Behind her was a fragment emitting a faint yellow glow.
It wasn’t a deity, nor a ferocious beast, yet it was filled with an extremely strange power.
Jiang Yiguang clearly saw it, but she couldn’t find a single word to describe its shape, as if it were some undefinable existence. And now, within the system, the characters for “Hundun Fragment” grew increasingly distinct. Tremors wracked her body, as though she were plunged into an ice cave, and an inexplicable sense of panic arose.
The advice “Beware of Hundun” from the Ruler of Azure Hill still echoed in her ears. Perhaps she had already seen through something. The so-called “Hundun” wasn’t the ferocious beast formed by the unworthy son of the Dihong Clan of old, but rather the even older Central Thearch—the one whose two friends bored seven orifices into him, ultimately causing his demise!
Those who are Hundun are those where all things are commingled and not yet separated. One looks but does not see, listens but does not hear, seeks but cannot find. This meant that in this state, time and space held no meaning whatsoever! Bai Ze had said that what she was looking for might be hidden within a temporal rift, and this undefinable existence appearing in the land of fire-baleful energy—could it be one of the Hundun fragments?
The thought flashed through her mind like a spark from struck stone.
Jiang Yiguang’s expression was dark and grave. When she stepped forward, the light followed her like a shadow. A faint force of attraction emanated from it. Jiang Yiguang felt like a willow branch in the wind, completely unable to shake off that dragging force. After an unknown amount of time, she steadied her mind, lifted her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and looked towards Fu Juan, who was refining the fire-baleful energy. But before her eyes, it seemed as if flowing water cascaded endlessly, weaving into a watery curtain that blurred her vision. Gradually, within that haze, the short distance transformed into a heavenly chasm carved by the flow of ages. Jiang Yiguang took a deep breath. A ringing filled her ears; she felt like a light wisp of fluff carried high into the air by the wind. But then, a gentle force suddenly landed on her hand, as if a rootless tree had abruptly found a place to anchor. Her uneasy, wandering heart settled back down. She lifted her eyes towards Fu Juan’s blurred form and forced out a smile.
If an inevitably fatal ending was the malice and curse of destiny, then would all the people encountered along the way turn out just as miserably? Since fate could be altered, who was manipulating the previously ordained “trajectory”?
Jiang Yiguang’s thoughts churned, but in the next instant, her consciousness sank into a haze. When she awoke, she found herself lying on a stone bed. Turning her head, she saw Fu Juan right beside her. She blinked, her lips parting as she was about to say something, when voices suddenly rose from nearby. Following the sound, she saw a figure in cyan robes. That person seemed to sense her gaze, abruptly turning around to offer her a bright, radiant smile.
“Have you really made up your mind? To stay here at Red River?” The speaker was a refined and modest young man in yellow robes, his eyes brilliantly bright.
“Ever since she went missing, the Torch Dragon’s Yin and Yang has been unbalanced. Sooner or later, the fire veins at Bell Mountain will erupt into violence. I have to stay here and suppress the fire-baleful energy,” the Heavenly Maiden in cyan said gently.
“But this wasn’t your duty to begin with.” The young man’s voice held a hint of confusion. Gazing at the Heavenly Maiden, he added, “You came to assist my father by decree of Kunlun. But now Chiyou is dead, sealed at Azure Hill. Your duty has ended. You can return to Western Kunlun.”
“What is duty? Do you think I merely followed the orders of the Queen Mother of the West?” The Heavenly Maiden laughed lightly. “Where is the boundary between deities and humans?”
“I… still don’t quite understand,” the young man sighed softly. “Most humans can’t awaken divine power like we can; they are too weak. Isn’t it normal to pay a price for divine protection? Perhaps if they encountered merciful deities, they wouldn’t need to sacrifice at all.”
The Heavenly Maiden asked, “You mean humans should entrust their lives and deaths to the gods?”
The young man frowned and said slowly, “But those cruel High Antiquity gods have already been eliminated by Father. Most of those remaining are benevolent deities willing to shelter humanity, aren’t they?”
The Heavenly Maiden watched his earnest expression and found it somewhat amusing. After a moment’s deliberation, she said unhurriedly, “How do you know the current gods aren’t simply submitting under Xuanyuan’s authority? If one day the Xuanyuan Thearch passes on? There are so many deities in the Great Wilderness—each of them merely stamping a foot could overturn an entire city.”
“Forget it,” the young man sighed, raising a hand to rub his forehead and suppress those unanswerable questions. “I must return to Xuanyuan Hill. Is there anything you need my help with?”
The Heavenly Maiden paused briefly, then said wistfully, “There is one thing. The Torch Nine Yin can’t be relied on anymore. I hope you can help me inquire about news of her.”
“Alright,” the young man agreed readily. “She went missing after Father cut down the Jianmu Tree. As for the reason Father cut it… I’m not too clear on it either. It seemed related to Jianmu being eroded by some strange force.”
The Heavenly Maiden smiled warmly. “Thank you.”
The young man raised a hand to scratch his head, his smile sunny. Saying “No need to be polite,” he turned and strode away.
The Heavenly Maiden who remained was silent for a moment, her expression returning to its usual calm serenity. She turned to look at the sitting-up Jiang Yiguang and said evenly, “The aura on you two is somewhat unusual.” She paused, then fixed her gaze on Fu Juan. “Fire-baleful energy… and traces of my divine power. Are you from a later era?”
