Liu San huddled in the back seat, clutching the pot, not daring to breathe loudly.
The last trace of color drained from his face again. His lips were cracked, and his eyes were wide open in the darkness.
After nearly an hour on the road, the vehicle stopped at a quarry.
Stone walls enclosed the place on all sides, making it look like a natural stone pot.
Yang Yong parked in the very center, killed the engine, and got out to look around.
Old chisel marks covered the stone walls. In a few places, blocks of stone that had never been hauled away lay scattered among the weeds, each more than half a person's height.
A thick layer of grayish-white stone dust covered the ground. It crunched underfoot, like crushed bone fragments.
"We'll spend the night here," Yang Yong said.
Liu San nodded hastily and climbed out with the pot to gather firewood.
Long Ya stayed where she was, sitting on the hood. She took the gun off her back and rested it across her knees, her eyes scanning between the stone walls.
Yang Yong took out the Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace and set it in his palm.
The furnace was slightly hot against his palm. The mass of yellow light inside still hadn't dissolved.
He shone the Evil Eye into it. The light was still there, wrapped in furnace flames, slowly revolving.
Tiny characters flowed within the light like a swarm of living ants, forming ranks, scattering, then forming ranks again.
"You swallow things and do no work. You've got it easy."
Yang Yong cursed under his breath.
The furnace buzzed, as though talking back.
"Master, is someone coming?"
Hearing the noise, Long Ya looked up and asked.
"No. The furnace farted," Yang Yong said.
"Oh," Long Ya said, turning