343: The river connecting Xingsha Caverns and Luanxian Caverns

At this moment, Immortal Storyteller looked at Shen Bei with a rather strange expression.

The client's request was a bit… odd.

It felt less like he was here to listen to stories and more like he was inquiring about folk rumors.

However, with money paving the way, even ghosts could push a millstone, let alone his eloquent tongue.

Immortal Storyteller took a sip of wine, pondered for a moment, then spoke:

“As for folk rumors, I know quite a few. May I ask, Young Master, what kind of rumors you wish to hear? At least give me a direction.”

Shen Bei's answer was straightforward: “I know quite a bit about old stories too. Let's set a time limit then: within three years, are there any strange rumors that can amuse me?”

Immortal Storyteller stroked his chin: “Within three years… there aren't many folk rumors. Are you interested in rumors from the Central Continent?”

Shen Bei shook his head without a second thought.

Although he was quite interested in the Central Continent.

It was clear that Yun Zhiyi's abilities would not allow him to reach there.

Or rather, Yun Zhiyi's team was not heading to the Central Continent at all.

Perhaps they went down to the earth's surface Cave to complete some mission or collect some Materials, and during this process, they accidentally discovered the “Martial Dao Pinnacle.”

Then, there was no doubt that all rumors from the Central Continent were unrelated to the Martial Dao Pinnacle.

Why waste time listening to useless information?

Yun Zhiyi and his group would not be too far from Hope Camp's activity range; five hundred kilometers would be more than enough as an absolute maximum.

Shen Bei said: “Let's stick to the area around Cold Water Town. One rumor per place, that's more interesting.”

Immortal Storyteller's eyebrows suddenly twitched, and his expression became serious: “Young Master, if we're talking about rumors around Cold Water Town, there aren't many. Please don't think it's not worth it.”

Shen Bei directly pushed the gold nugget over, saying generously and grandly: “This Young Master never treats money as money for his enjoyment.”

Zhuang Bifan, listening to Shen Bei's declaration of being a spendthrift in the mirror, almost coughed up blood.

His heart ached for his gold nuggets…

He had painstakingly saved all of that.

At this moment, Immortal Storyteller was surprised by Shen Bei's generosity, licked his lips, and quickly nodded in response: “Young Master, please listen to me—”

Immortal Storyteller drew out his tone, beginning to set the stage.

Out of habit, he even picked up the storytelling block to strike the table.

Unexpectedly, Shen Bei beat him to it, knocking on the table with a rather displeased tone: “Just say it directly, no nonsense.”

“Uh…” Immortal Storyteller's mouth twitched, and he gently put down the storytelling block: “Then, as Young Master wishes.”

“The first rumor is about Lying Dragon Mountain, fifty kilometers upstream from Cold Water Town. A year ago, for some unknown reason, all the birds and beasts in the mountain disappeared overnight. There's a rumor that a great evil appeared there, and no one dares to set foot in it.”

Shen Bei raised an eyebrow and asked curiously: “The name Lying Dragon Mountain sounds quite imposing. Could it be that a Dragon once appeared here?”

Zhuang Bifan also listened curiously from inside the mirror.

If Lying Dragon Mountain were in the earth's surface world, it would simply be a place name.

Add a Phoenix Chick Peak, and it would be a unique internet-famous check-in spot.

But in the Earth Cave World, there might actually be some truth to it.

“Young Master is joking.” Immortal Storyteller slowly explained: “If you look at Lying Dragon Mountain from above, the mountain ranges twist and turn, flowing like a Dragon's body, which is why it's called Lying Dragon Mountain.”

Shen Bei was a little disappointed; named after its shape, then.

He had thought there might really be Dragons in the Earth Cave World.

“However…” Immortal Storyteller stroked his beard with a stern expression and said in a deep voice: “There's a rumor in the villages near Lying Dragon Mountain that a Dragon truly appeared on Lying Dragon Mountain in ancient times, and the ravines in the mountain today are what was left behind when the Dragon departed.”

Shen Bei listened, yawning. This information was of almost no help to him.

In Shen Bei's opinion, humans on the earth's surface had also imagined creatures like Dragons.

But they were not real; it might be the same in the Earth Cave World.

