Chapter 114: The Obstruction

Liu Changxi’s body was not carried down by Li Yue or me.

Zhang Chang had been walking ahead of us to lead the way earlier. It wasn’t him who did it then, either. It was clear now: Zhang Chang had come out after we left. He had taken Liu Changxi’s body, left these two parcels behind, and provided the note instructing us on how to escape.

"He wouldn't have been able to come out so easily; he must have paid a heavy price. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have waited all those years, just waiting for a promise like the one he made to my master," Li Yue said, biting her lip slightly. "We must get out first and wait for him. If he can make it out, then everything will be fine. If he can't... I fear we will have to find another way."

I nodded and stepped onto the boat. Once Li Yue was aboard, I took up the oars and pushed us away from the bank. The current was no longer as torrential as before; it was flowing slowly downstream. I began to row, heading down the river. The current became increasingly sluggish, and I had to rely on the oars to keep moving, or we would simply remain in place.

Li Yue opened the two parcels. The items inside made me frown. One bag contained a dagger caked in dried blood; it was heavily rusted, yet the blade remained wickedly sharp, glinting with a cold light. Along with it were some nails and heavy iron tools. The other bag was slightly better, containing a scarecrow woven from unidentified vines, while the rest of the items were wrapped in kraft paper.

"It seems... these are all things we have no use for. Should I open them to take a look?"

My eyelids twitched. "Don't bother. These must be things Zhang Chang needs. He only had us carry them because he is so elderly; it would likely be too strenuous for him to bring them out of Changyuan Village himself."

A dozen minutes later, the dark river narrowed. The walls of the mountain cavern began to close in, and looking back, Changyuan Village was no longer visible. The light grew dimmer, and it was only thanks to the faint, cyan glow emitted by the Qing Mirror in Li Yue’s hand that we could see our path.

Finally, the dark river reached its end.

The space here had become exceptionally narrow—only about two meters wide and barely over a meter high. We couldn't even turn the boat around. There was still a distance ahead, but even with the light of the Qing Mirror, I couldn't see clearly.

"We have to get out and walk... If I’m not mistaken, if the water level hadn't dropped, we wouldn't have been able to get in here at all. Ahead is likely the passage connected to the Headless Cliff cavern!" Li Yue’s voice carried a hint of excitement.

I strapped the two parcels to my body and said in a hoarse voice, "Then let's walk. We’ll be safe once we get out."

Li Yue nodded excitedly. We abandoned the boat and continued on foot.

At this moment, I could clearly feel a sense of hunger; my stomach was empty. Li Yue had eaten earlier, but I hadn't, and I had nearly come to blows with Zhang Chang on the third floor. Having rowed for nearly an hour, my energy was almost entirely depleted.

The narrow passage grew increasingly tight and rounded, the ground exceptionally slippery. Decades of water erosion meant we had to be very careful to avoid falling. Furthermore, the passage began to slope upward. I pulled out the dagger to use as a tool for leverage. Li Yue also took out the strange nails she had used back in Qianshui Town to help us climb.

The narrow tunnel was damp, with glistening water marks and a pervasive gloom. I felt a deep sense of oppression, as if a primal fear were taking hold—the fear that this tunnel would collapse. If it were to cave in, Li Yue and I would be buried alive. At that point, no matter how profound her knowledge of Feng Shui might be, or how powerful my soul was, or how many talismans I could draw, it would all be in vain.

Just then, my companion ghost appeared silently on my shoulder. The ghost fire within its hollow eye sockets flickered slightly. My consciousness could feel the emotion it was projecting: unease—intense, profound unease. A tremor ran through my own heart, as if something terrible were about to happen.

"Why is there light all of a sudden?" Li Yue’s voice trembled slightly.

I looked down abruptly. Both of my pockets were emitting waves of white light. This light was identical to the glow emitted by the Yin Dragon beneath the dark river! These white rays almost completely drowned out the cyan light of the Qing Mirror. In my ears, faint, indistinct roars seemed to echo.

"The passage is shaking! Xie Yuan, we have to get out! Run!"

