The waves upon the Heartless Sea gradually calmed, but the terror in everyone’s hearts did not lessen in the slightest. The Black Water Mystic Snake’s enormous body lay coiled before them, towering there like some demon from time immemorial.
The colossal creature’s head swayed slightly, as though it had not expected to encounter the scent of living humans beneath the Abyss of the Dead. It looked them over a few more times, but for the moment made no move.
Lu Xueqi was cool-headed by nature and was the first to react. Turning her head, she saw that Zhang Xiaofan was still staring blankly up at the Black Water Mystic Snake, and lightly tugged at his sleeve. Zhang Xiaofan’s body trembled; he turned his head. Lu Xueqi said softly, “Let’s retreat.”
Zhang Xiaofan immediately came to his senses and nodded repeatedly, supporting Lu Xueqi as they backed away. Behind them, beside Biyao, the masked woman caught sight of this from the corner of her eye and cried out, “Don’t move…”
Zhang Xiaofan and Lu Xueqi were both startled, but in that instant, green light flared violently in the Black Water Mystic Snake’s huge eyes. As if alarmed by something, it let out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar. Everyone present covered their ears with their hands, yet still felt their ears buzzing.
Just as Zhang Xiaofan was horrified, he saw the Black Water Mystic Snake’s body move. Its massive tail, originally submerged in the seawater, swept across. In an instant it raised a wall of water several zhang high and dozens of zhang wide, surging toward them as though blotting out the sky. Within the spray, the black snake tail was mixed in, charging forward with boundless force.
The spray was still several zhang away when a violent gale struck their faces, nearly making it impossible to keep their footing. If they were truly hit by this tsunami-like wall of water, and then struck by that enormous snake tail, they would likely be smashed to pieces. Zhang Xiaofan could no longer care about anything else. With his right arm, he held Lu Xueqi, summoned the fire poker, and flew backward with all his strength.
But that wall of water was actually as swift as the wind, faster than any movement. Before Zhang Xiaofan had flown even one zhang, the wall of water had caught up to him. The roar of water was like thunder, almost right beside his ears. Zhang Xiaofan’s entire body tensed; there was scarcely any thought left in his mind. At the brink of life and death, Zhang Xiaofan shouted and flew upward with all his might, but after rising only a little over a zhang from the ground, he felt his entire body turn cold.
“Boom!”
He was involuntarily swept into the great wave. In the blink of an eye, his whole body was soaked through, and he heard Lu Xueqi cry out beside him. His grip loosened, and under that irresistible force, he and Lu Xueqi were forcibly torn apart.
Zhang Xiaofan’s face changed drastically in alarm. He was about to struggle over and grab Lu Xueqi, but how immense was the power of that huge wave? In an instant, the two of them had already been separated by several zhang.
Watching the towering waves roar and surge wildly, watching Lu Xueqi, who had been at his side just moments before, vanish into the turbulent darkness, Zhang Xiaofan trembled all over. His mind was in chaos, his entire body pushed onward by the great wave, tumbling forward amid the spray.
Amid the heaven-shaking roar of the waves, at the moment when Zhang Xiaofan felt every part of his body being squeezed by immense force until it was nearly about to split apart, he suddenly caught sight of something. Within the spray, amid the booming din, a dark shadow flashed—the Black Water Mystic Snake’s incomparably huge black tail was charging over like a mountain.
Wherever that blackness passed, water sprayed wildly; mixed in among it were countless flying stones and grains of sand. Its momentum was matchless. Even if Zhang Xiaofan were beaten to death, he would never believe he could survive being struck by that giant tail.
At this hairbreadth moment between life and death, Zhang Xiaofan rallied the last of his courage. Somehow, strength surged out from within his body again. Amid the waves, a dark cyan light rose once more. Zhang Xiaofan clung to it and fled for his life, shooting upward into the sky. Incredibly, he broke more than a zhang above the towering waves.
Just as joy rose in his heart, he suddenly felt an irresistible force sweep horizontally past beneath him. In that instant, his whole body shuddered. Though he had only been brushed by the residual force, his vision went black, and he nearly fainted. If he had not known this was truly a critical moment of life and death and forced himself to remain conscious, he would very nearly have lost his life right there.
Even so, the power behind the Black Water Mystic Snake’s tail sweep was unimaginably terrifying. Zhang Xiaofan’s whole body shook violently, his bones aching as though they were about to split. It felt as if his entire body were about to be torn into pieces. Amid the great waves, he had no strength left at all and was sent flying far away by that tremendous force.
