Xing Chun walked along, praising Zhongli Shan's skill, then asked why he'd kept such impressive swordsmanship hidden.
Zhongli Shan answered honestly, "I'm not proficient with it yet."
If he used it often and something went wrong, how embarrassing would that be?
The moment Xing Chun heard him say he wasn't proficient, he stopped in his tracks and looked up at the towering wall of seawater. "Does 'not proficient' mean it might collapse while I'm halfway across?"
Zhongli Shan replied expressionlessly, "That's right."
"Then I'd better—" Xing Chun turned to leave, but Mei Chengyu grabbed him and pulled him back. "If it collapses, I'll hold it up for you. Quit talking and get in the water."
Xing Chun had just pinched his nose with one hand when Mei Chengyu stuck a bright yellow talisman to his forehead. Its vermilion ink was covered in strange, alluring spell marks.
Mei Chengyu said, "It's bitterly cold beneath the deep sea. Living people can't survive at that temperature. This is the Daoist Four Seasons Rest Talisman. It wards off the cold and keeps you warm. I modified it, so it should just about let us last half an hour down there."
Xing Chun lifted the talisman dangling over the bridge of his nose and glared at Mei Chengyu. "You modified a Daoist talisman?"
Mei Chengyu smacked another one onto his own forehead and said unconcernedly, "The Ghost Dao School makes talismans too. Why shouldn't I modify one?"
He turned to stick one on Zhongli Shan as well, but Zhongli Shan stopped him first and put it on himself.
Xing Chun turned to Zhongli Shan. "Half an hour. That's about how long the star formation outside will last too. What about you, General Zhongli?"
Zhongli Shan sounded a little helpless at his teasing. "It won't collapse