Abandoning literature for martial arts, starting by unleashing the beauty's bow.

Further on, Lu Fengnian stopped paddling.

Instead, he stood at the front of the raft, holding a hunting bow, his eyes warily scanning his surroundings.

On the following rafts, Yang Sihai, Zhao Tie, and Yang Kai did the same thing.

After traveling another thirty paces, Lu Fengnian suddenly raised his hand and whispered, "Stop!"

Upon hearing this, the men on all four rafts stopped paddling.

Lu Fengnian took a torch from a man behind him and threw it forward with all his might.

Torches fluttered in the air, illuminating the river ahead.

Suddenly, a dark shadow the size of a cartwheel floated on the surface of the river ahead. It was flat, broad, round, and thick—a giant softshell turtle.

This turtle was significantly larger than the one Lu Fengnian had seen the night before last. It surfaced to breathe, just as it had.

"sea turtle!"

"It's huge!"

"Could this be the old turtle spirit?"

……

Yang Kai, Zhao Tie, and the others exclaimed in surprise, their faces showing fear.

Turtle is nothing unusual, and Yang Kai and the others naturally recognized it.

However, this was the first time they had ever seen a giant turtle the size of a wheel.

Lu Fengnian said in a low voice, "This turtle is indeed large, but it can occasionally be seen in some deep mountains, rivers, and deep pools. Don't be afraid."

As he finished speaking, the torch fell onto the water with a splash.

Startled, the giant turtle quickly sank underwater.

Lu Fengnian raised his voice slightly, "So timid. This is just an ordinary turtle, not some kind of turtle spirit."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.

Lu Fengnian continued, "It's normal that this place is called Old Turtle Cave because there are many and large turtles here."

"Don't panic when you see the dark figures later; these turtles are probably more afraid of us."

Hearing these words, everyone felt a little more relaxed.

The four rafts continued on their way.

After walking about three miles, the riverbed ahead suddenly rose, as if a levee had suddenly been built in the middle of the river.

The river embankment is more than three zhang high, cutting the river channel in half.

The river water flowing out of Laoyuan Cave is significantly reduced after passing through this embankment, and only a portion can overflow from the top of the embankment.

Upon seeing this natural riverbank, Lu Fengnian and the others immediately understood the reason for the reduced water flow.

The river embankment created a water level drop of up to two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) in the river, directly forming a waterfall that made it impossible for rafts to move forward.

The four rafts were moored side by side, and everyone looked towards the riverbank ahead.

"No wonder the water flow has decreased; it turns out there's an additional riverbank."

"If we can breach this riverbank, the water supply problem for both of our villages will definitely be solved."

…………

The men gathered together, their faces beaming with joy.

Lu Fengnian frowned. "The river embankment is so high, it won't be easy to dig it up."

More importantly, this place is located inside a cave, so how could such a river embankment appear? There must be something fishy about it.

Let's not act rashly; let's go up to the riverbank and take a look first.

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Lu Fengnian looked around and found that the rock wall on one side of the river was uneven and could be climbed.

So he had everyone row the four rafts to the side of the rock face, saying, "I'll try to climb up first."

Everyone looked up and saw that although the rock face was uneven, it was almost straight upwards. However, there were not many places to step on or grab onto, making it virtually impossible to climb up with bare hands.

"Brother Fengnian, the rock face is too steep, and there are few and wide gaps between the handholds. We can't climb up." Zhao Tie said in a low voice.

The other men also spoke up, saying that it was impossible to climb and urging Lu Fengnian not to take the risk.

After observing for a while, Yang Kai whispered, "We can try tying arrows to ropes, shooting them onto the riverbank, and then having the lightest person among us pull the ropes to climb up."

Lu Fengnian shook his head. "I've thought of that method too. Although iron arrowheads can penetrate into the rock face, our arrow shafts are too thin. Even the lightest person couldn't withstand them."

At this point, he looked up at the top of the riverbank and said, "Let me give it a try. If I can climb up, I can pull you all up."

Seeing that there was no other way, everyone had no choice but to follow Lu Fengnian's advice.

Lu Fengnian pressed the raft close to the rock face, briefly observed the route, and then prepared to climb up.

Yang Kai said in a low voice, "Just in case, tie a rope around your waist. Even if you fall into the water, we can pull you up in time."

Lu Fengnian shook his head. "Tying on the rope will affect the climbing."

Don't worry, I'm a good swimmer. If I fall, I can save myself.

After saying that, he slowly climbed down from the raft to the bottom of the rock face, and then slowly climbed up.

Yang Kai, Zhao Tie, and the others stood on the raft, watching Lu Fengnian with tense eyes, ready to rescue him immediately should he fall off the cliff.

Lu Fengnian climbed slowly but steadily, and after about thirty breaths, he had climbed more than ten feet high.

Climb up another two zhang or so, and you'll reach the riverbank.

However, he suddenly stopped and did not continue climbing.

Because the nearest rock face protrusion that he could grab onto was more than three feet away, and he couldn't reach it at all.

"Brother Fengnian, you can't get up there, come down quickly!" Zhao Tie shouted from below.

Yang Kai also spoke up: "Lu Fengnian, it's too far, you can't reach it. Come down first, and we'll think of another way."

Others chimed in, urging Lu Fengnian to come down from the cliff first.

Lu Fengnian pressed himself tightly against the cliff face, his head raised, his eyes fixed on the top of the rock face.

He ignored the voices below.

He knew very well that if he couldn't climb up, there probably wouldn't be any other better way.

Taking a deep breath, he slightly bent his knees, pushed off with both feet, and leaped up the steep rock face, his right hand quickly and accurately grabbing the protrusion three feet above him.

However, he did not stop. With a slight push from his right hand, he continued to leap upwards, reaching another three feet. His hands gripped two protrusions on the rock face tightly, and his feet found their footing with perfect accuracy, allowing his entire body to firmly adhere to the rock face.

The entire sequence of movements was executed flawlessly, without the slightest hesitation or pause.

Below him, Yang Kai, Zhao Tie, Yang Yinfeng, Yang Sihai, and fifteen others stared in disbelief.

Lu Fengnian's actions just now appeared extremely dangerous to them; if he had been careless even slightly, he would have fallen directly off the rock face, and the consequences would have been unimaginable.

However, Lu Fengnian did not make any mistakes. He was extremely fast and agile, like a mountain ape.

Yang Sihai shook his head repeatedly. "I'm not seeing things, am I?"

Zhao Tie swallowed hard. "Is this something a human could do?"

Yang Yinfeng added, "Brother Fengnian's physique is terrifying. If it were me, I couldn't do such a move even on flat ground."

Yang Kai's eyes held a complex expression. "Lu Fengnian's physique is probably already very close to that of a first-grade acquired martial artist!"