Wang Ya slumped weakly against the roots after vomiting, gasping for breath. The air was filled with a nauseating stench, and she knew it all came from her own body. She had torn apart the entire Azure Scale Monster earlier, and the soupy fluids from the Mutated Corpse Ghost’s corpse had drenched her. In her muddled state, she had even bitten into the Azure Scale Monster to suck up its Yin Qi—Wang Ya didn’t dare think about it further, or she would have vomited again. She heard the collapsing noises had quieted, with only the occasional small stones rolling down from the cliff. Zhang Qingshui, Old Tang, and Zheng Yanxia were nearby, so they should be temporarily safe. She quickly circulated her energy to recover her strength.
After running a small heavenly circuit, Wang Ya felt a bit better, but the corpse fluids’ foul odor clinging to her body made her extremely uncomfortable. She wished she could dive into water right away and scrub off three layers of skin. She turned her head to look beside her. Under the green fluorescent light from the Azure Vine, she saw Zhang Qingshui and Huang Qi clinging to the roots, their waists bound together with Green Vine. Old Tang was nowhere in sight. Wang Ya asked, “Where’s Old Tang?”
Huang Qi said, “Martial Uncle saw firelight over there and smelled roasting meat. He went to check it out and scout the path. Wang Ya, are you okay?”
Hearing Huang Qi’s voice, Wang Ya remembered how Huang Qi had fled for her life and left the ancient bronze coin in the Mausoleum. She had gone back to retrieve it and nearly lost her life. Anger surged within her, and she replied coldly, “I’m fine!”
Huang Qi seemed oblivious to Wang Ya’s hostile tone and continued, “Wang Ya, do you feel like these roots we’re clinging to are a bit strange?”
Wang Ya detected the suppressed fear in Huang Qi’s voice and said, “Aren’t these the roots from the Mausoleum earlier?” Of course, she knew these roots, suspected to belong to the Other Shore Demon Flower, were unusual. Dense Yin Qi seeped from them. Without the ancient bronze coin suppressing it and her own cultivation, she probably wouldn’t have lasted. Hadn’t Zheng Yanxia and Zhang Qingshui been using the Azure Vine to protect themselves all along?
Huang Qi said, “I keep feeling like these roots are wrapped around a lot of dead people.”
Wang Ya didn’t respond. After using the Yellow Springs Other Shore Art earlier, she suspected it was akin to inviting a possession by the Other Shore Demon Flower’s power. That was why she had found ghosts delicious and Yin Qi so appetizing and nourishing back then. So, it made sense for these suspected Other Shore Demon Flower roots to have devoured numerous Yin Spirits and corpses. Wang Ya felt it was unsafe to stay on these roots. Plants that fed on the dead usually had deadly tricks. They were fine now probably because they carried life-preserving items that made the suspected Other Shore Demon Flower wary and unable to act. Borrowing the faint fluorescent light from the Azure Vine, Wang Ya looked around. All she saw were roots and darkness. Below, there was the rushing sound of a small waterfall. From the sound of the water falling, there was either a river or a pool underneath. Her hearing wasn’t sharp enough for a precise judgment, so she asked Huang Qi, also to have her guide the way.
Huang Qi said, “A dark river runs through the bottom of that Mausoleum earlier, flowing along the cliff to the dark river below. The river below is very wide, at least several dozen meters across, and deep. The place we’re standing on was originally a stone bridge. The bridge on this side collapsed earlier. Past this layer of roots over three meters thick is the other end of the bridge, connecting to an Ancient Plank Road. Uncle Tang just climbed over the roots and left along the Ancient Plank Road. Currently, there are three paths to choose from: one, climb up along these roots; two, leave via the Ancient Plank Road; three, jump into the great river below. None of these three paths lead anywhere known! The first one most likely leads back to the Yellow Springs along the roots. The Ancient Plank Road is probably a path used by ancients and might lead straight to the Yang Realm. As for the great river below, its destination is unknown—it could lead to the sea, or deeper underground abyss, or… since we’re not far from the Yellow Springs, it might be the Styx River or Weak Water.”
Wang Ya glanced at Huang Qi and said, “Then let’s go!” She carefully clung to the roots and inched toward the Ancient Plank Road Huang Qi mentioned. She had to admit that although Zheng Yanxia could be a liability at times, her sense of direction and escape skills were top-notch. Without her, they would have taken many detours, especially in a place where one wrong step meant the boundary between life and death. Fewer steps meant less danger.
Wang Ya crawled forward cautiously along the roots, always feeling a pair of eyes peering out from them, watching her. She ignored it and redoubled her caution to prevent any sudden ambush. She wasn’t worried about the roots snapping. Even the Tang Dao, sharp enough to cleave a person in two with one strike, couldn’t cut these tough roots, let alone her trying to yank them apart. The roots were extremely dense, with countless footholds in between, making the climb not too strenuous. Soon, Wang Ya rounded the roots and reached the plank road. She first extended one foot onto the plank road and stomped hard. Finding it sturdy and solid, she then placed both feet on it.
Zhang Qingshui and Huang Qi followed behind Wang Ya and soon reached the plank road as well.
Wang Ya examined the plank road under the faint green light from the Green Vine on Zhang Qingshui’s wrist. The plank road was built by embedding thick stone slabs, about half a foot thick and one meter wide, into the cliff face. The surface was about one and a half meters wide, with rusty chains on both sides serving as railings. Every two or three meters, there protruded what seemed like fire basins extending from the cliff, about two meters above the plank road.
The light was too dim; Wang Ya’s vision only extended four meters. Beyond that was pitch black, though faint firelight glimmered ahead.
