Chapter 58: The Land of Dragon's Roaming

  The man in the green shirt walked slowly across the plank to the other side, and after saying something to the officers and soldiers, he saw the soldiers behind him retreat a few steps, already showing some intention of retreating.

  However, the leading officer seemed unwilling to leave like this and said something else. The man in the green shirt took out a token-like object from his own clothes and showed it to the officer. Due to the distance and darkness, only the silhouette of the man in the green shirt could be seen, and the officer's expression couldn't be made out. However, judging from his movements, although the officer was reluctant, he turned around and led the soldiers back along the original path.

  It turned out to be unnecessary tension.

  Liang Ze and Sui Feng may have avoided a lot of trouble, but the mystery has deepened. Who is that man in green robe, able to command the imperial army?

  As the officers and soldiers departed, the young man in green slowly turned around, just then, Liang Ze's hand quickly pulled Su Feng back, pulling his head back from the corner of the wall, avoiding his line of sight.

  Liang Zei glanced at Su Feng and let out a breath of relief, "This person's martial arts skills are not ordinary, I almost got caught by him just now. No matter who he is or what his purpose is for taking the same route as us, we'd better not get involved, lest we stir up unnecessary trouble."

  Liang Ze's cautious movements were quite strange, and Su Feng always felt that Liang Ze seemed to know something. Was his martial arts extraordinary? How extraordinary was it compared to Liang Ze's? Moreover, Su Feng still couldn't figure out how they didn't even know where the Dragon Ascension Platform was located in the Dragon Travel area, what method did Liang Ze have to find it?

  The following waterway was smooth all the way, and there were no other branches. All the way through Jiangdu, Jingkou, Wuzhou, and finally arrived in Yuhang.

  Longyou was first mentioned in historical records during the Spring and Autumn period, when it was known as "Gū Mì" ancient country. Later, according to legend, because of the East China Sea Dragon swimming along the Fuchun River all the way to this place, coupled with its location on the banks of the Fuchun River, with a developed water system, connecting eight directions and five lakes, it was called "Four States Thoroughfare". The dragon energy is hidden but extraordinary, so it was renamed Longyou.

  Only when I arrived at this place did I realize that the name of this place is indeed very good. Jiangnan water town, with crisscrossing waterways, and horse-drawn carriages are rarely seen on the roads, all replaced by various boats. Often, you can also see people from all walks of life standing at the bow of the boat, making a slight bow to the small boats coming in the opposite direction, exchanging greetings.

  After Su Feng and Liang Ze arrived at Yuhang, they asked for directions everywhere and headed west. It took them two more days to reach the border of Longyou. Like other Jiangnan cities, the soil here was also cut into extremely fine pieces by the water network. This is why there are rarely large-scale cities in the Jiangnan region, and most are scattered towns. Longyou is a typical example.

  As they walked from the edge of the small town, they saw countless houses and docks along the water's edge. The scenery was different from the prosperity inside Yangzhou City. It was as if a country bumpkin had entered Chang'an City, looking around in awe. "I didn't expect Longyou to be like this," said Su Feng, but before he could finish his sentence, Liang Ze stole up and covered his mouth.

  "You know the prime minister lives here, yet you're still shouting on the bridge? Do you know how many eyes and ears he has around here?" Liang Stealer cautiously looked around, seeing nothing out of the ordinary before putting down his hand from Su Feng's mouth. Looking at Su Feng's clueless face, he couldn't help but give him a slap.

  "Ouch!" He rubbed his head, looking at Liang Ze's mock-angry face and chuckled: "I didn't think of it for a moment."

  Liang Ze originally just wanted to scare him on purpose, but seeing his expression also couldn't help but laugh.

  As they walked a few steps along the wind, they were originally standing in the middle of a small bridge across the river. He took a step and reached the railing by the side of the bridge. Under their feet was the clear water of the river where fish and shrimp could be seen, as well as the boats floating on the river like they were suspended in mid-air. Looking back at the bustling market on the other side of the bridge, "That's the central town of Longyou over there, are we going to go?"

  Since Li Linfu came to this place under the banner of Nan Xun, he must be living in the most prosperous central town. In order to ensure the safety of the prime minister, there are countless overt and covert guards on the streets and alleys around him. If you just rush in like this, you may have already exposed your identity before even getting any news.

  Liang Ze walked a few steps and came to Su Feng's side, looking at the endless water flow below. "No, we won't go to Jizhen. Let's directly head to the dock on the opposite bank and take a bamboo raft to Fenghuang Mountain."

  Fenghuang Mountain? Hasn't Brother Liang already known the specific location of Denglongtai? Su Feng was puzzled, but didn't ask again. He also knew that now wasn't the time to discuss these trivial matters.

  The waterway of Zhejiang has more rivers and streams, and the mountains and hills make the drop of the river also larger. The wooden boat can't float on the water like this, so there are more bamboo rafts here, and it's rare to see boats with a black awning. It was my first time taking a bamboo raft, which was made up of dozens of bamboo sticks tied together, and it could carry passengers across the river, I have to say that such design is really ingenious. The dock for the bamboo raft is just by the Qujiang River, and following the river downstream, we soon arrived at Fenghuang Mountain.

  The mountains on both sides are lush and green, the distant mountains are misty, the white clouds fall into the sky, and the autumn grass is yellow. It has the coldness of winter days and a touch of warmth of spring breeze. Only in such scenery can one temporarily forget worries and troubles with the wind.

