The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 3031 Calm Lake

The valley remained pitch black at night, but against the backdrop of the dark surface of a large lake, beams of light occasionally broke through the darkness along the lakeshore and shone into the distance.

"Amo, why is there nothing here?"

Although Ouyang Ruoxi was already a martial artist at the eighth level of the Acquired Realm, in this dimly lit environment, illuminated only by a single lamp, she unconsciously moved closer to Chen Mo and held his hand tightly.

Chen Mo also felt that Ouyang Ruoxi's hand was a little cold. It seems that even if a woman appears strong on the surface, she can still be afraid in the dark.

There's nothing here, probably because of this lake.

"The lake water, why? Is the lake water poisonous?"

"No, there's something in the lake."

"You mean there's something in the lake that's causing this place to be barren?"

"Not necessarily, I only have a suspicion."

"What is that thing in the lake? Could it be a strange beast?"

Chen Mo shook his head, shifting the light source in his hand to illuminate the lake's surface. He could only see a completely still lake, without the slightest ripple. Furthermore, the light penetrated the water without revealing anything. In addition, the entire lake was a deep, dark black, indicating that it was extremely deep.

In fact, Chen Mo, who possessed daytime vision, could see that the entire lake was calm, yet resembled an abyss, with sheer cliffs forming the shore. It was as if this place, like the other side of the canyon, had been a fissure in the ground, bottomless. But it was filled with water, which is why the entire lake appeared bottomless from the shore, its water as black as ink.

“It could be a strange beast, but it’s hard to say. After all, I’ve never seen that thing in the lake, but as soon as I get close to the lake, I have a vague feeling that there is danger in the lake, although the danger is not very great,” Chen Mo said.

“So you have the same feeling. I feel the same way. After getting close to this lake, I had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but I didn’t know why. I thought it was a problem with myself, but it turns out it’s a problem with this lake.” Ouyang Ruoxi said to Chen Mo with some surprise.

Chen Mo hadn't expected Ouyang Ruoxi to be able to sense danger, which indicated that her mental strength was stronger than that of ordinary martial artists. This would naturally make her advancement to the Innate Realm easier than other ordinary martial artists. Furthermore, once she reached the Innate Realm, her perception of mental power would become much more acute.

It seems that we need to prepare some pills related to mental strength for Ouyang Ruoxi in the future, so as to improve her mental strength and lay a good foundation for her to advance to the Innate Realm more easily.

The two chatted as they observed their surroundings, but the scenery along the lake shore was always the same. Apart from the stones of all sizes, there was no sign of life, as if this place was a forbidden zone for life.

"Ruoxi, look here." Chen Mo shone his flashlight on the lakeside and said to Ouyang Ruoxi.

"What's wrong? Did you find anything?"

But after looking for a while, he didn't find anything, so he turned around and asked again, "Amo, I don't see anything special. What did you see just now?"

"Take a look at the lake and the shore, is there anything wrong with them?"

Hearing what Chen Mo said, Ouyang Ruoxi looked down again to observe, and after a while she suddenly said, "Huh, Mo, is it because the lake water has no waves?"

"Yes, the lake here is very calm, without any waves. The surface is as smooth as a mirror. Look at the lake, isn't it as calm as a mirror?" As he spoke, he lowered the lamp in his hand and shone it along the lake.

Sure enough, as the beam of light pierced through the darkness and shone along the lake to a distance, it was seen that the lake water in the light was very calm, as if it were still, without the slightest ripple.

"What a strange lake! I wonder what lies beneath its surface," Ouyang Ruoxi remarked, observing the lake's tranquility.

"Alright, let's keep going. It might take a while. The valley seems quite wide here. We've been walking for about twenty minutes and haven't even reached the valley walls yet. I estimate that the valley here is several kilometers wide."

"Okay, let's speed up and see if there's anything different on the other side of the cliff."

The two quickened their pace and continued along the lake shore toward the valley cliffs.

After walking for about ten more minutes, their lights shone on the dark cliff face.

"Amo, look ahead, isn't that a valley cliff?" Ouyang Ruoxi shone her flashlight and tugged at Chen Mo as she asked.

Chen Mo had already noticed that the valley cliff was not far away: "It is the valley cliff."

It took the two a few more minutes to get closer. When the light shone on it, they found that the entire mountain wall was almost vertical and very high, seemingly several hundred meters high.

Standing at the foot of the cliff, on the shore of the lake, I shone a light on the water and found that there was no road left. The lake was still hundreds of meters wide and there was no narrow passage at all. The only way to reach the other side of the lake was to find a way to cross it.

After looking for a long time, I didn't see anything strange. It was all barren and empty.

