The devil is where?

  Amon may not be proficient in all divine arts, crafting all objects, or mastering all formations, but he can comprehensively understand and grasp them. The old madman is not clear whether Amon can find out where Bell is, but his goal is to hope that Amon can unlock the secrets of the gods, so the more profound the understanding of divine art knowledge, the better.

  The old madman also devoted himself to creating a staff of law, which can be compared with the sacred staff of the Isis temple that has been passed down for generations, just to let Amun master various divine techniques in the shortest time.

  After reading the latest information in the Earth's Pupil, Amun couldn't tell whether the feeling in his heart was nostalgia or gratitude. The old madman had spent over a hundred years, traveling to countless countries and temples on the mainland, studying or stealing countless classics, just to compile such complete and detailed divine technique materials, leaving the most precious information in the Earth's Pupil.

  But after reading the old madman's message, Ah Meng's doubts in his heart deepened. He suspected that he had made a mistake earlier, and now he suspected whether the old madman had made a mistake? Since one has to go through all kinds of experiences in the world through "The Devil's Temptation", but he has only been out of the mountain for one day, and has only turned around in Sumail Town.

  Where is the devil? Where is it, where is it - what devil at all!

  However, Amun can already cultivate fifth-level divine techniques, and he's not in a hurry to cross the river first. Instead, he plans to find a secluded place to get familiar with this brand new power control method, practice all the unknown effects of various divine techniques he has cultivated before, and then continue on his way more steadily. After all, walking in densely populated towns is not very convenient for cultivating many divine techniques.

  He opened all four hidden grooves on the iron branch staff, took out the original divine stones, and replaced them with Earth's Pupil, Phantom Blue Water Heart, Wind Charm Dance, and Flame Spirit. He now possessed the power of both a mid-tier mage and a mid-tier warrior, allowing him to open the most hidden groove at the top of the staff and embed the Tears of the Gods.

  However, Ah Mon thought about it and finally decided not to do so. He remembered that when he excavated the Tears of the Gods, the natural powers between heaven and earth were disturbed, and almost all the people in Du Ke Town who were familiar with divine techniques were alarmed. Using such things must be done with caution, without absolute control over protecting and hiding oneself, it's better not to use them, so he left the Tears of the Gods in his bones again.

  Although it doesn't have the inlaid tears of the gods, this staff is already astonishing and shocking enough. To say nothing of other things, there is one magical place that Amun has never seen before. Generally, after a staff is inlaid with divine stones, it becomes inseparable and cannot be exchanged. However, this staff can change the inlaid divine stone at any time according to different uses, and can also inlay various special divine stones in sequence.

  Amon has learned how to make wands, but how this iron branch wand was forged is still beyond his comprehension and exceeds his knowledge. Moreover, maraging steel is not a material for making wands, the materials for wands must be things that grow in nature with a breath of life, such as wood or bone, but the old madman has made such a wonderful wand with maraging steel!

  Amon put away the staff and withdrew the divine technique array, and then returned along the original path. He found a secluded place in the mountains by the Yu Di River and stayed there for seven days before re-emerging from the wilderness, following the Yu Di River downstream to find a ferry crossing.

  Amon's sudden move not only avoided the people sent by the mayor of Sumel Town to find him, but also made another "concerned person" wait in vain for seven days.

  Two sons got into such a big trouble, the mayor of Sumel Town was both angry and afraid. He knew Amun must be a person who is not easy to mess with, perhaps he was indeed a noble king in disguise. If so, his whole family would be in trouble. However, no matter what, they had to find out where Amun was first, but this ugly affair couldn't be spread around. He sent people to quietly search for several days in the vicinity of the town without any clues, and could only give up. That outsider should have crossed the river and left long ago.

  Amun walked out of the deep mountains this time, and to be cautious, he took out the five middle-grade divine technique scrolls obtained in the mysterious cave and put them directly into his leather pouch, so that they could be used at any time. Once again, he came to the grassy slope where he met Yin Nanna, the green grass was still a refreshing and new beautiful scenery, the blue sky floated with white clouds, and the sound of the distant Yu Di River's flowing water was like singing a gentle song.

  The scenery is still the same, and his mood is also refreshing. As he strolled along, he thought of Yoon Se-na again. However, Xue Dingrui reminded him to be careful not to offend that woman, but why?

  As he thought to himself, he walked over the undulating grass slope, the shallow grassy riverbank, and a series of continuous hills along the river, and came to a high slope adjacent to the rapids. Armon was wondering if he had walked so far without seeing the crossing, when he suddenly heard a familiar cry. A young girl was crying on the high slope, but her crying was incredibly moving and pleasant to hear, it was exactly Yin Nana's voice!

