Chapter 102: Li and his daughter
After walking along the street for a while, Xiao Yunluo and Feng Yudie soon arrived at the city lord’s mansion in Duchun City. After showing their identity cards and explaining their purpose, the city lord of Duchun City promptly sent people to Chilong Mansion.
They sat in the city lord’s mansion for a while. Soon, several guards from Chilong Mansion, clad in armor, arrived on flying swords and escorted them up the mountain.
As the flying swords traversed through the clouds of Chilong Mountain, Feng Yudie, looking at the Immortal Mansion atop the mountain, couldn’t help but widen her eyes in astonishment.
Unlike the immortal mansions she had in mind, Chilong Mansion seemed like a city had been relocated to the mountain, lacking the ethereal and transcendent feel. Instead, it exuded an air of majesty and solemnity.
If summarized in one sentence, it was as if they had moved a mortal city’s imperial palace to the mountains. With towering walls on all sides, double-eaved roofs with glazed tiles, red lacquered doors, and similar architectural styles unrelated to cultivators, the mansion even had markets and pavilions inside, much wealthier than the city of Duchun below.
“Chilong Mansion seems a bit extravagant,” Feng Yudie unconsciously remarked. The palace guard leading the way didn’t blame her. Instead, he explained.
“Due to the numerous mortal villages and towns around Chilong Mansion, the founder invited mortal craftsmen to build it. They used materials infused with spiritual essence, and the defensive formations were personally set up by Immortal Danyue herself,” The guard explained.
Upon hearing her mother’s name, Xiao Yunluo’s eyes widened. It was the first time she had listened to this.
“Huh? Is that so?” She asked.
“Yes, Young Master Xiao,” The guard nodded, saluted, and continued, “The Patriarch followed Immortal Danyue in battles against seven demonic sects, ultimately driving them all east of the Yunbai Mountains. Since then, the term ‘East’ was used in the Zhouxing Territory domain.”
“Afterward, Immortal Danyue gave the Patriarch a mountain-suppressing black stone. After more than a year of contemplation, the Patriarch established Chilong Mansion here to suppress the extreme flame of spiritual veins. As a result, the Lingquan mountains and rivers in the Western Region are spared from the scorching sun’s devastation during the summer.”
“I see,” Xiao Yunluo said.
Feng Yudie hesitated momentarily and then asked, “So there are extremely flaming spiritual veins below? Is that why it’s so hot here now? This climate is challenging for us cultivators.”
The palace guard paused, smiling as he replied, “Actually, the summers in previous years weren’t this hot. I don’t know what happened this year, but there is more Yanling Qi.”
“Hmm…” Feng Yudie asked, “Could there be an issue with the formation that suppresses the spiritual veins?”
“This…” The palace guard didn’t know how to respond, looking embarrassed. Fortunately, Xiao Yunluo quickly pinched her waist.
“You fool!! Can you ask such a question?”
“Ouch! That hurts!!” Feng Yudie almost fell off the flying sword, hastily rubbing her waist and taking deep breaths.
“I was just asking… What if there’s negligence?”
“What if? Master Li has been suppressing the spiritual veins here for hundreds of years. How could she be negligent in this matter?”
“…”
Feng Yudie knew she was in the wrong, so she quickly closed her mouth and stopped talking. However, at this moment, Xiao Tian emerged from her soul realm. It sat on Feng Yudie’s shoulder, glanced at Chilong Mansion below, and said,
“Yudie, you’re not wrong. There might indeed be a problem with the suppression formation here. It could be that a new formation was set up, conflicting with the original one that suppressed the spiritual veins. The five-phase spiritual energy is disrupted, so the effectiveness of the original formation has decreased significantly.” Xiao Tian spread its hands and explained, “These large-scale formations for suppressing objects are very strict with Feng Shui and the five-phase spiritual energy. Once established, changing them is quite troublesome, but it’s not a major issue.”
Listening to Xiao Tian’s words, Feng Yudie nodded in understanding. She was initially going to repeat Xiao Tian’s words, but before speaking, she closed her mouth again.
Anyway, she would soon meet Li Feng and could explain directly to him then. After flying on the sword for about fifteen minutes, the palace guards led the two to a courtyard at the back of Chilong Mansion. The leading guard approached a maid and said something. The maid then took over, guiding them through a moon-shaped gate into the courtyard.
Inside was a garden with many rare and precious ornamental plants. In the center was a small pond with colorful koi carp swimming around.
They arrived at a stone pavilion, following the maid through three stone paths. Inside the pavilion sat a gray-haired man in Daoist robes, seemingly unable to walk correctly, sitting in a wooden wheelchair. A refined-looking girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, stood next to the man with her eyes closed.
Feng Yudie could tell at a glance that the gray-haired man was Li Feng. However, the girl next to him did not look like a maid but more like a wealthy young lady. She was a bit puzzled about why the girl had her eyes closed.
Xiao Yunluo walked to the front of the pavilion, bowed respectfully, and said, “Junior Xiao Yunluo has met Senior Li.”
Li Feng waved his hand, smiling, “Xiao, don’t be so formal. Your mother and I are old friends. If we consider seniority, I am your senior brother. Just call me Senior Brother Li.”
Xiao Yunluo hesitated but bowed respectfully, saying, “Thank you, Senior Brother Li.”
Feng Yudie, a bit awkwardly, also said, “Thank you, Senior Brother Li.”
Xiao Yunluo gave her a look as if to say, “Can you call him that?”
Feng Yudie, realizing her mistake, quickly corrected herself with a silly smile, “Ahaha… Thank you, Senior Li. I was just curious about the girl beside you who always keeps her eyes closed, so I got distracted…”
“Was it dust-free?” Li Feng raised his eyebrows, looked at the woman beside him, and said, “This is my maid, Li Longling. She was blinded because she was contaminated with the extremely flaming aura of this place when she was born. That’s why she is like this.”
Feng Yudie apologized, “I made a mistake, Senior Li.”
“No problem.”
Li Feng, smiling kindly, invited them to sit in the Daoist pavilion.
After seated, Li Feng looked at Li Longling and said, “Longling, go help your two senior sisters pour tea.”
“Yes…”
Li Longling nodded slowly, and to the surprise of Feng Yudie and Xiao Yunluo, she skillfully poured tea without spilling a drop.
Li Feng chuckled, explaining, “Longling may not see, but her hearing and sense of smell are exceptional. As long as the environment isn’t too overwhelming, she’s no different from others.”
“Two senior sisters, please enjoy your tea.”