Chapter 72: Contact
Two days later, Jiang Yue arrived at the Four-Turns medicine field.
Before the formation was broken, it was easy to locate the field because of the fog formed by the array.
However, after the formation was broken, the field looked like any other valley in the thousand herbs garden.
The only way Jiang Yue knew it was the Four-Turns medicine field was because of the landmarks indicated on the secret realm map.
"All the herbs are gone." He lamented when he saw the empty field.
"Was it Yu Nianzhen or someone else?"
Jiang Yue sighed and felt a little dejected.
He had been in the secret realm for so many days, but he hadn’t seen or been able to contact Yu Nianzhen.
Although he didn’t show it, he missed the other very much.
His heart wasn’t calm when they weren’t together.
"I want to hurry up and see him."
Jiang Yue removed a communication token from his robe sleeve.
Soon after, he injected a strand of qi and waited for a reaction.
However, there was no response from the token, and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
He allowed his mood to fall for a few breaths and then cheered himself up.
"I have to check for clues."
After that, Jiang Yue began to examine the ground.
He checked every stone, every weed, and every patch of land.
However, he couldn’t find any clues even after searching for an hour.
"Has Nianzhen been here or not?"
Jiang Yue did not give up.
He continued to search and eventually arrived at a thicket close to a creek.
At first, the thicket looked ordinary.
Short shrubs intersected to form small canopies, and insects buzzed amongst the leaves.
However, something about the thicket attracted Jiang Yue’s attention.
"If Nianzhen was here, he would choose a place like this to settle down."
After thinking this, he began to search the space within the thickets.
The spaces were formed of tangled branches, and searching wasn’t easy.
However, Jiang Yue was patient.
He searched space after space and eventually arrived at a space that was slightly larger than the rest.
When he looked carefully, he saw that the inside branches were broken or bent.
"Did he stay here?"
Jiang Yue felt his heart beat a little faster.
The thicket wasn’t in a hidden place, and he understood that other cultivators could have come through.
However, Jiang Yue was still hopeful.
He began to search the small space, but he lost hope as he continued the search.
He could tell that someone had stayed in the space, but there was no clue to indicate who it was.
Just as he was beginning to give up, he saw a lump of soil at one corner of the space.
At a glance, people would assume it was an anthill and wouldn’t give it any attention.
However, Jiang Yue was looking for such inconsistencies.
He quickly scooped out the dirt and uncovered a small hole.
Within the hole, a small round token was placed.
The token was made of a thin transparent film of jade, and Jiang Yue immediately recognised it.
"This proves he was here."
He chuckled and grabbed the token.
A moment later, he broke the token, and a voice sounded in the surrounding area.
’Are you okay?’ The voice asked.
The voice was Yu Nianzhen’s, and Jiang Yue rolled his eyes when he heard it.
Unlike the usual communication token, this round jade film was a one-way communication device.
It could record voice messages, but it couldn’t transmit them.
By breaking the jade, Jiang Yue could listen to Yu Nianzhen’s pre-recorded message, but he couldn’t send out an answer.
"What’s the use of asking? You can’t hear my answer." He said that, but a smile appeared on his face.
Yu Nianzhen knew how the token worked, but he had still asked this question.
More than anything, this made Jiang Yue happy.
Before he could dwell on it, Yu Nianzhen’s message continued.
’It’s the eleventh day since the secret realm opened. I grabbed the herbs in the medicine field, and I waited as long as I could. I will travel according to our original plan.’
’If you are behind me, don’t chase. Head straight to the fourth or fifth rendezvous point. It will be easier to meet this way.’
’Also, there are mayflies in the river. Try to observe and see if you can find an opportunity to comprehend something."
’Finally,..., I miss you.’
When he heard the message, Jiang Yue frowned a little.
He removed the secret realm map from his storage ring and began to study carefully.
If Yu Nianzhen followed the original plan, it would take at least one month to arrive at the fourth rendezvous point.
While travelling, he would collect all major opportunities along the way.
In this way, travelling along the same route wouldn’t be beneficial for Jiang Yue.
However, if he headed straight to the fourth rendezvous point, he would follow a different route from Yu Nianzhen.
This route didn’t have many significant opportunities, but it was relatively shorter than the route Yu Nianzhen took.
If he did his best, Jiang Yue would also make it to the fourth rendezvous point in one month.
"It’s decided then." He said as soon as he clarified the details.
Although he would lose some opportunities if he travelled directly to the fourth rendezvous point, Jiang Yue didn’t mind.
In his mind, he had already gained a lot from the thousand herbs garden.
Just the nine thousand years old ginseng was enough to make his entry into the secret realm worth it.
More than opportunities, he wanted to meet up with Yu Nianzhen as soon as possible.
Jiang Yue didn’t know why, but he had an uneasy feeling since he entered the secret realm.
This feeling wasn’t the same kind of trepidation Yu Nianzhen felt before his breakthrough.
However, it was also an omen.
Jiang Yue couldn’t be sure, but he felt that the current peace would not continue for too long.
"It’s best to listen to my instincts."
His face turned a little solemn but then cleared when he recalled the latter part of Yu Nianzhen’s message.
"Mayflies?"
He turned to look at the creek.
However, he saw no mayflies.
The water was flowing normally and a pleasant sound reverberated in the surroundings as the water hit the rocks.
"I will wait and see."
Although he didn’t understand what Yu Nianzhen meant by mayflies and opportunity, Jiang Yue trusted the other.
If Yu Nianzhen asked him to do this, he must have an important reason for doing so.
After making this decision, Jiang Yue arranged a defensive array in the same place as Yu Nianzhen.
He then sat cross-legged within the array and stared at the creek.
Hours passed in this way, and Jiang Yue fell into a trance.
The pleasant sound produced by flowing water filled his mind, and the world around him seemed to disappear.
He felt like he was in a Japanese garden.
A slight breeze rustled the leaves, and water trickled from a bamboo fountain.
In Jiang Yue’s mind, this scene was very still but also very active.
When he thought about it, he felt like time stopped, but at the same time, time flowed a lot faster.
He watched a leaf flowing with the water.
The leaf was powerless against the water and could only go where the water led it.
Suddenly, his mind shook, and the image disappeared from his mind.
When he came to, he was a little confused, and he looked around to reassure himself that he was in the secret realm and not a Japanese garden.
"What was that?" He wondered with a frown on his face.
He tried to recall everything, but the memory was quickly disappearing from his mind.
A few breaths later, Jiang Yue couldn’t remember anything.
He knew he had experienced something strange, but he couldn’t recall what it was.
All that remained was a lingering feeling that he was on the verge of something.
However, that ’something’ was a mystery to him.
"There is no need to force it."
He cleared his mind and once again turned his attention to the creek.
His priority right now was to observe the mayflies that Yu Nianzhen had observed.
However, after waiting for three days, Jiang Yue didn’t see any mayflies.
He didn’t know whether the mayflies had left the creek or if something was preventing them from appearing.
This, however, did not daunt him.
In the Cangxing world, all opportunities were fated.
If he couldn’t encounter the mayflies, it only meant that he wasn’t fated for this opportunity.
"Maybe that opportunity was for Nianzhen. I will meet my own opportunities."
He stood up and smiled lightly.
In the end, it didn’t matter that he didn’t get the opportunity.
What mattered was that Yu Nianzhen wanted to share the opportunity with him.
"I have received your thoughts." Jiang Yue looked at the creek and then walked away without another glance.
