At last, the skies cleared.
The Mountain Leeches that blanketed the mountains and forests all retreated with the rain,
boring into damp places to lie in wait—corners hidden beneath fallen leaves, shadowy pools, deep tree hollows, and the like.
Only when heavy rain came again, turning the world extremely damp beneath a downpour, would they crawl back out from those dark corners and move through the forests.
Of course,
before the next round of heavy rain arrived,
no one knew how many of them would die of thirst, or how many would become food for their natural enemies and perish without even leaving a corpse behind.
But one thing was certain: that number would not be small.
And another thing was even more certain:
the mass deaths of such disgusting, terrifying creatures would make every living thing in the mountains and forests clap their hands in delight.
At this moment,
inside the nameless mountain cave,
Shen Rongguang emerged from the dark, damp cave where he had been cooped up for so long and stepped outside.
Looking at the clear world beneath the blazing sun,
he let out a long breath,
as though he were exhaling all the pent-up gloom that had built up over nearly two months.
"Damn it, this thieving heavens!"
"It rains every damn day! Why doesn't the sky just collapse and let you rain to your heart's content?!"
Shen Rongguang stared at the sky and cursed loudly.
Then,
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Several streaks of Dharma light blasted out viciously, smashing several large trees ahead into pieces and knocking them down, tearing apart the ground as well.
He vented his fury fiercely,
only stopping once he was panting for breath.
"Damn it! If I'd known, I never would've come!"
"We haven't even reached the place, haven't found the thing, and I've already spent two months swallowing this damned frustration!"
After being holed up in the cave for two months,
Shen Rongguang had a bellyful of anger.
Especially when he thought of the dense swarms of Mountain Leeches among the forest grass and trees outside during the downpour, goosebumps rose all over his body.
At the same time,
he thought of the one at home who, merely because he had been born a quarter of an hour earlier than Shen Rongguang, could enjoy the support of the entire Branch Lineage and walk the road of immortality as smoothly as if treading level ground.
Meanwhile, Shen Rongguang could only suffer and toil, personally venturing everywhere, relying on himself to obtain cultivation resources and plan his own future path on the Immortal Path.
That made Shen Rongguang even angrier.
His face darkened with gloom.
"Alright, Little Guang."
Behind him,
Shen Zhongshan and the others also emerged from the cave.
Compared to Shen Rongguang,
their expressions were not much better,
but upon seeing the blazing sun overhead and the clear sky, they revealed more or less a trace of joy.
Shen Zhongshan walked up behind Shen Rongguang and patted his shoulder, like a steady Big Brother.
"This expedition got off to a bad start. I failed to make proper preparations for this place beforehand."
"Brother Shan, I—"
Shen Rongguang grew anxious and wanted to explain.
But Shen Zhongshan raised a hand and stopped him.
"I led this mission. Before coming to the Border Wasteland, I failed to investigate information such as the weather changes here. That was my responsibility to begin with."
"What is, is. What isn't, isn't. There's no need to defend me."
Shen Zhongshan spoke in a steady voice.
Shen Rongguang and the others froze,
then felt a warm current rise in their hearts, becoming even more convinced by Shen Zhongshan.
"Brother Shan, this isn't your fault. Who could have known the Border Wasteland had such bizarre weather, with rain lasting two whole months?"
"Exactly! We've encountered rain that lasted one or two months back in Tiannan City too. Based on our past experience, traveling through the rain wouldn't have been a problem. But who the hell knew this rotten place would have those things crawling all over the forests?"
"This place is seven or eight thousand li from Tiannan City. Unless you're a local, outsiders simply can't know the inside details of this rotten place."
The group spoke up one after another in Shen Zhongshan's defense.
In truth, what they said was not entirely meant to excuse Shen Zhongshan,
but was simply the truth.
Compared to the fully developed regions near Tiannan City, places like the Border Wasteland were still in the process of changing from untamed wilderness into lands inhabited by humans.
Not only was the environment harsh,
the spread of information was poor as well.
It was said that in this stretch of border wilderness, ancient merchant caravans still had to travel through the forests, going from village to village to trade.
