Chapter 26: The Holy Land of Wonderland

“There is no perfect strategy in this world. After all, the world is ever-changing, and strategies can only determine the general direction, but not the details. I originally planned to use the top snake medicine of your Snake Sect to use in this mountain range to summon a group of snakes to escape.” The master explained this, saying that it was truly unexpected to be able to come here.

“Then why use it in this mountain range?” I was a little confused.

“It’s for maximum effect! There are many snakes in the south, and so are there in Sichuan! This mountain range is the sacred mountain range of the Snake Sect, so of course there are more snakes… And I know that because of the existence and protection of the Snake Sect, there will be many different kinds of snakes here, which will be more beneficial to our escape! But I’m not 100% sure about this plan, because I don’t know much about what Yang Sheng will send and how capable they are… Just like today, Chengyi, you almost got into the biggest trouble. I can only calculate a certain possibility and gamble. The biggest point is that Yang Sheng must be doing something subtle this time, and he probably won’t take the big road. He might choose a remote road… and one of the road sections is close to the holy place in the sacred mountain! Everyone knows that Snake Gate is subtle, but who would have thought that the holy place of Snake Gate is close to a road section? Master said this and couldn’t help but laugh.

Xiao Ding said with wide eyes, “It must be close to the road. We also have to live… We need to go out to buy food, clothing, housing and transportation. Can we still farm in the holy mountain?”

This naive little Ding, I sighed helplessly. How could I explain to him that what Master meant was that no one could calculate the so-called seclusion of Snake Gate, which was also very close to the world.

Master probably didn’t know how to explain it either, so he changed the subject and said, “In short, any strategy requires a little luck. Heaven helps those who help themselves, and this is unchanging. Those who do good deeds will always have better luck. If you don’t repay this life, you will still be rewarded in the next life with your children and relatives.”

“Master, what are you trying to say?” I asked, this topic is a bit off.

“To express that I am a messenger of justice.” The master patted me on the head.

“Indeed, the expression on your face when you were watching the young ladies on the street was full of the aura of a righteous messenger.” I nodded seriously to show my agreement.

Xiao Ding looked at me again with a puzzled expression, blinked his eyes, and said, “Looking at young girls is also righteous.”

The master coughed violently and then said, “You can also understand it that way.”

I can’t even begin to describe the immorality of the master, and at the same time I feel the most pure innocence of Xiaoding. After all, it is a hidden sect, living in the mountains with snakes for companionship for many years. Compared to humans, animals are always simpler, even cold-blooded animals… Xiaoding must also be like this, a man in his forties, but still as innocent as a teenager.

Time may have left a few traces of vicissitudes on his face, but it has never left such traces in his heart.

We continued to walk through the secret passage. At my request, Xiaoding did not show me more of the ancestors. He just said to me, “It’s better not to see them… In fact, the ancestors all have their own personalities. Some are gentle, some are mischievous, and some are dull… In short, they are just like people! Some have bad tempers, so it’s better not to disturb them.”

Bad temper! I subconsciously shuddered and thought of the ‘naughty’ black snake. If it really had a bad temper, it might teach me a lesson… But Xiaoding was right to say that these snakes with different personalities give a sense of intimacy. I believe that these intelligent snakes have such intelligence, but at the same time I believe in their simplicity. Only with simplicity can they show such a direct and simple personality.

Xiao Ding’s innocent personality is also formed by spending time with these simple guys.

The endless beauty will make you forget your fatigue… In this cave, there are also many unexpected things. For example, Ding would occasionally look at the dark river. Once, he caught two or three fish, which were transparent and looked long and pointed… very magical.

There are even mushrooms here. After all, this environment is also suitable for the growth of mushrooms, but I can’t recognize those mushrooms.

“This fish is a blind fish, and this kind of blind fish may only be found in my snake cave. Grandpa said that the taste is even better than the famous knife fish. It is really delicious, but Grandpa also said that you shouldn’t eat too much because it is rare and precious. Let them reproduce here and grow the population! This fungus is also unique to this cave… Grandpa said that fungi can absorb the most qi, which is why there are things like lingzhi. This cave is full of qi, which is why the ancestors loved to stay here… So this fungus, which has absorbed so much qi, is delicious even when boiled in plain water. Little Ding talks a lot. Maybe he’s been alone for too long, so he can’t help being a bit ‘wordy’.

