Chapter 254: Ghost Wall

The small assassination was quickly and quietly exposed.

Although no substantial damage was caused, Huo Gannian decided to change his route early the next morning.

Yun Chen didn't ask much about it, she never questioned his decisions.

Then Huo Gannian left a letter at the official post station, asking the personal soldiers who were chasing behind to continue taking the official road. He and Yun Chen chose to take the mountain road, specifically choosing the remote, difficult and uninhabited roads.

From the southeast towards Kyoto, the terrain gradually rises and the mountains become steeper.

The two walked for several days, sleeping in the open air, and all around them were towering mountains and lush forests that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Yun Chen is a person who can endure hardships, but Huo Gannian doesn't want to let her suffer just because she can endure hardships.

She had been drinking mountain spring water and sleeping under big trees these days, and had been bitten by many insects. Huo Gannian felt very distressed. Seeing a Taoist temple on the cliff of Green Mountain in the distance, she wanted to go there with Yun Chen to stay overnight and rest for two days before leaving.

Unexpectedly, the two of them looked in the direction of the Taoist temple and rode their horses for most of the day, but it seemed that they were not getting any closer.

The mountain is still as high, and the Taoist temple is still as far away.

It was clearly more than half a day to walk to the foot of the mountain, but it was as if I hadn’t moved a single step.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Huo Gannian was unwilling to let Yun Chen sleep in the tree with snakes, insects, rats and ants for another night, and could not help complaining:

"I just wanted to go to the Taoist temple to eat, drink and sleep, why can't I get there?"

Yun Chen also felt strange, squinted his eyes, raised his hand and used his thumb to measure the height and distance of the Green Mountain Cliff, and marveled:

"It's strange. It looks like we're standing still and not moving a step."

"Could it be a mirage?" Huo Gannian had seen the phantom of a city projected on the river surface, and he wondered if it was a mirage.

Yun Chen looked at the Taoist temple on the cliff. It looked very old and its style was simple and elegant.

From here you can clearly see a huge incense burner in front of the temple, with curling white smoke rising from it, which does not look like a mirage.

She proposed a somewhat metaphysical idea:

"Could it be a ghost wall? I've heard martial artists say that ghosts often appear in the wilderness, blinding people and forcing them to keep going in circles until they die."

Huo Gannian didn't quite believe this. If he really wanted to talk about something mysterious, he would believe more in numerology.

Some hermits live in the mountains to practice, and to prevent being disturbed, they sometimes use the Qi Men Dun Jia to build barriers using mountains, rivers, and plants to prevent ordinary people from approaching.

But virtuous practitioners only prevent themselves from being disturbed and will not disturb the creatures in the mountains or the lives of the people.

Huo Gan thought, the world is so vast that nothing is impossible. Some experts can know everything in the world without leaving their homes.

Perhaps the practitioners in this Taoist temple had seen through his and Yun Chen's intention to disturb them and were politely refusing?

He simply gave up the idea of ​​staying overnight at the Taoist temple and continued his journey towards Kyoto with Yun Chen.

Unexpectedly, this time, after only an hour of walking, the two of them turned a small hill and their view suddenly opened up.

Among the dense layers of green pines and cypresses, a towering mountain stands before your eyes, majestic and towering, nestled in the embrace of the mountains.

Halfway up the mountain, on the winding stone steps, there is a solemn and majestic Taoist temple. The setting sun shines on the golden roof, and the colors are elegant and beautiful.

The two were stunned.

Yun Chen looked up at the beautiful scenery and murmured:

"Is this what we saw in the distance just now? I remember it was just a green mountain cliff and a small Taoist temple?"

Huo Gannian was also shocked by the scene before him, and became more certain of what he was thinking:

There must be a hidden master with some abilities living in this temple.

Since the Taoist temple was right in front of them and it was almost dusk, the two men tied up their horses, put on their small packages, and started to climb the mountain along the stone steps.

The stone steps looked very old. After years of wind and rain, many parts had collapsed. The two of them had to support each other to move forward.

When encountering a section of stone steps that was particularly narrow and could only be stepped on tiptoe, and was so steep that it was almost vertical, Huo Gannian always had to use his lightness skills to jump up first, and then turn around to pull Yun Chen.

Although the two men had excellent martial arts skills, they could not display them at all on the cliffs of such a high mountain. They climbed with fear and trepidation, and only reached the top when it was almost dark.

After passing two huge incense burners filled with smoke and behind the gate with dragon and tiger pillars, the empty Taoist temple stands quietly, and colorful murals can be vaguely seen inside, vividly depicting the sky, earth, wind, thunder, mountains, sun, moon and sea.

Because the Taoist temple is very old, the murals have long lost their brightness and become hazy and mysterious.

In the courtyard in front of the Taoist temple, a middle-aged Taoist priest was sitting at the table making tea, with two cups opposite him.

Huo Gannian and Yun Chen stood outside the door, bowed, and were about to explain their purpose when the Taoist priest spoke:

"Generals, please come in—don't bring any packages in. Those things are off-limits. I warned you when we were at the foot of the mountain."

The Taoist priest said the last three sentences to Huo Gannian.

Huo Gannian was stunned and his face turned slightly red. Then he remembered that there was an even smaller package inside his small package.

It was the pile of "stuff" Yun Lan gave me when I left Youzhou Yun Mansion.