Shen Jingbin looked at Quiet And Steadfast and asked, "Did you hear that?"
Quiet And Steadfast appeared puzzled. "No, whatâs wrong?"
"I think I heard a quest notification."
The voice sounded out once again, immediately after sheâd finished speaking.
"Only you can hear me, Godâs Emissary."
Shen Jingbin gave a start. F*ck, does the system even know what Iâm thinking about?!
Is it capable of mind reading?
"Listen closely if itâs a quest then. Letâs see what it wants us to do," Quiet And Steadfast said.
Shen Jingbin nodded in reply.
The voice continued, "Iâm the remnant spiritual awareness of the Black Tortoise, and Iâve been waiting for your arrival. As a Divine Beast, my attunement to the four seasons and knowledge of the heavenly mandate have long since told me of your coming. Your ability to subdue the Divine Beast of slaughter, White Tiger, and your possession of the Vermillion Birdâs blood means that you are indeed the fated person. Since thatâs the case, I wonât make things difficult for you. Twenty-five kilometers north of you and your companionâs location thereâs a cave with a teleportation array in it. That teleportation array will take you to my tomb."
And with that, the voice was no more. Try as she might, Shen Jingbin didnât receive a reply no matter how much she called out for it in her mind.
Noticing her reaction, Quiet And Steadfast asked, "What happened?"
Shen Jingbin gave up on her fruitless endeavour. "Itâs nothing. The quest told us to travel twenty-five kilometers north and use the teleportation array located there to travel to the Black Tortoiseâs tomb."
"Letâs go then."
They heeded the voiceâs instructions and began heading north. Before long, a cave appeared in front of them. The couple exchanged a look with one another before entering the cave.
The cave had a very low ceiling, forcing Quiet And Steadfast to bend over just to avoid hitting his head. Shen Jingbin, who was walking in front of him, glanced back at him and found the whole situation rather hilarious. In spite of that, she very kindly stifled her laughter and prevented any of it from leaking out.
The cave was damp and its walls were filled with moss; the excessive moisture within it making the two of them feel uncomfortable. Neither of them liked damp places, so they hastened their footsteps and hurried forward.
Before long, a teleportation array that emitted blue rays of light appeared before them. After glancing at one another, Quiet And Steadfast took the first step towards the teleportation array.
"Iâll go first; wait here."
Quiet And Steadfast had found the lack of obstacles along their way exceptionally odd. Based on how the game company did things, there was no way theyâd be able to just stroll through the cave and obtain the Black Tortoiseâs inheritance. Since nothing strange had happened till now, then thereâd definitely be something waiting for them in the Black Tortoiseâs tomb. This was why he couldnât let Shen Jingbin be the first to brave the danger ahead of them.
Quiet And Steadfast drew his weapon and prepared himself for battle as he stepped onto the teleportation array. The blue light surrounding the array flashed once, and he was no longer there. After he disappeared, Shen Jingbin showed no hesitation at all and stepped onto the teleportation array.
The scenery in front of her began to distort, and in the blink of an eye, she found herself standing on a patch of empty land with Quiet And Steadfast in front of her.
She carefully stepped out of the teleportation array and gave the area she was in a once-over.
Sheâd originally thought that she was going to be teleported to some other place on Southern River Island, but after looking around, she realised that sheâd probably been transported to the ocean floor instead.
It was as if this area had been covered up, making the place they were standing on no different from dry land. However, the scenery above them was the azure blue ocean with all sorts of fishes swimming all over the place.
"It looks like weâre on Beiming Seaâs ocean floor," Quiet And Steadfast said after sheâd walked over to his side.
Shen Jingbin nodded. "Whereâs the tomb with the Black Tortoiseâs corpse?"
Beneath the sky and below the sea, this flat piece of land stretched as far as the eye could see. However, there was no grave mound of any kind in sight.
"Letâs take a look around? Or maybe you can try checking to see if youâve received any more quest prompts."
Shen Jingbin felt that it was a pretty good suggestion, so she tried calling out to the voice.
This time around, it actually replied.
"May I ask, whereâs the Black Tortoiseâs tomb?" Shen Jingbin enquired.
"I was given form when the Black Tortoise passed away. Iâve searched the entirety of Southern River Island, but I havenât been able to find itâs tomb. I donât have any concrete details on where itâs tomb is, so itâs up to the two of you to find out for yourselves. What I will point out is that the Black Tortoise is the Divine Beast of the north. That being said, there will definitely be unusual creatures guarding it."
With that, the voice fell silent once again.
Shen Jingbin relayed all that sheâd heard to Quiet And Steadfast. After a brief discussion, they decided to split up and investigate the area on their own.
As the voice had cautioned that thereâd be âunusual creaturesâ guarding the Black Tortoiseâs tomb, the two of them had tacitly agreed to be on their guard as they searched.
Coming up empty after rounding the entire area, Shen Jingbin found a random spot to sit on. Although the area was comprised of flatlands, there were some minor variances in its height. The spot that Shen Jingbin had chosen to sit on was one of the higher ones.
Quiet And Steadfast looked like heâd come up empty too, and was making his way back to Shen Jingbin.
Feeling unresigned, Shen Jingbin continued to look about when she suddenly felt the area around her grow dim. It was as if something was casting a shadow over her, and she looked upwards to investigate.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
There was an enormous shadow that drifted along right above her head!!