Xie Lian's heart raced wildly, and even his fingertips trembled.
However, he remained composed and didn't make a sound, only lifting his head a little to whisper in Hua Cheng's ear.
"…San Lang, don't move. The voice out there sounds a lot like the state preceptor's. Let's not allow ourselves to be discovered…" It certainly sounded like him, but he couldn't say for sure. There were people in the world who shared similar voices, not to mention that he hadn't seen the state preceptor for centuries, so he could be remembering wrong.
There was no need to make any reckless moves right now. If they just quietly observed to see how things progressed, perhaps they would learn more secrets. Hua Cheng bowed his head slightly and hugged Xie Lian's waist.
"All right… You don't move either," he whispered in his ear.
Rocks and earth crushed at them from all around, forcing them to press tightly against one another, their faces nuzzling and their ears warming at the contact. While it was hardly the right time, a thought nonetheless flashed through Xie Lian's mind: It doesn't feel so bad to share a grave.
Just then, that voice sounded again. "What about the other two?
Where did they go?"
The other two?
Xie Lian's first thought was that he was referring to himself and Hua Cheng and was slightly startled. He wanted to listen closely to find out who exactly the other participant in the conversation was, but there was something quite strange occurring. After the state preceptor—he would address him as this for now—posed the question, there was no response of any kind.
It really was strange. At such a short distance, both Xie Lian and Hua Cheng could hear the state preceptor's questions. His voice wasn't loud, and he wasn't yelling at the top of his lungs, so the other party couldn't be too far away. If that person replied to him, their voice should be audible.
And yet there was no response to be heard.
The state preceptor spoke again. "Thank them for their efforts, but there's no need to worry about the small fry anymore; they'll amount to nothing. We have more important things to attend to right now."
It was then that Xie Lian understood that "the other two" did not refer to him and Hua Cheng, but rather the state preceptor's other two companions.
Things were becoming increasingly bizarre. It was clear from the state preceptor's tone that he had received a reply, but it sounded like he was talking to himself or to the air. An eerie idea appeared in Xie Lian's head, but he brushed it off. It was possible that the state preceptor was the only one who could hear the other participant's voice.
Suspicion was growing thicker and thicker in his mind, and he held his breath as he listened more intently. To Xie Lian, every word the state preceptor uttered was more peculiar than the last.
"Is everyone inside the mountain now?" he asked. "Bring them to the Kiln first; I'll think of a way to take care of them individually at that point.
The faster, the better. They must get there within two days."
The Kiln! And within two days. The Teleportation Array couldn't be used within Mount Tonglu territory, so how could they get there so quickly?
And what was that about "taking care of them"?
After a pause, that voice continued, "Call the other two over. Let's go to the Kiln together. None of us can be missing if we are to face His Highness the Crown Prince. He hasn't fully awakened yet, but if he does… it's hard to imagine what he will do this time."
Xie Lian was stunned. Was the state preceptor talking about him?
Right then, the sounds of explosions echoed throughout the mountain's body. Xie Lian could feel the rocks faintly shuddering all around him. From the outside, the state preceptor asked, "What's going on?"
Inside the stone wall, he turned to Hua Cheng with the same question.
"What's going on?"
"Something happened on the other side of the wall," Hua Cheng said, hushed.
The two touched foreheads once more, and the ongoing situation with Yin Yu and Quan Yizhen appeared again in Xie Lian's right eye. It was probably showing him what had happened a few moments ago.
Yin Yu had finally dug Quan Yizhen out of the stone wall, and he panted as he dragged him down. He heaved a sigh. But unexpectedly, the "unconscious" Quan Yizhen suddenly leapt to his feet and yanked the mask off Yin Yu's face!
Quan Yizhen had only pretended to faint!
Now that Xie Lian thought about it, Quan Yizhen would be extremely familiar with Yin Yu's habit of pacing while thinking, the way he spoke, and his strength when he struck. Perhaps he already knew who was behind the mask the moment Yin Yu's shovel swung down. But it was inconceivable that Quan Yizhen even understood how to deceive someone —who would've thought they'd ever see the day? It was the simplest of tricks, but when he used it, it was completely unexpected. No one was prepared.
Underneath the mask was Yin Yu's pale, terrified, obviously shocked face. Quan Yizhen was fiercely thrilled and bounced in place with his head covered in blood.
"Shixiong!"
