Burning Flowers, Swaying Moon, Asking About the Past - Gazing at the Sky from a Cave's Depths, Mistaking a Deer for a Horse

At the mention of treasure, Xing Yan perked up and paid attention to the two middle-aged men chatting at the next table. One was disputing what his companion had just said:

"No, that's not it! If you ask me, it isn't treasure-it's an immortal! Doesn't that children's rhyme say an immortal has descended? I reckon some immortal in heaven had nothing better to do and came to Yellowstone Town to guide people to immortality-"

"Ah, what insight, my friend! That's just what I meant. Didn't I just say there were immortals and treasures in the cave...?"

The two idlers continued their desultory chatter. Xing Yan took note, thinking that if their words were true, this would certainly be something new. Perhaps the water essence had dug a hole in the middle of the road and crouched inside, waiting for him to find it.

With these fanciful thoughts running through his mind, Xing Yan paid the bill and led Qiong Rong and Xueyi toward the southern end of town. Once they left Yellowstone Town's southern entrance and stepped onto the government road winding southwest, they saw a sizable crowd gathered nearby, pointing and talking excitedly. Perhaps because the sunlight was so fierce, they could see no auspicious radiance or rainbow light rising from among the spectators.

Of the three, Qiong Rong loved a spectacle most. Before Xing Yan could say anything, she had seized Sister Xueyi's hand and rushed over, repeatedly turning back to urge Brother Xing Yan to hurry and come look. Their leader thus became the last to reach the great hole.

The hole, which had cracked open only the night before, lay squarely across the road. The yellow-earth government road had split in the middle, its two crescent-shaped edges facing each other to enclose a seemingly bottomless cavern.