The next day.
When Ye Qiu and the Long Eyebrow Immortal were leaving, the Dragon Girl came to see them off.
“Sorry, your third uncle drank too much last night and has not woken up yet,” the Dragon Girl said apologetically.
Last night, Ye Qiu and the others had been drinking until five in the morning, downing several dozen catties of century-old raw spirit.
Ye Wudi was dead drunk.
The Long Eyebrow Immortal had also gotten tipsy, but in the end he forced the alcohol out of his body with his true qi and sobered up.
Ye Qiu said, “Third Aunt, take care of yourself and Third Uncle. I wish you an early delivery of a healthy child.”
The Dragon Girl’s face flushed slightly, and she said, “When you reach the cultivation world, be extra careful and try to come back soon.”
“Mm, goodbye!”
Ye Qiu took the Long Eyebrow Immortal and boarded the plane.
Only when the plane had soared into the clouds did Ye Wudi emerge from the house, draped in a military coat, and walk over to the Dragon Girl’s side.
“You were clearly awake, so why did you not come to see him off?” the Dragon Girl asked softly.
Ye Wudi sighed and said, “Accompany the gentleman in drunken revelry for thirty thousand bouts, do not speak of parting sorrow.”
“I am not a sentimental person, yet I cannot bear to see farewells.”
“Although Ye Qiu said nothing last night, I know that this journey to the cultivation world is bound to be fraught with peril. I hope he returns safely.”
Ye Wudi looked up at the direction in which the plane had vanished, his tone growing heavier: “You must return safely!”
The Dragon Girl took Ye Wudi’s hand and said, “Do not worry about Ye Qiu. He is no ordinary man. Even in the cultivation world, he is sure to carve out his own territory.”
Ye Wudi grinned: “That is true. The Ye family has no wastrels.”
“Tch,” the Dragon Girl rolled her eyes and said resentfully, “It has been so long, and my belly shows no sign of movement. Are you not a wastrel then?”
Ye Wudi’s face turned beet red.
“What, did I say something wrong?” the Dragon Girl giggled coquettishly.
“Hmph, you dare to mock me. Today I shall reassert my authority as husband!” With that, Ye Wudi scooped the Dragon Girl up by the waist and swiftly carried her into the room.
…
Two hours later.
The plane appeared over the Qin Mountains.
Ye Qiu looked down through the window and saw the Qin Mountains coiling like a giant dragon, majestic and grand.
Soon, the plane landed.
Ye Qiu and the Long Eyebrow Immortal stepped off, and a military jeep came speeding towards them, pulling up in front of the pair.
“Ye Qiu! Senior!”
Tang Fei sat in the driver’s seat, waving and calling out, “Get in the car quickly!”
The two climbed into the jeep, and Ye Qiu asked, “How far is it from here to our destination?”
“Not far, just a few li,” Tang Fei said. “That place is a bit eerie, and it has left me at a loss. Once the War God said you and the senior were coming, I felt relieved.”
The Long Eyebrow Immortal turned to look at the scenery outside the car window and suddenly said, “This poor Daoist has a burst of inspiration…”
Oh no, this old fellow is about to compose poetry again!
Before Ye Qiu could stop him, the Long Eyebrow Immortal declaimed loudly: “Roar Qin opera, perform shadow puppetry, behold the customs and people of the Three Qin lands, the eight hundred li Qin Plain a realm of civil and martial glory.”
“Pursue dreams, uphold national might, display the divine grace and earthly treasures of the Nine Provinces, five thousand years of history blending ancient and modern heroism!”
Eh, it is actually a couplet, and rather well crafted at that.
Ye Qiu was somewhat surprised.
“Little brat, what do you think of this couplet?” the Long Eyebrow Immortal asked.
“Not bad,” Ye Qiu said.
Tang Fei chimed in, “I never would have guessed, Senior, that your literary talent is so fine. Admirable, truly admirable.”
The Long Eyebrow Immortal laughed heartily: “Copied it.”
Ye Qiu: “…”
Tang Fei: “…”
The air fell suddenly silent.
