Before long, the gale subsided slightly. The bronze bell plummeted from the air, crashing and clanging as it rolled for dozens of paces before finally coming to a halt.
Xu Ying tumbled out from inside, his legs still trembling so violently he nearly buckled and collapsed. He hurriedly propped himself against the bell to steady his footing.
After the chaos, silence settled over everything.
Staggering forward, Xu Ying climbed a small knoll and was struck dumb. Where they had just been standing, the Plague God's tentacle had gouged out a bottomless crater hundreds of paces across!
Pillars of white steam still rose from the depths of the chasm.
As Xu Ying caught his breath, the bronze bell wobbled through the air toward him and said, "Ah Ying, the Plague God has almost certainly marked you. Now that His strike missed, He'll definitely remember you every few days and take another jab at you."
Xu Ying shuddered, forcing a thin smile. "The Plague God was banished back to the Heavenly Dao world. How could it be that easy for Him to descend again?"
"Not unless someone summons the Plague God once more," the bell replied. "The moment He descends, He will immediately sense your presence and spear you with a finger."
Xu Ying laughed aloud to bolster his courage. "Summoning a heavenly god is no easy feat. I doubt anyone will be summoning the Plague God again anytime soon."
The bell remarked leisurely, "By the time the Plague God descends again, my wounds should be fully healed."
Xu Ying's eyes lit up with eager anticipation. "Once your wounds heal, you can fend off the Plague God?"
The bell spat loudly. "Once I'm healed, I'll naturally get as far away from a jinx like you as possible and let the Plague God strike a scoundrel like you dead! Ever since I met you, I haven't had a single good day. If I'm not grievously wounded by a demonic girl, I'm being pummeled by gods, or being used by you to knock down walls! And now there's another blood debt owed to a Plague God!"
Xu Ying said, "Lately, I've felt my vitality and blood surging, with momentum to charge the pass. I should be breaking through into the Pass-Breaching stage soon."
The bell's tone softened, and it offered soothing words: "Focus on your cultivation and don't dwell on the Plague God's revenge. Even if the sky falls, Lord Bell will hold it up for you—Lord Bell is plenty tall! Er, after you break through, lend me a bit of vitality and blood to heal my wounds..."
Xu Ying sat down on the knoll and channeled his Heavenly Eye to gaze across the unfamiliar land. He saw the black plague qi permeating the world slowly dispersing. In the distance, people were already free of the Plague God's tentacles, left with only scars; before long, their afflictions would be cured.
The world was gradually regaining its clarity.
*So the maiden in the coffin really intended to banish the Plague God and save the people.*
Xu Ying felt a flicker of doubt. The maiden had been suppressed at the bottom of the dried well in the desolate stone temple for thousands of years. Shouldn't she be an atrocious archdemon?
How could an archdemon save the world?
If the maiden in the coffin was good, were those who suppressed her good or evil?
And what about the bronze bell—was it good or evil?
It suddenly struck Xu Ying that he had assumed all along the bell's master was a hero who suppressed evil spirits, but what if the bell's master was actually a villain?
*Or maybe they're both scoundrels,* Xu Ying thought, glancing at the bell.
While he was lost in thought, the bell grew wary of the maiden's return and quietly slipped into the back of his head, hiding near the Mud Pill secret depository.
Thunder continuously rumbled across the sky, and brilliant flashes of light pierced heaven and earth from time to time with terrifying majesty.
Xu Ying felt a faint unease. After a long while, the strange phenomena in the sky vanished without a trace. Moments later, a black coffin flew over and landed before him.
Xu Ying looked up to see the young maiden floating gently down through the air, alighting softly in front of him.
"I have severely wounded the one who summoned the Plague God," she said. "My Primordial Spirit is still tracking his whereabouts to uncover what lies behind his motives, so I have no time to escort you back in person."
Opening the black coffin, she felt around inside for a moment before retrieving two leaves and a basin of clear water. Floating one of the leaves upon the water, she said, "Once you reach the bank of the Nai River, set this leaf upon the water's surface. Stand on the leaf, position the basin carefully, and blow gently upon the leaf in the basin. Remember, do not let any foreign object disturb the water in the basin. I have placed a spell within it that will convey you back to Mount Wuwang."
Holding the basin of water in his hands and pinching a leaf between his fingers, Xu Ying was about to speak when his body floated into the air of its own accord. Walking through empty space, he found himself standing at the edge of the Nai River in the very next breath.
He glanced back, but the maiden had already disappeared.
Composing himself, Xu Ying inspected the leaf in his hand. It was an ordinary maple leaf, fresh and green, having not yet turned yellow.
