Chapter 51 Hanze Stream

The water in the healing pool turned from emerald green to clear—the medicinal power within had been completely absorbed by the squad members.

At the edge of the camp, there was a long table made of a few planks of wood.

"Come on, have a drink." Zeng Fu pulled a large jug of Spirit Grain Wine from who knows where, took out five exquisite porcelain bowls, and poured a bowl for everyone.

"Everyone worked hard today, have a drink before we go." Zeng Fu raised his bowl. "Especially Yun Bai, this first bowl is for our new team member!"

"Don't you dare tell me you can't drink." Du San threatened.

Yun Bai skillfully raised his wine bowl.

Seeing this, everyone burst into laughter.

"Cheers!"

They clinked bowls, and the spirit wine slid down their throats, leaving a hint of sweetness amidst the fiery burn.

Yun Bai drank too quickly and coughed twice, making everyone laugh.

"Ha—" Du San clicked his tongue. "This wine is the essence of grain, good stuff!"

"Old drunkard." Fu Lianchuan commented sharply.

Seeing Du San's intoxicated expression, Yun Bai couldn't help but smile. At this moment, he vaguely saw the scene of the gatherings on the spaceship—Old Zhou's red wine, Zhang Qiming's whiskey, and Shen Hui, who always liked to mix various fruit juices into his wine...

"Yun Bai! Do you still have those Inedia Pills?" Du San smacked his lips, feeling that drinking without snacks was boring. "The five-spice or the soy-braised meat ones are both fine!"

"Don't you have your own Inedia Pills? Why do you keep mooching off others?" Zeng Fu said helplessly.

"Captain, haven't you tasted them too? After eating Yun Bai's seasoned bigu pill, the ones issued as our monthly allowance are impossible to swallow; it's like chewing on rocks!" Du San protested.

"That's true, Yun Bai's Inedia Pills are indeed delicious." Li Ying and Fu Lianchuan also looked at Yun Bai with bright eyes.

Yun Bai was between laughter and tears: "Captain, Old Du, there really aren't many left. I already finished sharing them with you guys."

"Ah?" Du San sighed. "You brought too few. Tell me, where did you buy such good stuff? Can you get some for us guys next time?"

"I didn't buy them outside; my younger sister specially refined them for me." Yun Bai smiled.

"You have a younger sister? Your sister really has some skills!" Everyone exclaimed in admiration.

Li Ying asked: "Captain, what's our next arrangement?"

Zeng Fu smiled: "When I was handing in the mission just now, I asked a little more. The manager said that in a mountain gully twenty miles southwest of here, the Northwest Army discovered a Fate-Fallen Demon Monster at the half-step Second Realm. No one has taken this job yet. Do you all want to do a big one?"

"Half-step Second Realm!" Everyone exclaimed.

Du San laughed out loud: "Great! My hands have been itching these past few days. It looks like it's time for my Mo Sect legacy Formation to come into play!"

"Captain, let's do it!"

"If we can take this down, we'll definitely make a fortune."

Seeing the high morale of the group, Zeng Fu said: "Alright, once we finish this job, we'll return to Chu Prefecture City to rest for a few days."

Just as everyone was drinking happily, a commotion suddenly came from the entrance of the camp. Five or six Cultivators dressed in indigo-blue tight-fitting outfits walked over with large strides. The man in the lead had a sinister expression and wore a snake-shaped short sword at his waist.

Zeng Fu happened to turn his head and saw the direction of the camp entrance.

Zeng Fu rubbed his smooth head, deep in thought: "It's Chen Yuan and his group. Huben Squad A."

Du San's body tensed up involuntarily, and his tone instantly turned cold: "Bad luck."

Li Ying also followed their gaze and observed more carefully: "That person next to Chen Yuan, he looks a bit unfamiliar?"

At this moment, Du San also noticed the person: "It's him? Strange, why would he be hanging out with Chen Yuan?"

"Who is that person?"

"He is Yang Mo, the son of General Yang Cang of Chu Prefecture City."

Chen Yuan also noticed Squad Yi-34. He strode over and deliberately said loudly: "Yo, isn't this Captain Zeng? Why are you all idling here? Can't you make a living anymore?"

Zeng Fu was expressionless: "Chen Yuan, what is your advice?"

"I wouldn't dare offer advice." Chen Yuan's cold gaze fell on Yun Bai. "I'm just unhappy to see that some people are still running around alive."

Yun Bai immediately understood—this was Chen Qiang's clansman! He subconsciously gripped the hilt of his sword.

"Chen Yuan, this is not the place to settle personal grudges." Zeng Fu blocked in front of Yun Bai. "Since your Chen family head has already agreed to settle it privately, speak properly."

Chen Yuan sneered and turned to leave directly.

"You—" Du San glared angrily.

Zeng Fu stopped Du San and said calmly: "Let's go, ignore them."

The five members of Squad Yi-34 left the supply camp without looking back.

Chen Yuan watched their backs and pondered silently.

At this moment, Yang Mo spoke up: "Brother Yuan, I heard you and Zeng Fu, the captain of Squad Yi-34, don't get along?"

