Chapter 52: Pill

As they continued to watch the brush, doubt grew in everyone’s hearts.

Earlier, it was established that the pendant was more than four hundred kilometers away from Returnflow Mountain. Everyone could not help but guess that it might have been carried away by the streams of melting snow. However, looking at the scenery drawn by the brush, it did not look like a riverbank or shore.

It did not seem to have been washed away by the water.

Then, it couldn’t possibly be carried away by birds or snatched away by beasts, right? No, that thought was too absurd. The lost pendant was clearly made of wood and not a fruit, which bird or beast would eat it? Furthermore, in a radius of fifty kilometers from Returnflow Mountain, how could there possibly be a bird or beast? There was not even a single worm around here.

It was not washed away by water, nor was it taken away by birds or beasts. Then…

Was it carried away by someone?

Jiang Fan first thought of the fake Lin Yan who wanted to take Little Junior Brother hostage. However, Lin Yan was severely injured by Eldest Senior Brother, and she even left behind that piece of human skin. In that sort of situation, how could she still bring something away?

Other than her, no one else had gotten close to the compounds of the sect… Then, there should not have been anyone else who could not only bring the pendant away, but also bring it so far away.

After that incident, there were only two people who left Returnflow Mountain.
Master naturally would not take Little Junior Brother’s things and hide them away.

The other person who left was Junior Brother Chen. This was not a possibility either.

The things that Mo Chen could see from the picture were far more than Jiang Fan.

When the brush stopped and the picture was finally completed, Ning Yu was a little stunned. “This… What is this place?”

Before anyone else could spoke, he continued, “This tree looks like a cold cypress. There are iron pine trees, and these are valerian herbs… It seems like it’s up north?”

What he said was exactly the same as what Mo Chen surmised.

Even Jiang Fan could recognize that the tree looked like it belonged to the north. Returnflow Mountain leaned closer to the southwest, so the plants and trees in the picture did not grow here at all.

It was naturally impossible to determine its exact location from the picture alone, but some of the details could still be discerned.

“That’s right, it’s very likely in the north.” Mo Chen said, “It’s over Steepmold Mountain at the very least.”

Jiang Fan cried out in displeasure, “Then that’s at least five hundred kilometers away.”

It definitely wasn’t washed away by any water streams then. The terrain in the north was considerably high in altitude, and water could not travel upwards after all.

Just how did this pendant run to such a faraway place? Could it be that the pendant had really grown legs?

In the beginning, Jiang Fan did not treat this as a huge issue. Yes, it was the only memento left behind to Little Junior Brother by his parents and was something really important. However, for people other than Little Junior Brother, it should be something inexpensive and useless. It was not some sort of precious mystic treasure either, nor was it an incredible medicine and the like. From Master down to his disciples, everyone anxiously looked for it to provide Little Junior Brother some consolation, and prevent him from feeling guilty and depressed from losing his parents’ memento.

However, this matter had actually begun to grow unusual and strange.

Jiang Fan was almost about to ask Xiaodong again, was there really nothing unusual about the pendant? For example, could it teleport itself?

However, looking at Little Junior Brother’s perplexed expression, it was clear that Xiaodong did not know much more than Jiang Fan when it came to the pendant. Even now, he was still confused.

Ning Yu and Mo Chen stared at the picture. Their experiences and insights could not be compared to Xiaodong, and they were also able to discern more than he could.

“This terrain isn’t too low.”

“Look at the rocks. The rocks here seemed to have been corroded by the winds for a long time. I seemed to have seen such rocks somewhere…” Ning Yu tried to recall with all his might, but he could not think of anything at a moment’s notice.

“Since there’s a road, it means that it’s not on a barren mountain. There seems to be something with engravings at the side of the road? This looks like a stone halberd head? There’s another one on that side too. They should be a pair.”

Xiaodong did not have an opportunity to speak up. He stood next to Senior Brother Jiang and exchanged glances with him.

Why did he feel that Senior Brother Ning and Eldest Senior Brother were even more enthusiastic in finding his lost pendant than he was?

Xiaodong’s eyes swam between the two faces, once again confirming that he was not wrong.

Uh, this…

After that, Jiang Fan quietly exposed to Xiaodong that in the past, Eldest Senior Brother had a long phase where he was really passionate about following treasure maps and searching for treasures. A long time after that, he realized that the so-called treasure maps were just a bunch of rumors and that those treasures did not even exist. He then became enlightened and reflected on his past actions. However, Jiang Fan had a feeling that Eldest Senior Brother’s passion for seeking treasures hadn’t disappeared, and had simply been buried deep in his own heart.

The matter today had coincidentally ascertained Jiang Fan’s thoughts.

As for Ning Yu, Jiang Fan had nothing else to say. With Spiritual Master Hu, someone whose hobby was to look for cats and dogs, as a master, Ning Yu would definitely be influenced if he followed someone like that since childhood. With something as intriguing as this… it naturally went without saying how absorbed he would be in solving this.

Jiang Fan pondered to himself. There was a high possibility that Senior Brother Ning came to Returnflow Mountain because of his own interest, all to satisfy his craving of searching for lost items.

Even Xiaodong who was looking from the side, felt that… Eldest Senior Brother and Senior Brother Ning were seriously too concerned about his matter.

Xiaodong was moved, but also felt uneasy.

He just could not understand – how did his pendant land five hundred kilometers away? Was it brought away by someone? For what reason?

These questions continued to spiral in his heart.

In order to receive Senior Brother Ning who came from faraway, dinner was especially sumptuous. As the saying goes, live on the mountain, eat from the mountain. Returnflow Mountain was known for its various mountain delicacies. Xiaodong was a little dazed during the meal, to the point where he bared touched the steamed mixed vegetables that he usually liked.

Ning Yu’s body did not look that great. He had a pale complexion and his voice was not that loud either, exuding a sense of fatigue. He looked lethargic during dinner, and even Xiaodong could see that.

“Hurry and rest. Did you bring your medicine?”

“I can forget anything but that.” Ning Yu smiled self-mockingly. “I have to keep eating a lot of it after all. I once had a dream. I dreamt myself being buried by a mountain of medicine, and I could not crawl out from underneath no matter what I did… Then I woke up and saw another bunch of medicine that I had to eat next to my bed. If I have to say what I hate the most in the world, there’s nothing else other than that.”

Senior Brother Ning was really pitiful…

In the end, Jiang Fan said very impolitely, “If you have the guts, then don’t eat it.”

Ning Yu laughed. It seemed like he was not wallowing in self-pity in the least. He even pulled out a small medicine bottle from his sleeves and asked Xiaodong, “Little Junior Brother, do you want to try some?”

His action was so natural, it felt like he was not taking out medicine but snacks of some sort.

Xiaodong was stunned for a moment before replying, “N-No need.”

Senior Brother Ning pulled out something from his sleeves again!

This medicine bottle was so round, and it did not seem like something that could be tucked away into sleeves.

“Really? That’s a pity.” Ning Yu said, “The ones this time are refined with the taste of muskmelon. They’re really sweet you know.”

Xiaodong: …

Pills could also be refined with a muskmelon taste?

Seeing Xiaodong’s doubtful look, Ning Yu said, “Since I have no choice but to eat them, I might as well make them tastier and suffer less, right?”