Shen Bei had never heard of anyone seeing a Dragon in the earth's surface Cave.

But Shen Bei still asked: “Have you seen a Dragon?”

“I haven't, but someone has.” Immortal Storyteller answered truthfully.

Shen Bei tilted his head, somewhat surprised: “Your ‘someone’ is also someone who heard from others that someone saw one, right?”

Immortal Storyteller did not deny it this time: “Indeed.”

Shen Bei chuckled. Hearsay, a distorted rumor.

The source of the news might have been someone who saw a relatively large snake, like a creature called an earth's surface Dragon, and then it got more and more exaggerated, evolving into a Dragon, which was not impossible.

Shen Bei was no longer interested in the rumors of Lying Dragon Mountain.

“Let's change it.”

“Another rumor also comes from the upstream of Lengshui River. Three years ago, at a place called Shen Jiang Mountain, the mountain body suddenly collapsed. According to the circulating story, a great powerful being was buried here in ancient times, and perhaps the underground tomb could not withstand the erosion of time and completely collapsed.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Bei's eyes suddenly lit up.

Powerful being!

A powerful being was exactly what Shen Bei was looking for!

The Martial Dao Pinnacle could not be a natural phenomenon; it was a person's comprehension and understanding of the Martial Dao.

Such comprehension could only be imagined by a powerful being.

When Shen Bei heard this rumor, he immediately became spirited. He rubbed his nose and asked: “A powerful being? What kind of powerful being?”

Immortal Storyteller thought for a moment and said: “At that time, several Boatmen rumored it was a Martial Immortal, and others said it was a Cultivator from within the barrier on the other side of the ocean. Too much time has passed, and the rumors have gradually deviated from the facts; even whether they are true or false is worth doubting.”

Martial Immortal!

Shen Bei was not unfamiliar with this term; it was equivalent to a Martial God among humans.

It was just a slight difference in nomenclature, but the essence was the same.

If the rumor spoke of a powerful Martial Immortal… then it was truly worth a visit.

According to Immortal Storyteller, Shen Jiang Mountain was three hundred kilometers from Cold Water Town.

By this calculation, Yun Zhiyi's activity range was perfectly within his guessed five-hundred-kilometer radius.

Shen Bei wondered: “When the mountain collapsed, didn't anyone go to look?”

Immortal Storyteller took a sip of wine: “According to what the Boatmen heard, before, on Shen Jiang Mountain, one could still see a few large stones left outside. After the collapse, the entire mountaintop was gone, leaving only a huge deep pit, bottomless at a glance. Coupled with the ominous Qi, naturally no one went down to investigate.”

Shen Bei grunted.

The more he listened, the more it sounded like a sinkhole.

Such natural phenomena were not uncommon.

They also occurred on the earth's surface; inexplicably, a perfectly intact ground would suddenly develop a large deep pit.

Shen Bei asked for some more details.

Immortal Storyteller, however, shook his head, not knowing.

After all, he was just a storyteller, collecting folk anecdotes, merely for adaptation into stories, never delving into the core and causes.

He only treated them as a part of the material to inspire his creativity.

Afterward, Immortal Storyteller told several more folk rumors, all sorts of miscellaneous things.

Such as which family in which village had a child, and heaven and earth's surface anomalies occurred, with whales swallowing clouds and mist, and red rainbows stretching for a hundred li.

Or someone fishing up a water monkey from Lengshui River, and other equally worthless information.

Shen Bei listened without interest, then ended Immortal Storyteller's increasingly unrestrained chatter and left directly.

Leaving the tavern.

Shen Bei went to the Lengshui River port.

The river water flowed gently, sparkling, like a silk ribbon studded with pearls, flowing past the town.

At the dock, wooden planks formed a winding pier, stretching out like a long Dragon drinking water.

Boats shuttled back and forth, masts like a forest, sails in layers, slowly approaching from afar or hurriedly departing the port.

These boats were mostly wooden structures, and some even had totems and lines of unknown meaning carved on them.

On the shore, merchants gathered, speaking various dialects, and the sounds of bargaining were incessant.

Many Stranger laborers, with bronze-colored arms bared, were moving goods.

