The Journey of Immortal Cultivation-Chapter 411 - 243: Opening Remarks_2
Jin Manyi gave it some thought and seemed to find nothing wrong, so he nodded in agreement. But then he promptly added, "We’re also in a rush and can’t afford to keep you company here indefinitely. If it’s not solved before dark, you lose!"
Ning Xiaoxian looked up at the sky. It had just turned 13:00 (Wei Shi), and now, in the summer, there were still three ’hours’ left until nightfall. In other words, she had the entire afternoon. "Okay, that’s reasonable."
She was certain to win this bet because Changtian had already told her, "Just give it a try. I had already unraveled this mystery of the Ruishui River tens of thousands of years ago!"
Changtian was reliable, instantly offering her a metaphorical Calming Pill.
"Do you want me to tell you the answer right now?" His deep voice was emotionless.
"No need. If you were able to discover it, I should give it a try as well." She was feeling competitive and asked, "How long did it take you to find the solution to this riddle back then?"
He liked her just this way and replied, "It happened a very long time ago; let me think. Hmm... probably about 15 minutes?" The rising inflection at the end of his sentence revealed a hint of pride.
minutes! Her footsteps toward the riverbank halted abruptly, drawing the attention of the onlookers. Quan Shifang asked in a low voice, "What’s wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing!" She returned a smile.
The secret of the Ruishui River had not been revealed for many years, yet Changtian had solved it in just a quarter of an hour? An absolute demon, no doubt! This piled the pressure on her.
"It will take a little while, you should go back and rest." She transmitted her message to Tu Jin and Quan Shifang. The former glanced at her and walked back to the post house as instructed. For Tu Jin, a mere guard, such matters were not within his responsibility. Quan Shifang, however, shook his head and found a tree stump nearby to sit down on, showing his support by being ready to help in case she became anxious.
After sitting down, his back remained straight, exuding the aura of a golden horse jade hall, as if what was beneath him was not a mere stump but a majestic Taishi Chair.
Jin Manyi snorted softly, not wanting to stand by the road and wait, and turned back into the post house amidst a flock of servant women’s calls and escorts.
The two men watched Ning Xiaoxian return to the riverbank, picking up the river water to sniff and immediately shuddering and wrinkling their noses at the apparently unpleasant smell. Miluo found it amusing, but Quan Shifang was genuinely concerned.
Ning Xiaoxian casually picked up a thumb-sized stone and dropped it into the water, where it slowly sank.
She picked up a fist-sized stone and tossed it into the water. This time, it sank even slower.
She then found a piece of wood and threw it in as well. Surprisingly, the wood sank faster than the stones.
After that, she tried throwing in rope, wooden forks, branches, and other various and sundry things.
From their vantage point, they could see the light flickering in her eyes as she paced along the bank, seemingly searching for new items to throw into the water. Miluo couldn’t help but chuckle, "She’s not planning to throw everything on the bank into the river to test it out, is she?"
Quan Shifang merely hummed without continuing the conversation, knowing he feared that speaking up might distract Ning Xiaoxian. Miluo smirked to himself, but then saw the girl turn her head and stare him down fiercely as if she really wanted to throw him into the river to test it out. He quickly raised his hands in a gesture of innocence.
Ning Xiaoxian withdrew her gaze and stood silently by the riverbank, pondering for a while before retrieving something from her storage bag. It was oval-shaped, light, and transparent. Before anyone could see clearly what it was, she covered it with her sleeve, brought it to her lips, and blew into it.
With a long breath, she only blew once and the object inflated. Ning Xiaoxian then pulled and knotted it with one hand before tossing it into the water.
Unexpectedly, the object sank faster than anything else, vanishing into the murky waters before many could even discern what it was exactly.
Of course, "many people" did not include Miluo and Quan Shifang. Although Ning Xiaoxian’s movements were swift, they could tell it was a section of dried sheep’s gut.
She actually carried such a thing with her! Both men were somewhat astounded. Miluo found himself unable to laugh for some reason.
Soon, Ning Xiaoxian grabbed the bamboo valve of the Jishi Building and pulled it out of the water with a splash. The valve was not very big, accommodative to at most five people, and even though she was quite strong now, she still furrowed her brows to lift it.
Next, she used Tusk to cut off a segment of the bamboo from the valve and examined it for a long while.
You must know that she was not embarking on an unprecedented attempt. The Jishi Building had long mastered the secret of the Ruishui River, so the best approach to breaking the secret was to use an existing ferry tool to figure it out.
While she was busy non-stop, the onlooking cultivators lost interest after a while. Besides those who had placed wagers, others hurried to cross the river, and the ferry point bustled again.
Ning Xiaoxian stood on the bank, dazedly watching the coming and going of bamboo valves. A quarter of an hour had long passed, and she still hadn’t solved the riddle, feeling somewhat defeated.
Changtian asked leisurely, "How is it, do you want to know the answer to the riddle now?"
"Not at the moment. There’s still plenty of time." She huffed and sat down by the river. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation tickets and Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
