The reason why the camphor tree had its back to Luo Nan was because this camphor tree possessed an extremely human-like appearance. Its crown and branches were naturally shaped as it grew. Looking from afar, one didn't need too much imagination to be able to see an awe-inspiring appearance similar to that of an arhat or a heavenly king in a temple.
Many years of growth had caused the main trunk of the camphor tree to diverge. It was like two thick legs standing upright on the ground. It also had an enormous, clearly defined head. That was the crown of its trunk. In addition, there was a cluster of well-developed side branches that extended over a dozen meters. It was like a thick arm that was stretched out horizontally.
This arm was placed horizontally above the seemingly tranquil ripples of Beishan Lake. The lake water rippled slightly. It vibrated back and forth with the granite patterns of the breakwater that resembled a city wall. There were slight twists and turns, but it didn't cross over this horizontal extension of the thick arm.
"This is the Zujia Wei Gate?"
"Yes. During the Third World War, the earthquake caused the topography of the mountain to change. The flood from upstream poured down in torrents. Soon, it submerged the ancient capital and forced the other cities downstream. But due to topography, coincidence, and other reasons, the flood, which could have caused even greater destruction, stopped here and didn't advance any further. It formed an enormous dammed lake. Although there were many dangerous situations in the following decades, the lake water generally stopped behind this camphor tree. It didn't advance any further. The citizens of Osaka City believed that this tree was mystical, so they used the local folklore to name it 'Wei Gate'. The general idea was that it was an imperial bodyguard that guarded the royal court. And it is rumored that the seed of this tree was transplanted from the sunken Saga County of Kyushu Island. In ancient times, Saga was called Saga, so it was called the Zujia Wei Gate. "
Luo Nan already had a preliminary understanding of the concrete information through his own observations and the information provided by Yin Le. But listening to Yin Le narrate the rather mystical legend like she was telling a story was still a relaxing experience.
Looking at the Zujia Wei Gate now, it really did seem like a powerhouse with a thick and sturdy body. It exerted force with its arm horizontally, forcefully stopping the boundless water waves. And it had its back to the lake surface, disregarding all threats. It was extremely bold and powerful.
It had a sense of beauty.
Of course, it was impossible for the government of Osaka City to completely entrust the safety of the city to a camphor tree. According to the records, when the city of Ban was first established, the builders built a series of dams and other water conservancy projects behind this big tree, completely controlling the possibility of the North Mountain invading Hunan. The semi-abandoned hydroelectric power station that Luo Nan would soon be heading to was one of the results of that time.
The designer of the water conservancy project must have taken into account the beliefs of the people. When building the dam, he left plenty of room for the camphor tree to grow. The 'divine tree' didn't stand on ceremony either. Not only did its thick roots penetrate deep into the ground, a considerable portion of them also extended above the ground. Green moss covered the surface of the tree, giving it an ancient appearance.
Yin Le continued, "Actually, this tree isn't that old, only about a hundred years old. However, its growth is very vigorous, and it's even larger than some thousand-year-old trees. Logically speaking, there should be some abnormalities. It's just that the plant's mutation is relatively mild, and Osaka City's government didn't find any obvious problems after monitoring it for a long period of time, so they left. "
Luo Nan gazed into the distance and muttered, "The incense is quite exuberant."
It was around eight o 'clock in the evening, the time when the citizens would go out and relax. Quite a few residents and tourists came before this camphor tree. According to the local custom, they would go before the tree, high-five, and put their palms together in respect. The stream of people under the tree maintained a relatively plentiful state. They came in an endless stream, and it really did look quite intimidating.
Yin Le flipped through the information and applied what she had learned, "The locals usually worship the gods in the morning, but according to legend, when the flood arrived behind the Zujia Gate, night had fallen. Therefore, the people believe that the power of the Zujia Gate is more abundant at night, and the worship is done after the sun has set. If it was daytime, there wouldn't be so many people. "
Luo Nan nodded slightly. He couldn't blame the citizens of Osaka City for offering large amounts of incense and faith. This camphor tree really did have a bit of spirituality.
Its vitality was exuberant to the point that it was shocking. It was able to absorb large amounts of nutrients from the surrounding earth, the air, the water behind it, and even more distant regions. It was able to effectively distribute these nutrients to its roots and branches. At the same time, it was able to restrain itself, forming a healthy symbiotic relationship with its surroundings. This was already a realm that ordinary plants couldn't achieve. It was basically the truth to say that it was a plant class mutant.
