Although Bi Ri Stronghold is sowhat unique, there aren’t many places to explore, or rather, such villages that hurriedly develop tourism often face this situation. After all, the entire Tea Wood Town area has a fairly large population, which also ans that the differences between each village are not as significant as one might imagine.
Feng Yuan and his group didn’t linger long in Bi Ri Stronghold. After wandering around for a bit, they continued onward. If Bi Ri Stronghold is a village shaded by towering trees, then Hidden Sky Zhai is a mountain village concealed by clouds.
Located at the mountain peak, Hidden Sky Zhai is enshrouded in clouds and mist all year round. Compared to Zheyun Village, although the hill Hidden Sky Zhai occupies isn’t particularly high, it is peculiarly subrged in thick clouds and mist.
Fortunately, these clouds and mist are still rich in Fire Energy; otherwise, the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound would struggle to bear such an extrely humid environnt.
Hidden Sky Zhai is also the recomnded endpoint for the tourist route. Although Feng Yuan and his group arrived at noon, this tourist route signifies for most tourists that it’s ti to head back, as the village is already far from the town of Tea Wood, even taking the express Beast Path takes a good half-day to reach the town.
What’s more, Feng Yuan and his group set off early in the morning, while ordinary tourists typically wouldn’t be in such a rush, so when planning, this tourist route deliberately allows for a half-day buffer.
Hidden Sky Zhai has special mist-driven lanterns that constantly illuminate the interior of the village, and the sa is true for the mountain path. Looking at the newness of the wooden poles with lanterns hanging on the mountain path, Feng Yuan was certain that this was added after it was decided to be developed into a tourist attraction.
What about the original villagers?
They don’t need these things; although a section of the mountain path in Hidden Sky Zhai is subrged in clouds and mist, the mist doesn’t entirely block the path. As long as they are careful and progress slowly along the path, there is no real danger. The mist lanterns were added rely for the convenience of tourists.
Under the cloud and mist, visibility on the mountain path is extrely low, with a visual range of less than a few ters. Even the stone steps ahead appear slightly blurred.
"This place really is full of clouds and mist."
Walking on the mountain path, Feng Yuan couldn’t help but exclaim. The thick clouds and mist around made the eagle-shaped Xiao Ji cling tightly to Feng Yuan’s side, so much so that Feng Yuan had to watch out not to bump into Xiao Ji whenever he lifted his leg.
In this place, with limited visibility and relying solely on spiritual power to perceive, Xiao Ji wasn’t entirely at ease, fearing they’d get separated in the mist.
Following behind, Qi Chen heard Feng Yuan’s words and responded with a wry smile.
"I think this must be deliberate."
Even Qi Chen found it hard to believe that natural clouds and mist could be this thick, unless excluding special phenona like the Mist River Spectacle. Even the Mist River Spectacle would inevitably sink to lower elevations, while the clouds and mist in Hidden Sky Zhai were completely different.
From the mountain foot to the mid-mountain, there were no clouds, but from mid-mountain to the peak, the entire mountain is subrged in a vast sea of white mist, which is undoubtedly abnormal because, given the mountain’s height, it hasn’t reached the cloud level yet.
Since the likelihood of it being a natural phenonon is low, the only possibility is that the extraordinary mist is man-made. This is not surprising, considering Bi Ri Stronghold brought forth an exaggerated sky-blocking tree, it’s not impossible for Hidden Sky Zhai to produce cloud cover.
Hearing Qi Chen’s words from behind, Feng Yuan did not turn around. Even though there were mist-driven lanterns, the mountain path was still difficult and perhaps the mist itself was ant to complent the path, preventing enemies from invading.
While Feng Yuan didn’t think anyone in the Dynasty Era would bother traveling so far to attack the village, it could be against other special enemies?
"This area’s natural environnt is like this; they rely utilized the terrain to their advantage. But with such defenses, could they still have enemies here?"
