Long River Eternity

The third and final day of the trip had finally arrived, and they were expected to arrive in Zhongzhou City tonight. It was noon, and sunlight streamed through the curtains into the private room. Feng Hao sat cross-legged, eyes closed, silently pondering the cultivation experience Lin Ding had imparted to him, his expression focused and serene.

Off to the side, Liu Xianxian was preparing lunch, taking out some dry food, intending to make do with this simple meal. Wei Wu glanced at the dry food and said with disdain, "We've been eating dry food for two days. We'll arrive in Zhongzhou City tomorrow, and we don't know what will happen. Anyway, we have money, so why not go to the train restaurant and enjoy a good meal today?"

In reality, Lin Ding and Liu Xianxian had long since grown tired of the monotonous dry rations. While a few days without food or sleep wouldn't have had any impact at their level, over a decade of living habits couldn't be changed in a matter of days. They could have held back a little longer, but Wei Wu's suggestion was like a catalyst, instantly whetting their appetites. The two readily agreed, woke Feng Hao, and the four of them immediately headed to the restaurant to feast.

There were not many passengers on this train, and the dining car seemed remarkably empty, save for a few tables of attendants enjoying a simple lunch. Upon noticing the arrival of their guests, one attendant quickly put down their food and warmly ushered Lin Ding and his companions to the largest table. The other attendants were busy fetching menus, serving tea and water, and wiping down the tables, demonstrating attentive service and professionalism.

In the eyes of the attendants, those who could afford train tickets were generally wealthy, and those dining in the restaurant were the best of the wealthy. Lin Ding and his three companions were handsome men and beautiful women, each with a distinguished temperament. Even the youngest, Feng Hao, exuded a distinct aura from his peers, leading the attendants to speculate that they might be the second generation of a large family, and thus treated them with even greater respect and caution.

It has to be said that the flight attendant who has been working in this kind of environment for a long time does have extraordinary eyesight. He instantly saw that the four people were headed by Lin Ding and handed the menu directly to him.

Lin Ding smiled slightly, took the menu, glanced at it casually, and then handed it to Wei Wu, saying with a smile, "Please help yourself. Even the three of us combined might not be able to eat more than you."

Wei Wu took the menu, looked at it and teased, "You really do understand me." Then, he eliminated the flashy dishes on the menu one by one and ordered almost all the dishes that looked delicious.

Lin Ding and the others were already accustomed to Wei Wu's astonishing appetite, while the flight attendant nearby was stunned, thinking to herself: I've never seen such a large appetite! But their professional ethics prevented them from showing surprise. They respectfully took the menu and turned to the kitchen to place their order.

Soon, the flight attendants brought out a dish after dish from the kitchen, filling the large round table. Wei Wu was impatient and quickly swept it all away. As he ate, he commented, "I think the food in the Nanzhou City hotel is still better."

Lin Ding smiled and said, "The conditions on the train are limited. It's good enough to have something to eat. I'm starting to pick and choose."

Liu Xianxian looked at Wei Wu, who was still picky with his mouth full of food, and shook her head with a wry smile, saying, "That's right, even eating can't stop your mouth." As she spoke, she picked up the food from a distance and put it into Feng Hao's bowl, saying to Feng Hao, "Eat quickly, or that big eater will eat it all."

So the four of them began to enjoy the food on the table while chatting casually.

The flight attendant who was sitting far away eating his work meal was a little reserved at first, afraid that he would disturb the four people's meal, but when he saw that the four people were in a harmonious atmosphere and didn't care about them at all, he gradually relaxed and continued to eat the simple food in front of him, while chatting quietly.

A young female attendant whispered to the older female attendant across from her, "Sister Wang, have you heard? Something big happened in Zhongzhou. No wonder there are so few people on the train these past few days."

The flight attendant, known as Sister Wang, lowered her head and said nonchalantly, "Isn't it just a monster invasion? It's been so many days, how could we not know about it? Xiao Liu, your information is too behind the times."

Xiao Liu immediately waved his hand and said, "Of course I'm not talking about the monster invasion before, but the big thing that happened in the past two days."