In addition, there were even more special places...
Right now, the yacht was very close to the dam. It couldn't go any closer, so it temporarily dropped the anchor and stayed on the water's surface. Luo Nan used his sight and mental senses to observe from this position. He was silent for a long time.
Yin Le cooperatively stayed silent for a period of time. But a few minutes later, she saw that Luo Nan continued like this. She couldn't help but ask softly, "Mister, is there a direct relationship between this camphor tree and that person's tracks?"
The so-called 'person' was none other than Snake Tongue.
Yin Le's initial goal in coming to Osaka City was to help Luo Nan search for traces of Snake Tongue's body.
Snake Tongue was a famous curse master of the inner world. Last year, she went to Xia City in an out-of-body state to cooperate with Headquarters in an operation to try and harm Luo Nan. Later, the operation failed, and many people saw Luo Nan use a secret technique to capture her. But no one knew whether she was imprisoned or killed.
Therefore, Yin Le and Mrs. Halder weren't the least bit surprised that Luo Nan wanted to search for Snake Tongue's body. As for what Luo Nan was going to do with Snake Tongue's body, whether it was whipping corpses to vent his anger, threatening and torturing them, or using them as medicine, it was none of their business.
Being able to consolidate and deepen their relationship with Luo Nan through these matters was the most important thing.
Yin Le didn't just want to give Luo Nan a good impression through doing things. Before coming here, she and Mrs. Halder had devised quite a few plans on how to improve their relationship with Luo Nan. Over the next few days in Osaka City, she would verify each plan one by one to see which would produce better results.
Judging from the situation just now, Luo Nan wasn't completely indifferent to some of her methods. He wasn't angry either. This was a good start, but what to do next to be just right was still a difficult problem that she had no confidence in. She had no choice but to try.
Yin Le cast her gaze toward Luo Nan once more.
Luo Nan was still looking at the camphor tree in the distance, as well as the figures moving under the camphor tree. He was extremely focused. Yin Le couldn't guess what sort of scene would appear in his eyes and mental senses, but it made her even more curious.
Luo Nan was undoubtedly a mysterious and powerful person. But the deeper she understood, the more she understood that in a certain sense, this person was just a simple and even pure youth.
Powerful strength, malicious intent surrounding him, endlessly pushing him through dangerous trials, special experiences during his childhood, good family education … … All sorts of complex and contradictory conditions were mixed together to form Luo Nan's special personality that was close to having a split personality.
To develop a relationship with such a person. Furthermore, she was in a lower position, so it wasn't easy for her to fawn over him. What's more, she could face a backlash at any time … … Luo Nan's chaotic and ever-changing personality was like a set of rapidly rotating fan blades. They appeared to be one entity under the high-speed state, but they were lethal weapons capable of twisting off fingers in a direct confrontation.
In fact, it was very likely that it would be her neck that was snapped!
Just thinking about it, Yin Le's heartbeat sped up. But thinking about how she had to control a powerful spiritual expert beside her, it was tough for her!
Luo Nan's murmur entered his ears while he was doing his best to harmonize his breathing:
"What a beauty."
Are you talking about me?
Yin Le's heart skipped a beat, but she soon realised that she had expressed the wrong feelings.
This was because Luo Nan had been looking at the shore from beginning to end. His gaze pierced nearly a kilometer of the boundless curtain of night, locking onto a particular point amidst the stream of people coming and going under the camphor tree.
Though Yin Le was also an ability user and a spiritual expert, whether it was her gaze or the distance of her mental senses, they weren't enough to allow her to see the details of the lake shore. She could only indulge her thoughts and speculate: The youth before her really seemed to have reached the age where he was interested in the opposite sex … …
Luo Nan spoke again, this time to Yin Le: "Can the boat dock?"
Yin Le quickly came back to her senses and responded: "There are no docks nearby, but the boat is equipped with fishing boats. We can bypass the breakwater in front and disembark from the eastern region."
"Really? That's great. Our luck isn't bad. "Luo Nan no longer lingered on the scene on the shore after he finished speaking. He turned his head and headed to the lower deck.
