In Ji Yuan's opinion, these water creatures were not afraid of Gao Tianming and his wife Xia Qiu at all, but they were not the kind that would act recklessly without any reverence. No matter how active they were, the middle position was still empty so that Gao Tianming and his wife could quickly reach Ji Yuan and pay their respects.
"Master Gao, Madam Gao, long time no see. If I had known that Tianshui Lake was so lively, I should have come earlier."
Ji Yuan said this while politely returning the greeting. Yan Fei also bowed and gave a brief greeting.
"Master Gao Hu, Madam Gao!"
"Hahahaha, Mr. Ji, you're here to visit my Tianshui Lake, which makes my humble abode shine. And Mr. Yan, seeing that your divine palace is full and your aura is round, it seems that your martial arts have also improved greatly. The two of you quickly follow me into the abode to rest!"
"Obedience is worse than respect!" "Thank you very much!"
At the cordial invitation of Gao Tianming and his wife, and surrounded by the curiosity of the surrounding aquatic creatures, Ji Yuan and Yan Fei entered the dazzling and magnificent water palace not far away.
As soon as he entered the water palace, Yan Fei clearly felt the changes. The water inside suddenly became much clearer, and the flow was so light that it seemed to be there and not there. Compared with being on the shore, it didn't take much effort for his body to move forward.
"Sir, please, my water palace has been under construction for many years, and it has been improved bit by bit. I dare not say how great this water palace is, but in the entire water area of Zuyue Country, Tianshui Lake is definitely the most suitable place for aquatic creatures to live."
Gao Tianming walked and pointed to various places, introducing to Ji Yuan the functions of those buildings and what styles of the mortal world they came from. It felt like he was commenting on a work of art.
"Mr. Gao, those water creatures seem to lack respect for you and Madam Ling?"
Ji Yuan asked this deliberately and Gao Tianming laughed.
"They are just kids, it's normal for them to be a little curious. If they have offended Mr. Ji, Gao would like to apologize to him on their behalf!"
Gao Tianming bowed as he spoke, and Ji Yuan just smiled and shook his head, which made the former secretly excited, thinking that Mr. Ji must have a better impression of him.
Gao Tianming's understanding of Ji Yuan came largely from Ying Feng. Knowing the conditions of Tianshui Lake should be a plus in Mr. Ji's mind. It seemed that this was indeed the case. Of course, this was not a show, as Tianshui Lake had always been like this.
To Ji Yuan, the Tianshui Lake Water Palace looked very exquisite and magnificent from the outside, but once inside, it was like a large amusement maze, with novel designs and strange buildings hidden everywhere, and all kinds of fish swimming around and playing.
After a quick tour, they finally arrived at the Water Palace Hall decorated with colorful fluorescent water plants. Ji Yuan, Yan Fei, Gao Tianming and his wife all took their seats. Various snacks, fruits and drinks were brought up by the aquatic creatures in the lake.
"Sir, is my Tianshui Lake still pleasing to your eyes?"
Ji Yuan sipped the wine in the glass and gave a reply that was irrelevant to the question.
"No wonder His Highness Ying likes to come to you so much."
"Hahahaha, Mr. Ji, you are too kind. By the way, when His Highness Ying came to my place, he spent more than half of his time praising you. He was full of praise for some of your wonderful techniques. More importantly, His Highness Ying admired your character. He even said that if there is only one immortal cultivator worthy of respect, it must be you, sir!"
"Yes, my husband is right. His Highness Ying really respects you and praises you to everyone he meets!"
This is exaggerated, really exaggerated. The couple spoke for Ying Feng to the point of exaggeration. Ji Yuan was puzzled. It felt as if he didn't take care of Ying Feng on a regular basis or even abused him.
"Sir, when His Highness Ying and I, Gao, and others meet in private, he is always distressed, intentionally or unintentionally. I wonder what you think of him. His Highness Ying may be too shy to ask you himself. Why don't you tell me about it?"
Ji Yuan couldn't help but smile. He could see and feel that Ying Feng was very respectful to him, but Ying Feng was not someone who was thin-skinned.
"I will talk to His Highness Ying about this matter in person next time I see him."
"Well, that's fine, haha, that's fine too!"
Ji Yuan's answer made Gao Tianming feel a little embarrassed, so he changed the subject and took the initiative to mention to Ji Yuan the chaos in Zu Yue Kingdom in recent years. Of course, what he cared about was definitely not the intrigues and people's livelihood issues among mortals in the court and the public, but the situation beyond human nature in Zu Yue.
It is most appropriate to describe the situation in Zu Yue Kingdom as ghosts and monsters everywhere. As the saying goes, when a country is about to perish, there will be evil spirits. This is the current situation in Zu Yue Kingdom. Although some powerful evil spirits dare not go too far, all kinds of evil spirits have begun to appear because of the weakening of Shintoism. The horror legends in some remote rural areas are slowly becoming reality. This has also led to the rise of a group of new professions in Zu Yue Kingdom, namely the group of exorcists.
When Ji Yuan heard this, although he had some thoughts in his mind, he deliberately asked another question.
"Exorcist?"
"Yes, they are exorcists. They have some abilities as practitioners, but they are very shallow. They usually have martial arts skills and some small spells to deal with ghosts and evil things. Although they also consider themselves practitioners, strictly speaking, it is a profession to make a living, not much different from scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans."
"Oh, Ji probably knows who they are."