  Is there such a coincidence in the world? What trouble did Yoon Nana encounter again? Ahmon hurriedly ran up the high slope and saw from afar that Yoon Nana was squatting on the ground, hugging a small lamb, crying and saying: "Lost lamb, where are you going? I lost the whole flock and only have you left! Who can tell me what to do, who can take me back home? Pitiful fate is lamentable, should I jump into this flowing river?"

  After finishing speaking, Yoon Na-na let go of the lamb's neck and stood up to walk towards the edge of the hill, looking as if she wanted to jump down into the river below, still wearing the skirt that Ah-mon had bought for her.

  "Yin Nanna, don't be in a hurry, take your time to say what's on your mind, whatever you do, don't jump!" Amun's voice suddenly came from the thicket, he had already taken a step forward and grabbed Yin Nanna's arm.

  "Oh my god, Amun, it's you!" Yun Nana heard his voice and fell into Amun's arms, hugging him tightly as she cried even harder. Her tears wetted the clothes on Amun's chest, and while crying, she murmured on his chest: "I thought I would never see you again, and was about to bid farewell to this world!... Amun, how are you still here, and haven't gone far away?"

  Her body was so soft, emitting a seductive aura, her full breasts pressed against Armon's chest, lightly rubbing against him as if unintentionally teasing. Armon felt his own body starting to heat up, he wanted to push her away, but instead his hands gently wrapped around her. In the warmth of the embrace, who could bear to push her away? He lowered his head and asked softly: "I was going to take care of something else, I was just about to find a ferry to cross the river, but then I ran into you again... Don't cry first, tell me what's wrong?"

  He thought to himself as he spoke, Xue Dingyuan had reminded him "can't... her", it couldn't be that he can't hug her, right? Anyway, he had already hugged her and felt extremely good, so he might as well hug her for a while longer.

  Yin Nanna heard this and suddenly raised her head from her bosom, tearfully saying: "Are you going to cross the river? Can you take me with you and send me to the other side of the Yu Di River? I will thank you heavily!... If you can't take me with you, I can only jump down from here."

  "Exactly what's going on, you tell me!" Ammon said helplessly. This was already the third time he had asked her.

  Yin Nanna's eyes welled up with tears as she said, "I didn't dare tell anyone my true identity, but here, you're the only one I can trust. Ah Meng, I don't want to deceive you, do you know that I'm not a shepherdess slave?"

  Amun nodded and said bluntly: "I can tell, you're absolutely not an ordinary shepherdess slave, where are you from and what kind of person are you?"

  Yin Nanna remained in Ah Mon's arms, unwilling to get up, and told him her story. It was a heart-wrenching experience. Her identity was noble and mysterious, even her name couldn't be mentioned lightly. Once, when she sneaked out for a trip, her convoy was ambushed by bandits at the border, and she escaped alone, drifting to an unfamiliar place.

  She had no money on her, and nobody here knew her, so she asked the boatman at the ferry for help, asking him to take her across the Yu River. The boatman was infatuated with her beauty and made an unreasonable request, which she refused. She then asked the local people at the ferry for help, but another person proposed a condition, letting Yin Nan'na herd his sheep.

  The number of sheep cannot be less, and the milk squeezed out and the wool sheared must also increase. The newborn lambs with black spots are Yinnana's reward for herding sheep. Thinking that even if she could cross the Yuandi River, she would still need to travel a long way home, Yinnana agreed to this condition.

  Yin Nanna was herding sheep by the riverbank from last autumn to this summer, and she was overjoyed to see more and more little lambs with black spots in the flock. She was almost ready to save up enough money to cross the river and head back home. But unfortunately, on the day Yin Nanna went to look for a lost lamb, the owner of the sheep had a change of heart and secretly took away all the sheep with black spots, leaving Yin Nanna with only one little lamb she had found.

  Thinking of returning home in vain, Yoon Na-na cried sadly here, and even thought of jumping into the Yeobu River in despair, fortunately met Ah-mon again.

  This story is so absurd that I'm afraid no one will believe it if I tell it, and Yinnana herself seems to know this. After finishing speaking, she looked at Ahmon pitifully and said: "Can you believe what I say? I don't know how to prove it, but I can write my own name for you to see, I'm not a shepherdess slave."

  After finishing speaking, she gently pushed Amun away and left his embrace. She squatted down to pick up a withered branch on the ground and wrote her own name - Yin Nanna. Amun, who had just heard that bizarre story, was shocked again and was convinced that Yin Nanna had a very noble origin, because not only could she write, but also in divine script!

  She wrote in the knife book, and what's even more surprising is that Yinnana drew a square circle outside her own name, with three flame-shaped stripes above the square circle. According to the writing rules of the divine text, the name of the god must be written like this, otherwise it would be disrespectful; and among mortals, only the names of royal nobles can be written in this way, otherwise it would be overstepping one's bounds.