Yin Yu's lips twisted; he looked like he had seen an indescribable horror. He abruptly clutched his head.
"You've got the wrong person!"
With that roar, he bolted. As he ran, he blasted at the person behind to hamper his pursuit.
"Don't follow me! Don't follow me!"
Quan Yizhen dashed after him, completely ignoring the blasts. He only yelled, overjoyed, "Shixiong! It's me!"
Yin Yu couldn't help but roar out an expletive. "Goddammit, it's because it's you that I'm terrified! I said, don't follow me!"
The two ran and fought the entire way, making the mountain rumble with the blasts. The state preceptor was puzzled.
"What are they doing over there? What's all that ruckus?" There was still no audible answer, but the state preceptor seemed to have gotten a response. "I see. Kids these days, honestly. So energetic. I'll take my leave first; there are still some preparations to be made. Let's reconvene once you're closer to the Kiln."
He was going to leave. Hua Cheng covered Xie Lian's ears anew, and Xie Lian closed his eyes. A moment later, there was a violent tremor from all around, and the stone wall that had been pushing against their bodies was finally blown apart. The two leapt out together, landing lightly on their feet, and breathed fresh air once more.
However, on the outside, there was only an empty cave. There was no state preceptor, nor any mysterious second person, nor any trace of them left behind.
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng exchanged a look. They weren't in any hurry to give chase, and they hadn't yet separated when a black-clad man came charging out of the cave adjacent to them—Yin Yu. He waved the Earth Master Shovel as he dashed madly toward them.
"Chengzhu! Your Highness!"
Quan Yizhen came rushing after him, his head covered in blood from Yin Yu's blows. Hua Cheng didn't bother looking up and only flicked his hand. Quan Yizhen raised both arms to block, but the move Hua Cheng had used couldn't be warded off with fists. Red smoke blasted around Quan Yizhen with a resounding boom. After the smoke dispersed, there was only a very round, red budaoweng spinning in place where Quan Yizhen once stood. It looked very innocent thanks to its big, wide eyes.
This was the same trick Hua Cheng had once used on Lang Qianqiu.
Only then did Yin Yu stop his crazed flight. He wiped away his cold sweat as he approached.
"I'm eternally grateful, Chengzhu."
"Did you really have to be so scared?" Hua Cheng asked.
Yin Yu was still shaken, and he smiled miserably. "Truth be told, when I see His Highness Qi Ying now, I only want to run as far away as possible."
Xie Lian found that a little funny, but he could sympathize. Quan Yizhen's personality quirks must have severely traumatized Yin Yu. The budaoweng sat on the ground, watching them pathetically with its wide eyes. It swayed heavily back and forth without anyone paying it any mind.
Xie Lian felt pity for it and was about to pick it up when he felt the ground shake. He nearly fell over with the tremors—they almost shook harder than that rocking doll.
He quickly steadied himself. "What's going on? Earthquake?"
Although Xie Lian didn't need help, Hua Cheng still held his arm to help steady him, then he turned to Yin Yu.
"Go take a look outside."
Yin Yu recovered quickly and acknowledged the command. "Yes, sir!"
Then he picked up the Earth Master Shovel and rapidly and cleanly dug a hole. Sunlight shone through from the outside. When Yin Yu took a look, surprise filled his face.
"Your Highness Yin Yu, is it an earthquake, or is the mountain collapsing?" Xie Lian asked.
"It's neither!" Yin Yu answered. "The mountain spirit… It's running!"
Running? Xie Lian and Hua Cheng exchanged a look, then both ran over to look outside the mountain spirit. They were rendered speechless by the sight that greeted them.
It really was running!
Outside the mountain's body, the scenery was whizzing rapidly past, reduced to nothing but colorful streaks. It was like they were riding a speeding carriage pulled by galloping horses or sitting on the shoulders of a giant as it ran wild!
Hills, rivers, clearings, forests—they were all trampled beneath the mountain spirit's feet, crushed to make way. Whooshing winds whirled in from the hole, and their hair and belt ties began to dance with them.
"At this speed, it'll probably only take two days to reach the Kiln…" Yin Yu remarked.
Two days? Hearing this, it dawned on Xie Lian.
No wonder! No wonder they couldn't hear any responses to the state preceptor's one-sided conversation, and no wonder the state preceptor asked that they be brought to the Kiln impossibly quickly.
Because all that time, the state preceptor wasn't talking to another human—he was talking to the mountain spirit!
