385: Chapter 373 Searching for the Mountain

The shadow cast by the train enveloped the building complex, and the sound of the whistle echoed throughout the city.

The authorities had not announced a total solar eclipse today, so the Shop Owner of a street-side store walked out of the door in confusion, while those living in high-rise buildings poked their heads out from balcony windows, all looking up at the sky.

There were no obstructions in the sky, so they saw the source of the whistling sound very clearly, and then wondered if they had gotten up too abruptly in the morning, causing hallucinations.

"So, I see a train driving in the sky?" the Young Woman murmured.

Farid was the first to calm down: "This should be the train from Seventeen to pick up new students."

"Er..." the Middle-aged Man didn't know what to say, mumbling for a long time before speaking, "I had anticipated that the train from Seventeen would not be ordinary, but this is still..."

The few of them clearly felt the same way, nodding silently, watching the train in the high sky drive towards them.

The existence of Seventeen was undoubtedly very long, but the style of the train was not retro; its overall appearance was similar to the latest model of Russian trains, and it did not look old at all, with a smooth and clean paint finish that reflected golden light in the sun.

Strange enough, the whole train only had an engine and one carriage, which was confusing—what if there were too many students and not enough seats?

Did they have to pick them up in two trips?

Fortunately, the confusion would soon be cleared up, as it was about to arrive overhead.

"Woo—"

The train approached directly above the crowd, the whistle blowing as it slowed down, but the altitude did not decrease.

Seeing it stop steadily above their heads and then remain motionless, the Young Lady asked in surprise: "Isn't it here to pick us up? If it doesn't come down, how do we get on?"

"Don't worry." The president arrived upon hearing the news and said confidently, "The helicopter is already prepared, you..."

Before he could finish, a beam of light suddenly shot out from the bottom of the train head, enveloping the five people standing together.

The president was thoughtful, intending to instruct them on some precautions. But before he could open his mouth, the few had already disappeared from the spot.

"Woo—" The train whistled again, turning around in an arc.

The president looked up at the train driving into the distance, his eyes somewhat melancholy.

The Aide beside him seemed to notice the reason and comforted him: "Your Excellency the President, don't mind it. After all, we haven't been in contact with Seventeen for long, and it will surely be possible in the future."

The president smiled, restraining the slight desolation on his face: "I know that, of course. No one knows what will happen in the future, but for now... it is most important to carefully complete the work entrusted by Seventeen."

The Aide agreed, reminding the secretary to arrange a plane to return to Mosco, and then chatted with colleagues while waiting.

"Where did this train come from?"

"How would I know? I only discovered the train after hearing the whistle."

"Come to think of it, the entrance to Seventeen is that wine barrel, right? It's so narrow, what is the way the train drives out?"

"There must be more than one entrance to Seventeen."

"That's true."

"Hey." An Aide who had no intention of joining the chatter suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone's attention, "The door!"

...

Inside the train.

The five recovered from the slight dizziness and found themselves standing in the aisle between two rows of seats.

"Are we... on the train?"

"Should be."

"Welcome, new students, to this train. Please take your seats."

A sweet and gentle female voice sounded from behind. They subconsciously looked back, and a flight attendant in a black and white uniform stood by the carriage door.

"There's actually..."

"Stop talking nonsense, sit down quickly."

An unfamiliar environment would cause instinctive unease in humans, and the five were no exception. So even though there were plenty of seats, enough for the five of them to lie down and sleep, they still squeezed into a six-person booth facing each other.

Seeing them seated, the flight attendant twisted her waist and pushed the door to leave. The nervous mood of the crowd eased a lot, and they started chatting.

The Young Woman took out her Mobile Phone to try and watch videos, but unfortunately there was no signal, so she put it back in her pocket with disappointment: "I thought there would be a signal on the train."

"It would be a miracle if there was." The Russian Man couldn't help but complain.

The Young Lady half-rose, looked around, sat back down, and curiously asked the four: "This train only has two sections, one carriage and one engine, right?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Since that's the case, why are there doors at the front and back? Shouldn't there only be one door leading to the engine?"

Farid was stunned, stood up to observe, and found it was indeed as she said: "Perhaps... the extra door is for getting off."

His tone was hesitant, and he clearly didn't believe this explanation himself.

The Young Woman turned and knelt on the seat, holding the back of the chair with both hands to look at the door at the end of the carriage: "Come on, we didn't need a door to get on, how could we need one to get off? Hmm... this is the door the flight attendant left through, there is glass on the door, why don't we go take a look?"

The Middle-aged Man, who had been silent since sitting down, objected: "No, it might violate the rules of Seventeen."

