Struggling to Hold On

It swam faster and faster inside the bowl, eager to break out. General Red waited in silence until the bowl could barely contain it, then tapped the vessel's rim and pointed toward the sky. "Go!" Leaving the bowl behind, the long-restrained mist flood dragon rode the clouds and soared straight into the heavens! Once free of the alms bowl, its body swelled with the wind, stretching past fifteen zhang once it took to the sky. Even more astounding were the billowing mists and clouds rising with it into the sky. Growing thicker by the second, they turned what had been partly clear weather into a dense blanket of overcast gloom. As the giant flood dragon churned through the expanse, the clouds pressed lower and turned darker, sinking until they nearly grazed the mountaintop. General Red had everyone fall back another ten zhang before extending a finger to lightly skim the water in the bowl several times, like a dragonfly dipping its tail. With every tap of his finger, thunder roared across the sky, blasting out deafening booms from deep within the cloud banks! A wave of the hand summoned clouds and rain; a flick of the finger unleashed crashing thunder. Lightning illuminated the clouds, exposing the silhouette of the giant flood dragon coiled within. Then came a torrential downpour. At the sight, the sand leopard immediately leapt several zhang backward, terrified that the rain might drench it. In truth, where the others stood remained well outside the rain band. Though the storm cloud appeared immensely imposing, it only poured rain directly over the mountaintop, covering a very narrow area. Only General Red stood in the deluge; not a single drop touched anyone else. The falling rain was actually crimson. Looking down, the guards saw the white snow melt on contact. Beneath it, the lichens and grass roots turned from yellow to gray, rapidly rotting right down to their roots. Looking toward the two pine trees by the mine entrance, needles showered down the moment the rain hit them, and even the branches soon withered away. Plants that neither bitter cold nor scorching heat could break had been effortlessly laid low by this sudden red rain. Yet the rain seeped into the earth swiftly, absorbed by the great mountain in moments. General Red seemed to draw a deep breath and tilted his head back toward the sky. ... Inside the mine shaft. The patrolmen had retreated to make their stand in a dead-end tunnel. This was not forced upon them; it was a deliberate choice agreed upon by He Lingchuan and Xu Chun. At this point, searching for an exit was meaningless. Until the master of the underground palace was eliminated, they would never escape this labyrinth. Their sole path to survival was to wait for an opening and slay the ferry whelp! By falling back into a dead end, they only had to face the main force from one direction, conserving as much energy as possible. He Lingchuan split everyone into an outer and an inner group. The outer group consisted of Xu Chun and one other, Door Plank, and himself. They had to withstand the crushing pressure of the bone puppet horde, so the passageway could not be too wide. The inner group consisted of Skinny, Willow, and the rest, tasked with ranged attacks and covering the backs of the front line. For them, the passage could not be too narrow, lest the ferry whelp pop out somewhere to maim people while they were too cramped to maneuver. This bottleneck passage—narrow at the front and widening toward the rear—was ideal. Smashing the bone puppets brandishing weapons and shrieking madly was pointless, as they would soon reform and reanimate. Dealing with them had to focus primarily on containment. Xu Chun's Slowing spell remained tremendously useful, but another crucial treasure was produced by Duan Xinyu. It was a vial of seeds that closely resembled coffee beans. Instead of tossing them out to take effect like others might have done, he instructed everyone to guard him, pressed the vial against his chest, turned east, and began chanting a prayer. Throughout the ritual, he not only had to keep his eyes closed, but also had to stand motionless. The ferry whelp sensed an opportunity and tried to ambush him twice, only to be beaten back by their combined efforts. Fortunately, it lacked its sibling's ability to pull people down at will; otherwise, Duan Xinyu would have already been dragged underground. Moreover, after fighting these monsters for so long, they had noticed faint signs before the whelps breached the rock walls or floor—for unknown reasons, the ground or stone surface would bulge slightly upward with a rippling tremor. This offered further proof that the whelps traversing the underground palace consumed energy from the mother entity. However, the subterranean palace was too dark. Even with torches held high, the slight ripples on the ground were easily masked by casting shadows. Thus, guarding against the ferry whelp's subterranean ambushes was far from easy. What was worse, this youngest whelp was extraordinarily tough. Its thick bone armor could barely be cleaved except by He Lingchuan's prized saber or cracked by Door Plank's heavy axe; the weapons of the others posed almost no threat. Even more unfairly, even