Chapter 5: Searching for the Phoenix Mountain Clan
Chapter 5: Searching for the Phoenix Mountain Clan
Ever since we got the help of the tech god, long-distance travel hasn't been a problem anymore.
Because we have planes!
Ever since we got planes, everyone's practically a grand sorcerer!
The "Yomi" organization is basically useless to Hachiman in terms of main operations now, but it's still pretty effective for side hustles.
For example, taking planes—he accidentally mentioned this unimportant thing three times; totally wasted.
But Hachiman finally understood why Lord Luo wasn't interested in Mount Phoenix.
Damn, it's far! And remote!
This world, in many ways, is no different from Hachiman's original home. So this world's version of China also has Qinghai Province, the Bayan Har Mountains, and even the ancient Tang-Tubo Road.
Speaking of that ancient road—it's legendary. Here's the story: back in the Tang Dynasty, a rich and beautiful noblewoman suddenly felt that just hooking up with Tang Dynasty heartthrobs wasn't enough, so she decided to expand her "business." She came through here into Tubo, seduced the highest-ranking official in Tubo, had a bunch of kids with him, and after he died (maybe from exhaustion), she became the most badass woman in all of Tubo—no competition.
This shows that human society beginning with matriarchal clans is totally scientific. No matter how strong the bull is, it can't outlast the field—whether it's a wet field or a dry one.
Not to mention, do you seriously think a Tang Dynasty beauty was ever "dry"? Don't joke. If she wasn't "flooded," your ancestors' graves must be spitting fire, okay?
Anyway, getting off track. This isn't about how women a thousand years ago seduced men, it's about how modern god slayers go on vacation.
Back to the topic. To be fair, even though it's far, remote, with more birds than people, the scenery of the Bayan Har Mountains is actually quite nice.
Hachiman is standing there now. He looks up and sees towering terrain, rolling mountains, and a majestic, unbroken mountain range.
He entered China more than a week ago, and the journey has been eye-opening.
First off, the environmental protection is excellent—no smog at all.
While introducing Western civilization, Chinese people here have preserved their own culture quite well.
The people's clothing is modern, but their spirit and demeanor are very different from what he remembers.
In this country, the most worshipped celebrities are martial artists. Wherever there are people, Hachiman can feel the strong martial culture.
Damn, it's like a modernized wuxia world, seriously!
Why say that? Because in this country, what you see most isn't the kind of martial arts from his "Yomi" organization that mirrors his past life, but the bizarre styles straight out of wuxia novels—where people use internal energy to unleash divine or demonic arts.
Don't ask how he knows—he's a god slayer, okay? The strongest kind of clueless person on Earth. This kind of physique naturally attracts all kinds of weirdness.
In short, being "clueless" is now a label that explains everything. If you don't get it, you're not cool enough yet—keep working on it.
So yeah, keep striving to be awesomely clueless, young one.
Back to the topic again: over the past week, Hachiman has met countless martial artists, giving him the impression that this country has no shortage of them.
And the allies of Yomi in this country aren't even part of that martial artist circle—the styles are just too different. Like, could Dragon Ball and Jormungand (Queen of Arms) ever have a fun conversation together? Obviously not.
Anyway, Hachiman has given up trying to make sense of this world. He's tired of roasting it.
Zaimokuza can't you choose one genre? Do you really need this many?
The more he gets involved, the more he realizes that this is the mainstream martial arts style in China. If all of this stems from the fact that the true top ruler of this country is a god slayer famous for martial arts, then it's safe to say that god slayer is probably a hardcore Wuxia fangirl.
He suddenly feels like mourning the gods that girl defeated—what a way to go.
So yeah, even gods should read wuxia novels—know your enemy, man. If you look down on wuxia, your butt is doomed.
As Hachiman got closer to the Bayan Har Mountains, he encountered fewer and fewer people.
Once he entered the mountains, even the Darkness members stopped tagging along—or maybe, they didn't dare to.
Hachiman didn't blame them. Just surviving in this country makes them brave in his eyes.
At this time, the Bayan Har Mountains were experiencing heavy snowfall.
Not that soft, dorky snow you can't even have a snowball fight with—but the big, fierce kind.
Worse yet, it wasn't consistent—snowing then stopping, teasing you non-stop.
Due to the high elevation and vast area, the mountains weren't particularly steep, more like gently sloping.
When snow came, thick black clouds would burst over from the other side of the peaks, swirling across the sky, sweeping dense snowflakes onto travelers.
That feeling? Pure bliss.
But only if you're a super clueless badass.
As one of the world's only seven super clueless badasses, Hachiman clearly qualifies to call it bliss.
"Achoo!" Sneezing, Hachiman flipped off the sky while hiking through the mountains. "Who the hell is cursing me? Is it you Zaimokuza? Don't let me find out!"
A man knows his own business. Hachiman vaguely felt that what he's been doing lately has been kinda reckless. Probably plenty of people cursing him behind his back.
The ridges of the Bayan Har Mountains were wide and flat like plains. In the valleys between mountains, herds of yaks and sheep wandered far and near. The sunny slopes were covered in grass meadows, like green velvet blankets, dotted here and there with nomadic huts.
Hachiman's way of asking for directions was simple: whenever he saw someone, he asked, "How do I get to Mount Phoenix?" and the answer was always a look like he was nuts, followed by the person walking away without a word.
He lost it after being treated like that for the umpteenth time.
After adding a bit of bluntness and force to his approach, he finally found out the reason.
To the locals, the Phoenix Mountain clan is taboo.
Because that clan isn't human—or at least, they used to be human.
Asking about them is like saying you don't want to be human anymore. Dead people don't count as people. Shows how much that clan rejects outsiders.
Anyway, enough rambling. Thanks to the "enthusiastic" and "honest" help of the locals, Hachiman finally figured out the direction of Mount Phoenix.
And he also confirmed one thing—his version of China definitely didn't have this place.
Because after walking that direction for a few days, he arrived at a place called Jusenkyo (Cursed Spring Village).
It was a region full of hot springs of all sizes.
Normally, a place like this would be perfect for tourism, and the people here are just as passionate about tourism as those in Hachiman's home world. The weird part? No one's here.
The only signs of human presence were tall bamboo poles sticking out of the springs and a wooden sign that looked like it had been standing for who knows how long.
As for the writing on the sign, it was actually in Jinwen, or Bronze Inscriptions—characters carved into bronze vessels from the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
Hachiman couldn't read it. Just recognizing it as Jinwen already meant he'd read a lot of books.
Hachiman could even bet that regular people wouldn't be able to enter this place at all.
Because here, there wasn't a trace of spiritual energy in the air, and gravity was about ten times stronger than elsewhere. Even though Hachiman couldn't do some dimension-slicing move, he could tell this place was spatially separated from the outside world.
Looks like the Phoenix Mountain clan is really something else.