In midair, he flew straight toward the boundless darkness ahead, unable to control himself. As his body turned, he looked down and saw that the mountain-like waves and that enormous snake tail had, in the blink of an eye, also swallowed Biyao and the others. The men in yellow scattered in all directions, but were immediately struck down by the great wave.
The green-clad girl leapt up, her hands forming a gesture. White light flared, and the white flower in her hand was summoned before her. In moments, it transformed into six strange blossoms encircling the flower at the center, each flower connected to it by pure white radiance, forming what looked like a white wheel of light.
Then Biyao’s face was seen to be pale, though her expression did not seem panicked. As soon as the white wheel of light formed, it spun rapidly upward. Dazzling white light met the towering waves and actually forced them to pause. For a brief moment in midair, the great waves piled up like a mountain, their booming might almost terrifying.
Seizing that momentary respite, Biyao flew up. But at that very instant, the clamor within the huge waves suddenly intensified. With a booming roar, that enormous black snake tail swept across at precisely that moment.
In an instant, the white wheel of light was reduced to ashes, unable to withstand even the slightest moment. Just as the young woman in the prime of her life was about to be struck by that giant tail, the masked woman suddenly appeared amid the spray. The soft, pale-yellow round object in her hand flashed in the air, coming like wind and lightning to block before the violent giant tail, giving Biyao a lift from below.
Only then did Biyao narrowly avoid that death-dealing thing, but she was still struck by the residual force. Her whole body suddenly lightened, and she drifted far backward into the darkness. In the next moment, the masked woman’s figure was once again submerged in the towering waves.
The force of the Black Water Mystic Snake’s tail sweep was actually so great as to be unimaginable. Zhang Xiaofan was in midair, hearing only the wind whistling past his ears, his entire body continuing to fly backward.
If he suddenly crashed into something—say, a sheer wall of hard stone—wouldn’t every bone in his body be broken? He knew this, but knowing was one thing. Zhang Xiaofan had no strength left to control his body. His entire body was beyond his command, and he could only resign himself to fate.
Who would have thought that the Abyss of the Dead was truly astonishingly vast? After flying for quite some time, he still had not hit anything. Even Zhang Xiaofan himself could feel that his speed was gradually slowing, and that he was slowly falling downward. It seemed the residual force was fading.
Though landing on the ground certainly would not feel good, being battered and dusty was still far better than crashing into a wall. Just as Zhang Xiaofan was rejoicing inwardly, he suddenly felt the darkness ahead congeal like a mountain, pressing down upon him head-on.
A mountain-like sheer cliff lay across his path. Zhang Xiaofan tucked his head in and curled his body, then slammed into it hard.
“Bang!”
Shattered stones flew everywhere, sparks danced before his eyes, and Zhang Xiaofan’s whole body shook violently. With a cry, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, which splattered across his clothes. In that instant, he felt as though his whole body had fallen apart. If not for the Daoist and Buddhist true arts protecting his body from within, he would have lost his life then and there.
Even so, he was by no means well. His entire body paused against the sheer cliff, then slid down weakly. As he slid, he struck the hard stone wall several times. Amid the bang, bang sounds, pain racked his entire body. He had no idea how many bones had broken; in any case, he only felt that there was not a single intact place left on him.
After falling like this for a while, following yet another impact, Zhang Xiaofan’s body flipped outward. By this point, he had almost given up hope, but as he turned over, by the faint light emitted from the fire poker at his chest, he vaguely saw a dark shape not far below. It seemed to be an old tree growing from the sheer cliff.
In that critical moment, he had no time to wonder how trees could grow on the hard stone wall in such a deathly place beneath the Abyss of the Dead. Instinctively, he stretched out his hand and grabbed toward that old tree.
The wind rushed sharply past. His downward momentum was even faster, but in that split second, he finally grabbed hold of the old tree.
At his touch, it indeed did not have the icy coldness of the cliff’s stone. Instead, there was a somewhat warm sensation. But how immense was the force of his fall? The old tree also seemed to be rooted unsteadily. Though Zhang Xiaofan had seized the trunk, the tree shook violently, earth and stones spilling down. It swayed several times, then with a rumble, tree and man fell together.