Hua Cheng must've also figured it out. "Just as well. By borrowing its strength, we won't need to move so slowly anymore. He said they would reconvene at Mount Tonglu. We'll know what he wants once we're there."
However, Xie Lian looked somber, and Hua Cheng noticed.
"Gege, what's wrong?" he asked.
"What did he mean, 'hasn't awakened yet'?" Xie Lian asked.
That voice from earlier had said, "He hasn't fully awakened yet, but if he does…it's hard to imagine what he will do this time."
"If that man really was my master, and he was talking about me, then what did he mean by all that?" Xie Lian said.
"Gege, don't think too much right now," Hua Cheng said. "That man might not be your master, and the crown prince he spoke of might not be you. Don't forget, the Crown Prince of Wuyong is also a royal highness."
"But if it was?" Xie Lian urged. "I have some hunches. Will you hear me out and see if they make sense?"
"Very well. Gege, do tell," Hua Cheng said.
"There are three great mountains within Mount Tonglu territory: Old Age, Sickness, and Death. Birth is the only one missing," Xie Lian began.
"If that man really is my master, and the one he was talking to is a mountain spirit, and he has the ability to communicate with mountain spirits, then it's possible that when he mentioned 'the other two,' he was referring to the other mountain spirits."
"I agree. And?" Hua Cheng said.
"And I wonder if the three mountain spirits possess human consciousnesses," Xie Lian continued. "Or perhaps they were originally transformed from humans. Why is there no Birth? Because Birth has yet to materialize as a mountain. Birth is still a person, and that person…is the state preceptor!"
The more he thought, the more he felt it made sense. With his heart racing in his chest, he continued.
"Mount Tonglu used to be part of the Kingdom of Wuyong. Birth, Old Age, Sickness, Death, they're a set of four; the Crown Prince of Wuyong also had four guardians. Coincidentally, there were also four state preceptors who taught me when I was growing up in Xianle—one chief and three deputies! Do kingdoms typically have so many state preceptors? I didn't think anything of it in the past, but now I realize there normally aren't so many. Do you think this is a coincidence? Or are they all connected somehow?"
"It could easily be a coincidence," Hua Cheng replied. "Aren't there four Famous Tales? And when there weren't four Calamities, one more had to be forced into their ranks."
"For some reason, I have a strong feeling," Xie Lian said. "Birth, Old Age, Sickness, Death. The four guardian deputies of Wuyong and the four state preceptors of Xianle… Perhaps they're all the same people."
Xie Lian followed along with this train of thought. "But if it's true that my four masters were the four Guardian Deputies of the Crown Prince of Wuyong, why did they come to Xianle to become state preceptors? Why did they come to teach me? Why did Master tell me the story of the Crown Prince of Wuyong? Why did he say he wanted me to become someone like that prince? Is there something about me that I wasn't even aware of? What did he mean when he said that I'm not yet awakened? Could I actually be…" He was rambling like someone possessed. Hua Cheng gripped his shoulders as he assured him with conviction.
"It's not possible! I can swear that you are you. You're no one else.
Trust me. Don't read too much into this and imagine things that aren't real."
It was then that Xie Lian came to his senses. "…You're right. I'm letting my mind run a little wild…" After his own parents, the state preceptor was the person Xie Lian knew best. While the state preceptor often scolded him for not listening and was often reserved due to Xie Lian's position, he was a good teacher overall. It confounded the heart to so suddenly discover that someone he thought he knew was something so terribly foreign.
Moreover, there was another point—they were too similar. While the temple murals' story was not yet complete, the experiences of the Crown Prince of Wuyong depicted upon them gave him a vague but terrifying sense of reincarnation.
Hua Cheng's tone softened. "But, gege, think carefully. What was the State Preceptor of Xianle's background?"
Xie Lian mulled over the question. "…I'm not sure."
It was true. He couldn't remember where his master came from.
After a moment of contemplation, Xie Lian said, "The state preceptor had held that position since before my birth. I only know that he was called Mei Nianqing, but needless to say, that must be a false name. I thought this many times: Master is such an incredible individual, so why hasn't he ascended? If that really was him just now, then he's spent many more years in this world than I have. If he wants to deal with us…" "It's all right. Who cares if he's been alive longer?" Hua Cheng said with nonchalance. "No matter what he is, we'll take care of things as they come. Remember that if anything happens, I'm here. I will always be on your side."
Xie Lian was a little stunned by that.
