Legend Management Bureau Chapter 400

[ … words ]

“You two, this is the ‘Rabbit Path’.”

Du Yu and the old man looked in the direction the villager was pointing. However, how could that be considered a “path”? It was clearly just a “crevice.”

There was a small gap between the mountain walls. While the fissure obviously led outside, its diameter was far too small. Even a slightly large rabbit would not be able to squeeze through, let alone a human.

“Uncle, it seems I made a mistake. We still cannot get out.”

Du Yu knew the only usable tool they had on hand was the carrying pole by the old man’s side. But trying to chisel through the rock to carve out a passage with it was practically a real-life version of the Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains.

Before Du Yu could say another word, the old man spoke up again, “Alright, fellow townsman, I understand. You can go now.”

The villager nodded and replied, “Since that is the case, I will go look for that ‘water monster’ first. I look forward to your next visit.”

Watching the villager walk away, Du Yu turned his head and asked, “Uncle, do you have a way to ‘split the mountain’?”

The old man chuckled and replied, “Sigh, each generation really is worse than the last. Did the elders in your family not even teach you ‘basic life skills’ like splitting rocks?”

With the progression of modern times, that was no longer considered “common sense”—it was a “special effect” stunt.

The old man searched the surrounding area. He found two black stones, gathered a large pile of dry grass and wood, and finally returned with two massive banana leaves.

He handed one of the banana leaves to Du Yu and tucked the other under his own armpit. Then, he piled all the dry grass and wood into the crevice.

“Uncle, what is this for?” Du Yu asked, a little confused.

“Lighting a fire,” the old man said, organizing the fuel while toying with the black stones in his hand. “In a moment, we will use these leaves to fan the smoke out of the crack.”

Du Yu thought for a moment before asking, “I understand what you are saying, but what is the point of fanning the smoke outside?”

“Sigh! This is why I say you are a bit slow!” The uncle looked around with a serious expression and said, “If we start a fire here, a huge plume of smoke will rise. Once those Great Immortals see it, they will definitely swarm over. How are we supposed to leave then?”

“Uncle, your thinking is actually quite meticulous,” Du Yu nodded. “I understand now. Let us begin.”

Du Yu knew the uncle’s words made sense. He was not worried about those villagers, but rather somewhat concerned about He Suoyi, who was hiding in this place.

If that old fox saw black smoke billowing into the sky, he would definitely come over to investigate the anomaly. If he managed to slip away, it would be extremely troublesome.

The old man lightly struck the two black stones together in his hands, sending a shower of sparks flying outward.

Very quickly, the dry grass caught fire. The old man picked up the burning grass and carefully ignited the wood.

In no time at all, the flames began to burn steadily.

“Fan!”

At the old man’s command, the two of them swung their banana leaves in unison, blowing all the dark gray smoke out through the crevice.

After burning for a while, Du Yu felt something was wrong. After all, the rocks had not changed in the slightest. If they kept going like this, when would it ever end?

After about half an hour, their arms were already starting to ache. The old man took a general look at the rock and declared, “That should be about enough.”

“Enough?” Du Yu was somewhat baffled, especially since the rock wall still showed no signs of change.

He watched as the old man rushed forward, kicked up some dirt to extinguish the flames, and then turned to leave. “Young man, follow me.”

The two ran all the way to the riverbank. The old man picked up a giant lotus leaf from the water and scooped up a large puddle of water. Du Yu followed his example, scooping up another handful of water in a leaf of his own.

Jogging all the way back, the old man led Du Yu to the original crevice. He poured all the water from his lotus leaf onto the spot they had just been burning. Du Yu hurriedly dumped his water onto the spot as well.

First came a loud sizzle as the rock wall began to rapidly cool down.

Soon after, a series of faint cracking and popping sounds followed.

“I think I understand now.” Du Yu tossed the lotus leaf aside and nodded. “The fire was not meant to burn the rock to pieces, but to rapidly raise its temperature. Then, by splashing cold water on it, the different types of stone—which have different specific heat capacities and expansion coefficients—expand and contract at different rates. This causes the varying materials within the rock to separate. Furthermore, stone has poor thermal conductivity. While the exterior cools down, the interior is still expanding, which leads to continuous cracking.”

“What do you mean you understand? I cannot understand a single word you just said.” The old man shook his head helplessly. “The youth these days are truly ignorant. You cannot even clearly explain the simple principle of ‘burning with fire and splashing with water makes things brittle’.”

“Uh…” Du Yu sighed helplessly. “Forget it, Uncle. Let us just ‘each stick to our own understanding’.”

The old man picked up the carrying pole in his hands and lightly poked a piece of the rock. The stone instantly shattered in response, crumbling like a block of ice.

Seeing this, he quickly swung the carrying pole. In quick succession, he effortlessly smashed a hole right through the rock.

Although the hole was not very large, it was big enough for a person to crawl through.

“We can go now, young man!”

The two of them briefly cleared away the rubble and crawled into the cave one after another.

However, the outside of the cave did not lead directly to a road to the town. Instead, it was another peach blossom grove.

Du Yu pondered for a moment, found a few large rocks, and carried them back to the cave entrance.

“Young man, what are you doing?” the old man asked.

“I cannot let that ‘water monkey’ escape.”

The old man felt that Du Yu’s words made sense. He hurriedly joined in moving the rocks, firmly blocking the cave entrance.

Du Yu still felt it was not quite right. Blocked by these rocks, the scenery here blended perfectly with the rest of the mountain wall. He was afraid they would forget the way back after just wandering around a bit.

Thinking of this, he picked up a sharp stone from the ground and carved a large “X” onto one of the rocks.

“Young man, why are you making a mark? Do we still have to come back?” the old man asked.

“That is right. For certain reasons, this matter will not end here. We must return one more time.” Du Yu tossed the stone aside and turned back to the old man. “Uncle, you should also find a rock and leave marks on the trees along the way.”

The old man was somewhat confused. “Young man, we finally managed to escape from the Great Immortal’s territory. Why on earth do you want to come back?”

“Uncle, I would not lie to you. According to the records of the Legends, if we want to leave this place, we have to come back,” Du Yu explained. “Furthermore, to be safe, I must depart from this exact same location to ensure that the water monkey dies without a doubt.”

The old man only half-understood, but he still nodded, picking up a stone and making marks on the peach blossom trees along the way.

In total, the old man made eight marks.