Come on over here~!

After Brother Dao explained, Xu Chunliang finally understood the relationship between the two. They were twins, born to a pair of martial wanderers who had once been a formidable couple.

Their mother was named Jinxiu and wielded a pair of xuanhua battle axes. Their father was Liu Shan, who wielded a ghost-head saber. When the boys were born, their parents named them Liu Dao and Liu Fu to commemorate their harmonious love, a union of saber and axe. Liu Dao was the elder, and Liu Fu the younger.

They also hoped the boys would carry on their legacies. To their surprise, the boys did, but not entirely.

Liu Dao loved playing with axes, while Liu Fu loved practicing with sabers. And so Brother Dao wielded an axe, while Brother Fu carried a long saber...

Looking at the pride on Brother Dao's face, Xu Chunliang could only marvel, "Fate really is decreed by heaven..."

Amid the three men's lively introductions, Xu Chunliang learned the names of the two heroes keeping a wary eye on the darkness: Dian Zheng and Xu Tu. After exchanging nods with the two, the group of six decided to descend the mountain together.

Following the Buddhist chanting from the little girl's mouth, the six carefully stepped onto the stone path and slowly walked down out of the grotto, arriving at a level stone platform.

Xu Chunliang crouched down for a closer look and drew a sharp breath.

There wasn't a single seam in the stone platform beneath his feet. It felt cold and solid, as though it were one complete piece of stone.

He looked up at the faint golden light in the distance and listened to the little girl's Buddhist chanting drifting slowly toward him, deeply shaken.

Could someone have used immense strength to carry this entire massive rock here from somewhere else?

Or had the platform been carved straight out of a mountain?

In an age without excavators, how was this anything short of a miracle?

"Brother Xu, look at that light. From the sound of it, that little girl who's been chanting Buddhist scriptures is right there. Why don't we go take a look? We might find the secret behind why we appeared here," Yinjian said, pointing at the faint golden light in the distance.

"I was thinking the same thing. Let's go take a look."

The group tacitly divided into two. The five heroes clustered together, cautiously watching in every direction as they moved slowly forward, while Xu Chunliang walked alone as casually as if he were out for a stroll.

The inscrutable Yinjian watched Xu Chunliang stroll along as though no one else were around. Amid his shock, a trace of disdain arose in his heart.

Anyone who dared be so casual in unfamiliar surroundings was either an expert above the Crimson Dawn Realm or a fucking idiot who knew nothing. Xu Chunliang had to be the latter.

Yinjian was happy to have someone like that around.

Because if there was danger, it would surely find that fucking idiot first.

You'd better stay alive a little longer and escort us brothers for a while longer.

"Brother Xu, it's too dangerous for you to go like that. Why don't you join us? We can look out for each other." Seeing how careless Xu Chunliang was, Brother Dao couldn't bear it and called out an invitation. The other four immediately tensed up a little. Clearly, they were all thinking much the same thing as Yinjian.

They didn't want Xu Chunliang joining them.

Xu Chunliang smiled, shook his head, and kept walking.

In the darkness, a blue eyeball slowly opened, silently watching the darkness before it.

A slender black hair grew directly above the eyeball.

Seeing how casually Xu Chunliang was acting, its body trembled slightly, and the black hair silently extended.

Without a sound,

Xu Chunliang died.

When they saw Xu Chunliang fall silently to the ground, the group of five quickly went on guard, but they couldn't see the slightest trace of the hair in the darkness.

And so...

One, two, three...

They were all cut down by the hair and fell to the ground.

"Brother Xu, it's too dangerous for you to go like that. Why don't you join us? We can look out for each other."

In response, Xu Chunliang smiled, shook his head, and kept walking.

After fifteen steps, Xu Chunliang came to an abrupt halt.

A slender black hair swept past his eyes, stirring an almost imperceptible current of air.

A moment later, the hair flew back.

Xu Chunliang stepped forward again.

Three steps later, Xu Chunliang died.

He had tried to cut it with his knife, but it was useless.

The brass knife was cut in two the moment it met the hair. It was no use at all.

Waking again, Xu Chunliang touched the knife at his lower back. It seemed this companion of his wouldn't last much longer.

He had to find an opportunity to get a new weapon.

Once again, he declined Brother Dao's invitation and walked forward.

Then he died again.

The fourth time, the fifth time... the one thousand three hundred and fifteenth time...

Xu Chunliang opened his eyes and smiled faintly. His gaze was cold and confident.

That last time, when he took his 3,691st step, the black hair had killed him, but the moment it touched the golden light, it had shattered. He had faintly heard a piercing roar from the darkness.

That meant the faint golden light could deter the hair. It also meant he would get through this time.

Once again declining Brother Dao's invitation, Xu Chunliang clasped his hands behind his back and walked forward as though taking a leisurely stroll.

At fifteen steps, Xu Chunliang paused for a moment. At eighteen steps, he paused again. Then he stopped once more at twenty-three steps.

The group of five watched in surprise as Xu Chunliang walked and stopped, unable to tell what he was doing.

"He's putting on a mysterious act. Ignore him!" Yinjian whispered, then quickened his pace. Brother Dao looked at his brothers, sighed helplessly, and followed.

In the darkness, the black hair seemed to have picked a fight with Xu Chunliang. It struck again and again, but every time, Xu Chunliang dodged it by sheer coincidence.

It was as though the two were working together to put on some mysterious performance.

It ignored the group of five, repeatedly withdrawing and thrusting out, withdrawing and thrusting out.

It failed to strike Xu Chunliang every time, yet never tired of trying.

And so Xu Chunliang walked and stopped, utterly carefree. His 3,692nd step...

Xu Chunliang stood in the golden light and turned to look into the dense darkness, ignoring the people whispering to one another in the light behind him as they watched him.

He crooked a finger and smiled. "Come on over here~!"

Hiss!

The eye in the darkness hissed in fury, then shot out the black hair without hesitation.

Sizzle!

The black hair caught fire the instant it met the light. Xu Chunliang smiled confidently, and then...

The burning hair stabbed into his eye.

Xu Chunliang died.

Damn it, I really shouldn't have shown off!

Xu Chunliang mocked himself and set off again.

At his 3,692nd step, Xu Chunliang stopped. Then he took another step forward.

After thinking for a moment, he took one more step to be safe. Only then did he turn around and crook a finger at the dense darkness...

"Come on over here~!"