Yin Yu's presence was already faint, and since he hadn't spoken this whole time, he had practically been forgotten. Only now did he speak up.
"Chengzhu, do we need to go find the others?"
They'd gotten out of the wall, but Pei Ming and the others had been swallowed too—who knew in which hidden corner they were being digested by the mountain spirit?
"Yes! Let's go find them together," Xie Lian quickly replied. "Please wait, Your Highness Yin Yu."
"Your Highness, there's no need to call me Your Highness… I haven't been a heavenly official of the Upper Court for a long time now," Yin Yu said.
Xie Lian smiled. "Then you can just call me by my name as well; no need to be so polite. I also haven't been a crown prince in a long time."
Yin Yu glanced at Hua Cheng, who was standing behind Xie Lian.
"I…daren't," he hastily replied. "I shouldn't. I can't."
"What's the concern?" Xie Lian asked.
He took a couple steps forward to pick up Quan Yizhen the budaoweng when a figure suddenly dropped from the ceiling and landed heavily before him. The sound of bones cracking was loud and crisp in the air.
Xie Lian's first reaction was to reach for Fangxin and strike. It was fortunate that he had good martial habits; he looked before he struck and forced himself to halt mid-swing.
"General Pei?"
The man—indeed Pei Ming—flipped over and leapt to his feet. He dusted off his shoulders, looking amazingly at ease, and glanced at them.
"Looks like His Highness and My Lord Ghost King have been enjoying themselves here."
"We're not too bad, not too bad," Xie Lian said. "But General Pei, are you all right? I thought I heard a cracking sound…" "Oh, that was nothing," Pei Ming said. "Though I appreciate Your Highness's concern. That cracking sound wasn't from my own bones but from this one."
He raised an object, and it was the femur of that unlucky man; the bone was bent out of shape.
"It was this good brother's help that allowed me to dig a path to safety through this mountain spirit's body," he added. "Even though it's a man's bone, he's a solid, good man."
Just as he finished, a second figure dropped from the ceiling not far away, also crashing in heavily. The group of them walked over to see, and this time it was Pei Xiu. He was shielding Banyue in the cradle of his arms, and Banyue was holding the two black clay pots that contained Kemo and Rong Guang. The two of them were ashen-faced and disheveled, but they didn't seem to have any serious injuries, and they quickly crawled upright.
Pei Xiu spat out a few mouthfuls of dust. "Gen, eral! Your High, ness."
"Looks like the mountain spirit didn't think we were tasty enough and spat us out," Pei Ming commented.
Hua Cheng and Xie Lian exchanged a look.
"Not necessarily," Xie Lian said quietly. "Perhaps someone told it to spit you out."
Pei Ming took a few steps and noticed the unusual tremors shaking the ground, and he furrowed his brows. "What's with this mountain? Why is it shaking so hard?"
"Because it's currently running, carrying us toward the Kiln," Xie Lian replied.
Pei Ming walked to the hole Yin Yu had dug and glanced outside. "So fast! Excellent. That'll save us some walking."
However, there was still one person missing.
"Where's Ling Wen?" Xie Lian asked.
Hua Cheng used his right eye to take a look. "The silver butterfly on his back was swallowed by the mountain spirit. He's gone."
Which meant that Ling Wen and the Brocade Immortal could now move as they wished. That was no laughing matter.
"Let's go find him!" Xie Lian hurriedly exclaimed.
Thus, the group started running around once more inside the body of the mountain spirit. Hua Cheng released nearly a hundred wraith butterflies to conduct a search, and in the end, it led them to another hole.
This hole had been forcibly blown out of the mountain, its edges jagged. Beyond it, they could see the landscape flying by. Wild winds were flung into the mountain's body, making howling, demonic-sounding cries.
After Ling Wen was spat out by the mountain spirit, he probably made this hole for his subsequent escape. Peering down from the edge of the hole, Xie Lian frowned.
"What should we do now? The Brocade Immortal's destructive power is too strong; we can't just leave it be."
"Don't worry," Hua Cheng said. "He's heading for the Kiln too.
We're just taking different paths to the same destination."
Once everyone gathered around, Xie Lian briefly gave an account of what he had overheard earlier, although he left out some fine details. After he was done, they all sat down to let their minds drift. There weren't any monsters to fight right now, and they didn't even need to make the journey themselves, so this downtime was rather boring.
