There was no other option left, and no time left for one — all they could do was hold that massive chunk of ice back with everything they had!
For the first time since he was born, the little one felt true fear. He wanted so badly to cry, but he clenched his teeth and forced the sobs down, gripping the Wuzheng with one hand, bracing the ice with a single small arm just like his mother.
Beneath that enormous mass of ice, his tiny arm looked so, so small — and yet it was such a moving sight.
The Silly Bear looked at Henggong Fish straining beneath its weight, then at its master and little young master fighting so hard to protect it, and at the special-grade poison beasts who had looked down on it for hundreds of years — and in its round black eyes, a flicker of warmth surfaced.
It slowly raised its head, stretched out its long snout, and let out a cry toward Ziqing and the little one: “Awoooo…”
Its round black eyes brimmed with tears, and with gratitude too, and yet still looked so honest, so simple, so foolishly good-natured as always.
“Awoooo…”
But then, right after that long cry, it suddenly, without warning, tumbled headfirst off Henggong Fish’s back!
It happened so fast that no one had time to react — in the blink of an eye, that massive figure had vanished into a crevice even larger than itself! It didn’t want to drag anyone else down with it.
“No!”
Ziqing screamed, her cry so anguished it echoed through the entire Poison Beast World.
Right after came the little one’s heartbroken wailing, “Bear Daddy! Bear Daddy…!”
Yes — Bear Daddy!
Never mind that the Silly Bear had protected Mommy while Daddy was away — just consider how many foolish, thankless things it had done since before the child was even born, things a father ought to do!
It had plucked out every bit of its own fur to build him a warm little nest; it had raided every beehive, big and small, throughout the entire Poison Beast World, coming back time after time covered in stings, cradling jars and pots of honey; it had spent every single hour of every day by his side, even more time than Mommy herself!
Ziqing clutched the little one tight and dove down after it like a madwoman. Seeing this, Zizhu and the others immediately followed close behind, and just then a massive chunk of ice crashed down heavily; Henggong Fish, startled, instantly shrank its body and spun around to plunge into the crevice as well.
No one could tell how deep the crevice went. Ziqing chased downward like a woman possessed, and the entire chasm rang with the little one’s wailing sobs, so desolate it broke the heart, so desolate it left everyone trembling.
The depth of that crevice was beyond imagining — the further down, the darker, the more terrifying, the more hopeless it became.
Finally, Zizhu the Great Beast swooped in front of Ziqing and blocked her path!
“Master, stop chasing — it’s no use!”
“Get out of my way!” Ziqing screamed in fury.
At that, Henggong Fish, the Roaring Rabbit, and the Nine-Tailed White Fox all rushed forward as well, blocking her path just as Zizhu had.
“Master, please stop chasing. The Silly Bear doesn’t want—”
“Shut up!”
There was no way Ziqing would listen to reason. She was just about to shove the Nine-Tailed White Fox aside when suddenly the ground shook violently, and the crevice seemed to be closing!
Ziqing froze, and looking closely — sure enough!
The crevice was closing, and closing faster and faster!
“The ice rain has stopped!” Henggong Fish cried out.
“Master, we need to get out of here right now!”
Ziqing didn’t stop; she still wanted to keep going down. She didn’t want to give up — in her whole life, she had never once given up on anything, and this time, of all times, she couldn’t.
No one knew what the Silly Bear meant to her and her son.
She still wanted to go down, but who would have thought that Zizhu, Henggong Fish, the Nine-Tailed White Fox, and the Roaring Rabbit would all line up together, blocking the way below her.
“Master, if we’re going to die, we’ll die with you — but we’re going down first,” Zizhu said solemnly.
At those words, Ziqing was finally jolted to her senses. The crevice was closing at an alarming speed — in truth, there wasn’t much depth left to descend into at all.
If they didn’t get out now, they would surely be trapped here to die.
Ziqing said nothing more. Even though her jaw remained clenched tight, her entire being seemed to lose its light, going utterly dim and dark.
She cast one last glance into the darkness, and in that blackness, she seemed to catch a glimpse of the Silly Bear’s silly face, its dopey black eyes, as though it were still there teasing her and the little one to make them laugh.
She sniffed hard and shouted fiercely at the Four Great Poison Beasts, “What are you all standing around for, get up there now!”
The Four Great Poison Beasts finally let out a breath of relief — but at that very moment, disaster struck!
No one knew quite how it happened, but with a sudden violent tremor, the crevice slammed shut in an instant! And in that split second, the Four Great Poison Beasts, without a word exchanged between them, acted as one and shoved Ziqing forcefully out of the way!
“BOOM!”
An earth-shattering crash rang out, and the crevice — which just moments ago had still been gaping wide open — seemed to be struck by some outside force and sealed shut in an instant!
Ziqing sat there on the ground, dazed, aware of nothing except that she was still clutching her child tight — everything else in her mind had gone utterly blank.
How could this be happening?
Gone!
Everyone was gone!
The entire world fell silent — the sky silent, the earth silent — leaving only her and the little one.
The Silly Bear was gone. The Four Great Poison Beasts were gone too. The whole world had gone eerily, terrifyingly quiet, with only the faint, distant sound of the streak of light still striking the cliff face.
The sky hadn’t fallen, the earth hadn’t caved in — and yet, for Ziqing, her entire world had.
She let the child in her arms wail and sob without end, staring blankly at the sealed crevice, unable to snap out of it no matter how long she sat there.
She had no idea how long she’d been sitting, how long she’d been staring — the little one cried himself into exhaustion, fell asleep, woke up, and cried again, and still she stared.
Never again would that furry, clumsy, oversized paw wipe away the little one’s tears. Never again would nine beautiful tails tease him into laughter. Never again would anyone carry him around to patrol the mountains…
Everything was gone.
The little one hiccuped between sobs, wiping at his tears, his small face streaked with grime like a mud-covered child. He desperately wanted to stop crying, wanted to tell Mommy he was still here for her!
But he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t even dare look Mommy in the eye — she looked so, so utterly despairing.
He was so scared — scared that Mommy would cry too, and if Mommy cried too, then his own small world would come crashing down as well!
Mommy, please don’t cry!
At a moment like this, perhaps if she could just cry, it would actually be some kind of release.
Ziqing sat like a wooden puppet, staring blankly at the ground, as if she meant to keep staring until the end of time itself.
But then—
Just at that moment, a faint rustling sound came from the sealed crevice.
The little one noticed it instantly, his small hand tugging at Ziqing’s neck as he cried out, “Mommy, listen! Listen, quick!”
Ziqing snapped back to her senses and looked — and just then, the crevice suddenly split open again, and a surge of power burst forth from within!
The force sent Ziqing stumbling back several steps as she shielded the little one, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the gaping crevice, her heart pounding so hard it felt ready to leap from her chest!
Just as she was about to step forward, several figures suddenly came bursting out — it was the poison beasts, the Four Great Poison Beasts and the Silly Bear, all of them, as though some force had hurled them back out!
Ziqing stared, utterly stunned, too overwhelmed with joy to speak — and just then, a white shadow shot out from the crevice and landed right in front of her.
It was him!