Chapter 151: Thorn Thickets

Inside the Portable Dwelling, my wife was exhaling steam evenly and deeply; she was still asleep.

Li Banfeng lay on the bed, meticulously counting the holes on his body.

A Dwelling Cultivator's recovery ability was formidable, but the wireworms' burrowing skill was equally so. Even after resting for a day, Li Banfeng had not fully recovered.

But he had to go out today.

This was not only the nature of a Traveler Cultivator but also his fear of unfamiliar environments.

It sounded a bit contradictory; shouldn't a traveler brave unfamiliar environments?

That depended on the degree of unfamiliarity.

When Li Banfeng first got off the train, he at least knew the place he was in was called Yaowanggou.

Now, he had no idea where he was; earlier, he had only seen a desolate plain.

He was uneasy about leaving the key in such a place for too long.

Li Banfeng ate something, put on his top hat, and left the Portable Dwelling.

The key was still on the desolate plain, about twenty meters from the continuously flowing "Wireworm River."

This desolate plain was very flat, with no mountains, no trees, no grass, and not even a single stone visible.

In an environment with almost no landmarks, it was easy to get lost.

But Li Banfeng knew how to get back.

Walking upstream along the river, at his speed, he would soon return to a familiar place.

Having barely walked for two days, Li Banfeng felt his joints were stiff. After running for nearly three miles, he was heavily panting and profusely sweating.

Li Banfeng leaned on his knees and panted for a long time.

This wasn't right!

No matter how bad his condition was, a second-level Traveler Cultivator shouldn't be unable to run even three miles.

Furthermore, his cultivation wasn't merely at the second level anymore. During this new land exploration, Li Banfeng had successively encountered Feng Daiku and the wireworms. His cultivation had grown significantly for over half a year, and he was very close to the third level. Yet, running even three miles was this difficult; this simply didn't make sense.

Li Banfeng opened his water bottle and took a big gulp. Looking at the "continuously flowing" Wireworm River, he walked slowly along the riverbank.

After walking another two miles, Li Banfeng stopped.

He couldn't walk anymore; his legs felt like they were dragging thousand-pound shackles, incredibly heavy.

And he didn't know which way to go.

He had thought it through clearly before: walking upstream along the "Wireworm River" would lead him back to his original spot.

But he hadn't expected that the Wireworm River had tributaries.

Ahead were three tributaries, converging to form the Wireworm River before him.

Which tributary should Li Banfeng follow upstream?

Judge by the width of the tributaries?

All three tributaries looked roughly the same.

The thing Li Banfeng feared most had happened: he was lost in the new land.

In this situation, Li Banfeng had heard Ma Wu say that everyone who had gotten lost in the new land and survived offered only one piece of advice: leave it to fate.

In the new land, many common assumptions did not apply. Determining direction relied entirely on memory and intuition. If intuition was accurate, one could find their way out; if not, no one knew what would happen, because those with inaccurate intuition had all died.

What should he do about the current situation?

Li Banfeng calmed down and thought about a countermeasure.

Li Banfeng did not trust intuition.

He decided to walk upstream along the first tributary to the left. He had been unconscious in the Portable Dwelling for a total of twenty hours, and the key to the Portable Dwelling had traveled with the wireworms for twenty hours.

Li Banfeng believed he was faster than the wireworms. If he walked back for twenty hours and found himself back in a familiar place, that would prove he had chosen the right path.

If he didn't choose correctly, he would turn back and try again; a round trip would only take forty hours.

It might even take fifty.

His current condition was a bit off, and he might not actually be faster than the bugs.

With three rivers, even if he chose the wrong two, it would take at most one hundred hours. The last remaining river would definitely be the correct direction.

Given the current situation, assuming the worst, it would only take a little over 120 hours of walking. Walking sixteen hours a day, he could get out in eight days.

The Portable Dwelling had enough food, though water was a bit scarce. If he really couldn't walk anymore, he would then ask the phonograph for help.