Jiang Yiguang’s eyes flickered. From the earlier conversation, she had already deduced the identity of the woman in cyan—Nü Ba. The Heavenly Maiden who, after the Battle of Zhuolu, chose to guard the lands north of the Red River. As for that young man… he was a son of the Xuanyuan Thearch, though exactly which one was still unclear.
“How did you two come to be here?” Nü Ba’s tone was laced with undeniable curiosity. A sweep of her sleeve, and two archaic teacups floated in front of Jiang Yiguang and Fu Juan.
Jiang Yiguang shook her head. “I don’t know.” Her intuition told her it was connected to the Hundun fragment, but exactly how it had happened… she couldn’t explain it either. This was the world of High Antiquity, before the Mountains and Seas and Shenzhou had split. The primal qi flowing through the air was incredibly rich, brimming with the primordial power of the ancient wilderness, faintly overwhelming the diluted divinity of later ages.
Nü Ba didn’t press the matter. A flicker of interest in her eyes, she changed the subject. “Is the me of that time… no longer there?” If she were present, neither the fire-baleful energy nor the divine power would have leaked out at all.
Jiang Yiguang fell silent for a long while. Just as she was struggling with how to answer, Nü Ba raised an eyebrow and smiled bravely, accepting the predicted outcome with equanimity. “What of Bell Mountain?” she asked again. When she uttered those three words, her emotional fluctuations were clearly far more intense than before, as if her own life and death meant less than the name “Bell Mountain.”
Fu Juan gently touched Jiang Yiguang’s arm, her voice warm. “We haven’t gone there yet.”
Nü Ba shook her head lightly. “I expect it’s not faring too well either.” If Bell Mountain had returned to normal, the fire veins wouldn’t be in turmoil, and no fire-baleful energy would have leaked out. It seemed that in the later era, that child of the Thearch had still not found her whereabouts. After a moment’s thought, she asked again, “Now that you’re here, do you have a plan?”
Jiang Yiguang glanced at Nü Ba in surprise upon hearing this. She’d thought this Heavenly Maiden would ask about the affairs of the future.
Nü Ba easily perceived Jiang Yiguang’s thoughts. She smiled gently. “What use would knowing be? To you, I belong to the past. And the past has already happened—it cannot possibly be changed. Unless one possesses the authority to manipulate time itself. But this is merely a sideline in the river of time, and it doesn’t ultimately point to the future where you exist.”
Jiang Yiguang felt a pang of emotion. She was intensely curious about the High Antiquity era, but she also knew that even after the Battle of Zhuolu, crises lurked everywhere. The peace at Red River was due solely to the Heavenly Maiden of Kunlun’s presence here. But once they left this place, they would face the true fierce demons of the Mountains and Seas—not the beasts whose bloodlines and power had been diluted over generations in the current Mountains and Seas Realm. The Heavenly Maiden before her possessed Kunlun’s divinity, yet was gentler and more graceful than she had imagined. Before deciding to leave, Jiang Yiguang asked about what interested her the most.
“What’s the matter with the God of Bell Mountain… exactly?”
Back at the Jiang household, Bai Ze’s evasive words had piqued her curiosity. If the records in the Classic of Mountains and Seas were incomplete, then where did the deviation lie? Why was Nü Ba so concerned with Bell Mountain? And earlier, when she mentioned “her” to the young man—what did that have to do with Bell Mountain?
Nü Ba let out a soft laugh, her pale fingertips grazing her crimson lips. She looked thoughtfully at Jiang Yiguang, then raised an eyebrow after a moment. “It seems a great deal has been lost to time, hasn’t it?” A gleam of divine light flashed in her eyes, tinting her pupils a faint gold. She continued, “The ancient gods, in truth, had no gender. They were entities embodying both Yin and Yang. The form you see is merely a chosen inclination. Of course, some beings would divide their Yin and Yang aspects. The Torch Dragon was one such. The so-called God of Bell Mountain is actually a pair of siblings. One represents the Yin principle, akin to water, akin to the darkness of night—her name is Candle Yin. The other represents the Yang principle, akin to fire, akin to the brightness of day—his name is Torch Nine Yin. But now, only Torch Nine Yin remains.”
Jiang Yiguang: “Huh?”
Nü Ba concealed the wistfulness in her eyes and explained. “Candle Yin has disappeared. The God of Bell Mountain’s Yin and Yang fell out of balance, causing the fire veins of the Mountains and Seas to erupt. That is why I am here, suppressing them.”
Jiang Yiguang pressed, “How did she disappear?” In the mythological records, the Torch Dragon was one of the oldest deities. Her authority was near equal to the very transformation of Yin and Yang. How could she just vanish?
“I don’t know.” Nü Ba furrowed her brow. Lowering her lashes, she recalled the past. “After Jianmu fell, she suddenly vanished without a trace. Even Torch Nine Yin couldn’t sense her existence. Between heaven and earth, the only thing that could silently swallow an existence would be the Return to the Void Abyss, right? But she never even left Bell Mountain. How could she be connected to Return to the Void? Besides, Shaohao was suppressing that place.”
