Chapter 5: Human affairs, immortal affairs
, Part 2 In the blink of an eye, the knights went far away and disappeared at the end of the road, so Zhang Sheng couldn't get angry even if he wanted to. After such a change, Zhang Sheng's mood was naturally destroyed, so he buried his head and hurried on the road, without saying a word along the way. After a few days, he finally arrived at the county town of Luyuan Prefecture.
As a native of Yongzhou, Wei Yuan was naturally familiar with the geography and history of Yongzhou. Luyuan Prefecture was built for 500 years. There are currently about 100,000 registered households, and there are 50,000 to 60,000 unregistered households, with a total population of 500,000, which is considered a large city.
When he arrived at the foot of the city, Wei Yuan saw that the city wall was low, built of loess mixed with stone strips, less than two feet high, and many of the walls had fallen off, revealing the stonework inside. The parapet and the tower also showed signs of disrepair over the years.
After entering the city, the city was full of earthen houses with earthen walls and thatched roofs, and there was a dilapidated atmosphere everywhere. Most of the pedestrians on the street were in ragged clothes, pale, with empty eyes and slow movements. They looked worse than the servants of the Wei Mansion. The road was also muddy and bumpy, with dirt floating in the mud. If they hadn't been riding on Ding Mule, they would have stepped on the mud and filth.
Zhang Sheng walked slowly with Wei Yuan through the city. After passing the South City and heading to the West City, the situation gradually improved.
After walking for a while, a mansion came into view!
This mansion occupied an entire block, surrounded by a ten-foot-high vermilion wall, and you couldn't see inside at all. In the center was a vermilion lacquered gate, which was tightly closed at the moment. There were two huge stone carved golden toads at the door, and next to each golden toad stood a fat and strong servant, staring at passers-by with a covetous look.
There was a plaque above the gate, which read "Xu Mansion". The gatehouse was carved with beams and painted with rafters, and was extremely luxurious. This door alone could buy the entire Wei Mansion.
Zhang Sheng led Wei Yuan out of the city from the west gate. Not long after walking, a verdant fairy mountain appeared in front of them.
The mountain was not big, and its shape was part of the original long mountain range. But at this moment, it was green all over, with green trees all over the mountain. The clouds rising between the mountains made the fairy mountain looming. A waterfall could be seen faintly between the two peaks, falling like a silk thread. Below was a green lake with a small island in the center, dotted with jade trees full of flowers.
There was a river in front of the mountain, the river water was as clear as jade, flowing around the mountain and then merging into the rolling Tonghe River. The magical thing was that the upper half of the Tonghe River was originally a yellow turbid stream, but it suddenly became a clear stream after entering the range of the fairy mountain, and then turned into a yellow turbid stream after leaving the fairy mountain, and continued to go northeast.
Between the mountains, rivers, clouds and mist, there were large pavilions and towers looming, which was really a fairyland on earth!
A tender yellow bird flew over, circled over the heads of the two people for a few circles, and landed on Zhang Sheng's shoulder. Zhang Sheng said to Wei Yuan, "Now we can save some energy."
Ding Mule continued to move forward, but with every step he took, the surrounding scenery would retreat a distance. In a blink of an eye, the two of them arrived in front of Tonghe River. The Tonghe River here was like a green jade, flowing slowly forward. Ding Mule walked directly into the river as if he didn't see that there was a big river in front of him. With one step, the two of them had already entered the river ten feet!
Ding Mule stepped steadily on the water without splashing a ripple. He continued to move forward and crossed the vast Tonghe River in a few steps to the foot of the fairy mountain. It usually takes a whole day to travel, but now it only takes a moment.
After crossing the Tonghe River, a fairy gate appeared out of thin air in front of Wei Yuan. While still on the water, Wei Yuan saw a gentle grass slope on the other side of the river. When he crossed the river and stepped on the ground, the scenery in front of him suddenly changed.
