Crippled Monkey blanked for a moment, then asked in bewilderment, "Young master, how did you figure that out?"
"I've performed a divination."
Chen Fan didn't explain much, chuckling as he picked up a bit of pickles with his chopsticks. "Tastes good. Have a try."
After the Perpetual Night descended last night, he had only spaced out for a while before the Eerie Tide rushed into the canyon.
His stupor had lasted at most a pot of tea's time(15 minutes).
Eerie Creatures couldn't move during the day; no one knew where they went in daylight.
So...
He speculated that this Eerie Tide might have reached the wasteland the previous night. It hadn't launched an attack because dawn had been approaching, so they waited until the next evening, then, after leaving the Eerie Stones somewhere, they advanced on the abyss pit.
This was just a guess, but he thought the odds that it'd prove true were seventy percent.
After all—
It was unlikely that the Eerie Tide could cross the sea from who-knows-where in just a pot of tea's time(15 minutes) before engaging in battle right away, right?
They must have rested somewhere the previous night.
The place where they rested was also where the Eerie Stones were hidden.
"Young master, you got such a great attitude."
Crippled Monkey scratched his head, looking on tenterhooks. "If we could find those Eerie Stones, we could buy enough pickles for several lifetimes..."
"Those who achieve great things remain unruffled even if a mountain collapses before their eyes."
"Is that a precondition for achieving great things?"
"No."
Chen Fan shook his head and couldn't help but laugh. "But it makes you look like someone who can achieve great things."
"Just looking like it doesn't sound very helpful..."
"Of course it's helpful. Keep looking like it, and you'll eventually become it."
He got to his feet, holding his porridge, and called out loudly to the crocodile as it contentedly gnawed on an octopus tentacle, pleasure suffusing its face. "Hey, eat faster. After you finish it, we'd be going to the place you told us to find the Mountain Embryo Skeleton."
"If we find it, I'll grill two more for you."
"And the juicy head on top of that."
The crocodile whimpered to show it understood, then clutched the octopus tentacle in its front claws, finishing it in one bite.
Then, it looked longingly at the two remaining grilled tentacles in a vat.
After thinking for a moment, it decided against eating more.
Instead, it picked up the vat in its mouth and carried it deep into the camp to hide, saving them for later.
With all this, it returned outside the city wall, letting the raindrops patter on it, its eyes closed as it began conserving energy.
...
Chen Fan was the only one who ate this lunch comfortably.
Everyone else was absent-minded, glancing toward the canyon from time to time as if they might see Zhou Mo returning triumphantly at any moment.
"It's been found."
Chen Fan put down his bowl and chopsticks, announcing with a smile. "We can eat in peace now."
"Young master, did you predict this too?"
"No, I heard it."
The Eerie Flesh Mother-Child Fruit was useful as ever.
In a way, he even thought it outclassed the "Communication Talisman." He didn't have to take out the talisman, but communicated telepathically.
Soon—
From the canyon, Zhou Mo and Dayu proceeded slowly on horseback, trailing a cart, on which were four large chests.
...
Chen Fan stood outside the city, opened one of the chests, and was greeted by the dazzling sight of Eerie Stones filling the box.
He opened the remaining chests.
Three of the chests were packed with Eerie Stones, though this time they weren't all Level 2 Eerie Stones. Instead, most were Level 2 Eerie Stones, with the rest being Level 1. The last one was brimming with miscellaneous Eerie materials.
This stuff seemed no different from what had been in the chests from Qian Hou.
Only a Mountain Embryo Skeleton was missing.
"Alright, take them in."
He smiled and waved at Wang Kui beside him, then looked at Zhou Mo. "Come with me. We are going to a place that might be rather dangerous. How much of that 'Water-Severing Blade Technique' have you mastered?"
"Huh?"
The smile on Zhou Mo's face froze, as his throat bobbed. "I haven't mastered even one tenth... Station Master, you... You only gave it to me yesterday afternoon..."
"Can't unleash it at all?"
"No..."
"Forget it."
"It's broad daylight; no Eerie Creatures are out. There shouldn't be anywhere too dangerous."
Chen Fan didn't say much more. He just climbed onto the crocodile's back, gestured for Zhou Mo to get on too, patted the crocodile's head, and instructed, "If we encounter any danger, take us and run immediately."
The crocodile didn't respond.
As if it thought there was no need to answer.
That went without saying.
Running away was what it did best.
"Then... let's go!"
As soon as the words fell.
The dark green hulk of the crocodile instantly transformed into a lightning bolt skimming the ground. Its four massive claws scrabbled at the ground, each burst of force splashing rubble around. In the blink of an eye, it charged into the canyon.
The heavy footsteps echoed like drumbeats throughout the canyon.
On the broad back.
Chen Fan crouched low, tightly gripping the raised scales, feeling the bumpy ride beneath him. The scenery on both sides was beautiful—the rapidly receding canyon walls and occasional birds cutting through the heavy rain.
But he was in no mood to watch.
He had to hold on tight.
If he got thrown off, his chances of survival probably weren't great.
The speed kept increasing.
The blurry rock walls on both sides soon vanished. At the canyon exit, the crocodile executed a cool drift, then galloped up the mountain path it had worn over time, darting toward the mountaintop.
...
"Did you find it by the seaside?"
In the camp, Crippled Monkey tentatively looked at Dayu.
"Mhmm."
Dayu nodded. "How did you know?"
"So it was really by the seaside?"
"Exactly as Young Master predicted." Crippled Monkey mused aloud, "Could it be that Young Master also knows this art?"
"Oh, by the way—"
"Where did you get the cart? I didn't see you pulling a cart when you left."
"When we returned from gathering supplies yesterday, Heyhey picked us up. We left a few carts at a nearby unmanned outpost. We had headed to that unmanned outpost for a cart."
...
In the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn (30 minutes).
Chen Fan stepped down from the crocodile's back on the mountaintop, scanning around. He was now on the very top ridge of the mountain.
Heyhey's lair was some distance from here.
This mountain wasn't very big, but the ridge had a flat section. They were now at the end of the ridge. From here, they could take in all the Rivernorth Wasteland, shrouded in rain and mist.
Had the rainy season ended and the weather been good,
They could take stock of the Wasteland in detail.
There weren't many trees around.
Only scattered trees, far from a forest.
The crocodile led them up to an immense rock that seemed part of the mountain. An opening had been dug into it, slanting downward into the ground—it was the entrance to a cave.
"This is..."
Knitting his brows, Chen Fan studied the cave entrance before him. He had a welling of familiarity inside him. He ran his hand lightly over the marks at the entrance, clearly resulting from the digging of bulky claws.
The clawprints were about twice the size of Heyhey's.
The entrance was also wider.
"Hey, did you dig this before?" He turned to look at the crocodile behind him.
The crocodile shook its head.
It plowed its claws to and fro across the ground, then looked up and whimpered.
"I see."
Chen Fan narrowed his eyes slightly with growing seriousness. "You're saying this was dug by your parents before, but they haven't returned for a long time, right?"