“Buzhou Mountain?”

Wu Yu and Fei Yu looked towards the tallest mountain on the map.

Wei Yuan’s gaze swept across the map, first landing on Xuanyuan Mound.

Starting from Xuanyuan Mound, four hundred and eighty *li* to the southeast is Mount Kunlun, where the Queen Mother of the West resides. Three hundred and fifty *li* further southeast is the Liusha River, the prototype of the river where Sha Wujing lived in *Journey to the West*. Eleven hundred and seventy *li* southeast from the Liusha River is Kunlun Mound.

In the direction from Buzhou Mountain to Xuanyuan Mound, at a distance of four hundred and twenty *li*, is Mount Mi, where the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan sacrificed to Heaven and Earth and feasted ghosts and gods.

Four hundred and twenty *li* northwest of Mount Mi is Zhongshan, where the Torch Dragon temporarily rests.

And these famous mountains and great rivers, which have a significant presence in Chinese mythology, either explicitly or implicitly, are all located on the central axis from Buzhou Mountain to Chaoge City. Leaving aside the other mountains, just the connection between Buzhou Mountain, Xuanyuan, and Kunlun makes it hard for people not to feel something strange.

Wei Yuan rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

How did the ancestors of Chaoge City choose such a death-level dungeon?

There are so many fragments of the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, so many! Even if you picked blindly, you wouldn't end up here.

Fei Yu murmured, "Buzhou Mountain."

Wei Yuan withdrew his gaze, suppressed the sigh in his heart, and nodded slightly, saying:

"Yes, Buzhou Mountain."

"Also, the third place is also near Buzhou Mountain."

"Northwest of Buzhou Mountain, at a distance of eight hundred and forty *li*, is Zhongshan. That's where the Torch Dragon lives. The third thing we absolutely must stay away from is him, the Torch Dragon Zhu Jiuyin."

Fei Yu turned his head in astonishment and said, "Torch Dragon?"

He was a little dubious, thought for a moment, and asked, "Mountain God, isn't the Torch Dragon a benevolent god?"

Wei Yuan said, "He is not a benevolent god. Or rather, it's difficult to define gods using human notions of good and evil."

"The Torch Dragon's grievances with the human race are quite lengthy."

"If you're interested, I can tell you a little about it. But this has to start with the Water God Gonggong."

Wei Yuan's tone was calm. Seeing that Fei Yu and Wu Yu seemed interested, he simply sat cross-legged on the mountain rock, reached out his hand, and gestured towards the map. The position of Xuanyuan Mound on the map slowly lit up. His tone was gentle as he slowly explained, "The Water God Gonggong, he is a human, and also a god. And in the strict sense, he is a descendant of the Yan Emperor. But there's also a legend that he merely borrowed his mother's body to descend into the world."

"At the end of the era of Emperor Shaohao."

"The tribes of the world gathered at Xuanyuan Mound to choose the next Lord of the World."

"Among the most powerful contenders were Gonggong, the Water God and descendant of the Yan Emperor, and..."

"Zhuanxu, the grandson of the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan."

…

Under the gaze of everyone, Gonggong calmly stepped into Xuanyuan Mound.

He saw his grandfather, and he saw Zhuanxu, saw the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan who had opened up the golden age of the Central Plains. He withdrew his gaze and calmly greeted Chang Xian, Jin Yun, and other officials and generals. He believed that with his martial prowess and achievements, he was sufficient to become the next human emperor.

As for Zhuanxu, he was just a person who was obsessed with music, who would create tunes according to the sound of the eight dragons flying across the sky. Although there was a legend that Zhuanxu was born after his mother looked up at night and saw the Yao Guang star piercing the moon like a rainbow, Gonggong didn't care about these things.

He only knew that he would definitely be able to lead the human race to truly dominate the world.

But as the final decision was made, the smile on Gonggong's face gradually disappeared.

Until, finally, it vanished completely.

He had lost.