Speaking without turning his head, Feng Yuan looked ahead. Although there were mist-driven lanterns, the winding mountain path still presented a wall of white within his range of vision. Agunas swished its tail and said,
"Not entirely impossible. According to records, small bands of bandits often harassed villages in the Tea Wood Town area. Even though the Tea Wood Town area once organized specialized personnel to clear them out, they were unable to completely eradicate them. They naturally dwindled over ti until the present."
"Hmm, Beastmasters seeking to seize resources? Indeed, considering the Dynasty Era, the resources in the Tea Wood Town area were quite attractive to those Beastmasters in the wild."
Said thoughtfully, Feng Yuan scooped Xiao Ji into his arms. Xiao Ji, who was about to struggle, quieted down imdiately when he noticed the mountain path ahead suddenly narrowing.
Though there are nearly no perilous peaks in the Tea Wood Town area, this mountain path included a dangerous stretch carved along the cliffside. This passage could only allow one person to pass at a ti. To ensure safety, besides solid stone guardrails, the path was thoroughly enclosed with sturdy wire netting.
Unfortunately, because the path was carved precariously on the cliff side, the width was limited. Qi Chen and the others were forced to retrieve their Spirit Beasts. Even Veronia had to close her parasol. With the path recessed into the cliff, the overall height was not enough; taller people might have to bend over to pass through.
Despite its size, the Fluffy Fire Wolfhound didn’t enter Kong Qing’s space; it could still pass through this corridor. As for the White Shadow Wolves, they had long been stored in Kong Qing’s space.
It’s not that they can’t change their form, but simply since Feng Yuan and his group were hiking, there was no need for them to follow, and it was better for them to take this chance to rest.
Finally reaching the top of the mountain and looking at the village amidst the clouds, Qi Chen couldn’t help but ask,
"How do they live here?"
Constantly enveloped in cloud and mist, planting ordinary crops here would be challenging. Of course, things would be better with the help of Spirit Beasts, but compared to other more normal areas, settling here didn’t seem particularly suitable to Qi Chen.
"Safety, I assu. If they don’t have particular crops, they might cultivate elsewhere. Although the mountain path is tough, it’s not particularly long. Once you get used to it, it’s alright."
Feng Yuan replied without turning, although the position of Hidden Sky Zhai makes ordinary agriculture infeasible, in this world, plants aren’t immutable. With the guidance of Spirit Beasts, plants can be modified toward the desired direction. Crops that don’t require sunlight are feasible.
Just like the Grotto-Rock Village’s specialty, the Fire Spirit Mushroom doesn’t need sunlight.
As for growing crops elsewhere, that’s also possible because the mountaintop space is limited. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t grow enough food for the entire village.
"Assistance from Plant-type Spirit Beasts, and there’s a lift within the village."
Dou Yanlan said calmly. Although the tourist manual didn’t ntion it, the lift has an extensive history and is not particularly safe. When locals use it, they always have a Spirit Beast nearby to assist with rescue in case of accidents, which won’t suffice for tourists.
After all, tourists’ Spirit Beasts might not be capable of flight.
She had previously discovered this situation by chance while researching the village’s details. Seeing Feng Yuan and Qi Chen looking at her, Dou Yanlan said,
"I read about it when researching before. These mountaintop villages have an internal lift to facilitate villagers reaching the fields. Their fields are generally located near the lifts, and this place should be a similar case."
"Well, that’s also quite possible, especially since they have lots of Spirit Beasts."
Stroking his chin, Feng Yuan didn’t counter, mainly because the probability of this happening isn’t low. Although for the lift to function here, they’d need a sheer cliff leading directly to the base unless they excavated a special cave, but that’s nothing difficult for the Tea Wood Town area.
Given the area’s uniqueness, finding Spirit Beasts to accomplish such tasks wouldn’t be challenging, and with them, digging a vertical shaft through the mountain wouldn’t be strenuous.
"Let’s explore, hopefully finding sothing tasty here." Stepping forward, Feng Yuan rubbed his stomach as he spoke, not dwelling on the matter further. After all, it was already noon, and after climbing such a long way, he was understandably very hungry now.
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