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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
Three days later, we boarded the train to Feng City. Brother Five had arranged Xu Wuji's remains; although he was still somewhat depressed, he seemed to have let go of a burden compared to before. He no longer carried that deep-seated gloom and even managed to joke with us on the train.
When we arrived in Feng City, it was already dark, and the train station was brightly lit. As I surveyed this unfamiliar city, I thought about how just yesterday we were in Mountain City, and now we had traveled a thousand miles to Feng City. It felt almost dreamlike.
We found a hotel that looked decent enough to stay in. After grabbing a quick bite, we went to bed and didn’t wake up until around noon the next day. We checked out and began our tomb-seeking journey.
Feng City can be considered a cultural city, filled with various historical sites. Correspondingly, there are numerous places that exploit these sites for profit. It would be pointless to scrutinize too closely. In any tourist attraction in our country, various scams tend to flourish—whether through counterfeit goods or aggressive sales tactics. Essentially, at these tourist spots, as long as you spend money, no matter how much, you are bound to be taken advantage of.
To give a clear example, aside from the fake artifacts and jade stones or the counterfeit tiger bone cordyceps, even the cheapest items like "Pulse Robbery," "Kang Shuai Fu," and "Lei Bi"—aren't these knockoff products all sold at tourist shops?
I digress; I walked over to a newsstand and spent five yuan on a map of Feng City. Comparing it with the map Lin Tao had drawn for me, I turned to Brother Five and Qingcheng and said, "The ancient tomb of Liu An in this map is completely different from what Feng City looks like now."
"Of course!" Qingcheng and Brother Five replied simultaneously, especially Brother Five, whose expression was exaggeratedly disdainful.
"Hey, what's with that expression!" I laughed as I playfully punched Brother Five on the shoulder.
"Now the Liu An tomb in Feng City is surely just a facade project by the local government to attract tourists. Visitors come for a quick tour, listen to the guide talk about Liu An's life story, take a couple of photos with peace signs in front of the tomb, and then leave. Who cares whether Liu An or some pig is buried underneath?" Brother Five chuckled. "Speaking of which, this reminds me of a big joke in the tomb raiding business."
"Oh?" I wasn't particularly interested in stories but was very curious about jokes.
"A certain county discovered the ancient tomb of a historical figure. Suddenly, an obscure place became famous nationwide. With the County Party Secretary and mayor swearing on media that this was absolutely true and that they must protect this celebrity's relics, it gained official confirmation. A tomb raiding gang got tempted; they all came out in full force and spent a month digging a tunnel over a hundred meters deep into the ancient tomb. Once inside, they were stunned by the sheer number of jars and artifacts—it was practically a museum! Just as they were about to gleefully haul things out, one member accidentally broke a jar and revealed a line of text inside: 'made in yunan.'"
"Hahaha! You're slandering people from Yunan!" I burst out laughing.
"I'm not blackening their name; it's just that people from Yunan have indeed advanced their counterfeiting techniques beyond domestic levels and even filled gaps globally," Brother Five continued with his bizarre remarks.
"Alright, alright!" I laughed as I stopped Brother Five from going on. Shaking the map, I said, "Let's focus on the map."
The map was hand-drawn by Lin Tao and looked quite terrible; thankfully, it had annotations beside it. I just needed to read the text and then find the corresponding locations on the Feng City map.
"To the west of Feng City is Shoushan; east of Shoushan is a stream where Lin Tao's location is near," I folded up the map since there was no need to keep looking at it—the drawings were far too simplistic.
I hailed a taxi and asked how far it was to Shoushan. The driver smiled and looked us over, saying, "It's over forty kilometers from here to Shoushan, about an hour's drive. It's more economical to hire the whole car. I won't rip you off; I'll take you to Shoushan for a hundred bucks."
If it really is over forty kilometers, then the price is reasonable. I turned back to signal the others to get in the car. When the driver saw Brother Five trying to put a large suitcase in the car, he quickly shouted, "Hey, Boss, that suitcase of yours is dirty. Can you put it in the trunk?"
Brother Five ignored him completely and got into the car, placing the suitcase in the middle of the seat as if it were his best friend.
I got into the passenger seat and smiled, "Come on, just make do with it."
What a joke! Xiao Qingcheng and I wanted to put this suitcase into our Spatial Bag, but Brother Five was unwilling, as if that suitcase were his life. How could we expect him to put it in the trunk?
"Make do? Once that suitcase is in here, I'll have to find someone to clean it later. Labor is expensive these days; you outsiders don't understand our local prices. Making do comes at a cost. How about this: add twenty bucks for cleaning!" The driver huffed, implying that we should be careful since we were just outsiders.
"Are you sure?" I smiled and took out a one-yuan coin, bending it with my fingers.
"Alright then, making do isn't a big deal." The driver said seriously, "We're all out here; if I can help, I will!"
He stepped on the gas, and the car roared off like a bride leaving home in frustration.
Forty to fifty minutes later, the car stopped in front of a hotel. The driver turned to me and said, "There's only this hotel within ten miles of Shoushan. Although it's a bit pricey, it's relatively clean."
After paying, the three of us got out and looked around.
