Chapter 108: The Secret Passage

At the very end, when lunch was over, the merchant still hadn’t succeeded in selling a single item to Liu Zong. He could only watch as Liu Zong shook his head and said, “You really aren’t a qualified merchant.”

Faced with Liu Zong’s mockery, the merchant said nothing. He accepted this loss, believing firmly that there would be opportunities to deal with Liu Zong in the future. He swore he would sell his goods at several times the price next time.

Liu Zong was completely unaware of the merchant’s thoughts. After finishing the meal, he packed up and prepared to set off.

Seeing everyone ready, the merchant no longer delayed. He led the group in a direct march toward the north side of the map.

Compared to Liu Zong and the others’ aimless wandering, the merchant was much more professional. Every half hour or so, he found traces left by the Kurast dwarves, and these marks confirmed that the merchant’s chosen route was correct.

After about a day’s journey, they arrived before a cave at the foot of a towering mountain. This mountain marked the boundary between two rival factions and the neutral zone—a result of past battles, mockingly called the Two Realms Mountain by players.

The mountain rose over three thousand meters, its sides steep and unclimbable. Only at the fortress site, separated by rivers and forests, could one gain passage. Both factions had five years to construct massive fortresses here.

Once the fortress was completed, players could activate a magical array to remove the river and forest barriers separating their maps from the neutral zone, releasing beasts that had survived in that wilderness for countless years.

Before this, any player attempting to leap over the river into the forest was instantly killed; none survived.

Thus, to enter the neutral zone, one could not take the mountain path but had to use secret passages—one of which lay within this very cave.

Of course, all this was explained by the merchant. Normally, there wouldn’t even be a secret passage. In his words, “This is a temporary passage granted by the system for your task. If it weren’t for your mission, this cave wouldn’t even exist.”

Liu Zong didn’t know whether this was true, but from the merchant’s confident attitude, it was clear he had reached at least Level 2. Having witnessed countless changes in the game, every word he spoke seemed to carry hidden depths.

Yet Xu Ying and the others didn’t contemplate the deeper meaning—they simply followed the merchant into the cave, descending swiftly until they found an underground river.

Throughout the journey, Liu Zong observed the cave closely. Its details suggested it was not a freshly dug tunnel, but one that had existed for a long time—though it had clearly been unused for many years.

Gazing at the swirling underground river, Liu Zong stared at the merchant in disbelief. “This passage you mentioned—is it really this?”

“Trust my expertise,” the merchant said firmly. “What you need to do is wrap your head with your cloak, take a deep breath, and jump straight in.”

“But how do we get back?” Liu Zong asked.

“That’s up to you,” the merchant replied. “My job is only to get you here. Even if I jumped with you, I wouldn’t appear in the forbidden zone—you’d reappear back where I came from. So, young man, be brave and jump.”

The merchant patted Liu Zong’s shoulder, his face glowing with pride.

In the days they had known Liu Zong, this was the first time the merchant had seen him at a disadvantage. The feeling could be summed up in one word: exhilarating.

Though annoyed, Liu Zong carefully inquired about the underground river’s conditions. The merchant, having encountered such rivers before, reassured him: “Since the system assigned you this task, it will send you exactly where you need to go. Just be careful not to get knocked around. Don’t hold hands or tie yourselves together with ropes—that might cause you to hit bigger stones and prevent you all from reaching your destination.”

“I’ll jump in first; just follow me. And if you need anything, contact me—I have many valuable things.”

With that, the merchant wrapped his head in his cloak, crossed his arms over his head, and leapt into the swirling river.

Watching him vanish instantly into the vortex, Liu Zong was stunned. He glanced at Xu Ying and the others, nodded in affirmation, then wrapped his cloak around his head, crossed his arms, and jumped into the underground river.

The moment he entered the water, he felt a force pushing him forward. Before he could react, the water pressure began squeezing him, dragging him downward. It felt like being tossed inside a washing machine, as if a single wrong move would throw him out.

This sensation lasted about twenty minutes before Liu Zong was expelled from the water’s surface, crashing heavily onto the ground.

He struggled to lift his head and looked around. It was pitch dark, not even five fingers could be seen. Only the sound of wind came faintly from afar. Then, with a soft plop, something fell nearby.

At the same time Liu Zong and his group entered the underground river, another squad appeared near the cave. Their leader was Liu Guo, clad in a strange cloak that he constantly adjusted as if it were the source of his power.

Beside him were Yuan Yan, Xu Da, and others. They walked while listening to a small, lean man explaining the area.

“Boss, this time we’ve got a big catch. That guy Lü Shang found the earliest map of this continent. It seems they’ve discovered the forbidden zone of the continent’s original inhabitants. I’m certain it lies in the neutral area here.”

“They only got ahead because of their mission. If we follow, once you make your move, we can seize the task. Even if we can’t complete it, establishing a foothold in the neutral zone early will greatly benefit the battle. I believe the academy won’t stop your actions, boss.”

As they spoke, the group entered the cave, slowing their pace as if wary of being detected by Liu Zong’s party.

By the time they reached the underground river, nearly an hour had passed, and they saw no trace left by Liu Zong’s group.

The underground river had also calmed; the whirlpools were gone.

Faced with a dead end, Liu Guo’s face darkened with displeasure. He shouted, “Where’s the path? Where are they?”