It was said that De Yun Cave was located in Yu State, so Duan Yun and the others were in no hurry to set off.
For the next six days, Duan Yun and Ziyu enjoyed themselves in Yu Fu City.
In Yu Fu City, the red pandas worked diligently, and there were plenty of culinary delights, especially the Jiugongge hotpot and the Zhuyéqīng wine, which were top-notch specialties of Yu State.
Ziyu ate hotpot for six consecutive days, feeling like her intestines were about to have issues, finally getting a break on the seventh day.
This was because they were about to head to De Yun Cave.
Duan Yun and Ziyu were very interested in the Iron Maiden, while the Iron Maiden was equally intrigued by Duan Yun and Ziyu.
This was due to the substantial number of golden ingots they had offered.
Ziyu, being a writer of idle books, naturally crafted an identity for the two, concocted fairly plausibly, with plenty of details.
Duan Yun listened as Ziyu earnestly spun tales, becoming more convinced of the saying, "The prettier the woman, the more deceitful she is."
And more deceitful than a pretty woman is a pretty woman who writes books.
On the road, Ziyu wanted to ask about the exact location of De Yun Cave, only to be answered with — "Don't ask about these things, just follow along."
This ti, the three of them traveled for two days.
On the road, Duan Yun and Ziyu played their parts well, occasionally expressing a desire to rest, pretending to be devoid of martial arts skills.
Ziyu noticed a few tis that the Iron Maiden was observing them with a playful gaze.
They had previously handed over several golden ingots, certainly flaunting their wealth, making it hard for the Iron Maiden not to be tempted.
Yet, the Iron Maiden ultimately did not make a move.
This indicated that she had seen the world, seen silver coins, and was not swayed by these riches.
Yu State was also mountainous; at first, they could occasionally spot scenes of won farming and n weaving. By now, they were surrounded by desolate wilderness.
Duan Yun and Ziyu figured that such an environnt was fit for a place where one could be led to perish and have their body discarded.
At dusk that day, with Duan Yun and Ziyu trailing behind the Iron Maiden, they crossed an area of overgrown weeds and saw a cave.
A cave shaped like a stead bun.
Accompanying it was a clamor of human voices.
The voices ca from within the cave, giving an eerie feeling in this desolate wilderness.
There had always been rumors of a "ghost market" in the Martial World, aning if one suddenly encountered a crowd, possibly even a marketplace in such a desolate place, those people were not likely to be human, but ghosts.
If ordinary people suddenly heard voices coming from a cave in such a place, they would certainly be frightened into fleeing.
But here, it was precisely Duan Yun and their destination.
Ziyu looked at the cave entrance and couldn't help but exclaim, "So this is De Yun Cave."
The Iron Maiden, seeing her looking all inexperienced, explained, "This is indeed De Yun Cave. Without , you wouldn't find this place in a lifeti."
This place was indeed concealed, but Duan Yun and Ziyu had a doubt.
The setup here was significant. Even in such a desolate wilderness, news would eventually leak, leaving traces.
As they ventured deeper into the cave, this doubt was resolved.
The top of the cave had an opening through which daylight stread in, leaving it not dark.
On both sides of the cave were two rows of vendors selling various goods.
What caught Duan Yun's attention the most was a stall selling yellow eels, as its sign read, "Living things are consud, my fate is mine, not Heaven's, no dead ones sold."
At the entrance of the shop, custors were sitting, swallowing live eels whole.
The eels were alive, likely seasoned with so salt or spices.
The custors had to swallow these live eels without biting them in half.
Among them, two female custors had the tail end of an eel still wriggling in their mouths, and they both rolled their eyes as they swallowed them whole.
Nearby, soone wanted to help, but they stopped them.
Despite rolling their eyes, they exclaid through their noses, "So thrilling! So comfortable! So delicious!"
Honestly, the scene was both horrifying and disgusting, giving the impression of paying to endure pain.
