Ascension Day

A short while later, the wind subsided slightly. Da Zhong fell from the sky, clanging and banging as it bounced around, rolling for several dozen zhang before finally coming to a stop.

Xu Ying tumbled out from within the Bell, his legs still trembling. They nearly gave out from under him, but he quickly grabbed onto Da Zhong to steady himself.

After the chaos, silence fell.

Xu Ying staggered forward and climbed a small hill. He froze, stunned. Where they had just been standing, the Plague God’s tentacle had blasted a massive crater a hundred zhang wide and so deep he couldn’t see the bottom.

Wisps of white smoke still drifted up from the massive crater.

As Xu Ying caught his breath, Da Zhong wobbled over and said, "Ying, the Plague God has most likely marked you. Since He missed this time, He’s sure to remember you every now and then and take another shot."

Xu Ying shuddered and forced a smile. "The Plague God was sent back to the Heavenly Dao World. It can’t be that easy for Him to come back down, can it?"

Da Zhong said, "Unless someone summons the Plague God again. The moment He descends, He’ll immediately sense your aura and come swat you with a finger."

Xu Ying laughed heartily to bolster his courage. "Summoning a Celestial God is no easy task. I doubt anyone will be summoning the Plague God again anytime soon."

Da Zhong said nonchalantly, "By the time the Plague God descends again, my injuries should have healed."

Xu Ying’s eyes lit up. He asked hopefully, "Once you’re healed, you’ll be able to fend off the Plague God?"

Da Zhong spat contemptuously. "When I’m healed? Of course I’ll get as far away from a jinx like you as possible and let the Plague God strike you dead! Ever since I met you, I haven’t known a single day of peace! If I’m not being gravely wounded by the Demoness, I’m getting thrashed by a Divine Spirit, and you even use me to knock on walls. And now I’ve got the Plague God after me too!"

Xu Ying said, "I can feel my Qi Blood surging lately. It feels like I’m on the verge of a breakthrough into the Gate-Opening Stage."

Da Zhong’s tone softened as it tried to console him. "Just focus on your Cultivation and stop worrying about the Plague God’s revenge. If the sky falls, Lord Zhong will be here to hold it up for you. Lord Zhong’s a big guy, after all. Ahem, and after your breakthrough, you can lend me a bit of your Qi Blood to help me heal..."

Xu Ying sat down on the hill and activated his Celestial Eye, surveying the unfamiliar land. He saw the black plague-qi that had saturated the world gradually dissipating. In the distance, he could see people; the Plague God’s tentacles had vanished from their bodies, leaving only scars. It wouldn’t be long before they recovered from the sickness.

The land, and the sky above it, slowly began to clear.

’So the girl from the coffin’s goal was to get rid of the Plague God and save everyone.’

Xu Ying wondered. The girl had been sealed in a dry well at the Stone Mountain Deserted Temple for thousands of years. Wasn’t she supposed to be a vicious and irredeemable Demon King?

Why would a Demon King save the world?

If the girl from the coffin was one of the good guys, then was the person who sealed her away good or evil?

And what about Da Zhong? Was it good or evil?

It suddenly occurred to Xu Ying that he had just assumed Da Zhong’s master was a hero who sealed away evil. But what if the bell’s master was the villain?

’Or maybe they’re both villains,’ he thought, glancing at Da Zhong.

While his imagination ran wild, Da Zhong, worried the girl might return, quietly slipped into the back of his head to hide near his Mud Pill Secret Treasury.

Thunder rumbled ceaselessly in the sky, punctuated by terrifying flashes of brilliant light that shot between heaven and earth.

Xu Ying felt a growing sense of unease. After a long while, the Abnormal Phenomenon in the sky suddenly vanished. A moment later, the Black Coffin flew over and landed before him.

Xu Ying looked up to see the girl drifting down from the sky, landing gently in front of him.

"I have severely wounded the one who summoned the Plague God. My Primordial Spirit is still tracking him to uncover his motives, so I don’t have time to take you back myself."

The girl opened the Black Coffin and rummaged inside for a moment, pulling out two leaves and a basin of fresh water. She placed one leaf in the basin and said, "When you reach the bank of the Naihe River, place this other leaf on the water. Stand on it, set the basin down, and blow on the leaf floating inside it. Remember, don’t let anything disturb the water in the basin. I have placed my Magic in it, which can send you back to Wuyang Mountain."

Xu Ying held the basin of water, clutching the leaf. He was about to say something else when he suddenly floated into the air against his will. He shot through the sky, and in the next instant, he was on the bank of the Naihe River.

He looked back, but the girl was gone without a trace.

Xu Ying composed himself and looked at the leaf in his hand. They were ordinary maple leaves, both still tender and green, not yet yellowed.

’Can this maple leaf really take me back to Wuyang Mountain?’

Skeptical, Xu Ying tossed the maple leaf into the Naihe River. As it fell, it grew rapidly, and by the time it touched the water, it was two or three zhang long with its stem curled upward.

The maple leaf floated on the Naihe River, perfectly still.

Xu Ying cautiously extended a foot, tested the leaf’s stability, and then stepped aboard.

The great maple leaf was surprisingly stable, unaffected by the winds and waves of the Naihe River.

Relieved, Xu Ying sat down on the leaf, holding the basin. He blew a breath at the small leaf floating inside it and thought, ’She said blowing on this would get me back to Wuyang Mountain. Is it really true?’

His breath sent the maple leaf in the basin drifting forward. Strangely, though the basin was only about a foot wide, the leaf never seemed to reach the edge as it floated on.

It was as if the small basin contained an Infinite Space!

As Xu Ying watched the leaf in the basin, a sudden gale erupted from behind, sending the large maple leaf he sat upon whistling up the Naihe River. In an instant, it had traveled dozens of li against the current!

Startled and confused, Xu Ying saw that the sudden gust was weakening, and the great maple leaf’s speed gradually decreased.