He had lost to the seemingly quiet and gentle Zhuanxu.

Zhuanxu became emperor, appointing Gou Mang as the Wood Minister, Zhu Rong as the Fire Minister, and Gou Long as the Earth Minister.

The Water God Gonggong was originally supposed to be one of his four ministers, but he couldn't accept this result. Even so, he couldn't possibly cause a scene at Xuanyuan Mound. The patriarch of the Yushiqie tribe held his shoulders and comforted him, but Gonggong still refused to accept it. He publicly pointed his halberd at the Xuanyuan Emperor, angrily accusing Xuanyuan of favoring his grandson, and then rushed out of the then-holy land of the human race.

Driving the violent currents of water, he only cared about rushing forward, and that direction was precisely southeast. He heavily stamped his foot on Xuanyuan Mound, directly shattering the rocks, and Xun River flowed out of the cracks. He roared angrily, swept across the heavens and the earth, threw down the decorations on his fancy clothes in the air, threw them on Mount Yu, where the Queen Mother of the West was located, and transformed them into the Shengyu, a kind of divine bird. When mortals see it, their country will flood.

In the blink of an eye, he was already thousands of *li* away.

But the Water God Gonggong's anger not only did not diminish, but became even more intense, and he continued to head southeast.

Thus, where the angry Water God passed, the eight-hundred-*li*-wide Liusha River was born, and the Taoshui River was born on Mount Leyou. He threw his jade pendant and sword on Kunlun Mound, the other capital of the Xuanyuan Emperor, and they landed in all directions, transforming into the Chi River, Yang River, Mo River, and Hei River, four divine-era rivers, flowing turbulently on the earth.

He passed by Mount Huaijiang, and the Qiushi River erupted. He threw his outer robe on Mount Taiqi, and it transformed into the divine-era Guan River, and his jade-encrusted belt transformed into a kind of carp, a fish, but with the wings of a bird, able to fly between the West Sea and the East Sea, opening mountains wherever it went. Wherever the mountains and rocks cracked, rivers flowed, until later, Gonggong, with his bare, muscular body, saw Buzhou Mountain blocking his way.

The extremely angry Water God, regardless of everything, directly crashed into it.

This time, he failed to create a river, but directly knocked down Buzhou Mountain, which served as a pillar supporting the sky. In that era, humans and gods lived together, and above the human realm was the sky. Now that Buzhou Mountain had fallen, the sky heavily tilted towards the northwest, and the people living in the northwest saw a scene of heaven and earth collapsing.

That was also the last scene they saw.

…

Wei Yuan raised his hand and used flowing wind to create a model.

It was a rectangular box. He made the lid of the box tilt to one side, and Wei Yuan pointed there and said, "This is the disaster of the sky tilting. Later generations have records saying, 'The pillar of heaven is broken, the cords of the earth are severed, and the sky tilts to the northwest.' Originally, in that era, the stars and all things were governed by gods."

"You see, now that this pillar of heaven has tilted, the sky that originally covered the earth has directly fallen to the ground in some areas. This has also led to a part of the area directly breaking away from the control of the gods."

"There, the yin and yang are imbalanced. There is no longer wind, no longer rain, and no sunrise or sunset. It has long been a living hell. And because the yin energy is too heavy, the yin souls of this world will gather there. Therefore, that place is called Youdu, or the Land Without Sun, or rather, the Nine Netherworlds."

Nine Netherworlds?

Fei Yu stammered, "This… the power of one crash, is it so great?"

Wei Yuan said, "Yes..."

"Of course, the main point is that none of the gods expected that He would be crazy enough to knock down Buzhou Mountain."

"Therefore, Emperor Zhuanxu sent a god there."

"He let that Celestial God preside over the operation of the world on Mount Zhangwei, north of the Red River, outside the Northwest Sea. When He opens his eyes, day comes to the Land Without Sun. When He closes his eyes to rest, the entire Land Without Sun comes to night. Breathing is the wind, and He can also meet with other gods to ask for wind and rain."

