Apart from the aforementioned advantages, Sheyan could faintly sense that Mbenga's capabilities in battle weren't limited to these. Just thinking about it, even in such a perilous environment, where even powerful Growth-hunters like Reef and Mogensha were defeated, Mbenga was still able to traverse the vast seas and display his heroic qualities. One could tell of Mbenga's potential, or perhaps his ferocious luck.
"Oh, that's right." While Mbenga was feeling despair, Mbenga suddenly spoke with a stern countenance. "I recalled a legend. Very few people know of this legend now, but it happened roughly a decade ago."
Upon hearing the words' a decade ago ', Sheyan's heart skipped a beat! Strictly speaking, wasn't that the same period of time when Little Lord Fokke visited Africa to steal the 'Stairway of the Sun'? Sheyan immediately inquired Mbenga.
"Hurry and tell me the contents of the legend."
Mbenga scratched his head and replied.
"Every time the dry season and water season alternate, after the total number of fingers of eight individuals, a gigantic broom would appear in the sky. The grasslands and forests would wither, the rivers would be severed, the earth would be scorched and cracked, and the swamps would age. “
Sheyan knew that because the temperature difference between the four seasons wasn't distinct, and the winters weren't that cold, the aborigines directly divided the year into two periods – the dry season and the water season. Every time the two seasons alternate, it would be equivalent to a year's time.
A person's total number of fingers was ten, then the total number of fingers of eight individuals would be eighty. This implied that the legend would occur once every eighty years.
A gigantic broom appearing in the sky …... Sheyan's first thought was Halley's Comet. Halley's Comet would always appear in the sky on time, every seventy-six years! Furthermore, every human on earth would be able to see it, and it was an exceedingly obvious symbol. This roughly coincided with the time period of Mbenga's legend. One couldn't possibly expect the astronomical calendar of these primitive people to be as accurate as the Greenwich Observatory.
As for the rest of the legends, they were obviously describing the signs of an impending drought ….. Therefore, Mbenga's legend was undoubtedly an omen – Once Halley's Comet appeared, an unprecedented drought would descend.
Therefore, Sheyan boldly deduced. Could it be that the reason Little Lord Fokke and his party had waited bitterly for five months, was to await the arrival of the great drought?? Didn't this mean that the secret passageway to the hinterlands of the Kijuju Marshland would only appear during the onset of the great drought? If that was the case, then it could be inferred that water would be the most scarce thing during a great drought ….
Therefore! In normal times, this secret passage was actually an underground river! When the drought came and the river stopped flowing, this place would become a passageway for them to sneak in! As for those Ndipaya barbarians, no matter how vigilant they were, they would at most guard the main roads on land. They wouldn't notice the incomparably turbulent flow of the river, which was an absolutely safe exit!
During normal times, no matter how valiant the Ndipaya barbarians were, they absolutely wouldn't have the guts to jump into the unfathomably deep underground river. Then, they would enter the depths of the river and embark on a journey of life and death, where they would never see the light of day!
This also clearly explained why after Bernard Fokke had successfully stolen the 'Stairway of the Sun', his descendants could still act according to his strategy, and once again obtain that formidable and bizarre 'Stairway of the Sun' flower! That was because ….. such a loophole, was simply impossible to guard against!
When Bernard Fokke stole the 'Stairway of the Sun' through that underground passageway several hundred years ago, his tribal elder would definitely warn his descendants – Every eighty years, you must be on your guard. There might be intruders from that underground river ….. alright, the average lifespan of the Ndipaya barbarians was at most forty years old. Their culture was passed down orally from generation to generation through knots. Hence, one could well imagine the shelf life of the tribal elder's warning.
However, even though Little Lord Fokke's entry could be said to be at the right time, the right place, and the right people, the current situation presented to Sheyan didn't possess any of those three major factors!
Firstly, the great drought had only passed for a decade, and Halley's Comet was still far away from earth's orbit! The right time indeed existed, but it was leaning towards the side of the Ndipaya barbarians.
Secondly, since the great drought hadn't occurred, then the underground passageway should be surging with torrential torrents. No matter what, it couldn't be considered a favorable location.