  When Xue Dingyuan wrote "I" with Ai Ju Cao, he also drew a arched door-shaped circle outside, which is the same rule as Cao Shu Shen Wen. Now that Yin Nana writes her own name like this, it is certain that she is of noble birth, and not just any noble, not all nobles can write Shen Wen, let alone add such a mark to their own name.

  "Yin Nanna, I believe you. Your upbringing is indeed noble." Ah Mon nodded involuntarily as he looked at the words on the ground.

  Yin Nanna threw away the withered branch and stood up, turning her head in surprise to ask: "Amon, do you understand divine script?"

  Amun hastily explained: "Even if I don't understand, I can recognize that this is divine script. The fact that you can write divine script proves your upbringing... Noble miss, with your identity, why can't you directly seek help from people and instead stay here to herd sheep? And what can I do for you?"

  He didn't acknowledge that he could read the divine script, as this might expose his identity as a magician. However, even an illiterate commoner would be able to recognize that Yinnana's writing was in divine script, as many temples had decorations with divine script, inscribed with poems praising the gods.

  "Don't call me noble lady, Ahmon. Just call me Yoon Nana, I like it when you call me that... My identity can't be revealed easily in this distant place, or else I might get kidnapped and held for ransom, and some people might even send assassins to kill me before the welcoming party arrives... Ahmon, I trust you so I'm telling you all this. If you help me cross the Yubido River and safely deliver me to the royal capital, I swear I will reward you heavily!"

  If Yoon Nana's identity was indeed noble and important, it was possible that she could be kidnapped for a large ransom in this remote area near the kingdom border. She also said that if the news leaked out, there might be assassins arriving before the welcoming party to kill her, which would involve complex palace power struggles.

  Seeing Ah Mon's puzzled expression, Yin Nanna stretched out her hand to hold his arm and explained in a coquettish tone: "I've been suspecting that the robbery attack on my convoy was arranged by the political enemies of the royal capital. They must have thought I was dead, and if they knew I was still alive, they wouldn't let me return safely to Balen City."

  "Ah Meng, my handsome hunter, brave hero Ah Meng! If you're afraid, just send me across the Yu Di River and lend me some travel expenses. I'll go to Balen City myself. I can tell you a place, one day when you go to Balen City and I've safely returned home, you'll receive a huge reward there."

  His arm was held by Yinnana, her soft chest rubbing against his arm, and the enchanting fragrance kept drilling into his nostrils. Ahmon also felt a bit dizzy, but his head was still clear, and he asked a question: "Yinnana, if you return to Wangdu via Youdi River, how much more travel expenses will you need?"

  Yin Nanna replied with a hint of disappointment: "One gold coin is enough... Ah Meng, even if you don't give it to me, I'll still be grateful to you forever!"

  Amon shook his head and said, "I didn't say I wouldn't send you, I just asked a question. Anyway, I'm going to Balen City too, so it's not inconvenient for me to travel with you. If you want to walk with me, can you agree on a few things? Otherwise, after crossing the river, I'll give you twenty silver coins and you can go home by yourself."

  Yoon Na-na exclaimed in surprise: "Tell me, I'll grant it! My hero, I really don't know how to repay you. Now that I have nothing, even if it's with my own self..."

  Amon interrupted her, saying: "Don't mention repayment first, I haven't done what I promised yet. You're not going to pay me back after we arrive at the capital, are you?... My conditions are simple, I hope you can change into coarse linen clothes, cover up your beautiful figure, and smear mud on your face to hide your lovely appearance.... You don't want to be recognized on the way back either, do you?"

  Amon learned a lesson from the incident in Sumeru Town, where he was ambushed at midnight for his divine stone. On the other hand, someone also coveted Yelan's beauty. Amon thought it wouldn't be a big deal to take Yelan across the river and on the road, as he was originally a helpful child who just didn't want to cause similar trouble again.

  Xue Dingyuan reminded Ah Mon not to provoke Yinnana, even if he listened to the cat's words, he couldn't just watch as Yinnana jumped into the river right in front of him. If Yinnana's self-described experiences were true, it could also explain why Xue Dingyuan had reminded Ah Mon that way - a mysterious royal nobleman indeed couldn't be easily provoked. With Ah Mon's identity as a "refugee" from a foreign land, he also couldn't have an overly intimate relationship with her, or else there would be big trouble.

  Amon actually wanted her to put mud on her face! Yoon Na-na's expression was slightly awkward for a moment, and there was even a hint of anger in her eyes that was not easily noticeable. However, she eventually said in a coquettish tone: "Let's talk about it after we cross the river, we're still far from King Balen's palace. In this remote area, no one will recognize me. We can actually rent a horse carriage, and I'll hide inside without showing my face."