“Why are you two not speaking?” the Long Eyebrow Immortal asked.
Do you not have any idea why we are not speaking?
Ye Qiu and Tang Fei remained silent.
“The Qin Mountains are no simple place. Since ancient times, they have been filled with mystery, and many legendary figures have emerged from them.”
The Long Eyebrow Immortal said, “Jiang Ziya once lived in seclusion in the Qin Mountains until the age of seventy-two, when he emerged to aid King Wu in overthrowing the Shang and founding the Zhou Dynasty.”
“There is also the renowned Laozi, who wrote the timeless Dao De Jing at the Louguan Terrace in the Qin Mountains.”
“The ancestors of the Qin people were exiled to the Qin Mountains, where they recuperated and multiplied. Later, when the First Emperor of Qin swept through the six states and dominated the world, even through five capital relocations, they never left the Qin Mountains.”
“Thus, the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was built at the foot of Mount Li, a branch of the Qin Mountains.”
“During the Chu-Han Contention, Zhang Liang offered the strategy of repairing the plank roads in plain sight while secretly crossing Chen Cang, and that ‘plank road’ refers to the ancient paths of the Qin Mountains.”
“After Zhang Liang helped Liu Bang unify the realm, he too retired to Purple Cypress Mountain in the Qin Mountains and met a peaceful end.”
“In the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Li Shimin held the Qin Mountains in high esteem. One of his four grand palaces, the Cuiwei Palace, was built at the foot of the Qin Mountains, where he not only handled state affairs but also passed away in the end.”
“The eminent monk Xuanzang, before his death, left instructions for his disciples to bury him at the foot of the Qin Mountains.”
“The tombs of successive Tang emperors were also almost all chosen in sites facing the Qin Mountains across the water, known as the ‘Eighteen Tang Mausoleums of Guanzhong’, interring eighteen emperors.”
“In truth, it should be nineteen emperors, for one of those mausoleums holds two: Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Wu Zetian.”
“In the Ming Dynasty, after Zhu Yuanzhang established the capital in Nanjing, he always wanted to relocate it. After surveying various sites, he decided on Guanzhong and sent his heir apparent Zhu Biao to inspect.”
“As a result, after Zhu Biao examined the Qin Mountains, he soon died of a wind-chill illness, his death shrouded in mystery and with scant records in the histories, which later paved the way for Zhu Di’s rebellion.”
“By the end of the Ming, Li Zicheng, self-proclaimed as the Dashing King, rose in revolt. In the early stages, he was brutally beaten by the imperial troops until only a dozen men remained, and he fled in disgrace to the Shangluo Mountains.”
“But a year later, Li Zicheng emerged again, as if blessed by heaven, sweeping all before him in invincible triumphs, ultimately driving Emperor Chongzhen to his death.”
“So many in later generations believed that Li Zicheng must have encountered some extraordinary fortune in the Shangluo Mountains: some say he met a hidden master, others that he obtained a peerless military treatise, and still others that he acquired a wordless heavenly scripture. Whether true or not, it is impossible to say.”
“The Shangluo Mountains, where Li Zicheng hid for a year, lie within the Qin Mountains.”
“Later, people discovered that the cliffs of the Shangluo Mountains were riddled with many eerie caves, like cliff dwellings or perhaps tombs, utterly strange.”
Tang Fei said, “Senior, you know quite a lot!”
The Long Eyebrow Immortal said proudly, “Do you not see who this poor Daoist is? I am the head of Dragon Tiger Mountain, the world’s foremost diviner, versed in the heavens above and the earth below, omniscient in all things under the sun.”
Fine, tell you that you are fat and now you are panting!
Tang Fei laughed, “Senior, since you know everything, let me test you. Tell me, how many hairs do I have on my head?”
Smack!
The Long Eyebrow Immortal slapped Tang Fei on the back of the head and cursed, “You little bastard, deliberately trying to stump me, are you? Believe me when I say I will pluck every hair from your head and turn you into a baldhead.”
Tang Fei smiled obsequiously, “I was joking, Senior. Do not get angry; anger harms the kidneys… We have arrived!”
