Chapter 419 (1/2)

Fat Duck

Shao Xuan stayed another ten days in Gongjia Valley. He only left when the power of inheritance within him was almost completely restored.

Before he left, he bowed toward the valley. Although he did not know the people who left the words, and perhaps these people had long died, since he had made copies of their writings, he should pay them some respect.

He plucked a leaf and left a note for Gongjia Heng. Then, he planned to leave the valley. There was no use staying here. He could feel a strong sense of non-belonging here. There was no echo when he hit the bell, all its echoes would be muffled by the valley. It did not like outsiders.

Shao Xuan initially planned to return by the same path but he realised he couldn’t open the door that Gongjia Heng had pushed open. Should he blast it open by force? He wasn’t sure if it would trigger some reaction.

However, while the entrance could not be opened, he noticed another opening in another part of the valley.

The door of this opening seemed to have merged into the mountain. There were so many creepers and plants covering it, if it hadn’t opened on its own, Shao Xuan wouldn’t have found it.

There was a dark tunnel inside, similar to the one they used when they came. It didn’t seem like it was a dead end. Although there was a lingering smell of rot, it was not strong. There were other smells here too.

After some thought, he took a step inside to leave this place.

He took out the crystal for some light. As he walked, he studied the carvings on the walls around. In the past, people had used this tunnel too. There were markings made on purpose to prevent them from getting lost at the forks in front. However, Shao Xuan realised there were no forks. He just felt that this tunnel was curved. Not sure where this tunnel led to.

There were small holes at the top of the tunnel. Not sure where they led to and no light streamed in. He just felt air flowing through these holes.

He continued walking. When he reached the light at the end of the tunnel, he realised he was no longer in Gongjia Valley.

Behind him was a huge mountain range. In front of him was a green forest.

He did not see Xia valley, a place that reeked of death. It was as if he had stepped into another world.

This was not the forest he was familiar with, Gongjia Heng had not brought him to a place like this before. This forest was very foreign to him.

When he stepped out of the tunnel, he heard a sound. The hole had sealed off automatically. The door merged with its surroundings with no crevices. If he hadn’t seen the door, he wouldn’t have known there was a tunnel here.

Shao Xuan looked at the sun in the sky to pinpoint his direction and location. He wasn’t too far away. However, it was still a long way to his initial path.

There were sounds of birds and insects but he did not see a single flying insect or bird. There were no insects crawling in the bushes either.

He continued walking ahead. The insect and bird sounds grew louder.

The trees trunks here were not thick. The leaves swayed in the wind and he could hear the calls of birds and insects.

Shao Xuan watched carefully, looking for flying birds. His gaze fell on the trees.

The sounds weren’t from birds, it was the trees!

AS for the insect sounds, they came from the grass!

Especially when the breeze blew, he could hear both the sounds of birds and insects, rising and falling.

This is a peculiar forest indeed.

Just like the previous patch of forest, there were illusions here too. There were factors that would cause someone to get lost. However, he successfully passed through the other one, he would get out of this one too.

After walking for two hours, he realised he still hadn’t left the forest, nor was he back to the same spot. However, he had a feeling he hadn’t even travelled far from his starting point.

Shao Xuan plucked a blade of grass and tested it. The grass was flexible, similar to the grass he could make knots on. He decided to use this for a reading.

The first reading was a failure.

The second reading was also a failure.

The grass would break not long after he began.

The problem wasn’t with the grass. Shao Xuan felt like he could not focus at all. If he could not focus, the surge of energy would not be in proper sequence, hence the probability of failure would be high.

During the reading, the insect and bird noises seemed to grow louder and more annoying. He could barely calm his mind down. If he wanted to conduct a reading, he would have to get away from all the noise.

Shao Xuan set up a trap around him. He would be alerted of any beast or person that approached this way. After setting up everything, he shut off his hearing to separate himself from the world. He closed his eyes and did another reading.

This time, it was so much easier.