Xie Lian's first reaction was to strike back with his heart. Fortunately, he was used to it, so he glanced before striking, stopped himself, and said, "General Pei?"
The man stood up. It was Pei Ming. He brushed the dust off his shoulders, appearing surprisingly calm and composed. He glanced at them and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince and Your Excellency the Ghost King are enjoying their time here."
Xie Lian said, “It’s okay, it’s okay. So, General Pei, are you okay? I thought I heard a crack just now…”
Pei Ming said, "Oh, it's nothing. Thank you, Your Highness, for your concern. That 'crackling' sound wasn't my bone. It was this." He held up an object—the unfortunate man's thigh bone, now completely broken. He said, "Thanks to this gentleman's help, I was able to carve a way out of this mountain monster. Although it's a man's bone, it's a truly virile man."
As soon as he finished speaking, a second figure fell from the sky not far away, landing heavily. Everyone approached to see it was Pei Su. In fact, there were two of them: he held Ban Yue in his arms, while Ban Yue held two black pottery jars containing Ke Mo and Rong Guang. Both were covered in dust, but appeared unharmed. They quickly climbed to their feet. Pei Su spat out a few mouthfuls of dust and said, "General! Your Highness, the Crown Prince."
Pei Ming said, "It seems this mountain monster didn't like our taste and vomited after eating us."
Hua Cheng and Xie Lian exchanged a glance before saying calmly, "Not necessarily. Perhaps someone simply told it to spit it out."
Pei Ming took a few steps and felt an unusual tremor. He frowned and asked, "What's going on with this mountain? Why is it shaking so violently?"
Xie Lian said, “Because it’s carrying us towards the bronze furnace.”
Pei Ming walked to the hole Yin Yu had opened and looked out. He said, "How fast! Great! It just saved us some effort."
However, there was still one person missing. Xie Lian asked, "Where's Lingwen?"
Hua Cheng seemed to look with his right eye and said, "The silver butterfly perched on his back was swallowed by the mountain monster. He disappeared."
This meant that Lingwen and Jinyixian could now move freely. This was a big deal. Xie Lian said, "Hurry and find him!"
So, the group began to search the monster's body again. Hua Cheng released nearly a hundred dead butterflies, and after a thorough search, he led them to another cave entrance.
This hole had been forcibly carved, its edges extremely irregular. Beyond lay a rapidly receding landscape, a howling wind blasting through the mountain, echoing the wails of ghosts and wolves. It seemed that after the mountain monster spat out the spiritual text, it had carved a hole of its own here and escaped. Xie Lian peered down from the edge of the cave, frowning, "What should we do? The Jinyixian's destructive power is too great. We can't just leave it alone like this."
Hua Cheng said, "Don't worry. He's going to Tonglu anyway. It's just a different path to the same destination."
The group gathered, and Xie Lian briefly recounted what he had just heard, omitting some details. After he finished, everyone sat on the ground, lost in thought. After all, with no monsters to fight and no need to travel, they inevitably felt a bit empty and bored.
Because Yinyu said he didn't know how to communicate with Quan Yizhen and that the mere sight of him gave him a headache, he was truly frightened. Xie Lian also felt that releasing Quan Yizhen now was unwise, so he allowed him to remain in his roly-poly form for the time being. Pei Ming was bored and played with the roly-poly. Xie Lian watched it stagger violently, like a child being beaten, and felt a pity for it. He coughed softly and said, "General Pei, stop playing."
Pei Ming responded verbally at first. However, after Xie Lian felt sleepy and took a nap against the mountain wall, he started playing again. No one paid attention to him. Yinyu had been guarding the cave entrance, calculating how far they had walked, and watching from afar. He wanted to say something several times, but in the end he didn't say anything. Who knew that joy would turn into sorrow? As Pei Ming was playing, Pei Su beside him suddenly fell down with a "bang". This was his descendant, so Pei Ming immediately lost interest in playing and grabbed Pei Su and said, "Little Pei? What's wrong with you?!"
