As everyone knew, how could a tourist destination like Everspring City lack the essential tourist traps designed to fleece visitors?
The Hot Spring Festival was Everspring City's ultimate cash cow. Every summer, when the rest of the Northern Border was as hot as a steamer, the people of Everspring City could escape to the snowy mountains. Perhaps due to the Northern Border's unique geography, the snow on these mountains never melted, allowing visitors to enjoy the wintry scenery all year round.
But unlike other snow-viewing spots, you could enjoy the snow here in summer clothes. This was because right next to the snow lay steaming hot springs. If you got cold, you could just jump in for a soak. Going back and forth like this, a single trip could give you the experience of three different seasons.
As for why the snow didn't melt despite being in a normal temperature environment right next to hot springs, some people had apparently tried to study it, but they had given up halfway without figuring it out. In any case, it made for a great attraction, and the tourist traffic was massive.
The local merchants here certainly weren't slacking off. After all, the market played a decisive role in allocating resources. Just like during a gold rush, the ones who actually made money weren't the gold miners, but the people selling shovels.
Standing next to Jiang Ci, Lu Yan looked at the snow-covered mountain packed with merchants selling food, drinks, clothing, and daily necessities—they had everything. His lips twitched. Is the tertiary industry in the cultivation world really this developed? The Ice Spirit siege didn't slow down the urbanization process one bit.
The only one who hadn't come this time was Chen San. In his words, someone had to watch the tavern, and he felt that soaking in a hot spring was no different from taking a bath. Having just bathed a couple of days ago, he didn't want to join in the fuss. Hua Er scolded him for not knowing how to enjoy life, but Chen San didn't argue back. He simply leaned his axe against the door, sat down comfortably at the entrance, and began living his retirement life early.
Yao Wu was absolutely determined to come. As a hardcore doting father, he went wherever Nannan went. He carried Nannan with one arm. She leaned against his shoulder, wrapping her tiny hand around his neck while holding a freshly bought colorful pinwheel in her other hand, which spun rapidly in the wind.
Hong Jiu and Hua Er walked at the very front. One tall and one short, they looked like mother and daughter, but they hadn't stopped bickering the entire way. They argued about everything from the formation mechanism of the snowy mountains to the mineral content of the hot springs, and from the mineral content to the new dishes recently introduced at Huamanlou.
Hong Jiu called Hua Er stingy, while Hua Er called Hong Jiu a spendthrift. Hong Jiu claimed she was injured and shouldn't get angry, while Hua Er countered that she was injured yet still out messing around. Neither of them would back down, their voices growing louder and louder until the passing vendors actively steered clear of them. Lu Yan pinched the bridge of his nose. This bunch... He turned to look at Jiang Ci. “Let's go.” Jiang Ci stood beside him, nodded, and followed.
Hong Jiu had clearly done her research beforehand. Along the way, she was constantly introducing sights and buying things, her hands full of shopping bags filled with items she deemed “must-buys.”
Hua Er scoffed at this, saying they were just here for a hot spring soak and there was no need to make such a fuss. Besides, as a cultivator, why would she need to squeeze through a crowd of mortals just to look at the scenery?
Currently competing with a crowd for the best viewing spot on the snowy mountain, Hong Jiu's lips twitched, an imaginary vein throbbing on her forehead. She felt that Hua Er made a fair point, but for some reason, she really wanted to beat her up.
Her fists clenched tight. So tight!
Did this woman have to make life difficult for her at every turn? If she hadn't calculated that her chances of beating Hua Er were even lower than the chances of being completely drained dry by her, she would have buried Hua Er headfirst into the ground by now.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, she squeezed out a friendly-looking smile. “Then where do you think we should go?”
Seeing Hong Jiu's expression, which looked as if she had just swallowed a rat dropping, Hua Er proudly puffed out her rather flat chest and said righteously, “Obviously, we go straight to the hot springs.”
She pointed toward a hot spring inn situated on the mountainside. “I've been hanging around this area for years, so I know which place is the best. Honestly, all these hot springs are pretty much the same. The most important thing is that this place offers free food and drinks, and they taste great! Huamanlou even plagia—cough, borrowed quite a few recipes from them!”
Watching Hua Er's smug attitude, Lu Yan's lips twitched so violently they felt like they were being hit by a massage gun. You're proud of plagiarizing someone else's dishes? And you absolutely just let that slip! Also, are you here to take a bath or to eat!
He was too exhausted to even comment. Why is this world so full of absurdities? Did I really not transmigrate into some gag anime? If I were a Snark Planet alien, I would have ascended to the heavens on the spot by now.
But there was nothing he could do. The one with the money called the shots, and he was just a broke loser. Poverty crushed one's spirit, so it wasn't his place to speak up. Besides, he glanced at Jiang Ci beside him and saw that her eyes were also filled with eager anticipation.
Well, what else was there to say? Let's go.
The group marched into the inn in a grand procession.
The inn was a traditional wooden structure with faded lanterns hanging at the entrance and an illegible sign carved into the lintel. The owner was an old man in his sixties with white hair and a deeply wrinkled face, but his eyesight was exceptionally sharp. He spotted Nannan hiding behind Yao Wu in an instant, completely ruining Hong Jiu's plan to sneak her in for free.
Smiling, the old man flicked a bead on his abacus and insisted on charging for one more person. Hua Er argued back fiercely, saying that a child didn't take up any space, so why charge full price? The old man countered that a child was still a person; whether they took up space or not, rules were rules, and rules couldn't be broken. Hua Er argued that their rules were unreasonable, to which the old man replied that whether they were reasonable or not wasn't for her to decide.
The two of them went back and forth, bickering for a full twenty minutes. They argued from the health benefits of hot springs to the business environment and tourist traffic of Everspring City, and from the poor economy where no one had money to the old man's romantic escapades in his youth.
Failing to win the argument, Hua Er reluctantly paid the money with a pained expression, muttering curses under her breath. The old man took the silver with a smile and called for his wife to lead the guests inside. The proprietor's wife was a short, plump elderly woman with a warm smile, carrying a jingling ring of keys. She led them down the corridor and pushed open a wooden door, pointing out the women's bath on the left and the men's bath on the right. This small establishment had no private baths, but since the women's section was empty today, Hong Jiu took Nannan, and Hua Er dragged Jiang Ci inside, effectively booking the entire place for themselves.
Yao Wu and Lu Yan went into the men's bath. There were already a few people inside—several middle-aged men soaking in the pool with their eyes closed, looking thoroughly relaxed. Full of excitement, Yao Wu stripped off his outer robe and jumped straight into the water, kicking up a massive splash.
The guy was a literal plant spirit. Basking in the sun was photosynthesis to him, and soaking in a hot spring was like watering a plant—these were his only two hobbies in life. How could he not be excited? Lu Yan followed Yao Wu into the men's bath, but as he walked, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had forgotten something. Hua Er, Jiang Ci... Suddenly, a mental image flashed through his mind—Hua Er pulling Jiang Ci into the women's bath.
His eyes went wide, and his mouth flew open as he let out a cracked, panicked scream.
“Oh—no—”
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