Qizishan's Qiyan Temple

During the Yuanshou era of the Eastern Han, by the Huai River stood Cone Mountain. At the time, not a single brick or tile of a temple had yet been laid there. The mountain was nothing but rugged stones and thorny undergrowth, a barren ridge. Its slopes rose and fell in winding curves like a crouching dragon poised to dive into the depths. On the southern side of its western peak, a broad expanse of granite lay exposed, its solid rock as white as snow and striking against the vast mountain landscape. At high noon, when the sun beat down, the white stones shimmered and reflected dazzling rays, so bright they were painful to look at. In the rainy season, mountain mists curled and rose, shrouding the many white rocks. The stones appeared and disappeared in the haze, like Penglai, the fabled isle beyond the sea, or a fairyland among the clouds, lending the place an ethereal air. In a fishing village at the foot of the mountain, old hunter Uncle Zhang stooped and pointed toward the mist-shrouded summit as he spoke to his wide-eyed grandson. "Kid, see that white glow on the mountaintop? That's what the elders call 'the shining white stones.' They say it's a cave where immortals live. I hear there's a naturally formed 'Immortal's Bed' up there, and a deep 'Immortal's Cave' where you can hide. In ancient times, a perfected sage once slept on that stone bed for hundreds of years, living on wind and dew and never eating mortal food."