Chapter 329 The Destiny of the Three of Us

The three of them took several group photos under the waterfall. The one Chen Yuan was most satisfied with was the one he took standing between the two sisters. In the frozen picture, Jiang Ning held his arm and raised the corners of her lips calmly, while Jiang Yao on the other side tilted her head and stretched out her hand to make a “V” victory sign.

The two sisters’ hair was stained with water droplets from their previous fight, and their trouser legs were also wet.

Fortunately, the sun was very strong at noon, and soon after they started climbing, their clothes were dried during the climb.

It was noon.

The sun is hot enough to make people dizzy.

After leaving the refreshing waterfall, it was still early to reach the top of the mountain. The three of them could only climb up patiently. The sweat beads flowing down their foreheads soon covered their faces.

Jiang Ning took out alcohol wipes from the bag she was carrying and kept wiping the sweat off her face so that her eyes wouldn’t be blurred by the sweat.

It was a completely different state from playing in the cold spring water just now.

“Is it still spring? Why do I feel like we have entered summer early?” Jiang Yao took each step softly, leaning diagonally on Chen Yuan’s shoulder.

At the same time it slowed down his pace.

She had lost her excitement and looked listless.

“It’ll only take two hours. We’ll need to climb for another half an hour, Yaoyao,” Chen Yuan took the wet wipes from Jiang Ning and applied it to her forehead. “We’ll get to Qilin Gate in half an hour. There are many places to eat there. I saw in the guide that there’s a restaurant that sells steamed duck with fermented rice wine that’s been open for more than 40 years.”

“Really?” A gleam of light finally appeared in her eyes.

“Of course. Actually, I’m starving now. Let’s go eat.”

Jiang Ning listened to Chen Yuan’s words and imagined the owner of the shop bringing the fragrant duck with fermented rice wine to the table, and taking a bite to reveal the greasy skin. She immediately swallowed her saliva, and her strength recovered a little.

To be honest, she had actually wanted to back out before this, and decided to go back to the waterfall to take a bath and play in the water, and then go down the mountain in the afternoon.

It was too tiring to continue climbing.

Chen Yuan turned around, reached out and held Jiang Ning’s hands, pulling one at a time.

The difference between regular exercise and no exercise is too obvious.

Yaoyao was so tired that she was about to stick out her tongue like a puppy. On the other hand, Jiang Ning was not so tired that her legs became weak. Instead, she climbed more and more vigorously, adjusting her breathing all the time and taking one step at a time.

From time to time, she would go to the steep cliff to take a look at the vast and beautiful scenery, open her arms and enjoy the spring breeze.

He seemed to enjoy this relaxing feeling.

Chen Yuan occasionally stopped to look at her back, and his inner feelings became so mixed that it was hard to describe. She just had this unique charm.

The three of them took a breath, then supported each other and walked up the stairs. The long mountain road seemed to stretch without end, but the way they stood together represented another end in Chen Yuan’s heart.

This is also the inner answer he hopes to find when he brings the two sisters on this trip.

Another forty minutes later.

“Then…is that the memorial archway?”

Jiang Yao raised her head and pointed at the red-painted wooden archway in front of her, her tone urgent and her eyes full of infinite anticipation.

Chen Yuan shielded his eyes from the sunlight with his hands and took a closer look.

“It’s Qilin Gate. We’re finally here. I’m so tired.”

The mountain he chose was not very high in altitude, but the steps were unexpectedly steep, and he needed to keep his body steady with every step. Although the scenery was beautiful, it was not popular with everyone.

Chen Yuan was in good physical condition, but when he arrived at Qilin Gate, he was still so tired that he couldn’t help swearing.

“I can’t do it anymore. Let me rest for a minute before going up again.” He leaned against a rock next to him and waved his hand.

“It’s just the last few steps. Let’s go eat, Master. Let’s go~” Jiang Yao pulled his sleeve and spoke in an almost pleading tone.

To Jiang Yao, Qilin Gate in her eyes is not an archway, but the fragrant fermented duck that she has been longing for.

“Okay…let’s go!”

Chen Yuan took a deep breath and stood up. He put his arm around Jiang Yao’s shoulders, held Ning Ning’s hand, and mustered up his strength to continue climbing.

……

The easiest way to make people feel happy is to fill their stomachs.

The three hungry people couldn’t wait to enter the restaurant. The proprietress received them with some surprise because they were the only customers all day.

Jiang Yao was indeed hungry.

If Jiang Ning hadn’t stopped her, she might have ordered a table full of delicious dishes. Seeing the eight-treasure rice pudding, fermented rice balls and fried shrimps on the menu, she wanted to try everything, but her stomach was so small, how could she possibly hold so many things.

