NOVEL NEXT Chapter 38: The World Beyond the Town
Chapter 38: The World Beyond the Town
“Elder sister, I miss you so much. Why don’t you visit me anymore?”
Just as Xu Lian was about to fall asleep, a ghostly murmur floated up from the backyard garden.
He tried to ignore it. After all, the demon trapped in the old well was sealed and couldn’t escape.
But the voice persisted, a ceaseless lamentation that grated on his nerves. He couldn’t take it anymore and reluctantly climbed out of bed. Moving silently, he opened the door, slipped into the backyard and approached the old well in the dark. Pinching his voice into a higher pitch, he called out, “Little sister, elder sister is here.”
The voice in the well broke into sobs, trembling with emotion. “Sister, I have missed you so much. Please come down and keep me company!”
“Elder sister,” Xu Lian had no intention of going down there. “Sister, let’s make a deal. Don’t call me so often. Otherwise, I won’t visit you anymore. If you behave, I promise to visit you every few days. How does that sound?”
The old well fell silent.
After a moment, a pitiful voice echoed up. “Okay… But you must come often, sister. If you don’t, I’ll go crazy.”
You are already mad. How can you not know that? Xu Lian thought to himself, biting back a snarky remark. Out loud, he reassured, “Alright, alright. I promise to visit you often.”
Just as Xu Lian turned to leave, he suddenly had an idea. He paused and asked, “By the way, sister, do you know how to hide one’s strength?”
He wasn’t keen on revealing his breakthrough to the bone refining stage to the quarry patrol inspector just yet. However, if the inspector came to the mine, they’d surely sense his advancement.
Hiding such a breakthrough would breed mistrust if discovered, so he needed a way to conceal it.
The voice in the well sounded puzzled. “Hide strength? That’s easy. If your strength is far greater than someone else’s, their senses won’t work on you.”
Then it broke into another round of sobbing. “Sister, you must be seriously injured if you’re asking this. You must be surrounded by powerful enemies, and your situation must be dire. I’m so sorry, sister. I wish I could help you, but I’m trapped here and powerless.”
“…” Xu Lian sighed. “What I meant was, how can you hide your strength when you’re much weaker than someone else?”
The voice became even more perplexed. “Sister, how could you be weaker than anyone? Who could be so much stronger? That’s impossible.”
Xu Lian felt the urge to throw a shoe into the well. For someone who was supposed to be insane, this creature was strangely sharp at times.
Clearing his throat, Xu Lian improvised, “If I were in peak condition, of course no one would surpass me. But as you know, I’m injured now. That’s why I have to hide my strength and keep a low profile.”
The voice replied, “Doesn’t sister have many secret techniques and treasures? Hiding your strength shouldn’t be difficult for you.”
Xu Lian sighed again. “My memory is damaged, as you know. I’ve forgotten many techniques and most of my treasures are lost. Can you teach me one or two methods?”
The voice sounded apologetic. “Sister, I don’t know any. I’m so sorry.”
Xu Lian resisted the urge to curse. How can a demon like you function without knowing anything useful? It seemed clear that he couldn’t expect to learn any techniques from it.
Of course, there was another possibility – this demon was pretending to be mad, either to harm him or to manipulate him into breaking its seal.
“I’m leaving now, sister. Be good and don’t make a fuss. I’ll visit you often.”
With those parting words, Xu Lian left the garden and returned to his room.
For the rest of the night, the garden remained quiet. The mad creature in the well didn’t make a sound.
The next morning, Li Xiya got up early and prepared breakfast for Xu Lian.
After finishing his meal, Xu Lian mounted his horse and rode to the mine.
After a quick inspection and review of the accounts, he left and headed to Han Du’s mine, hoping to inquire about stone marrow.
At Han Du’s mine, Xu Lian sat down to drink tea and chat.
Xu Lian began to subtly probe the stone marrow.
“Stone marrow?”
Han Du’s expression turned peculiar as he eyed Xu Lian. “Brother Xu, why are you asking about this?”
Xu Lian replied, “To be honest, I’ve practiced martial arts before. I have heard that consuming stone marrow can strengthen one’s body and might even help one break through to become a true warrior.”
Han Du pondered for a moment before saying, “Stone marrow, like earth flesh, is a spiritual resource for cultivators. It’s something you can’t buy even if you have money. I don’t know all of its uses, but I do know where you can find it.”
Xu Lian’s eyes narrowed. “Brother Han, I’d appreciate it if you could tell me.”
Han Du hesitated, opening his mouth as if to speak, and then shook his head. “Even if I told you, it wouldn’t help. You couldn’t get it unless the quarry patrol inspector was willing to assist.”
Xu Lian replied, “Brother Han, just tell me. Whether I can obtain it or not is my concern.”
Han Du stood up and closed the door and then the windows.
Watching his cautious demeanor, Xu Lian felt a sinking feeling. Obviously, obtaining the stone marrow would not be easy.
Lowering his voice, Han Du whispered, “Brother Xu, have you ever wondered what the world outside of Green Bamboo Town is like?”
Xu Lian was stunned for a moment. The world outside of Green Bamboo Town?
He’d never considered it.
No one ever talked about the outside world. In Green Bamboo Town, life revolved around two things: working for food and giving blood to appease the Night Patrol. With survival so difficult, who had the energy to think about venturing outside?
Besides, the Night Patrol was like an insurmountable barrier. Traveling even halfway out of town, you’d risk nightfall and a fatal encounter with them. Leaving Green Bamboo Town’s borders seemed utterly impossible.
What kind of world lay outside?
Xu Lian asked doubtfully, “What’s so different about the world outside the city?”
Han Du leaned in closer, lowering his voice even further. “I don’t know about faraway places, but when I was younger, I once visited the neighboring Stone Town. It’s completely different. There is no night patrol there…”
Xu Lian’s eyes widened in shock. “No Night Patrol? If the people here found out, they’d flee to that place in droves!”
Han Du shook his head. “I’m not done yet. There may be no Night Patrol in Stone Town, but they have their own horrors. Every household must worship a black box. Every evening, they light incense and offer prayers to it. After each ritual, their bodies weaken. But if they fail to perform the ritual, the black box goes berserk and drains their entire family.”
Xu Lian took a deep breath. This world was completely twisted. “What’s inside the black box?”
Han Du shrugged. “No one knows. Just like no one knows what the Night Patrol really looks like. Who would dare to open the black box to check it out?”
Xu Lian nodded in agreement. That made sense. He couldn’t help but sigh. “Life for ordinary people is just too cruel.”
Han Du continued, “The stone marrow you’re asking about is a spiritual resource indigenous to Stone Town. Like our mines here, they also have many mines, but their mines produce stone marrow.”
Xu Lian furrowed his brow. It seemed that obtaining Stone Marrow would be even harder than he had anticipated.
Then he recalled something that Han Du had said earlier. “Brother Han, why did you say that the Quarry Patrol Inspector could help us get it?”
Han Du replied, “The Quarry Patrol Inspector oversees all the mines in Green Bamboo Town. There’s no way he doesn’t know the Quarry Patrol Inspector of Stone Town. If he wanted to get stone marrow, it shouldn’t be a problem at all.”