Compared to a few days ago, aside from becoming somewhat familiar with the terrain below the first third of this steep peak and knowing where to climb to save more strength, the youth's physical condition had actually worsened slightly. There were no fewer than ten obvious wounds on his body, most left behind on the first day of climbing. Back then, he had refused to give up. By the time he was utterly exhausted, he could barely hold onto the chain at all and had slid down by relying on the friction between his hands, feet, and the iron links. The climate among the Luofu Mountains was humid and warm, and most of those wounds had now turned red, swollen, and festering. The slightest movement sent piercing pain through him. Nor were these the only unfavorable conditions. The remaining food in the Miao dwelling where he had taken shelter could last at most another three or four days. Over the past two days, the youth had already had to spend considerable time searching for food in this place crawling with venomous snakes and insects and haunted by fierce beasts. Though he had now thought of tying himself to the iron chain with cloth ropes and resting briefly whenever he was exhausted, that could not possibly restore him completely. Having climbed to nearly the mountainside, he felt as if his limbs had been filled with lead. At first, after securing himself and resting, he could still climb another seven or eight meters before resting again. But now, he had to stop and rest every two or three meters.
The youth knew he was nearing his limit. Looking up, he had no idea how much farther remained. Yet there was not the slightest frustration or disappointment in his heart. All he could think was that this method had truly worked—he had already climbed twice as high as usual. If he could not reach the top today, he would climb again tomorrow. So long as he climbed higher each day than the day before, there would eventually come a day when he reached the summit.
He truly was not particularly clever, yet he possessed a resilience and simplicity that most people lacked. Had it been any other youth his age, they might not even have reached one-third of the way. As the youth gritted his teeth and continued upward, he carefully watched his surroundings without daring to relax for even a moment. Shrubs and vines grew thickly around the iron chain, and the scenery and mountain terrain differed from those below. Suddenly, there came a rustling sound. Startled, the youth did his utmost to steady himself on the chain with his left hand while swiftly grabbing the woodcutter's blade tucked into his waist with his right. Before climbing, he had discarded everything unnecessary to lighten his burden. The reason he still carried this woodcutter's blade was, first, that he could use it to cut away obstructing brambles and shrubs to clear a path. More importantly, one day during an earlier climb, he had discovered among the vines beside him a vicious venomous snake, dull in color yet as thick as a child's arm.
Following the sound, the youth suddenly let out a breath of relief. It was merely a small gray monkey. After blinking its round, darting eyes at him, it too seemed startled and vanished into the mountain rocks and trees.
"Damn it, it's going to rain!" The youth had just tucked the woodcutter's blade he had found in the Miao dwelling back into his waist when a piercingly cold, powerful mountain gust swept over him, nearly blowing him straight off the chain. Cold sweat drenched his body in fright. In moments, the mountain scene that had just been bright with sunshine was swallowed by thick, overcast clouds, and the sky abruptly darkened.
Woooo! Woooo!
The youth suddenly heard that strange sound again. It was as though someone far away were blowing an enormous conch shell—loud and hollow.
Another fierce mountain gust blew past, and the strange sound became even louder. This time, the youth saw clearly. Not far above his head, a great many dead branches and leaves caught up in the wind were swept away in a single roll, as though something had swallowed them.
A torrential downpour was clearly about to descend, and the faster he followed the iron chain down the mountain, the safer he would be. Yet the youth's curiosity was greatly aroused, and he could not help climbing upward instead. With a ripping sound, a sideways-growing shrub tore his clothes and added another bloody gash to his back. But the youth gave a cheer instead. Before him was a mountain cave, more than half concealed by vines. The strange wooooing sound came from the wind blowing into it.
The cave, only large enough for one person to enter while bent over, was pitch-black, and its depth could not be seen at a glance. As the mountain wind surged through it, it carried out a damp, moldy smell. Ordinary people would surely find it eerie and terrifying, but the simple-hearted youth only thought it a delightful resting place. If he brought food tomorrow and climbed here to rest properly, perhaps he could make one last push and reach the summit. Even today, it could shelter him from the wind and rain. So, without much thought, he pushed aside the vines and crawled in.
Dead branches and fallen leaves had accumulated thickly at the cave entrance, soft as cotton beneath his feet. The moment the youth planted his foot firmly on the ground, the tension in his heart eased. His entire body seemed to fall apart, and he dropped onto his backside at the entrance. He had only sat there for a moment when raindrops began scattering down like pearls from a broken string.
All of Luofu instantly became a vast gray blur. Layers of white mist rose over the rich green mountains. Those who lived in comfort and luxury might never witness such a sight in their entire lives, but rain carried in by the mountain wind quickly soaked more than half of the youth's body, leaving no room in his heart for poetic fancies. With a wry smile, he gritted his teeth and stood, beginning to explore the cave.
