Chapter 68: The Celestial Immortal Beyond the Heavens

  "What's wrong with me?" Liu Xiu couldn't help but laugh, puffing out his chest, and proudly said: "Although my family's wealth is a bit lacking, I'm now the disciple of a great Confucian scholar, and in the future, there will be opportunities for me to become an official or even a general. Besides, I'm quite good-looking, shouldn't I be more than enough for that girl? Why do you look down on me like this, are you jealous?"

  Mei's eyes widened in surprise, and then she couldn't help but burst out laughing. She shook her head, tossed off a "foolish child", urged the horse on, walked a few steps, turned back and reminded him: "Don't forget to send me the book early."

  "I'll take care of it, you can rest assured." Liu Xiu responded with a somewhat dejected tone, but also let out a sigh of relief. After all, he had finally resolved the issue with the Liang family. Although he wasn't afraid of the Mao family, having one less enemy was always a good thing. However, Mao Jie's reaction had piqued his curiosity - what was the story behind that young girl? She had actually made Mao Jie conclude that she had no chance. In the Han Dynasty, although there was a large gap between the rich and the poor, there wasn't a natural chasm between the wealthy and the humble. People from humble backgrounds weren't necessarily destined to remain obscure, especially since he himself was still somewhat of a talented individual.

  Could it be that they are royal relatives? That's not possible, people with the same surname can't get married, but looking at the Mao family, it's also impossible for them to have any royal relatives.

  Liu Xiu couldn't understand, and could only conclude that Mao Jie was harboring resentment in her heart, intentionally striking at him. He muttered to himself a phrase from the teachings of the saints, comforting himself with the famous saying "A good man does not fight with a woman", and followed Lu Min to continue on their journey.

  From Zhuo County heading north into Shanggu County, it soon enters the Jundu Mountain area. The Jundu Mountains are part of the Yan Mountains, where the east-west Yan Mountains meet the north-south Taihang Mountains, and is also one of the main passes from Zhuo County and Guangyang to enter Shanggu County. The mountains are high and the valleys are deep, with a treacherous terrain, and is home to one of the famous Eight Great Passes of the Taihang Mountains - Jundu Pass, where the famous Juyongguan Pass is located.

  Liu Xiu had long known about the great name of Ju Yong Guan, and also heard from Yan Rou and Su Shuang about its importance. In that "Dong Hu Zhi", it was naturally listed as a key point. Lu Min, although having a strong scholarly air, still knew about the great name of Jun Du Xian and Ju Yong Guan. Now that he had personally seen such a treacherous terrain, he was even more unwilling to let it go easily. He got off the carriage with those young people and looked around all the way, marveling at the beautiful scenery on the mountain while also being shocked by the precipitous terrain.

  Those who usually thought they were invincible heroes all held their breath at the same time, looking up at the towering cliffs on both sides with their mouths open and making a hissing sound. Lu Min stopped the car and decided to climb up to take a look. Liu Xiu was startled and thought to himself: You're already tired from sitting in the car, and now you want to climb mountains? What if your foot slips and you fall down from above? That would be a big trouble! You haven't even gotten married or had children yet, and Teacher Lu is still counting on you to carry on the family line. If you were to die here, wouldn't Teacher Lu hate me to death?

  Lu Mian didn't listen, insisting on going up to take a look. He said, "The Master ascended Mount Dong and belittled Lu, ascended Mount Tai and belittled the world. I am a man from Youzhou, now at the foot of Jun Du Mountain, how can I pass by without ascending? Moreover, if we don't ascend to the summit, how can we get a panoramic view of the dangerous places on Jun Du Ridge?"

  Liu Xiu was speechless and thought to himself: Do you think climbing a mountain is like taking an airplane, where you can see the entire landscape at a glance?

  Lu Min didn't care what Liu Xiu thought, and after arranging for someone to watch the horses and carriages, he set off forward. Liu Xiu had no choice but to follow closely behind, persuading him as they walked. Mao Qiang caught up from behind and gave Liu Xiu a signal with her eyes, agreeing: "What you said also makes sense, sir. Since this time is for inspection, the terrain is naturally one of the most important aspects. Even if it takes some time, it's worth it. Fortunately, we're not in a hurry, so taking our time climbing is fine too."

  Lu Min has been under a lot of psychological pressure lately, and hasn't been resting well. The mountain is also very steep, and she's been climbing for dozens of steps while holding her breath, not wanting to slow down and show weakness. After hearing Mao Niang's words, she finally let out a sigh of relief and turned to Liu Xiu, saying: "Mao Niang is right, we can climb slowly, take breaks and rest, it's also a form of exercise, what's wrong with that? You're always telling me to balance work and rest, now that we have the chance, why are you being so stubborn?"

