Chapter 158 Lost Paradise (1/2)
I was so astonished by Lao Tao's appearance that I had almost thrown all manners and decorum out of mind. But he was hardly perturbed, giggling jovially as he answered, ”I've been here all along.”
As it turned out, Lao Tao had long sensed our presence since we had entered into his domain, the Yellow Soil Ridge. He had not appeared to us, watching our banter with interest and silence while we were climbing. It was only when we reached the top he appeared. But he remained quiet to not disturb us, while observing us behind our backs.
It was hardly unexpected though; he was, after all, the Mountain Deity here, although the prospects of being quietly watch did send a chill down my spine.
Lao Tao led us to an inconspicuous part mid-hill, before he turned to us suddenly and gestured with a flourishing wave of his arm. ”Please, all of you.” Behind him, a door appeared out of thin air on the rock-hard face of the solid rock with a loud ”Click”. ”Wow, is this one of the perks of being a Mountain Deity?” And we followed Lao Tao into the cave. Anyone outside would only see a bare face of a cliff with jagged and sharp rocks, festooned by weeds and grasses. To think that such a cave exists just behind the face of a cliff! We entered the cave to find ourselves in a stone passage. The tunnel was wide, but there was nothing but pitch-black darkness around us. I would never come in, if not for Lao Tao. Fortunately for us, we switched on the flashlights of our handphones and followed Lao Tao deeper into the cave.
We walked on for what seemed like more than an hour. Even I began to grow restless by the never-ending hike. Lao Tao remained ahead of us, shuffling forward in the light from our flashlights, but he had been unusually quiet all the way. Finally, I trotted nearer to him and asked, ”Are far are we now?” The ancient deity turned to look at me and muttered, ”We're near.” Fortunately for him, he could not see my frown in the darkness. Where was this rabbit hole leading us to?! But I was hardly worried if Lao Tao had any devious plots; not only I was almost on-par with him, even my companions were hardly ordinary folks themselves.
We pressed on for another ten minutes. Finally, we caught sight of the first glimmer of light since entering the cave. We raced to it and the stone passage ended abruptly, opening into a vast expanse with no beginning and no end. Instead of finding a stone cavern, we found ourselves before a subterranean settlement. The underground city covered as far as we could see; houses and dwellings, granaries and storehouses, all alive through the dark orange glow from the flaming brands and flickering torches that lit up the impossibly vast cavern from where we stood as we took in the view with disbelief. The streets were busy with frenetic activity and clamors of people busying about in their daily activities.
With my Spirit Sight, I could see that they were not ordinary humans. They were all spiritual entities; demons, sprites or the like. We stood there, dumbfounded by the revelation. It took us minutes before I finally recovered from the stupor and asked Lao Tao, ”Where are we?! What in the world is this?!”
Lao Tao began explaining, this was a separated domain; one between the Mortal Plane and the Underworld. Like fictional domains in subterranean fiction and legends such as Jules Verne's prehistoric underground world and James Hilton's Shangri-La, people had been getting lost while wandering in the wilderness, only to find themselves in a new world alien to any realities they believed in. But when these people left these mysterious domains, they would never be able to find their way back ever again. To think that the four of us would have the opportunity of encountering such an incredible experience ourselves...
And this, said Lao Tao, is one of the lost paradise hidden from human eyes, a lost realm concealed beneath the Yellow Soil Ridge. Realms like this were neutral grounds for spiritual and paranormal entities to meet and communicate, for even demons and sprites, ghosts and spirits, all could not survive alone. With Lao Tao keeping the peace and order at the Yellow Soil Ridge, there had been little conflicts here but instead a network of information and intelligence that passed to and fro like the gentle tingles on a spider's web. It was this very reason that long ago, Master Six had bade the weasel demon we had encountered then to come here to seek out Lao Tao for help.
The lands of the Yellow Soil Ridge might not be vast and capacious, but supernatural beings were more capable of discovering strange and rare treasures or minerals than humans. Hence, the lost paradise of the Yellow Soil Ridge slowly became a bazaar for unique and valuable goods.
This reminded me of an old wives tale I once heard from old men talking in leisure. There was a mountain to the North-West of Wu Zhong County called Bieshan (Literally, ”the Mountain of Farewell”). The foot of the mountain stretched into the westernmost corner of Wu Zhong, where a knoll, called Tizishan Mountain (Literally, ”the Hill of Stairs”) sat there. From afar, one could vaguely see that the hillside cascade downwards, protruding like the tiers of a staircase, hence its name. Right at the foot of the hill was a quiet little village, called the Baishan Village (Literally, ”the Village of the White Mountain”).