What does it feel like to be trapped in a sealed jar?

Darkness, suffocation, confinement, silence.

What feeling in this world is most likely to inspire terror in one’s heart?

Quiet—absolute quiet, not only without human voices, but even completely without the sounds of all living things.

Just like this moment.

Clearly, even if all sounds automatically disappeared, at the very least one should hear the sound of one’s own breathing, yet there was nothing.

The air was heavy and viscous, flowing slowly like syrup. Those ever-present winds had also ceased, and in the deep, dark curtain of night, threads blacker than the darkness itself were drawn out, binding people strand by strand.

Time seemed to suddenly quicken its pace. Just a moment ago it was still dusk, with the setting sun casting a faint line of light, but in the blink of an eye, night had deepened.

Could it be that life had unknowingly disappeared? Had they fallen into eternal darkness?

Otherwise, how could even the sound of one’s own breathing be impossible to find?

Suddenly there was a sound in the distance.

It seemed like just a laugh.

A laugh—light and brief, seeming to exist yet not exist.

That voice was neither clear nor bright, neither gorgeous nor gentle, nor was it alluring and seductive enough to inspire romantic thoughts. Yet it sounded low and pleasant, infinitely elegant, like a piece of fine Jiuhua brocade gently wiping across the glazed surface of precious porcelain—smooth and comforting, with a subdued radiance.

Just one laugh, and in the suffocating, maddening silence of darkness, it was as if a door of light had suddenly opened, propelling one’s footsteps to involuntarily seek the beauty within that laughter.

Qin Chang Ge and Xiao Jue slowly moved.

In the darkness, Chu Feihuan’s eyes were clear and bright, constantly sparkling like stars.

The laughter came from the southwest. Those two searched as they walked forward. The darkness ahead was hollow and empty, with wind somehow arising from nowhere, its sound spiraling like a dance.

“Thud!”

Qin Chang Ge, walking with a dazed expression slightly ahead, suddenly tilted and disappeared below the horizon!

Xiao Jue immediately reached out to pull her, but somehow suddenly slipped and tumbled down as well!

With a rumbling series of rolling sounds, they fell endlessly downward in a heart-stopping descent!

At the end of the laughter lay a cliff!

“Crack!”

As if divine hands in the darkness smiled while striking a fire starter and lighting the moon’s bright candle.

Countless starlight rose and flickered like candle flames.

The original pitch-black color slowly peeled away from the horizon. The pale twilight that had just fallen gradually took on color like paint being applied. The floating clouds in the sky were like scattered snow, yet the moonlight was mottled and beautiful as peach blossoms. The firmament floated mysteriously with scattered, lonely stars.

Under the peach-blossom moonlight, on the oil-green, deep emerald broad leaves, a pale white human figure slowly emerged.

Gentle floating light and melting moon, shimmering clouds and deep snow.

In the deep, quiet night with light morning breeze, an immortal figure like a precious flower—there was one person of beauty.

Where heaven and earth met, all was deep black and dim, with only a straight silver brightness where the light source was located.

A man in silver crown, plain robes, and silver jade belt stood like a famous painting touched by immortal brushstrokes upon fragile emerald leaves that could not withstand the wind. With an expression of compassion and haziness, he gazed slightly down toward the mountain cliff below.

“Thud!”

A streak of flowing light, like a shooting star, suddenly brightened with a blue shadow beneath the dark mountain cliff. Like a stone hurled with great force, it instantly crossed the precipice and struck directly at the plain-robed man through the long sky!

At the same time, Chu Feihuan, who had been sitting quietly on the fallen leaves, lifted his sleeve. White light trailing brilliant tail feathers struck directly at the plain-robed man’s chest.

The blue shadow came like lightning, shooting forward at a speed beyond the utmost limits of human capability. In mid-air, black silk unfurled in a perfect arc, transforming into a deep black light curtain that covered the sky and earth, manifesting into countless identical light shadows—large circles containing small circles, small circles generating large circles—all looping toward the man’s neck!

“Swish!”

The man extended his fingers and caught the white light.

Then his body tilted, his robes fluttering as he flew backward, moving at strange angles in countless rapid flashes. Each movement of his form was subtle yet precise, avoiding by a hair’s breadth those illusory and real loops, not knowing which was genuine.

The countless circling shadows all fell empty. Qin Chang Ge suddenly bared her teeth in a smile, spread both hands, and reached with her dirty hands covered in rotten leaves and mud straight for the man’s face!

