Chapter 322: A Small Qinshan Village Produced a Crouching Dragon and a Phoenix Chick

"Brother, I want to go too!"

Knowing that Ning Fei was going to explore a tomb, Bai Yi begged to tag along.

"It's too dangerous. The tomb is deep in the Qinshan Mountains, and there's no telling what's inside. What would a girl like you even do there?"

Ning Fei shook his head as he packed his things.

"Brother, just let me go. I can help out with the work too," Bai Yi whined, shaking Ning Fei's arm.

"No. If we go into the forest, you won't be able to shower for a week, and there won't be any clean clothes to change into. Do you still want to go?"

Hearing Ning Fei's words, Bai Yi hesitated for a moment.

"I can just bring two extra sets of underwear. I'm not that delicate. What's the big deal about not showering?" Bai Yi still really wanted to go.

"Just stay home and take care of Little Fox and the others. You are not going."

"Brother, then I'll tell my dad you're bullying me."

"When did I ever bully you?"

"Did you bully me last night or not?"

"Let's stick to the facts, alright? You clearly asked for that."

"I don't care."

The two bickered back and forth, and amidst the noise, their relationship actually seemed to grow closer.

In the end, Ning Fei still agreed to Bai Yi's request.

The little guys were temporarily left at the Wenyan Deer Enclosure, where someone would take care of them.

Ning Fei made a special trip down the mountain. When Xiao Yu the Deer saw Ning Fei coming, it was exceptionally happy, its little hooves bouncing with joy.

However, upon seeing Little Dog, it raised its head high toward the sky again.

It was clear that Xiao Yu the Deer was still brooding over the results of its last high jump competition with Little Dog.

After settling the little guys down, Ning Fei returned to Qingfeng Temple to prepare.

Early the next morning, the exploration team gathered.

Ning Fei was still wearing a dark blue Daoist robe and carrying a hiking bag.

Bai Yi, on the other hand, was in a full set of mountaineering clothes. She wore the Cooling Hat that Ning Fei had given her and carried a smaller hiking bag, looking extremely excited.

In addition, there were the four members of the exploration team: the leader Zhang Ke, two young researchers, and a reporter with extensive outdoor experience.

The group of six set off early in the morning, heading deep into the Qinshan Mountains.

The live stream was already on.

News about Ning Fei searching for an ancient tomb with personnel from the Geological Bureau and the Cultural Relics Protection Bureau had been causing an uproar online since yesterday.

This time, not only was Ning Fei live-streaming, but the Huaxia Archaeology Channel was also broadcasting their exploration around the clock.

The director of the Archaeology Channel was so thrilled he was practically in tears.

In the past, the channel's ratings had been abysmal. They played the same few clips and featured the same few artifacts over and over again every day.

Now, things were different.

If anyone wanted to watch this live stream, they had to tune in either to Ning Fei's Live-stream Room or the Archaeology Channel.

Overnight, the Archaeology Channel's viewership surged. Outside of primetime evening slots, it had become almost the highest-rated live broadcast in its time slot.

The advertising revenue from just this one day exceeded the Archaeology Channel's total income for an entire year.

"We are now heading deep into the Qinshan Mountains to look for an ancient tomb."

On the way up the mountain, Ning Fei spoke to the viewers in the live-stream room.

"The place we are going to this time is quite deep, so safety is our top priority for this trip into the mountains."

Ning Fei was very familiar with the mountain paths, so he took the lead.

The members of the exploration team on this trip all possessed excellent stamina. Zhang Ke, a researcher from the Cultural Relics Protection Bureau, liked to exercise in his daily life and had a solid build. The others were much the same.

Bai Yi's stamina was also better than expected.

It was only natural. Bai Yi had eaten a Flat Peach and was wearing the pendant Ning Fei had given her, making her physical endurance far superior to an ordinary person's.

Ning Fei knew this, which was exactly why he had allowed Bai Yi to tag along.

