Guarding the River of Time

Chapter 434 - 424: Imperceptible Cultivation, the Hand of Fate

"Xiaoguo, Xiaoguo!"

The next second, a shout came through, followed by a graceful silhouette running towards Wuguo and Su Mu.

The girl looked about fourteen or fifteen years old, her face closely resembling Wuguo, a stunning beauty, like a perfect creation of the heavens.

As she approached, the girl pulled Wuguo over and shielded him behind her, looking warily at the "outsider" before her.

"How did you get in here?"

The girl questioned Su Mu, her tone quite unfriendly.

Hearing this, Su Mu shrugged helplessly and said, "Would you believe me if I said I walked in?"

Now, Su Mu had become an ordinary person. He needed to be cautious, first compromise, investigate the situation here, and find a way out—that was the priority.

He had been terribly unlucky, stumbling into this godforsaken place, delaying his work, and possibly even facing life-threatening danger.

"You’re lying!"

"There’s no path at all. How could you have walked in?"

The girl was a bit smarter than Wuguo, but Su Mu could still sense her panic from her eyes.

She, like Wuguo, had never left this place, completely unaware of the outside world, very pure and innocent. Yet, as an elder sister, she had to show responsibility in front of her younger sibling.

Although Su Mu’s cultivation was temporarily gone, his keen observation was not.

"Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe it, so there’s no need to say it."

Su Mu said helplessly.

"How I got in isn’t important. I want to leave now. Can you send me out?"

"I just accidentally wandered in, without malicious intent."

Su Mu now only wanted to leave here quickly. This feeling of being helpless and unable to control anything was truly unsettling.

He had never felt so humble before.

There was no choice; it was Su Mu’s first encounter with such a bizarre situation.

He tried to operate his cultivation technique, all to no avail, unable to sense any spiritual power within.

.....

"Sister, this elder brother is a good person. He just accidentally stumbled in."

Wuguo tugged at the girl’s sleeve, looking cautiously at Su Mu, speaking up for him.

Upon hearing Wuguo’s words, the girl’s hostility towards Su Mu seemed to lessen. After hesitating, she said, "Follow me."

...

So, Su Mu followed behind the girl, heading into the forest ahead.

After passing through clusters of shrubbery, Su Mu realized that the vegetation around him had grown much larger.

The plants on the ground were nearly as tall as Su Mu; the rocks looked like small hills, giving Su Mu the feeling of entering a giant’s country.

Eventually, Su Mu followed the two to a green basin, a peculiar one formed by a hollow, downward-sunken tree trunk.

Looking up, he could see a staircase made of vines, extending to the treetop.

"Grandmother, I’ve brought him."

The girl shouted towards the treetop.

The next second, a gust of wind rose, and the vine ladder descended in front of Su Mu.

"Grandmother wants to see you."

Seeing this, the girl was also shocked. It was her first time seeing her grandmother willing to meet an "outsider."

Hearing this, Su Mu followed the vine ladder, step by step, towards the treetop.

After walking about a few hundred meters, he saw a tightly closed wooden door at the end of the stairs.

Upon reaching the wooden door, Su Mu reached out his hand, and the moment he touched the door, he discovered it was slightly ajar.

After pushing it open, an entirely different world appeared inside!

A pool of water came into view, with white mist filling the air. As he walked towards it step by step, the temperature around him slowly began to rise.

Under this white mist, within moments.

Su Mu’s skin began to redden; his internal organs felt hot, and his blood seemed to be burning, as if he had entered a steamer, struggling to breathe, feeling uncomfortable.

After a few seconds, the discomfort disappeared, replaced by a feeling of refreshment.

Soon, he could feel something seeping out of his skin.

Lowering his head, he saw a layer of black grime on his skin, which must have been some "impurities" left in Su Mu’s body, being forced out.

Unexpectedly, Su Mu found that so many "impurities" were still accumulated in his body!

Because he had studied medicinal baths before, and whenever he had time, he would pick great medicine herbs from the medicinal garden for baths, cleansing his bones, generally not releasing any toxins.

This meant that Su Mu’s body was already pristine.

But now, he realized that so much "dirt" was still hidden within him.

......

Soon, Su Mu arrived before the pool of water.

This pool was small, about ten square meters, shaped like a crescent, bubbling like a hot spring.

Thin mist floated on its surface. Standing amidst this mist, Su Mu felt his body beginning to relax.

Looking at the hot spring before him, he wanted to soak in it and wash away the grime on his body.

But this was clearly someone else’s territory, and it would be rude to suddenly intrude and bathe here.

....

The next second, a woman in white, without knowing when, stood in front of the crescent pool.

The moment Su Mu’s gaze landed on the woman’s face, he froze.

He had seen many stunning women, but this woman in white gave him a sense of "illusory beauty," a kind of hazy, dreamlike beauty, clearly in front of him, yet feeling nonexistent and unreal.

Was this woman in white the grandmother the girl spoke of?

So young?

Though one cannot judge age by appearance, Su Mu could not sense any passage of time from this woman in white; time seemed to have stopped on her.

"Wash up first."

Before Su Mu could speak, the woman in white spoke first.

Hearing this, Su Mu looked down at his dirty body; indeed, he felt a bit untidy.

"It was prepared for you anyway."

"No need to worry."

The woman in white saw through Su Mu’s concerns and spoke.

Her voice was ethereal, reverberating in Su Mu’s mind like a spring breeze, inexplicably putting him at ease.

......

When Su Mu looked up again, he found that the woman in white had vanished.

Su Mu clearly couldn’t sense any of her spiritual power, just like himself, an ordinary person. How could she come and go without a trace under his nose?

Looking at the hot spring before him, suddenly a wave of drowsiness hit.

Step by step, he walked towards the hot spring.

Can’t worry about so much now; better clean up first. It’s just too dirty.

The moment Su Mu entered the hot spring.

He looked down at the pool of water before him, sensed something, and his pupils shrank abruptly.

.....