"That is the Torch Dragon Zhu Jiuyin. The name Zhu Jiuyin means 'torch that illuminates the Nine Netherworlds'."

"This is the origin of the legends 'Where the sun does not reach, what does the Torch Dragon illuminate?' and 'Northwest of the sky is the Land of Darkness Without Sun, where a dragon holds a torch to illuminate it'."

Fei Yu and Wu Yu were lost in thought because of such ancient myths.

After a long time, they came back to their senses and couldn't help but wonder, "But doesn't this prove that the Torch Dragon is a benevolent god?"

Wei Yuan replied, "If it had always been like this, as the great god guarding the Nine Netherworlds, the Torch Dragon would naturally have a good relationship with the human race. But unfortunately, He has a son."

"Son?"

"Yes, the Torch Dragon's son is called Gu, and like the Torch Dragon, he is a natural-born god with a human face and a dragon body. Perhaps it was because the Torch Dragon had merit to all things under heaven in that era, and all beings respected his father and son. Therefore, Gu had an extremely self-centered and arrogant personality."

"In the end, he and Qin Pi, a god with a human face and a beast body, killed Bao Jiang, another god who guarded the elixir of immortality."

"Moreover, it was killed near Mount Kunlun, the residence of the gods, and Zhu Jiuyin expressed tacit consent to this."

Fei Yu and Wu Yu stopped talking.

Wei Yuan picked up a weed and said, "What I told you before about Gonggong's affairs, I heard from a friend. Well, how should I put it, he and Gonggong have a little bit of grudges. But the following things, I have really witnessed."

"Have you heard of Yao?"

"What do you think of him?"

Wu Yu was stunned, not knowing why he would jump to this question. He hesitated for a moment and replied:

"He is the third of the Five Emperors. Isn't he a very benevolent human emperor?"

Wei Yuan nodded and said, "That's right, very benevolent."

"I only met him once. To be honest, he didn't look like an emperor. He was just an old man, a little chubby, very concerned about his white hair, always smiling, addicted to sugar. After passing the throne to Emperor Shun, he occasionally liked to freeload, and the frequency was a little too high. That's just the kind of person he was, and he also had a very good relationship with Zhu Jiuyin."

"But after knowing this..."

Wei Yuan paused, opened his hand, and the weed fell down, saying:

"Emperor Yao personally killed Gu and Qin Pi."

Fei Yu and Wu Yu couldn't believe it.

Wei Yuan said, "Moreover, he buried Gu's body in the cliff east of Zhongshan, which was controlled by Zhu Jiuyin."

"Zhu Jiuyin has been in the northwest, presiding over the affairs of the Netherworld of the Nine Netherworlds, and the body of his only son is on the high cliff in the east. He can see it with just a turn of his head. Emperor Yao wanted Zhu Jiuyin to remember forever what the consequences would be of violating the contract with all beings and indulging his only son in evil. Emperors are ruthless, but they also have great love for all beings."

"And from then on, Emperor Yao and Zhu Jiuyin parted ways."

"This is the origin of the allusion 'Zhu Long avoids Yao's sun in the Netherworld'."

Wei Yuan paused:

He looked into the distance, his voice gentle, but as if piercing through the long and distant years, looking down on the past:

"And this also represents the severance of ties between the Torch Dragon and the human race, representing that the gods will eventually break with the human race."

"From then on, the Torch Dragon lived in the Netherworld for a long time, while Emperor Yao walked in the human world."

"Until the end of their lives, they never met again."

"And after Gonggong crashed into Buzhou Mountain, he became even more resentful and unwilling towards the human race, and created many rivers along the three thousand *li* of Buzhou Mountain. Later generations were flooded, and finally controlled by King Yu. Before this period of history of the Torch Dragon, Emperor Zhuanxu hated the gods in his heart because of Gonggong's recklessness, which led to the suffering of living beings in a large area, and eventually established the great achievement of severing the connection between heaven and earth, and was listed among the Five Emperors."

