Volume 5: Qingming Chapter 41: Cracks
The setting sun burned half the sky red.
A gust of wind blew, and the branches and leaves of the Koelreuteria tree swayed.
Guan Nuo brushed away the yellow flowers that fell on the screen. He looked up at the two-story building not far away, where Uncle Zhuang and Uncle Su were having a meeting. He picked up his phone and checked the time. It was almost two hours. He stood up and took a few steps forward.
"Guan Nuo?"
He heard someone calling him, and he turned his head and saw a tall man with a flat head and wearing a dark blue shirt walking towards him.
"Zhong Yan?" Guan Nuo recognized him.
Zhong Yan walked up to him quickly and asked, "Are you waiting for Senior Zhuang?"
Guan Nuo nodded.
"I thought my junior sister would come today."
"Junior sister? Section chief?"
"Yes."
"I'm not sure..."
Zhong Yan sat down on the bench under the Luan tree. Guan Nuo glanced at him and sat back as well.
The dark golden light and shadows float in the sunset.
"I heard that you were in the small world of Jinghu Society," Zhong Yan looked at Guan Nuo, "and it was you who figured out a way out and found the core."
"No, I..." Guan Nuo avoided Zhong Yan's sight, "I fainted as soon as I entered."
"Yeah?"
“Yes, I think I might not be suitable…”
"Do you want to go to the mountain?" Zhong Yan asked.
"On the mountain?"
"Yes, the mountain is full of spiritual energy and rich in resources, which is very beneficial for cultivation."
"The section chief went back two years later."
"She will definitely come back."
"Was she like this in the mountains?"
"How was it?"
"That's right, that's right..." Guan Nuo thought for a long time but couldn't find the right words.
"She has an entire hilltop on the mountain," Zhong Yan said, looking at the gradually darkening sky. "She lived there with her master. After her master died, she lived there alone."
…
There were five people sitting in a reception room on the second floor of the building. They were Zhuang Zekun's old leader Xie Dong, the deputy director of the institute Jia Hong, the person in charge of the mountain Zhong Minghong, as well as Zhuang Zekun and Su Wangshu.
They also talked about Tang not being sweet.
"Is she in Chucheng now?" Xie Dong asked.
"Yes, I originally thought that she would not interfere in Chucheng's affairs, but I didn't expect that she would go there in the name of a religious conference." Su Wangshu saw Zhuang Zekun slightly shaking his head at him, and he immediately reacted and said, "Of course, it would be better if she is willing to take over. I have also arranged for Chang Lizhang to receive her."
"Her master and Zheng Yuantai are good friends," said Zhong Minghong.
"No wonder." Xie Dong nodded.
At this point, Jia Hong asked, "Why did Zheng Yuantai suddenly disappear?"
"Ten years ago, the Ming Demon descended on Jiujin Mountain. Brother Zheng happened to pass by and tried to disrupt the ceremony to kill the Ming Demon," Zhuang Zekun took a sip of water from the teacup. "No one expected that there was a crack on Jiujin Mountain. Because of this, Brother Zheng was lucky enough to escape from the Ming Demon."
"He told me about this," Zhong Minghong continued with Zhuang Zekun's words, "and I contacted Brother Zhuang."
"Yes, I went to Jiujin Mountain secretly. The passages and cracks opened by the Ming Demon's arrival were intertwined. If we rashly touch them, it might alert the Ming Demon and cause more complicated consequences," Zhuang Zekun said, "so I decided to seal them up temporarily. After that, Brother Zheng took over the job of Chucheng Special Operations Department and guarded Jiujin Mountain."
"I speculate that because Jinghu Lake will be destroyed," Su Wangshu said his judgment, "he may have seen hope of completely solving the problem of Jiujin Mountain..."
"I heard that his sword was picked up by a tourist?" Jia Hong interrupted Su Wangshu and looked at Zhong Minghong. "Zheng Yuantai is a sword cultivator..."
"I looked at his sword," Su Wangshu explained, "and there were traces of a fierce fight on it."
"Where is the sword?" Zhong Minghong asked.
"I stayed in the Chucheng Evidence Department."
"Wangshu asked me for instructions at the time," Zhuang Zekun explained to Su Wangshu, "The place where the tourist picked up the sword was not where the crack appeared at the time. It was designated as a restricted area ten years ago and is not open to tourists. So I suspect that the crack has expanded, and Brother Zheng mistakenly entered the crack and fought with the enemy in the crack. This can also explain why there are more alien spiritual powers in Jiujin Mountain."
"Tang Butian is in Chucheng now." Zhong Minghong said.
"Boss Zhong, what do you think?" Xie Dong asked.
Zhong Minghong slowly turned the teacup, "If she understands the law of the wooden sword, maybe the crack problem can be handed over to her."
"In Mingmo's little world, I see that she has already gained some insights, but she needs to fully comprehend the laws," Zhuang Zekun sighed. "Xiao Nuo has a very high talent in metaphysics. If they can comprehend , it will be twice the result with half the effort. But because I planned for her to go down the mountain, she is very wary of Xiao Nuo and me..."
Zhong Minghong took a sip of tea and said, "I heard from Zhong Yan that she has not slowed down in her cultivation at the foot of the mountain."
"Yes, every time she sees me, she wants to compete with me," Zhuang Zekun smiled bitterly, "She even said she would beat me up three times to vent her anger."
Zhuang Zekun heard Xie Dong's laughter.
"She is just like that," Zhong Minghong said. "She was the same even in the mountains, looking for people to fight with everywhere."
For a moment, the atmosphere in the reception room became relaxed.
Seeing this, Zhuang Zekun said: "Things over here are almost done, I'll go to Jiujin Mountain."
Zhong Minghong put the teacup on the table and said, "I'll let Zhong Yan go with you so he can gain more experience ."
"Okay," Zhuang Zekun agreed, "Brother Zheng told me something back then."
"What?"
"The mountain spirit of Jiujin Mountain..."
…
"The mountain spirit of Jiujin Mountain is still alive!" Jin Cheng said loudly.
Jiang You and Tang Butian looked at each other.
"The mountain spirit of Jiujin Mountain knows every plant and tree on the mountain. We just need to find the mountain spirit and ask it to find Uncle Zheng. We will definitely find him in no time..."
"How did you know that Brother Zheng was missing?" Chang Lizhang asked.
"I dreamed about it," Jin Cheng took a big sip of his smoothie, "I dreamed that Uncle Zheng was in a very dark cave. After I woke up, I counted the days and found that he hadn't sent me the living expenses for this month. I was sure that something must have happened to him."
"So you came back to see him?"
"I searched Jiujin Mountain for a few days but found nothing, so I wanted to come to you and Brother Shao to see if there were any clues. But as soon as I arrived at the gate..."
"Who told you that the mountain spirit is still alive?" Jiang You asked.
"Uncle Zheng, he let something slip once."
The last glimmer of light in the sky was swallowed up.
"Three years ago, a foreign businessman came to Chucheng and rented the land of the plastic factory, saying that he wanted to transform the original warehouse and workshop into an exhibition hall and hold some exhibitions regularly," Shao Lang slowly talked about the case three years ago. "He brought some sculptures and paintings and piled them in the warehouse of the plastic factory. He also promoted it. As a result, when he was visiting Jiujin Mountain, he accidentally fell down and died."