What should have been mud on her hands instead emitted a bluish-green phosphorescent glow, looking wrong no matter how one looked at it.

The man showed slight disgust, pulled back and floated backward. His movement technique was extremely graceful, spiritually elegant and light as falling pear blossoms. Though possessing the leisurely, pure demeanor of pear blossoms, his speed was undiminished. In the blink of an eye, he had retreated several zhang like flowing light.

However, behind him, Emperor Xiao kicked over a large tree that was half-rotted with a bang!

Opposite him, Qin Chang Ge suddenly raised her sleeve again and sent a white light toward the sky.

As the tree fell, those foul-smelling rotten leaves and stinking branches came crashing down toward the man. Yet the man seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. Without looking back, he flicked his sleeve and rose abruptly from mid-air like ascending clouds, pulling himself up a full zhang.

This upward pull placed him directly in the path of the white light whistling toward his face!

It was as if he were delivering his own precious head.

The man reacted with incredible speed. Taking a deep breath in mid-air, he dropped three inches with a whoosh. The white light grazed past his hair, taking a few strands of black silk with it, and struck the tree opposite with a thud.

Having cleverly avoided three precisely calculated moves in this web of heaven and earth, Qin Chang Ge’s laughter arrived.

She spread both arms wide—black silk forming a net, waiting for him to fall into the trap!

At this moment, Chu Feihuan sent two more white lights, firing completely into empty air yet sealing off all escape routes. No matter where he dodged, he would immediately collide with flesh!

And Xiao Jue appeared coldly on a large tree overhead, arms crossed, gazing down with raised eyebrows.

His gaze swept across the entire scene like rippling water. The plain-clothed man spun in mid-air once more, raised his finger, and a mirror suddenly appeared in his palm. The mirror’s surface was concave and convex, formed of countless small diamond shapes. It spun in mid-air with a whirring sound, and the moonlight was immediately transformed into countless shooting fragments, splashing in all directions.

Even Qin Chang Ge’s eyes showed surprise. From the start of battle until now, the plain-clothed man had been forced by their three-person coordinated assault tactics to the point where he hadn’t had a moment to catch his breath. Yet he moved and dodged in mid-air without any hindrance, his vital energy flowing endlessly. That was one thing, but he could still execute such a large-scale moonlight slash!

But none of those shooting moonlight fragments came toward the three of them. What was his intention?

Qin Chang Ge became alert, but then watched helplessly as the plain-clothed man, finally unable to maintain his vital energy circulation, fell straight down toward her net of black silk.

The opportunity was before her and could not be missed. Qin Chang Ge glanced around and found no abnormalities, then immediately stepped forward. With both arms vibrating, she gave the plain-clothed man a “gentle embrace.”

With a soft sound, countless black threads precisely and perfectly looped around his neck.

Lowering his eyes to look at the black line around his neck, the man smiled faintly, pale as a plain pear.

Behind him, Xiao Jue was applauding. “Excellent!”

He smiled brightly, brighter than moonlight, with admiration in his eyes. No matter who in this world could avoid the combined assault of him and Qin Chang Ge, while also perfectly handling Chu Feihuan’s surprisingly vicious, precisely calculated hidden weapons that specifically targeted blind spots and escape routes without a scratch, would deserve pride.

Earlier, when Qin Chang Ge had pretended to tumble off the cliff, kicking down the broken tree to fake a fall, she had hoped to deceive the opponent. Unexpectedly, the opponent was not careless and would rather reveal himself to check whether the several people were dead or alive. How could Qin Chang Ge place Feihuan within that person’s attack range? After exchanging a glance with Xiao Jue, Xiao Jue immediately struck out with his palm, his powerful vital force swirling like a hurricane, sending the light-bodied Qin Chang Ge far away.

Just that one send, combining the full power of two great masters for extreme-speed movement, could match the speed of a tornado rising from the ground, far exceeding the speed either Qin Chang Ge or Xiao Jue could achieve alone. Yet the opponent had easily dodged it.

So pure and wonderful, so powerfully absolute, so magnificently spirited, with outstanding elegance. Even facing lethal weapons and surrounded attackers, he could smile like a gentle breeze. Clearly his divine bearing was elevated and pure, not ranking with the common flowers, yet his eyes were tender and compassionate, as if personally sensing the joys and sorrows of the mortal world, pitying the troubles of worldly people, with great heartbreak in every turn.

He combined the lofty with the gentle, compassion with transcendence, in a strange yet harmonious fusion within one body.

