Daoist Yun quickly returned the greeting, "I wouldn't dare. I saw you once from afar at the Ziwei Sect ceremony years ago. You were discussing Dao with someone on the stage, and I was completely confused listening to you from below. I thought to myself, this young lady's cultivation is truly solid." He turned to Yin Wujou, winked, "Not bad, kid. You've been thinking about this for so many years after that trip to the Ziwei Sect, and you've actually managed to keep it in mind."
Yin Wujou coughed lightly and poured him some wine. "Daoist Master, you've come from afar, please moisten your throat first."
Daoist Yun tossed back his head and downed his wine in one gulp, then wiped his mouth and suddenly lowered his voice. "I actually came to see you about something else. Things haven't been peaceful in the Southern Frontier lately. There's been some unusual activity in the underground demonic veins. I've been investigating for half a month and found that the source isn't in the Southern Frontier, but in the north of your Demon Domain."
Yin Wujou paused in his pouring of wine. "Over at Soul-Severing Gorge?"
"It's the Soul-Severing Gorge." Daoist Yun's expression turned serious. "I've been there. The crevice deep in the gorge is more than three inches wider than last year, and the Demonic Qi emanating from below has a fishy smell. It doesn't seem to be dissipating naturally; it's more like something is churning things up there."
Yin Wujou put down the wine pot, his brows furrowing slightly. Snow Empress sat beside him, listening, her heart stirred. She had lived in the Demon Domain for many days and had been to the Soul-Severing Gorge more than once. Every time she walked among the stone walls, she felt that the sound of the wind sounded like crying, but Yin Wujou said that it was due to the terrain and there was nothing strange about it. Now, after hearing what Daoist Yun said, the sound of the wind seemed to have another layer of meaning.
"I will go see for myself tomorrow," Yin Wujou said.
"I'll go with you." (Snow Empress Interface)
Yin Wujou turned to look at her, instinctively wanting to say something, but swallowed his words after meeting her gaze. After a moment, he nodded. "Okay. But when we get there, you have to listen to me, and you're not allowed to go near the edge of the crevice."
"Understood," Snow Empress said.
Daoist Yun, holding his second cup of wine, glanced at this person and then at that person, chuckled, and lowered his eyes. In his mind, he thought of the aloof, cold-blooded woman in green robes in the main hall of the Ziwei Sect years ago, who now sat beside the Lord of the Demon Domain, her eyes brimming with undisguised vitality. He tilted his head back and downed his second cup of wine, feeling that this trip to the Southern Frontier had been worthwhile, as he had witnessed firsthand a major spectacle in the cultivation world.
Early the next morning, the three rode out of the city heading north. The terrain in the northern suburbs of the Demon Domain was completely different from that of the main city. After traveling thirty miles outside the city gate, the flat wilderness began to undulate and wrinkle, the soil gradually changing from dark brown to a dark ochre red. Cracks appeared more frequently in the ground, some wide enough for two people to walk side by side, their depths unknown and dark. Yin Wujou walked in front, pointing out various places to Snow Empress, explaining what kind of mining pits were left behind, and what kind of ancient battle relics were left behind. Daoist Yun followed slowly behind, occasionally interjecting to add details that Yin Wujou was too embarrassed to mention, such as how a certain crack was blown out by Yin Wujou when he was seventeen years old during a fight.
After walking for most of the day, the Soul-Severing Gorge finally came into view. From a distance, it appeared as just a dark crack across the ground, as if the earth had been ripped open by some immense force. But as it drew closer, it became clear that the gorge was far more magnificent than it had seemed from afar. The two walls were steep and sheer, and the gorge was estimated to be at least a hundred feet deep. The layers of rock on the cliffs resembled an open, thick book, each layer bearing the marks of different eras of sedimentation. The wind howled and wailed as it rushed up from the gorge, sounding exactly like someone was crying.
Yin Wujou reined in his horse at the edge of the canyon, dismounted, and walked to the cliff edge to look down. Snow Empress followed and stood beside him, the wind billowing her robe sleeves and making a rustling sound. She looked down into the depths of the canyon and saw only darkness at the bottom, with faint, glowing moss on the stone walls twinkling like fireflies falling into a deep valley.
"Where is the crack?" Yin Wujou asked Daoist Yun.
"Below, there's a small path leading down the eastern cliff face. About two-thirds of the way down, there's a natural rock platform, and the crevice is inside that platform." Daoist Yun dismounted and walked over, his expression more serious. "The fishy smell I detected yesterday when I went down came from that crevice. Young Yin, smell this."
Daoist Yun took out a palm-sized cloth bag from his robes and handed it to Yin Wujou. Yin Wujou took it, sniffed it, and immediately frowned. He handed the bag to Snow Empress Snow Empress took it and sniffed it. A strong, fishy smell hit her nostrils, mixed with a somewhat familiar chill, very much like the Chaotic Demonic Qi she had encountered in the eye of the Absolute Abyss, but much fainter.
"A variant of Chaotic Demonic Qi." Snow Empress returned the cloth bag to Daoist Yun, "But the concentration isn't pure enough; it seems to have been diluted or separated by a layer before dissipating."
Yin Wujou looked at her, his gaze now heavy with something weighty. "You're sensitive about this?"
"I blew up that array's core in the Absolute Abyss; I can't forget the aura of that thing," said the Snow Empress. "If there's anything down there, I can tell better than you."
Yin Wujou was silent for a few moments, then turned to Daoist Yun and said, "Master, watch over the horses for us upstairs. She and I will go down."
Daoist Yun readily nodded, took the reins from the two, and stepped aside. Yin Wujou walked in front, searching for the path on the eastern cliff. It was more of a series of natural protrusions in the rock, barely enough to step on. Yin Wujou walked very steadily, glancing back at Snow Empress every now and then. Snow Empress followed behind him, her toes landing on every spot he stepped on. The wind blowing in from the cracks made her hair disheveled, but her steps were as steady as if she were walking on flat ground.
Sure enough, after descending about two-thirds of the way, there was a rocky platform. The platform was about ten feet square, and its edges were covered with luminous moss that felt soft and springy underfoot. There was a vertical crack in the rock wall on the inner side of the platform, about two fingers wide, which stretched from the top of the rock layer down into the darkness below. Yin Wujou squatted down in front of the crack, took out a luminous pearl from his sleeve, and held it up to shine his light.
Snow Empress squatted down beside him. The light from the luminous pearl shone into the crevice, revealing that the rock walls inside were damp and covered with a layer of dark green, sticky substance, like moss but a darker color. Wisps of fishy smell rose from the crevice, swirling and dispersing in the air above the rock platform.
"Smell it." Snow Empress leaned closer to the crevice, took a deep breath, then stepped back and frowned. "There are indeed elements of Chaotic Demonic Qi inside, but it's mixed with something else, like the scent of some living creature."
Yin Wujou probed the luminous pearl further inside; the beam of light shone to a depth of about three feet before dimming, obscuring the view beyond. He withdrew his hand, pondered for a moment, and said, "I have to go down and take a look."
"I'll go with you."
Yin Wujou turned to look at her. The light from the moss on the rock platform illuminated their faces, giving them a faint glow. He looked at her for a while, then suddenly reached out and tucked a strand of hair that had been ruffled by the wind behind her ear, the movement as natural as if he had done it a thousand times.
"I don't know what's going on down there," he said.