Fall into the Valley

"Well..."

Consciousness surfaced from the thick darkness, and the first thing to awaken was pain.

His bones felt like they were falling apart, and his skin and flesh were burning. Lu Yuan opened his eyes, and all he could see were swaying, wet shadows of tree canopies. They were too high up; only a few rays of sunlight peeked through the leaves, very meager.

He didn't die.

The thought made his heart clench. He tried to move his fingers; he could. His right leg was in excruciating pain, but it wasn't broken. His Soul Power... was gone. Utterly depleted, like a fruit that had been squeezed dry.

He gritted his teeth and used his elbows to prop himself up from the soft humus. With each movement, his bones groaned.

I sat up and looked around.

At the bottom of the deep well, the almost vertical rock walls are covered with dark green moss, disappearing into the thick fog. The valley floor is wide, dimly lit, and the air is damp and cold, carrying the smell of decaying leaves. In the distance, there is the faint sound of flowing water.

The slope is nowhere to be found. The rock face is swallowed up by vegetation and mist.

Temporarily safe, but completely lost.

Lu Yuan breath, the icy air stinging his lungs. He forced himself to calm down and checked his injuries. He was covered in external wounds, his right calf was swollen badly, possibly with a fracture. His left ribs ached terribly, making it difficult to breathe.

He tore off a tattered piece of his clothing and used branches and strips of cloth to roughly secure his right leg. He couldn't fix his ribs, so he could only try to breathe calmly.

After doing all this, his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

Lin Xiao.

He suddenly remembered and, enduring the pain, crawled to the side. Ten feet away, Lin Xiao lay face down, motionless.

Lu Yuan crawled over to check his breathing.

Faint, but still there.

Carefully turn him over. Lin Xiao's face was deathly pale, and his lips were purple. The wound on his left shoulder had completely reopened, and blood mixed with mud had soaked through half of his body. His clothes on his back were torn, the flesh was rolled up, and in some places, the white bone was exposed.

The injury was too severe.

Lu Yuan's hands trembled slightly. A quick check revealed a twisted and fractured right arm, extensive abrasions on his left leg, and a bruised forehead. His breathing was shallow and rapid, his chest heaving weakly, and his body temperature was alarmingly low.

Excessive blood loss, old and new injuries, and possibly internal injuries.

His heart sank to the bottom. He tore open the clean part of his undershirt, shredded it into strips, and first tightly bound it above Lin Xiao's left shoulder wound to stop the bleeding. The wound on his back was large, so he could only use pieces of cloth to press down on the few places where the bleeding was most severe.

There is no medicine.

The herbal medicine pouch was nowhere to be found. Most of the things in my arms were scattered, except for Mo Chen's notes and Zhou Chun's letter. The remains of the Soul Tool device were also there, but they were broken into several pieces and were useless.

The valley floor was damp and cold. Lin Xiao's body temperature was already low after losing blood, and if he stayed any longer, the hypothermia could be fatal.

We need to find a safer place.

Lu Yuan looked up at the sky. The light through the gaps in the tree canopy was getting dimmer. Night was approaching.

He gritted his teeth, helped Lin Xiao up, and leaned him against his uninjured left side, dragging him slowly towards the sound of flowing water. Every step felt like walking on knife points; his right leg ached terribly, and the stabbing pain in his ribs made his vision blur. Lin Xiao was very heavy.

He stopped three times to catch his breath after only a few dozen steps. Sweat mixed with blood dripped down his face.

Finally, after parting a clump of thorny bushes, the stream came into view.

The stream is narrow with a gentle current. There are pebbly beaches along the banks, as well as a recessed rock wall that barely provides shelter from the wind.

Right here.

He carefully placed Lin Xiao in a recess in the rock wall, then slumped down by the stream, scooping up the icy water and washing his face vigorously. The cold water stimulated his senses, making him a little more alert. He drank a few mouthfuls of water, then tore off strips of cloth, soaked them, and went back to wipe away the dirt from Lin Xiao's face and the area around his wounds.

After cleaning up, he sat down beside the boy and looked at his pale, paper-white face.

what to do?

Without medicine, without food, their Soul Power depleted, and both severely injured, they were trapped in a completely unfamiliar deep valley. The Hundred Refinements Pavilion members were still searching above. Even if they didn't pursue them, the environment alone and the possibility of encountering Soul Beast...

He closed his eyes briefly.

He must not die.

I opened my eyes again and scanned the mud and crevices of the rocks by the stream. I searched carefully and found several clumps of dark green plants growing close to the ground on the back of a few moss-covered rocks.

Hemostatic herb. Common, with mild medicinal properties, but better than nothing.

He picked a few tender leaves, put them in his mouth, and chewed them vigorously. The bitter juice filled the air, and he frowned. He carefully applied the chewed herbal paste to several deep wounds on Lin Xiao's left shoulder and back, securing them with the remaining clean strips of cloth.

After all this was done, it grew even darker. Wisps of mist rose from the rock walls and the stream, carrying a Sisi cold. The temperature was dropping.

A fire must be lit.

