Early the next morning, only ash remained of the fire.
Chen Chong scraped the ash aside, revealing dark red embers beneath. He buried the two leftover pieces of salamander meat in them. The two shared the meat, washed it down with hot spring water, and continued deeper inside.
The farther they went, the narrower the ravine became, until it was only a crack they had to turn sideways to squeeze through.
Farther ahead, the crack suddenly opened up.
The walls drew back on either side, opening onto a valley floor neither large nor small. A pool lay there, its water boiling and bubbling, white steam pouring off its surface and smearing the entire valley floor into a blanket of white.
Chen Chong stopped.
This place was too clean.
There were no insects, no birds, not even moss growing on the rocks. The stones beside the pool had been bleached by the steam, as though brushed with a coat of lime.
Since entering the ravine, he had seen nowhere else this clean.
So clean it made his skin crawl.
A layer of steam dispersed, revealing a hint of color deep in the valley.
It was a small tree growing in the gap between two massive boulders. Its trunk was only as thick as an arm, twisted and crooked, its dark green leaves clustered as densely as a blot of ink.
A single fruit hung at the very center of its branches.
It was fist-sized, pale greenish-white, and translucent. Something beneath its skin seemed to turn slowly. With each turn, a thread of light shone from within, illuminating the surrounding leaves.
Chen Chong's gaze fixed on it.
He had seen this thing in an alchemy text.
"Marrow-Cleansing Fruit."
His voice was very soft as he spoke those words.
The alchemy text had