Time returned to the present.
At the foot of Flaming Mountain, outside a farmhouse.
"Put it out for good?"
The old man looked at Xuanzang and lightly tapped his bamboo staff against the ground.
"Easy for you to say!"
"This is divine fire from heaven. It's been burning for five hundred years. Now no one knows where the Iron Fan Immortal has gone, and the Earth God has vanished too. What are we supposed to put it out with?"
Xuanzang was about to answer, but broke into a fit of coughing. He had suffered the worst injuries in the earlier clash, and even his lips had turned somewhat pale.
Seeing this, Sha Wujing immediately stepped forward to steady Xuanzang. "Master!"
Sha Wujing pressed a hand to his shoulder, and a gentle white light shone.
The dark bruises slowly faded, and the redness and swelling receded at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Xuanzang smiled. "Wujing, thank you for your effort."
Sha Wujing shook his head. "There's no need to say that, Master."
Only then did Xuanzang raise his head again to address everyone. "Benefactors, to resolve the trouble here, we must find two people."
"The first is Princess Iron Fan."
"The second is the Flaming Mountain Earth God."
The old man frowned. "Find the Earth God?"
Xuanzang nodded. "From what you just told us, this place remains habitable for two reasons. First, every ten years, the Iron Fan Immortal used her fan to quell the fire and bring rain so you could sow your crops. Second, the Earth God taught you how to build houses, store grain, and stockpile water to protect yourselves from the fire."
"Now the Earth God has not appeared for roughly half a year, and it was precisely during this period that the fire gradually