Volume Five: The Youlan Mountain Pavilion
In the shop diagonally opposite the Miaoqing Hall, Manager Lin strode out and walked straight into the Miaoqing Hall. He slapped the counter and said, “Manager Gao, you owe me a drink of the fine wine from the Great Wasteland.”
Gao Yunjie stood up from behind the counter, looking a bit confused. Manager Lin pulled a letter from his sleeve and slapped it onto the counter, saying, “This letter is for you, isn’t it? It was sent to my place again.”
The letter was originally addressed to him. After opening it, he found another envelope inside with the words “To be opened by Gao Yunjie personally” written on it. The neighbours would know what was going on just by looking at it. Besides, this was not his first time experiencing such a thing, and he had already delivered letters to the Miaoqing Hall in this manner several times.
Gao Yunjie pulled the letter into his hands to check it. He knew exactly what was going on at a glance. They were afraid that the words “Miaoqing Hall” would be too conspicuous and difficult to deliver directly, so they took a slight detour.
He immediately opened the letter and checked the documents inside, mainly to check the security settings within.
After confirming that the letter had not been secretly read, he glanced at the content of the letter and then looked up with a smile, saying, “You have probably been thinking about my fine wine for a long time, haven’t you?”
Manager Lin chuckled, “The fine wine of the Phoenix Clan is not sold to the public. It is not something you can drink just anywhere.”
Last time people from the Great Wasteland came, people from the Phoenix Clan came here to handle some affairs. Ye Diandian asked someone to bring some of the fine wine of the Phoenix Clan along. Manager Lin happened to see it and shamelessly asked for a jar right then and there.
“Fine, you have found a reason today.”
Gao Yunjie shook his head and sighed. He first came out from behind the counter, closed the door, paused the business, and invited Manager Lin inside.
Inside the courtyard, Mu Aotie was shirtless, doing a handstand. He was balancing on one index finger on the ground, and holding a heavy iron chain in his other hand to add weight.
Nan Zhu was in the pavilion chatting and arguing with Xiao Hei, not knowing what principles he was explaining. Xiao Hei was asking questions with a face full of curiosity. In short, one was bold enough to speak, and the other was bold enough to ask.
Wu Hei was sitting on the steps of a small courtyard, holding a stack of papers and reading them. He was personally checking the homework of his son. Since the current number one scholar in the world was feeling unwell, he had to personally supervise the studies of his son.
Yu Qing, on the other hand, was lying on a deckchair with his eyes closed, enjoying the rare sunlight of the day. The shafts of sunlight came in through the skylight of the earth. Although this scene would not last long, in Youjiao Port, this was still an extremely luxurious enjoyment.
Back then, if it were not for relying on the so called exclusive management rights of the Immortal Peach, he would not have been able to get a shop in such a good location.
Chong’er was sitting behind the deckchair, holding the head of Yu Qing with both hands and shaking it left and right continuously, helping to care for and nurse his cervical spine.
The reason for this was that one day Yu Qing woke up and suddenly found that his neck could not move. Slightly twisting it with force would cause bone piercing pain, and his neck was as if it had rusted solid. It truly scared him to death at that time.
Without any other doubts, he directly suspected it was related to the mutation of the spinous process of the posterior neck. So a group of people operated on his posterior neck again to check. As expected, the golden mutation on the posterior neck had spread from the spinous process to the junctions of the other two bone joints above and below.
Wu Hei could not explain this condition clearly either. His golden bones were innate, so there was no such slow pathological process, and he had never experienced such painful torture.
They just did not know who to seek treatment from. The key point was that they did not dare to let others know. Unless they were truly out of options, they would not let outsiders know.
Later, they could only adopt the method of last resort, which was to forcefully move his cervical spine joints.
The feeling of being forced was indeed very painful, so painful that his soul almost left his body. But it was indeed effective. After adapting and moving it for a while, his neck could move again.
So it turned out like this, with Chong’er helping him move his neck more often.
