In the dim Mountain Cave, Lu Xiucai collapsed heavily to the ground. Struggling, he braced himself with one hand, trying to force his body back up.
Yet at that moment, it was as though he truly bore a white donkey on his back. The tattoo pinned him down so completely that he could not move, and the white light it gave off was as heavy as cast iron.
"How is this possible?! Why would the Unborn Mother stop me?! Those are man-eating evil creatures! They're all bad!" Disbelief filled Lu Xiucai's face as everything he had once understood came crashing down.
As Lu Xiucai struggled, the twitching centipede beside him recovered before he did. She suddenly raised her carriage-sized head and smashed it viciously toward him.
If that blow landed, Lu Xiucai's newly restored body would likely be reduced to a puddle of mush once more.
At the critical moment, the centipede's segmented body twisted for no apparent reason. Her enormous head was forced to change direction, smashing violently into the floor right beside Lu Xiucai. Man and insect stared into each other at close range.
Now that they were so close, Lu Xiucai noticed details he had missed before.
On the inner side of the centipede's head, beneath the creature's four limbs, was a carving of a white donkey. She, too, had a white donkey just like his!
Both sides froze, staring at one another in disbelief.
At that moment, they both understood why the Unborn Mother had helped them both: she simply did not want her believers slaughtering one another.
As the white light on his back weakened, Lu Xiucai struggled to his feet. He looked around at the eyes in the darkness and the centipede bodies strewn haphazardly across the ground.
He said in utter disbelief, "So