But this eel stall always had good business.
At this mont, the shopkeeper suddenly shouted, "Madam, these eels are for eating, why are you stuffing them into your pants?"
The madam responded with disdain, "Eating from below isn't still eating?"
As her belly moved, the eel, initially wriggling around her pants, was suddenly sucked in and completely disappeared.
Witnessing this, Duan Yun thought of an old acquaintance.
The Beautiful Ghost.
The Beautiful Ghost had a bloodthirsty mouth below her pants, devouring everything. Could this woman be a remnant of the Ghost Mother lineage?
Afterwards, Duan Yun and Ziyu wandered around, confirming why De Yun Cave had never been exposed.
Because it wasn't a fixed location at all.
This cave's entrance was freshly expanded, with traces of stone being broken, and the bamboo structures surrounding the stalls were new.
This ant that De Yun Cave was temporarily expanded.
After the De Yun Conference was held here, this place would likely be abandoned, and the stalls and vendors would be moved, which is why the De Yun Conference remained a secret for so many years and could not be accessed without an "insider" as a guide.
The further they walked into De Yun Cave, the wider it beca.
Suddenly, the light increased, and they had exited the relatively enclosed cave entrance.
Or rather, this cave entrance was partially exposed outside, with a bottomless cliff right next to it.
But there were several people lying by the cliff.
Beside the cliff was an outstretched bamboo structure, looking not very secure, yet quite a few people were lying on it asleep.
In Duan Yun's eyes, as soon as the bamboo swayed, or if soone next to them pushed, or they accidentally turned over while sleeping, one could easily fall off the cliff, leaving no bones behind.
But these people continued to sleep on these bamboo racks, looking sowhat exhausted.
These people were all dressed like storytellers.
The Iron Maiden explained, "They are colleagues here to attend the conference, having surely been preparing for a stunning performance at the De Yun Conference all along."
Duan Yun nodded, silently noticing, "No wonder they all look like burnt-out wage workers."
Indeed, even though these people were asleep, they still looked very weary, just like when he himself used to toil away in employnt.
Ziyu couldn't help but remark, "They prepared for so long. Do we not need to prepare?"
The Iron Maiden glanced at her, then at Duan Yun, and said, "Storytelling is all about innate talent. If your talent requires exhaustive preparation just to pass this stage, it's really hard to learn any real skills."
According to the Iron Maiden, the De Yun Conference would begin tomorrow, attracting storytellers of great renown.
This included the Third Sect Master of their own lineage.
From the literal sense, it could be seen that this was the third-ranking figure in the Bloodthirsty Storytelling Sect.
Duan Yun couldn't help but ask, "What's the nickna of this Third Sect Master?"
The Iron Maiden replied, "Surna Cao, given na Wang, Cao Wang, once called Cao Wanduo."
Ziyu inquired, "Then why did he change his na?"
"Because he lacked virtue, having slept with three of the Second Master's wives, not even sparing the Great Sect Master's elder mother, causing both the Great and Second Sect Masters to beco furious and thus retracting the 'De' in his na," the Iron Maiden explained.
Duan Yun and Ziyu both gasped.
Ziyu couldn't hold back and sighed, "He did all that, and they only took one character from his na?"
The Iron Maiden, thrusting her proud chest forward, boasted, "Our lineage values 'cherishing talent,' even though Master Cao Wang is lustful and especially fond of married won, his skills are undeniably impressive.
And the great grace of the Great and Second Sect Masters can absolutely tolerate such flaws in him, which is why our sect only grows larger and stronger, eventually commanding the world."
"You may see people like Old Demon Duan rampaging around now, claiming supremacy and complete obedience, but those are just fleeting monts."
"The ones who will truly command the world are people like us who speak with our mouths."
Duan Yun curiously asked, "Can you truly achieve that?"
The Iron Maiden, clearly interested, said, "Of course, we have accomplished it before in the past, and now we are simply restoring our glory."
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