Xie Lian's first reaction was to reach for Fang Xin and strike. Good thing he had good habits, and before he struck he swept a glance, forcing himself to brake in mid action, "General Pei?"
That man flipped over and leapt to his feet. It was Pei Ming. He dusted off his shoulders, looking amazingly at ease, and glanced at them, "Looks like Your Highness and My Lord Ghost King are enjoying yourselves here."
"Not too bad, not too bad." Xie Lian said, "But General Pei, are you alright? I seemed to have heard a cracking sound..."
"Oh, it's nothing." Pei Ming said, "Thanks for Your Highness' concern. That cracking sound wasn't my bones but the bones of this one." He raised an object, and it was the femur of that unlucky man, the bones already bent and broken. He added, "Thank goodness for this good brother's help that Pei Ming was able to dig out an escape route in this mountain spirit's body. Even though it's the bone of a man, it's still a fairly solid good man."
Just as he finished, from not far away, a second figure dropped from the sky, falling down and landing heavily. The group of them walked over to see, and this time it was Pei Su. In the curve of his arms was Ban Yue being shielded, and Ban Yue's arms were holding those two black clay pots that contained Ke Mo and Rong Guang. The two of them were ashen faced and disheveled but there didn't seem to be anything serious, and they quickly crawled up. Pei Su spat out a few mouthfuls of dust, "Gen, eral! Your highness."
Pei Ming glanced up, "Looks like this mountain spirit doesn't think we're tasty enough, and spat us out."
Hua Cheng and Xie Lian exchanged a look and said quietly, "Not necessarily. Perhaps, someone told it to spat you out."
Pei Ming took a few steps and noticed the abnormal ground shaking, and he furrowed his brows, "What's with this mountain? Why is it shaking to hard?"
"Because it's currently carrying us and running towards the Kiln." Xie Lian replied.
Pei Ming walked to that hole Yin Yu dug and looked outside, "So fast! That'll help save us some footwork."
However, until now, there was still another person missing. Xie Lian asked, "Where's Ling Wen?"
Hua Cheng seemed to have used his right eye to take a look and replied, "The silver butterfly resting on his back was swallowed by the mountain spirit. He's gone."
Which meant, Ling Wen and the Brocade Immortal could now move as they will. That was no joke. Xie Lian hurriedly exclaimed, "Let's go find him!"
Thus, the group of them started running about the body of this mountain spirit. Hua Cheng released another few hundred wraithe butterflies to conduct a search, and in the end, it led them to another hole.
This hole was forcibly blown out, its edges jagged, and beyond it was the sceneries of landscapes rapidly flying by, whooshing wild winds pouring straight into the mountain body, making howling cries like that of demons. After Ling Wen was spat out by the mountain spirit, he probably blew this hole himself and ran away. Xie Lian looked down from the edges of the hole and frowned, "What should we do now? The destructive power of that Brocade Immortal is too strong, we can't just leave it be."
"Don't worry." Hua Cheng said, "He's heading for the Kiln anyway, so we're really just taking different paths to go to the same destination."
Once everyone gathered around, Xie Lian briefly gave an account of what he had overheard earlier, leaving out some fine details. After he was done, the group of them sat down to space out. After all, there weren't any monsters to fight right now, and they didn't need to make the journey themselves, so it was rather empty and boring.
Since Yin Yu said he really didn't know how to communicate with Quan Yi Zhen, and just seeing his face gave him a headache, Xie Lian also felt it wouldn't be wise to release him, so he was temporarily kept in the form of the daruma doll. Pei Ming was bored so he kept slapping at the doll to play. Xie Lian saw how that daruma doll was wobbling heavily and felt sorry for it, so he chided, "General Pei, please stop playing."
Pei Ming complied. However, when Xie Lian grew drowsy and dozed off leaning against the mountain wall, he started slapping at it again. There was no one to mind him, and Yin Yu who was guarding the hole, mentally calculating how much distance was traveled, looked over from the distance. Many a times he looked like he wanted to say something but in the end nothing was said, yet unexpectedly, in extreme joy tragedies were born; Pei Ming was slapping around when suddenly, Pei Su THUD! And keeled over. Pei Ming instantly forgot all about playing and gripped Pei Su, "Little Pei? What's wrong?!"
Yin Yu quietly walked over and picked up the daruma doll and set it down next to Xie Lian. Hua Cheng was annoyed, "What's with all the noise, he won't die. Can't you see His Highness is asleep?"
Xie Lian was dozing for a while and sure enough, was woken by the noise. The moment he woke he found he was leaning against Hua Cheng's shoulder. Hua Cheng's voice sounded right next to his ear, "Gege is awake?"
Xie Lian rubbed at his eyes, and next to him, Quan Yi Zhen was swaying back and forth, "What's going on?"
"It's nothing." Hua Cheng replied, "If you're sleepy you can take another nap. We'll be there soon enough."
