Journey to the Flaming Mountains

Su Qing and the others packed their bags and continued their westward journey.

This journey lasted for several months.

During these months,

Su Qing and the others traveled quite easily.

Along the way, Su Qing and the others had not encountered any powerful demons.

At most, they would encounter some bandits, highwaymen, or minor demons blocking the road.

These difficulties were not worth mentioning at all.

These people were either sent to meet the Buddha or sent to the authorities.

In short, those wicked and evil people, when they met Su Qing, most of them went to the Western Heaven one step ahead of her.

Su Qing and the others walked on.

Unknowingly, it was already early summer.

The scenery on the road in early summer was exceptionally beautiful, a scene worthy of poetry: "The gentle breeze often carries the scent of wild orchids, and after the rain, the new bamboo feels cool. Mugwort fills the mountains, unpicked by guests; rush flowers bloom in the ravines, vying for beauty. The sea pomegranates are vibrant, delighting the roaming bees; the stream willows cast deep shade, making the orioles wild. How can the long road contain zongzi? Dragon boats should mourn on the Miluo River."

The group continued walking, admiring the summer scenery as they went.

Just like that, unknowingly, they had already entered deep summer.

This day,

Su Qing and the others were walking on the road, feeling the weather was exceptionally hot, as if a furnace was burning above their heads.

Even Chaoyan, a cultivator who had reached a certain realm where cold and heat could barely affect her, found the intense heat unbearable, as if she had walked into a giant steamer.

Not to mention Chaoyan, even Jingyue and Yudie found the heat unbearable.

Only Su Qing was slightly better off; relying on her abilities, she didn't feel uncomfortable because of the heat.

However, even though Su Qing was not afraid of the heat, she still felt that the weather was somewhat abnormal.

After all, although it was already deep summer... it shouldn't be this hot.

It was simply too abnormal.

Thinking of this, Su Qing suddenly had a guess in her heart, so she quickly made a mental calculation.

And after some calculations,

Su Qing had the answer in her heart.

Sure enough, just as she had thought earlier, they had now arrived near the Flaming Mountains.

Just as she was thinking,

Chaoyan spoke up from the side:

"Godmother, this weather is truly strange, it's making me terribly uncomfortable!"

"Before, I didn't know how an ant on a hot pan felt, but now I do. I feel like an ant on a hot pan right now... it's truly unbearable."

"Godmother, why don't we find a place to rest for a while and cool down? After the weather becomes cooler and more pleasant, we can continue our journey?"

Jingyue, hearing Chaoyan speak, also said:

"Indeed, I also want to find a place to rest for a moment. This place is too hot... abnormally hot. Even I feel a bit uncomfortable..."

Su Qing heard this, glanced at the two women, and nodded faintly, saying:

"Alright! Let's walk a bit further and see if we can find a household to stay at, rest for a day, and then depart."

Su Qing didn't need to ask Yudie for her opinion.

After all, the minority obeys the majority...

Since Chaoyan and Jingyue both wanted to find a place to rest, then they would find a place to rest.

Chaoyan looked at the sky. Although it was still early and the scorching sun was overhead, she still nodded.

There was no other way.

She was truly suffering from the heat.

She really wanted to find a cool place to rest for a bit.

Seeing this, Su Qing led the group to walk for another stretch.

Along the way, Chaoyan couldn't help but ask, "Speaking of which, Godmother, do you know why it's so hot here?"

In Chaoyan's view, Su Qing was always synonymous with vast knowledge. Whatever she didn't understand, as long as she asked Su Qing, it would definitely be right.

Even if she couldn't get a perfect answer, at least she could get a general idea.

So, this time, she instinctively asked Su Qing again.

Su Qing heard her, and was about to answer, but then she saw a household in the distance.

So she simply said, "I'm not too sure about this either... why don't you go ask the people there?"

Su Qing also knew that sometimes she showed too much, making Chaoyan overly reliant on her.

So, if there was an opportunity for Chaoyan to ask herself,

Su Qing would still let her ask.

After all, along this journey, Su Qing's initial purpose was to train Chaoyan incidentally.

Hmm, training in all aspects.

Chaoyan saw Su Qing say this and followed Su Qing's gaze.

Indeed, she saw a household in the distance.

