The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 2975 There's a sound ahead

Although Qian Zhenghao didn't want to put himself in danger, he knew he couldn't delay any longer. He joined the expedition team to monitor these people, but on the surface, he still had to obey Captain Ouyang Nan's orders.

Therefore, when he saw Ouyang Nan waving at him from the other side, signaling him to hurry over, he had no choice but to obey.

"Fine, it's all the same whether I stick my neck out or not, so I might as well just go for it!" With no other choice, Qian Zheng forced himself to jump onto the rope and swiftly crossed the canyon. If the rope snapped now, he'd be done for in the canyon.

As for telling Ouyang Nan that there was something wrong with the rope, Qian Zhenghao hadn't lived long enough and would never betray his own elder.

The day after tomorrow, on the eighth floor, walking on the rope in mid-air would be no problem. However, because Qian Zhenghao had something to hide, his body swayed uncontrollably. In the eyes of Ouyang Nan and the others, it looked like Qian Zhenghao was walking unsteadily on the rope.

As Qian Zhenghao walked, he prayed, "Please don't let anything happen, please don't let anything happen!" Looking at the black mist billowing and churning above the canyon below, a chill ran down his spine.

Perhaps his prayers worked, or perhaps he moved the heavens, but he walked across the canyon without hearing any problems with the rope beneath his feet, nor did it break. Even as he crossed the canyon with trepidation, the rope remained intact.

Now, Qian Zhenghao really didn't know what to do. Did his elders not take action yesterday?
"Captain, I'm so sorry, I was still feeling dizzy, so I was delayed for a while," Qian Zhenghao said to Ouyang Nan somewhat apologetically.

Actually, he knew that he had been moving somewhat awkwardly on the rope because he was worried it would break. Fortunately, he made it across safely and landed safely, though he was covered in sweat. Perfect, he didn't need to make excuses about not sleeping well last night and feeling dizzy anymore.

"Okay, then. Is your head feeling any better now?" Ouyang Nan asked.

"It's much better now, Captain," Qian Zhenghao quickly said.

At this moment, Chen Mo stepped forward and said to Ouyang Nan, "Captain, now that everyone has arrived, I will put this thick rope away and restore it when we return."

Upon hearing Chen Mo's words, Ouyang Nan recalled the thin rope he had left behind on his way here, which was likely for retrieving the thicker rope. Remembering Chen Mo's earlier statement about discussing the matter after crossing the canyon, which was now their location, Ouyang Nan readily agreed, saying, "Okay."

At this moment, Ouyang Ruoxi and Ouyang Nana seemed to understand something as well. Ouyang Ruoxi stepped forward and said, "Amo, isn't it too troublesome to retract the rope every time?"

Chen Mo raised an eyebrow and smiled at Ouyang Ruoxi. Everyone here is a competent actor; their performance was truly excellent. They hadn't even rehearsed beforehand, yet they managed to coordinate so perfectly.

Seeing Chen Mo's expression, Ouyang Ruoxi smiled slightly and rolled her eyes at him. Women, acting doesn't need to be taught, okay?

Of course, all these expressions were behind Qian Zhenghao's back, so the interaction between these people could not be seen.

“There’s no other way. If we don’t retrieve the rope, it might become unusable in time. We’ve run out of spare ropes, so this is the only one we have now,” Chen Mo replied, taking out the rope from his backpack from last night. He said, “This morning, before you arrived, I noticed that the rope from last night had slight signs of corrosion, so I replaced it beforehand.”

what? !

Qian Zhenghao was surprised when he heard Chen Mo's words and saw the rope in his hand.

So, the ropes that our elders tampered with yesterday have already been replaced by this guy?! I was wondering why the ropes weren't breaking; it turns out they've been replaced! Damn it, why didn't you say so sooner? Why did you wait until now?

Thinking about all his previous performance, he blushed slightly. He had really wasted so many of his expressions.

Wait a minute, if this guy says the rope is corroded, then the elder must have tampered with it yesterday without us noticing. We need to get this rope back; we can't let them have it, otherwise it will become a menace.

Qian Zhenghao immediately stepped forward, opening his mouth to take the rope back: "I..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Mo continued, "This rope has been partially corroded. Although it doesn't look like there's a big problem, it's unusable. So we need to cherish the remaining one and take it back. We can use it to tie ourselves when we need to cross the canyon."

After saying that, he casually tossed the replaced rope into the canyon. As the rope drifted through the air, it was swallowed up by the black mist floating above the canyon.

What could Qian Zhenghao say at this point? He could only watch as the rope disappeared into the black mist.

"Qian Zhenghao, what were you trying to say?" Ouyang Nan turned around and asked Qian Zhenghao.