When Sister Wang heard that something big was happening, she immediately became interested and looked up and asked, "Oh? What happened again? Where did you hear about it? Why didn't I hear about it?"

Xiao Liu smiled proudly and said, "Have you forgotten? My boyfriend is a journalist. The photo on the front page of the monthly newspaper last time was taken by him, risking his life and rushing into the battlefield."

Sister Wang slapped her forehead, smiled apologetically, and said, "Look at my brain. I forgot that your boyfriend is a journalist. He's really big this time. The report he published made the front page. He has a bright future."

Xiao Liu twitched his lips, then revealed a trace of worry. He sighed, "I was just lucky this time. I risked my life to make it to the front page. If I keep doing this, sooner or later something bad will happen. I might as well be a small reporter."

Sister Wang noticed Xiao Liu's worry and comforted him, "Zhongzhou City is the capital of the entire Jiuzhou, and it has many experts. You see, this monster invasion didn't cause much of an impact. Your boyfriend is a reporter, not a cultivator, so he'll be fine. Don't worry."

Hearing Sister Wang's comfort, Xiao Liu waved his hand and smiled, "Oh, it's okay, I just said it casually. He's very lucky. Let's get back to that big thing. I heard him say after get off work yesterday that the mysterious powerful person who appeared during the monster invasion has appeared again. She rushed directly into the First Research Institute of Zhongzhou, alarming even the Tianji Realm powerhouses, but they couldn't stop her. Not long after, she came out of the institute and disappeared into the night. The institute felt embarrassed and has been suppressing the news. So people outside basically don't know about it yet, except for some senior reporters who have heard some rumors."

When Lin Ding heard the two talking about Zhongzhou and the mysterious powerful man, he couldn't help but pay attention to their conversation. He clearly remembered that the report about his parents in the Zhongzhou Monthly also mentioned a mysterious powerful man. He wondered if it was the same person.

Sister Wang recalled for a moment and said, "A mysterious strong man? Are you talking about the mysterious strong man who saved many people from the monsters when they retreated?"

"Yes, it's him. It is said that she was alone in front of the Tianji Realm monsters and their herds that were as big as a hill. With a wave of her hand, the earth collapsed and countless sharp thorns grew on the ground, directly killing half of the monsters in the lower realms. When the Tianji Realm monsters wanted to come forward and fight with her for dozens of rounds, the mysterious person summoned a giant hand from the ground, grabbed the monsters, and threw them to the end of the sky and disappeared. Seeing this, the other monsters put down the humans they captured and fled in panic." Xiao Liu described the scene to Sister Wang with emotion, as if she was there.

After hearing Xiao Liu's description, Lin Ding had guessed 80% of the identity of the mysterious man. He used the spiritual energy system and earth-based magic, and was very powerful. Combined with Qin Hanming's statement that the mysterious man was an old acquaintance of theirs, then this mysterious man was most likely Yang An's sister Yang Nian.

Later, when Lin Ding heard that the mysterious man had rescued the humans from the monsters, he could no longer sit still and quickly stood up and walked to the dining table of Sister Wang and Xiao Liu.

Xiao Liu, thinking he was chatting too loudly and disturbing Lin Ding's meal, stood up with an apologetic look on his face, ready to apologize. Then Lin Ding anxiously asked, "Among the people rescued by that mysterious master, are there a couple studying archaeology, the man named Lin Tiansheng and the woman named Jiang Yuyan?"

Xiao Liu, who was about to apologize, was stunned when he heard Lin Ding's question. He was stunned for a moment, then muttered, "Lin Tiansheng, I think I've seen this name somewhere before." Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he said, "I remember, it's that couple who have recently become famous in the archaeological world! Reports say they did disappear during the invasion, but they don't seem to be on the list of those who escaped from monsters, so they probably weren't captured by monsters. I don't know the specific circumstances."

Hearing Xiao Liu's words, Lin Ding's heart, which had been at ease, was lifted again. Based on Qin Hanming's words and Xiao Liu's description of the monster invasion, he had originally believed that his parents had been safely rescued by the mysterious person. Now, it seemed that wasn't the case. His parents were likely still in danger.