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When the young Yi man finished speaking, someone on the side sneered and replied, “Oh, now you’re pretending to be a good guy? When you cut your dad and escaped from the village before, you weren’t so gentle then, were you?” The speaker looked like a pampered son of a wealthy family. He was sitting on the edge of the bamboo raft, pale and thin, and wearing a white shirt that had a pen in the chest pocket. He was wearing a pair of glasses and looked like a typical intellectual from the 1970s or ’80s, but I noticed that the middle and index finger on his right hand were very long.

The young Yi man held his knife in his hand and looked at the guy coldly, but Pampered Guy didn’t show any signs of weakness.

The smoker exhaled a puff of smoke, and then tossed the cigarette butt aside. He grabbed the Yi guy’s hand and pushed the knife down: “Using a knife on a bamboo raft won’t solve any problems.”

The words had just fallen, when suddenly, the whole bamboo raft shook, as if it had hit something underwater. Some of the luggage fell off, but these people moved very fast and were able to reach out and catch them midair. One suitcase was missed, however, and fell into the Jinsha River. It immediately started to drift away, but I saw a clawed hook attached to a thin chain get thrown out from among the crowd of people. It hooked the handle of the suitcase and immediately pulled it back, splashing water on everyone’s faces when it landed back on the raft.

“How are you steering the raft?” The Yi guy took advantage of the incident to shift his wrath to the boatman.

A man that looked as strong as a mountain was standing at the other end of the bamboo raft. He didn’t look back, but said faintly, “Look at the water yourself.”

They all turned to look at the Jinsha River, only to find that there were ribbon-like strips in the water. They saw that some strips were full of a golden yellow silt, some were light yellow, and others were as clear as a snowy mountain spring. The whole river’s surface was like a huge rock layer inlaid with various gem veins flowing at the same time.

“There are springs under the water. The clear water gushes out from the springs underneath.” The strong man said. “Look at the springs, there’s something there.”

They lay down on the edge of the bamboo raft and were surprised to see that the clear water gushing from the bottom had split the turbid Jinsha River. These waters were so clear that they could take in everything at the bottom of the river in just a glance. The springs were very big, and each one was the size of a buffalo, forming huge, deep looking glasses under the water. Everyone could see that the bottom looked like a honeycomb.

“Where do these springs lead?” Pampered Guy asked.

The strong man replied, “According to local legends, these springs are bottomless holes. Every few hundred years, when the Jinsha River dries up, these holes become exposed. It’s said they have no bottom. When the local people threw cattle, sheep, and virgins down them as part of their worship, they never heard the sound of anything hitting the bottom. Later, in the Qing Dynasty, some people tried to fill them with sand and stone. They poured for a month, but the holes didn’t overflow. They’re bottomless. There’s a legend that someone went in one. When the rope went down more than sixty meters, he saw evil spirits and black scriptures carved on the stone walls. He didn’t dare go down again.”

During the conversation, the springs under our bamboo raft started to become scarce. It appeared this strange section of the river only seemed to be concentrated in a two- or three-kilometer area.

It was at this time that I noticed that Pampered Guy had started watching the surrounding mountains. His eyes were full of a kind of luster, and everyone’s faces showed repressed excitement.

“There’s water gushing out of the water, and the current is fast. These holes must be connected to some big lakes or underground rivers in the mountains.” Pampered Guy said, “The water’s cold, clear, colorless, and tasteless.” He bowed his head and scooped up a sip. “Slightly bitter.” When he took out a canteen and filled it halfway, there was a sly smile on his face.

The one in the team who had caught the suitcase with the flying hook didn’t seem to care. He spit in the water and said, “Pay attention to the mountainside.”

When they looked up, they saw a large number of houses had been built on the mountainside. No one saw anyone, but when we passed the village, a long horn sounded somewhere in the valley.

“Remember what I said.” The Yi guy said coldly as he listened to the horn’s echo pass down through the valley.

<Extra 2.1> <Table of Contents><Extra 2.3>

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Sorry it’s short today guys. I spent most of the day FINALLY finishing up Vol 6 corrections. I copied everything into a word doc and converted it to pdf if you’re interested. I stuck the download link on the Vol. 6 page, but I’ll stick it here too. Hopefully it’s a much smoother read than the first time. I’ll work on Vol 7 eventually, I just need a break right now lol. If you all couldn’t tell from my weird posting times, I took the week off from work because I needed a break, but I totally haven’t actually done that lol. Finishing Sand Sea AND Vol 6 corrections in the same week? Hell. Yes. lol. I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and couldn’t help myself.

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