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie felt a sense of empathy. The two of them knew that they would sooner or later have to suffer this same ordeal. Having Old Fifteen paving the way in front was quite good. They just did not know what terrifying consequences would arise if this continued to spread. These days were quite unsettling.
Originally, the three of them wanted to go out and find work, secretly using pseudonyms to work for others or something. Otherwise, what would they do about the ten million next year? Would it just fall from the sky if they sat and waited? After all, they were all cultivators of the Xuan level. Even if they went out to find a job guarding a house, they would not get less than a thousand taels of silver a day per person.
Actually, with their current fame, they could completely find more profitable jobs. However, they had offended some people whose strength they could not match, and they had done things that most people dared not do. They simply did not dare to go out and look for work openly.
Of course, the boat will naturally straighten when it reaches the bridge. At least Yu Qing thought so himself. Whether they could find a profitable job or not, they would only know if they went out to explore and take a look. They did not necessarily have to stick to the Miaoqing Hall. Roads are made by walking, and idle hands have nothing to do, so they had to go out and find a way.
Who would have thought he would suddenly fall ill, so the matter of going out to work was temporarily put on hold.
“Good, good, good.”
Manager Lin, who had entered the inner courtyard, nodded repeatedly. He greeted the people in the courtyard one by one. His gaze naturally could not help but focus on Yu Qing, Nan Zhu, and Mu Aotie. He knew very well that these three were now famous experts in the cultivation world.
There was no way around it. The grudges between the three martial brothers and the Zheluo Mountain had already spread. Rumours said that the powerful Wang clan of Zheluo Mountain was actually brought down by the three of them. That was a top ten spiritual plant sect in the Jin Country, with great wealth and power.
Manager Lin also heard that these three guys had smashed the shops of the Zhenhai Envoy in the Sea Market. They were even thrown into the infamous Zhenhai Command Prison twice. He heard they were even tortured, though he did not know if it was true or not. However, there were not many people who could enter the Zhenhai Command Prison twice and still come out alive.
Originally, he wanted to ask Yu Qing to write a plaque for their shop or something. After all, he was a Tanhua scholar, the number one scholar in the world. But later, looking at the bunch of people they had offended here, he realised that it was indeed inappropriate to hang a sign written by him to do business. So he just let it go, to avoid attracting evil fire.
He was not the only neighbour who had this thought.
It was not his first time coming to the courtyard inside the Miaoqing Hall. As neighbours who saw each other all the time, they could be considered to have frequent dealings.
He still had his old habit. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he walked with his hands behind his back to a tree in the middle of the courtyard. He walked around it, looking up and down to admire it, occasionally sighing and shaking his head.
This tree could be considered the treasure of the Miaoqing Hall. It was an immortal peach tree created by Xiao Yunjian, and the only one remaining here. It was originally displayed as a sample. Later, they naturally hoped to sell it, but they had been trying to sell it until now without success.
Now Manager Gao Yunjie had come up with a new trick. Because people always wanted to enter the Miaoqing Hall to see what the immortal peach tree looked like, he set up a business of charging ten thousand taels of silver for one look. Although it attracted curses, every now and then there were indeed people willing to pay to come and take a look. More or less, it was considered a source of income.
Gao Yunjie gave the letter to Yu Qing on the deckchair, then took out a jar of wine. He invited Manager Lin to the pavilion to drink. Nan Zhu chased Xiao Hei away and also took the initiative to go drink and accompany the guest.
Yu Qing on the deckchair opened the letter to examine it. Although it was not signed, one could tell at a glance from the content that it was sent by Liu Piaopiao, and it was still talking about the matter of that “Godmother”.
Several months had passed before this letter was squeezed out. Yu Qing could understand it. Liu Piaopiao now had her own difficulties. She did not want to arouse suspicion in her actions. Some situations had to be investigated slowly and could not be rushed.
