Translator/Editor:yuheng3107
“Be slightly interested towards Qingluan Academy? Unless you did not have any interest towards this holy place of the whole Empire before?”
The old man stared dumbfounded at the youth for a while, then thought they had a large age gap and that it was natural for him to be unable to understand many thoughts of the youth, so he closed his eyes and rested.
The rain lasted for a very long time, so even as the carriage traveled ten or so li, Lin Xi was able to see the mountains far ahead. However, it still continued to drizzle lightly.
The mountain was very tall and had white snow at its peak. When the light reflected off the mountain, half the mountain was so clear it could be seen.
“That is the Main Vein of the Mountains and Seas (Name of mountain)”
Hearing the movements in the carriage, the old man who wore a straw raincoat did not turn back, saying: “Starting from the Vast East Sea, crossing all the way to the Freezing North Sea Region, it is one of the two largest mountain ranges of our Yun Qin Empire. After we pass through this mountain, we will be close to Qingluan Academy,”
“Qingluan Academy lies behind the mountain?”
Lin Xi looked at the mountains ahead, everything, including the rain, snow, the rocks on the mountains or the reflected sunlight are looked clean and pristine. Beside the carriage was a field of flowers which spread all the way into the mountains. He was extremely fond of this serene and pristine atmosphere.
Below the mountain, there was a village. Many wooden houses could be seen on the even mountain slope. The whole mountain was planted with apricot blossoms which were blossoming, looking like a patch of clouds.
“Uncle Liu, are we travelling from there?” Lin Xi’s gaze was totally attracted by the beauty of the quiet and pristine village, making him uncontrollably ask the old man.
The old man paused for a while and nodded his head, “That is the Apricot Village, the canyon we are going to pass by is behind that village.”
“Apricot Village?” Lin Xi could not help but smile, ” Does it have wine?”
The old man shockingly turned around and looked at Lin Xi, frowning: “If that shop still exists in that village, then they should sell wine, but their wine tastes normal, if we stay here we will lose one more day..”
“No, i just thought of a poem, so I asked.” Lin Xi smiled until the corner of his eyes were curved. He knew that the old man did not know the meaning of his words.
The old man nodded, evidently showing no interest to that poem, so he did not say anything.
As they got closer to the village, Lin Xi was shocked.
In the far horizon on the hill, there were some cows, and on one of them was a young shepherd who wore a straw raincoat.
“Where can a wine house be found to drown his sadness?
A shepherd points to Apricot Flower Village in the distance.”
(Poem by Du Fu, ancient Chinese Poet.)
Although there was no wine in the village, this scene was unexpectedly similar to the one in the poem.
“Uncle Liu, can we stop for a while?” Suddenly, Lin Xi said this to the old man.
The old man paused in his footsteps, slowing down the carriage.
Lin Xi opened a yellow bamboo umbrella, the petals of the Apricot tree were flying in the air as he walked into the field and looked at a wooden house in the village ahead.
There was a stream flowing in front of the house, and a bridge above it.
A woman carrying a basket holding a similar umbrella walked across the bridge. She had an average appearance and clothes, but her purity and innocence was something women in his world definitely did not have. It was something that could not be faked. Based on this point alone, the shepherd, the woman on the bridge and the village was a beautiful scene in his eyes.
“She’s just a normal country girl, is she really that attractive?” Looking at Lin Xi who had fixed his gaze upon the girl for a long time, the old man frowned while saying.
Lin Xi took off his wet shoes. After he got into a comfortable sitting position, he said something he thought was very cool and profound: “Uncle Liu, I was not looking at the girl, I was looking at loneliness.”
“Cough… cough…” the old man looked like he choked on his saliva as he coughed profusely.
“We are reaching Qingluan Academy, Uncle Liu, according to you, there will be many people, mostly of high statuses gathering at Qingluan Academy. Catastrophe comes out of the mouth (Chinese saying), after passing over this mountain, I will stop uttering nonsense.” Lin Xi looked at the old man’s trembling back, and smiled, but he had a serious expression. “But before we pass this mountain, I might as well keep talking nonsense so that I will not be unable to endure it in the future. I currently have the best parents and sister in the world, but sometimes, i inevitably feel lonely.”
“Because no one understands.” Lin Xi opened the curtains again and looked outside and continued saying: “Actually, I am from another world. In that world, there are massive skyscrapers, planes, and trains. I was a normal university student in that world, at my fourth year. I was bout to graduate when I got into a car accident, and when I woke up, I transmigrated into this world, becoming Lin Xi. To be honest, I am very fond of this world which is so pristine, especially when my parents in that world did not even care about me, maybe they don’t even know that I got into a car accident by now. I’ve read many books from this world, and I initially thought that Yun Qin Empire was like the Qin Empire of China in the past, being a cold weapon dynasty. But I never thought about the possibility of the appearance of that the girl who kept asking me questions, and even the appearance of Qingluan Academy. Initially, I did not have much interest towards Qimgluan Academy, because being a rich man’s son in Deerwood Village is also fine by me. Unfortunately, because of the orders of the Mound Lord that appeared with you that day, whose status was equal to the City Mayor in my world, I had no choice but to come with you. I never knew that Qingluan Academy would be such a place, is it a Dao Cultivating Sect or a Wizard’s Academy, will I be able to be like Harry Potter?”
