"Where?" I asked.
Yao Yao pointed towards the low mountains not far away. "That direction, about five li away, which is... approximately three thousand meters."
Impressive, she can even convert units of length.
My Qi Sensing technique isn't that powerful yet. The distance is too far, and my vision through Qi Sensing shows only a blur.
Li Jingxiang immediately used her phone as a compass, pointing towards the location and measuring the distance. "That's right! The victim's villa location sent is right there!"
"Could it be that the demon is hiding inside the villa?" I asked. Yao Yao had just confidently declared that the demon was definitely not in the villa.
"Not necessarily," Sha Wuji shook her head. "Even the most powerful demon cannot be invisible. With so many people from Shakespeare's group present, they couldn't possibly fail to notice it."
Sha Wuji was defending Yao Yao's earlier statement. However, her Qi Sensing technique is never wrong. Even Yao Yao herself said: what you see now might not be real, but what Qi Sensing sees is always accurate.
"Let's go take a look," I said.
Cuiping Mountain was right in front of us. However, the villa was behind the mountain. The straight-line distance was three kilometers, but we had to go around the mountain to climb up and then down. According to the map, it would take at least seven or eight kilometers. Fortunately, we were right next to Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, with shared bikes filling the roadside. Sha Wuji, Li Jingxiang, and I could all ride bikes. Only Yao Yao couldn't because she had never ridden one before. But she was stubborn and also unlocked a bike, mimicking our posture, straddling it. She wove her way forward unevenly. After all, she had martial arts training and excellent balance, and she had ridden horses before, so she had some foundation. Within a hundred meters, she had mastered the skill of riding a bike. We could even apply for a Guinness World Record for the fastest learner of cycling for her.
We proceeded along Shengtu West Road. The residential areas here were well-built, with a European style. I had looked into similar places when I was renting. Although it was a suburb, the price per square meter exceeded thirty thousand, almost reaching the housing prices in the city's core areas.
After two kilometers, we turned right, passed through a small tunnel, and entered the Cuiping Mountain area. Strangely, after passing the tunnel, the perceived temperature dropped significantly, and the surroundings became quiet. All around us were lush green mountains.
"This is truly a place with good Feng Shui," Yao Yao exclaimed. "It seems the South is better; the Northeast rarely has such terrain."
"The South also has little," I, having lived in Jinling for a long time, had some authority to speak. "Especially in East China, mountains are rare to begin with. A secluded valley like this, so close to the city, is even more precious."
"When I retire, I can find a place like this, and we can spend our twilight years together," Yao Yao said, turning to me.
"We?" I asked, unsure of the scope she was referring to.
"You and I. Forget about the others. By the time our grandchildren grow up, they won't be old," Yao Yao chuckled.
"Can't you and I be immortal, just like them?" I asked.
"My master couldn't even do that. Do you think you and I have any right to?" Yao Yao retorted.
That's true. It doesn't matter, I never had such aspirations anyway.
We passed through a forest park that didn't require an entrance fee or had any fences. The map showed that besides the road ahead, there was a shortcut. Since we were on bikes, we naturally took the shortcut.
It was a large area of woods, not very densely planted. The distance between two trees was about three to five meters, but the area was vast, stretching as far as the eye could see. I didn't know the species of trees, but almost all of them were submerged in water. The water was clear and shallow, allowing us to see the layers of fallen leaves at the bottom. Because it was a mountain basin, there was no wind, and the entire watery expanse in the forest looked as if all the trees were growing on a giant mirror. The blue sky and green trees were reflected symmetrically, creating a breathtaking scene.
About 20 centimeters above the water's surface, at an equal elevation, there was a wooden boardwalk. It had no railings, and it basically didn't disrupt the overall composition of the beautiful forest scenery. Instead, it added a touch of harmonious coexistence between nature and human creation. However, the boardwalk was quite narrow, only about a meter wide, winding and twisting, stretching into the depths of the forest. The path shown on the map was this boardwalk.
"Can you do it?" I asked Yao Yao. For a beginner cyclist, this path was a bit narrow. Forget about her, even I couldn't guarantee I wouldn't fall off at the sharp turns.
Yao Yao said it was fine. The four of us formed a line, and with a clatter, we rode onto the boardwalk.
Every ten meters or so, there were two small lights on either side of the boardwalk. However, they weren't lit. The electrical wires were likely laid beneath the boardwalk, intended for night-time strolls. The scenery would probably be even more beautiful at night.
What a long boardwalk. We rode for a full five minutes before we saw the end of it, which was also the end of the forest...