Chapter 270 - 124: Don’t Tell Me People Actually Think There’s Only 1 Divine Cocoon?

Chapter 270: Chapter 124: Don’t Tell Me People Actually Think There’s Only 1 Divine Cocoon?

The river’s current was swift, but not alarmingly so. The Boatman, however, seemed perfectly at ease, singing a mountain folk song as he steered the vessel.

Along the way, Zhao Ci listened as Chen Hui explained a fair bit about the Hanling Waterway.

Lingge was bordered by water on two sides. On one was the Grand Canal, which had been in operation for many years; on the other was the Hanling Waterway.

The former was well-maintained and managed by the Government Office, making it relatively safe. Although the tolls were quite high, larger merchant companies shipping goods would always choose the Grand Canal.

However, those who couldn’t afford the tolls would risk traveling the Hanling Waterway. The Cao Bang would still extort protection money from them under various pretenses, but it was still significantly less than the official tolls.

The Hanling Waterway had a high accident rate, but merchant ships that paid protection money to the Cao Bang rarely ran into trouble.

The accidents mostly happened to private boats. Their owners didn’t have much money and frequently clashed with the Cao Bang.

Every now and then, a boat would capsize.

People would die, but never too many.

For years, these incidents were handled privately. The Government Office suspected a Water Demon was to blame and tried to hire the Cao Bang’s expert swimmers to help capture it, but their joint operations were always poorly coordinated.

Eventually, the matter was dropped.

This time, however, the missing were a boatload of Child Scholars on their way to take the prefectural examinations. Even though they hadn’t yet earned the rank of Scholar, they were considered future Emperor’s Disciples.

The Hanling County Government Office couldn’t shoulder this responsibility, and they were powerless against the hardened thugs of the Cao Bang. Thus, they could only pass the mission to the Imperial Clan Court. Even if these scions of great clans didn’t have high cultivation, the methods at their disposal were beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

"Hah!"

Chen Hui sighed. "I hear that aside from the government-run canals, all the other waterways are pretty much the same. Just an endless stream of shitty, messed-up business."

Hearing this, Feng Kucha turned his head away and went back to fondling the Crocodile Lady’s waist, pretending he hadn’t heard a word Chen Hui said.

Zhao Ci: "..."

The current was swift. After a little more than two hours, Chen Hui announced they were almost there.

The moon and stars were bright in the mountains, providing surprisingly good visibility.

From a great distance, Zhao Ci could already see the wreckage of numerous boats strewn across a slope on the mountainside ahead.

The waterway snaked through the mountains, and ahead, the terrain caused the channel to abruptly narrow to half its width.

He clicked his tongue. "The current accelerates here, plus there’s a bend. No wonder there are so many accidents."

"But the boatmen who come through here are all experts," Chen Hui added, but he opened his mouth and then seemed to think better of it, swallowing his words.

The current and the approaching bend made the Boatman’s expression turn serious. He didn’t dare stop at the narrowest point, so he steered toward the bank ahead of time, precariously anchoring the boat to a thick tree trunk that jutted out from the cliff face.

He said apologetically, "Your Highness! There’s no way to moor over there. If you want to get across, you’ll have to use these grappling hooks."

"Mm."

Zhao Ci didn’t press him. The terrain was, frankly, a pain in the ass. Sailing through might not be difficult, but mooring in that boat graveyard was a pipe dream.

Getting across with grappling hooks wouldn’t be easy either. The only anchor points were the trees on the cliff face, meaning one would have to swing across with their feet dangling the entire way. It would require incredible arm strength. As for bringing rescued people back, that was even more of a fantasy.

Chen Hui’s expression grew solemn. "Your Highness! I will lead you across."

"Alright!"

Using the grappling hooks, the group swung toward the crash site like a troop of gibbons.

It was an arduous process; grappling hooks weren’t exactly easy to handle.

But one way or another, they all landed safely.

Feng Kucha, however, simply rode the Crocodile Lady, who swam over at a leisurely pace.

Though he was soaked through, he looked perfectly comfortable—there was even a certain provocative flair to the scene.

Only after arriving did Zhao Ci realize just how goddamn awful the place was.

It looked like an open patch of ground, but it was actually incredibly cramped, with room for twenty people at most.

If you could just stand here, you could conceivably wait for rescue.

But most people who ended up here had fallen into the river. The temperature in the mountain gorge was low, and the biting wind would quickly lead to hypothermia. On top of that, it was nearly impossible to keep any dry rations, and the dense trees blocked any line of sight for signaling for help. Waiting for rescue here was little different from waiting to die.

The only path to survival was a nearby fissure in the rock. By climbing twenty or thirty feet up, one could reach the top of the mountain and try to find food and a sliver of hope on the mountain trails.

However, this was untamed wilderness, full of poisonous insects and toxic miasma. The terrain was so complex that even Junior Officials and local mountain folk dared not wander it recklessly. Very few who entered could ever find their way out.

Seeing that the group had more or less finished their inspection, Chen Hui said, "Your Highness, should we return to the boat? We can wait for the men from the Government Office and the Cao Bang to arrive tomorrow, then we can discuss a strategy."

"That won’t be necessary."

This time, it was Yang Mo who spoke first. "We came here to find them in the mountains. Waiting for others is pointless. Every hour we save gives them a better chance of survival. Da Yong, let’s move out!"

Zhang Da Yong: "..."

’He was completely baffled.’

’Zhao Ci was a saint.’

’Yang Mo was also a saint.’

’And I have to find the Saint Monarch between two saints.’

’Aren’t they just making things difficult for me, Zhang Da Yong?’

’No, wait!’

’This is making things difficult for me, Mr. Huangfu!’