Under such circumstances, it would indeed be difficult for outsiders to know that this place could suffer dangers such as a Mountain Leech plague.
Thinking of this,
the resentment everyone had accumulated from being trapped in the cave for nearly two months dissipated at that moment.
"Even so, I still failed to consider things thoroughly."
"But this matter has also reminded me that the environment of the Border Wasteland differs greatly from that of the Tiannan Domain. Who knows how many hidden intricacies lie within? If we enter the mountains to search for treasure later, we'll need to find a guide."
Shen Zhongshan said thoughtfully.
"Let's go. We need to hurry and reach Wu Family Market as soon as possible."
"I'm afraid this clear weather is only a brief pause. If another heavy rain comes and those Mountain Leeches crawl back out through the forests, we'll be in trouble."
"Once we reach Wu Family Market, we'll quickly find a guide and learn more about the situation here."
Shen Zhongshan called to the group and set off once more.
Hearing that,
and recalling the days over the past two months when dense swarms of Mountain Leeches in the forests outside had kept them trapped in the cave,
everyone's hairs stood on end. They hurriedly followed after him.
"The Azure Origin Water Grass has stringent requirements for where it grows. It needs abundant water-vein essence. This Border Wasteland has endured nearly two consecutive months of rain, and there are vast numbers of Mountain Leeches in these forests. It must be a place rich in water-vein essence."
"Together with the news of Azure Origin Water Grass appearing here twenty years ago, this is almost certainly right!"
"Once the mission succeeds, we may not be able to defy heaven and change our fate, but at the very least, our road ahead will no longer be worrying!"
"Please give it your all!"
As they walked, Shen Zhongshan did not forget to encourage them.
For a time,
even Shen Rongguang swept away the gloom that had accumulated earlier,
and the team's morale soared.
Within Great Bay Village,
Shen Changchuan held the intelligence gathered from below over this period. His brows furrowed slightly as he sank into thought.
Twenty years ago,
Great Bay Village had originally been ruled by a small cultivation Lineage surnamed Hu.
And the Hu Family
had moved here over a hundred years ago and had been the founding Lineage that established Great Bay Village.
Gathering information about the Hu Family was not difficult.
Although twenty years had passed,
there were still mortal martial artists in Great Bay Village who had remained from the Hu Family's era.
This was because after the change of dynasty in Great Bay Village,
aside from some close blood relatives and relatives by marriage, the Shen Family had not wiped everyone in Great Bay Village out in one sweep. Instead, they had allowed them, along with the mortal martial artists who migrated here afterward, to serve cultivators and tend the Spirit Fields.
This had also resulted in chaos in Great Bay Village's household registration and population management. Only after Shen Changchuan arrived and implemented reforms were the household records and population thoroughly sorted out.
Yet the problem was,
twenty years had passed.
Those people from back then had either grown old or died, and even those who had not died had memories that had become somewhat blurred with time.
Moreover, those who had managed to survive were people who had not been close to the Hu Family at the time.
They were merely peripheral mortal martial artists who had never had access to the core.
Even if that group knew anything,
it was all hearsay, information with no real value.
The most they knew was that the Hu Family's Patriarch back then was called Hu Zhongming, and was said to be a cultivator at the Qi Gathering Seventh Level.
Beyond that, they knew little about the Hu Family of that year.
But none of this was of any use to Shen Changchuan.
Useful information, such as anything connected to the hidden cave in the Great Bay River,
was something no one knew at all.
No one knew there was such a hidden cave at the bottom of the river.
This left Shen Changchuan somewhat helpless.
"As expected, it wasn't that simple."
"Forget it. Immortals and mortals are fundamentally different, and twenty years have passed. Even if any traces had remained, they would have long since vanished like smoke and scattered clouds."
"Trying to search from this angle is simply wishful thinking."
"Let it be."
Shen Changchuan shook his head slightly and could only set the matter aside for the time being.
But just then,
a report came from outside:
Zhao Hantao of Zhao Family Village was outside the village, urgently requesting an audience.
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