Fangzheng turned his head and touched the fire stick …
"Enjoy the autumn scenery!" Red Boy immediately added.
"You're smart. Hurry up and get up. Today, our One Finger Village will head to Mt. Tongtian's Tongtian Peak to look at the autumn. It's said that we can see Mount Changbai's Heaven Lake from there, "said Fangzheng.
When he heard that they were going out to play, not only with their own family, but also with a large group of people? What do children like the most? Naturally, it was to join in the fun! The more people, the more fun, the more delicious food! This wasn't going out with Fangzheng to play, where they would either starve or suffer from the cold. This was real fun.
Therefore, the sleepy Red Boy immediately jumped out. Monkey stood up as well. Even Lone Wolf, who was sprawled on the ground in hopes of gaining sympathy, jumped up. Then, he suddenly realized that something was amiss. Hence, he lay down again and looked as though he was in pain. He shouted, "Master, it hurts … Junior Brother was too ruthless. I want compensation!"
"Alright, the compensation is for you to stay and watch the house. You can sleep until the end of time." As Fangzheng spoke, he walked past her.
Lone Wolf was stunned. Was this the rhythm of not bringing him along? This won't do! Hence, Lone Wolf jumped up and chased after him. He wagged his tail and said shamelessly, "Master, I realized that my body has been recovering very quickly recently. It was still painful just now, but it doesn't hurt anymore."
Fangzheng was rendered speechless. Why were his disciples so thick-skinned? He had completely forgotten that his skin was the thickest …
Monkey took Squirrel out of his villa's huge bed. However, the fellow was lying down lazily. He sat up and asked where they were going. When he heard that they were going to play, he flipped over and slumped over Monkey's shoulder to sleep.
Everyone just smiled at him and didn't bother to wake him up.
He washed his face, cleaned the temple hall, and started a fire to cook. When he was done, it was almost dawn. The big roosters at the foot of the mountain crowed loudly. On the horizon, the sun peeked out and a new day had begun.
When he reached the foot of the mountain, he saw the villagers of One Finger Village coming out happily. They formed groups of threes and fives and formed groups of twos and threes. They gathered together and chatted happily.
When they saw Fangzheng leading Lone Wolf, Monkey, Squirrel, and Red Boy down the mountain, they went forward to greet him.
Fangzheng pressed his palms together and returned their greetings.
Monkey, Red Boy, and Squirrel followed suit and pressed their palms together in return.
Only Lone Wolf was caught by Mengmeng as soon as he went down the mountain. Mengmeng rode him and they ran around to play. In addition, as the only wolf in One Finger Village, he had successfully taken over the role of captain of One Finger Village's Chinese rural security dogs. The moment he went down the mountain, he howled and a large group of Chinese rural dogs ran over to report to him.
A group of children thought it was fun and joined in. For a moment, the streets were filled with children and dogs. It was a mess.
When the adults saw this, they just laughed and reminded the children to be careful, but they had no intention of stopping them.
When Wang Yougui, Tan Juguo, Yang Hua, Yang Ping, and the others were done with the headcount, they left behind some people to guard the village, while the rest set off for the Sky-Reaching Mountain Range.
The Mt. Tongtian mountain range had a total of three peaks. The Mt. Tongtian was the tallest and also the innermost. Fangzheng had heard from a young age that one could see Mount Changbai's Heaven Lake from the Mt. Tongtian mountain range. However, when he really grew up and learned geography, he realized that it was all nonsense to fool children.
They could indeed see the shadow of Mount Changbai from their location, but to see the Heaven Lake? That was overthinking. The Heaven Lake was located on the main peak of Mount Changbai, and Mt. Tongtian was less than two thousand meters tall. How could one see the Heaven Lake in the crater from that height? One had to know that even on Changbai Mountain, one had to lower his head to look down. To see the Heaven Lake from another mountain, one had to be much taller.
"Patron Wang, you really cheated us back then. We thought we could see the Heaven Lake when we went up the mountain, "said Fangzheng with a wry smile.
"Haha! If I didn't lie to you, would lazy bums like you be willing to wake up and ascend the mountain with us?" Wang Yougui did not blush at all. Instead, he said smugly.
Fangzheng shook his head helplessly before he suddenly recalled something. He asked, "Patron Wang, if This Penniless Monk remembers correctly, one can indeed see a lake from the Mt. Tongtian mountain range. What lake is that? It's quite beautiful. However, that lake is rather mysterious. One can only see it occasionally. Most of the time, it's surrounded by thick fog. "
Wang Yougui's expression turned solemn when he heard that. "I know about the lake you mentioned, but I'm not sure. It's best you ask Secretary Tan. Back then, he went there … "
Fangzheng looked at Wang Yougui's solemn expression and felt puzzled. It was just a lake. Was there a need to go to such lengths? Could there be some kind of explanation for the lake? Out of curiosity, Fangzheng sought out Tan Juguo and voiced his doubts.
Tan Juguo's smiling face stiffened when he heard that. Following that, he took out his tobacco pipe and took two deep puffs before saying, "The lake you mentioned isn't a lake. It's a lake. In the past, many experts came here to do research. As it's made up of many lakes and is perennially shrouded in fog, people call it the Thousand Fog Lake Cluster. However, the elders here don't call it that. They just call her Ganfanpen.
As for why it's called that, there are many theories. There's a story that goes around among the people. It's said that a lad named Jin Liang entered the mountains to pick herbs. Later, he encountered a hungry grandpa. When Jin Liang saw this, he gave the rations he brought with him to the grandpa. After the grandpa finished eating, he left without saying a word of thanks. In the future, Jin Liang would encounter the elder whenever he went up the mountain. The elder would always take the initiative to ask for food, and Jin Liang would always hand his rations to the elder even if he had to starve. One day, the elder suddenly came to Jin Liang and didn't want any food. Instead, he gave him a Ganfanpen and said, "This basin can produce dried rice with water. You won't have to starve in the future."
Jin Liang brought the Ganfanpen back and tested it. Indeed, as long as water was added, dried rice would be produced. He was immediately overjoyed. However, this news was made known to his sister-in-law. Hence, she encouraged his brother to ask for the Ganfanpen. One time, Jin Liang went up the mountain to pick herbs. His brother and sister-in-law secretly followed him and saw Jin Liang using the Ganfanpen to cook. His sister-in-law immediately rushed forward and snatched the Ganfanpen. Then, she placed it on Jin Liang's head.
Instantly, the world crumbled as the Ganfanpen exploded, transforming into the present Ganfanpen. The water inside turned into lakes and streams, and the rice inside turned into extremely similar hills. As for Jin Liang's sister-in-law, she died in the explosion. His brother ran, but no matter how he ran, he would always circle back to where he started. Finally, he starved to death in the mountains for three days and three nights.
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