Since Yin Yu said he really didn't know how to communicate with Quan Yizhen and just seeing his face gave him a headache, Xie Lian felt it wouldn't be wise to release him—so he was temporarily kept in budaoweng form. Pei Ming was bored, so he continued to play with the doll by slapping it down.
Xie Lian saw how heavily the doll was wobbling, like a little kid being physically abused, and felt sorry for it. He softly cleared his throat, then chided, "General Pei, please stop playing around."
Pei Ming briefly complied, but when Xie Lian grew drowsy and dozed off leaning against the mountain wall, with no one to stop him, he started slapping at it again. Yin Yu, who was guarding the hole and keeping track of how much distance had been traveled, watched this from nearby.
He kept looking like he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself in the end. And yet, tragedies are born in the midst of extreme joy. Pei Ming's slapping session was interrupted by a sudden thud—Pei Xiu had keeled over. Since Pei Xiu was his blood descendant, Pei Ming instantly forgot all about playing and grabbed him.
"Little Pei? What's wrong?!"
Yin Yu took this chance to quietly walk over and pick up the budaoweng, then set it down next to Xie Lian.
Hua Cheng was annoyed. "What's with all the noise? He's not going to die. Can't you see His Highness is asleep?"
Sure enough, Xie Lian was roused. He groggily realized he'd somehow ended up leaning against someone's shoulder when Hua Cheng's voice sounded right next to his ear.
"Gege is awake?"
Xie Lian rubbed his eyes. The budaoweng Quan Yizhen was swaying back and forth next to him, so he quietly tucked it away. "I fell asleep on you? Sorry about that… What's going on?"
"It's nothing," Hua Cheng replied, looking calm and composed. "If you're sleepy, you can take another nap. We'll be there soon enough."
Across from them, Pei Ming was violently shaking Pei Xiu by the collar. The sight shocked Xie Lian a little, and he was now quite awake.
Thinking something was wrong, he went over to try to help.
Once he finished his examination, he said, "Oh, don't worry, General Pei. General Pei Junior is just overwhelmed by fatigue and hunger at the moment."
Pei Xiu was mortal right now, after all. He'd been struggling all this time without food and water, and he didn't have Xie Lian's wealth of experience with starvation and beatings. He couldn't hang on anymore and had finally collapsed.
Pei Ming had a bone to pick with the way Xie Lian had described it so offhandedly. "What do you mean by 'just overwhelmed by fatigue and hunger at the moment'?"
That couldn't be helped. He didn't like to brag, but Xie Lian could go three days on one meal, and he could get beaten down ten times and be back on his feet and collecting scraps like nothing happened. What other heavenly official had more experience with this?
"Umm." Xie Lian coughed. "Does anyone have anything to eat?"
No one responded. Banyue took out a pot.
"I'm sorry, but I only have this…" The moment that Pei Ming saw it was the pot of Toppled Phoenixes, he yelled, "Why are you still holding on to that thing?! Who are you trying to kill? Throw it out, now!"
While they were getting noisy and rowdy, Hua Cheng turned to Xie Lian.
"See, I told you it was nothing. So why not take another nap?"
The mountain spirit had been running the whole day with them on its back, and Xie Lian could see that the sky was turning dark outside.
"How far have we traveled now? How much longer until we reach Mount Tonglu?"
"We've run nearly four hundred kilometers," Yin Yu answered.
That was definitely much faster than walking. Xie Lian rose to his feet and approached the edge of the hole where Yin Yu had been keeping watch. He was only going to take a casual look, but when his eyes swept over their surroundings, he saw something that made his hair stand on end.
"What's that?"
Looking down from the mountain spirit, through the darkness of the night, he could see a giant human face on the ground below!
The face had closed eyes that curved into crescents, and its lips curled upward in an eerie smile. Xie Lian took a step back in spite of himself; Hua Cheng caught him from behind as he did. After pulling himself together, he took a closer look. As it turned out, that "face" was merely an image formed by hills and ravines—an optical illusion. However, the illusion looked very real, and it was a shocking sight when caught in a passing glance.
"What's that gully that resembles eyes and a mouth?" Xie Lian wondered.
"That's the Wuyong River. It was called the 'Mother River' by the people of the kingdom," Hua Cheng replied. "Its source was in the high mountains, and melting snow from the mountaintops supplied its waters. Of course, it's completely dried out now. But if we've reached this area, it means we're very close to Mount Tonglu."
