Chapter 1144: Invalid

The churning water curtain quickly passed. Behind the waterfall was a small space, only about six or seven square meters.

He Lingchuan took out a glowing spore and held it up to illuminate the area. Behind him was the waterfall's flow, and in front, a verdant stone wall! The stone wall was a single, largely smooth surface, with only one two-palm-wide groove. There were no signs of artificial carving. He Lingchuan strained his eyes, searching all around, and pressed on the groove for a long time, but found no hidden mechanisms.

But where was the bear? A White Bear King of that size couldn't just vanish after reaching this spot. The massive creature couldn't have disappeared into thin air, so the black wolf was right: behind the water curtain, there must be either a secret passage or a hidden cave. He Lingchuan searched for a long time but couldn't find any opening mechanism.

Above the groove, however, he found a bloody bear paw print. The White Bear King had indeed escaped through here. He Lingchuan pressed on the bloodstain several times, but the stone wall gave no response. He inverted the hilt of his Floating Life Blade and tapped the stone wall a few times. The echo was dull, indicating the large rock was solid. So, digging a hole wouldn't work either.

Was this place guarded by a Spirit of Metal? He Lingchuan pondered for a moment, then walked out from behind the waterfall.

Just as he stepped out of the pool, Hu Min and Menban jogged over with the Coiling Dragon Guard. Seeing He Lingchuan, they immediately asked, "Boss, are you alright?" The brothers on night watch had heard beast roars from this direction, and when He Lingchuan didn't return for a while, they came looking for him. When they reached the creek bank, they saw a shocking sight: the ground covered in wolf carcasses and blood. Menban initially thought He Lingchuan had killed them all, but examining the wounds suggested they were inflicted by wild beasts.

"I'm fine. I saw the White Bear King," He Lingchuan said concisely. "It entered the waterfall and vanished." Everyone was astonished and entered the waterfall to investigate. He Lingchuan counted for them. By the sixtieth count, they sheepishly emerged, all soaked.

"Didn't find anything."

"If even the boss couldn't find it, what good was it for us to knock around for so long?"

"There's no secret passage behind the stone wall, so it must be... a pocket dimension?" A'Luo pushed his wet hair off his forehead. "That's trouble. Not everyone can enter a pocket dimension."

"Otherwise, the Great White Bear wouldn't have fled here; it must have wanted to evade the Giant Deer Kingdom's pursuit."

Hearing this, He Lingchuan remembered the Dao Inquiring Tree on Mount Xuwu in Lingxu City. Its pocket dimension was hidden within a spring, requiring True Master Dongli's Dao token to open. Others could swim there a thousand times and still not reach the underground. The White Bear King's retreat into the pocket dimension behind the waterfall was a clear sign it was confident no one else could find it. He Lingchuan had nothing to bribe a Spirit of Metal with, so he could only give up.

Soon after, dawn broke. The Coiling Dragon squad, taking Old Liu with them, left the mountain. They passed by the location where the fireworks had been set off last night. The area looked as if it had been hit by a tornado: trees were broken, stones overturned, and mud was everywhere. The ground was covered with drag marks. Grass blades, stones, gravel, and tree trunks were stained with large patches of black, which was dried blood. Monster and human corpses were scattered everywhere, some twisted together in death, difficult to separate. Flocks of crows had been drawn by the smell of blood and couldn't be driven away.

There was more than one such battlefield. They passed through three battlefields, each similarly grim. At least a thousand humans were dead, and the monster corpses were countless. The Coiling Dragon squad members were seasoned veterans, having climbed out of piles of corpses countless times, but even they paused here, sighing with a touch of melancholy. The White Bear King's combat prowess was indeed formidable. To completely eradicate the monster threat, the Giant Deer Kingdom's ruler was willing to pay such a high price.

Before leaving White Fur Mountain, He Lingchuan caught sight of Wang Gesheng again, though only from afar on the opposite slope. Wang Gesheng saw him too and waved. After a night of bloody fighting, the young man was still intact, though his left arm was broken and splinted against his chest with branches. Even He Lingchuan thought he was incredibly lucky.

After leaving White Fur Mountain, the Coiling Dragon squad rode horses towards Giant Deer Harbor. On the way, they dropped off Old Liu, and He Lingchuan also made a trip to the Wang family's inn to inform Wang Wei that Wang Gesheng was safe and had achieved merit. Wang Wei was overjoyed and brought out much food and wine from the kitchen, offering them to He Lingchuan and his companions as provisions for their boat trip. This ordinary innkeeper would never have guessed that his son would one day found a sect and establish a centennial lineage.

Early the next morning, He Lingchuan and Dong Rui went to see Sect Master Li of the Carefree Sect. He Lingchuan's question was peculiar: "Is the password for the Lantern of Enlightenment known to anyone else?"

"This password has been passed down through generations in our sect," Sect Master Li explained. "To prevent its loss, the Sect Master and at least three elders know it, and it's recorded in a secret scroll."

He Lingchuan immediately asked, "And where is that secret scroll kept?"

"In my study," Sect Master Li replied. "There's a protective barrier there; I'd know immediately if any ordinary person approached it."

He Lingchuan nodded and then asked, "So, can past passwords and red ropes be used?" This was a tricky question. Sect Master Li paused for a moment before answering, "We've actually tested it. Red ropes used previously can be used, but previous passwords cannot."

"Meaning, a red rope used in the past, combined with the current password, can also summon the Enlightenment Grass?"

"Yes."

"Does the password change every time?"

Sect Master Li nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, it changes every thirty years. This is an ancestral instruction."

He Lingchuan pondered for a moment longer. "So, where are all the red ropes that have been used in the past kept? There should be four of them by now."

"They're also in my study, but there are only two."

Dong Rui casually asked, "Why only two?"

"It's been over a hundred years, and our sect has faced repeated upheavals. It's not easy for it to have survived to this day," Sect Master Li said with a wry smile. "For some reason, only one was passed down to me. I harvested the Lantern of Enlightenment thirty years ago and left another, so there are two in total."

That made sense. What kind of place was the Glimmering Gold Plain? How many powers surviving here could truly last forever? Change and impermanence were the norm.

This time, it was Sect Master Li's turn to ask, "Special Envoy He, are you suspecting that someone stole the Lantern of Enlightenment in advance?" That didn't make sense; the Lantern of Enlightenment was stolen only after the Shadowfang Guards had taken it from the mountain.

"No, nothing," He Lingchuan smiled. "I was just asking casually. Can we go for a walk on White Fur Mountain?"

"Of course, you can. I'll find you a guide." White Fur Mountain was a significant stronghold for the Carefree Sect, but if the Cloud Turning Emissary wanted to go, the forbidden area became a tourist attraction.

"No need," He Lingchuan waved his hand. "We'll just explore on our own."

Sect Master Li had no objections. He Lingchuan was about to turn and leave when he suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, Sect Master Li, have you ever heard of a White Bear King appearing on White Fur Mountain? It was incredibly powerful, ate countless people, and even the authorities couldn't deal with it."

"Oh, yes, that was over a hundred years ago."