Long River Eternity

As night fell over Zhongzhou City, Lin Ding quietly appeared in a noodle shop across from the staff dormitory. He chose a corner where he could see the other side and sat down to eat noodles.

The dormitory complex consists of four high-rise buildings, each ten stories high, surrounded by a two-meter-high wall, forming a closed community. There is a single main entrance, where two vigilant guards sit in a booth, their sharp eyes keeping a close eye on passersby. At each of the four corners stands a watchtower, where the officers on duty carefully monitor every movement outside the wall, ensuring that no one can easily gain entry.

When Lin Ding arrived, he walked around the neighborhood and discovered that the wall had many tiny cracks due to years of disrepair. Although these cracks were too small for even a fly to fly through, they were enough for Lin Ding to find an opportunity to sneak in.

After finishing his noodles, Lin Ding walked out of the noodle shop and came to a dark, deserted corner. He formed a seal with one hand and instantly transformed into a water man, then slowly melted into a puddle of water. This was exactly the method he had seen Yang An use in his memory when he investigated the Water God Palace.

Following the shadows that the lights couldn't illuminate, Lin Ding quietly moved towards a crack in the community wall. After more than ten minutes, he finally reached the crack and carefully entered the community through the gap.

The residential complex was quite quiet, with four buildings standing steadily in the four corners, and a small park in the center for people to stroll and rest. Due to the presence of the four sentry towers, Lin Ding did not rush to transform back into human form. He still maintained his water-stained form and quietly moved towards the building provided by Chu Tianxiao.

When he arrived at the target building, he secretly congratulated himself. There was actually a security guard sitting in the management office on the first floor, alert and vigilant. Lin Ding quickly clung to the wall, cleverly avoiding the security guard's sight, and silently moved to the first-floor stairwell, then slowly climbed up.

To ensure everything was perfectly safe, Lin Ding remained in human form until he reached the door of his parents' room. This was the innermost room on the fifth floor. Faint darkness shone through the crack in the door. It was obvious that his parents had drawn the curtains before leaving, preventing even the outside light from intruding.

At this moment, Lin Ding finally breathed a sigh of relief and regained his human form. A small flame condensed in his palm. To prevent the light from shining through the curtains and being discovered, the flame was small and dim, only enough to illuminate the area within a few meters in front of Lin Ding.

Lin Ding walked to the center of the living room and surveyed the surroundings in the flickering firelight. Before him lay a two-bedroom, one-living-room residence. Despite its exquisite decor, the room felt desolate, as if time had stood still. Only a few changes of clothing in the bedroom cabinet and a few toiletries in the bathroom hinted at some traces of life.

He walked towards the last room, originally a bedroom, now a study for the couple. The atmosphere here was completely different. Books, manuscripts, and photos filled every corner, as if telling of the busy and difficult lives of this couple. Every night, apart from a short break, they would continue their work here.

Lin Ding surveyed the study room carefully in the firelight. Aside from a clay figurine in the corner that struck him as odd, the other bookshelves and filing cabinets seemed unremarkable. He approached the figurine and glanced at it, dismissing it as a mere model of some artifact or decorative ornament, giving it no further thought. He turned to his desk and flipped through the archaeological photographs covering it. The photos showed close-ups of various excavated artifacts and footage of the excavation site.

Most of the on-site photos were from a construction site, but the specific location was difficult to identify. Lin Ding thought to himself, if he couldn't find any clues in the photos, perhaps he could try the notebooks on the table. He flipped through the notebooks one by one, most of which were archaeological diaries. Suddenly, he turned to the nearest one, and several photos slipped out and landed gently on the table.

He picked up the first photo, showing several people concentrating on groping against a wall. The second showed them walking along a dark passage, their surroundings pitch black, illuminated only by the dim light of their flashlights. The third captured them reaching the end of the passage, where a massive stone door lay before them. Just these three photos had Lin Ding's heart pounding. Perhaps this was the legendary entrance to the ruins! Unfortunately, the photos didn't include a specific address.

He flipped open his notebook, reaching the last page. He was shocked to see that the entry dated the day before Lin Tiansheng and his wife went to find Chu Tianxiao. It read, "Today, a secret passage was discovered near excavation site No. 8. It ends in a stone door. No one can open it, so we must return and report." Lin Ding's heart tightened as he read through the entry. He couldn't help but flip through a few more pages, but still couldn't find any more useful information. He searched his desk, bookshelves, and cabinets for a long time, but still couldn't find the specific address of the so-called excavation site No. 8.

He repeatedly examined the photos, but could find no further clues. Helplessly, Lin Ding sighed deeply, pocketed some of the photos, and prepared to leave. Reaching the door, to avoid further complications, he transformed himself back into a puddle, slipped through the crack, and retraced his steps.

Just after he left, the clay figurine in the study trembled slightly, and the mud on its body slowly faded away, revealing a pair of bright eyes in the darkness. Then, a woman's voice rang out in the air: "Little guy, you are here after all."