Apart from the area near the entrance dampened by threads of rain, the ground inside the cave was dry, with no traces of snakes or insects. At first, the cave grew narrower the farther in he went, but after several zhang, it unexpectedly widened, with a faint light shining ahead. Supporting himself along the stone wall, the youth walked farther, and suddenly the view opened up. Before him lay a cavern dozens of meters across. Several holes in the ceiling connected to the outside, and rainwater fell through them like beaded curtains. The faint light came through those openings. After staring blankly for a moment, the youth understood. No wonder that, aside from the damp and moldy smell within a few zhang of the entrance, the cave did not feel stuffy at all. The mountain wind must have blown in through the entrance and rushed out through those holes, creating that wooooing sound as the air circulated.
Clusters of shrubs grew beneath the holes in the ceiling, and the falling rain pattered against them. A glance showed that apart from a small portion filled with jagged, grotesque rocks, most of the cave floor was level enough to serve as a resting place. Who would have thought that such a hidden paradise lay within this cave? The youth's heart filled with joy. He could not help imagining that, when the weather was clear, sunlight from outside would surely form shafts of light that fell upon these shrubs.
"There are even fruits. I wonder if they're edible?" The youth suddenly spotted a cluster of shrubs with jet-black branches and only a few fern-like leaves. Yet every branch bore five or six thumb-sized red berries, looking exceptionally tempting.
Unable to resist, the youth walked over. Just as he was about to pluck one for a look, a sharp hiss suddenly came from his left.
The sound rang out abruptly in the empty cavern. The youth was instantly startled. He immediately turned his head, and cold sweat broke out all over his body. He saw four fiery-red eyes staring fixedly at him. Their owner was actually a two-headed monster, human-like yet not human!
The monster was no more than three feet tall and stood upright like a human. Its two heads sat to the left and right, with distinct features, graying hair, and faces full of spiderweb-like wrinkles. If not for its pair of narrow, fiery-red eyes, it would at most have resembled an ugly old man—not something shocking beyond belief. The monster also had two hands and two feet, but both appeared thin and weak. Its hands in particular looked shriveled, curled like chicken claws before its chest. The point supporting its upright stance was instead a horrifying tail like that of a crocodile.
The youth retreated two steps, instinctively grabbing the woodcutter's blade at his waist. Hiss! A vicious expression suddenly appeared on both of the monster's faces. With a leap, it sprang directly from the rock where it had been standing and pounced at the youth. The youth's heart clenched, and every hair on his body stood on end. He raised the blade and slashed at the monster. With a whoosh, the monster neither dodged nor evaded. Its tail swept sideways. The youth's blade struck it as though hitting tough leather, leaving only a white mark on its tail. Though the monster looked frail, that sweep of its tail carried immense force. Half the youth's body went numb from the impact, blood streamed from the web between his thumb and forefinger, and he could no longer grip the blade. With a clang, it fell to one side.
Rolling with the force, the youth snatched up stones from the ground and hurled them wildly at the monster. Unable to evade in time, the monster was struck twice and seemed to grow even more enraged. With a whoosh, the youth's eyes lit up. One of the monster's heads opened its mouth and spat out a blazing tongue of flame. The flame contained fierce, powerful force. The stones the youth threw afterward not only crackled from the scorching heat but were sliced into fragments by the tongue of fire.
"It can even breathe fire!" The youth was horrified beyond measure. Then he suddenly realized there were no more stones beside him to throw, and he himself was already utterly exhausted—he did not even have the strength to stand and run!
At the mountain summit, Yuan Tianyi's figure appeared faint and solitary amid the wind and rain, like ink spreading lightly across paper, ready to disappear at any moment. In truth, ever since Yuan Tianyi had stood facing the mountain wind at the cliff's edge thirty years ago, Old Zhao Nan had felt this way. He had always suspected that one day, Yuan Tianyi would suddenly drift away with the wind and vanish without a trace. Old Zhao Nan knew that Yuan Tianyi had already stood at the pinnacle of this world back then. People like him had little connection with ordinary cultivators, and the ignorant mountain spirits, wild monsters, and common folk were even more clearly divided from him as warp and weft. But the Mò Chà Pearl was what bound him. That iron chain and the height of this nameless peak were the sole rule he had set for the youth. He would absolutely not allow anything, right beneath his eyes, to alter the rules he had established. "Insolence!" Amid the rain filling the sky, Yuan Tianyi coldly uttered those two words. One hand extended slightly, as if to catch the rain falling from the heavens, and a pale-red sword light appeared from nowhere, pouring wildly down from the summit.
Judging by its color and radiance, that pale-red sword light seemed utterly incomparable to the flying swords of Shushan. Yet, just as with the laws of Luofu, the less conspicuous something was, the more dangerous and deadly it could be.
I refuse to die like this! I finally found a place to rest, only to encounter a monster like this! In the cave, as he watched the monster pounce toward him, the youth's heart brimmed with unwillingness and fury! In an instant, his eyes turned blood-red as well. Like a wounded lone wolf, even without strength left, he would still use his teeth to tear his opponent apart. "Insolence!" But at that very moment, Yuan Tianyi's voice rolled down from the sky like thunder.
That pale-red sword light was actually even faster than the sound!
The youth had only just been left with his ears ringing and his entire body feeling as though struck by lightning when the pale-red sword light appeared in his sight, twisting toward the monster.