Pei Hengyu closed his eyes, stringing together the day's words, sorting through the clues from the jumble of information, brushing aside the elaborate facades to seek the deliberately hidden truth.
The White Lotus Lamps drifted along the canal, and beneath each one resided a locked, spectral soul.
Pei Hengyu asked, "Where does the city canal lead?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty," An Ming stared at the lotus lamps, shielding Pei Hengyu behind him as he said,
"After Commander Linghu entered the city, he had men thoroughly investigate the city's layout. All of Kunluo's waterways converge in the East City, then flow along the eastern canal into the moat. The river connects with the Qingming River, stretching thirty li to the southeast before turning into Holy Maiden Mountain. What lies within the mountain remains unknown."
Pei Hengyu bypassed An Ming, taking the lead. "Let's go take a look."
"Your Majesty!" An Ming stepped forward, advising, "The terrain of South Chu is complex. If you wish to leave the city, it would still be much more appropriate to let Commander Linghu make arrangements first!"
Pei Hengyu paused, smiling. "Is Commander Linghu now going to make decisions for me?"
An Ming hastily professed he dared not, and had no choice but to follow closely behind Yuwen Junan along the canal eastward to the city gate, where they requested three horses from the gate guard.
The three of them left the city, mounted their horses, crossed the moat, and galloped southeastward along the Qingming River, brushing past trees and foliage.
Yuwen Junan lagged behind. He rarely rode horses, and now his hands, gripping the reins, were chafed raw. Enduring the pain, he secretly pressed a hand to his chest.
Hanging there was the Holy Spirit Jade given to him by his eldest sister. Ever since entering Holy Maiden Mountain, for some reason, it had suddenly turned from warm to hot, and now it was scorching to the touch.
The Holy Spirit Jade was a sacred treasure of the Wu Tribe.
His eldest sister had said it could command the Wu Tribe, but she had never mentioned that it would also grow hot and scorching. Did the Holy Spirit Jade have some other use he knew nothing about, or had some mishap occurred?
As they ventured deeper into the mountain, vines intertwined, and the mountain path grew increasingly difficult to traverse.
Pei Hengyu slowed his horse's pace, drew the Holy Emperor Sword, and hacked through the thorns and brambles, personally clearing the way.
After another half-hour of travel, the sky grew fully bright, and the scenery on both banks of the river became clearly discernible.
The vegetation gradually thinned out, replaced by jagged, towering strange rocks. The river channel suddenly narrowed, and the current rushed forth turbulently. With roaring waters, the lotus lamps converged, surging up and down as they rushed forward.
Ahead, the trees vanished, opening up into a vast, empty expanse bathed in daylight.
Without waiting for the reins to be pulled, the steed beneath Pei Hengyu let out a low whimper and stopped in its tracks. He lashed it twice, but the horse merely kept whimpering and refused to take another step.
Helpless, Pei Hengyu dismounted, walked through the stone forest, stepped across the gravel-strewn ground, and advanced a few steps before suddenly stopping.
The riverbed beneath his feet dropped away abruptly, and the river water plunged downward in a roaring cascade. At the end of the Qingming River lay a sheer cliff.
Shrouded in mist, the bottom of the cliff was dim, murky, and bottomless.
Pei Hengyu stood at the edge of the cliff, leaning his upper body out as a biting chill surged straight up from the bottom.
*Good grief! What a place!*
Enduring the bone-chilling cold, Pei Hengyu thought, *We've really come to the right spot. Just looking at it, there's definitely something evil here!*
"Human Sovereign!" Little White Dragon popped his head out at some point, draped over Pei Hengyu's shoulder, and called out, "Go down and take a look! There seems to be an evil spirit down there!"
*I know there's an evil spirit!*
Pei Hengyu cast a covert sideways glance at him. Staring down into the deep, gloomy abyss, he said, "Since you want to look so badly, stop just staring and go find out if there's a small path."