  He shook his head, casting off the chaotic thoughts in his mind, and his consciousness returned to the present. He had thought deeply for a long time, and Liang Ze was right - peace under heaven is hard-won, if such things were left in the world, they would only lead people's minds astray, ultimately resulting in war and displacement, which would be the greatest sin.

  "Look, gentlemen, Phoenix Mountain is just ahead." The boatman smiled, one hand grasping the bamboo pole that poked into the water, the other pointing at a mountain in front of them as he spoke to Rong and Feng.

  "Is that where Phoenix Mountain is?" Liang Shitou suddenly stood up and gazed into the distance at a mountain peak.

  As the wind blows, I look ahead and indeed see a small, delicate and exquisite mountain peak rising above the water's surface, just like a tea leaf overflowing from a teacup, lush and elegant, with a hint of green.

  Liang Zei looked at the old man and sighed, "This Feng Huang Shan is near the Chu River, located where the river flows converge. Above, it corresponds to the Nine Heavens Star River, below, it combines the dragon energy of all eight directions. It's a rare place in this area that gathers wind and energy. The two characters 'Feng Huang' are extremely well-chosen. Indeed, it's a land where the phoenix doesn't alight without treasure, today I've truly broadened my horizons."

  The old man smiled and joked: "I didn't expect this young man to be a master of Feng Shui, but if you want to talk about Phoenix Mountain, the story is long."

  After listening to Liang Ze's words, Su Feng had already made some guesses in his heart. After hearing what the old man said, it seemed that he knew something, so he asked along: "This old man, we have just arrived at Penglai and would like to ask for advice. What is the origin of this Phoenix Mountain? We are scholars who have traveled here to study and are most fond of these things."

  The old man listened to the two of them speaking in a refined and elegant manner, their appearance was also extremely refined. He had already suspected this, but after hearing what Shui Feng said, he became even more convinced. Normally rowing the boat was boring, it was rare to have someone to chat with, so he immediately opened up and started talking, "If we talk about the history behind this, it can be traced all the way back to the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period. At that time, there were two major countries in the entire Jiangnan region, Wu and Yue. Later, the state of Yue was defeated by the state of Wu, and King Goujian of Yue suffered humiliation, before returning to his country. After returning home, King Goujian slept on brushwood and tasted gall, vowing to avenge this grievance, so he hid his troops in stone rooms for secret training at night, eventually destroying the state of Wu."

  "Does the old man mean that Gou Jian's stone cave for training troops is on this Fenghuang Mountain?" Xiangfeng was almost certain that Denglong Tai should be nearby Fenghuang Mountain. No wonder Liang Ze had a confident look, it turned out that he had already seen through the direction of the dragon energy and made judgments based on it.

  Unexpectedly, the old man stroked his white beard and smiled: "This old man doesn't know either, it's said so in history books, and our local folks have passed it down from generation to generation. But every year many enthusiasts go searching in the mountains, yet after all these years they still haven't found them - where exactly are those stone chambers?"

  Su Feng and Liang Ze exchanged a glance, as if this trip was not going to be as smooth as they had thought.

  The old man didn't know what was going on in their minds, and continued to chat: "Later, rumors spread that those stone caves were the Taoist temples of ancient gods, not something ordinary people could find. Only a true monarch like Gou Jian would be able to, the more the rumors spread, the stranger they became, no one knew what was true or false, we just said it to others for fun, you gentlemen, do you think it's true or not?"

  Liang Zei smiled and nodded in agreement.

  This ascending dragon platform is indeed near Fenghuang Mountain, but it's unknown whether the legend of Gonggong Shengxian is reliable or not. Su Feng and Liang Zi secretly pondered.

  In winter, the Oujiang River is clear and refreshing, already in its dry season, with not much water. Looking at the riverbed, it's only two or three feet deep, if it weren't for the cold, one could wade across the river. After crossing the river, it's the foot of Phoenix Mountain, the boatman just got a few copper coins and turned back. As he walked, he was still humming an unknown ancient tune.

  "Let's go, we're approaching the Dragon Platform, I'm sure there will be many of Li Linfu's hidden sentries, you and I must be extremely careful." Liang Tou'er cautioned, gazing out at the winding river in front of them.

  A faint smile accompanied the wind, "This Phoenix Mountain may not be high, but it's also dozens of miles in circumference. How can we determine the exact location of the Dragon Platform?"

  Liango shook his head, "I'm not very clear either, let's take it one step at a time, no rush. Based on my intuition, I can roughly determine the range, and then we'll search carefully later. Since it's already been buried for thousands of years, why rush now?"

  Looking at the landscape in front of me with the wind, I also feel a bit uncomfortable. This is purely natural scenery, why bother to involve the world?

  Suddenly a bold idea surged into his mind, "Brother Liang, do you think King Goujian of Yue also used that Dragon Ascension Platform to defeat the State of Wu?"

  "Who can say clearly about these past events? None of us have seen Gou Jian and Ying Zheng, who can know what kind of air Qin Shi Huang had, is it the fate of an emperor? These historical legends are just speculations by later generations, not necessarily facts. As for this mystery, if we can really see Deng Longtai, maybe we can understand." Liang Ze'er walked forward while talking to Sui Feng.

  The shore, is a path leading up the mountain, perhaps left by woodcutters living nearby. The sun has passed noon, and the slightly western sunlight filters through the layers of tree leaves and sprinkles on the thick autumn leaves.

  What kind of fate awaits them at the Dragon Ascending Platform that they have been searching for?