Shackles of Humanity

The valley was different tonight. The dead silence of before was gone. A wind had picked up, and a faint commotion drifted in from outside—something between the cry of a night owl and the death wail of an animal.

Luo Kai went outside to take a look. The Mist surrounding them hadn’t dispersed, yet sounds were definitely carrying through. He was a little puzzled; usually, not a single sound from the outside world could be heard in the valley.

Returning to the cave, he saw Lu Qing lying on a bed of dry grass. She was curled up slightly, her breathing long and even. She had already fallen asleep.

The air here was heavy with moisture. Trapped in the valley, they had brought few clothes and had only thin robes patched together from Snake Skin. Fuel had also become scarce these past few days. They only dared to light a fire for cooking, leaving the dampness to creep in at all other times. Without a fire to drive away the moisture, it was difficult for an ordinary person to resist its invasive chill.

Luo Kai took off his own snake skin robe and carefully draped another layer over her. As he turned to leave, he heard a soft murmur behind him. Lu Qing’s eyes were open; she was awake.

"Did I wake you?" Luo Kai stopped and asked gently.

Lu Qing sat up slowly. Feeling the extra layer of clothing on her, a warmth spread through her heart. In the faint moonlight spilling in from the cave entrance, she saw Luo Kai standing before her, completely naked. Her cheeks flushed red. She gazed at his eyes, which seemed to glitter with starlight, and found herself captivated.

Luo Kai touched his own face, which was as smooth as a woman’s. "Is there something on my face?" he asked, confused.

Lu Qing averted her gaze, feeling both shy and annoyed. She huffed, "You... you really are a big dummy."

Getting called a name for no reason, Luo Kai found himself unable to understand women. "Alright, alright, I’m a dummy," he said, exasperated. "Go back to sleep. I’ve already thought of a way for us to leave, so don’t worry."

Lu Qing grunted, burrowed back into the snake skin robes, and said no more.

Luo Kai returned to the mouth of the cave. ’If I want to get Lu Qing out through the underground water system, I’ll need to figure out how to make an oxygen tank. Separating oxygen from water molecules isn’t hard; I could do that before. The tricky part is finding a container that can withstand the pressure. If worse comes to worst, I’ll go back into the water tomorrow, get some metal, and forge one myself.’

As he was contemplating how to make the oxygen tank, Lu Qing suddenly spoke in a low voice, "Aren’t you cold?"

"I’m not."

"I can’t sleep. Tell me a story."

Over the past few days, to keep their days from being so desolate, Luo Kai had taken to telling long martial arts stories to make Lu Qing happy. Now, she was a little addicted. She had to hear one every night, and he wasn’t allowed to repeat them.

Fortunately, Luo Kai came from an age of information overload; the stories in his head were endless. He asked, "What do you want to hear? A martial arts epic or a fairy tale?"

"Neither. I want to hear your story. The story of what happened after you left the Small Fishing Village."

Luo Kai hesitated for a moment before beginning his tale in a soft voice. He spoke of coming to a big city, of becoming a cart driver to make a living, and of meeting a beautiful woman—proud as a swan—at the entrance of a vegetable market in the early morning...

When he got to the part about the Dragon Shark Camp, Luo Kai fell silent. Lu Qing seemed lost in some emotion of her own and didn’t press him.

After a long while, Lu Qing spoke again. "Luo Kai, don’t sit at the entrance. You’re blocking the moon. Come sit inside. It’s so dark in here, and there are mosquitoes."

Luo Kai shuffled further inside. ’Women are so troublesome,’ he thought. ’With me in the cave, how could there be any mosquitoes?’

A moment later, Lu Qing said, "The ground is dirty. Why don’t you come sit over here? I’ll make room for you."

"Come on, just get some sleep," Luo Kai said, exasperated.

A few minutes later, Lu Qing suddenly said again, "I’m really cold. Come sit over here."

A fire ignited in Luo Kai’s heart. At this point, how could he not understand what was about to happen? He got up and sat down next to Lu Qing, his gaze drawn to her. He saw her fair forehead, her beautiful lips, her delicate, pretty face flushed with a crimson blush. She was utterly charming and enchanting.

Lu Qing was looking at him too, her beautiful eyes as soft and tender as water.

Both of their breaths grew ragged. Inhaling the familiar, sweet fragrance before him, Luo Kai felt his blood begin to race, his whole body growing hot. He captured the small hand on his chest and lowered his head to kiss her.

Outside, the night was lonely and cold, but inside the cave, it was as passionate as spring.