Chen Yuan nodded: "It's him. But I'm more interested in that newcomer next to him, Yun Bai."

Chen Yuan recognized Yun Bai. Because both the State Religion and the military were pressuring the Chen family, demanding that the matter between Yun Bai and Chen Qiang be settled privately, and the State Religion was asking for hundreds of thousands of Spirit Stones, Chen Yuan had seen the family head's gloomy face for several days in a row.

Yang Mo raised his eyebrows: "Should we...?"

Chen Yuan said: "We'll see, important business comes first."

The amphibious boat bumped along the river in the wilderness. The bow of the boat split the dark green waves, and the splashing water hit the cliff walls, refracting into fine, shattered rainbows.

"Following the river all the way southwest will lead us to Hanze Ravine." Zeng Fu lowered his head to carefully observe the Xuanyuan Compass, his fingertips sliding over the canyon entrance marked with a red dot. "You've all received the topographic hologram in the Formation Plate, right?"

Yun Bai swept his Divine Sense over the Formation Plate. The 3D projection was slowly rotating, outlining the contours of the "Sky-Piercing Gap" canyon clearly.

The cliffs on both sides of the canyon looked as if they had been split by a giant axe. The narrowest part could only accommodate two people walking side by side. The river wound like a snake at the bottom of the valley, and several whirlpools were marked with striking red warnings.

"The danger level of this mission is not low," Zeng Fu's voice suddenly became serious. He put away the map and slung his long saber onto his back. "We must scout the movement trajectory of the Demon Monster clearly before making a move. The Fate-Fallen Demon Monster is cunning and likes to ambush, so we cannot be careless."

As the amphibious boat ventured deeper, the river channel gradually narrowed, and the cliff walls on both sides became steeper. Looking up, one could only see a sliver of sky.

When the bow of the boat got stuck between two protruding giant rocks, Zeng Fu finally gave the order: "Abandon the boat and proceed on foot."

Everyone jumped off the boat, their boot soles stepping onto the slippery pebbles, and they immediately felt a chill creeping up from the soles of their feet.

Yun Bai steadied himself by holding onto the cliff wall. The rock his fingertips touched was icy and piercing. It was covered in moss and gullies carved by water, clearly a masterpiece of billions of years of water erosion.

"What a steep terrain." Li Ying couldn't help but exclaim.

Looking up at the sliver of sky above, one could see waterfalls falling like silver chains from the top of the cliff, smashing into the pool below, stirring up water mist that filled the air, reducing visibility to less than ten zhang.

The vegetation here was completely different from the Cang Plains. The ancient pines growing out of the crevices of the cliff were twisted and vigorous, their roots embedded in the rocks like sharp claws. Dark green vines hung down along the cliff walls, their leaf edges shimmering with an eerie watery light. The roar of the water hitting the rocks made people's eardrums ache, yet it could not cover up the faint beast roars coming from deep within the canyon.

"Do you see the cliff caves on both sides?" Du San pointed at the scattered caves on the cliff wall, the Formation Plate in his palm emitting a faint blue light. "This kind of terrain is easy to defend and hard to attack; one man can hold the pass, and ten thousand cannot open it. Throughout the dynasties, it has been a place contested by military strategists—back then, the Demon Suppression Army set an ambush here and wiped out tens of thousands of Demon Race vanguards in one fell swoop."

He paused, his tone grave. "But conversely, if we get blocked here by demon creatures, we won't even have room to maneuver."

"How do you know that tens of thousands of demon troops were wiped out here?" Fu Lianchuan interrupted Du San's sentimentality stiffly.

"Ah? I just saw it in the data. Goodness, Lianchuan, you didn't study the intelligence carefully, you should be punished!" Du San immediately returned to his carefree demeanor.

Li Ying took a few yellow talismans from her backpack and pasted them on everyone's lapels: "This is a Water-Avoidance Talisman; it can block the water vapor of the waterfall."

As soon as she finished speaking, a gust of wind suddenly blew from deep within the canyon, and the water mist that was swept up hit their faces, actually carrying a faint fishy smell.

Yun Bai felt a chill in his heart and gripped the "Triple-Link" crossbow at his waist.

Yun Bai learned from the data provided by Zeng Fu that a fierce battle had once taken place here. The Demon Race had followed this rugged path to bypass Huangyang Town, a major town on the Cang Plains, and flank the rear of the Human Race's positions at that time, cutting off the connection between the Human Race's Cang Plains and Huangyang Town.

Decades ago, the Human Race's Demon Suppression Army ambushed the Demon Race elites who were plotting to flank them from behind here. In other words, thousands of Demon Race corpses were buried here.

This battle polluted Hanze Ravine, and Devilish Qi had lingered here for years. Over the decades, the Devilish Qi here had nurtured a large number of terrifying demon creatures.

The Fate-Fallen Demon Monster was the overlord of this place.

Zeng Fu made a gesture for silence and lowered his voice: "The entrance to Hanze Ravine is right ahead. Everyone, follow me closely and walk softly."

He stepped forward first, and his figure soon merged into the pervasive water mist.