Yinyu took the opportunity to quietly walk over and pick up the tumbler, placing it next to Xie Lian. Huacheng said, "What are you arguing about? It won't kill you. Your Highness is sleeping, can't you see?"
Xie Lian was indeed woken up. In his daze, he found himself leaning on someone's shoulder. Hua Cheng's voice was right beside his ear: "Brother, are you awake?"
Xie Lian rubbed his eyes. Quan Yizhen's tumbler swayed back and forth beside him. He put it away and said, "I fell asleep leaning on you? Sorry... What's wrong?"
Hua Cheng said calmly, "It's okay. If you're tired, you can take a nap. We'll be there soon."
Xie Lian was startled when he saw Pei Ming across from him grabbing Pei Su's collar and shaking him wildly. He was half awake, thinking something had happened again, so he hurried forward to help. After examining him, he said, "Oh, General Pei, don't worry. Little General Pei is just starving and has temporarily collapsed."
Pei Su was still a human, after all. Having endured this long period without food or water, and lacking Xie Lian's extensive experience with enduring hunger and hardship, he finally collapsed. Pei Ming felt his understatement was problematic: "What do you mean by 'extremely hungry and exhausted, unable to hold on'?"
That couldn't be helped. I'm not exaggerating, but Xie Lian could eat a meal that would last him three days. Even after ten beatings, he could still get up and go collect scrap like nothing happened. Which priest had as much experience as him in this area? Xie Lian said, "Well, ahem. Does anyone have anything to eat?"
No one answered. Only Ban Yue took out something and said, "Sorry, this is all I have..." Pei Ming saw that it was the jar containing the sex toys and immediately said, "Why are you still holding this thing? Who are you trying to kill? Throw it away!"
There was a lot of noise over there, and Hua Cheng said to Xie Lian, "Look, I told you it's okay. Why don't you get some more sleep?"
The mountain monster carried them for most of the day. Xie Lian saw that it was getting dark outside and asked, "How far have we come? How long until we get to the Bronze Furnace?"
Yinyu replied, "I have already traveled nearly eight hundred miles."
This was much faster than walking. Xie Lian stood up and walked to the cave entrance. He had just been looking around, but suddenly, as he glanced around, he saw something that made the hairs on his back stand on end. He asked, "What is that?"
In the dark night, looking down from the top of this mountain monster, there suddenly appeared a huge human face on the ground below!
The face's eyes curved, its lips curled up, as if offering him a strange smile. Xie Lian couldn't help but take a step back, but Hua Cheng caught him from behind. He calmed himself down a bit, took a closer look, and realized that the "face" was a pattern composed of mountains, rivers, and ravines—a mere optical illusion. Yet, the illusion was so vivid that it was startling at first glance.
Xie Lian asked, “What are those grooves that look like eyes and a mouth?”
Hua Cheng said from behind him, "That's the Wuyong River, called the 'Mother River' by the Wuyong people. It originates from the mountains, formed by melting snow. Of course, it's completely dried up now. Arriving here means we're very close to the Tonglu."
Xie Lian asked again, “What about that ‘nose bridge’?”
Hua Chengdao said, "That's a prosperous city on the banks of the Wuyong River. Do you want to go down and take a look?"
Xie Lian tilted his head and asked, “Is there anything interesting down there?”
Hua Chengdao: "There is also a Wuyong Temple in that city. I think maybe brother would like to go and see it."
If there's a temple, there's a chance there's a mural. Xie Lian immediately said, "Go down."
He couldn't wait to know more about Crown Prince Wuyong. Pei Ming also said, "Let's go down. We need to find some food and water for Xiao Pei. But how do we go down? The sword is broken again."
