bookbashuk Chapter 172 Letter of Introduction for Longhu Mountain
Chapter 172 Letter of Introduction for Longhu Mountain
There was no common ground; all that existed was tension.
Down the mountain, Qi Lan's cat café, "Miao Xian Ju," has a completely different atmosphere from its usual lazy and leisurely self.
Qi Lan stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the doorway, her amber vertical pupils coldly watching the shop next door that was under intensive renovation. A hastily handwritten sign hung at the entrance of that shop—"Longhushan Specialty Pet Exchange Center"—the handwriting crooked and perfunctory.
Inside the store, a giant named "Stone," who is over three meters tall, silently moves shelves that are taller than a person. His movements seem clumsy, but he accurately places each shelf in its designated position without disturbing a speck of dust on the ground.
The little girl who called herself "Bell" sat on an unopened wooden crate, swinging her legs and making a clear, crisp sound with the silver bells on her ankles. She held a bag of potato chips that she had somehow gotten her hands on and was happily crunching them down, her big, dark eyes meeting Qi Lan's gaze with undisguised cunning and defiance.
"Hey, big kitty," Bell swallowed the potato chip in her mouth and said with a grin, "We'll be neighbors from now on, so please take care of me! We at Longhu Mountain are quite skilled at breeding spirit pets; maybe we can help you optimize the bloodline of your kittens?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the several civets that had been lying down in the cat café seemed to sense something, and they all stood up, emitting low whimpers, appearing restless and uneasy.
Qi Lan snorted coldly, her eyes sharp as knives beneath her hat brim: "If that old Taoist priest Zhang Nanshan knew someone dared to tarnish his family's reputation like this, he'd probably be struck down by a bolt of lightning!"
"Oh dear, that's fierce!" Bell patted her little chest, feigning fear, but her face still wore that innocent and carefree smile. "Big Cat, you can't make false accusations! We have a proper 'letter of introduction,' right, Stone?"
Stone gave a muffled "hmm" and continued moving things, as if everything around him was irrelevant.
"A letter of introduction?" Qi Lan scoffed. "The talisman from Longhu Mountain is a forgery, isn't it?"
Lingdang shrugged. "Honest and trustworthy, this is Zhang Nanshan's personal seal."
Qi Lan took off her hat, looking like she was about to transform. "I'm warning you, this isn't a place for you to run wild. If you know what's good for you, get out of here!"
"Hehe, we're here genuinely to do business and exchange ideas," Bell swung her toes, her tone light and cheerful. "Besides, this place is so much fun, and there's so much good food, we're not leaving. Right, big brother?"
Before anyone knew it, Chen Anran and Feng Xiaolu had appeared outside the cat cafe. They had obviously rushed over after hearing Su Wan's words, fearing that the cats would fight.
Chen Anran's gaze swept over the bell and the stone, finally landing on Qi Lan. He shook his head slightly, signaling her to calm down. He looked at the bell, "Fellow Daoists from Longhu Mountain are guests from afar. Since you wish to open a shop in the resort area, we naturally welcome you. However, we hope that you two will abide by the rules of this place and refrain from causing trouble."
"Of course!" Lingdang jumped down from the box, clapped her hands, and smiled sweetly. "We're from a reputable sect, and we're very disciplined! Don't worry, big brother!"
Feng Xiaolu, listening from the side, rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "A prestigious sect... what a joke..."
Chen Anran gave Lingdang a deep look, said no more, and left with Qi Lan, who still wanted to say something, and Feng Xiaolu, who looked curious.
Back inside the cat café, Qi Lan shook off Chen Anran's hand and said irritably, "You're just going to let these two demonic cultists roam around right under your nose? They're definitely up to no good!"
Feng Xiaolu indignantly chimed in, "Exactly! I just don't understand why you, Junior Brother, would hide their true identities from them."
Chen Anran walked to the window, looking at the two people busy in the shop next door, his gaze deep. "Before answering this question, could Fellow Daoist Qi Lan tell us about the 'Crimson Spirit Sect'?"
There is no record of the Crimson Spirit Cult in the books of the Cloud Hidden Sect. However, when Chen Anran saw the reaction of the Feng family members when they heard about the Crimson Spirit Cult, he knew that this evil cult was no ordinary cult.
Still seething with anger, Qi Lan grabbed a glass of ice water from the table and gulped it down before speaking irritably: "The Crimson Spirit Cult... a bunch of complete lunatics!"
She leaned back in her chair, her eyes beneath the brim of her hat filled with reminiscence and disgust: "According to the records passed down in Maoshan, the Crimson Spirit Sect was active hundreds of years ago. At its peak, its power even surpassed that of the then-leading righteous sect, Longhu Mountain, and the major cultivation families. They believed in an extreme and bloody doctrine, thinking that only by experiencing extreme destruction and pain could one forge a true spirit and reach the other side of the Great Dao."
"Their cultivation methods are bizarre and unpredictable. They often use the souls of living beings and the essence of cultivators as a catalyst to refine all kinds of vicious magical artifacts and pills. Wherever they go, they leave no living beings alive and no chickens or dogs alive. At their peak, they even attempted to hold a blood sacrifice covering the entire land, trying to forcibly open the so-called 'Gate of Ascension' and incite cultivators from all over the world to fight against them."
Feng Xiaolu's face turned pale upon hearing this, and she subconsciously moved closer to Chen Anran: "Is it that scary? Then... that woman in black impersonating them, and those two next door..."
Chen Anran pondered for a moment before saying, "It's precisely because the Crimson Spirit Sect has such a fearsome reputation that the woman in black impersonating them can have the best deterrent effect, making the Feng and Jiang families afraid before the battle even begins. As for Lingdang and Shitou..." He turned his gaze to the window, looking at the petite figure in the shop next door who was directing Shitou to hang up the signboard, "They claim to be disciples of the Crimson Spirit Sect, yet they took the initiative to expose the imposters, and now they've come right under our noses, pretending to be people from Longhu Mountain... Their behavior is very contradictory."
Qi Lan snorted coldly: "What's so strange about those eccentric members of the Demonic Sect? Maybe they just find it amusing, or perhaps they have ulterior motives! Old Daoist Zhang must know something, otherwise, how could his talisman be so easily forged?"
Chen Anran raised an eyebrow. "Zhang Tianshi's talisman?"
Qi Lan said, "She just tossed me a letter of introduction written by Zhang Nanshan himself. I looked at it, and the handwriting and the seal match."
Then, Qi Lan asked doubtfully, "Your sect leader of the Cloud Hidden Sect should have seen this letter, right?"
"We went down the mountain a bit too fast," Chen Anran explained, then asked, "Could we take a look at that letter of introduction?"
"Here you are."
Chen Anran took the so-called "letter of introduction" from Qi Lan.
The paper was of the finest quality, Xuan paper, warm to the touch and possessing a subtle spiritual quality; it was clearly no ordinary paper. Unfolding it, one could see that it was written in vigorous and powerful calligraphy:
"Two outer disciples of Longhu Mountain, Lingdang and Shitou, have descended the mountain to travel and experience the ways of the world. Yunyin Sect is located in a place of spiritual beauty and has simple and honest people, making it a suitable place for them to temporarily reside and cultivate. We hope that your sect will consider their situation and grant them this favor. Longhu Mountain, Zhang Nanshan, Seal."
Below, the unique talisman of the Celestial Master's Mansion of Longhu Mountain was clearly stamped. The mark was filled with faint purple-gold lightning, and its aura was pure and powerful, which was not something that ordinary cultivators could imitate.