Chapter 32: The Scenery of the Retreat

Ozang Mountain.

Surrounding the big tree in the center, a circle of pond water shimmers, lotus leaves and lotus roots float on the water, and fish play around them affectionately.

Under the big tree in the middle of the pond, there is a stone table and three stone benches placed steadily. They seem to be covered with traces of time and look old and worn.

Paimeng flew up excitedly: "Wow... we should be here, this is obviously a fairy cave, but it seems there are traces of someone cooking?"

Sora first noticed the table and chairs in the center of the pool: "Let's go to the middle and take a look."

Paimeng tilted his head and said, "This is the place where I will stay... Where will I go... Emperor?"

Kong: "The Emperor must be talking about the Emperor Yan Wang, so he must be right. It looks like this is indeed the Immortal Cave."

He thought about it and noticed the cups on the table. There were light stains on the bottom of the cups, and there seemed to be a faint fragrance of tea. It seemed that the immortal had just left here not long ago.

The smell of this tea leaves made Kong feel familiar, as if he had smelled it on someone recently. He struggled for a while, but couldn't remember where it was. He subconsciously said to Paimon:

"The tea at the bottom of this cup must taste delicious."

Suddenly, a female voice with reverberation echoed throughout the entire mountaintop.

"That tea was given to me by my friend, so it must have a very good aroma. Since you are knowledgeable, please come in."

Paimon was startled by the sudden sound and quickly responded: "Yes, is it the immortal? The immortal is inviting us! Let's go in and take a look!"

Kong looked at the secret cave revealed in the mountains in surprise, and took a step closer.

"Hmm... the aura of the Hundred Unrestricted Talisman... Although I am very curious about your purpose, if you want to meet me, you still have to first pass through the cave I have set up to see if you have the qualifications."

Paimon frowned: "Why is there a test? I thought I could meet the person directly after being invited."

Kong whispered, "Paimon! Immortal! Immortal!"

"Oh oh!" Paimeng covered his mouth. He couldn't anger the immortal. They still had something to ask for, and they still had to respect the immortal's temper.

"Hum..." A distant, resonant female voice came.

"For thousands of years, countless mortals have come here to disturb the tranquility of the Immortal Gate. If you don't even have the ability to break into this cave, then there is no need for this Immortal to bother communicating with such mortals."

In fact, Kong and Paimon had already experienced many battles on the way to Liyue Harbor. Although the difficulty of similar secret realms varied, they had indeed been there before in order to search for treasures.

After experiencing many difficulties of rotating the picture clockwise and counterclockwise, Paimeng secretly complained that if she was an immortal, she would have to install a road in every direction.

Sora's instant memory is pretty good. By materializing the square tablets into numbers from one to five, he successfully lit them up in sequence.

Finally, they made it to the end of the secret realm. Just as Kong was looking around and Paimon was about to ask a question, the mysterious immortal, or fairy bird, fell from the sky and landed in front of the two of them.

Liu Yun lifted his head in the wind, and his posture did look somewhat arrogant, and he spoke directly, and I don't know if he had other things that he didn't finish:

"I didn't expect you to get through my agency... You're quite capable. In that case, tell me why you're here."

Sora explained it euphemistically with hand gestures.

"What??? The Emperor was murdered?"

A sharp reverberation sound came from the front, and Liu Yun Jie Feng questioned Sora with anger and suspicion.

Looking at the helpless Kong, Liuyun Jiefeng soon realized that the other party had come from thousands of miles away with the Scroll of No Taboos just for this matter, and it was something that she could prove if she went to Liyue Harbor in person, so it was impossible for him to lie about this matter.

She gradually calmed down:

"Emperor...Emperor...this is the truth...the rumor about Zixu Wuyou that he mentioned is actually true?! No...he also said that he would never believe this no matter what..."

"Him?" Paimon asked.

The remaining clouds used the wind to shake the crane's head.

"I will immediately set off for Liyue Harbor to investigate the truth of this matter. Since you have gone to so much trouble to find me, I will trust you for now and promise to give you justice...

I will have to trouble you to find the rest of the immortals as well. When we gather at Liyue Harbor, I will discuss with them the matter of the Emperor's murder."

The crane flapped its wings and prepared to take off: "Humph, how can a group of mortals have the ability to assassinate the emperor? I think Qixing's actions are somewhat sinister and he has other intentions."

