The Golden House still stood there, shimmering with an enchanting light, but Yang Qing and the others had turned their attention away from it entirely. They skirted around it and continued ahead.
Beyond the Golden House, the passage abruptly narrowed until only two people could walk abreast.
Just then, the faint sound of flowing water came from ahead once more.
Water?
For some reason, the moment they heard it, they could not help thinking of the waters of the Nether Lake that had vanished earlier.
What they had not expected was that, after walking for a while, they would find the ground beneath them gradually giving way to an abyss. Only the path under their feet remained, winding onward.
"The formations here are exquisitely crafted. They catch you utterly off guard."
Yang Qing lowered his head to look into the abyss. For some reason, his heart began to flutter with dread, as though something far below were facing him across that vast distance.
"Young master, be careful!"
Seeing Yang Qing sway slightly, Bu Er hurried forward and caught his sleeve.
"To reach the other side, we can only take this stone path. But whether it is safe to traverse remains to be seen." Jiang Zhizhou looked at the narrow path before them, a flicker of worry in his eyes.
"I'll go ahead and investigate. None of you move."
With that, Jiang Zhizhou leaped forward.
When he landed again, he stood in the middle of the stone path, with a fathomless abyss below him.
Yang Qing and the others kept their eyes fixed on Jiang Zhizhou. Though he advanced slowly, their hearts remained heavy.
None of them had imagined that the Duan Clan ancestors would actually create an abyss beneath this desert!
No, this abyss...
A sudden chill gripped Yang Qing's