*Can this maple leaf really carry me back to Mount Wuwang?*
Skeptical, Xu Ying tossed the leaf into the Nai River. As it fell, it expanded rapidly; by the time it touched the surface, it had grown to twenty or thirty feet in length, its stem curling upward.
The maple leaf rested motionless upon the Nai River.
Xu Ying cautiously reached out a foot, touched down upon the leaf to test its firmness, and then stepped aboard.
Floating on the water, the great leaf was astonishingly stable, entirely undisturbed by the wind and waves of the Nai River.
Relieved, Xu Ying sat upon the leaf cradling the basin and blew a breath toward the leaf floating inside, thinking, *She said blowing on it would take me back to Mount Wuwang—is that really true?*
The breath sent the leaf drifting forward. Strangely, though the basin was barely a foot wide, no matter how far the leaf drifted, it never reached the rim.
This tiny basin seemed to contain boundless space!
As Xu Ying stared at the leaf in the basin, a gale suddenly erupted behind him, howling down the Nai River and propelling his giant leaf upstream for dozens of li in the blink of an eye!
Xu Ying was startled. Watching the sudden gale begin to dwindle and the giant leaf slow its pace, an odd impulse seized him. Puffing out his cheeks, he blew another breath at the leaf in the basin. Sure enough, another fierce wind rose, blowing the great leaf upstream at breakneck speed, racing back the way he had come!
Xu Ying marveled again and again. "To think such magic exists in this world—truly miraculous!"
The bronze bell flew out from the back of his head and remarked disdainfully, "It's merely folded space, nothing worth boasting about."
Xu Ying extended a finger, intending to poke the leaf in the basin. The bell warned frantically, "Ah Ying, don't mess around!"
Thunder abruptly crashed overhead. Xu Ying looked up and saw the sky tear open as an unimaginably colossal finger scraped through the atmosphere, erupting in rolling thunder and fire as it descended from beyond the heavens, pressing straight toward the maple leaf boat!
Xu Ying hastily halted his finger, and the giant finger descending from beyond the heavens stopped instantly in tandem.
As Xu Ying withdrew his finger, the pillar-like appendage shrank back toward the heavens and finally faded into nothingness.
A cold sweat broke out over Xu Ying.
The bell breathed a sigh of relief. "Spatial magic is nothing to play with; you might play yourself to death. Behave yourself!"
Xu Ying sat dutifully before the basin, blowing a breath to speed up the boat whenever it began to slow.
Yet he was still a youth at heart. Sneaking a finger into the basin, the cosmic finger reappeared, plunging into the firmament.
"My finger is huge!" Xu Ying gasped.
He adjusted his hand, guiding the finger in the sky away from the river, and leisurely admired his massive digit. Suddenly, a deafening crash reverberated through the air. The finger had collided with a mountaintop. A sharp pain shot through Xu Ying's finger, and he hurriedly pulled back, only to find the tip split open and bleeding.
Along the left bank of the Nai River, an entire mountain peak had blasted apart, sending boulders hurling dozens of li through the air.
Xu Ying flinched in fright, not daring to fool around any longer.
Seeing him suffer a setback, the bell burst into gleeful laughter, clanging merrily.
The maple leaf boat traveled over a thousand li eastward into a desolate region of precipitous peaks and churning waters. It entered a river bend where the current slackened. Suddenly, a glow appeared ahead—a brightly lit pleasure barge sailing upon the Nai River.
At the river bend, the waters stretched wide as a sea. Over the western mountains hung a moon as large as a bushel basket, making the peaks appear diminutive by comparison.
Xu Ying silently admired the scene. The Netherworld held its own distinct brand of beauty.
"Ah Ying, not just any boat can sail upon the Nai River," the bell whispered. "I fear this pleasure barge bodes no good."
A voice drifted from the barge: "Naiyue, the wind on the river is sharp. Hang the wind-warding lantern."
A woman's voice replied, "Yes, Young Master Xiang."
Xu Ying watched as a graceful woman stepped onto the deck carrying a lantern, rising onto her tiptoes to hang it beneath the eaves.
The moment the lantern was raised, the gale abruptly ceased, and the maple leaf boat slowed to a gentle halt upon the water.
Xu Ying raised an eyebrow, remaining silent.
Just then, the one called Young Master Xiang emerged from the cabin, gazing at Xu Ying from afar in astonishment. "The existence who whipped the Plague God in the realm of Zhudu and drove Him back to the Heavenly Dao world is actually just an inexperienced kid?"
Another pleasure barge approached, from which a beautiful woman burst into laughter. "Young Master Xiang, your wind-warding lantern trapped his wind, and he sits there completely at a loss—he's clearly green as grass. You made such a grand fuss summoning me here to help, all just to deal with a fledgling junior like this?"