The moment he dropped, Zhang Xiaofan felt his heart sink, as if it had plunged into a bottomless abyss. In sudden panic, his body continued falling downward. Yet because of that obstruction, his speed had slowed somewhat. He heard a loud crash as he slammed heavily onto the ground, and then he lost consciousness.
He did not know how long had passed before Zhang Xiaofan slowly woke. Before his eyes had even opened, he felt pain all over his body, as though he had fallen apart. But since there was pain, it seemed he was still alive, so his heart was not entirely filled with misery.
He opened his eyes, and what he saw made him freeze.
At this moment, he was in a sealed, damp place. From the look of it, it was most likely a stone cave. The ceiling was two people high, but the two sides were only three feet apart, making it extremely narrow. The edges of the cave were all cold, hard stone, looking exactly like the sheer cliff from before. Even if this was not inside that cliff, it was likely near it.
However, the stones in the cave seemed to contain something luminous. They did not look very large, but there were many of them, each one giving off a soft glow that lit the cave rather brightly.
Zhang Xiaofan carefully examined the cave’s condition and felt that this seemed to be a passageway. At one end was a pile of rubble, blocking the road tightly. The other end extended inward, but not far ahead it turned a corner, making it impossible to see what lay within.
He stared blankly from the ground for a moment and was about to get up, but unexpectedly, the instant his body moved and his left hand braced against the ground, agonizing pain suddenly shot through his entire body. He cried out involuntarily. “Ah!” His body trembled, and the pain in his left hand was especially severe.
“Hmph.” A cold snort suddenly came from deeper within the cave. Zhang Xiaofan was startled and turned his head to look, only to see a young woman come around the corner. She was dressed in water-green clothes, lovely and beautiful. If not that little she-devil from the Demon Sect, who else could it be?
The two of them had still been facing each other as enemies earlier. Now that Zhang Xiaofan suddenly saw someone from the Demon Sect, he instinctively raised the fire poker and focused his mind in vigilance. For a moment, he actually forgot the pain on his body.
Unexpectedly, the girl called Biyao only glared at him, with no intention whatsoever of attacking. Her expression looked strange and forlorn, as though her whole person could not muster any energy. She said impatiently, “All right, all right. Look at that foolish face of yours. Seven or eight bones in your body are broken, and yet you’re still so lively!”
Zhang Xiaofan frowned. Seeing that Biyao did not seem to intend to attack, he found it strange, but still slowly lowered the fire poker. Unexpectedly, the moment he relaxed, the pain immediately spread through him, and he could not help crying out again.
Seeing this righteous-path youth grimacing in that odd manner, Biyao could not help letting out a pfft of laughter. The atmosphere immediately eased, but after laughing, she let out another long sigh, carrying quite a sense of desolation.
Zhang Xiaofan snorted. His temper was stubborn, and being laughed at by this young woman made him feel deeply humiliated. Slightly angered, he said, “What are you laughing at?”
Biyao glanced at him and said, “I’m laughing at you.”
Hearing her speak so directly, without leaving him the slightest face, Zhang Xiaofan grew even angrier. He snapped, “What’s so funny? You try being smashed like that!”
Biyao’s expression changed. From the look of her, she was about to teach this boy who did not know the immensity of heaven and earth a lesson. Unexpectedly, just as her hand moved, she suddenly lost all interest and sighed. “We don’t have long to live anyway. Why should I bother arguing with you?”
Zhang Xiaofan was about to guard himself, but when he suddenly heard the girl say such words, he froze and said in surprise, “What did you say?”
Biyao looked at him and said, “This is a mountain cave. Can’t you see that?”
Zhang Xiaofan said, “Yes! So what?”
Biyao snorted and pointed toward the pile of rubble ahead. “That is the only exit, and now it’s been pinned down by a mountain of stones. If you have the ability, then split open the mountain and dig your way out!”
Zhang Xiaofan’s mouth fell open. He looked toward the rubble and saw that the cave entrance was blocked tightly by enormous stones, without the slightest crack left. He knew his own situation well. If it came to fighting others, his fire poker and his cultivation had some use. But if they were used to move mountains and dig earth like Yu Gong, then they truly would be of no help at all.
After staring blankly for a while, he suddenly thought of something important and hurriedly turned his head. “I remember I crashed into the cliff and fell to the ground. How did I end up inside this mountain cave?”
Biyao said indifferently, “I dragged you in.”
“What?” Zhang Xiaofan was left speechless with anger.
