145: Chapter 145 Departure

Chapter 127: Joint Examination

The two days of the Joint Examination passed quickly.

When Chen Zhen walked out of the exam hall after finishing the last subject, it was already getting dark.

The school gate was crowded with parents; some were crying, some were laughing, and some were taking pictures.

Zhang Meng chased after him from behind and threw an arm around his shoulder.

"We're liberated! Finally liberated! Want to go to the internet cafe all night tonight?"

Chen Zhen shook his head. "I'm heading out tomorrow."

"Where to?"

"Nancheng."

Zhang Meng paused for a moment. "Heading out again? You're always heading out."

Chen Zhen didn't explain.

Zhang Meng waited for two seconds, then let go. "Fine, I don't understand your business anyway."

He turned and ran off, but after a few steps, he turned back and shouted, "Remember to find me to play ball when you get back!"

Chen Zhen waved his hand.

When he returned home, his mother had already finished cooking.

His father was sitting at the dining table looking at his phone, but he put it down when he saw him enter.

"How did the exam go?"

"It was okay."

His father nodded and picked up his chopsticks. "Let's eat."

The family sat around the table and finished their meal in silence.

When his mother was clearing the dishes, Chen Zhen stood up.

"Mom, I'm going to Nancheng tomorrow morning."

"What time is the train?"

"Seven o'clock."

"Then get to sleep early."

"Mm."

Chen Zhen returned to his room and closed the door.

He sat at his desk and took out the planning sheet from the drawer.

He added a line after "Find jade plaque" — "Joint Examination finished, departing tomorrow."

Then he stood up and pushed the door open to leave.

Ten o'clock at night, Secret Base.

The lights were still on; Zhou Rui was organizing the talisman paper, Shen Nian was recording the spiritual plants, and Yun Xi was leaning against the wall.

Seeing Chen Zhen enter, Zhou Rui looked up.

"Master, what time are we leaving tomorrow?"

"Seven o'clock. High-speed rail."

"Did you buy the tickets?"

Yun Xi answered. "Bought them. Three tickets. Nancheng West Station."

Zhou Rui nodded and continued organizing the talisman paper.

In front of him were three cloth bags, each with a label attached — Protective Talisman, Tracking Talisman, Purification Talisman.

Chen Zhen walked over and picked up a bag of Protective Talisman and opened it. Inside, fifty talismans were neatly stacked, each folded into a small square and secured with a rubber band.

"Is it enough?" Zhou Rui asked.

Chen Zhen put the talismans back. "It's enough."

He walked over to the Mutant Seedling and squatted down.

The flower bud had grown larger, from the size of a peanut to the size of a broad bean, and the outline of the petals was clearly visible.

The color was golden yellow, like little suns.

The golden patterns on the leaves had increased from thirty-eight to forty-two, and the entire plant was enveloped in a faint golden light.

Shen Nian was standing nearby, holding a notebook.

"It suddenly lit up last night, very brightly. Then the flower bud swelled up."

Chen Zhen stared at the flower buds.

Soon.

By the time he returned from Nancheng, they might have bloomed.

He stood up and walked back to the center of the array, taking out the two jade plaque and placing them in front of him.

He reached out to touch them, injecting spiritual power. The two jade plaque lit up, resonating with the Composite Rune Array.

The system panel displayed a prompt —

[Composite Rune Array · Strength +5% · Current 315%]

[jade plaque resonating · Progress 2/4]

He withdrew his hand.

The jade plaque in Nancheng, whoever took it, must be found.

He stood up.

"Arrive at the station early tomorrow."

Zhou Rui nodded, and Yun Xi nodded as well.

Chen Zhen pushed the door open and left.

Eleven o'clock at night, Chen Zhen lay in bed, using Internal Vision on his Dantian.

The seed was still spinning, and the pattern was still glowing.

He reached out and pressed his chest, slowly injecting spiritual power.

The seed spun a little faster, and the pattern became a bit clearer.

He withdrew his hand.

On the day of departure, the sky hadn't fully brightened yet.

When Chen Zhen arrived at the high-speed rail station, Zhou Rui and Yun Xi were already waiting at the entrance.

Zhou Rui was carrying a huge mountaineering backpack, bulging as if he were going to climb a snow-capped mountain.