These goods were usually transported to Black Furnace City and nearby villages and cities, all the way to Spike Camp.

Shen Bei blended into the crowd, and with his years of experience doing odd jobs, he quickly became friendly with the laborers.

During their chat, he learned that the totems on the boats represented various Gangs.

For example, the totem of crossed axes was the Axe Gang.

The wolf head totem was the Mad Wolf Gang, and so on.

Shen Bei generally understood; it was similar to the national flags displayed on ships on the earth's surface.

The land routes in the earth's surface Cave had Vicious Beasts and bandits.

Waterways also had river bandits.

The display of totems was equivalent to showcasing the Gang's strength; if river bandits wanted to rob, they had to consider if their teeth were hard enough.

“That sun and moon totem is the Apocalypse Sect.”

A laborer pointed to a boat on the river that had already set sail and said.

Shen Bei's pupils suddenly contracted.

What?

Apocalypse Sect?

What was its relationship with the Apocalypse Cult?

One sect?

Shen Bei remembered that the symbol of the Apocalypse Cult was merely a crescent moon totem.

This Apocalypse Sect had an additional “sun” totem.

Shen Bei vaguely felt that this Apocalypse Cult might actually be a branch of the Apocalypse Sect?

It was very possible.

Perhaps it was a religion created by Stranger to deceive humans on the earth's surface.

Or perhaps it was a branch privately established by humans who learned the Stranger's doctrines.

But the two must have an inseparable relationship.

Shen Bei asked a few questions about the Apocalypse Sect.

This laborer was not a believer of the Apocalypse Sect and did not know much, only understanding a little that the Apocalypse Sect had some connection with the Royal Court of the Central Continent.

Shen Bei rubbed his temples. This secret sect's origin was even orthodox?

Shen Bei temporarily stopped thinking about this question and instead asked: “Where are the ends of the upstream and downstream of this Lengshui River?”

The laborer answered readily: “If you ask me about anything else, I really wouldn't know, but I know the upstream and downstream of this Lengshui River very clearly.”

“The upstream originates from the Central Continent, and that's far, about fifty thousand li away.”

“The downstream reaches the vicinity of Ten Thousand Beast Mountain in Qianlin City and flows into the sea. The distance is about thirty thousand li.”

“I've never been to the upstream or downstream; I'm afraid I won't have the chance in this lifetime.”

Shen Bei exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this.

He knew Qianlin City; he had seen Third Master in Qianlin City in the Luan County Earth Cave back then.

At the same time, Shen Bei had also led Qi Chuanyu and others to Transmigration that large mountain.

There was indeed a large river there; when it flooded, several people almost drowned.

It turned out to be the Lengshui River!

This Lengshui River was actually 40,000 kilometers long!

How many times would that wrap around the earth's surface?

It completely dwarfed any river on the earth's surface.

No wonder Professor Gu Xinrou said that the Earth Cave World was immeasurably vast, frighteningly huge!

Not only was it vast, but the spatial comparison between the earth's surface and the earth's surface Cave was also out of proportion.

The straight-line distance between the Luan County Earth Cave and the Xing Sha Dungeon was only about a thousand kilometers.

But under the earth's surface Cave, the difference between the two was tens of thousands of kilometers!

Space was distorted…

At this moment, the laborer said again: “However, the river in front of us is currently called Lengshui River. After a certain distance, it's called by other names, such as Tide Ghost River, Ten Thousand Mother River, and so on.”

Shen Bei hummed and nodded.

It was not uncommon for a river to have different names in different stretches.

He then inquired about boats heading upstream and received definite news that the earliest passenger ship would not depart until tomorrow morning.

The two chatted for a while longer, then the laborer went back to work.

Shen Bei did not linger either, leaving the port and returning to the inn.

After performing the Breath-Holding Technique, he took off his mask.

The wearing time was relatively short this time, but his face was still flushed.

“Let's organize today's information.”

Shen Bei said to the full-length mirror: “Are we going to Lying Dragon Mountain or Shen Jiang Mountain?”

Zhuang Bifan coughed: “I think… if we show up in the Luan County Earth Cave, it will definitely surprise people.”

Shen Bei: …

Show up? Like hell!

Thirty thousand li! How long would that take to drift on the river…