Chapter 2689 - 2690: Li Mountain Village

Li Mountain Village is a relatively important village in the Cha Mu Town area, and its residents are different from those in other villages. While most other villages are populated by locals, Li Mountain Village is a mix of various settlements.

Or to put it another way, there are no locals in Li Mountain Village; the entire population consists of guardians sent from various villages in the Cha Mu Town area to reside there. Of course, there’s nothing particularly special in terms of weapons in Li Mountain Village.

What they guard is the history of the Cha Mu Town area and the ancestral mausoleum. According to recorded history from the Cha Mu Town area, the civilization of the entire region originated in Li Mountain Village. More accurately, the tribe that created the civilization of the Cha Mu Town area has its ancestral mausoleum here.

Whether the ancestors of the various villages in the Cha Mu Town area are the same is still debatable, but the origin of the civilization is very clear: it’s the Pinli tribe who rest in Li Mountain behind Li Mountain Village.

Also, due to their requirements, all written historical records from the villages must be copied and stored properly in Li Mountain Village at regular intervals.

It can be said that Li Mountain Village is of great significance to the Cha Mu Town area. Even though it lacks any specific resources, it is tremendously important to the people from the Cha Mu Town area. Therefore, the guardians here are skilled Beastmasters selected from various villages in Cha Mu Town.

They jointly protect Li Mountain Village and the historical documents within it.

This is the part that Feng Yuan finds puzzling. Although there is some tourism value here, due to its importance, neither the Maomu City authorities nor He Nanqing dare to make the decision to open it lightly.

Because if something goes wrong, the entire Cha Mu Town area could be thrown into chaos. If it were due to external enemies, that’d be one thing, but actively opening it and causing trouble, even with He Nanqing’s unique status, would likely lead to resentment.

Perhaps the only possibility, as Veronia mentioned, is that this round of visitors is considered trustworthy. After all, while Li Mountain Village holds a special status, it’s not entirely closed off to outsiders; such matters simply need careful consideration.

The personnel being dispatched to Li Mountain Village now are specialized service staff. As for the guardians? The guardians posted in Li Mountain Village have not been withdrawn.

Of course, they aren’t overly concerned about an Imperial attack, as the opponent is unlikely to aimlessly assault what is essentially a historical archive like Li Mountain Village.

There’s no benefit to it. At any time, attacking Li Mountain Village causes some unrest in the Cha Mu Town area, but offers no other advantage. It doesn’t even compare to awakening Yognot and triggering a natural disaster that would affect the Maomu City region.

They remain on guard just in case. Although the documents have already been copied and moved to a secure location, it’s obviously better to preserve the originals instead of letting them be destroyed.

These guardians are specifically tasked with protecting Li Mountain Village. Feng Yuan believes that even if Maomu City and Cha Mu Town agreed, those people would still have reason to debate, so he isn’t rushing over there. To him, Li Mountain Village is nearly deserted now anyway.

No matter how He Nanqing and the others communicate with the Beastmasters guarding Li Mountain Village, those individuals will never serve as attendants, which is why personnel specialized for these purposes are being dispatched from the safe areas of the Cha Mu Town region.

Although there are people in Li Mountain Village, those guardians do nothing beyond protecting the place. He Nanqing and the others aren’t going to require anything from them, so if one wants a comfortable touring experience, it’s necessary to wait for the personnel to be in place.

The forests, lacking wild Spirit Beasts, have lost some of their vibrancy they once had. Some parts of the forest inevitably carry a touch of melancholy. Seeing this, Feng Yuan realizes that this highly concentrated defensive effort against foreign enemies may not last long.

However, he is not worried. The Imperial forces no longer have the excess capacity to stir trouble in the Main World. The current state is likely just a precaution. Once it’s certain that no major issues remain, Feng Yuan estimates the heightened alert will begin to be eased across various regions.

If an Imperial attack occurs afterward, then everyone will just have to rely on their skills. Such measures are quite effective for ordinary people’s protection, but they can’t be sustained indefinitely, or else resource overconsumption will lead to numerous problems.

