Chapter 93: Immortal Garden

Chapter 93: Immortal Garden

Chapter 93: Immortal Garden

Ning Zhe carried Lan Shiwen on his back and rushed through the dark green old forest deep in the Chuyun Mountains. The thorns as hard as steel needles and the thatch as sharp as blades could not do anything to his thick and tough fur.

However, the brown bear's eyesight is not good, and its field of vision is far inferior to that of golden eagles, owls and other birds of prey. Ning Zhe followed the direction pointed out by Lan Shiwen and ran all the way like a tiger climbing a mountain. Gradually, the dense vegetation around him became sparse, and gaps began to appear in the dense tree canopy above his head. The pale sunlight fell weakly through the gaps between the branches.

Ning Zhe rushed out of the deep forest, and his broad bear paws stepped on a winding bluestone path.

"That's all." Lan Shiwen jumped off Ning Zhe's body. "This is the way for tourists to go up the mountain. We just took a shortcut. If we go up a little further, we will reach Juxian Garden."

Ning Zhe turned back into a human and looked up at the Izumo Mountain above him. He saw an ancient mansion hidden among the dense forest canopy, with a corner of the high wall and glazed tiles on the top of the crane exposed, and the face was half covered by the pipa.

Walk two steps forward and you can see a small shrine standing on the side of the road. In front of the shrine is a small bronze tripod with two ears and three legs, with three bright yellow incense sticks burning inside.

Such a familiar shrine.

Ning Zhe walked forward and saw a painted clay statue enshrined in the shrine. However, it was not the statue of the boy God of Wealth that he had seen before, but a combined statue. Counting from left to right, there were a total of three statues standing together.

On the left is a young man dressed in gorgeous clothes, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and an imposing manner. In his palm is a small peach charm.

In the middle is a childish boy with a round face and auspicious expression, who looks only five or six years old, holding a small cloth bag in his arms.

On the right is a hunchbacked old man with white hair and beard, a protruding forehead, thick earlobes, and kind eyes. A golden longevity lock hangs on his chest.

"These are the three immortals of Yunling." Lan Shiwen said at the right time: "In the mainstream mythology system in the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins, Lu Xing Wenchang Jun refers to Wenquxing, who is in charge of the students who study hard and pass the imperial examinations to become officials. But in the primitive beliefs of Yunzhou, Lu Xing generally refers to the God of Wealth, who is more inclined to wealth than talent."

The land of Kyushu has a long history, and each region has a mythological system that may be similar but different, among which the Central Plains and Chu are the most representative.

To be honest, Yunzhou's belief in Luxing as the God of Wealth is not mainstream. Wenquxing and Wenchangjun are more common names. In the temples of the Central Plains, the image of Luxing and Wenchangjun is generally that of a number one scholar wearing a red robe and a big red flower on his chest.

Instead of the boy in front of him.

Ning Zhe stayed in front of the Three Immortals Shrine for a few minutes and found no other noteworthy clues, so he and Lan Shiwen climbed up the mountain along the winding bluestone path.

Everyone says that the road to Shu is difficult, but the mountain road on Mount Chuyun is not easy to walk on. It took the two of them almost 20 minutes to complete this last section of the road.

The long mountain road is like a winding snake, with its tail outside and its body extending deep into the dense forest.

When you reach the end of the bluestone path, you will see the gate of an ancient and heavy mansion. The blue bricks fit together tightly to form a neat stone wall. In the middle is a bright red door panel as red as blood, with golden metal edging on the corners. There is no trace of dullness caused by the passage of time.

It was a door that could be described as magnificent, but it lacked any air of nobility, and the blood-red paint gave off an air of weirdness.

Ning Zhe looked up and saw that there was a couplet on each side of the imposing gate. However, what was unusual was that the paper used to paste the couplet was not the common red paper used by ordinary people, but white paper as white as snow.

