326: Chapter 320 Return 326: Chapter 320 Return At the mooring site of Steamed Bun Mountain, Taoist Wang was pacing anxiously in circles.
After Chen Hai entered the tomb’s passageway, there was no sign of him for a long time.
At first, Taoist Wang had stood by the passageway entrance, waiting obediently.
Even though it was broad daylight, he still felt a chilling breeze near the entrance of the passageway, as if his scalp was becoming numb.
As time passed, he finally began to lose his patience.
After hesitating for quite a while, he left his position and ran down to the mooring site at the foot of the mountain, and then continued to wait there.
Compared to the tomb’s passageway above, here the sunlight could shine directly on him, allowing Taoist Wang to feel noticeably warmer.
“What’s going on?
Was there an earthquake?
Did the passageway in the mountain collapse?”
“The Immortal Master went into the tomb’s passageway and has yet to come out?
Could it be that he has met with an accident and is trapped inside?”
Feeling several tremors under his feet in succession, Taoist Wang’s face had already turned pale.
Looking over at the awning boat moored a few meters away, he hesitated about whether or not to board the boat and then row away quickly from this place.
“Splash…” Just at this moment, ten or so meters away, near the shore, someone’s figure slowly emerged from the water amidst splashing.
Taoist Wang, whose face had already paled, turned even more ashen at the sight.
Without even the time to look closely at what emerged from the water, he turned on his heels and ran.
He had already witnessed the monsters in the water when he had rowed the boat bringing Chen Hai over here.
At this moment, with such a disturbance suddenly coming from the water, his first thought was that the water monster had appeared again!
“Taoist Wang…”
Having only run a few steps after turning his head, a distinctly familiar voice called out to him.
“It’s fake, definitely fake!”
“In my time, the older generation often warned us younger ones that when walking at night, if someone calls out from behind, one must never turn back!”
“Though it’s broad daylight now, the monster in the water is incredibly powerful and can harm people even during the day!”
“The voice I heard must be the monster trying to deceive me.
I cannot turn back, absolutely not!”
Perhaps to make himself more alert, he slapped himself several times in succession.
And instead of stopping, his feet moved even faster.
Steamed Bun Mountain was covered with dense weeds and trees, making it difficult to traverse, but he was now running towards the direction of the passageway.
A path had already been made in that direction.
Despite being old and feeble, Taoist Wang ran for his life with a speed that was not too slow.
Chen Hai, who had just emerged from the water still dripping wet, saw this situation and really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“What the heck are you running for?
Get back here!”
“There’s a problem with the Great Tomb underground.
Where are you running to, up the mountain?”
“If you’re not careful and a collapse happens under your feet, you could be trapped down there.
Even if you’re lucky enough not to die, I reckon you’ll lose a layer of skin!”
…
By the time Chen Hai climbed onto the shore, Taoist Wang, who was fleeing in panic, had already become a mere shadow in the distance.
After shouting loudly several times at his retreating figure, Taoist Wang eventually stopped in his tracks and turned back.
Once bitten, twice shy.
The Danghui Talisman that Chen Hai had given him to use had already been used up.
If the monster from the water really appeared to confuse him, Taoist Wang was aware of his limitations, knowing he would truly be unable to resist.
Seeing Chen Hai on the shore, he wasn’t sure whether he was seeing reality or an illusion.
Not until he had pinched his thigh fiercely several times and clearly sensed the intense pain did Taoist Wang finally confirm that Chen Hai had indeed returned safely.
“Immortal Master…”
With his heart finally settling down, the panic on his face disappeared in an instant.
After running back to the original spot, he saw Chen Hai in his drenched clothes, his face full of eager flattery, ready to strip off his Taoist robe for Chen Hai to change into.
“No need, let’s hurry onto the boat and get out of here first!”
With a look of disgust, Chen Hai rolled his eyes at him.
That Taoist robe of Taoist Wang’s was stuffed with all sorts of odd things.
More importantly, with the weather being a bit hot in October, it was likely that his Taoist robe was still quite airy underneath.
Chen Hai had no interest in changing into Taoist Wang’s robe and then watching him hopping around half-naked in front of him.
After feeling several more tremors underfoot, he leaped onto the awning boat and urged Taoist Wang.
Inside Steamed Bun Mountain, the majority of it was hollow, so a collapse of the Great Tomb and a substantial landslide of the mountain was inevitable.
Although their boat was moored at the foot of the mountain, it would be dangerous for Chen Hai and Taoist Wang to stay there any longer.
Just as the two had barely boarded the awning boat, several places on the mountain had already begun to sink downwards.
Seeing this, Taoist Wang’s paddle moved at a breakneck speed.
By the time their awning boat had moved a hundred or so meters, the nearby Steamed Bun Mountain seemed to have shrunk in height all of a sudden.
Fortunately, since Steamed Bun Mountain was not very large, the landslide didn’t have a significant impact on the surrounding area.
Sitting in the awning boat, Chen Hai felt some waves being stirred up in the waters of the reservoir.
About ten to twenty minutes later, after the awning boat had turned a few corners in the reservoir and completely left Steamed Bun Mountain behind, making it out of sight.
It was then that Taoist Wang, still rowing the boat, finally felt completely relaxed.
“Immortal Master, is that creature in the water dealt with?”
“Is this knife in your hand from the Great Tomb below the mountain?”
“Sealed beneath the earth for who knows how many years, not only does this knife show no signs of rust, but you can faintly see a bloody light shimmering on it!”
“A fine knife, definitely a fine knife…”
Taoist Wang had noticed the knife in Chen Hai’s hand earlier.
But it was only now, when he had a bit of downtime, that he curiously pressed Chen Hai for answers.
“Mm!
The creature in the water has been completely dealt with by me,”
“And indeed, this knife is from the tomb.”
Chen Hai nodded and casually replied.
In front of Taoist Wang, there was no point in hiding the matter of the knife, as it couldn’t be hidden anyway.
When he entered the thief hole, he had a fish spear in his hand; when he emerged from the water and returned to the shore, the fish spear was gone, and in its place was a knife.
All of this, Taoist Wang had seen clearly.
Chen Hai wasn’t worried about him knowing that he had brought a knife out of the tomb.
Truth be told, he was only concerned about some expert finding out and then showing up at his doorstep with five hundred yuan and a silk banner, waving the banner of righteousness trying to exchange for his Hongming Blade.
However, given Chen Hai’s current status and background, the likelihood of that happening should not be too high.
To be on the safe side, while responding to Taoist Wang, he took off his wet upper garment and wrapped up the Hongming Blade.
Riding in the awning boat rowed by Taoist Wang, Chen Hai had also tried to communicate with the Hongming Blade along the way.
But the wily blade was just a typical fair-weather friend, not showing its tricks without seeing a rabbit.
It claimed that Master Hongming was tired and, without seeing a pair of pigs and being well-fed and drunk, it didn’t have the energy to speak and didn’t want to bother with him.
Chen Hai was helpless about this and could only let it be!