It took them a good few days to leave the labyrinth of rocks. Possibly because they ended up running in circles several times. Every path looked identical, to the point that Yu Qingyu would not even realize it, if it wasn't for the marks he left. And some point, the whole place got filled with so many marks, that they completely lost their meaning.
But there was nothing Yu Qingyu could do about it. He hadn't expected to find himself in a labyrinth, so he didn't bring a thread. Besides, the place was probably too big for such a solution anyway. Just how much threat would he need to make it work?
Once they managed to finally find their way out of the labyrinth, a different kind of scenery stretched out in front of their eyes. They were at the edge of an extremely high, steep cliff. Beneath their feet, there was a green, luminescent lake, surrounded by charcoal, sandy beaches. There were a few small demon settlements visible here and there, with a large city, enlightened by colorful lights in the distance. A large part of the area was covered in forests, made of some sorts of unknown plants. At least Yu Qingyu assumed that they were plants, but he couldn't tell for sure from the distance.
It was a vastly different scenery from what he'd seen in the past few days. It was still ominous, but at the same time, mesmerizing, and beautiful in a way. Yu Qingyu stood on the cliff, taking in the view with his eyes wide open.
He had heard about the green luminescent lake before. In fact, it was one of the clues he had that could lead him to the cure. A certain species of demonic fish was rumored to live there, poisonous to the demons, but good for the humans, helpful for improving one's cultivation.
The corners of Yu Qingyu's mouth slowly rose up, a smile appearing on his face.
But as soon as it appeared, it immediately vanished without a trace when Yu Qingyu glanced down, on the cliff he had to climb down to get there… His knees turned into jelly at the mere thought of going all the way down.
It didn't seem to make any impression on Liu Wei though. The man glanced down disinterested, then glanced back at Yu Qingyu, and shrugged his shoulders. He was about to reach for his sword, planning to fly down to make things easier, but Yu Qingyu caught his wrist before he managed to unsheathe the blade.
"No. We need to climb down," Yu Qingyu quickly explained. "We would be easily spotted if we were to fly around in the open."
Liu Wei stared at Yu Qingyu for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders again, and letting go of the hilt without a word. He obviously did not care, but couldn't be bothered arguing about it. Climbing or flying, either way was fine for him.
Yu Qingyu stopped right by the edge, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, trying to focus on the task. Then, he sat down, grabbed the rocks with both of his hands, turned around, and slowly lowered himself, searching for a place to put his feet.
The system didn't provide him with any climbing skills, either because Gu Huiji didn't have them, or they were simply not included in the 'necessary' package. As for Yu Qingyu… His climbing experience comprised several attempts at indoor climbing walls during his high school and university years, with rather limited success. Overall, he could be considered a complete novice.
Thankfully, at least his current body was strong and fit. Even though he was lacking in technical skills, he was still able to slowly make his way down.
But even then, with his speed, greatly hindered by fear and nervousness, it took approximately two days to get to the bottom. If it wasn't for the small stone platforms he found on the way which allowed him to get some rest, he would have had to give up on the climb and fly down on his sword.
Liu Wei, on the other hand, had absolutely no problem scaling the cliff. He constantly kept leaving Yu Qingyu behind, and then casually chilling on the stone platforms, as if he was on the most leisurely trip ever.
But that was to be expected. After all, in his original world, Liu Wei was extremely strong, with a ton of practical skills. Yu Qingyu couldn't even begin to compare. He didn't feel jealousy though, but rather admiration for the man.
Eventually, they both managed to make their way down without any accidents.
Once on the ground, Yu Qingyu discovered that the place was quite different from what he expected. From above, all he could see was the dark ground. However, it was actually covered in plants, somewhat resembling clover. Except that they were dark navy, almost black in color, twice his height, and emitted a sickeningly sweet smell. It felt like standing in a crowd of women, each of whom poured a whole bottle of a strong perfume on herself. It was enough to make Yu Qingyu feel dizzy, and Liu Wei didn't seem to be doing any better.
"Let's just-" Yu Qingyu started to speak, but as soon as he opened up his mouth, the intense scent hanging in the air assaulted his throat, causing a violent coughing attack.
With his eyes teared up, Yu Qingyu scoured his bag in search of a spare sash, and proceeded to wrap it tightly around his face to at least partially block the smell. Then, he gestured at Liu Wei to follow him, and started walking forward as fast as he could in his current state, wanting to get out as soon as possible.
But in the end, he was unable to leave the clover forest. When he was nearing the edge, he noticed some movement ahead. There was a whole sloth of bear-resembling demons resting ahead, at least mid-level type.
Yu Qingyu's eyes almost rolled back in his sockets at the sight, and he had to hold on to the stem of the nearest clover, otherwise he would fall flat on his face. He was feeling dizzy and nauseous. He was in no shape to fight demons now, definitely not such a large group of them!
But if they were to remain in the clover forest, he would likely end up fainting soon.
He glanced at Liu Wei, who stopped right next to him. He also didn't seem too eager to fight, observing the demons with dark, slightly unfocused eyes.
They exchanged quick glances with each other. Then, unexpectedly, Liu Wei raised his hand and pointed out to the side. There was a small dip in the terrain, a short distance away from the sloth. If they were careful, they might be able to sneak by undetected there.
Although Liu Wei most definitely wanted Yu Qingyu's mission to fail, that didn't mean he was in a rush to die. True, dying here didn't mean dying for real, but experiencing being killed by a demon would be painful nevertheless. So, just this time, he was willing to cooperate.