Free Web NovelChapter 128: Chapter 128: Thousand Lantern River
The Thousand Lantern River was beautiful in a way that made Qin Yuheng immediately cautious.
When the Tower light faded, the team stood on a wooden dock beneath a night sky full of mist. Before them stretched a wide black river, its surface covered with floating lanterns. Some lanterns were red. Some blue. Some white. Some gold. They drifted silently with the current, each carrying a tiny flame.
On the far side of the river, barely visible through fog, stood a tall stone gate shaped like an arching bridge.
Small boats were tied to the dock.
Behind the team, several figures waited under rain cloaks. They looked like travelers: an old man, a mother holding a sleeping child, two young guards, a scholar, a silent girl, and a boatman with gray eyes.
The mission panel appeared.
[Floor 22: Thousand Lantern River]
[Main Mission]
Escort the lantern boat across the Thousand Lantern River before dawn.
[Sub-Missions]
1. Protect at least 5 river travelers.
2. Identify 3 false lanterns.
3. Prevent memory loss from exceeding 30%.
4. Avoid capsizing the boat.
5. Discover the true guide lantern.
[Warning]
Following false lanterns may lead to drowned memory zones.
Qin Mo looked at the river.
"I dislike transportation floors."
Qin Yuchen asked, "Because of water?"
"Because boats limit escape."
The boatman approached.
"Climbers. The river is restless tonight. If you wish to cross, board before the third bell."
Qin Yuheng looked at him with Law-Thread Severing Eye.
No contract thread.
No debt mark.
But the boatman’s shadow was faint, as if part of him belonged to the river.
"Are you the guide?" Qin Yuheng asked.
The boatman smiled.
"I row. Lanterns guide."
That answer was not comforting.
The travelers boarded first. Qin Yuheng’s team followed. The boat was larger than expected, shaped like a long flat ferry with lantern hooks along both sides. At the bow hung an empty hook.
The boatman pointed to the river.
"Choose a lantern for the bow. Without one, the river chooses for you."
A panel appeared. freewёbnoνel.com
[Select guide lantern.]
[Warning]
Guide lantern affects route, encounters, and evaluation.
Qin Mo stared at the countless lanterns.
"Of course."
Qin Lian scanned the river.
"Most flames flicker with the current. Some against it."
Qin Yuchen said, "White lanterns gather near fog. Red lanterns near dark water. Gold lanterns are fewer."
The old man traveler whispered, "Follow a white lantern. White means peace."
The scholar shook his head. "Gold means safe passage."
The silent girl pointed at a blue lantern drifting alone.
No one else noticed her movement.
Qin Yuheng did.
He looked at the blue lantern.
It did not burn brightly. It did not call attention. But its flame remained steady even when mist rolled over it.
His panel flickered faintly.
[Lantern aura: stable.]
[No obvious lure detected.]
[Memory resonance: low.]
He chose the blue lantern.
The boatman hooked it to the bow.
The ferry moved.
The river current carried them into mist.
At first, the crossing was calm.
Then voices began.
From the lanterns.
Some whispered names.
Some cried for help.
Some laughed softly.
Qin Yuheng sent a silent jade pulse.
Anchor.
Qin Yuchen answered.
Climbers. Floor 22. River crossing.
Qin Lian answered.
Clear.
Qin Mo answered.
Still on boat. Unfortunately.
The first false lantern appeared after half an hour.
A red lantern drifted close, its flame forming the face of Qin Zhengyuan.
"Yuheng," it whispered, "this way. I found the cure."
The river current bent toward it.
One traveler stood unconsciously and reached out.
Qin Lian moved first, pulling the traveler back.
Qin Yuheng raised the Reflection-Breaking Stone.
The red lantern’s face twisted into a drowned skull.
[False Lantern identified: 1 / 3]
The boatman rowed away.
"Good eyes," he said.
Qin Yuheng looked at him.
