Chapter 255: Mountain God Temple in the Rain

Having already resolved to move on, and having nearly finished learning the Dalong script, Baichuan naturally wouldn't dawdle any longer.

With a single shift of his dragon body, the hundred-metre giant beast unhurriedly released the enormous teahouse it had been gripping and flew toward the clouds.

It left behind only a few faint but enormous claw marks on the outer surface of the teahouse — perhaps the sudden appearance of those gigantic beast traces on the teahouse would, in due time, become a mystery.

But that was no longer Baichuan's concern.

"Mm~?"

Inside the teahouse, the storyteller still seated at its centre paused slightly, paid no heed to the audience's sighs, and went on: "Speaking of flood-dragons, among such wonders the most spectacular was surely that time when Lord Dragon King ascended to become a true dragon. On that day…"

……

Having left the small county town where he had stayed for some time, Baichuan flew off in the direction the crowd had been discussing.

Along the way he would sometimes conceal himself among the clouds, sometimes descend back to the ground, and he was also one of the rare few who had resumed eating after a long absence.

Because he was rather curious about the taste and the biological model of the creatures in this unfamiliar world.

And this, too, caused his spotlessly clean dragon body to once again be touched by the dust and worldly air of the mortal realm, no longer appearing so loftily aloof.

On this day, Baichuan, feeling his body grown dirty, gazed down at the towering mountain shrouded in mist below — the tinkling of spring water flowing from a secluded pool amid a bamboo grove stirred something in him as well.

Had he not seen the clear flowing water it would have been fine, but now that he had, Baichuan abruptly felt his body begin to itch.

"I'll go wash up."

Murmuring softly to himself, Baichuan descended from the clouds and dropped into the clear, secluded pool.

In an instant, as a faint, soothing coolness washed over him, Baichuan contentedly narrowed his eyes, savouring a rare moment of tranquility.

In the towering mountains a gentle breeze stirred, the emerald bamboo rustled, and the moist, hazy mist veiling the peaks added to the scene — Baichuan, who had not rested in a long while, gradually drifted off to sleep to the sound of falling bamboo leaves and the distant calls of birds and beasts in that quiet setting.

"Creak~ creak~~"

He did not know how much Time had passed; only the sky had grown dim and heavy.

Accompanied by the soft sound of dry leaves being crushed underfoot, and whispers drawing nearer from afar.

Baichuan slowly opened his eyes once more and looked toward the source of the sound.

Before long, he saw three men and two women, all dressed in close-fitting clothes and armed with spears, staves, sabres, and swords, walking slowly over.

"Sister Zhu, the sky has already grown late today — let's rest here for a while."

The handsome young man with the sabre at the head of the group glanced up at the darkening sky and the coolness of approaching night, looked at the pool not far away and the ruined temple in the distance, considered the dangers of the mountains after dark, and made his suggestion.

"Mm, I'll do as Brother Chen Ping says."

The young woman the sabre-bearing man called Sister Zhu glanced around her, knowing she was less familiar with the area than he was, and agreed at once.

"Good. In that case, may I trouble Sister Zhu and Miss Zhang to fetch some water from the pool?" Seeing the woman had agreed, the handsome young man Chen Ping began making arrangements. "Yu Zhi and I will go gather some firewood, and Brother Li, I'll have to ask you to tidy up inside that temple?"

"Fine."

"Alright."

After a few brief replies, the group looked at the handsome young man whose arrangements were clear and well-divided, and naturally had no objections.

What had brought these young men and women to this deep mountain wilderness?

In the secluded pool in the distance, Baichuan rested his dragon head on a Dragon Claw, watching the group of young men and women who had so rudely woken him, feeling rather puzzled.

But these little ones were likely in for an unpleasant experience next.

Heavy rain was coming.

Gazing at the increasingly dense moisture behind the gloomy sky, Baichuan said to himself.

Before long, the two women also arrived at the pool's edge. They seemed as blind as could be, not noticing the enormous flood-dragon submerged in the water, and as they chatted in low voices they slowly filled the water pouches they carried.

But this scene struck Baichuan as rather odd — were they not, in fact, collecting his bathwater?

And they seemed to be saying they were preparing to go to Cang Jiang for disaster relief?

"Boom rumble…"

At that moment, a loud clap of thunder suddenly roared across the heavens.

"Eek—"

"Looks like it's going to rain? Miss Zhang, let's finish filling up and head back quickly?"

"Mm, alright."

The sudden thunder robbed the two women of any desire to keep chatting; they hurriedly filled their pouches and rushed toward the dilapidated little temple in the distance.

The little temple looked utterly ruined from afar, but up close it actually still had three intact walls — only the front door had somehow vanished without a trace.

Right in the centre of the temple sat an unnamed clay idol of a deity, its head tilted crookedly as if about to fall off at any moment.

Clearly, this was the sort of thing one would call a Mountain God Temple.

Before long, the two men in the distance also arrived at the ruined temple at a brisk pace, arms full of firewood.

Judging by their agile, powerful movements, Baichuan realised this group must have had some real skill to dare venture into such deep mountain wilderness.

Were these the wandering heroes of the jianghu he had once yearned for?

Instinctively, Baichuan thought of all the martial-arts figures from the novels, films, and dramas of his previous life.

"Boom rumble…"

"Crash splash………"

Lost in thought, the long-gathering downpour finally arrived, breaking after a tremendous clap of thunder.

Strings of raindrops began to pour down in sheets, draping a translucent curtain over heaven and earth.

In an instant, the world grew hazy, filled everywhere with the pattering sound of raindrops striking the ground.

"Quick! Faster! The Mountain God Temple is just ahead!"

"See if anyone's fallen behind? Keep up!"

"Hold on just a bit longer, pick up the pace — the Mountain God Temple is almost here!"

But just then, Baichuan abruptly turned his head and glanced into the distance.

At that moment, another group of men came running out from there, carrying wicker baskets with tarpaulin covers on their backs.

The man at the front kept calling out, and from time to time turned back to urge the others to keep up.

"Those in the rear, keep up! We're almost at the Mountain God Temple — once we get there we can take shelter from the rain and light a fire."

From within the crowd, people would now and then voluntarily urge and remind one another.

This was a group of traveling merchants — peddlers who carried different wares between two places and sold them as they went through the mountains — so crossing ridges and peaks was nothing out of the ordinary, and naturally they had long been used to the mountain weather's sudden, fickle changes.

Amid their shouts and calls, the group rounded a few clumps of small trees and ran along the path toward the Mountain God Temple.

For a brief moment, silence fell inside the Mountain God Temple.

Clearly neither side had expected anyone else to arrive at the Mountain God Temple at this hour.

After a short silence, Baichuan heard the leading man inside step forward and speak first, followed by a hushed exchange.

A few breaths later, the cramped Mountain God Temple was divided into two clearly distinct zones.

But by now Baichuan's attention was no longer on that.

His dragon pupils, as if ablaze, fixed on a spot less than a hundred meters below the Mountain God Temple.

At some unknown moment, a slender, delicately beautiful young woman had abruptly appeared there; her expression was one that would stir pity in anyone who saw her, and she struggled forward through the howling wind and torrential rain — anyone who laid eyes on her would feel their heart soften with compassion.

This deep-mountain, old temple tonight is rather unusually lively, isn't it.

At this moment, the flood dragon in the dark pool let out a soft laugh.

……

(End of chapter)