Chapter 489: A Perilous Journey Through the Xia-Mongol Border Mountains

Half-Li Li's story progressed quickly; Zhang Lin barely touched on his time studying the craft in Luoyang.

When it was presented to the audience, it was already at the experience of his first tomb raid!

This left the few who had been preparing to delve into Half-Li Li's apprenticeship somewhat dumbfounded.

Old Lady Huo frowned, looking down at Zhang Lin on stage, muttering under her breath.

"He breezes past the key parts — this old woman still wanted to hear about Li Tangzhu's affairs in Luoyang!"

It wasn't only Old Lady Huo; Zhang Yueshan and Yin Nanfeng also felt it was a pity.

"This Master Guo from Luoyang — forgive my limited knowledge, but I've truly never heard of him."

Yin Nanfeng chuckled and said, "Didn't you hear what Mr. Zhang said? This Master Guo was nothing but a swindler. You've always followed the Buddha Lord, and the Buddha Lord is at least a figure of standing in Old Changsha — how could he possibly know the likes of such a person?"

Zhang Yueshan glanced at her, then said, "Your habit of looking down on others — not a thing has changed."

"I thought that being around Zhang Lin, you might have changed quite a bit."

"I didn't expect Zhang Lin to be nothing more than a special case."

Yin Nanfeng glared, fixing her eyes on Zhang Yueshan: "Those who have real ability, I naturally look up to."

"But what sort of thing is this swindler surnamed Guo? Put him before your Jiumen, and I doubt you'd treat him any better."

"Instead you're making an issue of my attitude — what kind of reasoning is that?"

A real man does not quarrel with a woman. Seeing Yin Nanfeng flare up, Zhang Yueshan wisely chose to shut his mouth.

But in his heart he always felt Zhang Lin was skirting the important parts.

Could it be that Half-Li Li's time in Luoyang truly had nothing worth talking about?

If that were really so, then Zhang Lin's storytelling method had basically confirmed that Half-Li Li's tomb-raiding skills had nothing to do with the local Luoyang school.

It also made Zhang Yueshan all the more curious about the story to come.

Zhang Lin did not pause, but continued: "Half-Li Li probably never imagined that the place of his first tomb raid would actually be abroad."

"Not only the unfamiliar geography, but also the language barrier."

"Before they set out, Chalegai had warned them that once they arrived locally, unless it was someone he had introduced, it was best not to speak on their own initiative."

"During that period, there were many people smuggling goods along the Xia-Mongol and Xia-Russian borders, and Chalegai was exactly the sort of man who ran this smuggling trade."

"From what Half-Li Li later learned, Chalegai's smuggling business was enormous — he was a man of extraordinary commercial talent."

"If Half-Li Li had to say it, he felt Chalegai didn't resemble a scion of the Golden Family at all, but rather a Persian merchant whose goods reached every corner of the world."

"Chalegai told Half-Li Li and the others that the place they were going had endless mountain ranges, all desolate and uninhabited, with every mountain having one or several Shankou."

"So these outsiders had best not wander about, because even the Mongols themselves couldn't recognize every part of these lands."

"Although Half-Li Li took Chalegai's warning to heart, he also kept a watchful eye open."

"He began secretly studying the Mongol language, and he heard a place name repeated over and over in Chalegai's mouth."

"That place was called Tannu Mountain, its terrain stretching on for a thousand li, with no one knowing how many Shankou it had."

"Moreover, Half-Li Li discovered that the Mongol language was extremely difficult to learn."

"Although the Mongol population was not large now, every tribe still preserved and used its own language."

"Those who didn't understand lumped them all together as Mongols, but they themselves drew very clear lines between their tribes."

"Listening along the way, Half-Li Li felt that Chalegai's Mongol speech differed greatly from the common Mongol language!"

"For this reason, Half-Li Li took the chance during a rest to ask Chalegai about it."

"Half-Li Li took a taciturn old guide from the caravan as an example, saying that Chalegai's Mongol speech differed from this man's."

"After hearing Half-Li Li's question, a very pleased smile spread across Chalegai's face. He said slowly: 'I am surnamed Borjigin. The language of our clan is naturally different from that of these common folk!'"

"At that time Half-Li Li was lacking in general knowledge. He knew Genghis Khan was called Temujin, but he did not know that Borjigin was Temujin's clan."

"Half-Li Li only half-understood what Chalegai meant by those words."

By this point the audience basically understood that Chalegai's identity was probably settled.

He bore the surname Borjigin, and he could speak the language of that tribe!

On top of that, this fellow was far too familiar with the desolate, uninhabited roads of this region.

It was as if a route map were etched into his mind.

As the saying goes, laymen watch the excitement, insiders watch the craft.

Upon hearing Chalegai say that his language was the Mongol tongue of the Borjigin clan, Professor Liu was so excited he stood up at once.

Zhang Lin looked up and immediately noticed Professor Liu's unusual state.

When he told stories, he liked interaction, and he also needed experts like Professor Liu to corroborate.

So Zhang Lin asked loudly: "Professor Liu, you're an expert in this field — is the language of the Borjigin tribe particularly particular?"

At Zhang Lin's question, everyone's gaze instantly turned to Professor Liu.

Professor Liu did not hold back; he was indeed stirred within.

If before he had been listening to Half-Li Li's tomb-raiding experience with the attitude of hearing a story,

then now Professor Liu had become exceedingly serious!

He said to the crowd: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid this counts as showing off my slight skill before true masters."