Lanpu - Chapitre 6
The dark figure landed on the ground and turned out to be a dwarf who was only a foot tall. However, he had a strange appearance, with a human head and a monkey body. His eyes were like torches, flashing with strange light. He had a long goatee and wore a red crown that was half a meter tall.
"You, you, you, who are you?" I stammered in surprise.
"I am the Ear Bird."
When the strange dwarf spoke, I suddenly realized that this was the true form of the Ear Bird, and what appeared in the sky was merely its spiritual illusion.
“Since you possess the Phoenix Pendant of the Creator God and have established a subordinate relationship with it, it means you have a destiny to become an immortal. I will make an exception and let you see the Peach Blossom Paradise,” Erqin said calmly.
“I don’t care about some ghostly fairyland, I want my students!” I yelled at it.
"Those two brats are fine. Last time, while I was watching you, they sneaked into the threshold of the fairyland. I wanted to kill them, but you saved them. They dared to come again, but I knocked them unconscious with the Qimen formation barrier I set up at the cave entrance. They're lying inside now. I was planning to let them go tomorrow."
"You really think you'll let them go?"
"Because I don't want to get into trouble like you!" Erqin snorted coldly, looking at me strangely as he spoke: "Why aren't you coming with me yet?"
I awkwardly pointed to the phoenix above my head and said, "How do we take this treasure back?"
But as soon as I had a thought, the phoenix spontaneously burned into a wisp of smoke.
Erqin shook his tall hat vigorously and said sarcastically, "How pathetic! Nuwa's phoenix pendant can command the power of the five most powerful divine objects of the five elements. The fire phoenix is only one of them. It must have been you who fought with the fire-attribute ghosts and gods, which is why the fire-attribute phoenix was the first to be activated."
I was furious and embarrassed. My defeated opponent was still so arrogant, daring to lecture me. I retorted, "Tch, what do you need to care! By the way, what's your element?"
“Gold! The noblest kind,” Straight Bird said smugly, though his appearance was actually quite comical and cute.
---janeadam
Reply [11]: The cave entrance is less than half a meter wide and one and a half meters high, with an irregular shape.
The bird with the ear floated in first, but I dared not do that. There was a rock right above me; if I straightened up, I would bump my head and bleed. I had no choice but to carefully feel my way forward step by step.
The water slid under my feet, feeling very cool and comfortable. Just then, when I entered the cave, the bird had already withdrawn the spiritual energy that had formed the array, and I no longer felt dizzy.
Then, I smelled a very sweet floral fragrance. Yes, just like the one described in Pearl's diary, it smelled like peach blossoms.
After walking for more than ten meters, the passage in the cave widened, and I breathed a sigh of relief, straightened my back, and then I saw two people sitting back to back on a flat rock on my right.
I rushed over, took a closer look, and exclaimed in surprise, "It's Director Chen and his wife!"
"Those two little devils you mentioned are over there. There's also a female ghost inside, which I've sealed in her ghost pouch." Erqin pointed to two children lying on the rocks on the other side. The clothes they brought with them from their backpacks were placed under them, so it seemed that Erqin hadn't let them get cold and was treating them quite well. "These two adults arrived this morning."
“They are Xiao Gui’s parents,” I said, looking at him, meaning I should hand them over to me as well. I thought to myself, Director Chen must have discovered Xiao Hui’s secret to have tracked him down so accurately.
Erqin remained noncommittal, simply saying, "The child is fine, but these two adults have ulterior motives. When they came, they brought digging tools, bags, and a hunting rifle. They must have thought the child had found treasure."
I saw it too; they had shovels and hunting rifles around them. I couldn't help but smile wryly. I knew our director had always dreamed of getting rich and was the most obsessed lottery player in the whole school. He would pick hundreds of tickets every time, but unfortunately, he never won. However, he wasn't a bad person.
"Let's go in. We don't need to pay attention to these mortals," the bird said indifferently, and floated inside again. I followed closely behind.
A few minutes later, when I had probably reached the other side of the mountain, I found that at the end of the cave entrance was a narrow mountain path that could only accommodate one person at a time. The stone walls on both sides seemed to be squeezing me in. Above, there was only a sliver of sky, but there was no water flowing under my feet. It seemed that I had gone underground.
After walking a dozen or so steps, I climbed onto a huge rock and found myself standing before a vast valley. What I saw before me is something I will never forget.
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Suddenly, a clear stream opened up before us, its banks lined with peach blossoms, the water babbling gently. In the crevices of the rocks by the water, cattails, orchids, lilies, and azaleas grew lush and vibrant. The peach blossoms, so tender and beautiful, were in full bloom, their petals falling like rain. Occasionally, a few petals would drift downstream... This was truly the Peach Blossom Stream that lived up to its name.
