Monday soon arrived.
Early that morning, before dawn, I drove to pick up An Ning, then went to pick up Seventh Master and Xiuzhu.
Today, we were going to Fengdu City in Chongqing to find the eminent monk Huixin. He was at Hanging Peak Ancient Temple. I had looked the temple up a couple of days earlier, and it truly lived up to its name, standing atop a sheer cliff.
To reach Hanging Peak Ancient Temple, we had to climb a mountain, all the way to its summit.
At Seventh Master's age, he certainly couldn't climb such a high mountain carrying Xiuzhu.
Bringing An Ning along would make it easier to look after Xiuzhu.
It was just beginning to get light when we got into the car. An Ning fell asleep again with Xiuzhu in her arms.
Once we got onto the highway, we drove straight toward Fengdu City.
Fengdu City was also known as the Ghost City. The reason for that name was common knowledge: there was also a Fengdu City in the Underworld, its gateway. Rumor had it that ghosts who had not gone to reincarnate lived there.
Fengdu City in the real world had also been influenced by Daoist culture, so the culture of ghosts and gods had gradually woven itself through the city's history. From the earliest construction of buildings and sites connected to ghosts and gods, it had developed until, by the Wei and Jin period, this Ghost City had expanded to a considerable size. Not only did it have the Three Palaces and Nine Courts, but also the Street of the Underworld Office, Yellow Springs Road, and the Ghost Kingdom Divine Palace-everything the Netherworld ought to have could be found here.
But we had no time to visit any of those places today.
We