Xie Lian lay on the hard, unforgiving ground with that half-crying, half-smiling mask stuck to his face. Next to him, White No-Face seemed to be admiring the sight of the appearance that was exactly like his own. The cry-smiling mask was secured to Xie Lian's face with a peculiar force, and he couldn't remove it no matter how he tried.
"Keep it on," White No-Face said. "Stop wasting your strength on these pointless struggles. You want to leave? You'll break out of the Kiln easily as long as you follow my directions."
Xie Lian pretended he didn't exist.
Despite the constant snubs and rebuffs, White No-Face never gave up.
He sighed. "We could become the greatest master and disciple—and the best of friends. Why do you insist on rebelling?"
Xie Lian finally stopped his struggle to reply in disgust, "Stop using that tone. Acting like you've seen it all, been through it all… I don't want a teacher or friend like you."
His contempt was on full display, and White No-Face sneered.
"I know. In your mind, the only ones who can guide you are the state preceptor and Jun Wu. Am I right?"
His tone was oddly pointed, full of disdain and ridicule. Xie Lian didn't feel like getting tangled up in that particular subject. He asked about something else.
"Was Lang Ying the first crown prince of Yong'an?"
Lang Ying was from Yong'an and had contracted Human Face Disease.
The little crown prince was the only possible identity Xie Lian could think of.
"That's right," White No-Face replied. "The very same crown prince you knocked out and abandoned in the Palace of Yong'an after hacking the elder Lang Ying's corpse to pieces. And then you set fire to the place."
The Yong'an crown prince was Lang Ying's nephew. He had likely been infected by the remnants of Human Face Disease on Lang Ying's corpse.
"Why didn't he pass the disease to anyone else?" Xie Lian then asked.
"The people at the Palace of Yong'an discovered he was infected," White No-Face replied. "An order was given in secret to suffocate him with a blanket to prevent the disease from spreading. However, he killed his executioner during the struggle and fled."
At that point, Yong'an had announced to the world that both the King of Yong'an and the crown prince had passed away from severe illness. After the ensuing internal conflict, another of Lang Ying's nephews was established as the crown prince. That prince was Lang Qianqiu's ancestor.
"How did you manage to deceive him?" Xie Lian asked.
"I didn't," White No-Face replied. "I only told him the truth. I revealed the identity of the criminal responsible for turning him into such a monster.
And I swore that as long as he lent me a bit of his spirit, I would help avenge him."
"You call that 'a bit'?" Xie Lian was incredulous. "You consumed him completely just to feed yourself!"
White No-Face was indifferent. "No one would genuinely care for him, looking like that. He was neither man nor ghost. He was suffering just existing in this world," he stated blandly.
"Your Royal Highness?" Xie Lian suddenly said.
"…" In that moment, Xie Lian could tell that the creature had very nearly answered to that address but had stopped himself. Xie Lian probed further.
"You. You're the Crown Prince of Wuyong, aren't you?"
The stifling heat of the Kiln grew denser when the words left his lips.
Xie Lian had been pondering that question from the moment he had fallen in here. He could understand the words spewing from the mouths of the corpse-eating rats, which meant that someone had transplanted a portion of their memories and feelings into his mind, and that person knew the language of Wuyong. Of the three possible candidates capable of the feat— Jun Wu, the state preceptor, and White No-Face—Jun Wu had been born after the fall of the Kingdom of Wuyong, but the other two were highly suspicious.
Why had Hua Cheng been cast out of the Kiln? It couldn't have been because he was already a supreme—Xie Lian had confirmed with him that Supreme Ghost Kings could reenter the Kiln, just as a heavenly official could undergo more Heavenly Tribulations after ascension. And yet he had still vanished halfway through their plunge. The most straightforward explanation Xie Lian could provide was that the Kiln obeyed the command of White No-Face!
And if that were true, what was his most likely real identity?
It was dead silent within the darkness. After a while, Xie Lian repeated with certainty, "You are the Crown Prince of Wuyong."