"The flight attendant didn't say we couldn't walk around." The Young Woman retorted unconvinced.

"But she didn't say we could, either." Farid supported the Middle-aged Man.

The Young Woman curled her lips and stopped talking. The air became stagnant, and the Young Lady who started the topic felt a little guilty and quickly eased the atmosphere: "It's not a very important matter. If we are really curious, we can just ask the teacher when we arrive at Seventeen."

She tried very hard, but unfortunately the effect was poor, and the few remained silent.

Fortunately, the timely appearance of the flight attendant helped break the deadlock.

She walked over with a tray, placed the fruit and snacks from the tray on the table, said "Please enjoy," and turned to leave.

The Young Woman had a flash of inspiration and excitedly called her: "Hello, ma'am, may I ask if we can visit other places?"

"Of course, but there will be spatial fluctuations when the train passes through a tunnel, so be careful not to fall." After speaking, she walked away holding the tray.

"Haha!" The Young Woman jumped up happily, "Let's go on an adventure!"

With the flight attendant's permission, the other four naturally had no objections, and they were also curious about the scene behind the aisle door, so they got up and followed the Young Woman.

They queued up to the door, and the Young Woman grabbed the doorknob: "Guess what we'll see?"

With their worries gone, everyone was in the mood to chat and spoke very cooperatively.

"Pitch-black void?" The Middle-aged Man looked at the darkness outside the train window.

"Maybe it's a room?" The Young Lady guessed, tapping her chin with her index finger.

"I think it will be a dining car!" The Russian Man touched the back of his head, "Otherwise, where would the fruit and snacks brought by the flight attendant be stored?"

Farid kept his mouth shut, and the four cast their eyes on him.

"Uh, can I not guess?"

"Why?"

"We'll know when we open the door anyway."

The two women looked at each other and said with disgust at the same time: "Straight man who doesn't understand romance."

The Young Woman stopped keeping them in suspense, pressed her palm down, and slowly pushed the door open.

As the crack of the door gradually widened, the anticipation in their eyes grew stronger.

However, when the door was completely opened, the Young Woman felt deeply disappointed.

Behind the door was a carriage that seemed no different from the one they were staying in. The five crossed the door one by one, carefully scanning the surroundings, until they had counted the stripes on the curtains and finally admitted that the two carriages were indeed exactly the same.

The Young Woman was dispirited and was about to turn back: "My adventure ended just as it began."

"Wait." The Young Lady grabbed her arm, "Didn't you feel that something was wrong?"

"What's wrong?"

The Young Lady pointed to the end of the aisle: "Look, there is a door there too. When we looked from the outside, this train clearly only had two sections, right?"

"In other words..." The Young Woman finally came to her senses, "There are other carriages behind?"

"Should we go?"

"Go!"

Passion reignited, the Young Woman strode to the front. At this moment, the speaker in the middle of the ceiling broadcasted the announcer's words.

"Attention passengers, the train is about to pass through a tunnel, please return to your seats immediately."

"Attention passengers, the train is about to pass through a tunnel, please return to your seats immediately."

"Attention passengers, the train is about to pass through a tunnel, please return to your seats immediately."

Playing three times in a row emphasized the seriousness, and the five dared not risk disobeying, so they quickly ran back to their carriage.

...

"Quite restless." Zhang Mu pressed the phone back into the base in the cockpit, "I allowed you to move, looking around in the front is fine, but you're thinking of running to the back. Get the magic item before going to the carriages further back."

Zhang Mu used a Magic Array on this train. It looks like only two sections from the outside, but it actually has eighteen sections.

Ordinary people can be safe in the first three carriages, but the back is different; the spatial fluctuations will tear them to pieces.

The reason for this design is that Zhang Mu intends to use this train to drop monsters in various places in the future, preventing the imprisoned calamities from breaking the carriage walls and escaping.

"Let's circle around for a few days before getting off." Zhang Mu was not prepared to send the five into the Seventeen area immediately.

He wants to create an illusion of a vast area to lay the foundation for the future expansion of Seventeen.

Just in time for this gap, he can go back to China to solve the matter of the statue of god emerging.

Opening the light gate next to the NH, Zhang Mu flew directly to the cave base and found the Bureau Chief, who was busy with something in his bedroom.

"Immortal Xu, why are you here?" The Bureau Chief only noticed someone standing behind him after a long while. When he turned around and saw the face, he hurriedly stood up to greet him.

"No need for formalities." Immortal Xu waved his hand gently, "I came here to inform you that it is about to descend into the world."

"He? Who? Oh, the statue of god? The statue of god is about to appear?!" The Bureau Chief's reaction was a bit slow.