His heart was clear as a mirror, his wisdom like the sea. He showed compassion for all things without being stained by dust.

Shui Jingchen.

Qin Chang Ge gazed at him with emotional eyes, remembering many years ago, in the last great war between nations, when Nanmin had miraculously reversed their losing situation and even seized three more commanderies from Northern Wei. At that time, she had been searching for a supreme craftsman in Zhongchuan for a piece of peerless bright iron. The battlefield at Chi Commandery was very close to Wuyang City in Zhongchuan. During the great battle, she had also watched from afar. She only remembered that in the midst of ten thousand troops, a plain-clothed man without armor commanded with certainty, his strategies extraordinary. In light robes and plain sleeves, he moved through the iron-armored formations with a graceful silhouette of pure and absolute bearing. When victory was finally achieved, he looked back from afar at the blood-stained battlefield covered with countless corpses, and smiled with compassion.

…Just like his smile just now…

Some thought flashed like lightning, violently cutting through the cracks of consciousness. Warning signs even more vivid than before surged like a tide. Qin Chang Ge suddenly raised her head!

But it was already too late.

The moonlight fragments shot far away, striking the grass and trees on the luxuriant mountain cliff.

Xiao Jue, standing on the treetop, suddenly tilted.

And Qin Chang Ge suddenly tripped over something, her hand loosening.

Then there was what seemed like a very soft fist that struck her back with a thud. The force wasn’t great, but it compelled Qin Chang Ge to release Shui Jingchen.

Qin Chang Ge refused to let go.

She viciously tightened the black silk in her hand.

Only by holding tight would she have a chance to continue!

Xiao Jue shared her thoughts—he was suddenly being dragged down the tree by something invisible. Xiao Jue immediately drew his sword to cut, and as that thing recoiled, Xiao Jue disregarded everything else and struck toward Shui Jingchen with his sword.

“Whoosh!”

Sharp whistling sounds rose from all directions!

Then came sounds like vines crawling or ropes flying through the air. With several swishing sounds, countless black shadows flashed chaotically in the moonlight, already wrapping around Xiao Jue’s arms.

The moment that thing touched his skin, Xiao Jue immediately felt his arms grow numb and itchy, as if countless small needles were pricking. After the numbness and itching came a wooden stiffness. Greatly alarmed, he no longer cared about attacking others and turned his sword to rapidly slash at the vines.

And Qin Chang Ge, who had tightened the black silk, suddenly heard Shui Jingchen sigh gently.

He closed his eyes—but not the closed eyes of one awaiting death.

He began reciting the Great Compassion Mantra.

Qin Chang Ge smiled helplessly and released her hold helplessly—behind her, just as she had tightened the black silk, enormous suction suddenly rushed forward, as if the mouth of a giant god was striving to inhale, or hell had opened and was trying to viciously suck her in.

Qin Chang Ge’s mind was entirely focused on Shui Jingchen ahead, because she knew there was no object behind her. Yet that suction truly existed with tremendous force. That feeling of a whirlpool like a black hole and the burning gaze of a giant beast behind her sent chills through her heart.

Xiao Jue cut through the vines with one sword stroke. Looking up, he saw Qin Chang Ge being sucked backward. In great alarm, he threw his long sword, which struck the ground in front of Qin Chang Ge with a thud, and shouted loudly: “Grab it!”

Qin Chang Ge immediately reached for the long sword, but Shui Jingchen raised his hand, and a delicate glass vial suddenly appeared between his fingers. From the bottle dripped one drop of blue stone dew onto the sword hilt. The hilt immediately produced bluish mist, and Qin Chang Ge’s hand instantly recoiled.

Only after recoiling did she hear Shui Jingchen say gently: “It’s not poisoned. I don’t use poison.”

Qin Chang Ge was greatly angered. Her left foot used the Thousand Jin Drop technique, stomping hard into the ground to stabilize her form and resist that enormous suction. Her right foot kicked up the sword tip. The moment it was kicked up, the sword light suddenly turned a dark green color, shooting straight toward Shui Jingchen. In the great flourishing of green light, Qin Chang Ge laughed coldly: “Is this one of mine poisoned or not?”

“Still not poisoned,” Shui Jingchen laughed lightly, very gently and sympathetically saying: “You stepped in the wrong place…”

Before his words ended, with a rumbling sound, the entire ground suddenly and magically withdrew one layer, revealing countless horizontal and vertical massive green branch-like vine objects underground. Those things, as if they couldn’t bear light, immediately writhed into a ball the instant they were exposed, viciously tripping Qin Chang Ge who had stepped one leg into them!

