Not long after, the wild man stopped outside a mountaintop courtyard. On the lintel of the courtyard gate were the three characters for Small Fresh Tower.
The gate was tightly closed. Lin Cheng Dao waited under the lantern at the entrance.
Yu Qing stepped out of the basket onto the ground. He turned back to watch the wild man leave, feeling quite novel about it.
Looking at the surroundings here, the courtyard was not large. Inside the fence walls was a garden full of fragrant flowers and plants.
The whole place sat on the mountaintop. On one side was a steep cliff, and on the other was the mountain valley filled with brilliant lights. One could faintly hear singing and dancing from the valley, but it was not so noisy, giving another sense of quiet seclusion.
This is probably the kind of place you mentioned that does not open for business. Yu Qing asked.
Lin Cheng Dao replied, It counts as such. After saying that, he gestured invitingly.
Yu Qing was not in a hurry to go in. He asked, The expenses here must not be low, right?
The guard beside him immediately stepped forward and whispered in his ear, Places like this start at over a hundred taels of silver for one meal.
Lin Cheng Dao waved his hand and said, Today I am treating, Brother Shi Heng does not need to worry about the money.
Yu Qing said, How much is your monthly salary? Looking after a storehouse probably has no extra benefits either. After subtracting expenses, you cannot even afford to hire a carriage. We are just filling our stomachs. There is no need for us to spend money in such an expensive place.
It was not that he wanted to help save money for others, but he felt something was off. After suffering a loss in the ancient tomb wasteland, he had learned a lesson.
At this point, Lin Cheng Dao smiled bitterly. To tell the truth, I am also presenting a flower with borrowed hands. This place is run by my aunt.
Yu Qing was stunned. What is the situation with your aunt that she can open a shop in a place like this?
From what he had learned earlier, ordinary people basically had no chance of opening a shop here.
Lin Cheng Dao glanced at the two guards and spoke with some reservation. It is a long story. It is not too late to sit down and talk about it slowly later. Today after I got confirmation from Brother Shi Heng, I had someone send a message in advance. Tonight this place will not receive other guests, only us. Some unrelated staff have also been dismissed. After saying that, he walked up the steps and knocked on the door ring.
Before long, the door opened. An old woman behind the door looked out. Seeing Lin Cheng Dao, she immediately opened the door and stepped aside to let them in.
Yu Qing was still a bit reserved. Lin Cheng Dao did not know he was worried about safety and thought he was still concerned about spending too much money. So he personally went over, grabbed Yu Qing by the arm, and pulled the half reluctant Yu Qing inside.
After the group entered, Lin Cheng Dao took Yu Qing to the rear courtyard.
The rear courtyard was right on the cliff. Pavilions and gazebos were elegantly dotted with flowers and plants. Walking to the terrace, one looked up to see a sky full of stars, completely different from the night sky seen at the main gate.
Standing outside the main gate and looking towards the mountain valley, the lights were like flowing clouds, and the stars in the sky could not be seen.
Standing here, isolated from the lights of the mountain valley, the sky was immediately full of stars. There were also faint sounds of gentle singing and graceful dancing from other places. It gave a feeling of half in the human world and half floating like an immortal, making one feel dazed and refreshed.
At the railing, Yu Qing patted the carved railing and realised that even though it was in the same mountain nest, the level of Linglong View was indeed a bit low.
Before long, a thin old man appeared in a nearby pavilion. He was also the chef of Small Fresh Tower. He carried a long box under one arm and held a large water bucket in the other hand, which he put down.
Brother Shi Heng, let me show you something good. Lin Cheng Dao called out.
Yu Qing withdrew his gaze from the starry sky and followed him over. After entering the pavilion, he looked into the large water bucket and found that besides half a bucket of water, there was nothing else inside.
The chef opened the box and displayed a transparent ice block about one foot long in a spindle shape.
The chef took out the ice block and threw it directly into the water bucket. Lin Cheng Dao watched with great interest.
Yu Qing was completely puzzled. He looked at the chef, then at Lin Cheng Dao, not knowing what they were doing. Seeing that both were staring, he had no choice but to stare as well and check carefully to see if he had missed something.
Before long, Lin Cheng Dao suddenly pointed at the bucket and shouted, It is out!
This time, Yu Qing also noticed something. He saw that the transparent ice block, which almost blended with the colour of the water, gradually showed signs of turning blue. Gradually, the blue became more and more obvious. After the full outline appeared, it turned out to be the shape of a fish.
It was a fish about one foot long, ice blue all over, with fine blue scales, sapphire like eyes, and beautiful translucent blue fins. The whole thing looked extremely beautiful.
The most unbelievable thing was that the ice fish moved its body and began to thrash about in the water. It had come back to life.
Seeing Yu Qing’s greatly surprised expression, Lin Cheng Dao felt satisfied and explained, This is a冥 fish, produced from the冥 sea. After leaving the water, its body surface automatically forms ice to seal it. It can survive without eating, drinking or breathing for up to three months in the frozen state. Once placed in water and the ice melts, it will come back to life on its own. This fish contains spiritual energy and is quite favoured by cultivators.
This fish was brought from the distant冥 sea? Yu Qing asked in surprise.
He knew about the冥 sea. It was a region in the vast ocean covered by dense fog. Once entered, it became another world of eternal night. That place had no directions and no landmarks. People who entered by mistake basically could not get out and would be trapped to death inside. Therefore it was called the冥 sea, meaning the sea of death.