Xu Ying's heart sank. *Disaster! It seems more than one person orchestrated the Plague God's descent. Someone lured the maiden away while the others ambushed me on the river.*
Clearing his throat, Xu Ying feigned bravado and demanded, "Who are you to dare block my path? What insolence! How do you compare to the Plague God?"
The beautiful woman and Young Master Xiang exchanged glances and laughed aloud.
Xu Ying said coldly, "If I can strike the Plague God, do you think I cannot strike you? Begone at once, and I will not stoop to bickering with two juniors!"
The woman giggled. "This little brat is stuffing scallions up his nose to play the elephant! We can see through your cultivation at a glance. Young Master Xiang, will you take him, or shall I?"
Young Master Xiang flicked open his folding fan with a crisp snap, waving it gently with dashing flair as he smiled. "Thirteenth Mistress, capturing the one who banished the Plague God is a tremendous feat. I shall yield the credit to you."
The woman looked toward Xu Ying, her interest suddenly piqued. "In years past, I've always abducted fair, tender young men. I've yet to taste a dark-skinned one..."
Xu Ying was startled and outraged. *She wants to eat me!*
The woman laughed shrilly. Suddenly, two crimson ribbons flew from her ship, dancing across the river before abruptly transforming into two scarlet dragons, their heads as massive as small hills, exuding ferocious, towering malice!
The lead dragon roared, its cry shaking the surrounding mountains as it lunged toward the maple leaf boat.
Without a second thought, Xu Ying thrust a finger into the bronze basin before him. Instantly, lightning flashed and thunder rolled across the sky. A flesh-colored pillar descended from the heavens wrapped in churning lightning and fire, slamming down onto the crimson dragon like someone pinning an earthworm, crushing it through the water all the way to the riverbed!
The river exploded, churning waves a thousand feet high that hurled both pleasure barges and the maple leaf boat into the air.
Young Master Xiang and the woman were terrified, scrambling to steady themselves. The woman shrieked, "He's playing the pig to eat the tiger—he's a treacherous old bastard! We underestimated him!"
Xu Ying touched another finger to his thumb and flicked.
In the sky above, a titanic thumb clasped against a middle finger before snapping outward. The other crimson dragon spat blood as it was blasted into the distance, crashing into the Netherworld mountains. With all its organs ruptured and bones shattered, it clearly would not survive.
Meanwhile, the dragon pinned to the riverbed was crushed until its viscera burst, its flesh entirely dissolved by the Nai River, leaving behind only a pile of dry bones.
Xu Ying was stunned and delighted. *This bronze basin can do that too?*
Furious and alarmed, the woman let out a shrill scream. Layer upon layer of cave-heavens manifested behind her, smaller cave-heavens nested within larger ones, surrounded by the phenomenon of a roaring river echoing with the resonance of the Great Dao!
Just as she was about to strike, Xu Ying plunged his hand into the basin and flicked his finger again. The middle finger smashed through layers of Nuo techniques, shattering them into dust, and flicked squarely against the beautiful woman.
The pleasure barge blasted apart. Spitting blood with her hair in disarray, the woman was flung miles back, crashing heavily into a massive mountain.
On the other side, Young Master Xiang was waving his folding fan to intervene when he suddenly felt dark clouds pressing overhead. Looking up, his eyes widened in terror.
Across the firmament, a colossal hand blazing with endless flame descended from the sky, hurtling straight toward him!
He had no time to think. Leaping into the air, he ran across empty space, fleeing for his life with all his might.
The hand clenched into a fist, chased him for over a hundred li, and struck him from afar with a crushing blow.
Young Master Xiang plummeted into the wilderness, his fate unknown.
With a loud crash, the woman blasted apart the rocks burying her, shooting into the air like a startled swan and crying, "Thirteenth Mistress was blind to offend an elder with such a black face—please spare my life!"
"Black face?!"
Furious, Xu Ying jabbed his forefinger repeatedly into the bronze basin until he finally struck her, shattering her bones and tendons and sending her coughing blood as she crashed to the ground.
Behind Xu Ying, the bronze bell had long since watched in petrified silence.
*It seems the only one who hasn't made any progress all these years is me,* it thought bitterly. *That demonic girl was suppressed by me for three thousand years, and while her cultivation didn't advance, her divine abilities are truly earth-shattering. Even if no one had come to rescue her, she would have defeated me in a few more years and escaped on her own!*
It had hung in the desolate stone temple, sleeping for thousands of years and squandering time. Yet the maiden in the coffin had continued to refine herself. With one waxing as the other waned, the bell realized it could no longer fathom the depths of her divine abilities.
Chapter 27