After Shen Luo finished speaking, silence fell outside once more.
"If I remember correctly, the Heavenly Court fell first, and only afterward did the Demon Clan attack the Underworld, right?" After a moment, Shen Luo broke the silence with a question.
"That's right..." Zhong Kui replied.
"In that case, the Underworld should have been prepared. Why did you fall so quickly back then?" Shen Luo continued asking.
Only after a long while did Zhong Kui's voice drift in:
"Back then... there was something strange about what happened back then, too. With all the arrangements Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had made, even if we ultimately couldn't withstand the Demon Clan, we shouldn't have lost so quickly or so disastrously. For years afterward, people condemned us, saying we were all surrenderists who had never resisted at all."
Shen Luo said nothing more. His gaze slowly settled on the Binding Dragon Ring around his hands, his thoughts unreadable.
Outside, seeing that Shen Luo had fallen silent, Zhong Kui said no more either.
An unknown stretch of time passed before Shen Luo suddenly heard an unusual noise outside. Immediately afterward, Zhong Kui roared:
"Who's there?"
Yet the moment his voice rang out, something seemed to block his throat. He let out a series of muffled sounds, but those soon vanished as well.
"Who's outside?" Instantly alert, Shen Luo demanded in a low voice.
"It's me." A somewhat dry voice came from outside.
"Cai Zhu?" Shen Luo sounded surprised.
"These Golden Cymbals are Master Huang Mei's magic treasure. I can only open the narrowest crack at most. Are you confident you can get out?" Nie Caizhu asked.
"Why are you here?" Shen Luo hurriedly asked.
"Never mind that for now. Let me get you out first," Nie Caizhu said urgently.
"All right." After a brief hesitation, Shen