Along the banks of the stream, the land is flat, and the houses are simply and naturally scattered in Peach Blossom Valley. Fertile fields and ponds are interspersed among them, and various pines, cypresses, mulberry trees and parasol trees are planted on both sides of the road and in the courtyards of the houses. The sounds of chickens and dogs can be heard from time to time.
On the road, in the courtyard, under the trees, and in the fields, stood all sorts of people—men and women, young and old, ancient and modern—some strolling, some playing chess, some playing musical instruments, some admiring flowers, and some farming. Everyone was enjoying themselves, their faces radiating peace, nature, and happiness. Their greetings varied: some clasped their hands in a fist salute, some bowed, and so on.
If it weren't for the bright sunshine, the flowers blooming in all four seasons, the gentle breeze, the occasional cranes flying by, and the colorful phoenixes taking flight from the paulownia trees, I truly wouldn't believe that this place is a fairyland.
“Take another look up there,” Erqin said again.
I looked up and saw that in mid-air, mountains seemed to rise up from the earth and float, stretching as far as the eye could see; tall palaces were built against the mountains, resplendent in gold and green, and scattered at different heights; several peaks faced each other, like more than ten unconnected jade palaces. Between the mountains, there were either white jade bridges or flying ropeways connecting them, and cranes, phoenixes, and dragons of all kinds from China and the West flew back and forth, carrying immortals dressed in various ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign attire.
Then, I saw, some distance above the surrounding mountains, another vibrant mountain, its trees lush and verdant, their layers distinct, changing rapidly with the seasons. The summit was capped with snow, the forests dense, and the foothills a tapestry of wildflowers and endless green grass. Melting snow transformed into waterfalls, winding streams down to the valley below, eventually becoming a clear river. Countless rare birds and animals roamed the mountaintop, forests, and grassy slopes and riverbanks, munching on grass and drinking water, or gazing out leisurely into long, contented cries. A Taoist priest rode a blue ox, led away by a shepherd boy.
The top and bottom levels are closest to their natural, pristine state. However, the lower village, while leisurely and serene, feels much more cramped, whereas the top level is grand and expansive, giving a sense of boundless inclusiveness. The middle level, on the other hand, exudes a sense of authority, like a celestial palace from a novel.
---janeadam
Reply [12]: I was so shocked by the amazing sight before me that I was speechless.
"This is what humans often refer to as the 'Nine Heavens' fairyland. Ordinary people can only see one level, but you can see three, which means you are extremely spiritual and your true feelings are pure. However, what you see is only a very small part. They belong to three unconnected spaces and times. The higher the level, the faster the space and time operate. The lowest level is basically the same as the human world's space and time. Because I possess the power of the human, ghost, and god realms, I have been appointed to manage the exit of the Peach Blossom Paradise in the first level of the fairyland between the human and ghost realms, to guide destined humans and spirits."
"You're not thinking of extraditing me, are you? I don't want to live like this!" I was startled.
"Come or don't come, there are plenty of exits to the fairyland, including the 'Seventy-two Grotto-Heavens'. However, from now on, you will never find this exit again, because this place has been discovered and will be moved to another place. I have activated the power of the fairyland, and it will disappear at 12:15 a.m., and this place will return to its original state."
"How many places have you moved to?" I asked curiously.
"There were three times. The first time was 1,500 years ago, when a guy surnamed Tao discovered it. He wanted to go in but didn't want to go in, and he stayed for more than ten days before I kicked him out. The last time was 300 years ago, when I discovered that the people in this village were very spiritual and had a deep affinity with the immortals, so I brought the whole village in."
I was speechless. The second time was nothing special; the place was small, and the disappearance of a few people only became a mystery in unofficial history. But the first time gave birth to "The Peach Blossom Spring," which became the Shangri-La that Chinese people have dreamed of for thousands of years.
Suddenly, the world trembled slightly, and then the scene before my eyes became ethereal and dreamlike.
"Hurry up and get into the First Line of Heaven, otherwise in a few minutes you'll be taken to another dimension with us," Erqin said meaningfully.
"It can't be past midnight already!" I exclaimed.
“The spacetime in the First Heaven Immortal Realm is at least ten times faster than that in the human realm,” Erqin said with a faint smile. “In the past thousand years, I have witnessed countless births, aging, sickness, and death, countless wars and conspiracies, greed and desire. I am quite weary of humanity, but you are an exception. You have many of humanity’s little flaws, yet you are incredibly kind. You do not follow the rules, but you are more noble than any gentleman. I really want to study you more if I have the chance.”
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The scenery became increasingly blurry, the birds' figures faded, and their sounds grew fainter. Finally, thousands of golden rays splashed, and all the fairyland transformed into fireflies dancing in the sky. Then, all the scenery vanished without a trace, leaving only an ordinary valley surrounded by dense forests. Under the light of a new moon, the babbling brook shimmered with a faint, fish-scale-like silver light.