Chapter 77 Meeting at Mount Tai (1/2)

The Sun rose, and golden rays of light pierced through the dark night. Sunlight soon poured down gently onto the Earth, warming it up and the streets of Shandong were bustling with activity.

”Hey, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, pay attention! Our bus is bound for the tourist area of Mount Tai, and there were limited seats. Strictly on first come first serve basis!” a ticket seller standing in front of a huge coach yelled, trying to attract the attention of potential customers.

Wang Bugui and his sworn brothers were touring not far away from the coach, and the commotion caught his attention. If he had seen this a few days ago, he would have lamented his lack of money and went on his way alone. Now, he merely smiled. He was no longer alone. He had three sworn brothers with him now, and he could finally feel the warmth of a family after waiting for an entire decade.

Earlier on today in the morning, they had traversed the skies and hurried over. There was still another day till the meet, and they wanted to see for themselves if the people living at the foot of Mount Tai in Shandong had any unique traditions. Yu Wude even brought Zhao Changge and Lyu Hao to purchase some clothes, as they would draw too much attention to themselves if they continued wearing the ancient costumes of male fighters.

”I say, you two are really geniuses. Who told you to wear your training clothes for a long trip? Are you afraid that nobody on the streets would recognize you two? Let's find any shop and get some clothes for both of you!” Yu Wude complained as he walked in front of them with a dark expression on his face. The other two youths dressed in ancient clothes tagged behind him, drawing a lot of stares along the way. Passers-by would either remark that they were actors in a television drama or having a cosplay session.

This was not the most infuriating thing for Yu Wude, however. Even Wang Bugui, who was slightly more normal than the other two, was also acting weirdly after they had arrived in Shandong. He had summoned an extremely female puppet and walked alongside her while controlling her movements with wires. He would bring her along to see any interesting thing or unique sights, and he even explained how he felt to her.

The appearance of the puppet and the two 'ancient' youths drew even more attention to themselves than before. They were the focal point of everyone's attention wherever they traveled, and Yu Wude wondered if they would pay so much heed even if a rare artifact appeared in front of them. Yu Wude led the other four into a sportswear shop.

He pushed the door of the shop open and shouted, ”Boss, help me see if you've anything for those two behind me to wear. Hurry up, we're running out of time!”

The boss of the shop appeared and realized that the two people behind Yu Wude were dressed in ancient costumes. He paused for a moment before replying, ”Yes, yes, I'll find something good for you.”

After careful selection, both Lyu and Zhao changed into an all-black ensemble of active wear. They used their Tao skills to transform their long hair to short hair after exiting from the shop, and their short black tops accentuated their muscles; one of them was huge, while the other wiry. Coupled with their handsome looks and Yu Wude's cuteness, they got plenty of warm stares coming their way.

Especially Wang Bugui would walk behind them. His looks had already made him extremely popular with the ladies, and now he had an extremely beautiful puppet with him. Their small band drew the attention of all types of passersby and plenty of them raised their phones and cameras to take photos of the four youths and female puppet. They had to squeeze their way forward and had no choice but to hurry to Mount Tai eventually.

They arrived at the foot of Mount Tai 10 minutes later, and all of them looked at the most famous mountain of the Five Peaks. Its highest point, the Jade Emperor Peak, was 1545 meters above sea level, and it bore an immense majestic aura. Upon closer examination, they could feel the huge aura of the mountain even more, and it was definitely worthy of its reputation of dwarfing all other peaks.

The famous mountain could be thought of as the essence of Eastern culture, and the place where people realized it was possible to become one with the divine.

Mount Tai was treated by people in the past as a 'stairway to the emperor's throne', and it was worshipped by commoners and emperors alike. There was a saying that 'peace would reign over the land if Mount Tai is well'. From the Qin to the Qing Dynasty, 13 emperors and kings had personally ascended Mount Tai to attend religious ceremonies or offer sacrifices to the gods, and another 24 had instructed their officials to offer sacrifice to the Heavens on their behalf for a total of 72 times.

Legend has it that the Heavenly Emperor of Mountain Tai was its mountain god. He was also known as Lord Taishan, or Lord of Taishan Residence, and ranked second in the Yuan Palace of the Yuqing Realm, and first amongst the Five Peaks. It controlled the souls of humans and dictated their fates, statuses and positions; it was basically the beginning and the end of every living being. As such, since the Period of the Warring States till the Han Dynasty, Mount Tai was the holy place where rulers paid their respects to the Heavens.

In the Onmyōdō techniques that spread to Japan, there was one of them that was named after the mountain, and it would summon Lord Taishan himself. As he controlled the souls of humans, the onmyōjis made a pact with him. Everytime they needed him to resurrect someone, they had to give another life to him in exchange. Otherwise, the onmyōjis themselves had to sacrifice some of their lives. If not, the resurrection would not be successful.

All in all, there were too many legends about the mountain that had been left behind. In the past, rulers had solemnly paid their respects to the Heavens here, while sages like Confucius and various literary figures respected the mountain greatly. Many people, Buddhists and Taoists included, treated it like sacred ground, and it could be considered as the place where the spirit of Chinese descendants resided in.

There were more than 20 ancient architectural grounds left behind on the various peaks of Mount Tai, and there were about more than 2200 carved stone tablets. Buddhists and Taoists viewed of the mountain as the 'Divine Mountain and Kingdom of Buddha', and they kept adding to its divine allure by erecting huge numbers of shrines and temples on it. They became a huge attraction which drew countless number of devotees who visited them for worship.

It was still early morning, but plenty of people had arrived to tour Mount Tai. After all, it was a world renowned hotspot. Odd timings could not deter passionate tourists from coming, and it was so packed that Wang Bugui and company could not tag along for a tour of the mountain.