“Alright, let’s go back. Our aunt’s side has probably reached the end, just like us, and seen the same valley and cliffs. It’s nighttime now, so we can’t see anything clearly. Let’s go back first and observe more closely during the day.” “Okay.”

The two turned around and continued walking along the shore toward the building.

When Chen Mo and Ouyang Ruoxi returned to the building, they saw that Ouyang Nan and Ouyang Nana, as well as Qian Zhenghao, had already returned and were waiting for them in front of the building.

Of course, Ouyang Nan and Ouyang Nana remained calm, but Qian Zhenghao seemed somewhat agitated. He paced along the shore, kicking small stones at his feet repeatedly, watching them fall into the lake, and then kicking them again as if venting his frustration.

He was still muttering something, but because his voice was soft and he was speaking quite quickly, it was impossible to understand what he was saying. Fortunately, knowing that the night was dangerous, he didn't stray too far from Ouyang Nan, remaining only a few dozen meters away.

Therefore, including Ouyang Ruoxi, everyone was able to see Qian Zhenghao's movements clearly with the help of a flashlight.

After seeing this, Chen Mo asked Ouyang Nan, "What's wrong with this person?"

Ouyang Nan looked at Qian Zhenghao pacing back and forth in the distance, looking somewhat anxious, and said with a pursed mouth, "He's like this since he came back here. Maybe he hasn't found anything along the way, and seeing that the lake is still very wide and there's no way to cross it, he's getting a little anxious."

"Didn't you find anything along the way?"

"No, there's nothing along the way, just rocks and more rocks. What about you? Have you and Ruoxi found anything along the way?"

"No, just like you see, there are only rocks, nothing at all."

"That's strange. Since entering the valley, I haven't seen such a strange place. It's barren, with nothing but rocks."

"Don't be surprised by what you see; the strange will be defeated on its own. Since we can't see anything in the dark, let's wait until daytime to take another look," Chen Mo said.

"That's the only way. Let's all get ready and wait here for dawn," Ouyang Nan said.

Then, he called everyone together, explained his plans, and none of them objected.

Qian Zhenghao felt the same way. After all, there was nothing here, and they had walked such a long way without finding anything, so they decided to wait until dawn to see what would happen.

The other reason he was a little irritable was that he hadn't seen or gained anything since arriving here, and when he passed by the beehive, he saw it but couldn't get it, which made him really itchy and restless.

It was as if a stunningly beautiful woman in a sheer veil was performing a seductive dance, sending him a powerful signal, but just as he was about to rush forward, he woke up!

This naturally made Qian Zhenghao extremely irritable, and he really wanted to rush to the beehive and collect some more honey.

But he was all alone and couldn't do anything, so he could only stare at the beehive in frustration.

"Everyone, get into the defensive structure and push it a little further away from the lake. Then we'll rest and wait for dawn," Ouyang Nan said.

Everyone sprang into action, first crawling into the defensive structure and pushing it to a distance of several hundred meters from the lake surface, then stopping without deviating from the path they had come from.

"You can do as you please. I'll go check outside the defenses." Ouyang Nan said, gesturing to Chen Mo, Ruoxi, and Ouyang Nana, signaling them to keep an eye on Qian Zhenghao.

"Captain, you stay here, I'll go out and take a look." Chen Mo stopped Ouyang Nan.

Chen Mo knew what Ouyang Nan was going outside to do—to observe the surroundings and check for any dangers. However, the night was dangerous, so it would be better for him to go out and check instead. After all, he had daytime vision, so he could see farther and more clearly than Ouyang Nan.

"Also, Captain, why don't you guys dig a hole here too? That way, if the Red Bees manage to fly here when it gets light, we can defend ourselves," Chen Mo said.

They had brought multi-functional entrenching tools with them in their backpacks, so digging a hole was very convenient. Moreover, for martial artists, digging a hole was incredibly easy. Even for Ouyang Nan and her two companions, it was a simple matter.

Ouyang Nan nodded in agreement upon hearing Chen Mo's words.

After all, with the arrival of daylight, no one knows whether the Red Bees will fly here. If they do, then they will have to endure the Red Bees' bombardment, which would be a huge problem, and some people might even die.

Qian Zhenghao's expression changed drastically upon realizing this. He didn't know if the others would be killed off, but if the Red Bee attacked, he would definitely be the first one to die, absolutely.

After all, his strength was only at the eighth level of the Acquired Realm, and he wasn't very familiar with the other four people. If there was any danger, Ouyang Nan and Chen Mo would protect the two women first, and would only lend a hand to help him if they had the spare capacity.

So, without waiting for Ouyang Nan's instructions, he had already picked up an entrenching tool and started digging. Survival was the priority; everything else had to wait.

(End of this chapter)