As for the right people …... alright, originally three formidable individuals had entered this cruel yet formidable world. Yet now, only one remained, and this one was even one-armed …... therefore, the word 'right people' couldn't be considered right. On the contrary, the Ndipaya barbarians had just experienced the disastrous lesson of Little Lord Fokke's invasion a decade ago. Those who personally experienced that calamity could be said to be in the minority. Therefore, to Sheyan, this was exceedingly unfavorable news, because the Ndipaya barbarians would most likely strictly guard against the underground passageway.
The right time, the right place, and the right people weren't on Sheyan's side. This could be said to be a tremendous hindrance to his future endeavors. Nevertheless, Sheyan was exceedingly clear that once he overcame this hurdle, the road ahead would be a wide expanse of flat land. He was confident that he was definitely much more formidable than the refined and refined Little Lord Fokke of the past. If Little Lord Fokke could accomplish something, then naturally Sheyan could accomplish it, and even better!
At this moment, Sheyan couldn't help but realize that he had missed out on a crucial character – the demon horse Momore. If he could obtain the assistance of that demon horse, then he would definitely achieve twice the results with half the effort. However, after considering that to deal with that demon horse, and not kill it, Sheyan reckoned that he would need to expend at least 1-2 worlds' worth of time. Evidently, this was a matter where the investment wasn't proportional to the outcome.
*****
"Oh, then let's first locate the entrance to the underground passageway." Sheyan made such a decision. As the saying goes, don't give up until you reach the Yellow River. Anyway, he still had close to a hundred hours of time left in this world. Since he was idle, why not make use of it?
Even till now, Sheyan had yet to obtain any direct information regarding the entrance to the underground passageway. However, at times, as long as one was patient enough, one would be able to discover information hidden behind the scenes.
Just think back to that year when the 'iPhone 4S' soared out of the blue and was released in China, countless' apple fans' lined up outside the store with tents. People always have a sense of urgency when it comes to things they like and desire. Even if they were temporarily unable to obtain it due to various reasons, they would still hope to obtain it as soon as possible.
Therefore, since Little Lord Fokke was a human, at least while he was waiting for the underground passageway to open, he would still be a human. Thus, when he chose a campsite, he would most likely follow the human's habits and subconsciously choose a location near the underground passageway … … .this way, not only would it satisfy his pressing mentality, it would also reduce the exhaustion of stamina from trekking through the forest. More importantly, he had an entire 5 months and 11 days to choose a location!
Therefore, Sheyan's search radius was defined as: With Little Lord Fokke's campsite as the epicenter, a radius of 2 kilometres. Furthermore, there was a high probability that the entrance to the underground passageway was located in that little river beside Little Lord Fokke's campsite. The entrance to the underground passageway was definitely relatively large, because even Momore who hadn't transformed back then could enter.
However, this search process was exceptionally arduous. Because Sheyan was a human and not a god, from the start, he had walked into a huge misconception.
This was the most frightening method of deduction. From the start, one's path was already in the opposite direction. This meant that the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment!
The truth of the matter was: When the unprecedented drought struck, the water source of the underground passageway was slowly drying up. Furthermore, the water of the underground passageway flowed through the core region of the Kijuju Marshland. Therefore, the river water was unavoidably contaminated with poisonous substances and miasma. During its drying up phase, it would slowly release poisonous gases. To ordinary humans, even if it wasn't fatal, it would still cause them to be plagued with diseases!
Those two unlucky bastards who laid dead within the campsite, were incessantly dispatched by the impatient Little Lord Fokke to scout out the entrance. After inhaling the miasma, they fell ill and finally died miserably within the cave.
Therefore, Sheyan's initial estimation of a radius of 2 kilometres, was actually a mistake.
No matter how much effort he put into a wrong area, it would all be in vain. Therefore, after spending more than eighty hours on this matter, all he got in the end was disappointment. Yet at this moment, Sheyan's meticulous observation skills once again aided him. Because after trying for the nth time, he suddenly discovered a scar on a tree 10 metres away from Little Lord Fokke's campsite.
As everyone knew, humans feared cramps, while trees feared being skinned. Once a tree's cortical layer was sliced and peeled off, revealing its xylem, it would be extremely difficult to regrow. What caught Sheyan's attention was a large circle of eye-catching old scars. (To be continued. If you like this work, I welcome you to donate your recommendation votes or monthly votes to me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
