Chapter 154: Forbidden

Traveling from Jiangzhou to Zhezhou requires taking the waterway first, followed by the overland route. The waterway involves boarding a boat and sailing downstream along the Jian River for nearly ten days, after which one must travel by land for about five days before finally entering the prefectural city of Zhezhou.

Living in a world like the Tiantong Dynasty, transportation has always been a major issue. Setting out on a distant journey invariably takes ten days to half a month, consuming far too much time. As the saying goes, wasting time is wasting life. Moreover, traveling is lonely and physically exhausting, making it an unpleasant experience under any circumstances.

For a long time, Chen Jianchen had wanted to find a systematic way to solve the transportation problem once and for all. Ordinary horses were naturally out of the question, and even thousand-li horses fell short. The so-called thousand-li horses were merely a fine-sounding title, lacking endurance, and riding them at a rapid gallop over bumpy roads was deeply uncomfortable.

In Chen Jianchen's view, the best way to travel was the flying and subterranean movement utilized by cultivators. However, after asking Yingning in detail, Chen Jianchen learned that the world of cultivators was not as wonderful as imagined.

The basic methods cultivators used for rapid travel, such as wind-escorted or earth-escorted travel, or auxiliary tools like divine movement talismans, all required the consumption of a certain amount of spiritual power and were unsuitable for long journeys. As for the legendary technique of riding clouds and driving mists, it still remained strictly in the realm of legend. Not to mention ordinary people, even regular cultivators had never witnessed it; presumably, one needed to reach the Fa-Xiang level of cultivation to execute it.

Even if it could be performed, it would consume a massive amount of spiritual power, because speed is always proportional to energy loss. Immortals are called immortals precisely because of their profound spiritual power. If one can use spiritual power as freely as running tap water, naturally one can fly higher and faster.

Yingning also mentioned another good way to travel: she suggested that Chen Jianchen subdue a mutated avian monster and ride it through the skies, which would naturally make the speed exceptionally fast.

An avian, and a mutated monster at that?

That would require something on the level of an eagle at the very least, which was virtually impossible to encounter. It was just wishful thinking.

The sails were hoisted, cutting through the waves as the ship set off downstream.

This vessel had been heavily chartered by the academy with a large sum of money. There were not many passengers: Education Inspector Gu, two scholars, their several pageboys and servants, along with Xiao Hanfeng and Chen Jianchen with his servant, making a total of eighteen people.

Aside from Xiao Hanfeng, Education Inspector Gu, the scholars, and Chen Jianchen all had personal pageboys. In addition, each scholar brought two servants, while Education Inspector Gu, besides pageboys and servants, was accompanied by four robust guards. As a dignified prefectural education inspector, how could he possibly travel without an entourage?

The lonely journey practically began the moment they stepped onto the boat.

The two scholars possessed refined tastes; every day they drank small cups of wine, nibbled on delicate side dishes, and played chess to pass the time. Education Inspector Gu rarely emerged, remaining secluded inside his cabin, keeping his exact activities a mystery. In any case, he seldom spoke in front of Chen Jianchen and Xiao Hanfeng, presumably to maintain distance and project official authority.

This left Chen Jianchen and Xiao Hanfeng with idle time. Xiao Hanfeng immersed himself in his pictorial art, frequently producing innovative works, which he would then drag Chen Jianchen over to admire and critique.

Chen Jianchen lacked much enthusiasm for this pursuit. After all, having lived through it all before, once you have seen a pig climb a tree, are you still amazed to see one walk? Furthermore, with Yingning around, he had to make sure the little pageboy was not corrupted. Therefore, most of the time Chen Jianchen preferred to stay inside the cabin, enjoying the fragrance of red sleeves as a companion in harmonious contentment.

On the fifth day after departure, toward evening, the weather took an unexpected turn. Suddenly, dark clouds rolled across the sky, thunder rumbled like drums, and within moments a torrential downpour began, turning the world into a vast sheet of white.