Biyao glanced at him and said, “I landed not far from where you were unconscious and happened to see you. At that moment, the Black Water Mystic Snake was chasing after us again. I looked up and saw that the place where you had pulled down that old tree was actually a mountain cave. There was even light shining from inside, and the entrance was not large, so I hid in here. Before leaving, seeing how pitiful you were, I dragged you in too, you fool!”
Zhang Xiaofan frowned. “Then how did the cave entrance get buried?”
Biyao shrugged, looking utterly unlucky. “The Black Water Mystic Snake couldn’t get in. In its fury, it swept its tail and struck the sheer cliff. As a result, half the mountain collapsed and buried this place—buried us—alive.”
Zhang Xiaofan looked at her for a long while, half believing and half doubting. “Really?”
Anger appeared on Biyao’s face. She casually grabbed a palm-sized stone and threw it over. “I’m lying to you? If I’d known, I should have let you die!”
Zhang Xiaofan could not dodge in time and could only use his hand to protect his head. Unexpectedly, the stone struck his left hand squarely. In an instant, the pain pierced deep into his heart and lungs. His vision went black, and he nearly fainted again.
From a distance, Biyao saw Zhang Xiaofan’s face suddenly turn deathly pale. He clutched his left hand where the stone had hit, his expression pained. Her heart gave a jump, but immediately she said coldly, “Don’t pretend to be dead. Heh, I’ve seen plenty of people like you.”
At this moment, how could Zhang Xiaofan have any strength left to care what she said about “pretending to be dead”? He only felt that he really was about to be killed by the pain. His entire hand hurt so badly it had gone numb.
Biyao watched for a while. Seeing that he did not seem to be putting on an act, she walked a few steps to Zhang Xiaofan’s side, looked him over, and, ignoring the look on his face, reached out and pressed several times along his arm.
Zhang Xiaofan immediately broke out in cold sweat from the pain and shouted angrily, “What are you doing?”
Biyao, however, was not angry. Instead, a trace of apology appeared on her face. “The bone in your hand is broken.”
Zhang Xiaofan snorted. But his nature was stubborn, and he said bluntly, “That was broken by the Black Water Mystic Snake. It has nothing to do with you. Hurry up and go away.”
Biyao looked at him a moment longer, then gave a soft heh. Incredibly, she truly said nothing more and walked away, standing to one side and watching coldly, looking very much as if she were waiting to enjoy a good show.
Zhang Xiaofan was originally in extreme pain, but at this moment, no matter what, he could not lose face in front of this she-devil. He immediately forced himself to stand up and examined himself. He saw many scrapes all over his body, but most were external injuries. Only his left hand had a broken bone, which could be considered a blessing amid misfortune.
Still, even so, the pain of a broken bone was not easy to endure. After moving a few times like this, he pulled at the injury, and cold sweat broke out again.
Zhang Xiaofan gritted his teeth. Following the ordinary healing methods he had learned on Big Bamboo Peak of Qingyun Mountain, he intended to secure his arm. Unexpectedly, after searching all over the ground, he found only strange stones of jagged shapes. There was not a single relatively straight strip of wood to splint his arm with, and he could not help feeling greatly troubled.
At that moment, Biyao stood to one side and suddenly said, “That stick of yours.”
Zhang Xiaofan was startled, then immediately understood. The fire poker was one foot long, just right for the purpose. He looked at the young woman and was of a mind to say some words of thanks, but seeing the look of contempt on her face, he swallowed the words back down when they reached his lips and said stubbornly, “I thought of that long ago. Who needs you to say it?”
Biyao pursed her lips. “Then what were you searching all over the ground for?”
Zhang Xiaofan said angrily, “Can’t I look for a way out? If I don’t search for a way out, am I really supposed to be trapped here until I die?” At this point, he suddenly remembered something. His body trembled, and he turned to Biyao. “Right, did you see my senior sister from my sect?”
Biyao looked at his anxious expression and froze for a moment, then shook her head. “At that time, everyone was at the brink of death. Who would still pay attention to anyone else?”
Zhang Xiaofan fell silent. In his heart, he was truly worried. Lu Xueqi had already not fully recovered from the poison, and now after suffering this calamity, her life was probably in danger. Thinking of this, he let out a long sigh and lowered his head.
Biyao’s expression softened instead. Watching this youth lower his head and secure his injured arm to that ugly fire poker, she could not help asking, “Are you very close with that senior sister of yours?”