Xie Lian nodded. "Then the 'nose'?"
"A bustling city on the shores of the Wuyong River," Hua Cheng answered. "Wanna go down and see?"
Xie Lian inclined his head. "Is there anything worth seeing down there?"
"There's another Holy Temple of Wuyong in the city," Hua Cheng said. "I imagine gege might want to go check it out."
If there was a temple, then there might be another mural.
"Let's go!" Xie Lian immediately said, eager to learn more about the Crown Prince of Wuyong.
Pei Ming chimed in.
"Let's go! We have to find some food and water for Little Pei. How do we get down, though? My sword's broken again."
Hua Cheng waved, and silver butterflies appeared around each of them in a flurry of shimmering light. They rested on their shoulders, backs, heads, and sleeves. Anyone else who saw these little silver butterflies might grumble and question whether they could possibly bring them anywhere, but Xie Lian didn't say a word before releasing Ruoye and tying everyone together so they wouldn't lose each other mid-flight. Yin Yu widened the hole to allow at least five or six people to go through at the same time.
Preparations complete, Xie Lian and company stepped toward the edge of the hole.
"Everyone, get ready—" "Wait," Pei Ming called out.
Xie Lian turned to look. "General Pei, is something the matter?"
"What's that on your hands?" Pei Ming asked.
Following his gaze, Xie Lian looked down at his hand. Only then did he realize that his and Hua Cheng's fingers were still connected by the red string.
"…" Xie Lian softly cleared his throat. "Th-this is…a spiritual device, of sorts. For keeping in contact."
"Oh," Pei Ming said. "Doesn't it make moving around difficult? It's a string, after all. What if you trip on it or it gets tangled on something?
Accidents might happen."
His comment made a lot of sense. A martial god should never allow anything to hamper their movement; it wasn't as if Xie Lian didn't know that. But for some mysterious reason, Xie Lian really didn't want to cut the string. Seeing the hesitant expression on his face—like he was caught in some internal struggle—Hua Cheng looked at the red string and chuckled.
"It certainly is a little inconvenient like this."
Xie Lian saw the red string disappear between them.
"Now it's much more practical," Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian stared at the empty air where that red string had once been, a little dumbfounded. It had only connected them for a short while, and now it was gone. This wasn't a big deal—really, it was extremely minuscule— but he was still a little forlorn. Afraid someone would notice, Xie Lian quickly squeezed out a smile.
"Let's go! Ready…jump!"
The mountain spirit was still charging forward and didn't notice that little people the size of grasshoppers had surreptitiously leapt from its body.
Enveloped by a circle of wraith butterflies, the whole group landed light as feathers, not a hair on their heads harmed. They had landed on the bridge of the "nose" of that giant smiling face.
After straightening up, Xie Lian scanned the area, perplexed.
"San Lang, is there a Wuyong temple and city here?"
"Yes," Hua Cheng said.
"But…there's nothing around," Xie Lian remarked.
It was true. He had thought that when they landed on the ground, he would see the same small-town sights that had surrounded the first holy temple—streets, shops, residences, wells, temples, and so on. But before him now was an open clearing, empty and barren, without a trace that a city had ever existed. Pei Ming was holding Pei Xiu upright, and he propped up one leg on a boulder.
"Where's this 'bustling city'?"
"Under your feet," Hua Cheng said.
"What?"
The group crowded around, studying the boulder under Pei Ming's foot.
"Is there some sort of secret mechanism?" Xie Lian asked.
Hua Cheng put his hand on the hilt of his scimitar and walked over.
"Come, come, come. Stand here."
The others did as he said. He pulled out the scimitar Eming, aimed the tip downward, and stabbed the ground right next to the boulder with a strike as fast as lightning. The tip of the blade pierced the earth. There was a cracking sound, and small, cobweb-like fractures spread outward rapidly.
The cracks grew bigger and bigger, the fissures deeper and deeper. Finally, the entire section of the ground caved in with a boom, revealing a chillingly dark hole.
Hua Cheng jumped in first. Xie Lian hadn't realized he would take the first leap, and he dove for the edge of the hole.
"San Lang?!"
Hua Cheng's voice came from below a moment later. "Everything's fine down here. You can come down now."
It turned out he'd gone down first to scout. Xie Lian sighed a breath of relief and immediately jumped in as well. Hua Cheng reached for Xie Lian's hand and pulled him upright.
"It's so dark in here," Xie Lian noted.
