Stepping Upward

Qin He gazed into the distance. Far along the Path of Fire Illumination, endless flower flames blazed in splendor.

It seemed he had reached the other shore, yet it also seemed he had returned to antiquity, or perhaps stepped into some dust-sealed memory.

Qin He hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward.

"Master, don't... go." Wang Tie Zhu was greatly alarmed and instinctively tried to dissuade him, but it lacked conviction; his voice abruptly trailed off at the end.

The netherworld beyond the shore was the final destination of the dead.

What good end could await the living if they went there?

This place was already strange enough. What if something happened?

"Master, do you really have to go?" Lamborghini shouted at Qin He's rapidly vanishing back.

Yet Qin He neither turned back nor replied.

His figure steadfastly pursued the Path of Fire Illumination, like an immortal strolling through the Milky Way. He swiftly receded into the distance and soon vanished amid the endless flower flames.

The instant his figure disappeared, the Shore Flowers stretching beyond sight began to melt away inch by inch from the tips of their petals.

Like a thin winter frost scorched by the blazing summer sun, they vanished without a trace in an instant.

The red glow filling the river fell away, and everything returned to normal.

White bones lay grimly exposed, shrouded in faint, ghostly light.

Everything was as though nothing had happened.

Except Qin He was gone.

"Eek, eek~"

Little Sable cried several times toward the direction where Qin He had disappeared, its round eyes brimming with worry.

"What do we do?" Lamborghini asked.

Wang Tie Zhu scratched his head and said, "It's not like we haven't seen what Master can do. There's no need to worry. Since we're already here, let's check