"It can be said that every drink and every peck is predestined..."

"Sometimes I always feel that the ending of the story was already determined at the beginning."

Fei Yu and Wu Yu were a little dazed.

Wu Yu subconsciously said, "How do you know so clearly..."

Wei Yuan came back to his senses and smiled, "Just know a little bit."

That was history.

But it was also my life.

The young Daoist spread his hands and said gently:

"Look, I am after all the mountain spirit of this mountain. It's normal to know a little more."

"Right?"

And with his back to the two of them, the corners of the young Daoist's mouth turned downwards.

Why do I know so clearly…

Of course, it was because Emperor Yao was doing this, he brought Yu along, and Yu excitedly went home and grabbed the collar of Yuan, who was making pottery, and brought him along too. And the direct consequence was that Emperor Yao killed the Torch Dragon's only son, and even buried him on the cliff at his doorstep, was recorded in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*.

'His son is called Gu, his shape is like a human face and a dragon body, and he and Qin Pi killed Bao Jiang on the south side of Kunlun.'

'The emperor then killed him on the east cliff of Zhongshan.'

And very unfortunately.

This kind of behavior, which was no different from slapping the Torch Dragon in the face.

Was personally written by him, Wei.

With the constant recall and remembering some details, Wei Yuan was no longer surprised by King Yu's later motivation for casting the Nine Tripods and dividing the mountains and seas. After all, a human king whose idol was Zhuanxu and who was personally taught by Emperor Yao after his retirement would have a personality infinitely close to the former two, and even more passionate.

But, what's with this broken thing…

Wei Yuan's mouth twitched, and he looked towards Buzhou Mountain, which is also Zhongshan, and had the urge to ignore his demeanor and sigh up to the sky.

Yu, please come back soon.

There are too many and too ruthless enemies, I can't bear it alone.

Otherwise,

Otherwise, you can take me away too.

…

And while Wei Yuan was looking into the distance, routinely thinking about Da Yu.

Suddenly, his expression changed slightly, and he raised his eyes to look into the distance.

There were complex and vast auras coming in torrents.

Wei Yuan quickly recognized the identities of the visitors—the many mountain gods recorded in the *Classic of the Western Mountains*.

Strange, these mountain gods usually only stay in their own mountains and shouldn't go out easily. Could it be that they see him as one of their own?

Wei Yuan was thoughtful, stood up, and looked in the direction where the auras were rushing in.

If it's mountain gods,

It would be good to inquire about the whereabouts of the *Jade Book of the Classic of the Western Mountains*.

Thus, the same vast aura of the mountain god rose from him.

ps: Second update today, thanks to Shennong Ben Du for the 20,000 reward. The *Huainanzi* says: In the past, Gonggong and Zhuanxu fought for the throne. Angered, he struck Buzhou Mountain. The pillar of heaven broke and the cords of earth severed. The sky tilted to the northwest. *The Rites of Zhou* says: The northwest of the sky is insufficient, so it is the Gate of Heaven.

The *Chu Ci* asks: "Where the sun does not reach, what does the Torch Dragon illuminate?"

*Jianjie Lu*: "The Torch Dragon holds its brilliance, only illuminating one direction; the spring thunder vibrates, not exceeding a hundred *li*."

*Hou Han Shu*: "Summon the Torch Dragon to hold the torch, passing Zhongshan for a rest."

*Classic of the Great Wild West*: "Zhuanxu gave birth to Laotong... born on the ground and gave birth to Ye, located at the Western Extremity, to conduct the course of the sun, moon, and stars." The rank of Zhuanxu's descendants is directly higher than that of the Torch Dragon, so it is judged that the Torch Dragon is a minister of Zhuanxu. As for the creation god rank and the connection with Pangu, it is only a modern online novel setting. The highest rank is only regarded as the side of the sun in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.