He had just spoken when several silver butterflies lit up the darkness, dancing languidly in the air as shimmering specks of light. A number of ghost fires also appeared to illuminate the deeper parts of the hole.
What appeared before them was a long street. A thousand years ago, this would've been a bustling place, packed full of shops and large buildings. The boulder that Pei Ming had stepped on was the roof of one of those very buildings.
The others jumped down one by one as well.
Xie Lian looked up.
"I see. So this city was buried? Buried by what? Earthquake?
Landslide? Or…" "Volcanic ash," Hua Cheng said.
Xie Lian quickly turned to look at him.
"The entire city was buried beneath volcanic ash about seven meters thick," Hua Cheng specified. "What you see right now is a portion that was dug out by nefarious creatures who came to Mount Tonglu for past trials.
There's still more of it buried deep within the ash."
Xie Lian instantly thought of the mural inside the second Divine Temple; its vivid red glare seemed to materialize before his eyes again. This meant that the apocalypse foretold by the Crown Prince of Wuyong's dream had really come true!
Pei Ming set Pei Xiu down on the roadside. "Never mind all that for now. Is there water? A few sips of water would be good for him."
"The river on the surface has long since dried up, though I recall that there's water in the deeper parts of the city underground. Let's see if we have any luck finding it," Hua Cheng said.
Thus, Pei Ming, Banyue, and Yin Yu left to go find water. Xie Lian was still deep in thought when Hua Cheng walked over.
"Gege, look at your hand."
Xie Lian automatically did as he asked. When he raised his hand, he saw that the bright red knot on his third finger—personally fastened by Hua Cheng—was still there, even though the red string connecting the two of them was gone. It was like a tiny red butterfly had perched on the back of his hand.
Hua Cheng had explained that if the red string between them broke, the knot would disappear. Xie Lian couldn't help but blurt out a noise of surprise.
"This…" Seeing him stunned, Hua Cheng smiled.
"Just a little camouflage spell, that's all. The red string is hidden. The distance is unlimited and you don't have to worry about tripping over it, but it wasn't actually broken." He raised his own hand to show Xie Lian an identical knot. "As long as the affinity knot is still there, the person on the other end of the red string is safe. Things will only get more dangerous as we approach the Kiln, and we don't yet know what's ahead of us. So I thought untying the red string would be a bad idea. What does gege say?"
Upon learning that the red string was still there, Xie Lian's lips curved upward in spite of himself—but he straightened his expression the moment he noticed and replied very seriously.
"Oh, yes. With this, we'll both know whether the other is safe at all times. Excellent. It's a very practical spell."
Hua Cheng also flashed a smile, though it quickly disappeared. "But Your Highness, there's something I must say, and I hope you'll listen."
Seeing him suddenly turn solemn, Xie Lian grew solemn as well.
"What is it? Go ahead."
Hua Cheng gazed into his eyes. "I know you can't die, and that you aren't afraid to die. But no matter how tough you are, remember that you can still get hurt."
Xie Lian was stunned.
"Not dying doesn't mean not getting hurt," Hua Cheng continued, "and it certainly doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt. When you see something strange or dangerous, don't touch it. Find me. Let me take care of it."
When he had touched those skulls covered in corpse poison, Xie Lian remembered Hua Cheng's expression turning dark in a flash. Could this be why Hua Cheng was so angry? Just because Xie Lian had nonchalantly picked up something dangerous?
If that were truly the case, then he really didn't know what to say. It took him a moment to reply.
"All right… I won't do that anymore."
His answer sounded sincere, and that seemed to satisfy Hua Cheng.
He nodded and was about to turn and continue onward when Xie Lian called out.
"San Lang, wait!"
Hua Cheng stopped and looked back.
Xie Lian chewed on his words before he finally, arduously squeezed out a quiet request. "You…you too. If there's something dangerous, I won't touch it, but you don't touch it either. Neither of us will touch it. All right?"
One side of Hua Cheng's mouth quirked up. Once he said it, Xie Lian was a little nervous and unconsciously let out a laugh, only to see Hua Cheng take a step closer. He was just about to speak when they heard Pei Ming's voice from not too far away.
"What is this?"
"They look like people," Banyue said.
"Indeed!" Pei Ming remarked. "But how could people turn into something like this?"
Hua Cheng and Xie Lian exchanged a look and walked toward their voices.
"Turn into what?" Xie Lian asked.