Initially, the exploration team had felt a bit dismissive seeing Ning Fei bring along such a pretty young girl. However, after hiking for an entire morning, the team members were panting heavily, while Bai Yi acted like it was a walk in the park.

"You two siblings really have incredible stamina," Zhang Ke couldn't help but say while chatting with Ning Fei.

"I exercise more often. She grew up in Kunlun, where the altitude is high, so she naturally has good stamina," Ning Fei explained.

Hearing his explanation, Zhang Ke had a sudden realization and nodded.

"No wonder. Your village head even told me that you are the Crouching Dragon of Qinshan Village. Looking at it now, your sister could probably be called the Phoenix Chick."

'Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick...' Ning Fei's face darkened with exasperation.

Because of the movie Hello Mr. Billionaire, this term had now become derogatory. Just like praising someone as smart was fine, and calling someone big was no problem, but calling them a big smarty was just mocking them.

"Hahaha, Temple Master Ning is a Crouching Dragon."

The netizens instantly grew excited upon hearing Zhang Ke's words.

"Even if you beat me to death, I never would have thought that a small place like Qinshan Village could cultivate you two talents."

"Don't say it like that. I feel like when the term Crouching Dragon is applied to Temple Master Ning, its original meaning actually comes back."

"In the past, whenever Crouching Dragon was mentioned, the image of Zhuge Liang in his feather fan and silk cap would linger in my mind. Now, whenever someone mentions the Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick, all I can think of is Da Congming's stare and Zhuang Qiang's smile."

"That researcher probably doesn't know what the term means now, but Temple Master Ning's speechless expression is so funny."

The exploration team continued rushing deeper into the mountains.

The paths in the Qinshan Mountains were inherently difficult to traverse, but Ning Fei was already incredibly familiar with this area, saving the team a lot of trouble.

That evening, they ate dinner and chose to set up camp at the foot of a mountain.

Their dinner primarily consisted of compressed food rations. However, Ning Fei had found plenty of fruit along the way during the day, which the group had munched on, so their meals were still decent.

Naturally, Ning Fei and Bai Yi shared one tent.

"Are you getting used to this?" Ning Fei asked Bai Yi, lying in his sleeping bag.

"Brother, I think it's really interesting," Bai Yi chuckled. She was also lying in her sleeping bag, wiggling around a bit before nestling close to Ning Fei's side, feeling incredibly content.

The two fell asleep just like that. From a bird's-eye view, they looked like two caterpillars snuggled together.

Early the next morning.

Because Bai Yi was a girl, many things were a bit inconvenient, so Ning Fei always had to look out for her.

The exploration team members quickly washed up and organized their belongings before setting out on the path to find the tomb once more.

"Captain Zhang, you guys are working pretty hard, going deep into the mountains just to find a tomb," Ning Fei chatted with Zhang Ke along the way.

"It's not about working hard. The allowance for field operations is just high," Zhang Ke replied with a chuckle.

Ning Fei could tell that Zhang Ke wasn't the type to willingly risk his life just for field pay; rather, he was clearly deeply interested in ancient cultural relics.

He was a person wholly dedicated to research. People like that were indeed a rarity nowadays.

Ning Fei didn't say anything further.

Just then, the cry of an eagle suddenly echoed above Ning Fei's head.

"What's going on?"

The group was startled.

Then they saw a white falcon, about the length of a forearm, descend from the sky and land gently on Ning Fei's shoulder.

Standing on Ning Fei's shoulder, Little falcon looked exceedingly majestic and imposing.

"It's nothing," Ning Fei reassured the exploration team members.

Hearing Ning Fei's words, everyone's tense nerves finally relaxed. However, Ning Fei's very next sentence nearly scared them stiff.

Ning Fei said, "Little falcon tells me there are two South China tigers up ahead."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ke was dumbfounded and said in a panic, "South China tigers? Temple Master Ning, you aren't joking, are you?"

The cameraman was so terrified that he had already stumbled back a few steps, striking a posture ready to drop his equipment and flee at any second.