To travel through the冥 sea, one generally needed to pay to find冥 sea ferrymen. They could take people across the eternal night sea of death.
Why would people go to that eternal night sea of death? Naturally it was not to catch the fish in front of them. It was because on the other side of the冥 sea was the largest mutual trade market in the demon realm. That place was even more fantastic than Xi Yue Fang and was called the sea market. The top figures of the demon race also lived there.
The sea market was originally a blessed cave dwelling of an immortal. After the immortal disappeared, it was occupied by various demons. The spiritual rice seeds of today originally came from the sea market.
Lin Cheng Dao said, That is right! To deliver it within three months, after catching it, one has to pay to have the thousand li courier bring it over.
Yu Qing roughly calculated the distance from the冥 sea to here and said, Would the shipping cost not be almost three thousand taels?
Lin Cheng Dao smiled bitterly, Actually the most expensive part is the shipping cost. A冥 fish of this size is only about one thousand taels each. However, being able to make friends with Brother Shi Heng, money is secondary. What I want to treat Brother Shi Heng to today is exactly this!
Yu Qing understood. This meal had really cost a lot. He also knew Lin Cheng Dao’s intention in befriending him. It was just that he had never eaten anything this expensive in his life, and even before eating it he already felt some heartache.
He estimated that if Small Fresh Tower prepared this fish normally for sale, it would have to sell for at least five thousand taels or more. That could buy so much spiritual rice!
Spending several thousand taels on shipping in one go was really not worth it!
He muttered in his heart that it would be better to convert it into silver and give it to him.
However he was not shameless to that extent. He just kept muttering, Too expensive, too expensive.
Lin Cheng Dao said there was no need for him to spend money and signalled the chef to take the fish to prepare it.
He and Yu Qing sat down under the lantern on the terrace pole. He personally poured tea.
Regardless of whether it was Lin Cheng Dao spending the money, Yu Qing now definitely wanted to ask clearly, Why did your aunt open a shop here?
At this point, Lin Cheng Dao no longer hid it. He asked, Has Brother Shi Heng heard of Qu He Mountain?
Yu Qing was slightly stunned. I have heard of it. It is one of the notable major sects in the spiritual plant path of the cultivation world. Do not tell me your aunt is a spiritual plant master?
Lin Cheng Dao said, Brother Shi Heng is indeed knowledgeable. That is right. My aunt is precisely a spiritual plant master from Qu He Mountain. She got involved in internal factional struggles, lost, and was purged. She was pursued relentlessly by the other side, so she had no choice but to seek me out…
He recounted the past events in detail. Only then did Yu Qing learn that this fellow was one of those so called hidden family members of cultivators in the mortal world. The one in his family who truly entered the cultivation world was his grandaunt. It was also because of the financial support provided silently by his grandaunt that he had a good environment for studying and pursuing an official career.
The change happened in the internal struggle at Qu He Mountain. Lin Cheng Dao’s grandaunt lost the power struggle and lost her life. Her daughter, that is Lin Cheng Dao’s aunt, had to leave the sect and flee for her life. Later she found Lin Cheng Dao for help. It was also because Lin Cheng Dao helped his aunt that this dignified seventh rank official was demoted to look after the storehouse.
Lin Cheng Dao’s official position in the Censorate at that time was not high, but the position was important. Letters of accusation and such entering the Censorate had to pass through his hands. His identity was just right for certain people in the court to want to please. His family had already had an accident and he had no other relatives left, only this one aunt. Seeing that his aunt’s life was in danger, in a moment of urgency Lin Cheng Dao used his influence and mobilised the power of the court. He actually had people who did not know the situation directly arrest those pursuing his aunt, helping his aunt escape the disaster.
Qu He Mountain was not an ordinary small sect in the cultivation world. How could they sit by and do nothing? They naturally wanted an explanation from the Jin country court.
Seeing that things were about to blow up, the people involved mobilised forces to settle the matter. The condition was that Lin Cheng Dao would bear the responsibility alone.
However the other side also used their power to minimise the big issue. Otherwise Lin Cheng Dao would not have been demoted merely to look after the warehouse.
Before his demotion, Lin Cheng Dao had arranged for his aunt and placed her in seclusion in Xi Yue Fang.
His aunt naturally felt grateful for this matter. For example, when the冥 fish arrived at Small Fresh Tower, it was his aunt who specially told him that good things had arrived here. If he needed it for entertaining guests, he could come over.
After listening to the whole story, Yu Qing asked with some curiosity, Who was the one who helped you arrest the people and settle the matter?
Lin Cheng Dao’s face fell. He said with a helpless smile, Brother Shi Heng, you are going a bit too far. I have opened my heart to you, yet you cannot do this. Some things are in the past, so let them pass. The favours and grudges are settled. That person no longer knows me. Bringing it up again is also groundless talk. Speaking about it would not benefit anyone.
After the two chatted for a while longer, the冥 fish was also ready.
A tall woman in a purple skirt came gracefully carrying a tray. Her hair was styled high in a cloud bun, her bright eyes were charming, and her appearance was elegant and refined. She was a gentle woman who looked full of spirit.
Lin Cheng Dao was stunned for a moment. He quickly stood up and said, Aunt, why have you come?
Aunt? Yu Qing stood up as well. He looked the woman up and down with a face full of astonishment. This woman who looked quite a bit younger than Lin Cheng Dao was actually that aunt? He had thought it was the old woman who opened the door earlier.