The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 3074 The Disappearance of the Iron Chain Bridge

Because Chen Mo was observing the surrounding situation with his divine sense, he already knew that the toxins in Qian Zhenghao's body had dissolved and that he had regained consciousness.

However, considering that although Qian Zhenghao had been detoxified, his body was probably still not fully recovered, and that putting him down might make him unable to keep up with the others, they continued to hold on, not letting go.

"Huh, you've recovered?" Ouyang Nana was surprised to hear Qian Zhenghao's voice. She had seen Qian Zhenghao's face turn black and his leg wound was purplish-black, looking as if he had been poisoned and died. Now, not long after, he had woken up.

It seems that the detoxifying pills his aunt gave him were really effective.

"Yes, thank you, Captain. The antidote pill you gave me was very effective. I feel like the toxins in my body have been mostly eliminated. I'm just still a little weak and can't muster any strength," Qian Zhenghao said somewhat embarrassedly.

He meant that he wanted the entire squad to retreat, but he still hoped that Chen Mo would take him with him and return to the other side of the lake.

If he were on his own, he wouldn't even be able to walk right now. Faced with the choice of being embarrassed to be carried across the suspension bridge or staying here, he naturally chose to be carried to the other side. As for staying here, forget it; if more of those gray wolves came, he wouldn't survive.

"Don't worry, if we retreat, we won't leave you behind," Ouyang Nan said after glancing at Qian Zhenghao.

The others didn't say anything after hearing Ouyang Nan's words.

Chen Mo released Qian Zhenghao and placed him against the corner of the building, letting him sit half-upright against the wall, before saying, "Captain, should we go back now or stay here?"

When he questioned Ouyang Nan earlier, considering Qian Zhenghao's health condition, Ouyang Nan decided to return to the other side. Now that Qian Zhenghao has been detoxified, whether to continue the mission needs to be discussed.

Ouyang Nan thought for a moment, but did not make a decision immediately. Instead, she turned to Qian Zhenghao and said, "Qian Zhenghao, you decide whether to go back or stay here."

After all, it's Qian Zhenghao who's injured now. If they don't go back, what if his condition changes? Wouldn't they be blamed? Or, if they don't go back and stay here overnight, what if something dangerous happens, or the gray wolf comes to attack them again, and Qian Zhenghao can't protect them and gets bitten by the wolf again?
Therefore, after considering this, Ouyang Nan handed over the decision-making power to Qian Zhenghao.

After hearing this, Qian Zhenghao lowered his head and thought about it for a while, and finally decided to stay and not return to the other side of the lake.

After all, he already harbored resentment towards the Qian family, and given his current situation, even if he went back, he wouldn't receive any preferential treatment. It was better to stay here; even if there was no preferential treatment, he probably wouldn't encounter any danger.

Now that they've come this far, even if danger arises at night, they can still cross the iron chain bridge and return directly to the other side. Since recovery is pointless anywhere, they might as well stay here and avoid having to go back and deal with Qian Wantong's attitude.

"Captain, I think we should stay here and continue the mission. After all, the toxins in my body have been removed, and all that's left is to wait for my strength to recover, which shouldn't take too long. Besides, even if we go back, once I've recovered, they might send us back here to continue the mission. So it's better to stay here now; we can still recover and complete the mission." He knew clearly that the reconnaissance mission would still be assigned to them.

Rather than going back and being scorned by Qian Wantong, it's better to continue carrying out the mission.

Ouyang Nan nodded after hearing this, but asked again, "Have you thought it through?"

"I've made up my mind. I'll stay here and continue the mission." Qian Zhenghao became serious for a moment.

“Alright, let’s continue the mission.” Ouyang Nan was not one to hesitate. She turned to Ouyang Nana and said, “Fire a signal flare to let them know we’re safe.”

In a valley where communication is only possible by shouting, the only way to contact someone on the other side is to use a signal flare.

If a red signal flare was used to indicate danger, then a green signal flare can be used to signal to the other side that the danger has passed and it is safe.

Upon hearing this, Ouyang Nana immediately took out a flare gun, replaced it with a safety flare, and fired it.

The crowd that had been observing from the opposite bank saw a green signal flare rise from the thick fog and shouted happily, "Look, a signal flare! It's green! They're safe!"

"Manager Qian, they're safe now," a member of the Qian family martial arts team said happily to Qian Wantong.

"Hehe, not bad, it's safe now!" Qian Wantong watched the signal flare slowly rise into the sky and smiled with relief.

He wasn't concerned about Ouyang Nan and the others, but rather about the safety on the other side. As long as Ouyang Nan and the others were safe, the main force wouldn't encounter any danger when crossing the lake to the other side.