Hua Cheng waved his hand, and several silver butterflies appeared around each person, gleaming with phosphorescence, perching on their shoulders, backs, heads, and sleeves. Seeing such tiny silver butterflies, others might have wondered if they could carry them, but Xie Lian didn't question them. He threw Ruo Xie to tie everyone together so they wouldn't get separated mid-air. Yin Yu opened the cave entrance wider, wide enough for five or six people to enter and exit simultaneously. After preparations were complete, everyone arrived at the edge of the cave. Xie Lian said, "Everyone, get ready—"
Pei Ming said: "Wait."
Xie Lian turned around and asked, "General Pei, is there anything else?"
Pei Ming asked, "What are these in your hands?"
Following his gaze, Xie Lian looked down and saw his own hand. Only then did he realize that the red thread between his and Hua Cheng's fingers was still connected.
“…” Xie Lian coughed lightly and said, “This, this is… a magic weapon used for communication.”
Pei Ming said, "Oh. Won't it be inconvenient to move? After all, it's just a string. If it gets caught or twisted somewhere, something might happen."
His reminder made perfect sense. Xie Lian knew that as a Martial God, he couldn't afford to be hindered by anything when striking. However, for some subtle reason, Xie Lian didn't want this thread to break. Seeing his expression slightly tense, as if he was struggling, Hua Cheng glanced at him and smiled, "That makes sense. This does make it difficult to move."
After Xie Lian finished speaking, he saw the red line between their fingers disappear. Hua Cheng said, "Now it's much more convenient."
Xie Lian stared at the patch of air where the red line had vanished, slightly startled. The red line had only been there for a brief moment before it vanished. While it wasn't a big deal—no, it was a minor nuisance—he still felt a sense of loss. Afraid of being noticed, Xie Lian quickly smiled and said, "Let's go! Get ready—jump!"
The mountain monster continued to surge forward, oblivious to the grasshopper-sized figures silently dropping from his body. Surrounded by a swarm of dead butterflies, the group drifted down to the ground, unharmed. They landed right on the bridge of the nose of the gigantic, smiling face.
After standing up, Xie Lian was very puzzled. He looked around and said, "Sanlang, is the Wuyong Temple and the city right here?"
Hua Chengdao: "Yes."
Xie Lian asked doubtfully, “But… there’s nothing here?”
Seriously. He thought that after landing on the ground, he would see the small town scenery like the first temple he had seen before, with streets, shops, houses, ancient wells, temples, and so on. However, all he saw was a flat, empty space, completely empty, and it didn't look like a city had ever existed. Pei Ming supported Pei Su, stepped on a large rock, and asked, "Where is this 'prosperous city'?"
Hua Chengdao: "It's under your feet."
"What?!"
Everyone gathered around. Pei Ming was standing on the stone. Xie Lian asked, "Could this be some kind of trap?"
Hua Cheng placed his hand on the hilt of the scimitar, walked over slowly, and said, "Come, come, stand over here."
Everyone did as he was told. He drew his scimitar, pointed it downward, and with lightning speed, slashed it into the ground beside the rock. The ground cracked with a crackling sound, and a spiderweb of cracks appeared. Then, the cracks spread rapidly, growing larger and deeper, until the ground collapsed with a loud bang, revealing a chilling black hole.
Hua Cheng jumped down first. Xie Lian hadn't expected him to suddenly get there first. He rushed to the edge of the cave and asked, "San Lang?"
After a while, Hua Cheng's voice came from below, with a hollow echo, saying: "It's okay down there, you can come down now."
It turned out that he had gone down first to explore the way. Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief and immediately jumped down as well. Hua Cheng took Xie Lian's hand and pulled him to his feet. Xie Lian said, "It's so dark."
As soon as he finished speaking, several silver butterflies lit up in the darkness, fluttering away with phosphorescent stars. Several faint will-o'-the-wisp flames also appeared, instantly illuminating the depths of the cave. Before them lay a long street.
A thousand years ago, this must have been a bustling street, densely packed with shops and tall houses. The large rock Pei Ming had just stepped on was the roof of a house. The others also jumped down one by one. Xie Lian looked up and said, "I see. Was this city buried? An earthquake? A landslide? Or..."