After leaving the community, Lin Ding found a dark corner to restore his human form, and then immediately ran towards Chu Tianxiao's residence.

Although he could not get any useful information from the photos, as a local, Chu Tianxiao might be able to find the shooting location from some clues in the photos.

It was now around ten o'clock in the evening and there were not many people on the road. He ran back to Chu Tianxiao's house and knocked on Chu Tianxiao's door hurriedly.

Soon, there was movement in the room, and the door was opened. Chu Tianxiao was still wearing the same clothes. Seeing Lin Ding at the door, Chu Tianxiao smiled and said, "I knew you would come again. How is it? Have you found any clues?"

Lin Ding walked into the room, picked up the water cup on the table and drank it all in one gulp. At the same time, he took out a photo from his pocket and placed it on the table. Then he said, "This is a photo I found at my parents' house. It should be the entrance to the ruins, but I can't tell the exact location. Come and take a look."

After hearing this, Chu Tianxiao picked up the photos with a serious expression and carefully examined them one by one. After a while, Chu Tianxiao put down the other photos and only looked at the photo of people groping against the wall. Then he said excitedly, "This photo must have been taken in an underground shelter! The pattern of the walls is very similar to that of the shelter. No wonder I couldn't find it. I always thought the entrance was at an excavation site, but I didn't expect it to be in an underground shelter."

Hearing Chu Tianxiao's guess, Lin Ding's eyes lit up: "Great, which shelter is it?"

Chu Tianxiao thought for a moment and said, "Although we're not sure which shelter it is, we can be sure that he's probably near a construction site or excavation site. There are only a few public shelters in the East District, not counting private shelters. Plus, there are construction sites nearby. Even if we search them one by one tomorrow, we'll find him quickly."

"Tomorrow? Why wait until tomorrow? Night is a good time to sneak into those places. Come on, take me there now." Lin Ding pulled Chu Tianxiao and was about to walk out.

"Hey? Wait, wait!" Chu Tianxiao broke free from Lin Ding and shouted loudly, then ran back to the bedroom, saying at the same time: "If you leave, you must take your camera with you. If you really find it, it will be big news."

Soon, Chu Tianxiao took his camera and a map of the East District, then took Lin Ding out to the nearest East District shelter.

On the way, Lin Ding asked, "Are you sure it's a public shelter? Could it be one of those private ones?"

Chu Tianxiao shook his head and said with a smile: "No, generally those who can build private shelters are either rich or noble. Their shelters will be more exquisite than the ones in the photos."

After hearing this, Lin Ding suddenly understood.

It was almost midnight and the number of pedestrians on the street had gradually decreased. Soon, the two arrived at the nearest shelter.

The above-ground part of the shelter is a simple entrance, somewhat similar to a subway entrance. The entrance door is locked with an iron chain. A proper amount of food and water will be placed in the shelter to prevent homeless people from going in to take them. It is usually locked. There will be patrols during the day, but no one will be in charge at night.

"Is there a construction site nearby?" Lin Ding looked at Chu Tian and asked with a smile.

Chu Tianxiao looked around and said helplessly, "It seems that there is no such thing, but I don't know how far away Dr. Lin is. I'm not familiar with the East District, so I don't know if there is a construction site in places I can't see."

Lin Ding pondered for a moment, then glanced around at the surrounding buildings, then around again. After confirming there were no pedestrians, he leaped onto the tallest, twelve-story building and looked down at the shelter. He confirmed there were no construction sites or archaeological excavations. He then landed in front of Chu Tianxiao and said, "No, next one."

At this time, Chu Tianxiao looked at Lin Ding in shock and shouted, "Aren't you only 18 years old? What was that just now? What realm are you in?!"

"Uh..." Lin Ding didn't expect Chu Tianxiao to react so strongly to his display of strength. He said modestly, "I had some luck on the way here. I'm considered to be in the Yuheng realm."

"You...you...are you...18 years old and in the Yuheng realm? Even in Zhongzhou, you are a monster among monsters. Can I interview you and have you appear in the newspaper?" Chu Tian said with a smile.

Lin Ding was speechless: "Find my parents, anything is fine."

After saying that, he took the map from Chu Tianxiao's hand and looked for the location of the next shelter.

Chu Tianxiao looked at Lin Ding with shining eyes, thinking that if he could have an exclusive interview with this monster, why would he be worried about not making the front page headlines?

Lin Ding glanced at Chu Tianxiao and said lightly: "Help me find my parents as soon as possible, and I will introduce you to an 8-year-old in the Dongming Realm, who may have reached the Yaoguang Realm now."

"What the hell?!" Chu Tianxiao was no longer sleepy after hearing this. As if he had been injected with chicken blood, he said excitedly: "As expected, the friends of monsters are all monsters. Let's go, let's go to the next shelter quickly."