It wasn't that he didn't trust the phonograph, but because she had been sleeping, and he didn't know when she would wake up. She had consumed special ingredients, and forcing her awake could have unknown consequences. What if the water ran out before she woke up? Then it would be too late.

Moreover, the phonograph was inside the Portable Dwelling, completely unaware of the outside environment, so she wouldn't be able to come up with many solutions.

Even if his wife could genuinely think of a solution, discussing routes would easily reveal something: Li Banfeng had an unusual speed. If his wife planned a five-hundred-mile route and Li Banfeng completed it in three hours, that would be problematic. His wife would deduce that Li Banfeng was a Traveler Cultivator.

Of course, he could tell his wife that he had been on the road the whole time, but she wasn't so easily fooled. Any slight flaw could put Li Banfeng's life in danger.

But if it came to a last resort, for example, if several more tributaries appeared ahead, then Li Banfeng would have no choice but to ask his wife for help, even considering moving the phonograph outside.

Of course, his wife might not be willing to come out, and they would have to discuss it thoroughly when the time came.

Li Banfeng began walking along the first tributary to the left. He gritted his teeth and walked for over ten miles, but then his legs couldn't lift anymore.

He checked his pocket watch; it had taken him three hours to cover those ten-plus miles!

It seemed his physical condition was indeed poor.

Li Banfeng sat by the roadside and rested for a moment.

Interestingly enough, as long as he wasn't walking, his stamina recovered very quickly.

This must be the effect of being a Dwelling Cultivator; he should recover even faster inside his dwelling.

Li Banfeng returned to the Portable Dwelling; his wife was still in a deep sleep.

Li Banfeng slept for over half an hour, gathered his strength, and continued walking. After another ten-plus miles, his stamina ran out again.

When he ran out of energy, he would return to the Portable Dwelling to rest for a while, eat something, and then continue.

Repeating this cycle, he covered dozens of miles until a stretch of thorns blocked his path.

The thorns grew densely on both banks. Li Banfeng now had two choices: one was to push through the thorny bushes, the other was to enter the Wireworm River again and rush forward along the river surface.

He absolutely refused to enter the Wireworm River again.

But this thorny bush seemed difficult to navigate as well.

Each thorn seemed to have been growing there for countless years. Its upper half was green, while its lower half was charred black, looking like charcoal.

Li Banfeng touched the sharp thorns, broke one off, remarking that it could serve as a phonograph needle for his wife.

Li Banfeng didn't have skin of copper and bones of iron. How could he possibly travel this path?

Left with no choice, he took out his Tang Saber.

The Tang Saber looked at the thorns before them and said, astonished, "My Lord, are you asking me to clear a path? A scythe would be more suitable for this."

"How big is a scythe?" A scythe merely a dozen centimeters long would clearly not be a good tool for clearing a path through thorns of this scale.

"My Lord, I can only strike three times. Whatever happens after that will be up to fate."

As the Tang Saber finished speaking and was about to strike, Li Banfeng shouted, "Wait! Let me think about which direction to cut first."

What other direction was there to cut?

Wouldn't cutting upstream along the river be the right choice?

Li Banfeng felt something was wrong. Looking directly upstream, goosebumps appeared all over his body.

There was danger here, but Li Banfeng didn't yet know what kind of danger it was.

After sensing for a long time with his "Averting Misfortune and Seeking Fortune" technique, Li Banfeng chose a spot slightly to the left and told the Tang Saber to strike with full force.

A large swathe of thorns fell, but behind them were still more thorns.

The path cleared was only about two meters deep, which disappointed Li Banfeng.

There seemed to be no danger here, but this direction brought no surprises either.

Li Banfeng continued to use his "Averting Misfortune and Seeking Fortune" technique to sense, and the most favorable direction was still slightly to the left.

What was special about this spot?

Li Banfeng then told the Tang Saber to strike again.

This time, it cut over three meters deep, and the thorns seemed to have softened slightly.