"Indeed, you all need to make preparations early."

"We must, we must!" Answering repeatedly, the Bureau Chief suddenly remembered: what preparations to make early? He didn't even know where it would appear.

"Where is the location of the statue of god's arrival?"

"I didn't know where it was originally intended to land, but my master took action and guided it here."

"Here? By the sea?"

"Yes."

Getting a positive answer, the Bureau Chief asked: "What preparations should we make?"

"Do not let ignorant people anger him, publicize his existence, and guard against those with ulterior motives using his name to commit misconduct."

The Bureau Chief patted his chest: "Immortal Xu, don't worry. I have several contingency plans, I guarantee there will be no trouble."

"If you are in difficulty, you can ask the Mountain Gate for help."

"Thank you!" The Bureau Chief was very excited. This was the first time Immortal Xu had taken the initiative to offer help.

After that, Zhang Mu didn't chat any more, opened the Shadow Technique to leave, and summoned a Portal to Saul Continent.

After landing, he flew to the palace and asked Avril if there were any steep pillar peaks in Lake.

He thought Avril, as the princess of Lake, should be familiar with the domestic terrain, but she shook her head, saying she never cared about these things and had to consult the minister responsible for recording this matter.

But after the person came and asked, Zhang Mu learned that the kingdoms of Saul Continent only record detailed information about environments where labyrinths and habitat monsters/demons appear.

For those ordinary mountain peaks, there is only one sentence: "There is a mountain here." As for altitude, temperature, humidity, etc., no one cared at all.

"Why is my junior looking for steep mountain peaks?"

"A little personal business." Zhang Mu was not convenient to explain and brushed it off.

Avril did not pursue the question: "I will send someone to search."

"The counterattack is about to begin, and everyone who can be used is busy training. Don't delay their time, I'll go myself."

"Do you want me to accompany you?"

"Free?"

"Everything is on the right track, I don't need to stare at it all day."

"Then let's go together."

Recalling carefully, after the two reunited, let alone intimacy or vacation, even the time they spent alone was very rare.

If he didn't grasp this opportunity, he didn't know how many days he would have to wait until the counterattack was launched.

Avril was very interested, hurried back to the bedroom to change into a casual long dress, disguised her hair and eye color, and left the royal capital side by side with Zhang Mu.

They gave up flying, drove a carriage bought in the city, and went further and further along the compacted dirt road.

Zhang Mu drove, and Avril sat on the bench in the carriage.

"Junior, there are many mountains in the northern territory of Lake, let's go there."

"North territory?" Zhang Mu suddenly remembered that Hogwarts lacked some soul-type monsters, and immediately responded, "Okay, let's go there."

Although this trip was intended to be a leisure trip, Zhang Mu didn't have much free time and couldn't waste too much effort on the road, so he changed the horse pulling the carriage to a fast monster halfway.

The physical strength of the monster was much stronger than that of ordinary horses, and it only took half a month to arrive at the extremely cold northern territory.

The temperature here was extremely low, monsters and demons were rampant, and coupled with the chaos of spiritual monsters, there were basically no people living here.

The carriage drove on the frozen soil, and the closer it got to the mountains, the narrower and more rugged the road surface became. By the time they reached the outskirts of the mountain area, the existence of the road completely disappeared.

Zhang Mu pulled the reins and stopped the monster: "Senior, there is no road ahead."

After half a month of living together, Avril was already satisfied. She got off the carriage with Zhang Mu and flew to the mountains.

It was not difficult to find a mountain that met the requirements. Fly higher to overlook the earth, determine a few satisfactory pillar peaks, and then get closer to choose.

After half a day of selection, Zhang Mu estimated the height he needed, and then worked with Avril to cut off the pillar peak at the waist.

The huge mountain peak tilted and fell to the ground. Zhang Mu immediately stepped forward and put it into his inventory.

"Hmm?" Avril, who flew over from a distance, asked curiously, "Did you advance to the Saint level?"

"Long way to go."

"Still a Magister?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." Avril was thoughtful and didn't say much.

Afterwards, the two split up to catch spirit-type monsters in the mountains. The requirements were relatively strict—humanoid, docile personality, and strength could not be too strong.

When spirit-type monsters are born, they are a mass of mist. They will choose a favorite shape to transform into, and cannot be changed afterwards.

The northern territory is a no-man's land, and they can only imitate the shape when they are born. If no one passes by at this moment, it is naturally impossible to transform into a human shape, so humanoid spirit-type monsters are extremely rare, and it took quite a lot of time to collect them.

"Let's go back."

Hanging the Storage Pouch handed by Avril on his waist, the two embarked on the return journey.