Yun Xi still had that military canvas bag, holding three tickets in her hand, watching the train information on the big screen.

"Master, over here." Zhou Rui waved.

Chen Zhen walked over and took his ticket.

Train G1342, departing at 7:03, arriving at Nancheng West at 9:41.

He glanced at the time; there was still half an hour left.

The three of them went through security, entered the station, and boarded the train.

When the high-speed train started, the city outside the window began to recede.

First, building after building, then field after field, and finally, rolling mountains.

Zhou Rui sat by the window, staring outside the whole time.

He suddenly spoke, his voice low, as if talking to himself.

"Master, why do you think the person who took the jade plaque took it?"

Chen Zhen thought for a moment. Shen Zhiyuan took it for research.

Shen Zhiqiu took it for Fusion.

Regardless of which one it was, the jade plaque didn't remain in Fu Mountain in the end.

"I don't know. But we'll know when we get there."

Zhou Rui nodded and didn't ask again.

At 9:41, the high-speed train arrived on time.

Nancheng West Station was not big, and there weren't many people; outside the station was a wide, empty square.

A few taxis were parked in the square, and the drivers were gathered together smoking and chatting.

Yun Xi went over to ask around, and when she came back, she shook her head.

"There are no cars going to Fushan Town. Chartering a car costs three hundred."

"Three hundred is fine," Chen Zhen said.

Yun Xi went back and negotiated the price with a driver.

The three of them got into the car, and it left the city, heading northwest.

The road got narrower and narrower, the houses on both sides got lower and lower, and finally, only farmland and mountains remained.

The driver was a young man, twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, and very talkative.

He glanced at Chen Zhen in the rearview mirror.

"What are you going to Fushan Town for? That place is remote and poor, nothing fun there."

"Hiking," Zhou Rui said.

"Hiking?" The driver laughed. "What's there to hike on that crappy mountain? Even the locals don't go there."

"Why?"

The driver thought about it.

"Can't really say. Just feel like that place is strange. When I was a kid, the adults wouldn't let us go, saying there was something in the mountain, and if you went in, you wouldn't come out."

He paused.

"A few years ago, an old man from out of town came here to hike. He went in and never came out. They searched for three days and found his bag in a gully, but the man was gone."

Zhou Rui looked at Chen Zhen.

Chen Zhen didn't speak.

The car drove for an hour and a half and arrived at Fushan Town.

The town was very small, with one main street, flanked by two or three-story buildings, with shops downstairs and homes upstairs.

There weren't many people on the street; a few old people were basking in the sun, and a yellow dog was lying in the middle of the road, not moving even when the car came.

The driver stopped the car in front of a small inn.

"We're here. This is Fushan Town. If you want to go into the mountain, go from the north side of the town; there's a dirt road, and you'll be there in an hour."

The three of them got out of the car.

The driver turned around and left.

The small inn was a three-story building, with white paint on the exterior walls, some parts of which had already peeled off. A wooden plaque hung at the door with the words "Fu Mountain Inn" written on it, the writing blurry, as if it had been written many years ago.

Chen Zhen pushed the door open and entered.

A middle-aged woman was sitting at the front desk, looking at her phone. She looked up at them.

"Staying the night?"

"Three rooms. For one night."

The woman nodded and took three keys out of the drawer.

"Third floor. The stairs are over there."

She paused and looked at Chen Zhen.

"Are you here to hike?"

"Mm."

The woman was silent for two seconds. "There's nothing worth hiking on that mountain. Even the locals don't go there."

"We're just going to take a look."

The woman stared at him for a few seconds, said nothing more, and lowered her head to continue looking at her phone.

The three went upstairs and put away their luggage.

Chen Zhen's room was at the end of the corridor, very small, with a bed, a table, and a wardrobe.

The window faced the north side of the town, and he could see the mountain in the distance.

The mountain was not high, but it was very dark.

It wasn't the black of trees, but the black of stone. Looking at it from afar, it looked like a huge piece of charcoal.

Chen Zhen stood at the window for a long time.

He turned and went downstairs.

Zhou Rui and Yun Xi were already waiting downstairs.

The three of them left the town and walked north.

