O Heaven Above, Why Do You Weep Alone?

The sudden turn of events shook Su Ming to his core, but instead of stopping, he moved even faster. That was simply his nature: he either did nothing at all, or, once he had made up his mind, he was hard to sway.

At the very instant he arrived, Bai Ling's vacant eyes seemed to find their focus. She stared blankly at Su Ming, tears slipping down her cheeks without her noticing.

In a flash, Su Ming was there. Without the slightest hesitation, he gripped the Bone Horn in his right hand and drove it into the red tree trunk. It sank more than halfway in. Dark red sap, like blood, immediately spilled from the wound, and at that very moment, a muffled roar erupted wildly from within the trunk.

The roar brimmed with fury, shaking the entire basin as though the earth itself had shuddered.

Su Ming's face was pale, but cold light flickered in his eyes. After driving the Bone Horn into the trunk, he ripped downward with all his might. With a tearing sound, he gouged a huge split into the trunk, and a chill spilled from the opening!

The split ran almost alongside Bai Ling. Once it was open, Su Ming caught sight of her body within the trunk. He did not hesitate. Reaching inside, he seized the arm hidden in the wood and, with a low growl, yanked hard.

With that pull, he dragged Bai Ling straight out of the trunk.

Bai Ling was completely stunned. She stared blankly at Su Ming, letting him pull her along as tears streamed down her face. At that moment, Su Ming's image was carved deep into her mind.

With Bai Ling in tow, Su Ming leaped backward. His heart pounded as he prepared to flee, but just then the roar grew fiercer, filling the basin. From the split in the tree trunk, one Moon Wing after another suddenly appeared. The sorrow and desolation on their faces had vanished, replaced by madness and bloodlust. They surged out.

Su Ming's scalp prickled. He retreated at full speed. There were far too many Moon Wings in front of him, packed together in a dense swarm—no fewer than several thousand. And even more were still inside the trunk.

Yet almost the instant they burst out, Su Ming saw them recoil in fear as the basin's scorching air swept over them. Some even stiffened and fell from the air into the lava. With a bang, they shattered like stone. There was no flesh or blood, only a chill rising into the air.

The Fire Barbarian tribe was said to possess undying bodies, until the Barbarian God turned them into Moon Wings. It's true! They once feared no fire, but after becoming Moon Wings, something strange changed in them—they fear fire now... Judging by the way they die, their bodies are like ice... Su Ming's gaze sharpened. As he raced backward, he seized Bai Ling with his left hand and flung her toward the nearby passage exit.

"What are you standing there for?! Run!" Su Ming roared. The sound jolted Bai Ling as though she had awakened from a nightmare. She landed beside the passage exit, turned to look at Su Ming, and hesitated, about to speak.

"Run!" Su Ming leaped into the air and shot toward the passage. Below, lava had already flooded some of the stone houses; only a few rooftops remained above the surface.

Bai Ling's face was deathly pale, but this time she did not hesitate. She turned and ran down the passage as fast as she could. Her feet were in agony, but she ignored the pain. There was only one thought in her mind: escape.

Su Ming leaped from rooftop to rooftop toward the passage. Behind him, the Moon Wings roared, yet dared not give chase. But the muffled bellows echoing from inside the trunk drove them into a frenzy. A dozen or so of them rushed out without a thought for their own safety, lunging at Su Ming.

Blood surged through Su Ming's body, eleven blood lines spreading beneath his skin. As the dozen Moon Wings bore down on him, he brandished the Bone Horn and charged for the passage. All this might have sounded like a long time, but it had happened in an instant. By the time Su Ming reached the passage, several more Moon Wings had fallen into the lava and burst apart.

Su Ming's heart raced, but his mind remained perfectly calm. Everything was going as he had expected. If he had not held back a little longer and waited until the heat grew more intense before acting, things would not have gone so smoothly. Even more Moon Wings would have appeared.

The moment he stepped into the passage, the smell of scorched flesh rose from his feet. He did not stop, but raced onward at full speed.

Behind him, the Moon Wings' roars echoed throughout the basin. They still seemed afraid to pursue him, but after watching so many of their kind die, a few nonetheless darted into the passage and shrieked as they came after Su Ming.

Moon Wings fear heat... That's why they stay inside the trunk. The farther this passage stretches outward, the weaker the heat gets... As Su Ming ran, the shrill cries behind him grew clearer.

I can't let the ones chasing me fall too far behind! Su Ming's eyes flashed. He spotted a large boulder in the passage, one he had chipped off earlier. He hurried over, gripped the Bone Horn, and spun around. Four Moon Wings came shrieking toward him.

Su Ming's face was pale, but his eyes were utterly calm. Just as the four Moon Wings were about to reach him, he kicked the boulder beside him.

He had measured it while making preparations. The boulder was roughly the same size as the passage. Now, with all his blood strength behind his kick, it shot into the air with a boom, blocking the passage like a door!

Su Ming had timed it almost perfectly. His plan was to trap three Moon Wings behind the stone door and deal with the last one himself using the Bone Horn in the scorching passage.

But the Moon Wings were simply too fast. The boulder he had set up blocked only two of them; the other two came screaming through.

