Chapter 50: The Sacred Land of Lao Jun (Part 1)

  Zhou Zhanggui led Shao Ziyang's horse to a stable, then walked in from the outside. "So you're a Taoist master. This official road has been neglected for years. As soon as it rains, the mud can bury your legs up to the calves. There aren't many people traveling on days like this."

  "It's not a big deal, anyway. The rain doesn't seem too heavy, but I didn't expect the road to be so difficult to walk on." Xiao Ziyang said as he took down the long knife behind his back.

  Zhou Zhanggui hurried over to take the long knife that Xiao Ziyang had put down, but Xiao Ziyang smiled strangely and said, "I'm afraid you can't handle it, let me do it."

  Boss Zhou, unaware of the situation, said, "Don't look at my thinness, I still have a bit of strength." He then went to take the long knife from Xiao Ziyang's hand. Seeing that he was determined to take it, Xiao Ziyang loosened his grip.

  Zhou Zhanggui's face changed color, "Ah!" The long knife fell heavily to the ground with a "clang".

  "What a heavy sword!" Zhou Zhanggui hastily bent down to pick up the long sword, and saw him standing up with his hands shaking while hugging the sword.

  "Let me," said Xiao Ziyang, taking over the long knife and leaning it against a nearby pillar.

  "Master Dao... what great kung fu," looking at Xiao Ziyang holding the long knife with one hand like a wooden stick, Zhou Zhanggui was stunned, his mouth agape and tongue-tied, unable to utter a word.

  "Shopkeeper, go pick some vegetables in the yard." The landlady shouted from the kitchen.

  "Alright, Master Dao, please take a seat for now. The dishes will be ready soon." Zhou Zhanggui opened his oil-paper umbrella and walked out the back door.

  The two of them were busy for a short while, and finally brought up the dishes. "Master Dao, please go ahead and eat first, the chicken is being stewed and will be ready soon. Would you like some wine to dispel the cold air?" asked the shopkeeper.

  "Is there good wine?" Xiao Ziyang's alcohol tolerance was already extremely high, and after practicing the "Purple Jade Smoke", his body became incredibly strong, and his alcohol tolerance gradually increased. Now he himself doesn't even know how much he can drink.

  "Yes, I have ten jars of excellent Shuangyu Hong that were stored away ten years ago. However, since there are not many customers in my shop, once the wine is opened, it can't be kept for long... "

  Local customs, after giving birth to a son, will always store ten tanks of good wine, called Zhuangyuan Red, meaning that when the child becomes Zhuangyuan, it is used for celebration. But let alone Zhuangyuan, even if it's Xiucai, how many people can get in? So this wine is mostly used to entertain relatives and friends when the child grows up and gets married. In those years, Zhou Zhanggui stored ten tanks of good wine soon after getting married, but he didn't have a son or daughter for ten years after marriage. Today, seeing Xiao Ziyang's bright clothes, he thought of taking the opportunity to sell one tank.

  Xiao Ziyang waved his hand: "If you can't finish drinking, use a gourd to hold it, I'll quench my thirst on the road tomorrow. Your silver won't be less."

  Boss Zhou responded with a "yes" and rushed towards the backyard excitedly.

  Xiao Ziyang opened the seal of the wine jar, and a strong aroma of wine wafted out. "Good wine!" The wine was already good, but after being stored in the cellar for ten years, its flavor became even more mellow and rich.

  Xiao Ziyang sipped his wine while chatting with Zhou Zhanggui in a desultory manner. As they chatted, Xiao Ziyang gradually gained a clearer understanding of the current situation in Nanba County and the calamity caused by the demonic beast ten years ago.

  The next morning, the sun, which had been covered by thick clouds for three or four days, slowly rose again from the continuous mountains.

  He casually tossed a silver ingot to Zhou Zhanggui, and Xiao Ziyang ignored the two men's thousand thanks and ten thousand apologies, mounted his jujube red horse, and galloped towards the direction of Nanba County town.

