Chapter 60 – Lord of the Cavern

Lu Yuan was sitting with his eyes closed, trying to filter through the information in his mind.

At that moment, he heard someone calling him again.

“Hello, hello.”

Lu Yuan opened his eyes and saw it was the slim girl who had previously introduced herself as a librarian.

“What’s up?” Lu Yuan asked.

“The machine over there is free now. You can continue using it,” the girl kindly reminded him.

Lu Yuan glanced over at the book search terminal and saw that it was indeed unoccupied. He thanked the girl and was about to walk over to take it up again.

However, he had barely taken a couple of steps when the slim girl called out to him.

“Excuse me, are you looking for books related to religion?” she asked somewhat shyly. “I happened to see what you were searching for when I was standing next to you.”

Lu Yuan was taken aback. Considering the girl’s identity as a librarian, she might be able to help him sort things out. So, he didn’t hide it and nodded, “Yes, I’m trying to find some information about a religion, but I’ve forgotten the exact name. I only remember a few keywords.”

A look of helplessness crossed Lu Yuan’s face.

“Can you tell me more about it?” The girl’s eyes gleamed with curiosity.

Lu Yuan was more than willing, and he told the girl all the clues he knew.

“Starts with ‘Fan,’ related to rats, and is most likely an ancient religion with an evil inclination.”

The slim girl muttered the key points Lu Yuan mentioned, nodding as she quickly responded, “Hold on, I’ll ask my senior brother. His major is the Study of Ancient Religion, and he’s familiar with this library. He might know.”

Blushing slightly, she quickly added, “Actually, I’m just filling in for someone today.”

Without waiting for Lu Yuan to thank her, she dashed off to the side to send a message on her mobile phone.

Lu Yuan didn’t dwell on it and continued his search at the book search terminal.

He was still searching like finding a needle in a haystack when the slim girl returned.

She ran back quickly to report the good news.

“My senior brother replied! Here, take a look,” she said brightly, handing her mobile phone directly to him.

Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment before taking the slim girl’s mobile phone.

On the screen was a series of chat records. He focused on one particular message from the girl’s senior brother.

“Based on what you described, I can think of three possible sects. Show these to him and see which one he’s looking for.”

Below that was a detailed list of information.

Lu Yuan was surprised. He hadn’t expected the slim girl to actually come up with something useful.

Judging by her senior brother’s response, it seemed quite professional.

Having such an expert help narrow down his search would undoubtedly make his efforts much more efficient.

Feeling encouraged, Lu Yuan wasted no time and immediately searched for the three sect names provided by the senior brother at the book search terminal.

The first sect that matched Lu Yuan’s criteria was called the Fan Ling Sect.

This was an evil sect active in a small country in the northern hemisphere during the last century.

It had caused a massive plague that spread across several countries at that time.

Lu Yuan found research books related to the Fan Ling Sect. Before he could say anything, the slim girl had already run off to fetch the books for him one by one.

All Lu Yuan had to do was review the materials and further confirm the information.

This step was actually quite simple.

It primarily involved one method:

Language.

Lu Yuan compared the language and pronunciation used by the sects with the speech patterns of the Ratman he remembered, to determine if it was his target.

They worked busily for about twenty minutes.

“How is it? Is this the one?” the slim girl asked, her eyes filled with anticipation.

Lu Yuan closed the last book and shook his head in disappointment, “No, it’s not.”

“Oh…”

The girl’s face immediately showed a deep sense of disappointment.

Lu Yuan noticed the girl’s bangs, damp with sweat, clumped together.

He suddenly remembered that in the past twenty minutes, the girl had run back and forth to the book-lending area at least seven or eight times, and the pile of books beside him was mostly brought by her.

These books were not light; most of them were thick volumes.

For a girl, it must have been quite exhausting.

Lu Yuan felt a pang of guilt and quickly spoke to comfort her, “It’s okay. If we can’t find it, then so be it.”

“How about I ask some other people for you later?” The girl tilted her head in thought for a moment and said, “You can record the pronunciations of those few words you know and send them to me. I know a few Senior Brothers who are Ancient Language Majors. Let’s exchange contact information. My name is Cheng Yue. What’s yours?”

As she spoke, she naturally took out her mobile phone from her pocket.

Although surprised by Cheng Yue’s kindness, Lu Yuan had no reason to refuse.

“My name is Lu Yuan. I’ll add your contact.”

Just as Lu Yuan was about to scan Cheng Yue’s contact information, a new message alert popped up on her phone with a “Ding-dong—”.

Cheng Yue glanced at it and exclaimed, “Ah!”

“My Senior Brother just sent another message. He said he thought of one more thing that fits your description, but it’s not a sect; it’s a person.”

Cheng Yue read aloud as she handed her mobile phone to Lu Yuan.

“A person?” Lu Yuan blinked and took Cheng Yue’s phone.

The screen displayed a freshly received message. It read:

> [There’s another that fits all his criteria, but it’s a person—more accurately, a deity. This name was passed down to the Baishan Era, worshipped by the ancient people of the Ancient Donglunsa Region, now the Eastern Region of the Distant Star Alliance. An ancient evil deity known as the Lord of the Cavern, Fantu Yasi!]

Lu Yuan stared at the message, momentarily stunned, his eyes flickering with a glimmer of realization.

After a moment, he handed the phone back to Cheng Yue and calmly said, “I think this time we got it right.”

“When you recover from your illness, don’t leave again. Stay here and settle down. In a few days, I’ll have Xinghua take you back to pack your things.”

When Lu Yuan returned home with a stack of books, he found that his grandfather, Lu Yueping, had already been discharged and was sitting in the shop, chatting with his mom.

“Grandpa!”

Lu Yuan called out with a hint of joy.

Lu Yueping quickly stood up with a smile and waved him over.

“Xiao Yuan is back! Come, come, we’ve been waiting for you to eat.”

Today, Lu Yueping looked very spirited.

Lu Yuan could clearly feel that Lu Yueping’s grip on his arm was much stronger than the last time they met.

It seemed he was recovering well.

“In just a few days, you’ve grown so much stronger. That’s great.”

Lu Yueping looked Lu Yuan up and down with a smile, as if he couldn’t get enough of seeing him.

They had barely exchanged a few words before Mom, Zheng Qiuling, urged them upstairs for lunch.

Lunch, of course, was prepared by Lu Xinghua.

Eight dishes and one soup.

It was said to celebrate Lu Yueping’s discharge from the hospital, but most of the food ended up in Lu Yuan’s stomach.

At the dining table, Lu Yueping kept serving Lu Yuan more food, barely eating anything himself.

After lunch, Lu Xinghua received a phone call and hurriedly left.

Lu Yuan stayed with Lu Yueping in the living room, chatting and watching TV until Lu Yueping felt sleepy and went to his room for an afternoon nap. Only then did Lu Yuan get a chance to retreat to his room and properly study the books he had borrowed from the library that morning.

“Exploring the Medieval Period: Lord of the Cavern Fantu Yasi”

“Guduoer Language Self-study Introduction”

“Comprehensive Dictionary of Ten Lesser-known Ancient Languages”