As they entered winter, there were no signs of snow.
Originally, the more north you went, the more snow you’d see. The interesting thing was that Shanghai did have the winter air, and Hangzhou had a little bit of snow falling down. With the snowflakes landing on this City like a paradise, it made it look increasingly fascinating.
Mo Fan also understood why Xinxia wanted to come here. Compared to Mo Fan, who was a country boy who had set his mind on living in the big city, Xinxia was different. She only wanted to live in a tranquil, aesthetic city with a mountain, river, and bridges.
Xinxia’s school was relatively close to Xihu. When Mo Fan got to Hangzhou, he didn’t hastily go and pick her up, he was intent in taking her out for a stroll.
—
They slowly walked past the long dike. On the two sides were willow trees waving in the breeze, and in the distance was the gleaming reflection of waves in the sunlight, clear and crystalline. Even further away were mountains, some of which were tall and some small. There were temples and there were kiosks, and on the other side were many different tall buildings, reflecting the river.
After passing through the dike, they arrived at the scenic area of the Leifeng Pagoda. Mo Fan looked at the new pagoda and its former location. Just when he was pondering something, a person who seemed to be a local to his side began to mysteriously say, “Little Brother, is this your first time here? Hehe, what you are looking at is the former location of the Leifeng Pagoda. According the old people, a white snake was once been excavated from this area!”
“A white snake? How big?” Mo Fan asked, interested.
“It should at least be this thick,” After saying it, the tanned local made a hugging motion.
“That big??” Mo Fan was startled.
What the hell, if a snake was that big, then it was basically a Magical Beast!
“No. No one was able to kill it at that time. In the end, some great master used his own life to seal it up…” the local man glanced to his left and right, as though he was saying some big secret.
“Unable to kill it? That amazing? Then where was it sealed in the end?” Mo Fan conveniently asked.
“Possibly within the new Leifeng Pagoda, or it could also be beneath the Broken Bridge. It’s also possible that it is on the Three Pools Mirroring The Moon, or it could be near the Bai Causeway. Look, I have a handbook guide in my hands, it introduces the legends on it and the guides to other scenic areas. One for five RMB. From one glance, I could tell that you are a person who likes to explore the truth. Seeing how you are destined for this, I will sell this to you for only four RMB,” the tanned local said.
“Four RMB, that’s pretty cheap. However, sir, I think the big snake story isn’t enough to attract enough people. What if you changed the big snake to a person, turn it into a Fairy, who in turn met a man on the Broken Bridge. The two are exceedingly sentimental, but some great Master did not like this, so he decided to seal this snake girl’s essence beneath the Leifeng Pagoda… For the book of this story, you should ask someone to draw a couple of beautiful bubbles, this way, there’ll be many ladies and youths who will buy it. Since it seems like you are destined for this story, I will sell the copyrights to you cheaply, only 9 RMB!” Mo Fan raised his eyebrows.
The local man was startled as he heard that. He felt this little fella did have some logic behind his words. The issue was… how did his wanting to sell things turn into him using his own money to buy things?
Xinxia, who was sitting on her wheelchair, heard Mo Fan and the local man talking gibberish with a deadpan face, and couldn’t help but laugh.
Fluttering around here and there, the two men ultimately were unable to sell things to one another, and ended it abruptly.
—
After the person selling the maps left, Mo Fan continued to push Xinxia to walk around the pagoda before he said, “How come this guy doesn’t have any common sense, has he never heard of the Legend of Madame White Snake?”
“I’ve also never heard of it.” Xinxia said.
“Oh, it doesn’t exist here? I thought the history here was exactly the same, so this kind of folklore should also be the same,” Mo Fan was a little surprised.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying…” Xinxia’s face appeared confused.
“Didn’t I tell you once before, I am a man that came from a different world. In that world, we don’t learn magic. Although we do have the Qin Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty etc, however, since the animals have been replaced with Magical Beasts, it seems like much of the folklore has turned out a bit differently,” Mo Fan said with a straight face.
Xinxia couldn’t help but whisper, “I’m no longer a child, how could I believe what you’re saying…”
“Even you won’t believe me. It seems like I can never prove that I’m a person from a different world,” Mo Fan said with a bitter smile.
“But you’re still you!” Xinxia said.
Mo Fan was slightly startled. He originally wanted to use this kind of style to conceal his foibles, however, Xinxia’s words suddenly caused Mo Fan to ponder and feel like he was released from the tension.
Seeing Mo Fan starting to ponder, Xinxia thought she said something wrong. Her little voice changed the subject as she said, “Brother Mo Fan, one of my History teachers said that people from our Bo City are very special.”
“What did he say?” Mo Fan asked.
“Do you remember the Underground Holy Spring? It has a really, really long history, it dates back to over two hundred years before the common era,” Xinxia told him.
“Oh, it’s like that. Then after nearly two thousand years passed, the area around the Underground Holy Spring must’ve had a lot of stories happen… Then, why do they say that we, the people from Bo City, are special?” Mo Fan asked.
“The teacher said that the people from Bo City were most likely protected by the Underground Holy Spring. Bo City in the past was only a small village, and was ordered by an ancient Sovereign King to guard the Underground Holy Spring for years. However, with the passing of time, the protectors continuously grew in numbers. This caused the small village to turn into a town, and after many years, the town became a city. With the entrance of new people, the change of lords in the city and the overthrowing of the feudal society… Bo City finally developed into what it was today. The protectors had long ago disappeared without a trace, along with the passing of time, or the entire city was actually filled with protectors…” Xinxia said sincerely.
Mo Fan was eagerly listening. He couldn’t help but think of those people from the Black Vatican.
The people from the Black Vatican seemed to have some kind of objective when they destroyed Bo City. Could it be that the destruction of Bo City was closely tied to the history of the protectors?
However, this was based on something from over two thousand years ago! Were the protectors really that important?
Was their objective really the Underground Holy Spring?
The Underground Holy Spring was currently in his own hands. In that case, the thing that the Black Vatican wanted had always been in his own hands?
Shit, doesn’t that mean I’m in danger?
Those Black Vatican animals really dared to do anything, they even massacred a whole city. The events of Blood Alert were something Mo Fan could still vividly remember.
“What else did your history teacher say?” Mo Fan asked.
“He was speculating based on some of historical records. He said if you wanted to find the truth, you’d have to go to some kind of ancient tomb and explore there. However, there were a lot of dreadful creatures within that tomb. Up until today, there hasn’t been a single Magician who has truly entered the mysterious tomb!” Xinxia informed him.
“Tomb, what tomb?” Mo Fan pressed automatically.
“The ancient city has a tomb. It’s inside the most famous spectral land of our country. Brother Mo Fan, did you not hear about it during your classes?