  The jujube red horse's strength was pretty good, but on this road surface that had been soaked by the continuous rain and had become like a muddy swamp, it just couldn't speed up no matter what.

  When the sun was about to set, Nanba Town in the south of the county finally appeared before Xiao Ziyang. Looking at the scenery in front of him, he secretly said: "What a paradise on earth".

  Nanba Town is situated in the middle of a vast mountain plain, with a huge lake to its east. Half of the lake lies on the plain, occupying one-third of the area of the mountain plain, while the other half extends into the mountains, with unknown size. Around the town, there are patches of golden rice fields stretching all the way to the foot of distant mountains.

  In the early autumn, the golden rice fields, along with the patches of fiery red maple forests on the distant mountains, under the sunset's illumination, paint a most beautiful early autumn countryside picture.

  Xiao Ziyang settled down in the largest inn in town. The inn was extremely large, but like the one on the official road, it also showed signs of old age from years of neglect and disrepair.

  The next morning, Xiao Ziyang rode his horse to stroll around the town, observing all around, wanting to find a suitable yard to buy.

  There are many idle courtyards in the town, most of which have been neglected for years. After chatting with Xiao Er last night, Xiaoziyang had an idea about his own place to settle down and walked out of the south gate of the small town gradually.

  Not far from the south gate of the town, there is a low hill by the side of a large lake. The hill is only about 70 or 80 feet high, with a gentle slope, situated in the center of the plain slightly to the south, and stands alone at a great distance from the surrounding mountains. Near the top of the hill, among the trees, one corner of a house can be faintly seen.

  From Xiao Er's mouth, Xiao Ziyang learned that the name of this lake is Fengyu Lake and the name of this mountain is Fenghe Mountain. On the top of the mountain, there was an old temple called Laojun Pavilion, which had a lot of incense and fire more than ten years ago, but after the disaster of the demon beast, several Taoist priests left this place, and the Taoist temple fell into disuse.

  The road up the mountain was quite spacious, but due to the fact that few people had walked on it for over a decade, it had already been half-buried under the tall grass and short trees. Xiao Ziyang rode his horse along the road and soon arrived at the front of Laojun Temple.

  This is a Taoist temple that faces south and sits north, with high and sturdy walls. The wall surface was originally vermilion. The same vermilion-colored gate still exists on one side, while the other side leans against the door frame at an angle. Above the mountain gate where the plaque should be hung, it is empty.

  Xiao Ziyang tied the horse to a tree at the door, carefully stepped over the inclined gate, and in front of him was a courtyard about 6 zhang long and 3 zhang wide, with a bluestone pavement. In the courtyard, several towering cypress trees were surrounded by bluish bricks. In the middle of the courtyard was a platform about one foot high, which seemed to have originally held an incense burner, but it had already flown away without a trace.

  At the end of the courtyard is a large hall, which can be seen from the collapsed mountain gate, and in the hall is enshrined an image of Lao Jun.

  On both sides of the courtyard are two rows of wing-rooms, which were probably the residences of Taoist priests back then.

  Xiao Ziyang looked at each of the houses one by one, and although they were old and dilapidated, due to the good materials used, they were still very sturdy. With a little renovation, people could live in them. In the best-preserved wing room on the east side, Xiao Ziyang actually saw signs of someone living there, perhaps a beggar hiding from the wind and rain.

  Along the stone path between the west wing and the main hall, Xiao Ziyang walked around to the back of the west wing, where there was a small courtyard with a clear spring in the center surrounded by stone slabs. On one side of the courtyard was a flight of green stone steps.

  Xiao Ziyang walked up the stairs, which were not long, in a zigzag pattern along the mountain slope. He turned two corners and arrived at the top of the mountain. Before his eyes suddenly opened up, the vast and tranquil Fengyu Lake was all within sight.

  The vast lake in front of him, and the distant mountains shrouded in mist, gave Xiao Ziyang an urge to throw his head back and let out a long howl.

  Xiao Ziyang was extremely satisfied with this place and made up his mind to make it his future foothold.