Sun Hai is actually a little Taoist priest? And the villagers want to send this little Taoist priest as a sacrifice to General Ju Yuan? Everyone found it unbelievable to hear, even Black Scorpion felt helpless.
Hu Nan: “We asked about Sun Hai in the village and the people said that Sun Hai has already gone to become a Taoist priest at Lao Ye Temple. But when we asked why they are sacrificing a Taoist priest, they kept silent.”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
Hu Nan looked even more speechless, “Sun Hai is a fool.”
Therefore, the key NPC should be the other 4 people. Immediately, the girl of the pair of mother and daughter appeared in Lou Fan’s mind. She should be one of the sacrifices.
Someone lightly snickered beside Lou Fan. Wen Lang had a playful expression on his face as he stared at the little Taoist priest intently. Lou Fan tapped Wen Lang and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Wen Lang turned his head away, his tone full of schadenfreude, “The little Taoist is a fool so Black Scorpion is going to be finished this time.”
Lou Fan doesn’t like Black Scorpion very much, and he can’t bear the idea of someone coveting Qin Tan. Now that the key NPC is a fool, they can’t ask anything. Let’s see what the Black Scorpion will do.
Zhang Xue looked around the front hall, only to feel that this Lao Ye Temple is a little different from the general Taoist temples. As for what is the difference, she couldn’t tell.
Qin Tan and Hu Nan are still continuing with the small talk. Qin Tan said, “Our mission is not difficult, and we have plenty of time. On the other hand, Leader Hu, your mission is a bit dangerous. Besides, our Level 1 team can’t help you much. I’m afraid that when the time comes, we will do something wrong and it won’t be helpful for you.”
The type to hold a grudge, huh? Hu Nan turned to look at Xiao Qian with disgust. An incompetent fool who only knows to mess things up. Hu Nan then turned back to Qin Tan with a warm expression, “Alright, you should do your task first. If you need help, just say it and we will definitely help. Everyone just wants to survive. We have the same goal, so our interest is not conflicting.”
Qin Tan solemnly said, “Then, I shall give my thanks in advanced to Leader Hu.” Turning his head and seeing his team members walking around, Qin Tan added, “We want to find out if there is any information here regarding our task so we’ll take our leave now.”
Hu Nan nodded, “Sure, but Leader Qin, this little Taoist priest is the only person in this temple.”
Qin Tan uttered a sound of acknowledgment and took his 4 members to the main hall at the back.
Hu Nan’s team members pushed the little Taoist priest away, and the little Taoist priest fell to the ground. Wordlessly standing up, the little guy patted the dirt off his body and left quietly.
Seeing that they are far away from the front hall, Wen Lang snorted, “(spit) What are they? They want us to cooperate but they don’t know how bad their working style is.”
Zhang Xue frowned and muttered, “A group of disgusting people.” There’s a man in the Black Scorpion team who kept staring at her. His gaze was sticky and disgusting, which made her feel sick.
Chen Shuyang: “It feels like they want us to die as their scapegoat…”
Hearing that, Lou Fan glanced at Chen Shuyang, feeling amused. Even Chen Shuyang can feel that the Black Scorpion has an unkind intention towards them. The question is why do the people of the Black Scorpion team feel confident that they would cooperate with them?
“Their purpose must not be simple. It’s either to let us die or to become their scapegoat.” Lou Fan concluded. “Anyway, we don’t need their help, and we don’t want to help them either.”
Seeing the angry Lou Fan, Qin Tan said with a smile, “Don’t worry, they won’t dare to use force if we don’t cooperate. If they dare to try, I can handle 4 of them, and you guys can handle the remaining one.”
Lou Fan laughed unkindly when he heard it. Chen Shuyang and Wen Lang gave thumbs-up, and even Zhang Xue smiled, her expressions softened. They have no doubt about Qin Tan’s ability, and they do what he says.
…
Hu Nan stared at Xiao Qian with an ugly expression. Xiao Qian turned pale and couldn’t help shrinking back. “They, they don’t even agree to our request for cooperation. They really don’t know what is good or bad for them!”
Hu Nan glared at Xiao Qian like a poisonous snake, “I think you are the one who doesn’t know what is good or bad. Can’t you see that Leader Qin is not easy to provoke at a glance? Their spirit weapon is a Tang sword and a bow, you think they would be easy to be schemed against? They are not stupid. Usually, a newcomer team, even a Level 5 team, will want to cooperate with us without hesitation. But for them to reject us, it is enough to show that they are confident that they can complete the task on their own.” Hu Nan warned Xiao Qian again, “Keep your scheming thoughts away. Otherwise, if something happens, no one will save you. And I will be the first one to take action on you.”
Xiao Qian’s face turned pale. She glanced at her teammate who is looking at her strangely and doesn’t dare to speak anymore.
…
Lao Ye Temple occupies a large area on the mountain. The main temple is 9 meters high. The team walked to the main hall, where the statue of General Ju Yuan is enshrined. They wandered around and back to the main hall; no one else can be seen at all.
“No way. In such a big temple, there’s really only the little Taoist priest here?” Wen Lang cried out and lifted the heavy curtains everywhere. A thick layer of dust on the curtain is shaken off and fell on Wen Lang’s face, “(spit) Pei, pei.”
Lou Fan: “It seems that Black Scorpion did not lie to us this time.”
“Come here and take a look, this mural…” Zhang Xue stood in front of a wall and pointed to the mural above.
Chen Shuyang, who was studying General Ju Yuan quickly walked over, frowning and studying the mural carefully. After staring at it for a long time, he lifted his glasses and said confidently, “Come come come, I’ll explain this mural to you.”