With the shifting winds and clouds, the Jian River instantly surged with violent billows and crashing waves against the banks. The boat tossed atop the water like a fallen leaf, pitching and rolling violently. Under such intense shaking, anyone unaccustomed to boat travel would likely have vomited on the spot.

Chen Jianchen had never encountered such a situation and, fearing the vessel might capsize, wanted to step out to take a look, but was stopped by the boatman. "Young master, you had better remain inside the cabin. The wind and rain are fierce outside; it would be dangerous for you to go out. If you were accidentally swept into the river by the wind and waves, it would spell trouble."

In truth, water no longer posed any danger to Chen Jianchen. The reason was simple: he had consumed the Water-Averting Pearl. The pearl had been a gift from Ding Yin, the former river god of the Jian River, though Chen Jianchen had not ingested it immediately. Instead, he waited until he was with Yingning, having her inspect and verify that everything was completely safe before swallowing it.

It had a fishy taste and was not particularly pleasant to eat. After swallowing it, there seemed to be no obvious change—at least not as dramatic a reaction as when he had consumed the Great Luo Fruit back then. When he asked Yingning the reason, she replied, "Young master, this Water-Averting Pearl is a rare treasure of heaven and earth, exceedingly difficult to encounter. However, its function is limited to immunity against water; it has no other effects."

The so-called "immunity against water" did not mean simply keeping water droplets off one's skin; rather, whether in a river or an ocean, one could walk as if on solid land without any breathing difficulties. To put it bluntly, a single Water-Averting Pearl was equivalent to a permanent scuba set.

Having ingested the pearl, Chen Jianchen possessed the respiratory system of a fish, and naturally he was not afraid of drowning if he fell into the water. However, such a matter was not something Chen Jianchen would casually discuss with others, so under the boatman's well-intentioned persuasion, he ultimately did not step outside.

The boatman was around fifty years of age, his dark, weathered face covered in the marks of wind and rain. He gazed at the sky, suddenly heaved a long sigh, and said, "I'm afraid the rainfall won't be light this year."

Those who spent their lives navigating rivers possessed an incomparable intuition regarding changes in the weather.

Hearing this from the side, Chen Jianchen asked out of curiosity, "What happens if there is heavy rainfall?"

The boatman shook his head. "Heavy rain brings chaos to the Jian River. According to ancient legends, the Jian River is a dragon; when the dragon encounters great waters, it ascends into the sky. The Dragon King rejoices when he rises to the heavens, but whenever this happens, it invariably means the Jian River overflows its dikes, flooding both banks and sending floods of refugees surging forth."

Hearing this, Chen Jianchen frowned slightly. In his past life, he had read extensively in history and knew the severity of major river dikes breaching and flooding, but since crossing over, he had never heard of this particular legend, let alone encountered it. Now, hearing the old boatman speak of it, he realized that many things often happen right beside oneself, far closer than one might imagine...

At that moment, with the wind fierce and the waves raging, the boatman had no leisure to talk further and hurried off to help.

Inside the cabin, Chen Jianchen gazed intently at the waves outside that occasionally rose higher than the gunwale, and sighed softly.

This storm came fiercely and left quickly. Half an hour later, the wind subsided, the rain stopped, and the roaring Jian River gradually grew calm.

For the next few days, everything passed uneventfully. Once the waterway journey ended, they transferred to horse-drawn carriages and sedan chairs, traveling until everyone felt drowsy and fatigued.

On this day, they finally entered the territory of Jinhua County within Zhezhou, not far from the prefectural city. However, because they had pushed too hard on the road, evening approached and they fell into a difficult predicament: neither a village nor an inn was in sight. The roads stretched out boundlessly as night drew near, and Education Inspector Gu grew somewhat anxious. Unwilling to casually camp by the roadside, he asked the driver if there were any places nearby where they could lodge for the night.

The driver thought for a moment and suddenly said, "There is a burned-down temple in the mountain forest not far ahead, called Lanruo Temple. It's quite large and can accommodate people for the night."

Lanruo Temple?

Hearing this name, Chen Jianchen froze momentarily. Instantly growing alarmed, he blurted out uncontrollably, "No..."