The road was a dirt road, bumpy and uneven, with waist-high weeds growing on both sides.

After walking for an hour, a mountain appeared in front of them.

The mountain was not high, but it was very steep.

The mountain body was black, as if it had been scorched by fire, with no vegetation growing.

It was completely different from the lush green mountains around it, standing out starkly.

Chen Zhen stopped and looked up at the mountain.

In his Anomaly Perception, the entire mountain was glowing.

It wasn't that kind of glaring light, but a heavy, muffled light, as if something was surging beneath the skin.

"This is it," he said.

The three of them walked around the foot of the mountain.

Just like West Mountain, there was no stone tablet, no inscription, no cave entrance, nothing at all.

But in his Anomaly Perception, the energy fluctuation was very intense, not coming from deep within the mountain, but from the entire mountain itself.

The mountain itself was a rune.

Chen Zhen squatted down and pressed his hand to the ground.

He injected his spiritual power.

There was something underground, very shallow, less than a meter below the surface.

It wasn't a stone box, but a solid stone slab covering the entire mountain.

The stone slab was covered with runes.

He stood up.

"The mountain is hollow. It's wrapped in a layer of stone slabs, with runes carved on the slabs."

Zhou Rui paused. "The whole mountain is?"

"The whole mountain is."

Yun Xi frowned. "Then how do we get in?"

Chen Zhen looked around.

On the north side, there was a protruding rock shaped like an outstretched hand.

He walked over and stood under the rock.

In his Anomaly Perception, there was a gap there; the stone slab was broken here.

He squatted down and used his hands to clear away the rubble and dirt.

A hole was revealed underneath, not big, only enough for one person to crawl in.

Just like West Mountain.

He turned on his flashlight and crawled in first.

The tunnel was narrow and low; he bent his waist and inched his way in.

The cave walls were dry, not damp like West Mountain, and the air was dry too, carrying a burnt smell, as if it had caught fire a long time ago.

After crawling for about ten meters, the tunnel suddenly widened.

He straightened his back, and the flashlight beam illuminated a space.

It was about the same size as the secret room in West Mountain, but it was empty, with nothing in it.

No stone tablet, no stone box, nothing at all.

Only the walls were covered with runes.

Chen Zhen walked closer and shone his flashlight on the runes.

Core circle plus three dots, radial curves, nested geometry, peripheral dot matrix — seventy-two dots. Just like East Mountain, clockwise.

Just like West Mountain, but more complete.

He took out paper and a pencil and began to take a rubbing.

Zhou Rui and Yun Xi also crawled in through the cave entrance.

Zhou Rui squatted beside him, staring at the runes.

Yun Xi stood behind, shining the flashlight.

After finishing the rubbing, Chen Zhen put the paper away.

He placed his hand on the wall and injected his spiritual power.

The wall was solid.

No hidden compartments, no stone boxes, nothing.

The jade plaque was not here.

He withdrew his hand.

"It was taken by someone."

Zhou Rui stood up. "Shen Zhiyuan?"

"Possibly."

Chen Zhen shone his flashlight around.

Besides the runes, there were other carvings on the wall — a few lines of small characters, the handwriting sloppy, as if carved in a hurry.

"I arrived here, and the stone box was already empty. The one who took the item must be a peer. I leave this to inform those who come after."

Below was a signature, carved very deeply.

"Shen Zhiyuan."

Zhou Rui leaned over to look. "He was here."

Chen Zhen stared at the line of text for a long time.

Shen Zhiyuan came in 1958; at that time, he hadn't died yet and was still researching runes.

He had been here, discovered the stone box was empty, and then carved this line of text.

Who took the jade plaque?

It wasn't him; he would only leave his name.

Shen Zhiqiu? Or someone else?

He turned and walked toward the cave entrance.

"Let's get out first."

The three of them crawled out of the cave entrance.

Outside, the sunlight was very bright, stinging their eyes.

Chen Zhen stood at the cave entrance and looked back.

Inside the cave, it was pitch black, and nothing could be seen.

But those runes were still there.

The jade plaque was gone, but the runes were still there.

Shen Zhiyuan was gone, but the words he carved were still there.

Chen Zhen turned and walked down the mountain.

He would come again.