Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 340 Stone Cave
Gu Jingnian did not believe Xun Yan's words.

Pei Nian also said, "How is that possible? This place is thousands of miles away from Jusai City."

“You’re measuring this by the distance of Zhongzhou,” Xun Yan said, shaking his head with a smile. “Don’t forget, this is a boundary, and a boundary is an illusion. Since an illusion has no reality, how can it be generalized based on the size of Zhongzhou?”

While the logic is understandable, it's still hard to imagine how this boundary could connect to both Zhuojing and Jusai City.

Pei Nian pointed to the Black Mountain in the distance and asked, "Is there a gap here too?"

“That’s right.” Xun Yan nodded, then asked, “Didn’t Young Master Gu see a breach in Jusai City?”

Gu Jingnian countered, "Is there a breach in Jusai City?"

Xun Yan smiled and said, "You'll understand when you see it."

"You still haven't answered me. What are you looking for here?"

“Very well,” Xun Yan said. “Simply put, there is a treasure trove there. What this old man seeks, the antidote that Young Master Gu needs, and the secret that the princess and Miss Shen wish to explore are all there.”

"Really?"

Wei Chan was overjoyed upon hearing this and hurriedly urged, "Then take us there quickly."

"There are many passages here, and this old man doesn't know which one it is. I'll have to keep looking."

Xun Yan's words puzzled everyone, who wondered how there could be so many passages when there was clearly only one road here.

They climbed to the top of Black Mountain and came to the entrance of a stone cave.

Looking into the cave, it was dark and deep, with no bottom in sight.

"Please go ahead," Xun Yan said. "Although there are many cave entrances, they are all interconnected, so there's no need to worry about which one to enter. However, once inside, you'll need to explore carefully, otherwise, you don't know how long you'll have to walk around in there."

Gu Jingnian tried to use his supernatural abilities to start a fire, but unfortunately, he failed.

The entire mountain was made of black neodymium, which prevented him from using any supernatural abilities.

As they stepped into the cave, Pei Nian hesitated for a moment and then let go of his hand.

"what happened?"

"Should I go too?" Pei Nian asked. "I'm worried about Li Shuangyun."

Gu Jingnian pretended to fall, letting Pei Nian continue to support him, and said, "Don't worry, since I can't use my superpowers, she can't possess you either."

“She has a way in Jussac.”

"But we won."

Gu Jingnian didn't let Pei Nian hesitate any longer. With a firm attitude, he pulled her into the stone cave.

After walking only a few steps, it was already pitch black.

Xun Yan took an oil lamp from the candlestick on the wall and lit it with a tinderbox, and the others followed suit.

The firelight dispelled the darkness, revealing scattered white bones on the ground.

Ah Wan was frightened and timidly asked, "Miss, do we really have to go in?"

"Since we're here, we have to go in."

Xun said, "This is a mine shaft left over from the quarrying of rocks in the past. It has been abandoned for a long time, so it is inevitable that some wild animals live here. The ground is covered with the scraps left by their feeding. There is no need to be afraid."

"Oh."

Ah-Wan believed it anyway.

As she continued walking, she suddenly stepped on something and cried out in fright.

"what!"

But it was a skull.

Wei Chan kicked it away and said, "Stop shouting. The presence of this thing means there's a secret, which means we've come to the right place."

Xun said, "These are likely miners who died here. It's nothing, nothing at all."

Soon, they came to a fork in the road.

Since Xun Yan had previously said that a careful search was needed, the others took oil lamps and carefully examined the wall for any clues.

Before they could see clearly, Xun Yan had already made his choice.

"Let's go this way."

It was a winding stone staircase leading downwards, and the path was naturally more difficult to walk on.

On several subsequent occasions, Gu Jingnian noticed that whenever they encountered a fork in the road, Xun Yan would always choose the path that led down.

Are you going down?

"Yes, the deeper the better. The place we're going to is at the deepest point underground."

What exactly is there?

“I can’t describe it either, you’ll know when you get there,” Xun Yan said. “Don’t worry, I won’t harm you.”

The cave is dark and devoid of sunlight, making it impossible to distinguish between day and night.

Gradually, the view ahead opened up.

The Black Rock Mountain was empty; below lay a bottomless abyss, and nothing could be seen.

The stone steps wound down into the abyss. After walking for an unknown amount of time, Wei Chan stopped and complained, "I'm hungry." Xun Yan said, "There is no food here. If the princess wants to eat something, you can wait until we get down there and have some grilled fish."

