Guarding the River of Time

Chapter 411 - 401: Southern Ghost Emperor, Underworld Guest

"Just now, Nannan seemed unable to touch Daddy."

After Nannan got up in the morning, she found that Daddy was still asleep. She went about her own tasks first, tidying up the house a bit, trimming the weeds in the small yard, watering the vegetable garden in the backyard. After cleaning up, she found that Daddy was still asleep.

Because in Nannan’s memory, Daddy had never been like this. Usually, he would get up and leave early in the morning before she was even awake.

Nannan thought that Daddy was tired, so she obediently waited by his side.

However, even when it reached noon, Daddy still hadn’t woken up. Nannan cautiously called out, but there was no response.

Then, she reached out her little hand and touched Daddy’s shoulder, only to be shocked to find that her hand passed through Daddy’s body, unable to touch him!

Although she could see Daddy just sitting there in front of her, it seemed as if he was an illusion, unable to hear or touch him, which made Nannan very anxious.

After hearing Nannan’s description, Su Mu also fell into deep thought.

He looked down at his finger and noticed that the ring mark on his middle finger had also changed, with an additional small black dot.

It seemed this dream was different from the previous ones.

....

"Daddy’s fine, Daddy was just practicing martial arts."

Su Mu stood up, rubbed Nannan’s head, and said with a smile, "Daddy is going out, you go play."

Hearing this, Nannan obediently nodded. Instead of playing, she stayed under the willow tree, quietly reading a book.

...

Su Mu went out on patrol today, and his mind wasn’t focused all day.

He kept thinking about the dream he had last night, with every detail and image flashing continuously in his mind.

This Stone Ring, what level of treasure is it, that it could construct a dream so realistic that even Su Mu couldn’t distinguish it?

Divine Alliance of Heaven, Divine Alliance of Heaven.....

Su Mu kept murmuring these words in his mind, unable to shake off the thought of that sculpture so similar to himself.

Thud——

Lost in thought, he almost stumbled into a puddle in front of him.

He quickly shook his head, took a deep breath, and cleared his mind of all distractions. Dwelling on these things served no purpose now; what was most important was to refine this river quickly and leave this place.

Because he had been trapped here for so many years, he was almost completely cut off from the outside world, with all the news and information sealed, leaving many things to conjecture and guesswork.

....

As he walked, a stone bridge appeared in the waters ahead.

Su Mu was very familiar with this stone bridge.

As he approached, he noticed two figures standing on the bridge.

They were shrouded in black fog, making it impossible to see their faces.

Just as Su Mu was preparing to dispel the mist, it cleared on its own, allowing Su Mu to see the two people.

Standing to the rear right was a thin old man, dressed in very simple black clothing. Su Mu recognized him as one of the few familiar faces, having helped him repair a bridge before.

In front stood a virile middle-aged man wearing a purple-red quail cap. His expression was stern, his demeanor was dignified, with thick eyebrows and serious dark circles, exuding an imposing presence without anger. From their standing positions, it seemed that the man with the severe dark circles was the leader.

"Old Ten?" Ignoring the man in front, Su Mu directly addressed the thin old man at the back.

Because of the two, only Old Ten was familiar to him.

Hearing the elder call out to him, the Reincarnation King was somewhat flattered, his vanity and sense of face greatly satisfied in that moment.

"I didn’t expect the elder to remember me, it’s truly flattering."

The Reincarnation King clasped his fists and then quickly shifted the topic to introduce, "Elder, this is my boss."

Although his vanity was satisfied, he didn’t let it go to his head and promptly introduced his superior.

"Elder Su, I’ve heard so much about you."

The man took off his quail cap, put it away, then clasped his hands and introduced himself, "Du Ziren."

Hearing this, Su Mu nodded.

"You all carry on, I have some things to attend to and will be leaving." Su Mu waved, ready to turn and leave.

"Elder, please wait." Du Ziren called out to stop Su Mu.

...

"Elder, we came here today specifically to invite you to visit us."

Seeing Su Mu’s puzzled expression, Du Ziren continued, "Because you’ve helped us a lot, we’ve arranged a banquet to especially invite you."

Hearing this, Su Mu looked bewildered and said, "Didn’t I just help repair a few broken stone bridges for you? It’s not doing anything big, your good intentions are enough for me."

"The matters on the river are within my responsibilities as well."

Su Mu waved his hand, expressing his refusal.

Upon hearing this, Du Ziren also looked embarrassed, unsure how to persuade him. He then glanced at the Reincarnation King for help, as he was meeting the legendary Elder Su for the first time and was completely unfamiliar, making him a bit reserved in speaking.

Getting the cue from Du Ziren, the Reincarnation King felt helpless, thinking that Du Ziren had put too much faith in him since he’d only met Elder Su once and didn’t have much influence over him.

Nevertheless, he braced himself and said, "Elder, you’ve helped us greatly, if we don’t repay you, we would feel ill at ease!"

"A small favor, a small favor, no need to thank me." Su Mu waved his hand dismissively.

...

Since the last flood incident, Su Mu had become very cautious. He had only met the thin old man once and barely knew him, so he didn’t know anything about his background.

If this was another trap, it would surely lead to a lot of trouble for himself again.

Not knowing their background, venturing into someone else’s territory was a big no-no; who knows if it’s a trap?

Seeing that they couldn’t extend the invitation, both of them were anxious.

This was a task personally assigned by the lady, if they failed to complete it... they dared not return.

Seeing Su Mu was about to leave, the Reincarnation King thought quickly and yelled, "Elder, to be honest, we do have a request."

"Elder, do you remember helping me repair stone bridges before?"

"The main bridge at our place has collapsed, and our abilities are limited. We want to ask you to take a look."

Actually, the Reincarnation King wasn’t lying; their main bridge did partially collapse. Although their mission from the lady was simply to invite Elder Su to visit,

he guessed that the lady’s goal was likely to have Elder Su help repair the ’main bridge’.

Otherwise, why invite him to ’the house’?

So, the Reincarnation King boldly guessed, and on hearing this, Du Ziren was shocked. He hadn’t expected the Reincarnation King to reveal such important information.