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Chapter 249: To Guishan Mountain
Chapter 249: To Guishan Mountain
The Yellow Mountains shrouded in a sea of clouds, peculiar pines, and fantastical rocks.
Thunder Peak's breathtaking view and the Broken Bridge at West Lake.
A culinary delight of hairy crabs at Lake Tai and the exquisite silk embroidery of Shu.
The beauty of Qin Huai River and the splendor of Confucius Temple.
The treasure was gone, and it had never been part of Jiang Feng, Yao Yue, and Lian Xing's plan. Although it was a pity that Wei Wuya didn't show up this time, Hu Yaoshi revealed Wei Wuya's new base.
A mere Wei Wuya would not deter them from their journey or make them retrace their steps.
So, they continued with their planned tour of the south.
Along the way, they couldn't appear separately as they had at Yihua Palace, and after Duan Rui's jokes, perhaps out of habit of each other's company, Yao Yue and Lian Xing stopped their subtle rivalry, which had kept Jiang Feng on edge.
However, they would occasionally ignore each other, often acting as if Jiang Feng were alone with one of them, which kept him constantly on guard.
Fortunately, there were many new experiences along the way. Jiang Feng shared the modern retelling of the White Snake legend, taught them how to eat hairy crabs, and personally selected Shu silk embroidery for the two girls, making the journey far from dull.
They didn't visit the Suzhou brothel, but they did go to appreciate the music on the painted boats of Qin Huai River. Jiang Feng didn't even touch the hand of any of the girls there.
Thinking of this, Jiang Feng sighed again.
When he traveled the south with Ding Baiyun years ago, the two young ladies of the Nangong family had ruined his plans. This time, with Yao Yue and Lian Xing, it was his own cowardice that held him back.
Just then, a jade-like hand passed him a piece of plum blossom cake.
Jiang Feng took it and realized it was Yao Yue, not Lian Xing, who had offered it. "It tastes good," she said softly. "Try it."
Lian Xing bit her silver teeth and withdrew her half-extended hand, putting the osmanthus cake in her mouth instead. "It's almost the New Year," she murmured.
Jiang Feng blinked but said nothing.
Yao Yue nodded and said coldly, "We can take a detour to Guishan Mountain and kill Wei Wuya on our way. That way, we can celebrate the New Year."
Lian Xing rolled her eyes. She thought that Yao Yue's use of Tie Pinggu to get her to leave was just a coincidence, and she wasn't smart enough to understand the hint.
"Was I talking about the New Year?" she thought. "I was talking about where to spend the New Year!"
Seeing Jiang Feng's amused expression, she huffed and glared at him.
Jiang Feng raised an eyebrow at Lian Xing, then quickly composed himself and helped Yao Yue analyze the situation seriously. "You said that Wei Wuya is quite accomplished in the art of mechanisms. If that's the case, and he dares to build his lair on Guishan Mountain, he must have turned it into a fortress of mechanisms."
Yao Yue smiled gently and nodded, but her words showed little concern. "Let's see how powerful his mechanisms really are."
Yao Yue was always so confident.
Lian Xing felt helpless as the two of them continued the conversation, but she dared not expose the truth.
However, she didn't take Wei Wuya seriously either, as she had fought him half a year ago and knew his abilities well.
Although Wei Wuya had good martial arts skills and even better light skills, he had only managed to escape from them by taking advantage of the terrain and obstacles. If they were truly determined to pursue and kill him, he would have no chance of survival.
And this time, if Wei Wuya was indeed on Guishan Mountain, his fate was sealed!
Lian Xing made a subtle grimace at Jiang Feng, reassuring him. "Rest assured, Wei Wuya is on Guishan Mountain. We can take a detour and kill him; it won't take long. We'll definitely make it back to Jingzhou before the New Year."
That smile threw Lian Xing off, and she suddenly had a bad premonition. Was Yao Yue going to send her back to Yihua Palace to oversee things?
Yao Yue said indifferently, "We've also been away from the palace for several months now..."
Before Yao Yue could finish, Lian Xing interrupted with a playful laugh. "So the palace still needs you to preside over matters, Sister."
Yao Yue narrowed her eyes, exchanging a glance with Lian Xing, and then both fell silent.
Jiang Feng scratched his head, his eyebrows lifting involuntarily. He pointed at a large boat sailing downstream ahead of them and said, "We've run into another familiar face."
...
After a brief encounter and chat with Duan Rui, who was on his way to Jinling, Jiang Feng and his companions continued westward.
Passing Tongling and then Anqing, they sailed smoothly along the river, soon crossing the Jiujiang waterway and turning northwest to reach Hankou, where the Yangtze and Han rivers met.
This was also the location of Guishan Mountain.
Not far from Jingzhou, the group disembarked and took a tour of Hankou before arriving at Guishan Mountain.
In modern times, Guishan Mountain was almost in the city center and didn't occupy a large area.
But at this time, Guishan Mountain was a good distance from the town, and it sprawled over a much larger area. Although there were no towering mountains nearby, the terrain was varied, with rolling hills and dense forests. With Wei Wuya deliberately hiding his tracks, finding his lair wouldn't be easy.
Jiang Feng racked his brains to recall the original novel and only knew that the entrance to Wei Wuya's Rat Cave was on a cliff in a pagoda tree forest, but he didn't know the exact location.
However...
"There are waterfalls, mountain springs, caves, and flowers everywhere." As Lian Xing walked through Guishan Mountain, she couldn't help but smile. "This Wei Wuya knows how to pick a spot."
Jiang Feng nodded. "And it's not far from Hankou, so it's convenient for procurement."
Yao Yue surveyed the surroundings but only saw some ordinary villagers. She shook her head.
"Wei Wuya doesn't have the ability to carve out a cave in the midst of towering mountains. He's far inferior to your seniors from Yihua Palace. Being able to settle here in Guishan Mountain is already his best option."
Jiang Feng chuckled. "Perhaps this place could serve as a future retreat for Yihua Palace?"
Yao Yue shook her head decisively. "A rat hole? No, thank you!"
As her words fell, a scurrying sound of "squeak, squeak, squeak" echoed, and a large rat suddenly scurried out from the trees, running in front of the trio before turning in a circle and disappearing back into the trees on the other side.
"Why would there be a rat on the mountain?" Lian Xing asked, having never seen a rat in the mountains before.
"It's normal to have rats in the mountains, but it's unusual for one to come out during the day," Jiang Feng remarked, his eyes narrowing. "Rats are nocturnal creatures, only venturing out at night to forage for food, unless..."
"Unless this rat is being kept by someone," Yao Yue added nonchalantly.
"Could it be Wei Wuya's pet rat?" Lian Xing's interest was piqued. "If so, following this rat should lead us straight to Wei Wuya's Rat Cave, right?"
Without further ado, Yao Yue and Lian Xing took off after the rat, with Jiang Feng joining them.
With their exceptional lightwork skills, they easily kept up with the rat, quickly traversing several groves of trees until they reached a pagoda tree forest nestled against the mountainside. Just as they arrived at the edge of the forest, the rat scurried into a cave and vanished from sight.
(End of Chapter)
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