Finally, White No-Face broke his silence. He lunged at Xie Lian with sharp, powerful strikes. This time, it was Xie Lian's turn to dodge—he leapt to his feet and pressed the subject further as he evaded the blows.
"Your Highness, I've got a question for you. Why don't you ever show your true face to anyone?"
"Your Highness, I'm warning you—do not address me with that title," White No-Face replied darkly.
"You call me 'Your Highness,' so why can't I do the same?" Xie Lian retorted. "You won't answer me, so I have to make my own guesses. There are only two reasons why you wouldn't want me to see your true face: either you're someone I know or a stranger I could easily identify. Or your real appearance is incredibly ugly, so ugly that you can't even stand it! Just like —" He heard two whizzing sounds, and a sharp pain shot up Xie Lian's arm. White No-Face had seized him with great force.
"My dear crown prince, have I been a little too friendly? Do you think you no longer need to fear me?"
Xie Lian hung on to his consciousness through the pain. He seemed to have truly angered White No-Face; the creature's tone was thick with frost as he picked up the black sword and slowly raised it to point threateningly at Xie Lian.
"You named this sword 'Fangxin'?"
As the eerie blade came closer and closer to his throat, Xie Lian watched it with unblinking eyes, unfazed. "Is that a problem?"
White No-Face scoffed. "You don't know how to name things. Listen well—this sword's original name is 'Zhuxin.'"1 "Who's there?!" Xie Lian suddenly cried, his eyes wide.
However, White No-Face didn't bother looking behind him. "You're trying to use a child's trick when fighting me?"
Xie Lian was perplexed. "You…didn't notice?"
"There's nothing there. What was I meant to notice?" White No-Face asked coldly.
He hadn't noticed, but Xie Lian certainly had.
The firelight on the ground was reflected in Fangxin's blade and refracted onto the stone walls around them. And for an instant, Xie Lian had seen a face.
He could swear he wasn't mistaken—he had seen a human face, an enormous human face! White No-Face's cultivation was surely stronger than Xie Lian's, so how could he possibly miss it? Unless…something even more terrifying than White No-Face was lurking here!
The glimpse he'd had was very brief, but he still remembered what he'd seen. The face had all five features, and…it looked familiar. Xie Lian felt a slight chill run down his spine.
"There's something else in here!"
However, White No-Face replied, "Aside from you and me, there is nothing but stone and lava inside the Kiln."
Xie Lian was about to say more when sudden realization dawned on him. Wait…stone? And a familiar face?
So…that's it!
He suddenly knew exactly what he'd seen.
The moment he understood, Xie Lian's hands began to rapidly form seals behind his back.
White No-Face noticed his movements. "It's pointless, even if you—" Yet before he could finish, there was a deafening cracking sound, and a storm of rocks and earth tumbled from above. White No-Face sensed something coming and swiftly flashed away to dodge the attack. He was fast, of course—there was no one faster. He should've been able to dodge perfectly. Unfortunately, the thing attacking him was just too big.
It was a giant hand with fingers balled into a fist. That fist came crashing heavily down…right on top of White No-Face!
The massive hand was made of stone, and it really was too big—that single fist was as large as a mansion. The firelight on the ground could only illuminate that one body part—everything above the wrist was still awash in darkness.
Amidst the sound of splitting rock, the hand flipped over and opened its palm toward Xie Lian. Despite its size, its fingers were long and slender, with fine, delicate joints—it was a hand both gentle enough to hold a flower and tough enough to wield a sword. In one smooth motion, Xie Lian quickly grabbed Fangxin and jumped up from the ground, then leapt into the heart of the palm.
Just as the hand was about to hoist him higher, Xie Lian suddenly cried "Wait!" as he remembered something.
He jumped down to grab his bamboo hat, then leapt back up.
The giant hand lifted him into the air, drawing farther and farther away from the firelight. Xie Lian could feel himself being lifted higher and higher, and his hands formed a series of seals once again.
"Break out!"