“You asked me why I was so interested to everything on the way, scrutinizing at every detail, including that country girl.’ After pausing momentarily, he continued to speak, : “In actual fact, I am a traveler in this world.”
“What you just said is really a load of rubbish.” The old man’s eyebrows were scrunched together like never before, looking at Lin Xi answer. “Such nonsensical nonsense, you definitely should not talk about it in there.”
Lin Xi looked at the solemn old man and nodded his head, smiling, “I’ve finished my story, Uncle Liu, how about yours? I haven’t heard them from you.”
The old man slightly trembled, taking a deep breath while turning around, slowly breathing out: “I don’t have much of a story, I just stayed at the Frontier Army for some time.”
The carriage passed over a deep and long canyon. As they passed by Apricot Blossom Village and walked into this mountain valley that looked like it came from a fantasy novel, it was dawn, yet when they exited it, it was already nightfall.
Behind this canyon, the spring rain stopped. The scenery was similar to the outside, with plains and mountains, with blossoming Apricots and wild flowers on them.
There was no Village in sight, yet the old man did not pitch a tent as usual, urging the carriage to head north.
Lin Xi surprisingly found out that the heat in the air was getting more and more intense, like it was transitioning from spring to summer. The scenery was also becoming more and more foreign.
“This is the Four Seasons Plain, it is a basin between the Main Vein of the Seas and Mountains and the Sky Ascending Mountain Range. On the way, we will experience the four seasons. You can take off some clothes, because it will get hotter as time passes, but don’t dress too casually because the people from the Academy will come and fetch you.” As the sky was getting darker, a mist covered the mountains, making everything blurry, but the old man continued to move the carriage, telling this to Lin Xi.
“We can see the people from Qingluan Academy today?” Lin Xi had just closed all the curtains in the carriage, and was shocked by the old man’s words.
“Tomorrow is the date for the entrance trials of Qingluan Academy. I wanted to arrive two days in advance so that you can have a better understanding of Qingluan Academy, but the rainwater was abundant this year, making the road difficult to travel in. If we forcefully travel, these two horses will be unable to keep up, making our travel slower.” The old man turned over, telling Lin Xi:v”You only have this night to find out about the entrance tests tomorrow.”
Lin Xi froze for a second, finally realising why the old man insisted on arriving here today.
Abruptly, the carriage stopped.
Lin Xi looked at the old man’s figure in front of him. In the mist ahead, a light appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
A youth who carried a lantern walked out of the mist.
This youth wore a pitch black shirt, and his sleeves were embedded with gold. He looked a few years older than Lin Xi, having a handsome appearance, with eyebrows looking like swords. His smile was amiable and his forehead was wide, and his hair was comfortably tied behind his head using a green cloth.
“I am Xia Yanbing, a member of the academy. You coming for the entrance trials? Recommendation token?” This youth nodded at the duo, his tone neither haughty nor humble, simply speaking this sentence, yet gave one the impression of passive arrogance.
“Yes.” The old man nodded, taking and item from his sleeves.
Lin Xi looked curiously, for he did not know what a recommendation token was. He saw the youth take a square-shaped golden token which looked heavy.
“Please follow me.”
This youth looked carefully for a moment, smiling gently after, turning forward and guiding the way.
As the mountain got steeper, the two old horses got more and more exhausted, causing the old man and Lin Xi to get down the carriage. The surrounding mist gradually dissipated, and the climate and scenery of the surroundings became like summer.
After climbing up a hill, Lin Xi looked far in the horizon, and became shocked momentarily.
Below the hill was a vast plain with a mountain river that was azure blue. Beside the lake, there were towering willows growing.
There were innumerable fireflies dancing in the plains, and on the plains, near the river, there were innumerable tents, lighting up campfires one after another. This scene was exactly the scene at the Quidditch World Cup in Harry Potter.
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P.S the chapters are being put on other sites which are monetizing them. I feel like I’ve wasted my time translating for my effort to go into others pockets. As of now I haven’t profited single cent from translating this, my initial goal was to give back to the novel community as an old Leecher, but I feel disheartened. I might as well do something else that can bring me profit. This might be the last chapter this month, translations will be back when I’m feeling better. God bless those who have been supporting the translations and sorry for letting you guys down.