Kong nodded. Seeing that Xianhe was about to leave, he quickly added:

"Oh, there is one more thing. Our... friend, a businessman named Yiran, was also temporarily detained by the Thousand Rocks Army under Qixing because he let us go. I don't know what his situation is now."

Paimon: "Yes, yes! I may need your attention."

"……?"

Liu Yunjie Feng looked a little strange: "Who are you talking about? A businessman named Yiran?"

Paimon nodded blankly.

"Um……"

Liuyun Jiefeng came back to his senses and thought, didn’t the deer fairy who had just moved into Jueyunjian recently say that his image in Liyue Port was a businessman named Yiran?

Detained by the Qianyan Army? ?

Oh... hiding in the market, she understood, just like in the city of Gechenlang, naturally one cannot reveal one's identity to ordinary people.

It seems that this traveler is also a friend of the fairy. Liu Yun felt that this matter was simply bizarre and a little bit unpredictable. The fairy seemed to know something from the beginning. She didn't say anything extra:

"Okay, I'll pay attention, don't worry."

This journey to find the immortals was relatively smooth. Kong finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to study the other two addresses given by Liuyun Jiefeng.

After searching for True Lord Lishui Dieshan, True Lord Xueyue Zhuyang and others one by one, Kong and Paimeng discovered that the attitudes of these two immortals were actually very similar to Liuyun Jiefeng.

They were all angry but still had a bit of rationality. They didn't completely ignore the matter, but they also didn't completely believe the fact that the Emperor was killed. They all planned to go to Liyue Harbor first to investigate and discuss the truth of the matter together.

At most...when they mention Yiran, their attitude is a little weird.

Kong turned around and went down the mountain with doubts, preparing to go to Wangshu Inn to look for the last immortal, the Great Sage who Conquers Demons and the Guardian Yaksha.

Just when he was a long distance away from Hulao Mountain and was about to use the anchor to teleport, he suddenly heard a flute sound from afar. The sound was distant and ethereal, attracting his and Paimon's attention.

"Flute sound?" Paimon asked Sora with his chin resting on his tiger's mouth.

"You say, could the person playing the flute in this mountain be an immortal? Otherwise, a normal person would not come to such a desolate place to play the flute, and it might even disturb the immortal's peace."

Kong was convinced by Paimon's logic. He couldn't help but think of the fairy deer that he only caught a glimpse of when they were climbing the mountain and that even used mist to help them cool down.

Because the atmosphere was tense, Kong did not ask much, but for some reason, the three immortals did not mention that there was such an immortal who could control fog in Jueyunjian.

Coming back to his senses, thinking about the melodious flute sound, Kong decided to go and see what was going on.

Moreover, at this moment when a storm is about to come, the flute can play such a leisurely and quiet sound... I guess this performer, who is most likely an immortal, is not aware of the news from the Emperor, and I wonder if he can be of help.

By the time the two of them were walking towards the mountains again following the sound of the flute, the music was gradually coming to an end and the echo amplified by the mountain wall was about to stop.

Slowly, only the faint aftertaste of the flute sound remained floating in the air.

Sora and Paimon, who had already walked most of the way, had to slowly stop and identify the original direction of the sound.

Paimon suddenly said, "Look here! There seems to be a particularly light mist lingering on the road here. Could it be the immortal you mentioned before?"

Kong was stunned. Did the immortal know that they were coming to visit him? Was he giving them a hint?

Sora: "... Anyway, let's just follow and see."

Although the water mist was silent and gentle, as we went deeper into the mountain road, we could hear the sound of water becoming more and more intense, even roaring.

Sora and Paimon's curiosity reached its peak until they passed through layers of mountain walls and large trees and followed the fast-flowing stream in the depression on the side of the road. It was as if their vision suddenly broadened and they were shocked by the scene before them.

A majestic waterfall fell heavily from a high cliff, hitting the pool of water at the bottom, splashing up countless white foam, and rushing towards the stream on the side of the road.

Just as Kong guessed along the way.

Paimon was so shocked by the scene that he was speechless. He only followed slowly after Sora stepped forward.

「!!!」

"So stunning... If the sunset glow at Qingyun Peak is a peaceful and broad stunning experience, then the thousand-foot waterfall here is a majestic and spectacular stunning experience!!"

"Although I really want to recite a few lines of poetry, I am uneducated and can't say anything."

