When Sheng Zhao got off the car, he was dazed and dizzy, feeling light-headed. In front of Zhang Jian and Hu Huanyang, he accidentally bumped his head against the glass wall at the entrance of the airport lobby.
As Xing Yingzhu stepped out of the car after him, he was taken aback.
He took a deep breath, wishing he could just turn around and leave.
It was too embarrassing; he had never been so embarrassed in his life.
However, despite his countless feelings of disdain and dissatisfaction, his feet seemed rooted to the ground, unable to move. After a while, he sighed as if conceding defeat, closed the car door, and stepped forward to pull the dazed Sheng Zhao into his arms, pressing him against his chest.
“I’ll give you ten seconds.” Xing Yingzhu said coldly, “If you don’t come to your senses by then, I won’t take you with me.”
His words were like a wake-up call, instantly snapping Sheng Zhao out of his daze. Sheng Zhao shivered all over, raised his head from Xing Yingzhu’s chest, and stood up straight with a jerk.
“I’m awake, I’m awake,” Sheng Zhao wiped his face, trying to cover up his embarrassment. “The air in the car was bad, and I was lacking oxygen.”
Xing Yingzhu’s gaze lingered meaningfully on his slightly moist lips, drawing out a teasingly long tone as he slowly said, “Indeed, the space was too small, easy to lack oxygen.”
Hu Huanyang: “…”
Zhang Jian: “…”
“Hey you two,” Zhang Jian said with difficulty, “The time is almost up. I suggest we continue this discussion on the plane.”
Unlike Xing Yingzhuo, who had a thicker skin than scales, Sheng Zhao still had some sense of shame. He quickly extricated himself from Xing Yingzhu’s embrace, retreating a few steps with an air of pretending nothing had happened.
“Yes, yes, time is running out, and we still have to go through security,” Sheng Zhao nodded calmly, signaling the remaining three people to hurry.
He said, puffing up his chest and lifting his head high, then turned and walked away confidently. But before he could take two steps, he heard Xing Yingzhu calling out to him from behind.
“Sheng Zhao,” Xing Yingzhu said calmly, “You’re going the wrong way.”
Sheng Zhao: “……”
Sheng Zhao turned his steps without any hindrance, changed direction, and walked away confidently.
Xing Yingzhu sighed again, but couldn’t help smiling wryly.
Zhang Jian was generous in his actions and didn’t care about the number of people. They all booked first-class cabins.
The journey from Shanghai to Mount Longhu was circuitous. They had to fly to the capital of Jiangxi Province first, then take a train to Yaoting, and finally, after getting off the train, take a local shuttle bus to Mount Longhu.
At first, Sheng Zhao was excited about visiting this mystical place, but after bouncing on the road for over ten hours, he finally gave up.
“Zhang Jian—” Sheng Zhao leaned on Xing Yingzhu’s shoulder, his voice weak, “When will we arrive?”
“Soon,” Zhang Jian looked down at the navigation in his hand and said, “Less than twenty kilometers to go.”
“Help.” Sheng Zhao painfully grabbed Xing Yingzhu’s collar and said, “Can we fly to a deserted place… or swim there?”
“With your small frame, you’d freeze in less than ten seconds up there,” Xing Yingzhu said ruthlessly. “Endure it.”
Fortunately, Zhang Yunfeng drove at a decent speed and finally reached the entrance of Mount Longhu when Sheng Zhao reached his limit of endurance.
In recent years, although Mount Longhu was still inhabited by the Zhang family, a part of it had been turned into a public scenic area, which Zhang Jian described as revenue-generating.
However, perhaps to welcome Xing Yingzhu, the famous Taoist scenic spot rarely closed its gates, citing maintenance reasons and not allowing idle people to enter.
Xing Yingzhu had quite a reputation, and with Zhang Jian as a guide, when they arrived at the second gate, there were even people lining up to greet them.
The leader of the group was an old man with white hair and beard, wearing a wide Daoist robe. Despite his age, he did not look old, with kind eyes and a benevolent expression, making him seem very approachable.
For some reason, Sheng Zhao felt an inexplicable closeness to him at first sight, feeling like they had met somewhere before.
As soon as they passed the second gate, Xing Yingzhu stopped in his tracks and didn’t move forward. Behind him, Hu Huanyang stood obediently, without the vigor he had on the road. Sheng Zhao looked left and right, not knowing if there was some rule he didn’t know about, so he stopped beside Xing Yingzhu.
However, Zhang Jian and Zhang Yunfeng walked up one after the other, bowing respectfully to the old man.
“Master,” Zhang Jian said.
The old man smiled, raised his hand to stroke his hair, and praised, “You handled this matter very well.”
“Master, you overpraise me. It’s all thanks to Xing…” Zhang Jian paused for a moment, not quite sure how to address him, so she cautiously said, “It’s all thanks to Advisor Xing’s dedicated efforts.”
The old man nodded with a smile, then said a word of thanks to Zhang Yunfeng before tidying his robe and walking towards Xing Yingzhu.