But I was listening with great interest. I absolutely believe in the theory that mushrooms absorb qi. After all, when it comes to food, the common saying has always been that four-legged animals are inferior to two-legged animals, two-legged animals are inferior to animals without legs, and animals without legs are inferior to animals with one leg.

This is about pigs, cows, etc. being inferior to poultry, poultry being inferior to fish, and fish being inferior to mushrooms.

“Well, speaking of which, there is also a kind of blind shrimp here that is even more delicious… After washing it, you just peel it and eat it raw. That taste… But you can’t eat too much of it, or even eat it like this, because Grandpa said it was too cruel. It’s better to use good rice wine to make them drunk and then eat them.” Xiaoding was still looking for it.

And I heard a “gurgling” sound, and it was my master who was swallowing his saliva.

I was amused. I believe that my master must have eaten the delicacies described by Xiaoding, so he couldn’t help but salivate… And Xiaoding’s words were full of natural kindness, and suddenly made me envious. Living in such a simple and clean way, even if it is naive, isn’t it very happy?

What I didn’t expect was that a thrilling journey of escape would end up being a “sightseeing” trip, the ultimate enjoyment of eating delicious food.

I don’t know how long we had been walking in the cave, an hour or two? In any case, when we finally reached the end, my legs were starting to ache, but I still hadn’t seen enough of the beautiful scenery in the cave. There were many branches in the cave, and Xiaoding told me that the snake gate had not fully explored the terrain of those branches, but there were many magical places… there were many strange and miraculous things hidden there, and he would always take me to see them if he had the chance.

He said that it was a mysterious existence and magical sight that could not be described.

It seems that Snake Gate’s secluded place is really a good place. I said with emotion, but the master laughed and said, “You have too little knowledge. My Taoist secluded place is also full of magic. Where there is a spirit, there is magic!

This reminds me of the time when… Sister Jenny once let me experience a magical ‘flight’ and then took me to meet a strange person, Wang Feng! I didn’t stay long in his secluded place, and I didn’t experience much, but I remembered the delicious peaches, the magical rabbits… everything was like a dream.

When I was in a daze, I heard the sound of the mountain wall ‘rumble’ again. A slight hot air from the outside world blew into the cave, and I looked up and saw the quiet moonlight.

“Come out,” said Xiaoding, turning to me and the master, and then said, “Outside is the real holy land of our Snake Gate. It’s beautiful.”

I was surprised to learn that the mysterious cave, which was full of ancestors, was not a holy place, but that the outside was.

I really wanted to go out and see this so-called beautiful holy place, but before I could take a step, I hesitated again. It was rare for Xiaoding to be so clever, so he looked at me and said with a smile, “There are no snakes at this exit because there is no need for them. You can just come out with confidence.”

Although Xiaoding said that, I was still trembling when I walked out… It took a long time to recover after I walked out of the cave.

Outside the cave was a narrow valley, like a sky-line in some places. I didn’t feel any beauty here, but I just felt that nature was amazing. In the sky-line, the moon was exceptionally clear and looked very strange.

The mood is different, and the scenery is different. When I was on the run, I looked at the moon and felt that it was full of a kind of bleak whiteness.

When I looked at it again, the moonlight had become soft, and the yellowish glow actually warmed my heart.

Xiao Ding was walking ahead of us… We followed him silently, and when we came out of the sky-line and passed a corner, Xiao Ding suddenly turned around and smiled at me and said, “We’re here!”

Do I need to be reminded of this? I turned around and followed him out of the corner, and then I froze there!

Is there really such a place in the world? What I saw was an open lawn… on one side of the lawn was a small grove of trees with strange shapes, and around it were mountain walls, as if embracing the lawn… behind the grove was a small waterfall, rushing down with a ‘splash splash’…

What shocked me the most was that in front of the grove was a huge tree, even bigger than the stone tree I saw in the cave. And underneath the grove and the tree, there was a bright green light, sometimes in patches, sometimes in dots, and from time to time, tiny green light points would fly up.

Maybe there are fireflies here. The green light and the warm yellow light of the fireflies interweave, like a fairyland.

Where am I? Could this be the place where the elves live in Western legends?