Wen Lang looked in disbelief, “You even know about this too?”
Chen Shuyang smiled shyly and put his glasses down again. He explained, “I did a little research. During our 3rd year, our major course’s professor took us to see the murals in Dunhuang city. At that time, we studied murals the entire period, so I can still provide a basic explanation now.”
Chen Shuyang is the only person who ever study about this and Lou Fan knows nothing anyway, so he stood obediently, ready to listen.
“The first painting is a huge wooden boat with gorgeous patterns painted on the hull. The whole boat looked very gorgeous. It is sailing in the billowing waves, and the masts of the boat are hung with huge sails. The sails looked bulging by the wind means that the ship is advancing at full speed.” Chen Shuyang continued, “According to my inference, judging from the appearance of this ship, this might be the ‘Shenzhou’ we are looking for.”
Then, to the second painting. The position in the painting has obviously changed. The boat is at the entrance of the lake. A magnificent mountain temple stands on a mountain in the distance. It is exactly the same as the Lao Ye Temple where they are now. Obviously, the boat is going through the waters of Lao Ye Temple. At this moment, the ship has retracted its sails, and on both sides of the hull were countless long oars placed in the water, moving in unison. The ship is using human power to drive the ship forward.
“This is the waters of Lao Ye Temple. Something must have happened to this big ship.”
In the third painting, the overall color of the painting is dull. It is not difficult to see that it is showing the ship at night. Thunder and lightning flashed in the painting, and the huge boat shook in the middle of the lake. The boat rolls under the huge waves and is thrown high in the air. The whole ship has already tilted, and it seems that it will turn over in the next moment. On a low mountain in the distance, Lao Ye Temple emits a glowing light in the dark, as if it is guiding the direction.
There are only these 3 murals. The team walked forward but there’s nothing there.
Lou Fan looked dumbfounded and asked, “So, the ship should have sunk, right?”
Chen Shuyang shook his head, “I don’t know, maybe it sinks but not necessarily.”
Qin Tan: “If there’s anyone in the temple, we can ask and will understand. Let’s look around again.”
“You guys go ahead to search, and I will sort out the information here.” Lou Fan took out the little notebook he carried, writing and drawing on it with a pen.
When the rest of the team return with nothing, Lou Fan opened his notebook.
“You see, this mission is actually very clear. We are looking for Shenzhou. First, we need to find the location of the shipwreck. Tentatively, we assume Shenzhou is a shipwreck. Second, we need equipment to dive underwater. And third, if we meet the fish monsters underwater, what to do?” Lou Fan concluded, “Just these 3 points.”
Lou Fan sounded organized, but Wen Lang felt a headache coming, “The problem is none of these 3 points is simple, okay?!”
Lou Fan looked at Wen Lang, “Do you think 10 days are given to us for nothing? If it is simple to do, the mission world won’t give you that long time.”
Wen Lang is stunned after hearing that. Although he couldn’t bear it to say, he still had to say, “According to my reliable information, the further you go, the shorter the mission time limit. If the time is very short, then you have to be very careful.”
Lou Fan didn’t believe Wen Lang, “Your information is reliable?”
Choked by Lou Fan’s suspicion, Wen Lang puffed his chest and said, “Of course it’s reliable.”
“Okay. In short, there are these 3 points that we need to pay attention to. Everyone should remember them well. Once there are any clues, you have to tell us.” Lou Fan smiled and decided to boost the team’s morale. “For the second point, we have a small guess, but we still have to try it first. Let’s solve the first point first. As for the fish monster… we’ll talk about it later.”
Except for Qin Tan and Lou Fan, the rest of the team doesn’t know about the little pearl. Lou Fan is not going to say it right now as it’s just a guess and they still don’t know how to use it. Would they get happy for nothing if the pearl didn’t work?
Qin Tan pulled everyone’s attention back and said, “There is no one else in this temple, so everyone should look around again carefully. Since there are murals here, maybe there are other records left somewhere. Perhaps this ship is Shenzhou.”
Everyone nodded. There is only this clue at present. The team of 5 people split up. Lao Ye Temple occupies a large area, and it is not easy to check all areas carefully.
Lou Fan turned around many twists and turns and didn’t know where he went. The area looked secluded, a bit like a wing room. Suddenly there is a sound from a room on the side. Surprised, Lou Fan grabbed a stick on the side of the wall and walked over slowly. His movement is light and he made no sound. The door of the room is open. Lou Fan held the stick in his hand nervously and slowly stretched out his head to look inside.
The room is actually a kitchen. It’s terribly old, with spider webs everywhere on the roof, and the stove looked like it hasn’t been used for a long time. The sound came from the innermost corner, like the sound of someone eating. Walking in, the figure in the corner gradually appeared in his sight. Lou Fan felt relieved after seeing the person clearly. The little Taoist priest is eating a piece of pastry in his hand but the pastry looked very hard. Judging from the way he chewed, it is not much worse than biting on a stone.
Lou Fan walked to the little guy and squatted down, putting away the stick in his hand. The little Taoist priest actually looked very thin. He is about 13 or 14 years old. The little guy is not afraid to see Lou Fan approaching him. He simply looked at Lou Fan ignorantly with his excessively large eyes.
Lou Fan gave a friendly smile, “Is your name Sun Hai? Can you give me some of your pastry?”
The little Taoist priest looked at the pastry in his hand, and then at Lou Fan. He tried to break a chunk out with his hand but found that the pastry remained intact. He hesitated and handed the whole pastry to Lou Fan.
“You’re giving it all to me?” Lou Fan asked, “Do you have any more for yourself?”
The little Taoist shook his head.
Raw word count: 3069
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