After a drop of at least a hundred zhang, the two finally saw the bottom. Both landed on a pool of water, standing on the surface, drifting with the current. Behind them was the constant sound of rushing water.
The two used the fluorescent stones in their hands to light up the water beneath their feet. The bottom seemed unfathomably deep, as if a demon was hiding there, ready to open its giant mouth and swallow them at any moment.
What drew the two’s attention even more was the narrow, steep underground space that made it impossible to see the full contours. The visible rock walls were steep and jagged. There was no visible path anywhere around. The water flow did not know where it led beneath the Gobi.
After drifting a little further from the pool, Yu Qing sheathed his long sword and took out an incense stick to light. Observing the direction of the smoke drift, the two continued forward with the current.
The water flow began to wind and curve in these deep underground reaches.
They travelled far, not knowing how much time had passed. The two, who had found nothing all along, saw another high drop where water poured through an opening. The two martial brothers exchanged a glance and jumped down again. This time it was like descending between two walls, one water wall and one stone wall, with some places still connected, not yet completely cut through by the flowing water. Only after a good while did the stone wall disappear. Continuing to descend for a while, the two landed on another pool of water.
This drop was probably over two hundred zhang deep, and much more spacious. With the faint glow of the fluorescent stones in their hands, they could not see the boundaries at all. The rippling, refracting light on the water surface seemed like ghosts.
The two continued to tread across the water. After moving away from the noisy water flow behind them, the water surface ahead gradually became gentle, slowly turning calm and waveless. In the spacious silence, occasional sounds of dripping water rang out, clear and pleasant.
The underground lake space was very wide, and from time to time thick stone pillars could be seen connecting top and bottom.
The two searched continuously in this space for a long time but could not find a way out. The lake surface was too calm, so calm that there was no exit.
“The water outside keeps pouring in. This lake water cannot have no exit. It should be underwater. I’ll go down and take a look.”
Mu Aotie said softly beside Yu Qing.
Yu Qing nodded silently. The fluorescent stone in his hand kept illuminating the blue smoke rising from the incense fire, his gaze fixed on the changes in the smoke.
Mu Aotie’s figure shortened at the water surface, suddenly plunging into the lake water. As he sank, Yu Qing slowly turned his head to stare in another direction. That side was completely dark, nothing visible. He suddenly rose and flew, landing on a nearby stone pillar, standing on a protruding part. He threw away the lit incense in his hand, concealed the glow of the fluorescent stone, placing himself in darkness, staring intently at a point of light in the water.
That point of light was the fluorescent stone in Mu Aotie’s hand. The light gradually became very faint in the water, but in an absolutely dark environment it still counted as something conspicuous.
Yu Qing could see that Mu Aotie had already dived to a relatively deep position underwater. The light point moved around rapidly in the water like a swimming fish.
After the light in the water went elsewhere, Yu Qing would fly up and chase after it.
After continuing for a good while, the light in the water became increasingly conspicuous. Finally Mu Aotie broke through the water surface, standing on the water again. He circulated his energy to shake the water out of his clothes, and said to Yu Qing who was waiting before him, “It’s right down there. There’s also an underwater hidden passage, don’t know where it leads. Should we follow it down?”
Yu Qing did not say whether to or not. After silent thought for a while, he took out the fluorescent stone again, and from his sleeve drew out another incense stick, lighting it again. He stared at the curling smoke for a while, then suddenly flew up, landing on a cliff face with a leap from the water surface.
The jagged, wet natural rock wall had nothing but fold lines and wrinkles. Yet he tried pressing the incense in his hand against the rock wall. He saw the curling smoke no longer rising completely straight up, but partially drifting sideways, slowly entering the cracks in the rock wall.
After finding the right spot, Yu Qing put the butt end of the incense in his mouth, drew his sword, and with a swish, thrust it into the rock wall.
Mu Aotie also flew over, clinging to the rock wall to watch, not knowing what he was doing.
Yu Qing tested the feel of one sword thrust and distinguished the thickness of the rock wall. Then he circulated his energy to cut and carve, quickly digging a circle in the rock wall. He sheathed his sword, pressed his palm against the rock wall and pushed. The cut circle was pushed slowly inward.
After about an arm’s depth, the sound of a stone falling came from inside. The sound was not loud, controlled to land quietly.
Yu Qing withdrew his hand, used the fluorescent stone to light up inside, then drilled in through the hole.
The following Mu Aotie discovered they were actually in a tunnel. The tunnel walls clearly showed traces of artificial excavation. Though he had seen Yu Qing’s similar ability in the Jianyuan Mountain ancient tomb, he was still somewhat moved at this moment, still unable to understand how Yu Qing had found this tunnel in the vast underground space.
Yu Qing observed the tunnel, took the still burning incense from his mouth, stared at the curling smoke for a while, then turned back to Mu Aotie and gestured with a tilt of his head toward the dug out stones on the ground.
Mu Aotie immediately picked up the stones on the ground and pushed them back in reverse. Though he could not make it exactly the same as before, at least it would not be easily discovered when passing by without careful attention.
The two then proceeded forward in the tunnel. When encountering intersections, Yu Qing made choices without hesitation. He did not seem worried about people ahead, only moving quickly forward. The route trended continuously upward.
When the two reached the tunnel exit, they heard the sound of wind whistling, and saw a large stone at the exit, pushed to a half open state.