"You knew?"
"I row. I do not choose."
Again, not comforting.
The second false lantern was gold.
It shone like treasure and showed a safe stone bridge through the fog. The two young guards nearly begged Qin Yuheng to follow it. Qin Mo noticed the reflection beneath the bridge showed no boat.
False.
They broke it with a sound pulse.
[False Lantern identified: 2 / 3]
The third false lantern imitated the blue guide lantern perfectly.
Even Qin Lian hesitated.
Two identical blue lights floated ahead.
The boatman stopped rowing.
"Choose."
Qin Yuheng activated Law-Thread Severing Eye. The first had faint memory hooks. The second had none, but its shadow fell backward against the current.
Neither was perfectly safe.
Then the silent girl stood and pointed not at either lantern, but at the empty water between them.
Qin Yuheng understood.
The true path was not the obvious choice.
"Forward between them."
The boatman smiled for the first time.
The ferry passed between the two blue lanterns. Both twisted into pale hands reaching from the water, then dissolved.
[False Lantern identified: 3 / 3]
The river darkened.
Drowned figures rose from beneath the surface, clinging to the boat’s sides.
[Drowned Memory Spirits]
[Level: 25]
They did not try to kill immediately.
They whispered memories into the passengers’ ears, increasing memory loss.
Qin Mo activated the Eternal Dream-Waking Soul Lamp fragment he had prepared. Qin Lian cut hands from the boat edge. Qin Yuchen guarded the travelers. Qin Yuheng used Gate Thunder Command Field lightly to stabilize everyone’s response.
Memory loss remained under control.
[Team Memory Loss: 12%]
[Traveler Memory Loss Average: 22%]
The mother holding the child began crying.
"I forgot his name," she whispered.
The child opened his eyes and said, "You named me after the river."
The mother sobbed harder.
Qin Yuheng looked at the boatman.
"Are they real?"
The boatman rowed silently.
The silent girl answered instead.
"Some were. Some are. Some only remember being."
Her voice was soft, but the river quieted when she spoke.
Qin Yuheng’s eyes sharpened.
"You are the true guide?"
She looked at the blue lantern on the bow.
"No. I carried it once."
The mission panel changed.
[True guide lantern clue discovered.]
The final stretch came near dawn.
A massive lantern appeared ahead, white and beautiful, hanging above a calm side channel.
The boatman’s hands trembled.
"That lantern belongs to the River Keeper."
The side channel looked safe.
The blue lantern on the bow flickered weakly.
Qin Yuheng felt the test.
The safe path was false.
The weak lantern was true.
"Stay with blue," he said.
The River Keeper rose.
A tall figure made of water, bones, and lantern frames.
[Thousand Lantern River Keeper]
[Level: 31]
[Floor Boss]
[Status: Enraged by refusal]
The boss attacked the boat directly.
The battle was difficult because capsizing meant failure. Qin Yuheng could not fight recklessly. Qin Yuchen stabilized the center. Qin Lian cut lantern chains. Qin Mo reinforced the boat with emergency formations. Qin Yuheng struck the Keeper only when it rose high enough above water.
The silent girl took the blue lantern from the bow and held it up.
Its flame brightened.
The River Keeper screamed.
"Now," she said.
Qin Yuheng used Thunder Shadow Flash across the bow, drove his sword through the Keeper’s lantern heart, and released controlled thunder.
The River Keeper shattered into rain.
The river became calm.
The far arch appeared.
The ferry reached the other side as dawn broke.
[Main Mission completed.]
[True guide lantern followed.]
[River travelers protected: 7 / 7]
[Memory loss below threshold.]
[Floor Boss defeated.]
[Final Evaluation greatly increased.]
Before fading, the silent girl handed Qin Yuheng the blue lantern.
"I carried it once," she said. "Now it remembers you."
Then she vanished with the other travelers.
The settlement light rose.
Floor 22 was complete.