With that command, he felt a subtle falling sensation as if the giant holding him had bent its knees to prepare for a mighty leap. A moment later, Xie Lian felt himself crushed back against the hand. The giant had launched itself toward the sky, crashing against the sealed mouth of the volcano!
Rumble… Rumble… Rumble…!
Amidst the violent tremors, Xie Lian heard the extremely clear sound of stones splitting—the rock was about to shatter, unable to withstand such a violent attack.
A stream of light leaked in from above.
He had broken through!
The sealed top of the Kiln had been cracked open, and blinding white light came pouring through. Whirling winds twisted inside, shrieking and howling.
Xie Lian stood on the giant's palm, one hand pressing the bamboo hat down on his head while another blocked his face from the snowstorm. The stifling hot air was swept cleanly away, and Xie Lian took a deep breath of fresh, freezing air and shouted:
"San Lang—!"
The first syllable was still echoing in the air when a pair of arms pulled him into an embrace from behind. Xie Lian stiffened at first, but he relaxed when he looked down and saw red sleeves and silver vambraces circling his waist.
A deep, forlorn voice came from above his ear. "…I was about to lose my mind!"
Xie Lian hurried to turn around. He cupped his captor's cheeks with his hands and soothed him, "Don't…don't. I'm here…I'm out!"
Hua Cheng stood before him. His raven hair was mussed, and there was a lost look in his eye. He gripped the cry-smiling mask Xie Lian hadn't been able to remove no matter how hard he tried, easily tore it off, and tossed it away.
Xie Lian had cupped Hua Cheng's cheeks on instinct, and he couldn't pinpoint exactly why he was doing it—surely it was to comfort him, but perhaps he was also worried Hua Cheng would get frostbite from the snowstorm. After all, for as long as Xie Lian had been in the Kiln, Hua Cheng had been out here guarding the mouth of the volcano.
They had jumped in together so easily, and Hua Cheng was thrown outside so abruptly. He'd had no idea what was going on inside; of course he was about to lose his mind!
Hua Cheng held Xie Lian tightly and spoke in a low voice touched by despair. "…I couldn't get into the Kiln no matter what I tried, and you had to break out on your own! I'm so fucking—" "San Lang, it's okay—it's really all right!" Xie Lian said quickly.
"Besides, I didn't break out on my own!"
Hua Cheng finally calmed down a little. "What? Gege, how did you get out?"
"You helped me," Xie Lian replied. "Look."
He gestured upward, and Hua Cheng's eyes followed.
A giant sculpture of a man carved from mountain rock stood amidst the snow and wind, flurries swirling about its face. It almost looked like it was holding up the heavens and keeping the earth grounded. The two of them were standing in the heart of that giant statue's palm.
The contours of its face were gentle and beautiful. Long brows with elegant eyes, refined lips with slightly upturned corners—almost a smile. It seemed affectionate but not frivolous, expressionless but not unkind. It was a face of compassion and beauty.
That face was Xie Lian's own!
Xie Lian raised his head to look at it. "Is this the one you told me about? The best divine statue you ever sculpted?" he asked softly.
Hua Cheng gazed up at it as well. It was a long while before his eyes fell back on the man beside him. "…Yes."
He must have sculpted this enormous divine statue while he was trapped inside the Kiln enduring intense trials and immense suffering. It had been hidden inside the darkest recesses of Mount Tonglu for centuries; part of it was still covered with ivy. The perilous Kiln served as its natural cavern, and it was the only god of that uniquely spectacular cave.
It and the Kiln were of one body, made from the same material. It wouldn't have been able to break out of the volcano if it had been carved from ordinary stone; it would have shattered to pieces in the attempt. It surely never would have awakened and moved to begin with if Xie Lian himself hadn't issued the command, or if Hua Cheng hadn't given him spiritual power before they jumped down.
Xie Lian turned to Hua Cheng. "So, San Lang, I made it out. We broke through together."
Suddenly, they were shaken by a wave of tremors. Their smiles faded, replaced by tension and vigilance.
"What's going on?" Xie Lian wondered with slight nervousness. "Is the divine statue shaking? It's not going to collapse, is it?"