Li Yue’s face turned panicked. A sense of terror also welled up in me—not a fear of ghosts or powerful foes, but a fear of Mount Yalong itself. We were powerless against the might of the mountain; as mere mortals, we had no chance of resisting such a force.

We climbed faster and faster. The passage grew tighter, until there was only about a meter of space—just enough for a boat to have drifted down, but absolutely impossible for a person to climb! My dagger was useless now, and I could only keep climbing because Li Yue gave me two of her nails.

When Mount Yalong sent sinners in, it provided nothing. What choice did they have but to die within the mountain's belly? In that moment, I seemed to feel their resentment and unwillingness; those intangible sounds were like the wails left behind by every soul who had died here.

The passage was indeed shaking violently. I even heard cracking sounds, and visible fissures appeared on the walls. We didn't even need to search for footholds to climb anymore. The companion ghost stood on my shoulder, staring backward, its unease growing more intense by the second.

Just then, I felt the passage begin to widen. Li Yue’s voice was trembling but filled with joy: "There’s light ahead, too! It’s sunlight! That’s the cave entrance! We’re almost out!"

As the passage widened, the slope became less extreme, allowing us to hunch over and run instead of crawling. Li Yue gripped my hand tightly, pulling me along. My physical strength was failing, and I felt dizzy, so I could only squeeze her hand back with all my might. Thankfully, the companion ghost did nothing to hinder us, and my mind was free of any distracting thoughts.

The light in the distance transformed from a faint speck into a large, brilliant glow. Li Yue and I ran for our lives! Finally, we reached the mouth of the cave!

By now, the shaking of the mountain was even more pronounced. Standing there, I could see that the water level of the Yin Dragon River had dropped drastically. From where we stood to the water below, there was a drop of two or three meters. Including the height of the cave entrance and the distance it had been submerged, the water level had plummeted by seven or eight meters! For such a massive river, this was truly incredible.

"Do... do you know how to swim?" Li Yue’s voice trembled.

My pupils constricted, and I said hoarsely, "Yes."

"I don't know how to swim," Li Yue said, her voice on the verge of tears.

"I’ll carry you up." I bit my lower lip hard, forcing myself to stay awake.

"Can you do it? You’re so exhausted, and you haven't eaten a thing. The things Zhang Chang made me eat earlier were strange; I feel like I still have endless energy, but you... you're just running on pure willpower."

The verdant trees and the green hillside were right before us. It was only about twenty meters to the shore from the Headless Cliff. Under normal circumstances, this would be effortless for me, even with someone in tow. But in my current state of total exhaustion, it was a major problem. My soul feared the water, and I couldn't manifest it while submerged, so it couldn't help me at all.

The cave was still shaking, and rocks began to fall. A terrible thought rose from the depths of my heart: Mount Yalong might be collapsing. Zhang Chang probably couldn't get out, and he must have been desperate to leave, having done whatever was necessary to attempt it. It was just as Li Yue had analyzed—if he could have left so easily, he would have done so long ago.

"Do you trust me?" My voice was incredibly raspy.

Li Yue bit her lip, her tone still tearful. "I always trust you, but I don't dare to right now. If I wasn't holding you, you’d already have collapsed... Even if you know how to swim, you can't carry me."

A wave of helplessness washed over me, followed by a flash of ruthlessness. "Dying in the water is better than being crushed by the mountain!"

I pulled Li Yue toward the edge and said sternly, "Shut your mouth and don't breathe through your nose! Hold your breath for as long as you can!"

With that, I jumped straight down! Li Yue let out a scream, followed by a muffled, whimpering sound. Upon hitting the water, I grabbed Li Yue with one hand and paddled with the other, kicking my legs with all my might. Willpower forced an unnatural strength from me, as if I were wringing out the final reserves of my body.

But at that very moment, my pockets suddenly felt as heavy as two blocks of iron, dragging me down with a desperate force! My expression changed.

It was those scales! The dragon that had manifested from the Yin Dragon River must have awakened! It didn't want us to leave alive!