He tried sensing with the "Averting Misfortune and Seeking Fortune" technique again, and it was still this direction.

Li Banfeng decisively ordered the third strike. This time, Li Banfeng saw a path.

Not a path he had cleared himself, but an existing path within the thorny bush, extending both left and right.

Li Banfeng stepped into the thorny bush and looked around.

This path was not wide, wide enough for two or three people to walk abreast. Thorns lined both sides, but they did not grow onto the path itself, growing densely like a hedge on either side of the road.

This path should lead through the thorny bush. But which way should he go?

Left or right?

Li Banfeng took out his Silk Earring and instructed it, "You've had your fill of the good stuff. Now you need to work hard."

Could the Silk Earring discern direction?

No.

But it could detect changes in sound.

Only two sounds could be heard in the thorny bush: the howling wind and the "wriggling" sound of the Wireworm River nearby.

Li Banfeng walked right along the path. This path was closer to the Wireworm River, so after exiting the thorny bush, he should still be by the riverbank.

After walking right for a short while, the path turned left.

After the turn, a fork appeared ahead. Li Banfeng continued to choose the direction closer to the Wireworm River.

He walked through the thorny bush for five hours, encountering over a dozen forks in the road. Li Banfeng's only criterion for choosing a path was that it had to be close to the Wireworm River.

This journey was extremely tiring. For every mile he walked, Li Banfeng felt as though he had been running all day.

After walking over three miles, Li Banfeng sat by the roadside to rest for a moment.

Through the Silk Earring, he could still hear the wriggling sound of the river, proving he hadn't gone the wrong way.

He carefully observed the thorns on both sides. He didn't understand why these thorns didn't grow onto the path.

Were they controlled by some force, or did someone prune them regularly?

How could anyone prune them?

Li Banfeng chuckled at his own thought and was about to continue his journey when he suddenly heard another sound from the Silk Earring.

A gust of wind reached him.

The pitch was high, and the sound was loud, indicating a strong and sudden wind.

Li Banfeng sniffed and caught a faint scent in the air.

It was the smell of smoke.

It was very faint, but Li Banfeng's "Myriad Tastes Perception" technique identified it.

The smell of smoke was approaching, and so was the strong wind.

This was bad! It might be a fire.

Li Banfeng took out the key, opened the Portable Dwelling, threw the key into the thorny bush, and immediately closed the door.

Over half an hour later, Li Banfeng cautiously opened the door.

There was no danger outside, so he quickly stepped out and picked up the key.

The path was empty, with only some residual ashes.

Charred smoke rose from the roots of the thorns on both sides, and some spots still had sparks.

The key was a bit hot; it had also been scorched by the fire.

The thorny bush caught fire?

And now the fire was out?

This thorny bush was very dangerous!

Li Banfeng ignored his fatigue and ran wildly along the path.

Over seven hours later, Li Banfeng smelled smoke again and quickly returned to the Portable Dwelling to hide.

This time, he was a little slow entering. At the bend in the road's end, he saw a human head, about three meters in diameter, with no hair but complete facial features. Its eyes were open, its pupils shifting back and forth, and flames spewed from its mouth as it slowly moved along the path.

How was it moving?

Why would a legless head be walking?

It looked like it had feet beneath its neck.

Li Banfeng dared not observe further. All living things that appeared on the path—including worms on the ground, flying insects in the air, and thorns that occasionally crossed the boundary—were burned to ashes by the flames spewing from the head.

Indeed, someone was pruning these thorns. This head constantly patrolled back and forth on all the paths without stopping.

Li Banfeng quickly threw the key into the thorny bush. At the same time, the head opened its eyes and looked at Li Banfeng.

It had been a long time since it saw a living person. The head seemed very interested in Li Banfeng.

After being looked at by the head, Li Banfeng felt his entire body was about to catch fire.

It was literally catching fire; smoke began to rise from his body.

Daring not to stay for another moment, he immediately closed the door and returned to the Portable Dwelling.