The Kiln's seal was made of massive million-ton rocks laden with evil.
If the giant stone statue fell apart because it breached the entrance, he would feel awful—after all, this was the best divine statue that Hua Cheng had ever sculpted for him.
"Don't worry, it's fine. It's the mountain that's shaking," Hua Cheng said.
Sure enough, a heavy sheet of snow collapsed below them. The body of the mountain was already exposed in some spots. It seemed something else was about to break through the Kiln.
Hua Cheng stood in front of Xie Lian, shielding him.
"It's White No-Face," Xie Lian said flatly.
Of course White No-Face couldn't be squashed dead by a punch from this giant divine statue—that blow would make the creature falter for a moment at most. Xie Lian was on high alert, and not a moment later, both of them were hit head-on by a gust of scorching hot air.
The scalding air erupted from the abyss of the volcano, reeking of sulfur. Xie Lian's instincts pricked with imminent danger.
"Gege, go!" Hua Cheng said darkly.
Xie Lian formed a hand seal and leapt onto the giant statue's wrist with Hua Cheng in tow. They ran up its arm, then stopped to stand on its shoulder.
At Xie Lian's command, the divine statue set off with a gigantic stride, going along with the rolling current of snow. A single slide carried them several kilometers and created waves of snow that crashed around its body. Because both its arms were open, it maintained good balance despite its million-ton body.
They'd only slid halfway down when the entire mountain began to quake harder with a massive rumbling sound. The tremors made the divine statue stagger.
They looked up to see that a pitch-black pillar of smoke had burst forth from the mountain's peak!
Xie Lian was struck speechless by the earth-shattering noise and the calamitous pillar. In an instant, the entire sky was blackened by a thick cloud of smoke. Countless tangled human faces and limbs tumbled within those sun-concealing black clouds—a horrifying sight. He had only ever witnessed a scene like this once, centuries ago, but here it was again!
"That's…?" Xie Lian gaped.
"Souls of the fallen from the Kingdom of Wuyong," Hua Cheng replied solemnly.
Every person in Wuyong who had been buried alive by the volcanic eruption was probably in there.
"Gege," Hua Cheng alerted, "down below, about a hundred meters away!"
The moment he spoke, Xie Lian directed the giant stone statue to smash down with its right hand.
A white-clothed man stood in the equally white field of snow around a hundred meters away from them—White No-Face. He seemed to be one with the landscape, but he couldn't deceive their eyes. The smash brought forth thick, heavy waves of snow that surged like an enormous white tsunami— however, the strike did not hit its target.
White No-Face was prepared this time, since he had already fallen for that move back in the darkness of the Kiln. His white figure disappeared in a flash, and in the next second, he appeared at the giant divine statue's knee.
Without a moment of hesitation, the divine statue aimed another strike at its own kneecap. Xie Lian noticed with a start while the slap was still in motion and forcibly pulled it back with gritted teeth.
Phew, that was close! he thought.
The giant stone statue had breached the Kiln's seal by brute force alone. Had Xie Lian been unable to regain control and allowed it to smash its own kneecap, the direct strike might have resulted in lost limbs—perhaps that was why White No-Face had intentionally hopped on. Xie Lian immediately halted the statue's movement, while Hua Cheng languidly pulled out his long, slender silver scimitar.
"Get the hell off," he ordered White No-Face.
White No-Face looked up at them.
"This divine statue isn't for you to taint," Hua Cheng stated coldly.
Suddenly, Xie Lian exclaimed, "San Lang!"
He pointed at the Kiln's summit. Behind the pillar of black smoke there was something flowing out—something crimson and gold and burning.
Lava!
The crimson-gold lava rolled and mixed with the black smoke, enveloping the skies and the earth. It flowed down from the mouth of the Kiln.
White No-Face took this chance to leap and disappear into the snow.
Xie Lian didn't have the mind to catch him. He shouted, "Run!"
The giant divine statue heard his order and took off with a large stride.
