Chapter 528: Chapter 47: Miracle – Mirage Gate
Distant mountains were stacked upon each other, and a white mist gently rose up between the valleys. A Jade Belt Waterfall cascaded down following the mountain’s profile, its water spraying over rocks and shattering like broken jade.
Ginseng grew all over the mountains and fields. A pair of white cranes circled and hovered next to the Jade Belt Waterfall. Their feathers pure white, a touch of crimson on their crowns, they let out a series of celestial sounds like music.
The illusions bursting forth from under the cotton tree were also the places Zhou Ziang most yearned for during the thousands of days and nights.
"Yunteng Sect." Zhou Ziang couldn’t contain his emotions, raising his hand. That was supposed to be his world, where he wouldn’t have to worry about Spiritual Energy, where he was the proud genius pursuing the Immortal Law, admired by countless senior and junior sect brothers and sisters, all waiting for him to break the Gold Grade limit and reach the ultimate Yunteng state.
Was it a Mirage Gate or a real scene? He would understand if he just walked a few more steps.
A few steps forward was a fairyland; to stand still was to remain in reality.
In the blink of an eye, countless confused thoughts surged up, like the Spiritual Energy under the cotton tree, flooding his mind. His feet suddenly sank as if into swampy mud, and then he halted completely.
The scorching sun withered the grass blankets on the ground. Zhou Qizheng hurried over with his daughter Pali Dan to look at the cotton tree.
The quality of the cotton brought back by Pali Dan was something Zhou Qizheng had never seen in his life. The fibers within the cotton bolls were incredibly soft, with the fiber length reaching an astonishing 101 millimeters. In addition to this, the weight and width were equally exceptional. Such quality cotton, even throughout Xinjiang, wasn’t something any cotton farmer could produce.
Seeing the three mu of abandoned cotton fields rekindled the passion that had been extinguished in Zhou Qizheng. He eagerly asked his daughter where she had picked such excellent cotton bolls, but she replied that they were picked from the unrecognized "cotton tree." He followed Pali Dan running up the hillside.
When they passed their own three mu of cotton fields, Zhou Qizheng couldn’t help but take another look. That glance brought him to tears. The cotton bolls on the field and the branches that were as easily breakable as the malnourished arms of a child had completely transformed from days before.
Now, the cotton bolls were clustered together, thick and fleshy, their surfaces a dark green, looking tender and juicy. Zhou Qizheng weighed one with his hand; it was heavy. Relying on his decade-plus experience of cultivating cotton, he knew that in a few more months, when the cotton bolls dehydrated, the fibers inside would be the richest he had ever seen in all his years of planting cotton trees.
"Daddy," Pali Dan hadn’t noticed the deep sorrow followed by the great joy on her father’s face. She ran to the hilltop, but Uncle Zhou was nowhere to be seen. The ground was flat; where had the cotton tree gone?
"Pali Dan, we don’t have to move now; we can stay in Uluqosa," Zhou Qizheng lifted his daughter high overhead, raising her above his head. The wrinkles his face had earned from the sun and drought bloomed with joy. At that moment, Zhou Qizheng was like he was over a decade ago, a new soldier just entering Xinjiang, brimming with expectations for life and the future. He could rely on his own hands, on the soil beneath his feet, to build a beautiful future for his family.
The cotton boll fell from Pali Dan’s hand onto the ground, its white fibers spilling out. The little girl’s thoughts were simple; she was infected by her father’s exuberant mood. Not having to leave Uluqosa was all that mattered now, nothing else was important.
The proprietress of the Man Se Inn chewed on the newly sun-dried dates and, with a few people who were sitting idly in the inn, lamented the quick departure of the polite young Han man who had checked out and left Uluksa Town quietly.
"It’s rare to see a pleasant Han person; I heard he’s even an expert. What a pity he met Zhou Qizheng and his family; couldn’t be of any help, and even lost a lot of face."
"You’re talking about the Zhou Family, right? I hear that their cotton tree bore huge bolls. They even asked Ahmat to go look."
"The Zhou Family managed to grow a cotton tree?"
"Little Palidan said it was the Immortal from Heavenly Mountain who cast an Immortal Law on their land."
"..."
The rumbling noise of the train entering the station was heard as Zhou Ziang boarded the train. A curly-haired, high-nosed foreigner debarking collided with him.
"Sorry," John stepped aside.
"Never mind," hearing the fluent English, John took a closer look at Zhou Ziang.
The young man had already moved on, and the people getting off the train pushed John impatiently. That young man... left a deep impression on John at a glance; the people who did were often extraordinary.