"Alright, now that it's safe, everyone can disperse and go about their business," Qian Wantong said to the crowd.

There are a lot of people standing at the bridgehead now, it's a bit crowded, so it's better to spread out. Besides, it's a bit noisy for everyone to be standing together and chattering.

Upon hearing this, the crowd gradually dispersed and returned to their temporary camp. Qian Wantong, however, remained standing at the bridgehead, continuing to observe.

He thought that Ouyang Nan had fired a red distress flare earlier, and now that they were safe, they might come back to rest. So he decided to wait here and see, and maybe they would come back soon.

I really don't know who in the team was injured, but I figure it couldn't be Ouyang Nan or that young man named Li Mo. After all, if it were either of them, they definitely wouldn't have fired the green signal flare. Ouyang Nan and Li Mo are the strongest martial artists in the team; if something had happened to them, they would have definitely returned instead of firing the green signal flare.

Huh? Could it be Qian Zhenghao who's injured? If so, this is really a headache. If one of our own members is injured and can't continue doing missions with Ouyang Nan, who should we replace him with? After all, everyone in the family team has some kind of background.

Hopefully, Qian Zhenghao wasn't injured, or if he was, hopefully it was a minor injury, so he wouldn't have to worry about replacing him.

However, thinking of that kid Qian Zhenghao, Elder Qian could see clearly that this kid already harbored resentment towards their Qian family. What if they used this injury to force him to replace someone else?
Ugh, just thinking about it gives me a headache, but there's not much I can do, so I can only take it one step at a time.

Unexpectedly, Qian Wantong waited for a long time but Ouyang Nan and the others did not return. It seems that they stayed on the other side to continue their mission instead of returning to rest.

In the end, Qian Wantong could only go back to rest and wait for Ouyang Nan to return tomorrow to see what dangers he had encountered today.

On the opposite bank, Ouyang Nan and the others began preparations after deciding to stay. One group set up tents for rest, while another established physical security perimeters. There were gray wolves on this side, and these wolves could leap and attack, so they needed to plan carefully to prevent the wolves from ambushing them at night.

Just as the group was discussing and making arrangements, the fog over the lake gradually thinned out.

"Huh? The fog seems to be thinning," Ouyang Nan said.

“Not bad, we can see further now,” Chen Mo said casually.

At this moment, the sky gradually darkened. Of course, in this valley, the sky changes very quickly. When night falls, the time between day and night is very short.

So, to everyone's eyes, the sky, which had just seemed a little dim, had suddenly turned completely dark.

Everyone was used to this change in the weather. As they turned on their lights and prepared to continue setting up, they heard a series of clattering sounds.

"what sound?"

"It's coming from this building." Chen Mo heard the source of the sound and turned the light to shine in that direction. He then quickly stepped forward, pulled Qian Zhenghao, who was leaning against the wall at the bridgehead, out, and placed him on the bank.

Qian Zhenghao smiled at Chen Mo, intending to thank him, but found that Chen Mo didn't even glance at him, instead staring at the iron chain bridge, so he swallowed the words of thanks that were on the tip of his tongue.

To everyone's eyes, the entire bridgehead, that strange structure, began to gradually deform. The clattering sound was from the iron chains. With the sound, the entire suspension bridge gradually returned to its original state, sinking into the lake and returning to its submerged position.

"Is this...is the mechanism malfunctioning?" Ouyang Nana asked.

"No, it should be restored. The entire mechanism should be restored directly within a fixed time," Ouyang Nan deduced.

"If that's the case, if we encounter danger at night, will we be unable to get back to the other side?" Ouyang Nana asked again.

The group was speechless. The iron chain bridge had been retracted, so how were they supposed to cross the lake? Were they supposed to swim across?
"But if that's the case, what about tomorrow?" Ouyang Nana blushed when she saw everyone looking at her. Realizing she had said something pointless, she asked again.

Chen Mo shone his flashlight on the building and examined it carefully, even looking at the back wall of the building, which was exactly the same as the building opposite.

“This building is the same as the one opposite. It seems that this mechanical suspension bridge has certain operating rules. It is activated during the day and deactivated at night. If you want to use the suspension bridge, you will have to use the unicorn again tomorrow during the day to activate the entire mechanism so that the suspension bridge can reappear,” Chen Mo said.

“That’s right, that should be it. The button in this recess isn’t there; it should only be visible during the day.” Ouyang Nan looked at the recess, observed it for a moment, and then agreed.

"It seems we have no way out." Ouyang Ruoxi sighed, then said, "I hope there won't be any danger tonight!"

But is it really safe to say that nothing dangerous will happen?

Everyone felt uncertain, and some even feared that the situation might be more dangerous.