  "Ah, nodded and said: "Well, let's talk about it after crossing the river. We can also rent a horse carriage. But just in case, you should still change your clothes and smear mud on your face. This is for your own good, as well as for my own safety."

  Yin Nanna lowered her head and said: "Let's cross the river first, I'll lead the way to the nearest ferry."

  Ammon: "I was just thinking of asking someone where the ferry is, it's great that you know the way."

  As a goddess, how could Mut be allowed to smear mud on her own face by a mortal like Amun? Fortunately, Amun did not make her do so now, everything would wait until after the Wadi el-Hudi. So she led Amun down from the high slope. Not far away, they saw several villages, and further ahead was another market town. The riverbank near the market town was where the ferry crossing was located.

  The ferry crossing of a large river is often also the gathering place for merchants coming and going, so it naturally develops into a town. The wide river wants to find a convenient place to cross, and must rely on natural geographical conditions. First, the river surface should be wide and the water flow slow, with no part of the river too deep, and the pole can reach the bottom. With the wind direction changing throughout the four seasons, and the ferry boat coming and going frequently, it is impossible to rely on sails, basically all relying on human power to row the boat.

  Ah-mong is very serious about getting things done, and never drags his feet. When he says he'll do something, he does it right away. Yinnan-na didn't want to put mud on her face just yet, so Ah-mong first took her into town and spent ten copper coins buying a set of coarse hemp clothes. After changing into these, they came to the ferry crossing. The little lamb had been following behind Yinnan-na all along, without needing to be led and not getting lost.

  The ferry was very large, with flat ends and a wide middle. Unlike those crescent-shaped deep cargo ships, this ferry had a shallower draft and could hold more people on top. Many of the river-crossers were merchants coming and going, and their goods also required payment for shipping. The fare to cross the river was five copper coins per person, two copper coins for one sheep, and Amun paid twelve copper coins to take Yin Nana and the little lamb aboard.

  Although the ferry is already in the section of the river with the slowest current, widest surface and shallowest depth, the water becomes very deep not far from the riverbank. This can be seen from the waterline of the long pole used by the boatman to punt the boat. The water surface is nearly thirty feet away from the riverbed. It's very strenuous to punt such a long pole, so there are three boatmen on each side of the ferry, holding six long poles together to punt the boat. The ferry carries more than sixty people, over ten livestock and a pile of goods, slowly sailing towards the opposite bank.

  Amon and Yin Nana did not squeeze into the cabin of the covered boat, but stood at the bow with a small lamb, gazing out at the scenery on the opposite bank. A cool breeze blew across the river's surface, and Yin Nana's hair brushed against Amon's face, making his cheeks and ears itch, and his heart felt inexplicably itchy too, yet somehow very comfortable.

  Amon seems to be enjoying this feeling, the gentle breeze on the Yu Di River is intoxicating, and he even thinks in his heart: "It's actually not bad to travel with Yinnana all the way, at least it won't be boring on the road, and there's a gentle and kind guide."

  Perhaps the intoxicating sensation of the wind blowing through his hair had somewhat affected Arin's reaction, and it wasn't until the wind direction changed and the river surface formed a strange whirlpool that he suddenly sensed a dangerous aura emanating from the depths of the river, as if a terrifying power was surging up about to erupt. Arin, who had suddenly come to his senses, grabbed Yeon-ah and jumped into the cabin behind him, shouting "Everyone be careful!" and raised his iron staff before leaping back onto the bow of the boat.

  Just as he raised his staff, the water surface in front of him suddenly split open, and a huge long tail rose up and fiercely lashed towards the ferry. There was indeed a terrifying monster lurking in the water, and for some reason it suddenly launched an attack on the ferry. This move was all too familiar to Amun, as Iron Armor Beast King Yun Meng loved to lurk at the bottom of the water and play such sneak attacks.

  This tail was much thicker than the giant tail with bony armor of Yun Meng, and only the part that flew out of the river surface was more than 20 feet long and thicker than a bucket. On its surface grew palm-sized dark green scales, like an incredibly large snake tail. It swooped down in mid-air, making a sound of compressed air bursting, its speed and power can be imagined, it seemed that one strike could smash the ferry boat!

  But the suddenly appearing snake tail did not hit the ship's body, and a nearly transparent ice shield suddenly appeared in mid-air to block it for a moment. The ice shield immediately emitted an ear-piercing shattering sound and turned into countless fragments. The long tail continued to strike down and hit a shield-shaped murky mist, dispersing the mist at a slightly slower speed, but still heavily striking down.

  Space seemed to warp for a moment, the long tail as if suspended in mid-air by some strange force, and then a loud shout was heard from Ah Mon standing at the bow of the ship.

  （）