Finally, they ordered a duck in fermented rice, eight-treasure rice pudding and fried shrimp, and they also ordered a bowl of ramen.

When the fragrant whole duck was served, the three of them put on gloves and shared the meal. It was certainly very tasty, with a strong smell of wine neutralizing the greasiness of the fat. The meat was very tender and had a very unique taste.

While eating, Jiang Yao praised the dish several times. When the proprietress heard it, she was so happy that she couldn’t stop smiling. In the end, she gave the dish a plate of cold beef.

……

“It feels so good, eh~” Jiang Yao touched her round belly and let out a satisfied sigh.

Chen Yuan and Jiang Ning beside her had also put down their chopsticks long ago and were leaning against the backs of their chairs, experiencing the happiness of having a full stomach.

Chen Yuan even narrowed his eyes slightly and yawned after a moment.

He was used to taking a nap, and after lunch he couldn’t help feeling sleepy.

“What do you say, take a break or continue climbing?” Jiang Ning asked helplessly as she watched the two people collapse.

“what time is it?”

“11 o’clock…” Jiang Ning took out her phone and turned on the screen: “No, it’s 12:31,”

“Wait until the sun is a little weaker before setting off, otherwise it will be too hot.”

“Is there still sun now?”

“Uh… no?”

Chen Yuan was stunned. He looked at Jiang Ning’s puzzled expression, then suddenly stood up from his chair and walked to the door of the store.

Look up and look at the sky.

Something shocking happened.

Just now when they climbed to Qilin Gate, the sunlight was so hot that it seemed to melt people. But after just half an hour of dining, large patches of clouds that were driven from nowhere covered the sky, and the surroundings became dark in an instant.

A wind with a smell of earth blew up, and the unkempt plastic bags that others had thrown on the ground in front of the restaurant flew up in the wind, and the empty cans rolled around with a “cracking” sound.

It suddenly became very cool outside.

The dry feeling disappeared, and Chen Yuan only felt a gust of wind blowing in from his cuffs and invading into the layers between his clothes.

“It’s actually cloudy.” Chen Yuan scratched his head in disbelief.

Fortunately, everyone was wearing thick clothes when they went out, otherwise the temperature difference between sunny and cloudy days would be so big that people would definitely catch a cold.

“The wind is blowing.” Jiang Ning came over and accompanied him to check the situation outside.

She took two steps at a time and jumped down the stairs, ignoring her flying hair. She squinted her eyes and looked back at the mountain road she had walked on. Standing under the archway, she could not see the bottom which was obscured by the lush forest, but she could see into the distance.

All I see is the sky high and the mountains vast.

“Where are we now?” she asked Chen Yuan softly.

“We’ve reached Qilin Gate, which should be halfway to the top of the mountain. We wasted a lot of time playing in the water there. It’s okay. We didn’t come here to climb to the top. If we can’t make it, we can go down now.”

Chen Yuan thought about it and suggested.

Because he saw the fatigue in Jiang Yao’s eyes. Yao Yao didn’t like sports to begin with, so forcing her to climb to the top was a bit too much. “Since we’re here, we’ll regret it if we don’t reach the top.”

As he expected, Jiang Ning suddenly uttered such words.

As a biological sister, she knows Yaoyao too well. Sometimes Chen Yuan would be soft-hearted, but she would not.

Jiang Ning knew very well that Yaoyao’s stance on many things was not firm and she needed to be forced to do things, so she would do them. Otherwise, this naughty sister would back down from everything.

“Then… I have no objection,” Chen Yuan came back to his senses and asked, “Yaoyao, have you rested? Let’s continue climbing.”

“Didn’t we just rest for five minutes?” Jiang Yao’s eyes gradually widened on her cute face.

She was very puzzled where these two people got the energy from. Wouldn’t it be more comfortable to just stay there lazily for a while than to lift their legs and continue moving forward?
Outside the restaurant.

Jiang Ning sneered, took Chen Yuan’s hand, and pulled him forward.

The two of them walked together on this narrow stone road, shoulder to shoulder, enjoying the cool breeze.

“We’re leaving first. You can rest here by yourself. Bye.”

Her voice carried far into the restaurant.

“Hello? Hello!”

Seeing that she could no longer see the two people, Jiang Yao looked around for a long time, but no matter how she called out, there was no response. She panicked, picked up her bag, and got up to chase after them.

She only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her sister and Chen Yuan.

In fact, the two did not walk far, but stopped next to a vending machine to study what drinks to drink.

“You two are just abandoning me like this?” Jiang Yao’s voice was filled with infinite grievance, her brows were furrowed, and she stomped her feet before she even came close.

“Isn’t this waiting for you? Come on, what do you want to drink?”

