Chapter 57: (Patreon)

Chen Haoran dove and hid behind the rocks along the river as soon as he spotted the boat, shushing Phelps as he did so. A boat. An actual boat. People. There were other people down in the cavern.

Why was he hiding then? He paused when the thought occurred to him. He should go and get their attention, have them take him out of this place.

He thought of Lan Fen.

This wasn’t a world where he could blindly hope for rescue without consequences. He peeked around the rock and watched the boat float downstream. It was built long and narrow like an ancient trireme. Nine oars on each side rose and dipped into the water in unison, propelling it upstream against the river’s flow. Chen Haoran could barely make out a few standing figures pacing the deck but the distance was too far even with his qi-enhanced vision.

He watched the boat leave and followed behind it, clinging to rocks and staying low to avoid notice. Just seeing the boat was enough to provide a wealth of information. There was no wood down here in the cavern. Even with the weird ecology Chen Haoran had seen, having trees good for shipbuilding would be a stretch. That meant whoever was on that boat had access to the outside. Which meant they weren’t equally trapped natives.

The boat sailed out of sight into the thick steam of the cavern. It didn’t matter. Now that he had a direction he would find it again when it docked. If he was lucky then the river would directly lead outside. If he wasn’t then he was going to have to confront his fellow spelunkers.

The Spa Cavern was a wondrous place, and the benefits it brought to cultivation were apparent. It was impossible for a large group of people to be down here exploring it without word being spread. If it was at all common knowledge then Lan Fen would have told him about it with how much of a benefit to his cultivation it was.

Phelps squealed and Chen Haoran fed him a piece of moss to calm him.

No, he corrected himself. Not his benefit, hers. That was perhaps his biggest issue when it came to Lan Fen, he projected himself in places where he didn't belong. If Lan Fen had known about the Spa Caverns there was no way she would have wasted her time in Clearsprings City when there was a much better option available.

Leaving aside Lan Fen’s reliable practicality the fact of the matter was there was an organized and well-supplied force within the Spa Caverns without anyone the wiser. If there was even a hint of the cavern’s existence it would no doubt cause a frenzy among the local cultivators. Even back on Earth, Chen Haoran could imagine people killing to keep less valuable secrets let alone this new world.

“Be a good boy Phelps,” he warned. “Because I don’t think the place we’re going to has any.”

—————

It didn’t take long for Chen Haoran to catch back up with the ship, though his tailing had been slowed upon finding what the river washed up on its banks. Scraps of metal and cloth, rusted swords, broken armor, unidentifiable bones. Cluttered trash along the waterway reminded him of home oddly enough. However they got here, the river would be the way he got out.

As he had been expecting when he followed it, the boat docked at what looked to be a base camp. What caught him by surprise was the form it took. A rocky island that rose above the waters and sat center in the river, wreathed in steam. Built atop it was a circular stone building ringed by pillars in the same style as those that held up the cavern roof, capped with a half-collapsed dome. The obvious ruins were contrasted with newer wooden scaffolding that stretched down to a floating dock that just peaked out the white fog where two other ships were moored and perched precariously on the intact portions of the dome sat a crows nest, a solitary watchman barely visible through the steam. A simple wooden bridge spanned the river to the shore Chen Haoran was on and he could spy the shadowy silhouette of another bridge mirroring it on the other side. There was the sound of barked commands and the dull thumps of what Chen Haoran assumed was crew moving cargo. The steam and distance made any attempt to scout by sight pointless.

Chen Haoran sighed and retreated from the river till the island was completely out of sight. He hunkered down in a low-lying pool shielded from sight by an overhang of rock with just enough space for him to sit cross-legged under. After casually snapping the neck of the salamander that lived within the pool he fed its core to Phelps and took out the last of his dry tack to crunch on while he considered his options.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have many. In front of him was an organized, well-supplied, fortified, and most definitely armed group of unknown number and strength. In video games, those were his favorite odds. In reality, he was screwed. Sneaking into the camp was a no-go. A wasteful effort that would only end the same way waltzing in through the front would, fighting for his life. If there was any sort of Liquid Meridian in the camp he would be even more screwed. Even if they were only one-tenth of Song Yuelin’s skill it would be one hundred percent fatal for him.

He could ignore the fortress and follow the river upstream. Take a chance that the river itself was the connection to the outside world, or that he would find an exit near it. Doubtless, he’d find another outpost guarding the entrance but being so close to the exit would at least mean he had a chance of escape. Chen Haoran drummed his fingers as he thought. Ignoring and moving on was his best option but he wasn’t satisfied with just blindly going forward based on assumptions. If this giant river was anything like the one he arrived through then he’d be looking at another dead end. There was also the chance that the way out was downstream based on the direction the ship was headed from. Hell, they could have lowered the boats from a hole in the ceiling for all he knew.

Chen Haoran sighed again. With Lan Fen’s sensing, she would have probably figured out the layout of the whole cavern by now. Now he had to go with Plan C.

Setting an ambush.

—————

It was an estimated few days later by his count when the opportunity to put his plan into action arrived. If the camp had bridges to the shore it meant that there was a need for them. Otherwise there was no point when boats would suffice. Chen Haoran’s theory was vindicated when a group crossed the bridge and traveled into the cavern. From the sound of it they were only a small group. Unfortunately, sound was all he had to go and track by. If there was one thing he was confident in it was the fact he was no ninja. His only saving grace in stealth was his habit of light steps to minimize noise, he was totally relying on the steam to obscure him otherwise. To eliminate any chance of being discovered he stayed far enough away that even his qi sense couldn’t reach on the off chance that he fell into someone else’s sensing range.

Chen Haoran strained his ears to the limit with qi so as to not lose what he assumed was a hunting group. He was beginning to regret not having Song Yuelin teach him his cultivator assassin stealth skills. Phelps, perhaps sensing the severity of the matter, was quiet and pressed flush against his back. It had been a risk to bring him along but if Chen Haoran left him somewhere and something went wrong he wasn’t confident he’d have the time to collect him.

He followed the group and listened to them hunt crickets, salamanders, and the stray sloth that dropped down from the cavern roof. After every fight they would stop and collect the cores before moving on. Chen Haoran could hear mumbled conversation and stifled laughs at some unheard joke. When he had judged that they were far enough away from the camp that he wouldn’t immediately have a Liquid Meridian breathing down his neck the hunting group picked a fight with three strong salamanders.

Chen Haoran set Phelps on the ground and crept forward, unsheathing his scimitars. Slowly, carefully, he inched his sense forward till he had he whole party of five within his range and stopped. All of them Qi realms, one Ninth-layer, one Eighth, and three Seventh-Layers. A strong group all things considered. The higher Layers fought a salamander each while the Seventh-Layers surrounded the remaining one. The salamanders were no match in the end. The moment the higher Layers finished off their opponents Chen Haoran struck.

Canyon Carving Sword

He burst through the steam, his sword a torrent of blue energy.

Five heads of white hair and five pairs of golden eyes whipped around to face him.

The Lan family cultivators looked just as shocked as he felt.

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No funny Young Master title right now. Currently running on no hours of sleep, two energy drinks and a dream. Enjoy the chapter!