Yin Le hurriedly followed behind him. She connected Luo Nan's words together and sorted out his logic once more. She suddenly discovered a difficult problem: "If he goes ashore for the sake of looking at a beautiful woman up close, or even going a step further … … Should I help him? Or should I give him advice? Or should I directly help him?"
The current Luo Nan was quite different from the image of an obedient child in Xia City. With Yin Le's intelligence channels, she obviously wouldn't take the paternity test incident from a few days ago seriously. But the more she did this, the greater the contrast became.
"Logically speaking, it's more likely that I'm wrong. But if what the Madam said is true, then the current Luo Nan is a depressed child who has just awakened his adult consciousness. He has suppressed his instincts because he hasn't been enlightened yet. After arriving in a foreign region like Ban City, he'll lose his usual restraints. It's not impossible for him to suddenly awaken and erupt … … "
While Yin Le's imagination was running wild, she and Luo Nan boarded the fishing boat that was equipped with the yacht. They took a detour to disembark and spent a bit of time walking from the breakwater to Mr. Zuojia Weimen.
The camphor tree appeared even larger and more majestic up close than it did from afar. Yin Le was already able to faintly feel the exuberant life force circulating in the surrounding air at this time. She could also feel the chaotic and disorderly power of faith coming from the worshippers around her.
"The accumulation of a few decades has actually reached this scale! If it's a small religious sect, they can basically use this point to awaken a few ability users who have affinity with this domain. Oh, there are many religious sects in Ban City. Even if most of them don't have a high upper limit, they are still insiders. They shouldn't be blind to this extent. Then … … "
Yin Le's heart was stirred and she looked all around. She had a rather clear standard of search. Soon, she found a monk meditating with his eyes closed in the shadow of an outstretched arm on the west side of the camphor tree.
He was called a monk because this person wore a loose robe similar to a kasaya. His hair was kept extremely short. He looked more like a cultivator who wasn't part of the five elements. The surrounding citizens who came to pay their respects didn't find this person's existence strange at all.
"He's an ability user, but he shouldn't be a Buddhist."
Compared to the Secret Orders that supported half the sky of the inner world, the existence of traditional religions was extremely weak in the context of the new era. At the very least, it was completely disproportionate when compared to the scale that practically monopolized the domain of faith before the war.
However, once an ability user was born among them, they would often have a more distinct characteristic of a religious sect. Yin Le, who was rich in experience, could recognize it with a single glance.
The monk before her clearly didn't possess that characteristic. However, the aura around his body was quite harmonious with that of the Jordan Gate. He was also tainted with the light of faith. He possessed a special quality that was completely different from that of a secular person.
He was an Awakened, and his strength wasn't ordinary. He even had a bonus in the vicinity of the Jordan Gate.
Yin Le furrowed her brows. She felt that she had overlooked too many things in her intelligence gathering work in Ban City. She immediately made up for it and used special channels to conduct an in-depth understanding. She spent two minutes combing through the information. Right when she was about to report it to Luo Nan, the figure of the youth beside her moved slightly. He stepped into the stream of people who were leaving in front of her and went straight back the way he came.
"Mister!" Yin Le subconsciously cried out, but she soon came to her senses. She pursed her lips and didn't say anything. She just followed closely behind.
She thought of what Luo Nan said before and raised her eyes to look forward. Sure enough, there was a woman with a beautiful figure about seven or eight people away. She wore a traditional local kimono. Her head was slightly lowered as she slowly walked forward with the stream of people.
Yin Le couldn't see the woman's face, but she could see the skin on the back of the woman's neck that was slightly exposed. The woman's gait was as white as jade, and the woman's gait was extremely graceful. The surrounding men and women unconsciously turned their gazes to size her up. She could basically confirm that the woman was a beauty above average.
Of course, Yin Le wasn't inferior in the slightest when it came to contorting gazes. This made Luo Nan a bit dissatisfied with her. "Keep a low profile. Don't attract attention."
Yin Le felt quite wronged at this moment. She was stunned for a moment before responding. "Then I'll go gather some intelligence on that person first."
Luo Nan still stared at the woman without letting go. He just nodded in approval.
Yin Le let out a breath of relief. At the same time, she vowed to herself that no matter where she went, she would prepare a flying car or some sort of enclosed vehicle … … At the very least, she would attract Luo Nan's attention and wouldn't cause him any trouble.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
