After a long week of travel, they finally arrived at the Eternal Night Valley. The carriage took a long detour without going through the dense bamboo forest. Thankfully, the large stock of supplies and constant change of scenery on the mountainous path kept Anji occupied. Gu Ying was an expert navigator and hunter. Thanks to the reliable bodyguard, they arrived at the Eternal Night Valley ahead of schedule.
"Sect Leader Bai is already waiting for us in this town," Mingshen smiled. "You should find him with Gu Ying. I have some errands to run and a few acquaintances to meet on behalf of Brother Zhang Mou. Let’s meet at the inn for dinner."
Nodding excitedly, Anji agreed. Gu Ying stopped the carriage near a shop with many red lanterns. The decoration style was very similar to the tourism boats in Silver Water Town. There was no mistaking this as Hong Nian Niang’s property.
After dropping Mingshen off at the Gentleman Club’s branch office, Gu Ying and Anji stopped at a pricey-looking in. The colour scheme of this inn was light green and white, reminding her of her brother’s usual outfits. This had to be his establishment. There was no way someone like Sect Leader Bai would voluntarily choose this type of inn to stay at. Knowing her meticulous second brother, everything must have been arranged for their arrival.
When Gu Ying’s carriage stopped outside the expensive inn, a manager came rushing out with a lantern with the same symbol as their carriage.
"Welcome to Golden Halo Inn! We have been expecting your arrival, esteemed guest. Please leave the unpacking and parking to our porters and stable hands. This humble servant will show you to your rooms."
Golden Halo... Anji wondered why that was the case. However, she immediately noticed something strange after stepping out of the carriage.
"Why is everyone lying on the ground in the middle of the street?" she asked. "Are they sick?"
Glancing to the pavement where many shirtless men were lying, the innkeeper laughed. It was a strange sight to outsiders who had never been to Eternal Night Valley. Many people mistake them for beggars. However, it was the common practice for those who lived here to book their sunbathing spot before the limited window of sun appeared.
"They’re booking their sunbathing spots," he explained to the confused girl. "In this town, the sun only rises for about ten minutes to an hour daily if the weather is good. Due to the curved mountain structure above us, the town barely receives any sunlight. Many people fall ill without sunlight. Hence, it is very precious to get every minute of sunlight when it is here."
Looking up, Anji frowned. Where was the sun going to rise from? It was extremely cloudy and misty, as expected of a mountain range near the Mystical Qilin Sect’s territory.
"There is nothing but clouds in the sky," she noted. "It doesn’t seem like there will be sun."
Sighing wistfully, the inn manager agreed.
"It can be like that sometimes. However, in the rare chance we get a strong gust of wind to push this sea of clouds aside just in time as the sun passes through, the people who have booked their sunbathing spot would benefit from the long wait. It’s better than seeing a doctor and hiring a hiker to carry the sick person to the top of the mountain for rehabilitation."
Confused, Anji looked around.
"Aren’t there pharmacists here to treat yang deficiency?"
Surprised that the young girl knew what most of the townsfolk suffered from, the innkeeper shook his head.
"All the doctors claimed that only sunlight exposure therapy would work. If there were such a miraculous medicine, nobody would be this concerned about reserving the best sunbathing spots. It just happened that our founder of the inn realised the importance of sunbathing and built the Golden Halo to be in the best spot in this town, using many mirrors to create a rooftop ideal for hosting a sunbathing party for two hundred people. Reservations can be as long as a few weeks, and the time slot booked daily does not confirm the sun’s presence. Yet, hundreds of people flock to our inn for sunbathing. Those who could not afford the slots or had no vacancies often book their spots on the streets outside the inn."
Hearing this, Anji finally understood why her brother was enthusiastic about learning a little medicine for yang deficiency. It was to earn extra income while helping the townsfolk suffering from the lack of sunlight. Compared to buying a few pills, hiring a hiker to receive sunlight exposure treatment was more costly for the labourers.
Keeping that fun fact in mind, Anji and Gu Ying followed the inn manager inside their room. Like the Seven Star River View Inn, the Golden Halo Hotel had a similar architectural design. However, due to the strong wind, it was a little shorter than the building in Silver Water Town. The courtyard in the middle was huge, and every floor was designed with mirrors that would reflect sunlight. Anji soon realised those mirrors were windows.
"Here is your room," the manager smiled and opened the door to a VVIP suite for the two ladies. "Please ring the bell to summon a servant if you have any other requests. The porter will bring up all your luggage shortly."
After the manager left, Anji immediately inspected the room. Similar to the Seven Star Inn, talisman seals were hidden within these walls. Her brother was as meticulous as ever. They had nothing to worry about residing in one of his establishments. More importantly, Anji was curious about the rooftop sunbathing station.
"Can we go to the rooftop to see the sunbathing setup?" she asked Gu Ying.
Seeing how their luggage had not arrived yet, Gu Ying told Anji to wait a little. In the meantime, she suggested for her young mistress to open the mirror window to look outside. The Golden Halo Inn had its name for more than one reason. It was a surprise Mingshen wanted to show Anji before they escorted her to the Mystical Qilin Sect. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel•fire.net
Pushing open a window, Anji gasped at the faint glimmer of light surrounding the hotel. Although it was not as bright as the sun, it was still bright enough to keep the area around the Golden Halo Hotel constantly illuminated. This had to be the safest and well-lit place in all of Eternal Night Valley. The golden glow made Anji feel as if it would constantly be early morning or evening without the sun.
Admiring the amazing architecture and clever use of mirrors to reflect the glow of lanterns, Anji played with the shadows, making different animals using her hand and giggling when the little bird shadow flew over the head of a passerby who remained oblivious to the shadow.