Chapter 412 (2/2)

Gongjia Heng was screaming in his heart but he shut his mouth tight to not make a sound, deeply afraid he might startle Shao Xuan.

It had been twenty years, five of it trapped here. Right now, hope grew little by little with every knot on the rope. Gongjia Heng was waiting with bated breath.

He prayed hard. O Mighty Straw Rope, please do not break, please don’t! In the future, I’ll pay more attention when I make rope, I’ll put all my effort into making every knot!

Gongjia Heng regretted not suggesting Shao Xuan use a tougher material to make straw rope. What if the rope breaks at a critical moment?

He wasn’t moving but he was sweating everywhere. Large beads of sweat dripped down his face but he did not wipe them away. He stared at the rope.

Sss---

That was the sound the rope made when Shao Xuan tightened the last knot at the end of the reading. This meant the reading was completed.

Shao Xuan exhaled deeply. He had spent a lot of energy conducting his reading, as if he had been hunting for many consecutive days without sleep. He was exhausted and his brain wasn’t functioning now. After a few moments, when he snapped back to reality, he realised Gongjia Heng was still in the exact same position. Heng’s face was very red and he was sweating, twitching occasionally.

“Master Gongjia, what happened to you?” he asked in surprise.

His red face contorted. Then, in a peculiar tone, as if he was suppressing a lot of emotion, he asked, “Did you get anything?

“Yeah, I did.” He had to walk through the forest to be able to conduct a successful session. Listening to Gongjia Heng describe the place was no use.

Shao Xuan just finished his sentence when Gongjia Heng leapt in excitement. He had jumped so high his head knocked on a tree branch. The tree branch broke but he did not care. Taking deep breaths, he waved his fists and sounded like he was about to cry.

Shao Xuan thought the guy seemed to have gone… a little mad.

When he finally went back to normal, he ran to Shao Xuan with such emotion in his eyes. “Where do we go?”

“Follow me.”

Shao Xuan switched his vision and focused, ignoring everything else. It was as if he locked himself in this world. Then, he lifted his feet and walked in the direction hinted by the ropes.

Gongjia Heng did not speak when he saw Shao Xuan like this. No matter how curious he was, he had to wait so that they would arrive as soon as possible. It was not the time to disturb Shao Xuan.

Both men walked in silence with light footsteps. Within the forest, there was only the rustle of tree leaves.

After half a day, they finally left the forest. Here, there were no tall trees blocking their vision. They could see a mountain far away.

Before sunset, they arrived in a valley. They had to stay the night here.

There was no cave nearby so they found a spot to rest.

This was not Gongjia Mountain but Gongjia Heng had a strong feeling.

“We’re near. I can feel the mountain calling to me.” Gongjia Heng looked in a direction, his face solemn.

The closer they got, the more cautious they would have to be. They couldn’t die a few steps from their goal. A simple valley might be more dangerous than the forest they just left.

Shao Xuan rested, leaning against the slope of a mountain. He had used up a lot of energy today, he didn’t rest after the divination reading. When he walked out of the forest, he felt like every neuron in his brain was highly tense, it was only now that he began to relax. In his mind, the totemic flames had threads of energy extending from them. The threads flowed with his blood, around his bones, then circulated around his body. He felt his energy increase with every cycle, quickly recovering to his original state.

Shao Xuan’s ashen complexion slowly gained colour. It was night time so it was not obvious and Gongjia Heng didn’t see it. If he saw this, Heng would have been once again astonished by Shao Xuan’s rejuvenation abilities.

Shao Xuan thought silence would never happen in the forest. However, it was silent here.

It was a quiet night. Other than the occasional sound of rolling pebbles when there was a breeze, there was no other sound. When the wind stopped, he heard nothing. As if the strong, roaring wind earlier that day was just his imagination.

The next day, when Shao Xuan woke, all signs of fatigue were gone. The sun had just risen and it was not bright.