NOVPUB
Chapter 212: Chapter 212: A Land of Idyllic Beauty
The return journey was much slower than their trip to the Taiyin Mountain Range.
Inspired by Han Jiaojiao’s love for natural scenery during their time in the mountains, Han Yi deliberately sought out routes with good views. After all, they were not in a rush, and returning to the base a day or two late was no problem.
The trip covered nearly one thousand five hundred kilometers. To take in the scenery, the newly planned route added an extra five hundred kilometers, but this route indeed passed through numerous tourist areas.
Among them, the most famous was the ruins of Ancient Yujing City.
It was said that this ancient city was one of the four best-preserved ancient cities in the world. There were nearly a hundred palaces and almost ten thousand houses, with magnificent architecture and bright and spacious courtyards. Statues of auspicious and mystical creatures, lifelike in appearance, could be seen everywhere.
Having gone through two dynasties and modern restorations, the city was abundant in greenery. Complemented by artificial hills and traditional Chinese buildings, such as pavilions, towers, and terraces, and planted with green pines, cypresses, peonies, and hydrangeas, the colors reflected each other, creating a serene and tranquil beauty.
If one climbed up to the city gates and looked down upon the entire Ancient Yujing City, the grandeur and magnificent landscape would be even more breathtaking!
Han Jiaojiao was absolutely in love, her fatigue swept away. She excitedly toured around while holding onto Han Yi’s hand.
Perhaps because she had studied fine brushwork painting since her childhood, she naturally preferred this classical architecture and found everything adorable and exceedingly beautiful to her eyes.
The others also treated the excursion like a leisurely trip, walking and sightseeing with relaxed expressions.
Yan Xiao couldn’t help but tease Han Jiaojiao when he saw her excited little figure, "Hey, how did you even grow up? You’ve never even been to Ancient Yujing City. I’ve been here seven or eight times. Every time I have foreign friends visiting China, they specifically ask me to bring them here."
Han Jiaojiao’s eyes sparkled as she replied, "My mom took me to Duanjing Ancient City before, it’s closer to Qingjiang City. I always thought the two ancient cities were similar. I didn’t expect Ancient Yujing City to be so big!"
"Duanjing Ancient City? That one’s too small, not much to see," said Yan Xiao with the familiarity of someone well-acquainted with the place, "This is the real dragon’s lair, the feng shui is top-notch! Look at these buildings, tsk tsk tsk, do you see that phoenix-headed palace in front? Let me tell you, that’s Zhuque Palace, and if you walk further, there’s a natural spring. Around it, according to the cardinal directions, the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Zhuque, and Xuanwu palaces were built. No one lives in these palaces; they only house statues of the Sacred Beasts. To make the Sacred Beasts feel at ease guarding the Dragon Spring, incense is burned and offerings are made during festivals."
Upon hearing this, Han Jiaojiao became even more excited and ran ahead even faster. Han Yi looked at her fondly yet helplessly and cautioned, "Slow down, watch the path."
After passing Zhuque Palace, they indeed saw the spring surrounded by the four palaces. The area around the spring was paved with white marble slabs, leaving only about a one-meter diameter opening. In the center, a column carved with auspicious clouds rose up, with a round disk in the middle, topped by a huge jade stone sphere. The spring water emerged from beneath the stone sphere, then flowed into the disk and finally into the opening below.
Han Jiaojiao placed her hands under the disk to catch the water, and it was cool to the touch. She turned around with a smile and called out to Han Yi, "Big brother! The water’s so cool!"
The people behind were so hot from walking around the palace that they immediately came over to catch the water from the spring.
Han Yi pulled Han Jiaojiao back, "Cooling off for a bit is fine, but don’t keep playing with the water. The cold qi from underground water is heavy and not good for your health."
Han Jiaojiao nodded absently, then stood on tiptoe and pointed at the disk, "Big brother, there are so many coins inside!"
These were likely thrown in by previous tourists, coins stacked upon one another, some already covered in rust.
Hao Boming stretched his neck to look inside the disk but couldn’t reach the coins because there was still an opening underfoot. He looked reluctant and glanced around, trying to find a tree branch or something similar to reach for the coins.
Yan Xiao saw Hao Boming pick up a twig and burst into laughter, "Dr. Hao, what’s the use of those coins at this point? You can’t eat or use them."
"Don’t understand, huh? Hehe, these aren’t just ordinary coins, these have been washed by the Dragon’s Eye Spring Water for decades. I’m planning to string a few with red thread as protective charms, just to feel a bit more at ease," Hao Boming explained as he handed the twig to Zhou Xiaoliang next to him and said, "Xiaoliang, you’re tall, help me get some coins, the older the better. I want to make a protective charm for each of my wife and children."
As soon as Tian Xinyue heard this, she hurriedly followed, "Xiaoliang, I want some coins too! Get me a few as well!"
Zhou Xiaoliang rolled up his sleeves and walked over with his head held high, "Who else wants coins? Let’s get them all at once!"
Han Jiaojiao covered her mouth and laughed, "Dr. Hao, is this the gift you’re bringing for Tiantian? It’s really original!"
"I mean, Dr. Hao, aren’t you a doctor? How can you still be so superstitious..." Yan Xiao couldn’t help but find it amusing.
Hao Boming shrugged nonchalantly and replied, "So what if I’m a doctor? Let me tell you, doctors are often the most superstitious. If you don’t believe me, go ask around. Almost every department in a hospital has something to worship, and everyone has a protective charm. If some doctors took off their clothes, you’d find red strings, red belts, red underwear—none missing!"
"Hahahaha!..." Han Jiaojiao laughed out loud.
Yan Xiao’s eyes widened, "...Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration? Dr. Hao, you’re not joking, right?"
Hao Boming rolled his eyes, "Don’t believe me? Go ask Zhou Yan, he’s in neurology, right? Let me think... what’s the taboo for neurology... Oh! I remember now! Neurology can’t eat watermelon! If they eat watermelon one day, that night, there will be several heads waiting to be cracked open rushed in."
Han Jiaojiao was laughing so hard she was crying, clutching her stomach non-stop.
Yan Xiao spoke with a complex expression, "Alright... I’ll ask Dr. Zhou some time..."
Hao Boming, seeing that none of them believed him, snorted softly, and then with a "you’ve never seen the world" look, swept his gaze over everyone and said, "There are wonders to be found everywhere in this vast world, what’s so hard to accept? Some traditions have been passed down from our ancestors; perhaps they really do have some special reasoning. Like this ancient city, it’s been around for hundreds of years without ever experiencing any disasters—earthquakes, floods, droughts, fires—none at all. It’s remained safe and sound to this day, certainly because our ancestors chose a location with good feng shui!"
Slowly stopping her laughter, Han Jiaojiao agreed, "Right, even with the apocalyptic world upon us, this place hasn’t been affected at all. It is strange to think about it, such a large area, not only is there no Alien Species or Mutant Beast, we haven’t even encountered any Mutant Plants."
Hao Boming lifted his head proudly and declared, "That’s because this is where the Dragon’s Eye is, protected by the dragon spirit!"
Han Jiaojiao couldn’t help but crack up again, clinging to Han Yi’s arm, laughing spasmodically.
Alright, it wasn’t that she didn’t believe what Hao Boming said, it’s just... seeing him with that fortune teller spirit possessed look just made her want to laugh...
However, one had to admit, this really was a wonderful place...
No danger, no harm, just a tranquil and peaceful paradise, almost as if it were a heavenly sanctuary beyond the mortal world.
If one could settle down here... How nice that would be.
