After ending his communication with Du'e, Song Wen did not leave the inn immediately. He waited until noon the following day before setting out.
Rather than heading to Shanbai Waterfall, where he had agreed to meet Du'e, he traveled west. After covering several hundred thousand li, he arrived amid a stretch of deserted mountains.
At the foot of a mountain, he found a burrow dug by some unknown wild beast.
The burrow was small, barely wide enough for one person to crawl into. It wound downward to a depth of several zhang.
With a thought from Song Wen, a figure identical to him in every detail appeared at his side.
The two exchanged smiles. Then Song Wen's true body crawled into the burrow and shook it into collapse, burying himself underground.
The Heaven-and-Earth Avatar continued west. After traveling a thousand li, it came upon a river.
The river rushed along, its waves spraying and its waters roaring.
The Heaven-and-Earth Avatar stood motionless above the river.
It remained there through nightfall, until midnight.
Suddenly.
Several hundred li upstream, a sesame-seed-sized Gu Worm broke through the water's surface and flew toward the Heaven-and-Earth Avatar, a ring clutched in its mandibles.
This Gu Worm was a late fourth-tier Shadow King Gu.
Song Wen had placed it in the deep pool beneath the waterfall beforehand.
An underground river at the bottom of that pool led directly to this river.
The Shadow King Gu landed in the Heaven-and-Earth Avatar's hand, then crawled into its sleeve.
The Heaven-and-Earth Avatar rubbed the storage ring in its hand, then suddenly called out.
"Master Du'e, come out! I know you're nearby!"
Its voice rang like a great bell, carrying far through the dark, silent mountains. Yet it was like a stone sinking into the sea-not a single reply came.