Published: March 11, 2025
CHAPTER 74: Firefly Fish
Zhao Hai stood at the foot of the bare little mountain, glancing around at the surrounding lush mountains with a bitter smile in his heart.
When he first heard Galen mention it, he found it strange that a mountain along with a manor could be bought for just one hundred gold coins. It seemed a bit too cheap, didn’t it? However, upon arriving at the foot of this mountain, he understood why it was so inexpensive; indeed, cheap goods came with a price.
The mountain truly embodied that saying; it was obvious to anyone who looked at it. Even if you only used one eye to see it, you could tell what was wrong with it.
The only so-called specialty of this mountain was the stone; there were blue stones everywhere. From a distance, you could also see weeds growing through the cracks in the stones. At the top of the mountain was a not-so-large manor, also built from blue stones. The entire mountain gave off the feeling of a scabby head with a small hat, revealing a half-shiny scalp and a few remaining strands of hair, which was quite awkward.
Galen stood next to Zhao Hai and noticed the change in Zhao Hai’s expression. He couldn't help but blush as he too knew how unappealing this mountain was. However, there was nothing to be done; the property prices and land prices near Casa City were already higher than in other places, and they didn’t have much money, so this mountain was the only option for them.
Galen understood that Zhao Hai was dissatisfied and quickly said, “Young master, although this mountain doesn't look great, the manor isn’t too small. Plus, there’s a road built from the foot of the mountain up to the manor, making it convenient to walk. There’s also a hot spring in the manor, which is quite nice for soaking.”
Zhao Hai understood that Galen was afraid he wouldn’t like the mountain and manor. He smiled slightly and said, “It’s fine, this place is quite good. It’s just the kind of place that no one would find appealing, which makes it safer. If there were any treasures on this mountain, I wouldn't dare to buy it—better safe than sorry.”
Galen nodded. To be honest, when he bought this estate, he hadn’t thought too much about it. He just felt it was cheap and not far from Casa City. However, it was best that Zhao Hai thought this way; he no longer had to worry about Zhao Hai being dissatisfied.
Merlin and Meg also stood next to Zhao Hai. To be honest, not only was Zhao Hai unhappy, but even they felt quite dissatisfied upon seeing this mountain.
Zhao Hai didn’t mind. He turned and entered the room inside the alien creature, directing it to move up the mountain, as he truly wanted to see what was in the manor.
As Galen said, the only advantage of this rocky mountain was the stone road that led from the foot of the mountain to the manor at the top. This road was clearly not paved with stones; rather, it was carved using some natural rocks. It was about five meters wide, and the person who built this road was quite clever. They chose a location where the terrain was the least undulating, so they didn’t need to carve too many stones; they just needed to clear away some particularly high rocks.
However, Zhao Hai found the road a bit strange. Although he had lived on the plains of northern China and had not seen many mountains, he was still very clear that roads for large vehicles on mountains were not usually built straight to the top. They were typically built as winding roads.
The so-called winding road spirals upwards from the foot of the mountain. Although such a road is much longer than a straight path to the top, the slope becomes gentler, making it easier for vehicles to navigate.
But the road on this rocky mountain climbed straight to the top, and inevitably, the slope was quite steep. According to Zhao Hai’s calculations, if he were on Earth with a horse-drawn carriage, it wouldn’t be easy to ascend this road; it would be difficult even for the horse to pull an empty cart up the hill.