It leaped down the slopes with great thumps, and when it landed flat on its feet at Mount Tonglu's base, the ground moved and the mountain shook.
Although the statue was swift, the lava and black smoke were as well —the flow was practically biting at its ankles. Xie Lian didn't dare to stick around after landing; he directed the divine statue to rise to its feet and continue its flight, carrying them with it. As they ran and ran, Xie Lian could feel it beginning to slow. Seized by dread and confusion, he wondered if he might have just been imagining it—but then Xie Lian felt himself hang in the air for a moment before plunging downward. The divine statue had stopped obeying his command and come to a halt on one knee.
Once it was kneeling, its body slowly pitched forward, as if it was physically exhausted and about to faint. Xie Lian's heart jumped to his throat.
Oh no… It was going to collapse, and the torrent of fiery black smoke was about to catch up!
Just then, Xie Lian felt something tighten around his waist. Hua Cheng had wrapped an arm around him and pulled him to his side. He lifted Xie Lian's chin with his other hand, then pressed his chilled lips to Xie Lian's own.
"…" Xie Lian's eyes widened as a rush of cool, refreshing air filled his lungs. It seemed to flow through his limbs, invigorating his entire body.
The kiss was brief, and Hua Cheng drew back soon afterward, lips parted.
"Gege, try standing up again!"
Xie Lian snapped out of it and reformed his hand seals. Moments before the stone statue fell to the ground face-first, it flung out its arms to support itself.
Then it rose to its feet once more!
The stone statue hadn't just seemed exhausted—it actually was exhausted. It took an insane amount of spiritual power to control a statue that huge, and the little that Hua Cheng had lent him earlier was already burned out, making it slow and sway on the brink of collapse. But now, injected with a fresh burst of spiritual power, it jumped back to life, faster and more agile than before.
"Gege, run faster!" Hua Cheng urged.
Xie Lian wanted to do just that, but he was afraid the control spell took too much power. "Can we really make it go faster? What if the spiritual power runs out?!" he asked, uncertain.
"It won't. Just focus on running!" Hua Cheng assured him next to his ear. "Don't ever be afraid—I'm right here beside you!"
Hua Cheng was right behind him, his hands steady on Xie Lian's waist.
He was just one person, but to Xie Lian, it felt like the entire world was supporting him. He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes.
"All right."
Xie Lian extended his arms forward and unleashed all his spiritual power, offering up the mightiest of hand seals.
"Run—!" he shouted.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The huge divine statue ran wildly, each step spanning kilometers—it crossed gullies with one step, leapt over hills with the next. Sure enough, it soon left the black clouds and lava far behind.
It was certainly the largest, most conspicuous thing around; every step was like a meteor crash, sending out waves of forceful tremors.
The countless nefarious creatures around Mount Tonglu were terrified by the wild shaking of the ground, their faces going pale. Many could see the black clouds swirling and spreading in the sky when they looked up, and while it was somewhat impressive, they didn't really pay it much mind— within the Tonglu mountains, bizarre sights were to be expected. And those looked like vengeful spirits within the black clouds, right? That was a sight they saw every day, since they were similar beings. What was there to be afraid of?
Yet the sight of an enormous divine statue of a martial god stomping past was the thing that stunned them—what was that thing?!
Howls and wails erupted from all around. "What an enormous man!
Aaaaaaaah!" They'd never seen such a massive, terrifying statue before.
Xie Lian wanted to detour around the royal capital of Wuyong to keep his divine statue from trampling and destroying any of the ancient houses holding two millennia of history, but then he remembered something.
"San Lang! Are General Pei, Lord Rain Master, and the others nearby?"
"Yes," Hua Cheng replied.
"Go back, go back! We've left something behind! Let's go get them and carry them away!" Xie Lian quickly called out.
The giant stone statue had already passed the target, so it backed up a few steps at the order. Just as it was about to turn around, Xie Lian felt his body jerk. He lost his footing and was thrown into the air.
Only once he was in midair did he realize what had happened—the divine statue had tripped!