The two extinguished the incense, put away the glowing fluorescent stones. Yu Qing first squeezed out through the gap in the pushed open stone, and found outside was actually a cliff face. The night sky had a bright moon, and wind whistled through the valley.
Unknowingly, they had been underground for so long, it was already night.
Using the moonlight, after briefly observing the details around the cave entrance, Yu Qing looked up toward the top, quietly climbing up the cliff face…
The terrain on the cliff had highs and lows. On a lower part of the mountain, a nearly naked long haired young boy sat on the ground playing with stones, arranging a pile of stones into the shape of a human face.
On the highest mountaintop nearby, a long haired man in black lay on the ground, arms behind his head, staring blankly at the moon in the sky.
Suddenly, the man in black’s eyes moved. He abruptly sat up, his entire body standing up straight rigidly, his cold gaze fixed on the place where the boy was playing. He saw a figure flash past, and he flew into a rage, also leaping down.
However, he was still a step too late.
The one who suddenly appeared was none other than Yu Qing. Flashing past, he grabbed the boy playing on the ground. His sword was already drawn, placed against the boy’s neck.
“Heh heh…” The little boy immediately roared, struggled, and shouted randomly.
Yu Qing’s hand gripping the back of his neck circulated energy and squeezed, immediately causing the little boy to roll his eyes and lose consciousness.
The man in black who landed, seeing clearly who had struck, was somewhat startled. He glanced at Mu Aotie who had flashed over to land beside Yu Qing and drawn his sword in vigilance, then returned his gaze to Yu Qing’s face, frowning, “It’s you?”
He obviously could not understand. Since Yu Qing wanted to take his son hostage, why had he saved his son before?
Yu Qing also looked the other over carefully, his sword unwilling to loosen from the little boy’s neck. “We meet again.”
Honestly speaking, he himself was quite surprised. He had not expected to not only find the other party but also so easily capture a hostage in hand, saving a lot of trouble and making him much more at ease.
Seeing it was him, the man in black relaxed slightly. He looked toward the valley direction and asked, “How did you find the tunnel and sneak here?”
He clearly found it somewhat unbelievable, even neglecting to first care about his own son.
Yu Qing: “That is not important. What is important is, why did you go to kill that youth in the manor last night?”
“Youth?” The man in black was startled, then sneered, “Did the people of Rift Valley Manor say I killed him? If I said they killed him themselves, would you believe it?”
Yu Qing: “I would believe it, as long as you can give a convincing reason.”
The man in black showed an interested expression. “What, you don’t believe Rift Valley Manor’s words, and still have to come to me to verify?”
Yu Qing: “Rift Valley Manor said, their tribulations spanning over a thousand years may be related to the demon realm. I just do not understand, if you were truly sent by the demon realm, why would you bring your own such young son to take this risk together? This is very unreasonable.”
The man in black: “Whether it is reasonable or not, what does it have to do with you?”
Yu Qing pressed the sword edge against the little boy’s neck. “Now it has something to do with me.”
The man in black stared at him, then suddenly said, “You did not come to eliminate demons for Rift Valley Manor. I do not care who you are, nor do I care what you actually want to do. Looking at the fact that you saved my son’s life, let my son go, and I can let you leave.”
Yu Qing: “I can do as you wish, but you have not answered my question yet. Was it you who killed that youth last night?”
The man in black: “You should have listened to my warning last night, do not meddle in others’ affairs, leave quickly.”
Yu Qing immediately found it strange, “If it was not you who killed him, would it not be better to explain clearly and clear your own innocence?”
The man in black: “There is no need to explain clearly. Some questions are not what you should ask, some answers are not what you should know.”
Yu Qing’s heart stirred slightly. He loosened one finger and pointed at the single bladed halberd pattern on the unconscious child’s chest. “If I am not mistaken, your chest also has a single bladed halberd tattoo.”
The man in black stared at him quietly, finally saying slowly, “What tattoos my father and son use, do you also want to control?”
Yu Qing: “Why use the Wu clan emblem, why use the enemy’s clan emblem as a tattoo?”
The man in black answered irrelevantly, “My patience has limits. Do you really think that because you have my son as a hostage I would not dare to act?”
Yu Qing also answered irrelevantly, suddenly blurting out, “Who is the halberd bearing guard?”
At these words, the man in black’s face was full of shock. Finally his eyes glowed with an eerie light, and his entire body actually manifested strong killing intent.
Seeing this reaction, Yu Qing understood. This person indeed knew a major secret. He was only testing. If he did not know, he naturally would not understand, and there would be no reaction.
Now he had a grasp in his heart, and immediately smiled, “If we fight, who wins and who loses is not certain, but I can be certain that even if you kill me, you cannot silence me, because others know the purpose of our coming here.”
The man in black: “Then I will kill one and count it as one!” He stepped forward slowly.
Yu Qing: “You should understand, as long as someone comes for the secret you keep, that means the secret has a source of leakage. Have you heard of ‘Little Cloud Grotto’? An immortal’s abode, the cloud fairy’s abode. It has already been found. I came here after seeing records about this place in there. Have you heard of Thousand Flow Mountain, Sinan Mansion, and the Great Enterprise Office? Their people are searching everywhere in Little Cloud Grotto, and sooner or later will see what I have seen. Your secret can no longer be kept!”