Unlike later generations, transportation was extremely inconvenient in ancient times. Li Ling was only asking an ordinary person about a place three thousand miles away, hoping for the best. Now it seems he was overthinking it!
"Alright, although you couldn't answer, the food here is quite good, and I enjoyed my meal. Here's the money for you!"
Li Ling casually tossed the loose silver coins in his hand to Er. He thought that since he couldn't find out the whereabouts of Kongsang Mountain, he would have no choice but to fly straight east and ask again when he got a little closer!
After waving his hand to dismiss the two, Li Ling was about to get up when he heard two footsteps, one heavy and one light, behind him. An old voice asked, "Brother, if I heard correctly, are you asking about Kongsang Mountain, where the 'Black-Hearted Old Man' was back then?"
A heartless old man?!
Upon hearing this, Li Ling knew the other party was quite capable, but he felt a chill run down his spine. To know that the ruthless old man was no ordinary person, he was most likely a cultivator, but he didn't know whether he was on the righteous path or the demonic path.
He became more vigilant and looked back, but was slightly taken aback when he saw who it was. Standing in front of him was an old man with white hair and beard, thin in stature and with a plain face.
This man had a very ethereal and otherworldly air about him, and his face even gave off a sense of a highly accomplished Taoist. Behind him, a little girl of about six or seven years old was hiding behind the old man, secretly peeking at him with her big eyes.
Li Ling felt a slight sense of relief. Through his senses, he realized that the old man in front of him was clearly not a powerful cultivator. Combined with the fortune-telling sign in the old man's hand and the adorable little girl behind him, Li Ling had a plan in mind.
In Heyang City, anyone dressed and dressed like this is most likely the most mysterious person in [Zhu Xian], Zhou Yixian, whose cultivation is low but whose vision is extremely high and whose knowledge is extensive!
Having recognized the other party, Li Ling knew that Zhou Yixian was probably telling the truth, and immediately said, "Old sir, I do indeed want to go to Kongsang Mountain to take care of some business. Do you really know its exact location?"
"No rush, no rush." Seeing the joy in Li Ling's eyes, Zhou Yixian thought there was hope. He sat down with the girl, stroked his beard, and asked, "Is this friend a disciple of Qingyun?"
"Exactly!" Li Ling didn't hide anything. At this time, being a disciple of a righteous sect would make the other party more likely to have a good impression of him, and at the same time, the possibility of the other party hiding something from him would be greatly reduced.
After all, Heyang City is so close to Qingyun Mountain, which is within the territory of the Qingyun Sect. Zhou Yixian makes a living in Heyang City, so he naturally wouldn't easily offend the Qingyun Sect.
“No wonder!” Zhou Yixian nodded and said, “Kongsang Mountain was the headquarters of the Blood Refining Hall of the ‘Old Man of Blood’ back then. Demons and monsters often gather there. Apart from the disciples of Qingyun Sect, no one in this area dares to go there.”
"However, my friend, I advise you not to go! Although the Blood Refining Hall has long since declined, it is still extremely dangerous. I had the opportunity to meet Dao Xuan Zhenren several times in the past, and I cannot bear to see his disciples lose their lives!"
Li Ling chuckled inwardly. This old guy really doesn't bother to think before he starts bragging. Isn't he afraid that he'll have to ask Dao Xuan to confirm it?
However, ordinary disciples usually wouldn't stubbornly go to Dao Xuan to confirm, and they would often find it difficult to meet him. As for disciples with higher cultivation levels, they were too lazy to bother with him.
At this moment, Zhou Yixian continued, "Friend, with your current meager cultivation level, you are in grave danger in there, and it is very likely that you will not be able to come back!"
Li Ling smiled and was about to speak when the little girl 'Huan' beside him couldn't help but tug at Zhou Yixian's sleeve and said in a childish voice, "Grandpa, I'm hungry!"
Zhou Yixian was taken aback, and his old face immediately turned red! He coughed a few times to cover up his embarrassment.
Li Ling, however, could see that although Zhou Yixian looked like a sage, his clothes couldn't hide his poverty. It seemed that Huan was still young and hadn't learned the art of judging people. As a result, the two of them had no source of income and were living a very difficult life, which was incomparable to what they would experience several years later.