Chaoyan didn't know what Su Qing was thinking, she just nodded slightly and said, "There really is a household ahead~ But Godmother doesn't know the situation here either? I thought Godmother would definitely know!"

Su Qing heard this, and naturally wouldn't say she didn't want to tell her, but just smiled and said, "You impudent girl, are you deliberately teasing me? I've told you before! I'm not someone who knows everything. I've just lived longer and know a bit more, that's all."

Hearing Su Qing say this, Chaoyan stuck out her tongue at Su Qing, showing none of the composure a Buddhist cultivator should have, instead adding a touch of a young girl's cuteness and liveliness.

Looking at the girl's appearance, Su Qing also found it a bit amusing.

Su Qing said with a smile, "You naughty girl, you really need a good scolding. Yudie, quickly go give her a couple of taps on the head to teach her a lesson!"

Yudie was stunned for a moment, then just as she was about to tap Chaoyan's head,

Chaoyan had already darted off to the house not far ahead.

Seeing this, Yudie pouted and said, "Mommy, she ran away..."

Su Qing shook her head with a helpless smile and said, "Let's go, we'll follow her."

Yudie also nodded slightly and followed Su Qing towards the small house.

In a short while,

Su Qing and the others arrived in front of the house.

They saw that everything about this house was red: red tiled roofs, red brick walls, and door frames and doors decorated with red paint.

Looking at it... one couldn't tell if it was festive.

Or a bit eerie.

Chaoyan walked to the door and knocked.

Not long after, an old man came out from inside.

The man was wearing a deep garment of yellowish-red coarse cloth and a bluish-black straw hat. In his hand, he held a bamboo staff that was neither bent nor straight.

His face was like red copper, his beard like white silk, and his long eyebrows covered his green eyes. When he opened his mouth, he revealed a set of black and yellow teeth.

The old man looked at the nun standing outside the door and asked, "Are you here to beg for alms? If so, I still have some food in the house, I'll go get it for you."

Chaoyan looked at the old man and quickly shook her head, saying, "Elder Benefactor, I am not here to beg for alms. I just wish to stay here for a day to rest and cool down."

The old man was slightly surprised to hear Chaoyan's words.

Then he nodded and said, "I see, well, please come in."

Chaoyan immediately performed a Buddhist salute, saying, "Thank you, Elder Benefactor."

"No need to thank me, no need to thank me. I am also a devout Buddhist. It's no problem for you to seek lodging."

The old man shook his head and said,

"Besides, it's normal for outsiders like you not to be able to stand our local climate. However, I must say it's a pity, my house isn't necessarily much cooler."

Chaoyan quickly shook her head and said, "Elder Benefactor, your willingness to let us stay is already a great kindness. But how did you know we are not locals?"

The old man stroked his beard and said with a chuckle:

"Locals aren't like you... you are too fair-skinned. Secondly, you can't stand the heat; whoever lives here isn't heat-resistant? And thirdly! I, an old man, know all the folks in the surrounding villages and towns, but I've never seen you. If you're not outsiders, who is?"

Hearing this, Chaoyan smiled slightly, maintaining the composure of a Buddhist cultivator to give a better impression.

At the same time, she couldn't help but ask, "I see, Elder Benefactor, you are right, we are indeed not locals. We have come from the Eastern Land of Great Tang and are going to the Western Heaven to retrieve scriptures! Speaking of which, Elder Benefactor, could you tell us why this place is so hot? And where exactly is this place?"

The old man looked at Chaoyan with some surprise, then nodded and said, "You actually came from the Eastern Land of Great Tang? That's truly impressive. I don't know how you managed to get here! I've heard that place is very, very far away."

Chaoyan heard this, scratched her head, and didn't offer much explanation, only saying that they had endured many hardships to reach this place.

The old man didn't ask further but said, "However, if you've come this far, I'm afraid you can only stop here!"

"Why?"

"How do you find this place? Is it extremely hot?"

"Naturally..." Chaoyan nodded, she was indeed terribly hot here.

"Then do you know that further ahead, it will be even hotter?"

The old man leaned on his staff, shaking his head and saying:

"This place is actually called the Flaming Mountains. But although it's called the Flaming Mountains, it's still sixty or seventy li away from the true Flaming Mountains!"

