeting, so Zhang Lisheng merely nodded after a moment of confusion, “Alright. Thank you for sending me here, Miss Li.”
“See you, Mr. Zhang,” The girl bowed a little, and her figure began to slowly drift away with the boat. The young man, on the other hand, took an umbrella from a uniformed mountain village’s service staff and strolled to the pavilion not far away.