The hotel stood alone at the foot of the mountain with no other buildings nearby; the closest house was several hundred meters away. It had three stories with red bricks and green tiles, resembling an old-style building layout surrounded by dozens of Phoenix Trees that were lush and green at this time of year, giving off a chill vibe. On the far left of the first floor was a large door with several titanium letters above it: Shoushan Grand Hotel.
Inside should be where we check in. Just as we were about to walk over, the taxi driver finished unloading and leaned out of the window to hand me a business card: "If you want to go into town from here, there's only one bus at six in the morning. If you need a ride, you can call me. But just so you know, it'll cost one hundred fifty."
I took the card and nodded with a smile: "Okay!"
The driver waved his hand and pulled his head back inside before stepping on the gas; smoke billowed from the tailpipe as he sped away.
The three of us walked inside. What caught our eye was a wooden reception desk made from solid wood that exuded a rustic and heavy feel that words couldn't quite capture. Behind the desk was a world map adorned with four quartz clocks hanging above it labeled Beijing, New York, London, and Moscow—though all four clocks showed the same time.
Behind the counter sat a girl wearing a black shirt and white jeans. She had long, slightly curled hair and wore light makeup, her features were beautiful, somewhat resembling someone named Fan Ice Ice. The black shirt had five large yellow characters that read "Shoushan Grand Hotel." Is this really considered a uniform for the hotel front desk? I could only chuckle at such employee attire.
The girl had her eyes closed, with a pair of headphones in her ears, casually resting with one leg crossed over the other. Her head bobbed slightly to the music, clearly lost in her own world and completely unaware of our presence.
I knocked on the counter, but the girl showed no reaction. Feeling mischievous, I couldn't help but shout, "Hey!"
This startled her quite a bit; she jolted and almost fell over. She steadied herself by placing a hand on the table and quickly scanned us three. Upon spotting the instigator, she took off her headphones and said to me with a pout, "Why are you shouting so loudly?"
With just that one sentence, half playful and half reproachful, she was stunningly beautiful. I couldn't help but admire how captivating the scenery was in such a place; it was truly... simply amazing!
"I'd like to check in, beautiful!" I said while knocking on the counter with a smile.
"A single room is four hundred yuan per night, and a double room is four hundred eighty per night. Check-out is before noon," she replied while handing me a price list.
No wonder that driver said it was expensive here; it really wasn't just a little pricey—these rates were comparable to those of star-rated hotels. Seeing my frown, the girl quickly added, "We're not some kind of inn or guesthouse; the sign out front says 'Shoushan Grand Hotel.'"
With only your hotel within a hundred miles, do I really have any other options? So what if it's a grand hotel? Even if you called it Shoushan Dormitory, I'd still have to pay that price to stay here. I couldn't help but smile wryly and said, "I'll take one single room and one double room; let's start with three nights."
A professional smile appeared on the girl's face as she processed our check-in and handed me three key cards. "Your rooms are on the third floor, 05 and 06. Hot water is available from six to eleven in the evening; otherwise, it's cold water only."
Taking the key cards, I smiled and asked, "Can I ask you a question?"
The girl smiled slightly. "That depends on what you want to ask."
"What's your name?"
"My surname is Jin; you can call me Luo Er," she replied with a slight surprise before breaking into a smile. "Is that all you wanted to ask?"
"No, no! I actually wanted to know if there's a stream around here in Shoushan?"
"A stream? Yes, there is one. However, most people come to Shoushan to see the Nine Dragon Pool; not many go to that stream. Although the scenery there isn't bad, compared to Nine Dragon Pool, it's nothing special." Jin Luo Er looked at me with some confusion as if she didn't understand why we would be interested in that stream.
“Nine Dragon Pool?” I scratched my head and asked, “Is Nine Dragon Pool very famous?”
“On top of Shoushan, there is a lake that is deep and green, with clear water but extremely cold, reportedly frozen at the bottom. That’s not the main point; the most important thing is that on a full moon night, you can see nine dragons swimming in the lake, hence the name Nine Dragon Pool,” Jin Luoer recounted this legend effortlessly, then frowned slightly, “However, it’s not certain that the source of the stream is Nine Dragon Pool.”
“Oh? Why is that?”
“Because the source of the stream is at a stone wall halfway up Shoushan, it could be that the water from Nine Dragon Pool seeps out from there. I’m not sure; you can go check it out yourself. Anyway, Shoushan isn’t very big.” Just then, her phone rang, and Jin Luoer casually told me something before answering the call and ignoring me.
After walking to my room and resting for a while, I noticed it was still early and decided to take a stroll around to survey the terrain.
Brother Five naturally carried his suitcase downstairs. The three of us walked to the front desk and found that a rather ordinary-looking Round-Faced Girl had replaced the previous staff member. She was also wearing a black shirt and white jeans. Upon seeing us, she paused slightly and asked, “Who are you looking for?”
“We’re here to check in,” we three replied somewhat puzzled; this girl seemed rather clueless.
“Check in? Did you register?” Round-Faced Girl looked at us with even more confusion. Her gaze flicked over to the suitcase in Brother Five’s hand, and her tone became more cautious: “Is that suitcase yours?”
“Look, here’s the room card; your colleague Jin Luoer registered us!” I raised the magnetic card in my hand.
“What? Jin Luoer? I am Jin Luoer!” Round-Faced Girl exclaimed sharply.
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