Chapter 571 The Strange Monastery
Figuring out exactly how much dough Ethan had? Yeah, good luck with that. Even Ethan himself had no clue about the Wilson family's fortune, and honestly, he couldn't care less.
"Alright, let's hustle to the Riverstone Reservoir. I ain't tryna be late and miss out," Ethan said, dodging Marco's question and hopping straight into the car.
Half an hour later, Angela pulled up at the edge of the Riverstone Reservoir.
"Riverstone Reservoir's just a tiny spot in the burbs, surrounded by mountains. Besides a few locals, you won't see a soul. Finding someone here ain't too tough; it's all about how you go about it," Marco said, glancing at the mountains around them.
"You know this place?" Ethan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not really, but I've been here a couple of times, camping with some buddies. There's a natural campsite nearby, and the view by the reservoir is pretty sweet," Marco replied with a grin.
"You two chill here. I'll scope the place out and be back in a jiffy," Ethan ordered, leaving no room for debate. Before they could blink, he was gone.
"Where'd Ethan go?" Marco asked, dumbfounded.
"Don't act like a newbie. It's embarrassing to have you around," Angela scoffed, rolling her eyes. She thought if it weren't for Marco, she might've been able to search with Ethan.
But truth be told, Ethan never planned on taking Angela along for the search. With his speed, he could cover miles in minutes. Even though Angela was now a Half-Step Grandmaster, she was still way slower than him. To Ethan, Angela and Marco were just dead weight.
Luckily, Angela was a Half-Step Grandmaster. Even if she ran into other Half-Step Grandmasters, she wouldn't be totally helpless. Plus, if anything went down, Ethan would be back in a flash.
Like Marco said, besides the barren mountains, there were barely any houses near the Riverstone Reservoir. Occasionally, you might spot some old shacks on the outskirts.
Using the reservoir as his base, Ethan quickly scanned the surrounding mountains but found no sign of any martial artists, just a few farmers chopping wood.
Frowning, Ethan appeared in the forest near one of the farmers.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Ethan approached the farmer.
The farmer, clearly not expecting anyone in the middle of nowhere, was startled but quickly composed himself.
"Where'd you come from, and what are you doing out here?" the farmer asked, eyeing Ethan suspiciously.
"Well, I was camping with some friends and got separated while messing around in the mountains. Seen any of my buddies?" Ethan asked with a smile, slipping a wad of cash into the farmer's rough hand.
"You look loaded. What's so fun about these empty mountains? And why are there so many outsiders here lately?" The farmer's face lit up when he saw the cash, but his words made Ethan's heart skip a beat.
"So, you've seen my friends?" Ethan asked quickly.
"I've seen a few outsiders, but they were different from you. They all had cold expressions and looked scary. I didn't dare to approach them. Are those people your friends?" The farmer lit a cigarette, puffing away as he pocketed the money without a second thought.
"Oh, my friends are a bit eccentric. Don't mind them. Can you tell me where they are now?" Ethan thought to himself that those people had indeed shown up here and immediately pressed for more info.
"Well, I don't know where they are now, but I saw them heading towards the back mountain yesterday, in the direction of Lion Ridge," the farmer said, shaking his head and pointing to a distant peak.
"Lion Ridge?" Ethan glanced at the distant peak, estimating it to be at least twenty miles away, an area he hadn't searched yet.
"You'd better not go there. It's desolate, and hardly anyone goes into those deep mountains. There's even a rumor that it's haunted. You young people are really brave, not afraid of getting lost and never coming back," the farmer warned, seeing that Ethan seemed intent on heading to Lion Ridge.
"Oh, I see. Thanks for the heads-up. I won't bother you anymore. Goodbye!" Ethan didn't take the farmer's words to heart, nodded with a smile, and turned to walk towards the foot of the mountain.
Once he turned into a valley out of the farmer's sight, Ethan's figure disappeared into the forest again. What would take an ordinary person half a day of climbing and trekking was just a matter of minutes for Ethan.
Moments later, Ethan arrived at the foot of Lion Ridge, the mountain the farmer had pointed out.
"There's actually a monastery on this mountain? But it seems abandoned." Under his spiritual search, Ethan quickly noticed something unusual on a gentle slope halfway up the mountain, revealing a slightly puzzled expression.
A mere abandoned monastery wouldn't normally catch Ethan's attention, but he could sense waves of restrictive energy emanating from it. To verify his senses, he appeared near the abandoned monastery in the next moment.
"This feels familiar, almost like a magic circle." From a distance, Ethan could clearly sense the familiar restrictive energy waves from the monastery.
"Angel, can you check if there's a magic circle set up in that monastery?" Ethan asked Angel in his Sea of Consciousness.
"Let me see. Isn't this just a basic nested magic array?" Angel's indifferent voice quickly responded.
"What's a nested magic array?" Ethan raised an eyebrow and asked.
"The outer layer is a basic defense mechanism, mainly to conceal the true appearance of the monastery and the presence of anyone inside. The inner layer is an array to enhance the spiritual energy of the place, likely for someone to cultivate here," Angel explained calmly.
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