Little White Dragon answered with a chirp and flew out, fluttering and circling over the cliff for a good long while before shaking his head. "No path! Judging by this place, no one has been here for at least a dozen years. However, there is a long vine by the cliff edge; although withered, it looks sturdy enough. With lightness skill, we could use it for leverage to go down."
Pei Hengyu calculated and asked, "How deep is it?"
Little White Dragon fluttered down again, returning after half an incense stick's time to report, "Not very deep, maybe ten-odd zhang!"
*Ten-odd zhang? Do you take me for one of your kind who can ascend to the heavens and plunge into the earth? If I go down in this mortal flesh, won't I have to be reborn all over again?*
Pei Hengyu looked at Little White Dragon with an indescribably mournful gaze.
Little White Dragon held back for a long moment before saying, "With this lord's divine power, even if you fall, I can guarantee the Human Sovereign won't die."
The corners of Pei Hengyu's mouth twitched repeatedly as he thought to himself:
Of course I wouldn't die. Even if I died, I'd just be sent back to be reborn!
But it would hurt! What's this? Wasn't being burned by raging fire enough, and now you want to add being smashed to pieces?
Pei Hengyu glared fiercely at Little White Dragon.
An Ming found a half-section of withered wood, tied the reins securely, and followed them over.
He pressed his thumb against his sword hilt and swept his gaze around. "Your Majesty, this Holy Maiden Mountain is gloomy and bizarre, as if harboring evil spirits. It is still best to proceed with caution."
Pei Hengyu stepped back a few paces from the cliff edge, tossed his riding crop to An Ming, and said, "Tie the horses well. Yuwen Junan stays here, and you will come down with me to take a look."
An Ming grabbed the riding crop, his gaze patrolling back and forth between his emperor and the precipice several times, before he forcefully swallowed back the words of admonition, turned around, and went to tie the horses.
Yuwen Junan stood obediently by the protruding rock, looking quiet and submissive from head to toe.
Little White Dragon fluttered back and forth, unable to stay still for a single second. "Why aren't you taking Yuwen Junan? Leaving him here all by himself—what if there's danger?"
Pei Hengyu let out a cold snort toward Little White Dragon. "His life is remarkably tenacious. If you want to see the evil spirit, hurry up and move!"
Pei Hengyu walked a few paces along the cliff toward the side draped with the withered vine, then turned back and instructed Yuwen Junan, "Don't wander around. Wait for me here."
With that, without waiting for Yuwen Junan to reply, he took An Ming and descended the cliff.
Yuwen Junan stood silently by the rock, staring at the two figures until they completely vanished over the cliff edge.
He bent down to pick up a stone and threw it hard against a boulder not far away. The two collided with a crisp clatter.
His eyes kept glancing toward the cliff edge. After waiting for a long while without seeing Pei Hengyu return, he finally set his mind at ease and strolled leisurely toward a slanted stone wall.
Everyone in Kunluo knew that the Qingming River ended at Holy Maiden Mountain, but no one knew that there was a sheer cliff within Holy Maiden Mountain, and even less did anyone know that above the cliff, on both banks of the river, strange rocks stood like a forest.
As soon as Yuwen Junan reached the top of the cliff, he recognized that these strange rocks were not naturally formed at all; they had been deliberately arranged into a formation that matched the array diagram in his eldest sister's secret chamber completely!
The sun had already risen high. In the river channel, those drifting white lotus lamps were all swept over the cliff. On the river surface, white waves churned, crashing against the stone base like shattered snow.
Tentatively, Yuwen Junan spread his five fingers and pressed them against the focal point of the array at the center of the stone wall.
The moment his hand touched it, a warm current surged forth from the Holy Spirit Jade, flowing along his arm into the stone wall.
Within moments, the warm current vanished, replaced by an even greater suction pulling from his palm. In the blink of an eye, Yuwen Junan felt as though his entire being had been hollowed out, and he was sucked straight into the massive boulder.