And on this very night, in Granny Hua’s small courtyard within Longyang City, the Zilan that had not bloomed for so long unfurled its entire pistil. The last of its life force was released in that single moment. An overwhelming, extraordinary fragrance spread out, blanketing the entire city. It lasted for about half an hour before gradually fading. The Zilan had withered, leaving behind a single, pale purple seed. For it, one cycle of reincarnation had ended, and the next had begun.

...

The next day, the first rays of dawn shone into the cave. Neither of them wanted to get up. Lu Qing was curled up on Luo Kai’s chest like a kitten, a look of pure contentment on her face.

Luo Kai noticed immediately. He planted a kiss on her snow-white forehead and asked softly, "What are you smiling about?"

Lu Qing didn’t answer, saying instead in a soft voice, "Luo Kai, let’s have a child."

Luo Kai was stunned. "Why the sudden talk of having a child?"

Lu Qing tilted her head up. "Among these medicinal herbs is a plant called Thorny Grass. Its seeds are high in starch. We can plant it all along the lakeshore, and then we’ll never be short of food." She continued, her voice full of longing, "After our child is born, I’ll teach them how to identify herbs, and you can teach them Body Techniques."

So Lu Qing thought they would never be able to leave and was already making long-term plans. A thought rose in Luo Kai’s mind. ’If we just stayed here, could we avoid our future fate?’ He tightened his embrace around the woman in his arms and nodded. "Alright."

Unfortunately, things in life rarely go as one wishes. When Luo Kai got up and walked out of the cave, he discovered that the surrounding Mist had thinned. He estimated it wouldn’t be long before it disappeared completely. This was also why he had been able to hear sounds from the outside last night.

He thought for a moment and concluded it was most likely related to the Cyan Dragon Skull from the Underground Space. This valley was probably the burial place of the Cyan Dragon. That Cyan Dragon must have been incredibly powerful in life. Even after its death, with most of its skeleton gone, the residual magnetic field frequency it left behind was still immense. Combined with some unknown element, it had formed the Mist that could send people into an eternal slumber.

The epicenter of the magnetic field must have been the skull. The marrow inside the skull was like some kind of biologically evolved nuclear fusion system, constantly emitting radiant Energy for countless years. Now that the marrow had been eaten by him and other creatures, the source of the radiant Energy was gone, and so the Mist had begun to dissipate.

"Qing’Er, pack your things! We can get out!"

Luo Kai shouted, feeling a pang of reluctance to leave the life they’d had for the past month. But this place would no longer be peaceful in the future, so staying had lost its meaning.

Lu Qing was naturally overjoyed. But after taking just a few steps, she suddenly reached out to brace herself against the rock wall, her delicate brows knitting together as she let out a soft groan.

"What’s wrong?" Luo Kai rushed back to her.

"It’s your fault." Lu Qing looked up and shot him a glare.

Luo Kai understood. He chuckled and said, "Alright, I’ll do the packing."

In truth, there wasn’t much to pack. The crucial items were the precious medicinal herbs Lu Qing had collected. After being air-dried, they were laid out in the cave. These herbs were very old, their medicinal effects extremely potent, and every single one was immensely valuable. Taking them out would surely make them a great fortune.

The thought of becoming wealthy excited Lu Qing as well. Enduring the soreness, she helped Luo Kai pack all the herbs into bags made of Snake Skin. When they were finished, they had four large bags full.

"We’re going to be rich!"

Luo Kai wasn’t particularly interested in money, but he certainly agreed that more was better. Grinning, he hoisted all the snake skin bags onto his back. Now all they had to do was wait for the Mist to completely disperse, and then they could leave.

The Mist grew thinner and thinner. Their vision gradually cleared, and they could already see the surrounding rock walls and the forest in the distance. Just then, the small lake beside them suddenly began to churn.

Luo Kai’s expression changed. He immediately sensed a behemoth about to emerge from the water. It was the Cyan-Scaled Python. If he were alone, he would have genuinely wanted to test his strength against this Fierce Beast. But with Lu Qing here, he wasn’t confident he could protect her if a major battle broke out.

The surrounding Mist, though faint, had not yet vanished. He thought for a second, then said in a low, serious voice, "Qing’Er, a Fierce Beast is coming. It’s a big one. I’ll carry you on my back. Once we enter the Mist, hold your breath."

The words had barely left his mouth when the Fierce Beast’s head broke the surface. It was indeed the Cyan-Scaled Python. Overnight, most of its wounds had healed. It had grown even larger and more ferocious. Most importantly, a white-furred rat was standing right on top of its head.

Two Fierce Beasts. All fighting spirit instantly vanished from Luo Kai. He rushed over, threw Lu Qing onto his back, and bolted. Amid Lu Qing’s cry of alarm, he shot straight toward the valley entrance.