Chapter 79

readx;

Thank you all for your clicks, recommendations, and rewards. I'm full of energy and working hard on writing!

---

In the big city of Lao Chan County, Tang Sen found the hotel run by the Miao family. He showed his gold card and was indeed treated as a VIP, getting several rooms for free, and a steady stream of delicious food was brought in. During the journey, everyone could only eat convenience food, which easily led to malnutrition, so every time they reached a city, it was time for everyone to replenish their nutrients. Since the Miao family was treating them so warmly, it would be impolite to refuse.

Sun Wukong was soaking in a high-end milk bath, shouting through the bathroom door, "Wow, the bathtub here is amazing, it's actually filled with milk... If I drink all this milk, will my chest get bigger?"

"I'm dizzy, you can't drink that." Tang Sen was furious, almost kicking the door open, but he quickly pulled back, almost making a mistake.

Just then, Tang Sen's phone rang. He picked it up and saw it was his mother calling.

"Hey, Mom, what's up?" Tang Sen laughed.

"Xiao Sen Sen, your grade counselor came to the house yesterday. He said the school is organizing an autumn trip and asked if you wanted to join. I told him you were on a long trip, and he seemed quite disappointed."

"Wait, why would he be disappointed if I don't go on the autumn trip?" Tang Sen was puzzled.

Mom laughed, "The grade counselor said that if you join the autumn trip, the girls will follow you around, and the other boys will follow the girls. In the end, all the students will be together, making it easier for the teachers to manage and keep track of everyone. They won't have to worry about students running around and causing accidents."

Tang Sen: "..."

Damn, do they think I'm a magnet for trouble?

After hanging up, Tang Sen glared at the direction of the Imperial University. After the glare, he suddenly missed school life. When he was still in school, the teachers often said, "You don't appreciate school life now, but once you enter society, you'll realize how happy you were."

Reflecting on these words, he felt quite emotional. Although he was often annoyed by the female students at school, after leaving and traveling for a few months, he realized that his life back then was indeed peaceful and happy, without the many worries he has now.

At least, in school, he didn't have to worry about plots against him, or about Guanyin and Lingji Bodhisattva being around, or about a mysterious Jade Emperor plotting to get rid of him from behind the scenes.

That night, Tang Sen fell asleep reminiscing about school life. He even had a dream where he and his good friend Cai Xinzi were cleaning the classroom, and a beautiful girl wanted to help but was too shy. Oh, right, she was the class beauty, school beauty, and the number one beauty of Imperial University (the first one to confess to Tang Sen, who was rejected, for those who forgot, please reread the first chapter). She always wanted to be around Tang Sen, but unfortunately, she wasn't a shut-in...

The next morning, Tang Sen still had tear marks at the corners of his eyes, not sure for whom they were shed. But he didn't like to dwell on things or get lost in memories. After washing his face, he felt refreshed and called out to the girls, "Wake up, we need to continue our journey west."

He picked up his teddy bear, got on his bicycle, and left the big city, speeding through the mountainous old roads, letting the light wind tousle his hair... Sun Wukong and Zhu Baie followed behind, and the group continued westward. Unnoticed, many days passed, and summer slowly turned into autumn...

One day, Tang Sen had reached the border of Lao Chan County. On the GPS map, there seemed to be a huge river ahead, but there was no detailed information about it. The smaller the country, the less detailed the information. There were a bunch of small, messy countries to the west of the Tang Empire, and the GPS map companies couldn't collect all the geographical data.

The group went straight to the riverbank. Tang Sen looked up and saw that the river was incredibly wide, so wide that he couldn't see the other side. The river was vast and yellow, stretching as far as the eye could see, like an ocean. "This river is a bit exaggerated, right? Even the widest part of the Yangtze River isn't this wide..."

"Master, there's a stone tablet here!" Zhu Baie pointed to a pile of rocks by the river.

Everyone gathered around and saw three seal script characters on the stone tablet—Flowing Sand River. Below were four small lines: "Eight hundred miles of the Flowing Sand River, three thousand feet deep. Goose feathers cannot float, reed flowers sink to the bottom."

"Nonsense, how can there be a river where even goose feathers can't float? And reed flowers sink to the bottom," Zhu Baie huffed. "I don't believe it. Look, there are reed flowers growing there. I'll pick one to test it."

Zhu Baie ran to the reed bed, picked a reed flower, and threw it into the river. Normally, a reed flower would float on the water, but this time, it sank like a stone, disappearing into the depths instantly...

"Wow, it really does sink to the bottom?" Zhu Baie was shocked.

Tang Sen frowned, "It seems the water in this river is very special, with abnormal buoyancy... There should be research institutions studying this strange water, right?"

Just as Tang Sen finished speaking, he heard Sun Wukong call out, "Look over there, there's a strange building."

Everyone looked in the direction Sun Wukong was pointing and saw a modern building by the river with a sign that read, "Tang Empire Prince Technology Co., Ltd., Flowing Sand River Weak Water Research Institute..."

The Tang Empire was the most powerful country in the world, with the most advanced scientific research. Therefore, Tang Empire research institutes were spread all over the world, from the Eastern Divine Continent, Western Ox-Heaven Continent, Southern Jambudvipa, Northern Kuru Continent, the North and South Poles, to even space stations. It wasn't strange for a Tang Empire research institute to appear in such a strange place.

Tang Sen smiled, "Since there's a Tang Empire research institute here, it's convenient. Let's go talk to our fellow countrymen and ask them to lend us a boat to cross the river. You two can play around wherever you like."

Sun Wukong and Zhu Baie nodded and disappeared in a flash. Tang Sen pushed his white dragon bicycle, carrying the teddy bear, and walked toward the research institute.

At the entrance of the institute, he saw several armed guards standing guard. It was reasonable for a high-tech research institute to have military personnel guarding it, but with guards, it wasn't easy to get in. Tang Sen smiled politely and showed his ID, saying, "Brothers, I'm Tang Sen, a student at Imperial University..."

He was about to give a full introduction and ask for a boat when the two guards stepped aside and smiled, "If you're a student, come in quickly. Your teacher was just calling for everyone to gather... You're late, kid."

"Huh?" Tang Sen was puzzled. Teacher? Gather? Late? What's going on?

Before he could ask more, a man in his fifties ran out of the institute. It was none other than the grade counselor from Imperial University. He grabbed Tang Sen and exclaimed, "Tang Sen, how did you get here? I went to your house a few days ago to ask your mother if you were coming on the autumn trip. She said you were on a long trip and couldn't come. I was so disappointed, but now you've come on your own. That's great, really great! Come in and gather with everyone."

"Autumn trip?" Tang Sen suddenly understood. What a coincidence, the autumn trip his mother mentioned must have been here. He had stumbled upon it.

The grade counselor looked curiously at the bicycle Tang Sen was pushing and the teddy bear he was carrying, not quite understanding what he was up to.

Tang Sen wasn't interested in explaining too much to an old man and asked first, "Teacher, what's this autumn trip all about?"

The grade counselor indeed shifted his attention and explained, "The theme of this autumn trip is the Flowing Sand River. We're bringing the students to see the river with the weakest buoyancy in the world to broaden their horizons. Our school contacted the Tang Empire Prince Technology Co., Ltd., and the company's General Manager generously agreed to host us at the research institute and provided planes and buses for transportation. We just arrived about half an hour ago..."

"I see!" Tang Sen finally understood the whole situation.

...

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends