So the next morning, Wang Yao, Hua Tuo, and Hui Shuo set off together for the Eighteen Temples of Yunling. Although the Qunshan Hotel was built in Yunling, it was outside the wall and a bit far from the scenic area gate, but the hotel did provide a shuttle service for its guests.
The three of them got up early. Hui Shuo paid for breakfast at the hotel and insisted on having it with Wang Yao. They then took the hotel's minivan and headed straight for the mountain gate. The road was lined with lush trees and blooming flowers. The minivan traveled smoothly and comfortably along the winding mountain road.
Upon arriving at the scenic area gate, Hui Shuo got out of the car to buy tickets, but was unexpectedly stopped by Hua Tuo.
It turned out that Hua Tuo had a sharp eye and noticed a notice posted at the ticket office stating that legitimate monks could enter the mountain for free. Under these circumstances, Hui Shuo, dressed in monk's robes, would have attracted attention when he went to buy a ticket.
This isn't a hotel. You can't just pretend to be a monk with a bald head and a monk's robe. The ticket inspector doesn't care what you're dressed up for. They'll only let you in if you show them your monk's ID. If you don't have an ID, no matter how much you claim to be a virtuous monk, they won't even give you a second glance.
Seeing this, Wang Yao had no choice but to run to the ticket office and buy Hui Shuo a ticket himself. Hui Shuo shamelessly refused to give Wang Yao the money, which was two hundred and eighty yuan. Wang Yao felt sorry for him and also witnessed Hui Shuo's cunning. He was a son who was not at all ambiguous and had no politeness towards his parents.
To be honest, the three of them were just feeling guilty. Nowadays, cosplay is very popular in the human world. There are many people who pretend to be monks to film videos and do live broadcasts at the Eighteen Temples of Yunling. The ticket checkers are used to it. They didn't even look at Hui Shuo. They just swiped his ticket and let him through the gate.
As soon as you enter the gate, there are rows of buses within the scenic area. A ticket costs 50 yuan for a one-way trip, which takes you directly to the Jiming Temple cable car station. A round trip costs 90 yuan, and the price is fixed no matter which stop you get off at.
Wang Yao and Hua Tuo were both immortals, so walking a little distance was no problem for them. They hadn't originally planned to take the bus, but an old man next to the bus stopped the three of them and kept trying to persuade them, saying that going up the mountain was hard and the journey was long, and that the best way to travel was to take a bus up the mountain and walk down...
They talked on and on for a long time. The entrance was very small to make it easier for the scenic area's buses to carry people. When Wang Yao and his two companions hesitated, the people behind them were all blocked.
"It's just taking the bus, what's there to hesitate about?"
"Will you sit or not? If not, move aside?"
...
The people behind them grew impatient and started grumbling and making strange noises. The old man, however, was not in a hurry at all. He pretended to lead the three of them forward a few steps, but still blocked the way and tried to persuade Wang Yao and the others. The person driving the electric scooter was also not in a hurry, sitting in the driver's seat and concentrating on playing on his phone.
"Fine, let's buy it then. You can't handle climbing mountains, kid." Hua Tuo couldn't stand it anymore and offered to pay. Wang Yao felt embarrassed, since it was Hui Shuo's money anyway, so he didn't care. He quickly paid for three one-way tickets, and the three of them got on the electric cart.
The car was quickly filled with people from behind. The driver put his phone in his pocket, and with a "whoosh," he drove off. This road was mostly a winding mountain road, with its width varying from one side to the other.
Electric vehicles would occasionally come down from the opposite direction, and when they met at the narrow mountain road, the vehicles would not slow down and would rush past, causing the women and children on the vehicles to scream loudly.
Wang Yao, being an immortal, remained unmoved, but Hui Shuo reached out and gripped his hand tightly.
"I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid..."
After several encounters with other vehicles, and hearing Hui Shuo mutter several times that he wasn't afraid each time they passed, Wang Yao couldn't help but think to himself that this dramatic exchange of electric vehicles was probably a hidden tourist attraction at the Eighteen Temples of Yunling, designed to get your adrenaline pumping as soon as you enter the mountains.
Wang Yao handed his hand to Hui Shuo and held it tightly. He took the opportunity to discuss with Hua Tuo whether to get off midway or go directly to the Jiming Temple cable car station. Hua Tuo originally claimed to be very familiar with the eighteen temples of Yunling, but once they entered the mountain, he became a little confused.
I feel that the eighteen temples in Yunling have changed too much. I can no longer find the original appearance of them. There used to be dozens of kilometers of asphalt road. The trees on both sides of the road also seem to have been planted later. In short, Hua Tuo is confused. However, when it comes to place names, Hua Tuo still has some impression.
"Jiming Temple is still a long way off. It is the first of the eighteen official temples in Yunling. As the saying goes, 'Enter the temple at dusk and ascend the mountain at dawn.' In the past, people would stay overnight near Jiming Temple before heading into the mountains the next morning..." Hua Tuo recounted the origin of Jiming Temple.
“In that case, we’re not in a hurry to get off halfway. Let’s make a decision when we reach Jiming Temple.” Wang Yao made up his mind after hearing Hua Tuo’s suggestion. After all, Jiming Temple was just the beginning of the eighteen temples of Yunling. Getting off halfway would be pointless.
The phrases "Minister's Rest Stop" and "Top Scholar's Foot Bath Pavilion" sound interesting, but aren't they all just later additions? This distance is quite long, and we need to gather at noon to take photos. If we linger on the road for too long, we might delay things.
It would be better to visit the official eighteen temples of Yunling first, and then visit these other attractions if there's still time on the way down the mountain. Thinking about it this way, Wang Yao realized that the old man at the entrance wasn't just trying to get business for the electric carts; what he said made some sense.
Wang Yao discovered that it seemed to have been planned in advance. Every time the scenic area reached a relatively open spot in the mountains, it became a stop for the scenic bus, as if the attractions had agreed beforehand to be there specifically to make it convenient for the scenic bus to stop and pick up passengers.
The bus wound its way up and down the mountain road, stopping and starting, sometimes going uphill and sometimes downhill. Several female tourists started to feel carsick, as if they had traveled through thousands of mountains and rivers. After about an hour on the scenic bus, they finally arrived at the final stop, Jiming Temple Cableway Station.
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