Xie Lian and Hua Cheng landed steadily on the statue's chest. As Xie Lian worked to get it to stand back up, he looked ahead. It wasn't some mistake on his part that tripped the huge figure—it was something else.
A lofty mountain.
This mountain was far smaller than the Kiln itself, but it was still a bit bigger than the giant stone statue. Xie Lian was certain they had never climbed such a mountain when they first passed through this area. His eyes moved past it to take in the figures behind.
Sure enough, there were two other mountains of similar size right there. The three massive mountains were blocking the statue's path forward.
"Gege, be careful," Hua Cheng said. "Those are the 'guards' of Mount Tonglu: Old Age, Sickness, and Death."
The huge statue was still crawling slowly to its feet when the first mountain spirit crashed over.
Xie Lian remembered Hua Cheng telling him that these three mountains had given him a hell of a time during his first visit to Mount Tonglu, so he didn't dare underestimate their power. He planned to make the statue jump and flip over to avoid them, but he'd never commanded something so huge and unwieldy to carry out such a complicated maneuver, so it came out confused. He didn't manage to jump before being knocked down again.
Rumble, rumble. The heavens shook, the earth quaked, and the giant stone statue destroyed an entire street as it fell near the royal capital of Wuyong. Every movement made loud cracking noises—the sound of magnificent houses, temples, and the palace being crushed to pieces. Xie Lian was almost thrown off again by all the shaking, but Hua Cheng firmly grabbed his hand.
"Come with me!" he exclaimed.
In a few long steps, he took Xie Lian and leapt onto the giant divine statue's head. The massive flower-crowned martial god wore an ornamental headpiece to tie up its hair, which resembled a small terrace. They hopped onto the crown, finally finding a place to settle on the statue that was much steadier than the shoulder or palm.
They had no time to relax before the mountain spirit came at them again. The giant stone statue stumbled back a few steps, but fortunately, Xie Lian was prepared this time and wasn't knocked down—though he accidentally trampled another cluster of houses. Xie Lian couldn't help but ache for them and prayed for forgiveness in his mind.
Clumsily controlling the divine statue, trying to make it slip away while avoiding the houses, Xie Lian wondered in baffled confusion, "Why do they keep chasing me and trying to take me down? What did I do?"
"It's not that they're targeting gege specifically—they'll chase and fight anyone. Gege is just particularly conspicuous right now."
"Such a large creature is rather conspicuous, I guess…" Before Xie Lian could finish his thought, the three mountain spirits besieged them together. They surrounded the giant stone statue and pressed firmly inward, trying to crush the statue to pieces. The divine statue couldn't move a single limb, nor could Xie Lian. He poured all of his strength into getting the statue to push them back, but it didn't budge—and at that point, it was probably powerless to fight back!
As he tried to think of another way to escape, he unconsciously took a step backward and bumped into a chest. When he looked back, Hua Cheng grasped his shoulders.
"Fight freely! It'll be fine—none of them are a match for you. Nothing in this world can stop you!"
His chest was the strongest backing in existence, and in an instant, Xie Lian was brimming with confidence. A refreshing current flowed through his body, and he struck back with all his might.
At last, he broke through their siege!
Rumble, rumble. The three mountain spirits were forced nearly half a kilometer away. Dust flew, rocks rolled, smoke and debris billowed—but they were only pushed back for a moment before closing in, ready to attack again. Xie Lian's hands quickly formed several hand seals.
"Do…not…block…my…way!"
The giant stone statue leapt into the air and landed its feet on the heads of two of the mountain spirits. Its hand rested on the hilt of the sword hung on its waist, and then he unsheathed the blade!
The giant figure completed the actions fluently, the string of movements flowing like streams of clouds and water, magnificent and forceful without a hint of hesitation—the statue was no different from its inspiration.
After drawing a breath, Xie Lian shouted, "I'll cut y—uh, I won't cut you yet! Hold on…!"
He was fully prepared to cleave valleys into those mountains with a swing of his glorious sword, but something didn't feel quite right when he pulled it out. When he looked up, he was shocked speechless. The giant stone statue had certainly unsheathed its sword, but…there was only a hilt in its hand.