The letter still mentioned the day of the incident. It said that Gu Qingzhao first went to the Liang Mansion and met the young miss of the Liang family. After Gu Qingzhao left, the young miss of the Liang family also left the Liang Mansion, and her whereabouts were unknown, making her the most suspicious. The letter said that among the contacts between Gu Qingzhao, Qingya, and the Liang Mansion, the most frequent contact was with the young miss of the Liang family. Earlier, they had the most contact with the grandmother of the young miss. After the grandmother passed away, it changed to the young miss of the Liang family.
The personality of this young miss of the Liang family was relatively cold and unsociable. When she reached the age of marriage, she was unwilling to marry. Some people said she was rather arrogant and looked down on ordinary men.
The letter finally emphasised one point, that the young miss of the Liang family was only in her early twenties.
From beginning to end, the letter did not mention the word “Godmother” at all, nor were there any related hints. Even if it fell into the hands of outsiders, most people would not know what it was referring to. Only the two parties to the letter knew what it meant.
“Only in her early twenties…” Yu Qing muttered to himself.
According to the situation in the letter, that young miss Liang was indeed the most suspicious. But being only in her early twenties, it was impossible for her to be the godmother of Qingya and Gu Qingzhao. The Qianliu Mountain paid close attention to a family, and the age should not be fake.
Could it be that the young miss Liang was just a spokesperson for that “Godmother”?
However, at that time on the ship in the Nether Sea, as soon as Qingya and Gu Qingzhao heard the voice of the visitor, they obviously knew it was the “Godmother”. Coupled with the situation of the meeting, this showed that the two had directly faced that “Godmother”. Could it be that the young miss Liang was just someone who passed on messages on a daily basis?
Thinking about it again and again, he still could not figure out what was going on. The fog was thick and confusing.
His thoughts turned to the leader of the Sea Clan again. He said the ring was the key to the forbidden land of the Sea Clan. What was in the forbidden land? And how did those experts enter the Nether Sea Immortal Mansion back then? He felt that there were too many mysteries on the Nether Sea side.
He also did not know what the result was when that leader heard the sound on the trestle and chased into the sea.
Just when his doubts were hard to resolve, his ears suddenly moved slightly, and his attention was attracted by the chatting content of those drinking in the pavilion.
Manager Lin talked about the “Morning Sun Assembly” to be held in a few months, a grand event in the cultivation world held once every twenty years. It was said to be an opportunity for new talents in the world to make their mark.
The reason it was called the “Morning Sun Assembly” was that it implied new people were like the sun just rising in the morning.
It was not that any newcomer could participate. There were conditional constraints. Those whose cultivation had reached the Upper Xuan realm were not allowed to participate. Also, those who had already participated could not participate.
That meant a cultivator only had one chance in their lifetime.
Yu Qing was not interested in any grand event. How could he dare to go out and show off openly? The key was that Manager Lin mentioned the host of this event, which was the number one spiritual plant sect in the cultivation world, “Qianling Mountain”.
“To host such a grand event, it must be those large sects. They must have financial support, organisational ability, and more importantly, deterrence to avoid people causing trouble. Actually, it is not the first time Qianling Mountain has hosted it. They have handled several sessions already.”
“It is said that Qianling Mountain, gathering the power of ancestors from past dynasties, has cultivated a spiritual valley within the sect. The grand formation set up collects the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and can bring withered wood back to life in one night. According to those who have seen it, seeing countless youlan orchids slowly blooming in an instant is truly magical and spectacular. It is worthy of being the number one spiritual plant sect in the world.”
“The spiritual valley is a place where the veteran elders of Qianling Mountain practise in seclusion. Under normal circumstances, outsiders rarely have the opportunity to enter and appreciate it. The previous Morning Sun Assemblies of Qianling Mountain did open it, but there were also times when it was not opened. I wonder if it will be opened to entertain the guests this time.”
Yu Qing on the deckchair had already propped up his head to look towards the pavilion.
Mu Aotie, who was doing a handstand, also turned his head to look.
Nan Zhu, who was accompanying the drinks in the pavilion, subconsciously turned his head to look at the two of them, and then tried asking Manager Lin, “Can Qianling Mountain make countless orchids slowly bloom before your eyes?”