Xie Lian saw across from them was Pei Ming clutching Pei Su's collar, violently shaking him, and he was slightly shocked, now more than awake. Thinking something was the matter, he went up to see, then he said, "Oh, don't worry, General Pei. General Pei Junior is just tired and hungry, and couldn't hang on for the moment."
Pei Su was mortal right now after all, and having struggled for so long without food and water, nor with Xie Lian's extensive experience in starvation and beatings where one meal could sustain him for three days and taking ten beatings meant nothing, Pei Su couldn't hang on any more and had finally collapsed. Pei Ming remarked, "The mortal body is so inconvenient. Does anyone have anything to eat?"
No one responded. Ban Yue took out a pot, "I'm sorry, but I only have this..." It was that pot filled with Toppled Phoenixes. Pei Ming yelled, "Why are you still holding on to that thing? Throw it out!"
They were noisy and rowdy, and Hua Cheng turned to Xie Lian, "See, I told you it was nothing. Why not take another nap."
That mountain spirit ran for a good whole day, and Xie Lian could see the skies were turning dark outside, "How long have we been running now?"
Yin Yu had been counting by that hole and answered, "We've run close to eight hundred miles."
This was definitely much faster than when they walked. Xie Lian also came to the edge of the hole. He was only going to take a casual look at first, but when his eyes swept their surroundings, he suddenly saw something and instantly, the hairs on his back stood up, "What's that down there?"
Looking down from this mountain spirit, in the black of night, below on the ground, was a giant human face!
That face bore crescent eyes, its lips curled upwards, and was smiling creepily. Xie Lian took a step back in spite of himself. Hua Cheng was behind him and held him. Xie Lian steadied his mind and looked closer again. Turns out, that 'face' was merely an image formed by collective hills and ravines, an optical illusion. However, this illusion looked very real, and with but a glance it was a shocking sight.
Xie Lian wondered, "What's that gully that resembles the 'eyelids' and 'lips'?"
Hua Cheng replied, "That's the WuYong River, the main river of WuYong. Its source is in the high mountains, and the melted snow formed this river. Of course, it's now dried out completely. But to have reached here, it means we're very close to the Kiln now."
Xie Lian nodded and asked again, "Then the 'nose'?"
Hua Cheng answered, "It's a lively city next to the shore of WuYong River. Wanna go down and see?"
Xie Lian inclined his head, "Is there anything worth seeing down there?"
"There's another Divine Temple of WuYong in that city." Hua Cheng said.
If there was a temple then there was the possibility of a mural. Xie Lian instantly said, "Let's go!"
He couldn't wait to learn more about this Crown Prince of WuYong. Pei Ming also piped up, "Let's go! We have to find something edible for Little Pei. How do we go down?"
Hua Cheng waved his hand, and a few silver butterflies appeared fluttering next to everyone, shimmering their light, and they rested on everyone's shoulders, backs, heads, and sleeves. Others who saw these little silver butterflies might grumble and wonder whether if they could possibly bring them anywhere, but Xie Lian didn't say a word before releasing RuoYe and tied everyone together. This way, they wouldn't lose each other in mid air. Yin Yu made the hole larger so there was enough space for at least five to six people to go through at the same time. Preparations complete, Xie Lian and company all came to the edge of the hole, "Everyone, get ready –"
"Wait!" Pei Ming called out.
Xie Lian turned to look, "General Pei, is something the matter?"
"There's something that I've been meaning to ask." Pei Ming said, "What's that on your hands?"
Following his gaze, Xie Lian looked down and saw his own hand. He raised it and only then did he realize that the red string knotted on both his and Hua Cheng's fingers were still connected.
"..." Xie Lian softly cleared his throat, "Th-This is... a spiritual device for contact of sorts."
"Oh." Pei Ming said, "Wouldn't it be inconvenient? It's a string after all, what if you trip on it or it gets entangled somewhere, accidents will happen."
His reminder made a lot of sense, but for some mysterious reason, Xie Lian wasn't too willing to have this string cut off. Seeing his hesitant expression like he was struggling internally, Hua Cheng took a look and smiled, "It certainly is a little inconvenient like this."
Then, Xie Lian saw the red string disappear between their fingers. "Now it's much more practical." Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian stared at the empty air where that red string disappeared, a little dumbfounded. It only connected them for a short while before it was gone. Although it wasn't anything major, no, it should be said that it was something extremely miniscule, still, he was a little forlorn. Afraid someone would notice, Xie Lian squeezed a smile, "Let's go! Ready – JUMP!"
That mountain spirit was still charging forward by itself, and didn't notice at all that the little people the size of grasshoppers had leapt off from its own body. Enveloped by a circle of wraithe butterflies, the group of them landed lightly like feathers without a hair harmed. The place of their landing was the bridge of the 'nose' of that giant smiling face.
After straightening up, Xie Lian was perplexed. He scanned around, "San Lang, is there a WuYong temple and a city here?"
"There is." Hua Cheng said.
"But... there's nothing here?" Xie Lian remarked.