Though food and other resources can be supplemented with methods involving Spirit Beasts, there’s no workaround for the growth resources needed by Beastmasters like Qi Chen, the next generation. They represent the future hope and therefore, their development cannot be allowed to stagnate for long.

At dusk, Feng Yuan found a spot to camp. Even without the Big Cat, he had plenty of outdoor living tools. Moreover, having a Divine Beast with him meant a temporary small wooden house was no problem at all.

Given that there was no one on the roads and no Spirit Beasts in the wild, Feng Yuan felt free to place the small wooden house right on the path. At other times, he would have needed to find a spot away from the roads to build his little abode.

Additionally, he had to ensure the camping location didn’t disturb the wild Spirit Beasts. Even in human-controlled areas, there are strict regulations for protecting wild Spirit Beasts, which stipulate that Beastmasters should not unnecessarily or significantly impact their lives while in the wild.

Although Feng Yuan wasn’t worried about the penalties for violating the law, he also wouldn’t intentionally flout the rules without a reason.

Now, there were no such concerns as there weren’t any wild Spirit Beasts around, and Feng Yuan did not intend to leave trash behind, so he wasn’t afraid of the regulations.

"I wonder what Li Mountain Village is really like, I’m quite curious."

In the small wooden house, as he savored some sweet treats for supper and gazed at the mountain forests beneath the night sky, Feng Yuan spoke. Although Li Mountain Village’s existence wasn’t completely unknown, no internal photos could be found online.

After all, not even all locals from Cha Mu Town could approach the place. To them, it’s just an archive, important though it is. It’s merely a place for files, and the average person wouldn’t think of visiting it.

As for the Beastmasters stationed there, they’re even less likely to take photos inside and circulate them, as that would just cause trouble.

"Some ancient buildings, some old things, that’s probably it."

Veronia said nonchalantly with a glance at Feng Yuan. Although Li Mountain Village preserves the history of the Cha Mu Town area, it holds no allure for her.

After all, compared to her age in the Mythical Era, her existence far predates the history of Li Mountain Village.

Besides, facilities like historical archives have never interested Veronia, unless there was some interesting information inside.

"Hmm, that seems about right."

With a bright smile, Feng Yuan had to agree. Despite the presence of the Li Mountain Ancestral Mausoleum, it’s protected from significant excavation. Even if one could visit, it’s only possible to glance from the outside.

Entry is simply not possible, not even for Feng Yuan!

"More puzzling is not that the place made it onto the list, but why you’re interested in it. You don’t strike me as the type to fancy such places."

With a sly smile, Veronia handed Feng Yuan a gemstone crystal she’d taken from the service hall before leaving.

"I just thought I’d try my hand at crafting Spirit Beast Decorations. Instead of creating them from scratch, I wanted to draw inspiration from somewhere, and nothing could be more fitting than Li Mountain Village with its rich history and culture."

"Hmm? How did you come to know the crafting process of Spirit Beast Decorations? Hm..."

Remembering something, Veronia stopped asking further questions. Feng Yuan’s reluctance was not out of inability to obtain classified information, just lack of interest.

Additionally, the crafting process of Spirit Beast Decorations wasn’t a big secret. They simply never bothered to investigate it in the Qi Realm Timeline.

As for Feng Yuan being able to fetch data across timelines, Veronia was surprised but soon deemed it reasonable, considering his actual capabilities. It’s indeed not a significant problem.

"What do you plan to do? Design new Spirit Beast Decorations for it?"

Veronia asked Feng Yuan curiously, regarding Xiao Ji. Although Xiao Ji already had Spirit Beast Decorations, if Feng Yuan decided to craft them himself, he definitely wouldn’t forget Xiao Ji; otherwise, it would lead to disagreements.

"Yeah, how about Spirit Beast Decorations in the style of the Cha Mu Town area? It’s something not found in the Qi Realm Timeline~"