“Just drink whatever is available.” She pouted and walked awkwardly to Chen Yuan.

next second.

Chen Yuan took a breath and felt a burning pain in his waist.

Jiang Yao turned a deaf ear to his screams.

“I want to drink Scream. I haven’t had one in a long time.”

“Then I’ll take one too.”

……

In the afternoon.

Thanks to the replenished energy and the fact that the scorching sun was no longer hanging overhead, the climbing process was much easier than in the morning.

The breeze caresses the green waves in the mountains, making people feel relaxed and happy.

It only took the three of them an hour to reach Yaoguang Temple near the top of the mountain. Looking at the old blue bricks and tiles, the traces of time were left on the mottled walls. Even though it had seen countless tourists, the ground at the entrance of the temple was still solid.

It is hard to imagine how much effort it takes to build such a temple on the mountain. So many building materials need to be transported up from the bottom of the mountain. Only wood and stones can be obtained locally.

As soon as I entered it.

The three were shocked by the solemn atmosphere in the courtyard. They didn’t dare to speak loudly, but just looked around with curious eyes.

There is a big locust tree in the yard that has sprouted new buds. It is tied with red ropes and has countless small wooden signs hanging on it. They must be proof of their visit left by tourists.

The rest of the buildings are very quaint. In the distance stands a four-story black tower. Further away, there is a huge bronze bell on the platform on the cliff, but there is a sign prohibiting tourists from climbing.

Jiang Yao originally wanted to go up and take a look, but had to give up after seeing this.

The temple was so quiet that one would think it had been sleeping for thousands of years. If there were no signs of sweeping the ground and not a single fallen leaf, Chen Yuan would have really thought that there was no one here and only solidified buildings.

The most outrageous thing was that the three of them walked into the side yard and found a small pond made of stones. It was full of green algae and there was a word inscribed on a stone in the middle.

The word is “Qingxinquan”.

There are countless carps in the pond, with whiskers at the corners of their mouths, their bodies are either golden or red, and each one is very fat.

“Is there no one here? Can we go in and take a look?” Jiang Yao asked, unable to suppress her curiosity.

“It’s not good…” Jiang Ning hesitated.

“What’s wrong with that? Tourist attractions are for people to visit, and we’ve already paid for the tickets.”

Chen Yuan directly pulled the two sisters to the side hall. It was dark there and there was no one in sight. After they stepped in, the ground seemed to be covered with a layer of dirt, and the atmosphere became more serious.

In the middle is a gold-painted Buddha with statues of two boys sitting under it.

A stick of incense as thick as an arm was burning, and the smell of incense was wafting into the air.

The strange thing is that Chen Yuan and his friends walked around almost the entire temple, but they didn’t see a single monk. The whole temple seemed alive and yet dead. There were traces of people everywhere, but they were as vague as smoke.

As they walked around, the weather became increasingly gloomy. The three bored people had no choice but to retreat. However, after walking a short distance forward, they found someone around a corner.

It was an old woman who looked haggard, with a hunched back. She was moving things into the dark room and muttering to herself.

“I understand!” Chen Yuan suddenly spoke.

“what happened?”

“The guide says that there is an old lady on this mountain who is very accurate in fortune-telling. She works every time. Many people go up the mountain to ask her to tell their fortunes. It should be this old lady.”

“real or fake?”

Jiang Yao was a little surprised.

She has always been in awe of these invisible and intangible things. In addition, she had just passed by a deserted temple, so she was full of speculations.

“I don’t know if it’s true or not, I must try it when I come.”

“Then you go. I’m a little scared.” Jiang Yao shrank her neck and stayed where she was, refusing to move.

Chen Yuan has been an atheist since he was a child. Thanks to a good education, he only believes in science.

He was very excited and took the two sisters with him.

After climbing a few steps and arriving in front of her, he couldn’t hear what the old woman was saying, it sounded like a spell.

“Mother-in-law? I want to ask, why is there no one in that temple?”

“…”

He finished this sentence.

It stopped for a full half minute.

The old woman raised her head and looked at him, her cloudy pupils staring at Chen Yuan.

Looking closely from this close, the skin on the old man’s face was like wrinkled brown paper, with dark black spots everywhere.

“The monk has gone up the mountain…please come in.” She said in a hoarse voice.

Chen Yuan was shocked.

He came here alone, and the two sisters were waiting for him below.

How could this old woman say the word “you guys”.

“Does mother-in-law know that I’m here to tell fortunes?”

“Little Shan Gong, you are not here to tell fortunes, but to tell your marriage,” the old woman suddenly waved her hand mysteriously, “You are a very lucky little Shan Gong.”

(End of this chapter)