This Week's Check-In Location: Fox Nibbling Chicken!

[3 minutes until the next check-in...]

Lin Zhe was no longer in the mood to scroll through his phone.

His eyes stayed fixed on the countdown displayed on the Check-In Panel, and he did not find it boring at all.

He was dying to know which attraction in the scenic area would be his next check-in location.

Who said three minutes was short?

For the first time, Lin Zhe felt just how agonizing, how endless three minutes could be.

When the clock struck midnight, Lin Zhe refreshed the information page with a thought.

The information on the page finally changed, revealing the latest check-in location.

[This week's check-in location: Fox Nibbling Chicken!]

The name Fox Nibbling Chicken might have sounded a little tacky.

But it was one of Mount Sanqing's iconic natural granite formations.

The attraction also went by another name: Fox Peak.

A rock atop the small peak looked just like a fox about to steal a chicken, and right in front of it happened to be another rock shaped like a chicken.

Naming the attraction "Fox Nibbling Chicken" was certainly straightforward enough.

"Fox Nibbling Chicken... what kind of reward could I get for checking in there...?"

Seeing this week's check-in location, Lin Zhe honestly did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Last week, he had checked in at the Three Pure Ones Palace, a proper Taoist temple, and the Cleansing Talisman he had received was closely associated with Taoism.

This week's attraction, Fox Nibbling Chicken, was clearly far less impressive than the Three Pure Ones Palace, at least in terms of prestige.

Lin Zhe could not help lowering his expectations for the reward a little.

"I can't judge it by its name alone. Maybe I'll get an even better reward!"

After reassuring himself, Lin Zhe set down his phone, went to the communal washroom outside to wash his face and brush his teeth, then climbed into bed.

The next morning, Lin Zhe woke just as dawn was breaking.

He picked up the phone beside his bed and checked the time. It was only a few minutes past five.

The sun rose early in the sweltering summer, and it was already quite bright outside.

The thought of checking in at a new attraction and getting a new reward drove away every trace of sleepiness. Lin Zhe rolled out of bed and started washing up.

After a quick wash, he changed into a short-sleeved, quick-drying sports outfit, pulled on his recently purchased brown Decathlon hiking shoes, and set off!

Fox Nibbling Chicken was not too far from the Fortunate Inn, only twenty-odd minutes away at most.

Heading up the mountain a little after five, Lin Zhe thought he was early enough.

Then he ran into several groups of trail runners coming down the mountain, wearing professional sports sunglasses and brightly colored running shorts.

As an amateur running enthusiast, Lin Zhe knew a thing or two about the running community.

There were a few types of runners you could tell at a glance were experts, not to be taken lightly.

One type wore sunglasses. Another was dark-skinned and so skinny they almost looked prehistoric. And the brighter and shorter someone's shorts were, the less you wanted to mess with them.

In short, none of these people who had grown bored of running on flat ground and come to tackle mountain trails were pushovers.

"Keep it up, buddy!"

"You've got this, buddy!"

"Yeah, thanks. I'll keep at it..."

Everyone assumed Lin Zhe was there to trail run too, and cheered him on as they passed.

The scene reminded Lin Zhe of a widely circulated picture online: a husky that had somehow slipped into a pride of lions.

Forty-three minutes later, it was exactly six in the morning.

Lin Zhe had arrived near Fox Nibbling Chicken.

It was still so early that the scenic area's main gates had not even opened.

The scattered groups of tourists on the mountain path had either stayed at a hotel on the mountain or camped there the previous night.

The mountain path, usually bustling during the day, was enjoying a rare spell of peace, with the occasional birdsong echoing through the mountains.

At five past six, the sun rose, the sky brightened fully, and the temperature began to climb.

Lin Zhe found a shady spot beneath a tree and continued waiting.

According to the check-in rules listed on the panel, he had to remain at the designated attraction for at least half an hour to trigger the reward.

However... this check-in at Fox Nibbling Chicken clearly was not going as smoothly as his previous one at the Three Pure Ones Palace.

He waited until after nine, when more tourists began appearing on the mountain paths, but the check-in reward still refused to trigger.

"Wow! You know, that fox really does look convincing! That's amazing. Honey, take a picture of me! Make sure I look pretty!"

"Dear, let's get a picture together too."

"The fox looks pretty convincing, but not so much the chicken..."

By ten-something that morning, quite a few tourists had arrived at Fox Nibbling Chicken to take pictures.

"Everyone, please look over here. This is Fox Nibbling Chicken, one of Mount Sanqing's iconic granite formations."

"There's a legendary tale about Fox Nibbling Chicken that's very popular here among the locals..."

As Lin Zhe waited in utter boredom for his check-in, a tour group came along the mountain path.

Their guide was a tall, slender young woman wearing a white bucket hat.

She wore a cropped, fitted white sun-protection jacket with a light gray, high-waisted, A-line pleated skirt.

The outfit made her already long, slender legs look even longer and slimmer.

Having spent so much time in the Mount Sanqing scenic area, Lin Zhe naturally knew such a pretty tour guide.

Her name was Ke Lai. Besides being a tour guide, she was also a small-time streamer on QuickTok with over three hundred thousand followers.

Lin Zhe often came across her videos when idly scrolling through his phone, and he had followed her account.