What was going on? Where was the blade?!
Xie Lian was flummoxed. Hua Cheng's expression dropped, and he pressed two fingers to his forehead, looking troubled as he explained.
"Gege, I'm sorry. I forgot to mention…I didn't carve a blade for this divine statue. This is my fault."
"…" Of course!
Hua Cheng had carved this statue into the Kiln's inner stone walls in a standing posture. The sword at its waist was concealed beneath its sleeves and the many layers of its flowing robes, so only the hilt had been visible— and thus, it was the only part he'd carved. Obviously, a blade wouldn't magically appear just because the statue had gotten an injection of spiritual power and started to move.
Hua Cheng frowned slightly, his expression solemn. "This was a miscalculation on my part. It's not perfect enough. Next time, I'll carve out every detail."
Xie Lian could tell he was serious and quickly said, "…No, no, no, it's absolutely perfect. Really!"
In any case, there was no blade, so the mountains couldn't be cut.
Thus, Xie Lian quickly changed battle tactics—from attacking to absconding.
He hastily directed the giant stone statue to jump from the heads of the two mountain spirits. Tossing the useless stone hilt behind, it stretched its legs and continued its mad dash. The two stood on the crown atop the divine statue's head. Wild winds blew at them, sending their black hair, white robes, and red sleeves flapping and fluttering. Even though they were fleeing, they painted a beautiful image.
A silver butterfly flew next to Xie Lian's ear and transmitted some voices. He caught the butterfly and called out to it, "Is this Feng Xin and Mu Qing? And Lord Rain Master and General Pei?"
Sure enough, familiar voices came from the butterfly.
"I say, Your Highness," Pei Ming said, "there's no need to ask your questions so loud!"
"Ah, sorry. I have too much spiritual power at the moment. Let me get it under better control," Xie Lian said.
"…" Mu Qing's voice could be heard next. "What? Did you just say you have too much spiritual power? You?"
"Have you all met up?" Xie Lian asked. "Where are you?"
"We joined General Pei, General Pei Junior, and the others. Everyone is in the woods near the Wuyong River. We're about to retreat toward the outside," Mu Qing said.
Feng Xin's voice came. "What's happening on your end? We just felt some strange, strong activity from near the Kiln! Do you need us to come help?"
"No!" Xie Lian quickly replied. "Just stay where you are, and we'll come pick you all up very soon—we'll talk then! Ah, we're already here!"
The dried-up Wuyong River lay ahead, and the giant stone statue crossed the gully and crouched beside the dense forest. Xie Lian saw Feng Xin and Mu Qing come out of the woods, looking around and seeming to search for them. However, they were looking in the wrong direction—they never thought to look up, so they didn't see Xie Lian and Hua Cheng at all.
"Your Highness, are you not here yet? Where are you?" Feng Xin said to the butterfly.
Xie Lian cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled toward the ground, "I'm here! Up, look up! Above your heads!"
"…" Only then did the pair notice that they were standing in a gigantic shadow. They slowly raised their heads, and it was then that they saw an incomparably gigantic "Xie Lian" crouching at the forest's edge and staring down at them. There was even a very Xie-Lian-ish friendly smile on its face.
Without bothering to spare a glance for the two below, Hua Cheng stood languidly to the side with his arms crossed. Xie Lian waved at the ground.
"Do you see me?! Up here!"
The visual shock of this gigantic "Xie Lian" was simply too great, however, and it was impossible to notice anything else at first glance.
Mu Qing's entire field of view was overtaken by the statue's face, and he mumbled, "I…I haven't gone mad, have I?"
Feng Xin's eyes were also filled with that face, and he mumbled, "… What the fuck, what the fuck, what the actual fuck, what in the fucking world is that thing?!"
"Uh…" Xie Lian said.