It was true. He had thought when they've landed on the ground, he would see the same sight of a small town like that of the first divine temple, that he could see streets, shops, residences, wells, temples, etc. However, what was before him was a field of flat land, empty and barren without a trace that a city had ever existed. Pei Ming was carrying Pei Su, and he stepped a leg on a boulder, "Where's this 'lively city'?"
"Under your feet." Hua Cheng said.
"What?"
The group crowded over. Under Pei Ming's foot was that boulder, and Xie Lian asked, "Is there some sort of a secret mechanism?"
"Come stand here." Hua Cheng said.
He pulled out the scimitar E-Ming, aimed the tip downwards, and struck into the ground right next to the boulder. The tip of that scimitar pierced into the ground, and at first, there was a cracking sound, and small cobweb like fractures split the earth. Then, those fractures spread rapidly, the cracks bigger and bigger, the fissures deeper and deeper. Finally, that entire section of the ground caved in with a boom, revealing a chilling dark hole.
Hua Cheng jumped in first. Xie Lian hadn't realized he would take the first leap, and he rushed to the edge of the hole, "SAN LANG?"
A moment later, Hua Cheng's voice came from below, "Everything's fine down here. You can come down now."
So it turns out, he went down first to scout. Xie Lian sighed a breath of relief and instantly jumped in too. The others then followed one after the other. Hua Cheng reached for Xie Lian's hand and pulled him up.
"It's so dark in here." Xie Lian noted.
Just as he said so, several silver butterflies lit up in the darkness, dancing languidly, and a number of ghost fires also appeared, instantly illuminating the deeper parts of this hole. What appeared before them was a long street.
A thousand years ago, this would've been a bustling street, packed full of shops and large houses. The boulder Pei Ming stepped on earlier was the rooftop of one of those buildings. Xie Lian looked up, "I see. So this city was buried? Buried by what? Earthquake? Landslide? Or..."
"Volcanic ash." Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian whipped his head around to look at him. Hua Cheng added, "Volcanic ash of about seven meters in thickness buried the entire city underground. What you all see right now is a part of what the demons and monsters that had come to Mount TongLu for the trial had dug out. There are many more sections that are still buried deep within the ashes.
Which meant, the apocalypse in the Crown Prince of WuYong's dream had come true!
Pei Ming put Pei Su down on the roadside and said, "Nevermind all that for now. Is there water? If there's nothing to eat, a couple sips of water is good too."
"If we're lucky, you'll find underground water deep down under." Hua Cheng said.
Thus, Pei Ming and Ban Yue left to go find water. Xie Lian was still deep in thought when Hua Cheng walked over, "Gege, look at your hand."
Xie Lian followed his direction without much thought, and only after he looked did he discover that while the red string was gone, the bright red knot on his third finger was still there.
Hua Cheng had explained before that when the red string between them breaks, the knot would disappear, so what's going on?
Seeing him stunned, Hua Cheng smiled, "It's just a small camouflage spell, that's all. The red string is hidden; the distance is now unrestricted and you won't have to worry about tripping over it, but it didn't actually break. As long as the affinity knot is still there, then the person on the other end of the red string is safe. Once we're close to the Kiln, dangers will increase. We don't know what's ahead of us just yet, so I thought, this red string still can't be untied. What do you think?"
Learning that the red string was still there, Xie Lian's lips curved upwards in spite of himself, but the moment he realized it, he immediately straightened his expression, and replied very seriously, "Oh, yes. If that's the case, then we can know whether if the other is safe at a moment's notice. It's a very practical spell."
Hua Cheng also flashed a smile, but it soon disappeared, "But, Your Highness, there's something I must say."
Hearing him sound so solemn, Xie Lian asked, "What is it?"
"I know you can't die, and you're not afraid to die, but no matter how tough you are, don't think yourself incapable of getting hurt." Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian was taken aback. Hua Cheng continued, "Not dying doesn't mean not getting hurt, and it definitely doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. When you see something strange and dangerous, don't just touch it. Find me. Let me take care of it."
Xie Lian suddenly recalled earlier when he touched those skulls covered with corpse poison with his hands, Hua Cheng's expression instantly turned dark. He wondered inwardly, was Hua Cheng perhaps angry because of this then?
If that was truly the case, then he really didn't know what to say. It was a moment before he complied, "Alright. I won't do that anymore."
Hearing his sincere promise, Hua Cheng seemed to be satisfied. He nodded and was just about to turn and continue onwards when Xie Lian called, "San Lang, wait!"
Hua Cheng looked back. Xie Lian chewed on his words for a good moment before finally arduously squeezing out softly, "...You too. If there's something dangerous, you don't touch, I won't touch either, alright?"
Hearing this, a side of Hua Cheng's lips lifted. He took a step closer and was about to speak when they suddenly heard Pei Ming's voice from not too far away, "What is this?"
"Looks like people." Ban Yue said.
"Indeed!" Pei Ming remarked, "But why would people turn into something like this?"
Hua Cheng and Xie Lian exchanged a look and walked towards where their voices were coming from. "Turn into what?" Xie Lian asked.