A white couplet was posted on the wall with red characters on it. It was exactly the same as the couplet in front of the stilt house in Izumo Villa:
【The door welcomes blessings of spring, summer, autumn and winter】

【Households receive wealth from the southeast, northwest and northeast】

【Long live forever】

This couplet has a very good meaning, but it looks particularly strange when posted with red words on white paper. Was this place really a Taoist temple in the past?

There was a heavy lock on the vermilion door. Lan Shiwen walked up and inserted the rusty key he had snatched from Ji Yunying into the keyhole. With a click, the lock opened.

"Let's go." Lan Shiwen did not take out the key, but pushed open the door and walked into the gloomy mansion sleeping in the mountains.

After passing through the gate, the first thing that catches your eye is a bluestone path similar to the mountain road you just walked on. It meanders like a snake climbing on the ground. Flowers are planted on both sides of the path: peonies, peonies, roses... The sun in the sky is dim, and the courtyard is filled with a heavy air of death. Flowers of various colors bloom one after another on both sides of the road, competing for beauty in this dark courtyard.

In the flower garden, every few meters there was a pair of small stone toads squatting on both sides of the road, each holding a rusty copper coin in their mouths, staring at the coins with wide eyes.

"Money to buy your life?" Ning Zhe frowned slightly: "No, it's not."

The copper coin in the toad's mouth is round on the outside and square on the inside. It is just an ordinary copper coin, not the life-saving money of the God of Wealth Wu Tong.

Passing through the beautiful flower gardens, at the end of the path there is another wall with transparent windows carved out and an archway as full as a full moon.

Passing through the archway, you can see another door in the deep courtyard from a distance. This courtyard has at least three doors.

A mansion with three courtyards would represent a wealthy family in any dynasty. It seems that the financial resources of the official named Yin who converted the Taoist temple into a summer resort should not be underestimated.

Passing through the archway, the first thing that catches your eye in the wide courtyard is two rockery hills, one black and one white. The black one is basalt and the white one is white marble. There is a spring flowing down from the top of the hill. There are green plants on both sides of the rockery, growing lush and verdant in this dark courtyard.

There are four spacious side rooms surrounding the rockery in the center. The doors of the side rooms are closed but not locked.

There were wooden doors, paper windows, and copper locks. There was no light in the room, only peaceful darkness and silence.

"Be careful, this is not a tourist attraction for sightseeing and taking photos." Lan Shiwen reminded: "We came in with a key. The moment we walked through the door, you and I stepped into another world. This haunted house is called Juxian Garden. You know what kind of immortals it is."

"I understand." Ning Zhe nodded slightly: "We are here to look for Ji Bochang's inheritance. Where do you think he hid the money? Where should we start looking?"

"...keep moving forward." Lan Shiwen said.

After passing through the third door, the two left the courtyard where the rockery was located and came to the atrium of Juxian Garden.

The size of the atrium is much smaller than the two-story courtyard outside. In the center of the atrium is a small green bamboo forest surrounding a clear small pond.

Looking across the pond, you can see the door to the lobby.

"Strange..." Recalling the layout of this Juxian Garden, an inexplicable feeling of weirdness surged into Ning Zhe's heart.

The architectural layout of Juxian Garden is a very classic quadrangle courtyard, but it is different from the quadrangle courtyards commonly seen in Yongzhou.

"The traditional courtyard house consists of four rooms surrounding a courtyard. When you walk into the first door, you should be able to see the lobby, the second door is the wing room, and the third door should be the atrium with a landscape."

Ning Zhe's mind flashed through some of the styles of ancient houses that he had known before, from various dynasties, but none of them had the same layout that matched the current Juxian Garden.

"The layout of this Juxian Garden is completely opposite to the common quadrangle courtyards. Flowers, seedlings, stone carvings, bonsai and other decorations are all placed on the outermost periphery, and the wing rooms are in the second entrance. The lobby, which should be placed at the entrance, is instead placed in the deepest and most central part."

It's like turning a piece of clothing inside out, with the gloss hidden inside and the seams exposed outside. It doesn't look like a place to live at all.

(End of this chapter)