"Ah, this mountain, ah, this water!"

"The scenery of Genshin Impact is really amazing..."

"Would there be immortals living in a place like this?"

"I have an association with Li Bai... I feel like this is a place he would like."

"How can the Immortal Poet not be considered an immortal! How can the Immortal Drinker not be considered an immortal!"

"Playing the flute in a place like this, the sound of the flute can cover the sound of the waterfall and reach the foot of the mountain... It must be an immortal, okay?"

"Is that the fairy deer?"

"Indeed, I think the feeling of a waterfall splashing down and the mist lingering around is very suitable for that immortal."

"I was just wondering if it would be noisy living near here."

"? Don't immortals live in caves? If it doesn't work, there should be a soundproofing magic spell."

Paimeng approached the bottom of the waterfall cautiously. The whole atmosphere here was extremely cool. She turned around twice, then approached a chessboard on a stone table nearby and looked at it again and again, but she could not see any way to see the immortal.

Paimon was worried, "Does this immortal like to play chess? ... Anyway, how can we ask to see this immortal?"

The immortal was most likely nearby, but the sound of the flute had disappeared and the person was nowhere to be seen. Although the scenery was absolutely beautiful and I felt that the trip was worthwhile, I still felt a little helpless.

He wondered if there was something he had overlooked...

It was the immortal who led the two people here with the sound of the flute and the mist, but it was impossible for them to not find anyone there, and finally they left with nothing.

Suddenly, Kong seemed to have thought of something. His eyes lit up and he followed the mist that blended together on the path and the stream beside him, looking at the entire river. Finally, his eyes stopped at the bottom of the waterfall, where the mist was the thickest, as if covering the bottom of all the secrets.

Sora pointed at the waterfall and said with a playful smile, "Paimon, go fly in and take a look."

Paimon's eyes widened. "Eh? I don't want that! I won't be thrown back into the water by the waterfall! Do you want to catch me again?!"

"The water under the waterfall isn't that deep, and it can create such a big splash. I don't think it can drown Paimon."

"?"

Sora took back his joke, bent down, rolled up his trouser legs, held Paimon in his arms, and squinted his eyes as he gradually approached the thick water vapor on the side of the waterfall.

The mist filled his nose and even obscured Sora's entire vision. He blinked hard, used the wind vortex to temporarily disperse some of the mist, and then leaned sideways to pass through the gap behind the waterfall.

Sure enough, on the cliff behind the waterfall there was a huge passage that was cracked from top to bottom and was barely wide enough for one person to pass through.

Sora walked in without hesitation. The passage was long and narrow. Perhaps because of the waterfall outside, the sides of the mountain wall and the ground were a little damp, but the sound of the waterfall was gradually getting lower... and lower.

All that was left in my ears was the crisp echo of my footsteps hitting the rocks.

After turning more than ten steps, a light blue curtain of light appeared unnaturally at the end of the passage, like the end of a journey with a unique experience, waiting for one's exploration.

Behind the light curtain, in the space, Yiran left the rest room, leaned against the peach tree outside the door of the cabin, and looked at the screen beside him.

It seemed that the person he was supposed to greet had arrived. He thought about it and finally changed back into the image of a snow deer. Perhaps now was not the time to reveal his identity.

...Well, let him wear it for a while. It seems to be quite fun to pretend to be an immortal.

…

At the other end of the light curtain, Kong had already walked in with Paimon, and it was another sudden broadening of vision and visual shock.

But the difference from the last time was that, listening to the roaring sound of water, he could foresee that there might be a huge waterfall on the top of the mountain, but this time, he really had no idea what would be behind the light curtain.

Perhaps he had thought that it would be like other immortal homes or the Liyue Secret Realm, with clouds, platforms, institutions, and virtual vistas, but he had never imagined that it would be a peach blossom forest that stretched as far as the eye could see.

When he suppressed his surprise and visual euphoria and slowly turned toward the bamboo house in the distance, he suddenly saw the fairy deer, hidden among the peach trees, with a gentle color, walking towards him leisurely.

Everything is like a carefully designed gift. From the foot of the mountain to the waterfall and finally to this paradise, every reversal and contrast stimulates the senses of visitors.

Every detail is trying to leave a deeper and longer lasting impression on those who see this scene.

So that the person waiting can achieve a more hidden purpose hidden in the undercurrent just by standing there quietly.