"Don't be afraid. I know those two South China tigers. Just stand back and go around them,"

Ning Fei said with a gentle smile.

The team members were half-skeptical and half-terrified. The netizens, however, burst into laughter upon seeing everyone's expressions in the live stream.

"What are they afraid of? Little Qun's family is so cute. They're just a few big cats!"

"The only reason we think they're cute is that the South China tigers act cute in front of Temple Master Ning. Try running into a tiger in real life—it will eat you until there's not a scrap left."

"This is how normal people react to seeing a tiger. Watching Temple Master Ning's stream before, it always felt like tigers were just like cats. In reality, these things could eat a person in two bites."

Ning Fei didn't let Bai Yi go over either.

The South China tigers were on good terms with him, but the same might not apply to Bai Yi.

Tigers didn't care if a person was pretty or not. If anything, a pretty person might just taste better.

Ning Fei and the exploration team split into two paths, maintaining a distance of about a hundred meters so they could still keep an eye out for each other.

In truth, the exploration team wasn't overly worried about their own safety. After all, this was a Government operation, so they definitely had resources at their disposal.

Aside from Zhang Ke and the cameraman, Ning Fei had noticed early on that the other two men were far from simple.

They claimed to be from the Cultural Relics Protection Bureau, but they acted with absolute decisiveness, spoke without a hint of a smile, and had incredibly sturdy builds. A single glance was enough to tell they were ex-special forces, and their mission was undoubtedly to protect Zhang Ke during the search for the ancient tomb.

Before long, Ning Fei spotted two tigers up ahead, one large and one small. The large tiger was lying on the ground napping, while the small tiger was chasing butterflies nearby.

"Little Qun!"

Ning Fei called out.

Hearing his voice, the two tigers simultaneously looked in Ning Fei's direction before happily trotting over.

It was no wonder the viewers watching the live stream felt the tigers weren't threatening.

Because in front of Ning Fei, these two South China tigers displayed absolutely no aggression. Instead, they acted just like house pets.

The exploration team watched this scene from a distance.

The large tiger had both of its front paws resting on Ning Fei's shoulders, looking as though it were ready to bite off Ning Fei's head at any moment.

Everyone gasped, but upon closer inspection, they realized Ning Fei was simply hugging the large tiger.

This sight left all of them dumbfounded.

Especially the two ex-special forces operatives. They glanced at each other, their eyes filled with utter disbelief.

Because they were still in a hurry to travel, Ning Fei didn't linger with the South China tigers for too long. He merely greeted them before regrouping with the exploration team and continuing onward.

Qinling was one of the nature reserves with the richest variety of species in Huaxia. Golden snub-nosed monkeys, takins, giant pandas, and more all lived here. Consequently, the scenery along the way remained spectacular, and everyone was in high spirits.

"The location marked on the map is right around here."

That afternoon, the exploration team finally arrived near their destination.

Scanning the area, they saw a seemingly ordinary mountain with a few dense patches of forest and several open grassy clearings. Other than that, there was nothing else.

Ning Fei had already reviewed the information about the stalactite cave tomb beforehand.

Inside, there was a coffin, a set of skeletal remains, and paintings on the walls.

"That is a mountain range ruin from the Zhou Dynasty, which looks a bit different from how it does now."

"It's getting late. Let's set up the tents first and figure out where to start tonight."

Ning Fei suggested.

Since they were deep in the mountains, they naturally had to be thorough in their considerations.

However, the more Ning Fei looked at the mountain, the more bizarre he found it.

"Brother, what are you thinking about?" Bai Yi asked from the side when she saw him spacing out.

Ning Fei shook his head, brushing off a faint sense of foreboding in his heart, and replied, "Nothing. I was just wondering where the ancient tomb might be."

As the two chatted, they happened to notice a river not far away. They went to the riverbank to fetch some water, preparing to cook dinner.

But in his heart, Ning Fei was still constantly pondering the painting inside the tomb.