Pointing toward the rock formations of Fox Nibbling Chicken, Ke Lai explained with a smile:

"At first glance, Fox Nibbling Chicken seems to have only two main characters: a fox and a chicken, both very cute little animals.

"But this attraction actually tells a complicated love story involving three legendary figures."

Ke Lai's words instantly piqued the tourists' interest.

Although everyone knew these so-called legends at tourist attractions were made up, they still enjoyed listening.

It was just like reading novels or watching television. Everyone knew the plots were fictional, written by someone.

Yet viewers still laughed and cried along, worried about the protagonists, and cared about them.

A curious tourist asked, "Come on, miss, tell us which three legendary figures this story is about!"

Ke Lai introduced them with a smile. "First, let me tell you where the chicken in Fox Nibbling Chicken came from. This was no ordinary chicken..."

"Was it a chicken that could sing, dance, rap, and play basketball?"

Before Ke Lai could finish, someone in the group interrupted with a joke.

"Hahaha..."

"Haha, put a basketball in front of the chicken and it'd look even more convincing!"

"You little chicks have shown your true colors, haven't you!"

Those in the tour group who knew the Cai Xukun meme burst out laughing, while the older men and women looked completely bewildered.

"Hahaha, no, it wasn't Brother Chicken. This chicken was a beautiful woman, the legendary Jade Chicken."

Ke Lai was not annoyed by the interruptions and continued explaining with a smile:

"We have a local rhyme: when the pheasant cries, a drizzle flies; when the stone chicken calls, heavy rain falls; when the Jade Chicken cries, floodwaters rise and swallow all."

One puzzled tourist asked, "Could this Jade Chicken churn up rivers and seas?"

"It wasn't the Jade Chicken who was powerful, but her master. She was a rain-announcing pet belonging to Chisongzi, the Rain Master.

"After cultivating on Mount Sanqing for a thousand years, the Jade Chicken had gained human form, and she was exceptionally beautiful.

"Even her master, Chisongzi, was especially fond of the lovely Jade Chicken.

"Whenever Chisongzi heard her call, he would always send down a torrential rain for her."

"Oh, I see..."

"Then this fox must have quite a story too, right?"

Under Ke Lai's guidance, the tourists had become immersed in a local Mount Sanqing legend passed down for thousands of years.

Ke Lai continued, "That's right. This was no ordinary fox either.

"She was a Nine-Tailed Fox who had cultivated on Mount Sanqing for over a thousand years and could already take human form. Her name was Tu Shanjiao."

A curious tourist asked, "Why did a chicken and a fox who'd both cultivated for a thousand years start fighting? Is this what they call a clash between immortals?"

"Good question. That brings us to the true protagonist of Fox Nibbling Chicken, who doesn't appear in the formation but simply has to be mentioned."

Ke Lai explained with a smile, "That protagonist was Yu the Great, whom you all know.

"Back then, Yu the Great was sent to Mount Sanqing to control the floods. Both the Jade Chicken and the Nine-Tailed Fox, who had each taken human form, fell in love with him.

"Yu the Great ultimately chose to be with the Nine-Tailed Fox, Tu Shanjiao, and the Jade Chicken held a grudge against him for it."

"Damn, two female spirits fell for him at once? Yu the Great really was winning at life!"

"Only kids choose. If I were Yu the Great, I'd take both!"

"The Jade Chicken in my left arm and the Nine-Tailed Fox in my right. Now that's the good life!"

"..."

After hearing Ke Lai's tale, the tourists laughed and tossed out a few jokes, making the atmosphere even livelier.

Once everyone quieted down, Ke Lai continued:

"After losing in love, the Jade Chicken decided to take revenge on Yu the Great and Tu Shanjiao by having her master, Chisongzi, unleash a torrential rain that would flood all of Mount Sanqing.

"When Yu the Great heard about this, he was so worried that he lost all appetite for food and drink.

"Seeing her beloved so troubled, Tu Shanjiao grew worried too, so she sent word that she wanted to negotiate with the Jade Chicken on this peak.

"If the Jade Chicken abandoned her plan to flood Mount Sanqing, Tu Shanjiao would leave Yu the Great and let the two of them be together.

"The Jade Chicken was overjoyed at the news and immediately agreed to negotiate with Tu Shanjiao, never realizing that it was merely a stalling tactic.

"Tu Shanjiao loved Yu the Great deeply. How could she possibly leave her beloved?

"So she hid here in ambush before the Jade Chicken arrived.

"When the Jade Chicken appeared, Tu Shanjiao pounced and fought her for three days and three nights before finally subduing her.

"And that was how Mount Sanqing escaped the tragic fate of being flooded. That's the legend behind Fox Nibbling Chicken.

"You now have five minutes to take pictures. After that, we'll head to the next attraction."

Clap, clap, clap! Clap, clap, clap!

After hearing Ke Lai's explanation, the tourists in her group all applauded her.

An attraction was unlikely to leave much of an impression if you simply rushed through it. You would soon forget what you had seen.

With Ke Lai's legendary tale added to the experience, everyone would remember Fox Nibbling Chicken much more vividly.

It was also Lin Zhe's first time hearing that Fox Nibbling Chicken had such a legend, and he joined in the applause from the sidelines.

[Check-in successful!]

As Lin Zhe applauded, the Check-In Panel suddenly appeared across his vision, informing him that his check-in had succeeded.