Hua Cheng arched his brows, looking as if it was taking immense effort to hold back a snicker. Honestly, no one had ever seen such a large and incredibly realistic divine statue. The largest known divine statue up until now was one of Jun Wu, but even it was only half the size of this massive sculpture… Feng Xin and Mu Qing were both deep in shock, and Xie Lian had to call out to them a few times before they found where the real one was located. The rest of the group emerged from the woods one after the other, and almost all of them were so stunned by the sight of the giant divine statue above them that they nearly twisted their necks and ankles looking at it. Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he simply had the giant divine statue place an open palm on the ground.
"The Kiln's volcano has erupted. Fires are going to ravage this area soon, and those three mountain spirits are likely close behind too. Hop on, quick—I'll carry all of you away!"
The party climbed into the statue's hand, and everyone found a place to settle. From where he stood atop the crown, Xie Lian could smell the choking scent of sulfur. When he looked back, he saw black smoke and flying dust rapidly closing in. He closed the giant divine statue's palm and directed it to stand and resume its flight with large strides.
After Pei Ming and the others got over their initial shock, they were fine. But Feng Xin and Mu Qing never quite regained their senses—probably because they were both so familiar with the face, demeanor, and physique of the divine statue's subject, and thus were particularly disturbed to see it all so immensely magnified.
"Who did this? Who carved this?" Feng Xin asked from his perch on the divine statue's shoulder, still mired in disbelief. "How come I've never seen this thing before? I never even heard it existed!"
"There's much out there you've never seen," Hua Cheng said with a fake-looking smile.
Although he didn't clarify, almost everyone came to the same conclusion, especially Feng Xin and Mu Qing. This guy was responsible!
"This is incredible…" Mu Qing said. "How are you moving this thing?
How much spiritual power is it taking—do you have enough? I thought you didn't have any at all."
This time, Hua Cheng didn't answer. Xie Lian stole a glance at him and pressed his fist to his own lips before attempting an ambiguous answer.
"Um, well…" "If you don't have any, you can borrow some, right? It's a simple thing," Pei Ming said.
"Ha ha ha ha, yeah…" The nefarious creatures along the way had realized that things were going wrong—lava poured and fires blazed madly. When they saw people climbing the giant stone statue, they all cried out.
"Wait for me too!"
"Me, me, me—I'm coming too!"
"Take us, take us!"
But Hua Cheng replied, "Get the hell off."
A wave of silver butterflies flew forth, shimmering with chilling light, and soon they could hear wailing and howling down below. Yin Yu, cradling a sleeping Guzi, called out to the pair at the statue's crown.
"Chengzhu! Your Highness! The empty-shelled people and corpse-eating rats all started rampaging earlier! They're moving in large groups—it looked like they were trying to leave Mount Tonglu's domain!"
The Rain Master was riding the black ox rather than the giant statue, and she watched the sky intently. "The creatures inside the black clouds also seem to want to fly outside."
Her observation was correct. The creatures writhing inside the black clouds were vengeful spirits that hungered for fresh, living flesh to possess, which would allow them to metamorphose into Human Face Disease. There weren't any living humans inside the ring of mountains that enclosed Mount Tonglu, only nefarious creatures and a few heavenly officials they couldn't penetrate. Of course they wanted to get outside. Dragging long tails of black smoke, millions of contorted human faces swirled like deformed worms and snakes in the sky above.
Although his hands trembled, still Xie Lian said, "Mount Tonglu has a barrier. Nothing outside can get in, and nothing inside can get out. Those vengeful spirits shouldn't be able to escape for now—" Yet Hua Cheng grabbed his hand before he could finish speaking. Xie Lian's heart tensed at the gesture, and he quickly clutched Hua Cheng's hand back.
"What is it? Did I drain too much? Sorry, sorry, I should have been more careful to conserve it—" "That's not it," Hua Cheng said, covering his right eye with one hand.
"Gege, you don't have to worry about that. It's Mount Tonglu's barrier—it's been broken."
"What?" Xie Lian asked, stunned. "Broken?"
He had only just said that they didn't need to worry because of the barrier. What the heck?!
"Broken," Hua Cheng confirmed. "White No-Face probably did it.
Those things are about to get outside."