Chapter 45 — The Surging River's Water Mansion Opens Its Dragon Gate

nd. The Surging River curved around a great mountain here; green waters embraced the verdant peak, crisp birdsong rang through the valley, apes leapt and bounded through the mountain woods, and in the water swam great fish and river beasts—altogether peaceful and serene. The white fox bounded along as if flying, leading the way, and Shen Mu hurried after. The direction Hu Ling'er ran was exactly the mountain encircled by the river, and Shen Mu could not help wondering: could the Dragon Palace be, not in the river, but built on the mountain? After a while, they reached the mountaintop, and Shen Mu saw a ruin—a Dragon King temple. Before the temple stood a colossal water-suppressing stone, over eight zhang in height, like a stone stele, and beneath it was carved an enormous stone tortoise bearing the stone on its back. The stone tortoise gaped wide, as if it had labored too hard and needed to catch its breath. The Dragon King temple had long fallen into ruin, with broken walls and a collapsed main hall. Shen Mu looked all around; there was not even a single stone statue, and it must have been unable to withstand the assault of the Darkness. He was still wondering when Hu Ling'er suddenly vanished, and then her voice came: "Quick, come in!" Shen Mu followed the sound and saw the white fox inside the stone tortoise's mouth, lifting a paw and beckoning to him. Shen Mu hurried over. The stone tortoise was very large, so large that a person could stand upright inside it. Following the bouncing white fox, Shen Mu came to its throat, where a deep flight of shadowy stone steps appeared before them. A stone door had once stood before the steps, but it had fallen for some unknown reason, revealing this passage down into the earth. Shen Mu followed the white fox on and on. The passage grew wider and wider, gradually seeming to go deep into the mountain's core. The surrounding rock walls were covered with damp, luminous moss, and there were strange creatures that drifted through the air like dandelions; beneath them hung slender tentacles, and it was by waving these tentacles that they could fly through the air. The white fox jumped up, caught one in her mouth, and swallowed it, then went hopping along, munching without stopping, as if they were quite delicious.