Zhang Xiaofan was startled and shook his head. “No, but after all, she is my… Why should I tell you!” He snorted. Suddenly coming to his senses, Zhang Xiaofan paid her no more attention. He tore a strip from his clothes, and using his mouth and right hand, tied his left hand firmly in place. Then he looked at the large pile of rubble at the entrance, and in the end still sighed, turned, and walked deeper into the cave.
Watching Zhang Xiaofan walk inward, Biyao could not help saying, “Where are you going?”
As Zhang Xiaofan walked, he said, “I’ve already been buried alive here. I should at least see what’s inside!”
Biyao snorted, but for some reason, in this deathly still mountain cave, she still followed him, as if being together with another person made her feel less afraid.
After turning the corner, what appeared before Zhang Xiaofan was a long corridor similar to where he had just been, though somewhat more spacious. The stone walls on both sides still emitted light, illuminating the place quite brightly, but the dust underfoot was extremely thick. Stepping on it left clear footprints.
In the middle of the path was a line of footprints leading forward. It seemed they had been left by Biyao when she went in earlier to investigate.
After walking for a while, the corridor came to an end, but ahead there was another bend. At the same time, the faint sound of water could be heard.
At this moment, Biyao, walking behind him, suddenly called out, “Zhang Xiaofan.”
“What?” Zhang Xiaofan responded instinctively, but immediately turned his head. “How do you know my name?”
Biyao laughed with a pfft. “You told me in Heyang City!”
Only then did Zhang Xiaofan remember, and he felt greatly embarrassed. He turned his head and walked forward, saying at the same time, “Why is there the sound of water ahead?”
Biyao said irritably, “At the end of this passage, there’s a little curtain of dripping water. Other than that, there’s no way out at all. Sigh! I never thought I would actually die in a place like this.”
Zhang Xiaofan ignored her and walked on. After walking like this for a while, the sound of water gradually grew louder, splashing noisily. Before long, he indeed saw that at the end of the passage ahead, a curtain of water hung straight down from the cave ceiling. Water droplets splashed everywhere, clear and beautiful, finally falling into a small pool at the end of the passage. If this were not a place of certain death, it would not have failed to be a scenic sight.
However, at this moment, no matter who it was, naturally no one would have any good mood to appreciate such scenery. Zhang Xiaofan walked before the waterfall and carefully inspected it. His heart then chilled.
Behind the waterfall was hard stone wall, no different from the stones on either side of the passage. The little pool was so clear that its bottom could be seen, but there was no sign of where the water flowed out. In such a small place, it had probably seeped into the ground. And above, the place where the water dripped was merely part of the stone wall and cave ceiling, somehow covered with water droplets that kept falling. Where could there be any way out?
Zhang Xiaofan turned back and happened to meet Biyao’s gaze. The two looked at each other, and both fell silent.
For a time, the mountain cave sank into deathly stillness.
Zhang Xiaofan felt his mind was in utter turmoil. Seeing himself trapped in a desperate situation, while also worrying about the missing Lu Xueqi, he was already agitated and distressed. On top of that, whether because his left-hand injury had not been treated properly or for some other reason, waves of pain kept surging up, making him suffer terribly.
Seeing him like this, Biyao for some reason felt a little unable to bear it. She said quietly, “Sit down and rest for a while first! We can slowly think of a way to get out.”
In this place of certain death, Zhang Xiaofan’s hostility toward her also seemed to have faded. If they were in the outside world, he naturally would be irreconcilable with this she-devil of the Demon Sect. But here and now, the two of them were about to die here together. How could he still care about sectarian prejudice?
Zhang Xiaofan silently sat down and stared blankly around him, finally looking toward the stone wall above the dripping water. Inwardly, he thought: I never imagined that the first time I came down the mountain, I would suffer so many setbacks, and now I’ve even ended up in a death trap. If Master knew, he would probably scold this unworthy disciple harshly again! If Senior Sister Ling’er knew, I wonder if she…
From the side, Biyao saw Zhang Xiaofan’s expression suddenly become somewhat strange and could not help saying, “What are you thinking about?”
Zhang Xiaofan startled awake, his face reddening. But how could he possibly tell the truth? His eyes flicked aside, and he casually changed the subject. “There really are many strange things in this Abyss of the Dead. Look, there are a few red patches on the stone ceiling of this cave. When the water flows over them, it’s reflected to look just like blood…”
Biyao suddenly leapt to her feet, her eyes widening, her expression tense. She said urgently, “What did you say?”