"And to go to the West, you must pass through the Flaming Mountains! The Flaming Mountains are eight hundred li wide, with not a blade of grass growing around them! Inside, it's like a melting furnace! If you want to pass through that mountain, even if you have a copper head and iron bones, you'll be melted into copper and iron liquid! What's more, for you who are mere mortals?"

Hearing the old man's words,

Chaoyan couldn't help but gasp.

The surrounding temperature also seemed to rise a lot.

"Then what should we do? I still need to go to the Western Heaven to retrieve the true scriptures. If I can't even get past these Flaming Mountains... wouldn't I have to stop here?" Chaoyan couldn't help but frown, feeling very vexed in her heart.

Seeing this, Su Qing reached out and placed her hand on the girl's head, releasing a chilling aura to cool her head down.

"You silly girl, why are you in such a hurry? There will always be more solutions than difficulties! Besides, mere mortals can't pass, but we are not mere mortals!" Su Qing patted her head and said, "You girl, have you walked too much, or is the weather too hot, making your mind dull?"

Of course, the main reason Su Qing could comfort Chaoyan like this was that she already knew how to cross the Flaming Mountains.

After all, she already had a plan for future events.

Furthermore, there was another point...

She was also quite familiar with the Bull Demon King's family.

Although it had been a long time since they had contacted each other, it wouldn't be too difficult to ask them for help.

Just as they were silent, Jingyue also nodded slightly from the side, saying, "In any case, don't be disheartened, we'll find a way!"

Yudie, seeing that Jingyue and Su Qing were comforting Chaoyan, also quickly joined in to comfort her.

Then she asked, "By the way, Elder, do you know if there's any way to cross the Flaming Mountains? After all, if these Flaming Mountains can't be crossed, how did the monks in the West spread Buddhism throughout the world? Moreover, if these Flaming Mountains truly have no grass, then no one should be living nearby! Wouldn't living here mean starving to death?"

Hearing this, the old man shook his head slightly.

He said, "Normally, we would starve to death living here. But about one thousand five hundred and sixty li away, there is a Cuiyun Mountain, and in that mountain, there is an immortal cave called Plantain Cave. Inside lives an Iron Fan Immortal, who possesses an Iron Fan!"

"If you can obtain that Iron Fan from the Iron Fan Immortal's cave, one wave will extinguish the fire, a second wave will bring wind, and a third wave will bring rain. Then we can sow and harvest in time, thus having the five grains to sustain life."

"However, this Iron Fan is not so easy to obtain."

"The people here worship and beg for it once every ten years."

"You need four pigs and four sheep, red silks and brocades, exotic incense and seasonal fruits, chickens, geese, and fine wine, and you must bathe devoutly and worship at that immortal mountain to invite her out to wave the Iron Fan and extinguish the flames of the Flaming Mountains."

"Therefore, even if I tell you this, it will be difficult for you to obtain the Iron Fan."

"As for waiting here for the next worship to obtain the Iron Fan, it will probably take a very long time."

"Our last worship was a year ago."

The old man rambled on, but after saying so much, he only provided a method that was impossible to achieve.

Listening to the old man's words, the flicker of hope in Chaoyan's heart gradually extinguished.

She thought, "Is there really no way?"

Thinking, she turned to look at Su Qing.

But she saw Su Qing's expression remained calm, seemingly not anxious about this impossible method.

It was as if everything was still under her control.

She didn't know why.

Even though Su Qing hadn't proposed any solution yet,

But after Chaoyan saw Su Qing's calm expression, she also calmed down.

It was as if Su Qing had already found a solution.

And after this, they would definitely be able to cross the Flaming Mountains.

After the old man led Su Qing and the others into the house,

He said, "Please rest here for now, I'll go warm up some food for you."

With that, the old man left.

And after the old man left,

Chaoyan couldn't help but walk up to Su Qing and ask, "Godmother... do you have a way to cross these Flaming Mountains?"

Su Qing heard this, turned to look at Chaoyan, and couldn't help but smile, asking, "Why do you think I definitely have a way to cross these Flaming Mountains?"

"Godmother is so calm, not at all flustered like me, so you must have a plan in mind," Chaoyan said truthfully.