"Don't tell me we're really going to find the Great Liao empress dowager's tomb?!"
"What am I supposed to do?!"
"My target is the Jin general's tomb!"
"I'm a beginner! I wanted to try easy mode, so why did I get thrown straight into hell mode?!"
Gu Cheng felt as though he had shot himself in the foot.
Yes.
He had read the original novel.
He knew the Great Liao empress dowager's tomb was hidden in Oxheart Mountain.
But nobody else knew that.
He had figured that the Great Liao empress dowager's tomb had remained hidden in Oxheart Mountain for so many years, despite countless people searching for it. With Hu Bayi still a complete novice, there was no way he could find it either.
That was why Gu Cheng hadn't stopped him from searching for the Great Liao empress dowager's tomb.
He had thought that after wandering around for a few days and suffering a little hardship,
Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan would give up.
Then he could find an opportunity to bring up the Kwantung Army fortress and naturally suggest going to take a look.
Finally, they would stumble upon the Jin general's tomb.
Perfect!
But now things had developed beyond his expectations.
Hu Bayi had actually found Oxheart Mountain.
At this rate, he might really find the Great Liao empress dowager's tomb.
"Could this be the protagonist's plot armor?!"
Gu Cheng felt a headache coming on.
The waterfall plunged from the mountaintop to its foot, gathering into a lake before branching into several streams that flowed in different directions.
They walked over to the lakeshore.
A spray of mist washed over their faces.
Fatty Wang tilted his head back to admire the magnificent waterfall and said with a grin, "What do you think? Could that old hag, the Great Liao empress dowager, have her tomb hidden behind the waterfall, just like the Monkey King's Water Curtain Cave? Is that why nobody's found it all these years?"
Hu Bayi came over too and teased him. "Why don't you copy the Monkey King and jump down from the mountaintop? You might actually find the entrance."
"Too bad I don't have the Monkey King's abilities."
Fatty Wang poked fun at himself too. "Otherwise, I'd really jump in and take a look."
Turning his head, he saw Yingzi filling her canteen in the lake.
He quickly said, "Hey, Yingzi, don't just drink any water you find out in the wilderness. It might not be clean."
Yingzi rolled her eyes at him and said, "The water here is perfectly clean. There's nothing wrong with it. Whenever my dad and I come into the mountains and pass this area, we always stop here to refill our water."
Gu Cheng studied the lake water carefully and said, "The water's very clear, with no microorganisms visible to the naked eye. It should be drinkable, but to be safe, we'd better boil it first."
Just then, some faint text appeared before his eyes.
But it vanished in an instant.
"Hm?"
Gu Cheng immediately shifted his gaze back to the patch of water he had just been looking at.
It was close to the shore.
The lake water was exceptionally clear.
He could clearly see a slope formed by several rocks. Farther down the slope, everything was pitch-black, and he couldn't see the bottom.
A green plant grew among the loose stones on the slope.
And surprisingly,
the slope was covered in thick, luxuriant aquatic weeds.
Yet within a meter of that single green plant, not another blade of grass grew.
The plant was thriving, and it even bore several green fruits the size of soybeans.
Perhaps because of the rippling surface, he couldn't see it clearly. The text was blurred and kept flickering.
Gu Cheng was instantly intrigued.
What kind of plant could trigger treasure appraisal information?
He hesitated for a moment.
Then he began taking off his clothes.
Standing beside him, Fatty Wang immediately grabbed him. "Young Master Gu, wait, why are you taking your clothes off?"
Gu Cheng said, "I'm going into the water to take a look."
All three of them immediately stared at him as though he had gone mad.
"Young Master Gu, you've lost your mind!"
"It's winter, and we're right by the border! The temperature's below freezing!"
"You're going into the water now? Do you have a death wish?!"
Gu Cheng said, "It's fine. Start a fire right now, a big one. I'll be back out in a minute at most."
Seeing that they couldn't talk him out of it,
Hu Bayi glanced at the sky and said, "All right, it's getting late anyway. Since Young Master Gu insists on going into the water, we might as well camp here tonight."
They went off to gather dry wood, then built a large fire.
They also pitched the tent.
Yingzi retreated into the tent. Outside, Gu Cheng stripped down to his underwear, shivering all over from the cold.
Just as he entered the water,
he instinctively took the Little Divine Edge in hand as well.
"Hiss..."
The icy lake water stabbed into Gu Cheng's body like steel blades piercing to the bone, rapidly draining his body heat. Within mere seconds, he felt as though his entire body had frozen stiff.
Instinctively, he activated the Fetal Breathing Method, circulating his feeble true qi through his body.
Though the effect was minimal, it at least cleared his cold-numbed mind a little.
He bit the tip of his tongue.
The sudden, intense pain jolted his nervous system, bringing him sharply alert.
He opened his eyes.
With the Little Divine Edge in his right hand, he swam toward the slope.
As it turned out,
the lake bottom had looked quite shallow from shore.
Only after entering the water did he realize that had been an illusion. The slope was at least three or four meters beneath the surface.
At this point, however, he could finally read the information about the green plant.
[Item name]: Golden Cup Longevity Fruit [Item grade]: First-Rank Spirit Fruit [Item ability]: Increases true essence spiritual energy [Item description]: A spirit fruit born of heaven and earth, gathering their essence. It takes ten years to flower and ten years to bear fruit.
"Holy shit!"
Gu Cheng's eyes suddenly widened.