Li Ling reached out and patted Huan's head, but didn't mind. He then turned to Er and called him over, instructing, "Er, bring a few more of the best dishes!"
"Ahem!" Zhou Yixian, who was pretending to be an expert, was also a little embarrassed at this moment. He covered it up by saying, "Well, children get hungry easily. They just ate, but now they are saying they are hungry again. Hehe."
The food arrived shortly afterward. Huan was quite old and couldn't reach the table while sitting on a stool, so he was anxiously holding his chopsticks.
Li Ling smiled, picked her up and sat her on his lap. Huan didn't resist at all, and even smiled at him affectionately. Then she immediately started eating with her chopsticks, while retorting, "Grandpa is blind, I haven't eaten anything!"
"Hey, you idiot, I've wasted my time raising you!" Zhou Yixian was immediately exasperated.
He originally intended to put on airs with Li Ling first, and then see if he could swindle a few more taels of silver from him, but who knew that before he could even launch an attack, his granddaughter's teammate had already completely sold him out.
Then Zhou Yixian gave Li Ling an awkward smile and said, "This friend..."
Li Ling slightly raised his hand to interrupt him and said with a smile, "This old gentleman doesn't need to say any more. Everyone has their downfalls in this world."
"Well then, I do have urgent business to attend to at Mount Kongsang. If you knew this, I would be willing to give you one hundred taels of silver. What do you say?"
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Chapter 330: Kongsang Mountain, Abyss of the Dead
One hundred taels of silver is indeed a lot. Zhou Yixian could probably not earn that much by telling fortunes all by himself in a few years. Li Ling didn't have any ill feelings towards Zhou Yixian, and he also liked Huan, who had a straightforward personality.
It wasn't that he couldn't take out more, but he was worried that having an old man with too much silver would attract covetousness, which wouldn't be good. With Zhou Yixian's shrewdness, he wouldn't worry about someone stealing a hundred taels of silver.
When Zhou Yixian heard that it was one hundred taels of silver, he was also excited. In addition, since the trick had been exposed, he became much more relaxed, and his previous immortal demeanor disappeared instantly.
"These yellow and white things are nothing to me, and I can't bear to see such a cute little girl go hungry one day and full the next."
"Moreover, if I can find out the exact location of Kongsang Mountain, it will save me a lot of trouble. In my opinion, I've actually gained something!" Li Ling said with a smile after wiping the grease off his mouth from Huan's lips.
"Brother, my name is Huan, not Loli!" Huan raised her head and looked at Li Ling seriously as she retorted.
"What ring? Friend, you're called a loli, so you are a loli!" Seeing Li Ling, this big spender, Zhou Yixian instantly abandoned all sense of decency. One hundred taels of silver was enough for him to work hard for two years.
He immediately said, "Okay, you want a map of Kongsang Mountain, right? I'll draw it for you right now, I guarantee it will be incredibly detailed!"
Seeing Zhou Yixian's confident demeanor, Li Ling became genuinely curious about him. How did he know so much about the cultivation world?
However, Li Ling did not ask directly. Everyone has their own secrets, and as long as it does not interfere with his own affairs, Li Ling was not in the mood to spend too much time to find out. Instead, he said, "There is no rush to draw the picture. We can talk about it in detail later. Let's eat first!"
“That’s right, my friend, you’re not in a hurry, so I’ll have a little something too!” Zhou Yixian said calmly, but he quickly started eating with his chopsticks.
After eating, Li Ling took the brush and ink that Er had gone out to buy, and asked for a room at the inn, where Zhou Yixian began to draw.
Zhou Yixian acted quickly and soon drew a map to Kongsang Mountain. Li Ling put the map into his pocket. Although it took him an afternoon, it was much better than going there alone on his sword to ask around.
After bidding farewell to Zhou Yixian and Huan, Li Ling left.
Li Ling traveled swiftly on his sword without stopping along the way. However, the next day, he arrived at a barren mountain where not a blade of grass grew.
This barren mountain covered a vast area, yet there wasn't a single patch of green to be seen, nor even the sound of birdsong. Seeing this scene, and combining it with what he had read in books, Li Ling knew that this was most likely Kongsang Mountain.