The unchanging scenery had left Cheng Yu feeling rather listless.
He lay on Niu Ba's back, holding the map as he said,
"Hang in there for another half month, Niu Niu! Just half a month until we reach that so-called sky walkway."
He wasn't sure whether he was encouraging Niu Ba or himself.
Niu Ba gave a feeble moo. Though he wasn't physically tired, he was mentally exhausted too.
The wasteland outside Heavenly Gate Pass truly lived up to its name. Apart from withered yellow grass, there was nothing. They couldn't even find a little animal to play with and relieve their boredom.
For Niu Ba, who was still at an age when he loved to move about, it was agony. Fortunately, Cheng Yu occasionally told him interesting stories from his back, giving him one of his few sources of entertainment.
After another wild sprint to burn off his excess energy, Niu Ba asked Cheng Yu on his back,
"Today's speed run is done! Now it's your turn to carry on with Passerby A's story! That thing you mentioned last time-oh! I remember. Who exactly is Luo Xia? And where did the puppet army Passerby A made in that Summoner world go?"
With nothing else to do, Cheng Yu sat up astride Niu Ba's back and said with a smile,
"All right, let's tackle your questions one at a time. Picking up where we left off, after Passerby A destroyed the Summoner world, he arrived in his third world, the Weird World. There, he met a visitor from another world, a handsome young man named Luo Xia..."
An unknown amount of time passed. Seeing the sky darken as a thunderstorm gathered, Cheng Yu emerged from his recollections, but Niu Ba protested,
"And then? The one behind that Weird siege of