Perhaps because he knew about Xing Yingzhu’s demonic identity, Sheng Zhao was inexplicably nervous. In his eyes, Zhang Jian was already a superhuman, and now seeing Zhang Jian’s master, he was afraid that with Xing Yingzhu’s temperament, a few words would anger him, and then they would start a magical battle.
Sheng Zhao was so nervous that he imagined scenarios like “What if they overpower Xing Yingzhu? How could I save him?”
Lost in his thoughts, the old man had already walked up and politely bowed halfway to Xing Yingzhu.
“I am Zhang Chengde, the sixty-fifth generation Tianshi of Mount Longhu. Nice to meet you.”
Given Xing Yingzhu’s age, even if the other person’s age tripled, it was more than enough for him to return the gesture. So Xing Yingzhu leisurely accepted the gesture, humming as a response.
Although Zhang Chengde was not young, he didn’t have the airs of an old man. With a smile, he straightened his back and spoke gently, “It’s been three generations since Longhu last saw you, sir. Your visit today adds brilliance to our sect.”
Sheng Zhao was amazed by his good temperament. A sect master, who normally walked with a swagger, was being so polite to Xing Yingzhu.
Unsure if his surprise was too obvious, Zhang Chengde turned slightly, smiled, and explained to him, “Back then, Mr. Xing captured Wuzhiqi and Xiangliu, which greatly benefitted the people. Moreover, he manages the Yangtze and Han rivers. It’s only right and proper for our sect to treat him with respect.”
Sheng Zhao blinked, recalling that he had read about this when he was researching.
“Is it because of helping Dayu control the floods?” Sheng Zhao turned to Xing Yingzhu and asked.
“Nonsense, at that time, I didn’t even know anyone was following me for leftovers.” Xing Yingzhu, who seemed to have no idea what embarrassment was, said straightforwardly, “I just didn’t like the look of those two. Who let them be so ugly and still want to challenge me? I had to teach them a lesson.”
Sheng Zhao: “…”
As he said this, Xing Yingzhu still seemed unsatisfied. He frowned, showing a visible expression of disdain.
“Still trying to boss me around?” Xing Yingzhu said, “If I hadn’t discovered this myth by then, that person would have been buried by now with this scroll.”
Sheng Zhao: “…”
Honesty is indeed a virtue, but could you please not be honest at this moment!
As he imagined the collapse of the majestic figure in the myth, Sheng Zhao instinctively looked at Zhang Chengde, fearing that he would feel disillusioned for a moment, and the filter of “courtesy” towards Xing Yingzhu would shatter.
But apparently, the head of the sect had a much better ability to accept and bear psychologically than Sheng Zhao. Even with Xing Yingzhu’s temper, he could still praise him as having “genuine character”. Sheng Zhao couldn’t help but feel a little incredulous.
However, delving into the past evidently wasn’t a good idea, so Zhang Chengde tactfully changed the subject without leaving a trace.
“It’s not proper to keep esteemed guests standing at the door,” Zhang Chengde straightened his clothes and said, “Please, sir, step inside.”
Sheng Zhao suddenly realized that Xing Yingzhu wasn’t intentionally putting on airs before. It seemed like there was an unspoken rule of mutual non-interference underlying the situation.
Because only after Zhang Chengde finished speaking did Xing Yingzhu nod slightly and step forward.
“After all, this is someone else’s territory.” Hu Huanyang whispered to Sheng Zhao, “Although the big boss isn’t afraid of the protective formation of Longhu, everyone still has to give each other face while in the human world.”
“The protective formation?” Sheng Zhao seemed out of it as he turned to look behind him, asking, “Where is it?”
“There are two layers in total,” Hu Huanyang patiently explained, “One layer is on the outer mountain, and the other is on the inner mountain— you just passed the outer mountain layer, didn’t you? You forgot? It was the part where the navigation malfunctioned at the foot of the mountain.”
Upon hearing this, Sheng Zhao suddenly remembered. Indeed, when they were climbing up the mountain, there was such a road on the mountain path. When they reached that point, the navigation malfunctioned. Even though the road ahead was flat, the navigation stubbornly insisted that there was no way forward and needed to turn back.
“That mountain road has all been newly constructed,” Hu Huanyang said, “If it were ancient times and there was no such road, even if you used a compass, it would malfunction when you came here. Outsiders would just end up circling around at the foot of the mountain.”
“What’s the principle behind it?” Sheng Zhao asked curiously.
“Well…” Hu Huanyang pondered for a moment, shook his head, and said, “I don’t know either.”
“It’s nothing special,” Xing Yingzhu overheard their chatter and casually said, “Just some mystical arts, but it has been modified by the successive sect leaders.”
Sheng Zhao, hearing his tone, seemed to be accustomed to this kind of thing, as if he were talking about children’s toys, and couldn’t help but become interested. He quickly caught up to him and asked, “Can you do it too?”
“I’m a monster,” Xing Yingzhu looked at him with an incredulous expression, as if wondering how he could ask such a stupid question. “Why would I do something like that?”
Sheng Zhao: “…Then why do you talk like you understand it so well?”
“I do understand it very well,” Xing Yingzhu said, “Because I just brute-forced my way through.”
Sheng Zhao: “…”