The fairy gate is twenty feet high and supported by two giant red jade pillars. The pillars are crystal clear and carved with mountains, rivers, flying birds and strange beasts. Above is a white jade doorplate with three big characters "Chichao Sect", each of which is two meters in radius!
Such a magnificent scene naturally stunned the little Wei Yuan who had never left Ye County. He looked up at the Immortal Gate, and suddenly looked back. At this time, across the Tonghe River, you can still vaguely see the Luyuan Prefecture. Looking at it again at this time, Luyuan Prefecture is even lower and dilapidated, and the rammed earth walls only show poverty and desolation. The people in the city are muddy and muddy every day, and they only want to fill their stomachs.
Separated by a river, it turns out that there are two worlds.
At this time, a young monk walked out of the Immortal Gate, full of pure air and immortal style.
The monk came to Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan in one step, and looked Zhang Sheng up and down with a swift gaze. Then he smiled and said happily, "It's really Brother Zhang...! The last time I saw you was ten years ago."
Zhang Sheng was also moved, got off his mule, and sighed, "So it's Brother Sun Yu. I'm ashamed that ten years have passed, but I still haven't achieved anything."
"You're right! I've heard that Junior Brother Zhang has a talented disciple. I'm really envious!"
Zhang Sheng laughed and said, "Actually, this is God's will. I'm just lucky!"
Sun Yu had already looked at Wei Yuan. After taking a closer look, he said, "He's really extraordinary!"
He looked at the Ding Mule they brought with them and smiled, "Junior Brother Zhang has returned to his original nature. I'm sure he's gained a lot in the past few years."
Zhang Sheng sighed, "My Taoist power has been sealed, so I can't leave Yongzhou. I can only use some ordinary things to get around. But I've been focused over the years, and I've gained some experience."
Sun Yu's eyes lit up and said, " I must ask you carefully then! Master has already known that my junior brother's power has been sealed, and he calculated the secrets of heaven, so he specially asked me to bring a dose of Liquan powder. After taking it, you can recover after three days of meditation. "
Zhang Sheng bowed to the north first, said "Thank you, Master Ning Xi", then pointed to the Immortal Gate and asked with a smile: "It's just a unified examination in a remote county, with only about ten people. Why is there such a big fuss? Is the Chichao Sect planning to upgrade to a blessed land?"
Before Sun Yu could answer, suddenly a cloud appeared in the sky, and two nine-colored black deer pulled a brilliant jade boat from the sky and landed in front of the Immortal Gate.
The two nine-colored black deer were three feet tall, surrounded by nine-colored clouds, and walked on the clouds. The white jade boat was more than five feet tall and thirty feet long, which was taller than the tower of Luyuan City! A huge word "Yan" was engraved on the boat, shining brightly.
The white jade boat went straight into the Immortal Gate after it landed. Even the two black deer pulling the car didn't even look at Zhang Sheng, and they treated the two as air.
Zhang Sheng looked at the white jade boat disappearing in the fairy gate, then looked at the three-foot-tall mule beside him, and his expression did not look very good.
Sun Yu hurriedly smiled and said, "Junior brother, don't pay attention to him! Those people in Donghai always like to show off. Even coming to take an exam requires some pomp and circumstance. It's simply exaggerated!"
Zhang Sheng was surprised: "Is the Yan family of Donghai here to take the exam?"
"Well, there are a lot of candidates from Fengyuan County this year... Junior brother, please be calm."
Zhang Sheng did not say much, and pulled Wei Yuan into the fairy gate. The moment they passed through the fairy gate, the world in front of the two of them changed instantly.
On a huge red jade square, there were groups of mounts and boats and carriages like clouds. The fairy energy gushing out from various treasure cars and auspicious beasts entangled in the air, and it was so dense that it turned into balls of rosy clouds, which were born and died, and went back and forth endlessly.
The white jade boat in Donghai was moving with difficulty, trying to find a place to park.
(End of this chapter)