Su Ming frowned and immediately turned to sprint away. Even if he could kill two Moon Wings, he would get hurt in the process. He had a better way.

As he dashed forward, the two Moon Wings behind him gained ground. Just as they were less than ten zhang away, another boulder of similar size appeared ahead.

As he passed it, Su Ming took what he had learned from the last one to heart. He kicked the boulder, and with a boom it flew up to block the passage. Only one Moon Wing made it through; the other was temporarily trapped behind the stone.

The instant one Moon Wing was blocked and the other shrieked toward him, Su Ming's eyes filled with cold light. Gripping the Bone Horn, he charged straight at the creature instead of retreating.

Man and beast clashed in a deadly battle inside the passage. If Su Ming had not practiced Barbarian Cultivation, he would have stood no chance. But now he had eleven blood lines and a Bone Horn sharp enough to cut through anything. He had the upper hand in his fight against the Moon Wing.

With a swish, Su Ming drove the Bone Horn into the Moon Wing's body and ripped it open. But the wound healed at astonishing speed. The creature looked weak, yet showed no sign of dying.

Su Ming's eyes flashed. He slashed open several more wounds, leaving the Moon Wing unable to recover for the moment, then turned and sped away. As he raced onward, he kicked every boulder he had set up along the way, turning them into one obstruction after another inside the passage.

Though these obstacles slowed his pursuers, speed was Su Ming's strength. He flashed through the passage and soon reached the cave riddled with small openings.

"I... I'm here!" The instant he arrived, Su Ming heard Bai Ling's faint voice.

He spotted Bai Ling, her face pale with fear, trembling inside one of the openings. She had reached this place long ago, but she did not know which way led out and was afraid to wander, terrified of running into more Moon Wings.

Bai Ling no longer looked like the proud, clever girl Su Ming had seen at the Tribal Market. Now she seemed like a frightened little beast. Seeing the bewilderment in her eyes, Su Ming laughed.

"Y-you're still laughing!" Bai Ling was terribly tense and was about to speak when Su Ming flashed over, grabbed her arm, and ran toward one of the many small openings nearby.

"Is this the way out?" Seeing Su Ming, Bai Ling somehow felt much less afraid. She spoke softly.

Su Ming nodded without a word. He took her hand and ran quickly down the passage. He could hear Bai Ling's breath beside him. It was pleasant to hear, and his racing heartbeat made him wonder if it was from running—or from the softness of her hand in his.

They ran in silence, and Bai Ling did not speak again. She let Su Ming hold her hand as they hurried through the perilous passage. Her heart pounded faster, and she found herself caught up in the same thoughts as Su Ming. Those thoughts washed away her fear and the despair she had felt before.

But the silence could not last. Before long, Su Ming led Bai Ling to the Powder Refining Cave that belonged to him. There, he let go of her hand. His expression grave, he used the Bone Horn to trace lines across the ground, where small holes glimmered faintly with firelight. From time to time, he furrowed his brow as though working out a calculation.

Beneath the Wild Cauldron nearby, flames had also appeared, slowly burning.

Bai Ling stared blankly at Su Ming's actions, her thoughts in turmoil.

Even now, it felt like a dream to her, as though she had not fully woken. The Moon Wings had captured her, and she had already given up hope, yet everything that had happened left her feeling as if she were still trapped in a dream.

Just then, sharp cries rang out again from deep within the cave, growing louder as they drew rapidly closer. Bai Ling shuddered and instinctively moved toward Su Ming, but after only a few steps, Su Ming abruptly looked up and grabbed her. He led her quickly across the ground dotted with holes, then turned to face the depths of the cave.

It did not take long for the piercing shrieks to grow suddenly louder. Three hideous Moon Wings came hurtling toward them. Bai Ling trembled and was about to retreat, but Su Ming's eyes flashed. He took the Bone Horn and cut a groove through the ground beside the flames beneath the Wild Cauldron, joining it to another trench.

A curtain of fire roared upward, nearly forming a sea of flames. It engulfed the three charging Moon Wings at once. Their anguished shrieks rang out as they crashed to the ground and burst apart. A chill spread and mingled with the fire. In the glow, Su Ming's expression darkened, while the fear in Bai Ling's eyes deepened behind him.

"They... they're afraid of fire?" Bai Ling finally asked softly.

"They worshipped fire in life; fire was their glory. But after they became Moon Wings, they lost more than their minds and their bodies. They lost that glory too...

"Having lost their glory, they do not fear fire. They are ashamed before it... Born of fire, dead by fire..." Su Ming murmured. He could not help recalling the skeleton he had seen in the Fire Barbarian tribe, along with those words:

"O Heaven above, why do you weep alone..."

A new week has begun. I hope you'll give me your strongest recommendations! Thank you to everyone who has voted for the book. Recommendation votes are truly important to a new book—and they're free. Over the past three years, while I was writing Renegade Immortal, many fellow cultivators came from outside Qidian. If you enjoyed Renegade Immortal, I hope you'll cast a few free recommendation votes for Seeking Demon to support me. I believe many hands make light work. Thank you.