  Liu Xiu pouted and didn't want to persuade anymore, so he could only follow behind. Mao Qiang rushed ahead of him, walking with Lu Min in a staggered manner, although she was a woman, but she often practiced martial arts, her physical strength was better than Lu Min's, but she didn't use all her strength, after walking dozens of steps, she said she was tired and wanted to rest for a while. Since she said so, even if others weren't that tired, they couldn't say much, they could only follow suit and rest together. Others were fine, but Lu Min benefited greatly from this, resting countless times along the way, taking nearly two hours, finally climbing to a relatively high mountain peak.

  Standing on the summit, blowing in the cool north wind, the sweat on my body quickly evaporated, and I felt refreshed all over. The scenery before me suddenly opened up, and my gaze swept across the layers of mountain peaks, all the way to the distant vast expanse of Ji County Plain. The streams flowed gently like a maiden, shining like silver ribbons in the bright sunlight, winding their way through the valleys. As they flowed out of the valleys, they merged into wetlands, nourishing the vast land. The Yan Mountains and Taihang Mountains were like open arms, embracing that vibrant plain in their bosom.

  Turning westward, they saw that their view was blocked by one mountain peak after another, and all they could see was the blue sky, white clouds, and occasionally a corner of the earth between the mountains. Looking around, not a single village was in sight.

  "Going west is the county seat of Shanggu, and further west is the Ningcheng, where the Protector of the Wuhuan is located. After passing through Ningcheng and leaving the Yan Mountains, it's the grasslands where the Xiongnu people ride freely. The royal court of Tan Shi Huai is just beyond the Pohan Mountains." Lu Min said slowly: "It's less than 200 miles from our Han territory, these Xianbei people are too arrogant, can we tolerate this, or can't we?"

  "What can't be tolerated must be tolerated." Liu stood with his hands on his hips, breathing in the mountain wind, his face somewhat gloomy. After a moment, he added another sentence: "With Yan Mountain and Taihang guarding us, as long as we don't provoke the Hu people to rise up and attack, and the Wuhuan people don't take advantage of our weakness, we still have the ability to protect ourselves." He raised his hand and drew a vague circle in the air: "Once the Wuhuan people are also involved, this place will be lost to me in an instant."

  Lu Min turned his head to look at him, revealing a somewhat forced smile, and neither confirmed nor denied. He stood quietly for a moment, then suddenly said: "De Ran, do you know where Zhuolu is?"

  Liu Xiu knew that not far west of Junshan Mountain was Zhuolu, where the legendary Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor joined forces to defeat Chi You. This laid the foundation for the roots of Chinese culture. In Confucian classics, Chi You is one of the four evil ones, an embodiment of sin, with eighty-one copper-headed iron-browed brothers who were invulnerable to swords and spears, causing the Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor to be at a loss. However, the benevolent Yellow Emperor ultimately defeated this almost invincible villain, establishing the great Yan-Huang alliance, giving birth to countless descendants, and later marrying three thousand women, riding a dragon to ascend to heaven.

  This story has been embellished to an extreme degree by later generations, with some people even speculating that Chi You's eighty-one copper-headed and iron-browed brothers were Terminator-like robots, and the drought goddess Huang Di invited to assist in battle was a nuclear weapon, they were all aliens, anyway, no matter how absurd it sounds, nobody really believes it.

  "I know a thing or two." Liu said with humility.

  "This is where the Yellow Emperor beheaded Chi You." Lu Min gently stroked his forehead and smiled: "It's said that after the defeat of the Jiuli tribe, they retreated east from here and then headed south. Although Chi You's body was buried in Zhuolu, his vengeful spirit did not disperse and often transformed into a red mist that shot straight up to the sky, known as the 'Chi You Flag'." He turned his head, looking at the young men who were listening with great interest, and said disapprovingly: "Evil people will inevitably be punished by heaven. Even if there is a Chi You Flag shooting straight up to the sky, what can it do? The stability of mountains and rivers depends on virtue, not danger. The ancients did not deceive me."

  Liu Xiu blinked his eyes and remained silent, unsure whether Lu Min's words were genuine or just a pretence to appease Liu and the others. Anyway, he didn't quite believe these stories about benevolent people being invincible. As he pondered how to respond to Lu Min's words, his gaze shifted and suddenly caught sight of someone on a distant mountain peak. He focused intently, only to discover that on a higher mountain peak over a mile away, there were two figures standing at the summit, with steep cliffs beneath their feet like knives cutting through the air.

  "Big brother, it seems like there's someone over there." Liu Xiu said, pointing at that mountain peak.

  "Is anyone there?" Lu Min looked carefully in the direction he was pointing, but saw nothing. Liu Bei and Zhang Fei also gathered around to take a closer look. After a while, Zhang Fei nodded: "Not bad, there are indeed two people. One of them is wearing green clothes and hiding among the trees, not easy to see clearly."

  Liu Bei suddenly realized: "I said why I only saw one, it turns out that's what happened."

  Zhang Fei rubbed his hands in amazement: "That mountain peak is even higher and steeper, how did those two people get up there? Could it be that they flew up? Are there really immortals in this world?"