"Ah, I... I wanted to say I wanted to see the rope, the signs of corrosion," Qian Zhenghao murmured.

"You wanted to see it? Why didn't you say so earlier? Remember to tell me earlier next time," Chen Mo interjected, turning around. Then he reached out and untied the thick rope binding the rock base. With a shake, the slipknot at the other end loosened, and with a pull, Chen Mo quickly retracted the thick rope.

Looking at Qian Zhenghao's expressive face, Ouyang Nan and the other two wanted to laugh but held it in, which was quite a struggle.

Because a thin rope was tied to the other end of the thick rope, after Chen Mo retrieved it, the thin rope also crossed the canyon and took over from the thick rope that ran across the canyon.

Chen Mo untied the thick rope from the thin rope, then tied the thin rope to the rock base, saying, "When we want to go back, we can use this thin rope to bring the thick rope over." As long as the rope can be brought over, there are plenty of ways to hold it to the rock base and make it a rope bridge again.

“Alright, let’s continue our exploration mission. We need to return to the canyon before dark, so let’s not waste any time,” Ouyang Nan said.

"I'll lead the way, and the captain will cover the rear," Chen Mo said, pulling Ouyang Ruoxi's hand.

“Okay!” Ouyang Nan nodded in agreement, not giving Qian Zhenghao a chance to interrupt.

Seeing that everyone had already made their decision, Qian Zhenghao had nothing more to say and simply followed along.
The group consisted of five people, with Chen Mo at the front, followed by Ouyang Ruoxi, then Ouyang Nana, then Qian Zhenghao, and finally Ouyang Nan at the rear.

After walking a few dozen meters, we arrived at the front of the woods.

At the edge of the woods, Chen Mo was surprised to find a stone path, about three meters wide, located in the center of the valley—something he had never seen before. There were no roads inside the valley, but here, a stone path appeared.

Chen Mo had observed it from the treetops yesterday, but because the stone path was covered with moss and trees, he didn't notice anything.

"Amo, what did you find?" Seeing Chen Mo stop, Ouyang Nan stepped forward and asked.

"Look here." Chen Mo pointed to the stone-paved road.

"Huh, there's actually a road, but..." Ouyang Nan was surprised to see the stone path, but as he looked along it, he saw that it was not only covered with moss, but also that some trees were growing on the stone path, completely destroying it.

It's fair to say that if you don't look closely, you really can't tell that there was originally a stone-paved path.

Since there was this stone path, let's follow it. After discussing it with Ouyang Nan, Chen Mo, the group regrouped and continued on their way.

The flagstone path stretched intermittently through the woods, and many flagstones were long since covered by vegetation, but traces remained, still visible upon closer inspection. The group followed these traces as they walked through the woods.

Since Chen Mo's divine sense could only cover about three and a half meters, he held Ouyang Ruoxi tightly, enveloping her within the range of his divine sense, so that he could defend against any danger in time. In addition, he secretly cast talismans to protect himself and Ouyang Ruoxi.

As for Ouyang Nan and Ouyang Nana, they did not release any talismans. After all, with Qian Zhenghao present, he could provide timely assistance should any danger arise.

After the group entered the forest, they discovered that the entire forest was devoid of any life.

It was really strange. In an ordinary forest, there should be a chorus of insects and birds chirping. Even if there weren't, there should be animal sounds, or even the sound of the wind. But the entire forest was completely silent, except for the rustling sound under their feet.

As the distance increased, the forest became increasingly dense, with numerous shrubs completely obscuring the path ahead. Even the original stone path was no longer visible.

Chen Mo could only take out his long sword and slash as he moved forward. He also scanned the ground with his divine sense, carefully discerning the marks.

Whether they are martial artists or cultivators, getting lost in this environment is impossible; at most, they would just take a detour. After all, even if they can't tell which way to go, they can simply climb up a tree and observe the distance.

After stumbling along for about two hours, Chen Mo suddenly heard a buzzing sound.

"Captain, there's a situation ahead," Chen Mo said, turning to Ouyang Nan behind him.

"What's going on?" Ouyang Nan stepped forward and asked.

Chen Mo pointed ahead, then made a listening gesture and said, "Listen."

Ouyang Nan and the others also calmed down and listened, but they heard nothing.

Ouyang Nan shook her head and said, "I can't hear anything."

The others were just as bewildered.

Chen Mo suddenly realized that he was already at the sixth level of the Foundation Establishment stage, so his hearing should be much more sensitive than the others present. So just because he could hear them now didn't mean that the others could hear them.

So he swung his long sword again, hacking his way forward, and said to the others, "Follow me, and keep going for a while, and you should be able to hear it."

Everyone followed suit. Although they couldn't hear, all of them except Qian Zhenghao believed that Chen Mo wouldn't talk nonsense.