Then, as if some earth demon god was lifting up a skirt, with one lift, the green demon branches hissed as they were pulled and stretched into a net, firmly wrapping Qin Chang Ge’s entire body so tightly she couldn’t even move her fingers. They then gathered up everything on the ground surface—the fire piles, bird bones, luggage, and all sorts of miscellaneous items—wrapping them together before whooshing backward and disappearing into the darkness.

With another whoosh, Xiao Jue kicked away several persistently entangling branches, covered his arm, and rushed forward!

Shui Jingchen flicked his sleeve and flew backward, avoiding Xiao Jue and standing once again on the emerald branches.

Xiao Jue completely ignored him and threw himself with great force at the flying, rolling green vines. Knowing those vines were poisonous, he still fearlessly lunged forward, disregarding the vicious barbs that immediately burrowed into his skin with abandon. With a deep shout and a wave of his palm, he had already destroyed a large section of the green tangle. Seeing a flash of blood-colored skin in the deep green, his eyes lit with joy as he immediately struggled to reach for Qin Chang Ge’s hand.

However, there were simply too many green demon branches. The entire forest, beneath the surface soil, was completely filled with these things. Destroying one large clump only brought an even larger pile immediately replacing it. These countless branches, thick as arms and as flexible as arms, would not spare any object on the ground. With a whooshing sound, they covered the approaching Xiao Jue from behind, wrapping him in chaos. Once struck by these things, one’s entire body would immediately become paralyzed, and Xiao Jue’s body instantly stiffened.

Before completely losing the ability to move, he desperately reached out and grasped Qin Chang Ge’s fingers exposed in the chaotic demon-green mass.

“Even if we die, we must die together…”

His voice was instantly swept away with the rumbling vines rolling across the ground, disappearing to a spot ten zhang away on the mountain cliff—there, an enormous flower-like object had suddenly appeared, occupying the entire mountain cliff. Its petals were seductively gorgeous, covered with eye-like patterns, and at the flower base was a blood-red horizontal groove, like a gaping bloody maw—in the dark night, this flower looked like a strange giant beast with countless eyes, smiling as it waited for its dinner delivered to its door tonight—Xiao Jue and Qin Chang Ge.

Those green branches lurking underground extended from its flower root, covering the entire forest floor.

Floating upward with solemn bearing, Shui Jingchen looked compassionately at where those two people had disappeared, and said leisurely with a smile: “Old friends, I presume? I nearly fell to your hands once again. In all these many years, I’ve been subdued twice, and both times were gifts from you distinguished ones. Truly rare… Sadly, in this life and this world, we are destined to bid eternal farewell to you two’s elegant bearing… Dying young, cut short in the middle of your journey—truly a lamentable tragedy that makes the world beat its chest in regret…”

Moonlight illuminated his crystalline skin. Between the handsome young gentleman’s brows and eyes overflowed deep regret.

He suddenly raised his eyebrows and made a light sound of surprise, his gaze searching carefully through the forest.

“There’s still another one?”

He flicked his sleeve, about to descend.

In the distance, distant Sanskrit chanting suddenly came—ethereal, solemn, carrying the faint sorrow of compassion for the mortal world.

Shui Jingchen’s figure, about to search, paused.

At the treetop peak he turned back, looking toward where the sound came from. A strange expression appeared on his face—sorrow, disgust, hesitation, helplessness… Then he sighed softly.

The Taotie flower slept year-round, only opening when extremely bright moonlight shone upon its stamen. Once awakened, it would be frantically hungry, devouring all living things that passed by. The older such flowers grew, the more powerful they became. This one on Xiaofeng Cliff had been growing for over a hundred years…

The “Qiantian Mirror” shattered moonlight, illuminating the flower stamen and awakening the Taotie. When all things struggled to survive.

That man who was lame from the beginning must have been dragged away…

Although he carried the “Jade Dew” that the Taotie flower most detested, when the Taotie flower was awakened, it was still best not to approach…

Under the peach-blossom moonlight, the pear-blossom-like man smiled gently as he picked up the peerless sword that, covered with a layer of jade dew, was being avoided and abandoned like worn shoes by the green branches.

“I’ll take this to make a hero’s tomb for you two…”

Moonlight like silk, a piece of crimson peach-blossom silk, gently brushed his tender countenance. Standing remotely on the high branch, his expression of closing his eyes and sighing was pure and noble as snow.

Like a sage.