"Elder, I have a question for you. Do you know where in these deep mountains I can find a fragrant torreya tree that’s over four thousand years old?"
Unmoved by your inquiry, the white-haired elder merely glanced up, his eyes void of anything.
The village chief walked over and translated what you had just said into the Zhuji dialect.
Only then did the white-haired elder extend his arm, thin and dry as a dead branch, and began conversing with the village chief.
Although they spoke a variant of the Wu Yu, some of the words were so abstruse that you could only grasp the gist of the conversation.
After the exchange, the village chief turned to you and said, "The elder says there’s a valley behind the village that has a few fragrant torreya trees, rumored to be extremely old, but exactly how old they are he couldn’t say."
"Let’s go have a look, then."
The village chief nodded and, following the directions given by the white-haired elder, led you three swiftly towards the hills behind the village.
Passing through the village, you noticed that the architecture here was quite ancient. The door planks alone, meant to block the wind and shade the sun, were older than the combined ages of you, Xian Qianling, and the village chief.
As for Zhao’er, to be honest, you didn’t know exactly how old she was, but that didn’t affect your feelings for her. There’s a saying that a woman three years older is a catch, but she’s over a thousand years older - enough to pile up gold bricks into a mountain.
Along the way, you found many aged fragrant torreya trees interestingly distinct from those outside; none bore any fruit, only dense foliage on their trunks, without a single fruit in sight.
The valley behind the mountain wasn’t deep. It took merely a few minutes for the four of you to reach the end of the gravel path.
However, indeed, there were several fragrant torreya trees planted at the end of the valley, but in terms of age, they were only marginally older than the old torreya tree at the village entrance, and their branches were still devoid of any fruit.
Seeing you shake your head slightly, the village chief began to fret and ponder.
At that moment, Xian Qianling asked, "Why are you so interested in the King of Fragrant Torreya Trees? If it’s the torreya nuts you want, the cultivated ones in Woniu Village should suffice, no?"
"It’s not the same. I heard from two foreigners..."
You suddenly stopped. That’s right!
Isn’t this just a wild goose chase?
With this thought, you hurriedly took out your phone from your pocket and dialed Zong Wangyue’s number.
He picked up quickly, "Boss, I heard you took sis out for a good time, hehe. Calling me at this time, are you asking me to recommend a love hotel?"
"Get lost!" you retorted annoyedly to Zong Wangyue, "I’m asking you, where is your grandma’s old home?"
"My grandma’s house? What do you want with that place?"
"I’ll explain when I get back; just send me the map coordinates, and I’ll use my phone to find it."
Zong Wangyue sent the coordinates quickly and, to your surprise, when you checked your phone’s map, it was exactly the village you were currently in!
While you were still puzzled, Zong Wangyue called again, "Boss, I just asked around, and my mom said she found that glazed stone under a fragrant torreya tree on the behind mountain of the village."
"Behind the mountain? In the valley?"
"No, there’s a rather flat area past the valley with many fragrant torreya trees. She can’t remember which one exactly, because it’s been too long."
"Got it, I understand."
After hanging up the phone, you turned to the village head beside you and said, "Village head, I’ll take care of the rest myself. There are a lot of things for you to do in the village, so I won’t bother you anymore."
"But..." the village head was somewhat hesitant, as he had already promised to help earlier.
"It’s okay," you reassured him, "compared to the big issues in the village, my matter is just like child’s play, something trivial."
Seeing your insistence, the village head nodded his head, "Then...I’ll head back first."
"By the way, do you need me to drive you back?"
"No, no, no, I’ll just call my son to come pick me up with the car. You go on with what you’re doing."
The village head quickly made a call and then left the valley, while you closed your eyes, letting your vision leave your body and rapidly rise into the sky. Just as Zong Wangyue had said, your view crossed over the valley, flipped past the forest, and soon found the mentioned flat area about two hundred meters away from the village. This place indeed had many Fragrant Torreya trees and looking down from above, you suddenly realized that these trees were planted following certain proportions and specifications!
When you opened your eyes, Xian Qianling asked you, "Did you find it?"
"Yeah." You pointed casually toward the other side of the valley, "It’s just over that small mountain."
"Over? How do we get over it?"
At the moment, three sides of the valley floor you were on were surrounded by steep rock faces. These rock faces were about twenty meters high and very smooth on the surface, making it impossible for even skilled climbers to scale them barehanded.
You turned and glanced at Zhao’er next to you, asking with a smile, "Zhao’er, can you jump up there?"
Zhao’er nodded slightly, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared standing at the top of the rock face ahead.
This was the second time Xian Qianling had seen Zhao’er use that extraordinary strength that ordinary people did not possess, and she couldn’t help but be dumbfounded. Looking at Zhao’er standing atop the rock wall, ethereal as a fairy exiled from heaven, she suddenly felt somewhat ashamed.
"Alright, now it’s our turn."
"Our turn? How are we supposed to get up there? I didn’t learn ancient martial arts, nor do I have superpowers like Zhao’er who can fly," Xian Qianling said with a touch of envy in her voice.
Your amusement only grew at her words, and you teased Xian Qianling, "Now you realize how far behind you are compared to my family’s Zhao’er, right?"
"Humph! What does that matter? Love is about the heart, not about methods!" Xian Qianling glared at you fiercely, as if she wanted to gobble you up.
"Don’t get excited, don’t get excited."
Knowing this wasn’t the time to provoke this crazy woman, you formed a hand seal with your right hand, and the Sen Luo Curse Mark in your left eye immediately appeared. Then, you pulled out about forty Yellow Vermilion Charms from your pocket.
The moment these Yellow Vermilion Charms appeared, they flew swiftly towards the top of the rock wall Zhao’er was on, aligning in a straight line.
Soon after, Xian Qianling heard a shout, "All Forms of Sen Luo, Heavenly Ascension!"
As the shout died down, the line of Yellow Vermilion Charms suddenly radiated a golden glow, and a spiral magic seal coalesced at the top of the glow, transforming the straight line into a staircase!
Saying this, you stepped confidently on the spiral magic seal at the topmost Yellow Vermilion Charm, and began to stride up as if climbing a staircase toward the top of the rock wall.
Halfway up, you looked back to see Xian Qianling, who usually charged forward bravely, standing there slightly shrunken and seeming rather hesitant.
"Crazy woman, why aren’t you coming?"