Mushroom soup, truly fresh, truly delicious.
After finishing a pot of steaming hot, tender mushroom soup, Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan stayed one night at an inn next to a medical shop. The next morning, ensuring their bodies were safe and sound, they left the county town and entered the southern frontier.
…
“Taomu Divine Mountain is to the southwest, deep into the southern frontier over two thousand li.”
Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan followed the roads through the southern frontier mountains southward, admiring the scenery while Lu Zheng introduced it to Liu Qingyan.
“I encountered the Hu father and son on the way back from Taomu Divine Mountain then. Feixiong Mountain is closer to Great Jing, and with Mr Wang Muran there, I heard Feixiong Mountain has quite good relations with the Great Jing court.”
“Dingfeng Mountain is much deeper; Brother Hu flew me there for half a day, passing many perilous mountains and treacherous waters along the way, who knows how many big shots are hidden inside.”
“But the southern frontier is mainly ordinary folk after all. Although there are no large gathering areas with huge populations, no towering walls or grand cities, in the mountains’ valleys, hills, riverbanks, and bays, there are towns and villages of various sizes scattered.”
“Within the hundred thousand great mountains of the southern frontier, there are actually densely packed small paths and passages connecting these towns and villages.”
“Of course, between the major powers, boundaries are clearly drawn. Many villages only interact with nearby ones; those who can truly reach Great Jing territory are just the ones closer to the north.”
“For example, the mountain folk in the villages around Dingfeng Mountain have never entered Great Jing territory.”
…
Entering the southern frontier, still wearing a Confucian robe and a plain silk skirt made them very conspicuous. Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan bought two sets of the blue-black traditional attire common among southern frontier people in Yongzhou, put on leather boots, donned conical hats, and disguised themselves as herbalists. Their back baskets were filled with all sorts of mundane herbs; if not looked at closely, or without speaking to them, they really did not seem like central plains folk.
The two crossed mountains and ridges all the way, only stopping in folk villages, never approaching places that might have extraordinary people or beings, just walking on the peripheries.
They also encountered a few extraordinary people on the road, but they kept a low profile, and those extraordinary people were not experts or great powers, so they did not discover them.
Hm, actually with their cultivation, they did not need to be so cautious…
But the result of being so cautious was that the two encountered no incidents along the way, completely safe and sound, smooth sailing right up to the Dingfeng Mountain area.
…
“We can show the waist token now!” Lu Zheng lifted the conical hat on his head and laughed heartily.
Liu Qingyan chuckled lightly, also lifting her conical hat, standing beside Lu Zheng, linking arms with him, following his gaze down the mountain.
The two were now standing on a not particularly high small hill. Not far below the mountain was a stream flowing past, and a village was built nestled against the mountain by the water, in the valley between the stream’s banks.
“This village is under Dingfeng Mountain’s territory. Last time Hu Zhou took me sightseeing, we came here too, because there’s a small waterfall not far to the east, and in the deep pool below the waterfall, there’s a kind of white fish that’s very tender,” Lu Zheng said. “We’ve arrived just right today; let’s go over, catch a few white fish, I’ll stew a soup for you, then steam and braise some for two dishes.”
“Good!” Liu Qingyan’s eyes lit up, and she could not help but stick out her little tongue, licking her lips.
To think, she had not eaten Lu Zheng’s personally made dishes for several days either. For him to say it’s very tender, this ingredient must truly be rare; since that’s the case…
Liu Qingyan was already a bit impatient.
…
Secluded valley, waterfall, clear spring.
The mountain walls steep, the valley’s vegetation lush and verdant, diverse and abundant. A mountain stream came from above, passing a cliff edge, cascading down to form a discontinuous waterfall nearly a hundred zhang high, divided into seven sections total.
The waterfall poured, mist rising and filling the valley, keeping it moist year-round, rich in water vapour, with dense vegetation.
Below the waterfall, in the valley’s depths, was a pool no more than dozens of zhang across. To the east of the pool was an opening forming a stream not particularly wide, winding away.
But the stream’s water volume was less than half of the waterfall’s cascade, so…
“There’s an underground river channel below this pool?” Liu Qingyan asked.
Lu Zheng nodded and said, “And this pool is very deep; the white fish live nearly a hundred zhang below the surface, and you still can’t see the underground river channel.”
“So deep; there’s nothing like a demon in this pool, right?” Liu Qingyan could not help but ask.
“No, at least last time we came, we fished in the pool and encountered nothing, and Hu Zhou did not mention it to me.”
Lu Zheng said, “Besides, this is Hu Yijun’s territory; if there really is a demon, we’ll just show the waist token.”
Liu Qingyan let out a “chi” sound. “Alright then, so how do we fish?”
Lu Zheng stated matter-of-factly, “Of course, I’ll go down with the water avoidance art.”
“How did you catch fish last time?”
“Last time Hu Zhou brought a magic fishing rod from Dingfeng Mountain, the line was silkworm demon silk, the hook was cold iron essence, the bait was spirit-infused herb pellets.” Lu Zheng shrugged. “We don’t have those things now.”
Liu Qingyan was stunned listening. “Fishing is this luxurious?”
“Isn’t it just; us poor folk can only go down and catch them ourselves.”
Lu Zheng shook his head. “Wait for me on the shore a bit; I’ll go down and grab some fish.”
As soon as the words fell, Lu Zheng leaped, landing above the pool, then formed the water avoidance art with his hands and descended into the pool.
The pool water dipped slightly then flattened, without stirring a single splash; that was the wonder of the water avoidance art.
After entering the water, Lu Zheng was about to dive down when the next moment he saw light shining beside him.
Looking back, he saw Liu Qingyan holding a gleaming pearl in her hands, following him into the water.
Blinking, Liu Qingyan said playfully, “Did you forget the water repelling pearl? It was you who gave it to me.”
At this point, Liu Qingyan’s jade-like face could not help but flush slightly; after all, that day she had taken this water repelling pearl as Lu Zheng’s betrothal gift to her.
“I’ll go down with you, Lang, and also light the way for you.”
Lu Zheng could not help but smile, then leaped into the range of the water repelling pearl.
Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan nestled together; with a move of their bodies, holding the water repelling pearl, they headed downward.
With true qi empowering the water repelling pearl, all the pool water was kept half a zhang away, not allowed to enter.
The water repelling pearl was truly a supreme treasure in water; it only consumed a little true qi to repel a great amount of water. Even as they went deeper, the additional true qi needed was limited; at least Liu Qingyan could easily sustain it, without effort.
The two descended a hundred zhang into the water; under the water repelling pearl’s hazy blue-green glow, one after another white fish about a chi long appeared around them.
“The ingredients are here!”