Hua Cheng said: "Volcanic ash."
Xie Lian turned his head sharply. Hua Cheng said, "Volcanic ash, two feet thick, has buried the entire city. What you see now is a portion excavated by the demons and monsters who came to Tonglu Mountain for the trial. Much more is still buried deep within the volcanic ash."
Xie Lian immediately recalled the murals in the second temple. The vibrant, blinding red seemed to resurface before his eyes. The scene of world destruction in Prince Wuyong's dream had actually come true!
Pei Ming put Pei Su on the side of the road and said, "Let's not worry about that for now. Do you have any water? Give him a couple of sips first."
Hua Chengdao: "The surface river has dried up. However, I remember there is underground water deep within the city. I wonder if we'll be lucky."
So, Pei Ming, Ban Yue, and Yin Yu went to look for water. Xie Lian was lost in thought when Hua Cheng came over and said, "Brother, look at your hand."
Xie Lian subconsciously obeyed, but when he raised his hand he realized that although the red string between them had vanished, the crimson knot that Hua Cheng had tied on his third finger hadn’t vanished, still radiant and bright, like a tiny red butterfly perched on the back of his hand.
Hua Cheng had clearly said that if the red thread between them was broken, the knot would disappear. Xie Lian couldn't help but ask, "This is..."
Seeing his surprise, Hua Cheng smiled and said, "That was just a little trick. The red line is hidden, so the distance is not limited, and there is no need to worry about it getting caught, but it is not actually broken."
He raised his hand, showing Xie Lian the identical knot, and said, "As long as the bond remains, it means the person on the other side of the red string is safe. The closer we get to the copper furnace, the more dangerous it becomes. We don't know what awaits us ahead. So, I've decided that we shouldn't remove this red string. What do you think, brother?"
Upon learning that the red thread was still there, Xie Lian couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth. But once he realized it, he immediately pulled it back down and said seriously, "Oh, that's right. This way, we can always know if the other person is safe. Very good, very practical spell."
Hua Cheng also smiled, then stopped smiling and said, "However, Your Highness, there is something I must tell you, and I hope you can listen."
Seeing his expression suddenly turn serious, Xie Lian also became serious and said, "What's the matter? Tell me."
Hua Cheng looked him straight in the eye and said, "I know you won't die, and you're not afraid of death. But no matter how strong you are, don't assume you can't get hurt."
Xie Lian was stunned. Hua Cheng continued, "Just because you won't die doesn't mean you won't get hurt, and it certainly doesn't mean you won't feel pain. If you see anything strange or dangerous, don't touch it. Come to me first and let me handle it."
Xie Lian suddenly remembered how Hua Cheng's expression had suddenly darkened when he'd lifted up the two skulls stained with corpse poison in his hands. Could it be that Hua Cheng was angry about this? Was it because he'd seen something dangerous and picked it up so nonchalantly?
If that was the case, he really didn't know what to say. After a long while, Xie Lian said, "Okay... I won't do it anymore."
Hearing his sincere answer, Hua Cheng seemed satisfied. He nodded slightly and turned to walk forward. Xie Lian said, "Sanlang, wait a minute!"
Hua Cheng stopped and looked back. Xie Lian squeezed for a long time before whispering, "...You, you too. If I see anything dangerous, I won't touch it, and you shouldn't touch it either. Let's not touch it, okay?"
Hearing this, Hua Cheng's lips curled up slightly. Xie Lian, feeling a bit nervous after saying this, smiled unconsciously. Hua Cheng took a step closer and was about to speak when he heard Pei Ming say from a distance, "What the hell is this?"
Ban Yue said, "It looks like a person."
Pei Ming said, "That's true! But how could a person become like this?"
Hua Cheng and Xie Lian exchanged a glance and walked towards the direction where their voices came from. Xie Lian asked, "What's going on?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