He struggled to his feet and began gathering dry branches and leaves nearby. The valley floor was damp, and there wasn't much dry fuel. He collected a small pile and tried to start a fire using the most primitive method—his palms were blistered and charred, but the sparks failed to ignite the damp kindling.

I tried seven or eight times, but my arms were sore and I couldn't lift them.

He stopped, looked at the pile of damp fuel, and then at his trembling, bloodstained hands.

It won't start a fire.

This realization sent a chill down his spine. Without fire, he could neither keep warm, nor drive away the nocturnal Soul Beast, nor prepare food or boil water.

He sat back down next to Lin Xiao, covering them both with the dry fallen leaves and soft vines he could find for warmth. Then he picked up a large leaf and carefully collected the cool, unpolluted dew that had condensed on the rock surface.

One drop, two drops.

He gathered a small amount of the leaf, lifted Lin Xiao's head, and brought the edge of the leaf close to his dry, cracked lips, letting the precious little bit of liquid slowly flow in.

Lin Xiao's Adam's apple bobbed, and he swallowed unconsciously.

Lu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, Lin Xiao's eyelashes trembled, and with great effort, he opened his eyes a crack.

His amber pupils were unfocused and undivided. He stared at Lu Yuan's face, which was so close to his own, for several seconds, his lips moving slightly.

"... Not dead?" The voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

"No." Lu Yuan replied succinctly.

Lin Xiao seemed to try to force a smile, but failed. His gaze moved with difficulty, sweeping over the dim and unfamiliar surroundings.

"... where?"

"I don't know," Lu Yuan said honestly. "They tumbled down. It's a deep valley. The people up there won't be able to get down anytime soon."

Lin Xiao remained silent. He tried to move his right arm, and the sharp pain made him groan, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Don't move." Lu Yuan pressed down on his intact left shoulder. "His right arm is broken. His left shoulder and back are badly injured."

"... Troublesome." Lin Xiao closed his eyes and squeezed out two words through gritted teeth. It was unclear whether he was referring to his injuries or his current predicament.

After a pause, he asked in a very low voice, "How... are you?"

"I won't die," Lu Yuan retorted, echoing his earlier words.

Lin Xiao didn't speak again, his breathing becoming weak and rapid again. The brief moment of clarity seemed to have exhausted the little strength he had just mustered.

It was completely dark.

The valley floor was shrouded in a somber, almost absolute darkness. Only the stream reflected a faint phosphorescence, outlining a blurry shape. The fog thickened, like a cold veil Entanglement every inch of space. The chill seeped into the fallen leaves and vines, penetrating straight to the bone.

Lu Yuan piled all the coverings he could find onto Lin Xiao's side, then sat down close to him, relying on their body heat to barely keep warm. The pain in his right leg and ribs became numb in the cold, replaced by a deep-seated weariness and weakness.

I can't sleep.

He forced himself to stay awake. In this completely unfamiliar and dangerous environment, falling into a coma would be tantamount to leaving his life to chance. He had to be aware of his surroundings.

His Soul Power was depleted, and his vision and hearing were greatly impaired in the darkness and fog. He still had Blue Silver Grass.

A faint light flashed in his palm, and the dim, slender Blue Silver Grass appeared. Without the support of Soul Power, it appeared weak, but its basic perception was still intact. Lu Yuan concentrated his remaining spiritual power, controlled a delicate vine, and slowly explored the surroundings along the damp ground.

The vines swept across cold stones, damp soil, decaying leaves, and thorny bushes... The information they returned was chaotic and vague, mostly the languid life fluctuations of ordinary plants.

Just as the tips of the vines were about to touch a particularly dense thicket of deep purple vines clinging to the rock face on the opposite bank of the stream—

Lu Yuan suddenly stopped moving.

A faint yet unmistakable fluctuation of Soul Power emanated from the tip of the vine.

It wasn't the violent, active fluctuations of Soul Beast, nor the quiet, slow life rhythm of an ordinary plant.

The fluctuation was very strange.

Stable, consistent, with an indescribable regularity. Like... some stable source radiating Soul Power?

But how could there possibly be Soul Tool here?

Lu Yuan held his breath, carefully manipulating the vines, focusing his senses on the depths of the rock wall behind the dark purple vine thicket.

The fluctuations do indeed originate from there.

It was very faint, and not close at all. But at this moment, with his Soul Power completely exhausted and his senses limited, this fluctuation was like a spark in the darkness, abrupt and vivid.

What is that?

Some kind of rare and precious herb? A special plant that steadily emits Soul Power? Or... what else is hidden in this deep valley?

He retracted the vines, and the light of the Blue Silver Grass went out. In the darkness, he looked in the direction from which the fluctuations came; the rock walls and dense vegetation were only outlined as darker shadows in the mist.

Unknown fluctuations.

It could be an opportunity, but it could also be a deadly danger.

But now, they have no other choice.

He looked down at Lin Xiao, who was breathing weakly beside him. The boy's pale face was almost transparent in the thin phosphorescent light.

I must check it out.

After daybreak.

He leaned against the cold rock wall, gazing into the deep darkness, his fingertips unconsciously tapping lightly on his knees.

One after another.

Slow, but determined.