After listening to it, Ji Yuan understood. In fact, he had met many people like this. Du Changsheng was similar to this kind of person. In terms of cultivation, he was even better. However, Du Changsheng himself had a very poor foundation in martial arts.
The existence of exorcists is actually a supplement to the weakness of Shinto. In this chaotic era, several exorcist sects began to recruit apprentices, trained a large number of disciples in a dozen or twenty years, and then continued to develop and roam in various regions, which not only ensured a certain level of public security in the world, but also made a living.
"Most of them have no access to the orthodox immortal way, and some even think that the immortals in the world are just like them. Gao has also come into contact with many exorcists, and to be honest, most of them don't have any real heart to pursue the Tao."
It's understandable that they just want to make a living, and Ji Yuan doesn't look down on this kind of people. Just like the wizard he met on the beach, he still has some outstanding qualities.
However, Gao Tianming, a demon who has achieved great success in cultivation, generally would not even look at such a mage who is not even of the ninth rate. So why did he suddenly talk about this matter with Ji Yuan in such a short time? Ji Yuan found it somewhat strange.
Before Ji Yuan asked, Gao Tianming changed his tone and lowered his voice and spoke to Ji Yuan seriously.
"But Mr. Ji, there is an exorcist among them. To be more precise, there is a legend in the school of exorcists that has always concerned me. It mentioned the strange words 'the evil star appears in the black wasteland, the sky cracks, the earth collapses, the ten realms rise from the ancient times, and the sun cries and disperses the sun in the sky'."
"Black Wasteland?"
Seeing that Ji Yuan grasped the key point of the words, Gao Tianming nodded.
"Yes, the methods of this school of exorcists are crude and not very sophisticated, but they know about the 'Black Wasteland'. Gao occasionally goes to some mortal cities to buy some things. After accidentally hearing about it once, he took the initiative to approach a wizard and asked him about the Black Wasteland indirectly. He found that this person actually didn't know whether the catchphrase of his school was true or not, nor did he know where the Black Wasteland was. He only knew that it was a place where demons gathered and mortals were not allowed to go there."
Ji Yuan frowned and said nothing, waiting for Gao Tianming to continue. The latter did not stop narrating and continued.
"After Gao confirmed it again and again, I realized that they only knew this saying that was circulated in the sect. There was no excessive explanation, and they just regarded it as a prophecy of a catastrophe. This group of exorcists has been migrating from extremely remote places since ancient times, and only stopped when they arrived at Zuyue Country. It is said that their ancestors' teachings required them to come here, and at least they had to pass through the Three Veins Land and stop in the south. It has been at least a thousand years since they arrived at Zuyue Country. I don't know if it is bragging."
"South of the Three Veins?"
Ji Yuan repeated it in a deep voice. He had never heard this statement before, but in Gao Tianming's eyes, the way Ji Yuan frowned and repeated it seemed like he had thought of something.
"Sir, do you know anything?"
Seeing Ji Yuan shook his head slightly, Gao Tianming did not ask any further questions and continued.
"The magicians of that sect don't know either. They only know that their ancestors had reached a place where they could stop, perhaps including some kind of border of the Zuyue Kingdom. It was also because of this incident that Gao frequently came into contact with these groups of exorcists, but he never met a similar one again. But this incident made Gao feel a little uneasy. It has been like a thorn in his throat, but he has no suitable person to talk to. He originally planned to tell the Dragon King, but he hasn't seen His Highness in recent years, let alone the Dragon King..."
After Gao Tianming finished speaking, he saw that Ji Yuan had not said anything for a long time, and even seemed a little dazed. After waiting for a while, he looked at Yan Fei who was confused the whole time, and then called out a few times.
"Sir, Mr. Ji? What's your opinion?"
Ji Yuan was not distracted, but was thinking about Gao Tianming's words. No matter what he was thinking in his mind, when he heard Gao Tianming's question, he just shook his head on the surface.
In the following time, Ji Yuan was basically in a state of trance. No matter whether it was the singing and dancing in the water palace or the new topic brought up by Gao Tianming, he just dealt with it in a perfunctory manner. On the contrary, Yan Fei and Gao Tianming were chatting excitedly, and their discussion on martial arts was also very heated.
It was just a normal visit, and Gao Tianming just wanted to establish a good relationship with Ji Yuan. He didn't have any excessive expectations. That afternoon, after trying to keep Ji Yuan and Yan Fei to no avail, he politely sent them directly to the shore of Tianshui Lake.
At this moment, Gao Tianming and his wife were standing on the water, with rippling water under their feet, while Ji Yuan and Yan Fei were standing on the shore. The two sides greeted each other and were about to part. Before leaving, Ji Yuan suddenly asked Gao Tianming.
"Master Gao Hu, does the mage you mentioned earlier have a specific residence?"
Gao Tianming seemed to have expected this. He took out a talisman paper folded into a triangle from his sleeve and handed it to Ji Yuandao with both hands.
"Mr. Ji, this is the amulet sold by the wizard I met. Three years ago, they lived in a mansion in Pomegranate Lane in Shuanghua City."
"Well, thank you, Lord Gao Hu. I'll take my leave now." "I'll take my leave too!"
"Have a good trip, Mr. Ji. Have a good trip, Brother Yan. I will see you off soon!"
After the two parties saluted again, Ji Yuan took Yan Fei and walked towards the distant shore, while Gao Tianming and Xia Qiu slowly sank into the lake.
... ...
PS: I wish you all a happy Children's Day, and I also ask for some monthly votes.