"Fish?" Wei Chan asked. "Are there fish in this cave?"

Xun Yan laughed and said, "This cave has everything."

Even so, everyone had been busy all day and was tired and exhausted. Before long, Wei Chan was the first to get sleepy and refused to take another step forward.

As for the others, Xun Yan was old, Gu Jingnian was poisoned, and Shen Lingshu and Awan were also weak women. In fact, they could not hold on any longer, so they found a slightly more open place to rest.

Seeing Pei Nian help Gu Jingnian sit down, Wei Chan ran over to help him up and said, "I was just thinking of letting you rest for a bit."

She rarely showed kindness, but instead received two wary looks in return. It was as if they thought she was being overly attentive and had ulterior motives.

It was cold inside the cave, so everyone lay down. Wei Chan and Shen Lingshu, mistress and servant, huddled together for warmth, but after a while, Wei Chan muttered "It's so cold" and snuggled closer to Gu Jingnian.

She was so tired that she fell asleep in no time.

In her sleep, a chill came from beside her again, as Gu Jingnian had already gotten up and left.

……

Gu Jingnian was also very sleepy. Just as he was falling asleep, he noticed that Pei Nian's eyes were still open, so he asked softly, "What's wrong?"

The others were already asleep, and Pei Nian didn't want to disturb them, so she didn't answer.

After a while, she looked back and saw that Gu Jingnian was still awake, staring at her with his eyes open, his eyes shining brightly in the dim firelight.

She reached out and covered Gu Jingnian's eyes, but as soon as she removed her hand, Gu Jingnian was still looking at her.

Pei Nian had no choice but to tiptoe to the side, and Gu Jingnian followed her.

The two then sat on the stone steps and spoke quietly.

"Why don't you sleep?"

"Not sleepy yet," Pei Nian replied.

Gu Jingnian knew that she wasn't not sleepy, but was afraid that she would be possessed by Li Shuangyun if she fell asleep, so he comforted her, "Don't worry, she won't come."

"I know, but I just don't want to sleep."

"Then let's sit for a while."

"You've been poisoned; you should rest properly."

"This is also a form of rest..."

Without realizing it, Pei Nian leaned her head on Gu Jingnian's shoulder.

After leaning against her for a while, she remembered that Gu Jingnian was still suffering from poisoning, so she turned around and put her arm around him, letting him lean against her.

The cave was as cold as an ice cellar, yet the two of them did not feel cold at all.

A chill ran through Wei Chan as she awoke from her sleep, her throat feeling dry and itchy, which was very uncomfortable.

She looked around and saw Shen Lingshu and Awan hugging tightly, but Gu Jingnian and Pei Nian were nowhere to be seen. She took a few steps down the stone steps and saw the two of them leaning against each other. She was stunned for a moment.

Hearing the commotion behind her, Pei Nian turned around and quickly separated from Gu Jingnian.

"so cold."

Wei Chan spoke first, saying in a somewhat arrogant tone, "Gu Jingnian, there's something I haven't had a chance to say yet. If you want to be granted amnesty, I can plead for you before the Emperor."

"No need," Gu Jingnian refused directly.

He knew very well that even if there was a possibility that he would be recruited by the government, he still had to show his stance at this moment.

Therefore, when faced with Wei Chan's proposal, he was very indifferent in his refusal.

Pei Nian, however, took Wei Chan's suggestion to heart and reminded Gu Jingnian, "You should thank Her Highness the Princess."

"Oh."

Gu Jingnian responded with a cold tone, but when facing Pei Nian, his tone actually contained a hint of obedience.

Wei Chan, however, noticed what she was hearing, frowned, and was about to speak.

Sudden.

"careful!"

Pei Nian shouted and drew his sword.

At the same time, a gust of wind arose, and a monster with black wings came howling in, its claws reaching for Wei Chan.

The longsword slashed across, striking the claws with a clang.

The monster, in pain, flew upwards, nearly crashing into the rock wall above, but just before it hit the wall, it spun around and flew away.

Pei Nian tackled Wei Chan to the ground and saved her, while Gu Jingnian blocked their way at the same time.

Looking closer, one could see that it was a huge bat, enormous in size.

Its first attack failed to catch Wei Chan, so it immediately turned around and pounced on the three people on the stone steps.

Shen Lingshu had just managed to get up when Gu Jingnian and Pei Nian wanted to go and help, but it was too late.

With wings like a kite, the bat had already grabbed Shen Lingshu and flew down into the abyss.

(End of this chapter)