if wounded, it healed rapidly whenever it sank back into the stone walls, emerging once again full of vigor to battle them for another three hundred rounds. If this game continued, the living would inevitably be worn to death. Furthermore, its agility and combat instincts were constantly improving. Evidently, He Lingchuan was not the only one gaining from actual combat; the creature was accumulating battle experience at a startling pace. Even the bone armor it manifested was continuously evolving. In just half an hour, it had revised its armor twice—cinching the waistline and reinforcing the breastbone, to the point that Door Plank felt like his axe was striking a hard-shelled tortoise. Even with everyone shielding him, the ferry whelp found an opening and stabbed its bone spear into Duan Xinyu's back. Though it did not pierce deeply, he still shuddered violently from the pain. Yet even under such agony, Duan Xinyu's chanting never faltered. Standing close by, He Lingchuan heard him invoke "Mother Mitian" several times, guessing the incantation was tied to the celestial god that protected Panlong City. Fortunately, the prayer was not long. Duan Xinyu finally completed it, flung the seeds from the vial forward, and scattered them across the path the bone puppets had to tread. The seeds sprang to life the moment they hit the ground, sinking roots, sprouting, shooting upward, unfurling leaves... The plant growth accelerated a hundredfold. In little more than a dozen breaths, a forest of vines had taken shape. They looked familiar to He Lingchuan, but it was only when sharp thorns bristled from the vine tips that dawn broke: Wasn't this the very plant clinging to the outer walls of Panlong City? He had previously found the wall-greening project terribly unsightly, but as it turned out, none of it was pointless. Willow gasped, "Man-eating vines! Where did you get those seeds?" According to Panlong City's regulations, such things were strictly forbidden from public circulation. Duan Xinyu gave a bitter smile. "Don't ask." To ask was to expose its illegality. Each man-eating vine bore six tendril legs. The fine spines on their surfaces could both probe and drink blood. The moment a living creature approached, the tendrils coiled around it like pythons hunting prey, injecting venom and sucking blood through their thorns. This was why Panlong City grew them along its walls to teach climbing invaders a harsh lesson. On top of that, they feared neither fire nor acid and possessed astonishingly resilient vitality. Every year, Panlong City had to expend considerable effort just to keep them from creeping down to the ground. The bone puppets naturally had no blood to drink, but the constricting grip of the vines remained, trapping them in place so they could not advance an inch. This was precisely the outcome everyone needed right now. Duan Xinyu was drenched in sweat as though he had fought bitterly for an hour; evidently, this short chant had nearly drained him hollow. When his squad had been ambushed earlier and caught completely off guard, he hadn't had the time to pray and sprout the vines. "The vines will stay active for half an hour," he gasped, popping a medicinal pill into his mouth. "Everyone, make it count." These man-eating vines had been forcibly accelerated, overdrafting the seeds' own life force in defiance of natural cycles. They were destined not to last long. Next, all they had to do was focus on dealing with the boss. Xu Chun shot him a glance and suddenly asked, "How did you manage to survive earlier?" With all his teammates dead and only the squad leader surviving, it was hardly an honorable tale. Duan Xinyu pursed his lips, pinned a bone puppet to the wall, and only then replied, "I smeared my whole body with the blood seeping from the rock walls and clung to the tunnel ceiling. The bone puppets couldn't see me. When the ferry whelp went off to chase you, I slipped away." The ferry whelp moved with ever-increasing speed, though fortunately its strikes were erratic—hitting here and darting there—meaning it was driven back by focused fire before it could inflict fatal damage. Even so, time seemed to be on its side. Whenever danger arose, it merely had to retreat into the rock walls, and each time it reemerged, it was fully restored. The humans, on the other hand, would only grow more exhausted. The prolonged battle left everyone gasping for breath. This time, He Lingchuan could still rely on his prized saber's sharpness to shear away its shoulder guard, but Door Plank's heavy axe failed to shatter its pelvis, leaving behind only a notched gouge. Old strength spent and fresh strength yet to rise, even Door Plank was exhausted. From that moment on, the ferry whelp abruptly accelerated its offensive tempo. It turned out it hadn't unleashed its full strength earlier at all, deliberately dragging out the fight to wear down their stamina. Even Xu Chun's Slowing spell had little effect on it now. Despite He Lingchuan and the others intercepting it with everything they had, one man from his squad and another from Xu Chun's still showed fatal openings. The whelp ripped one open from belly to chest and bit the other's head clean off, leaving no possibility of rescue. He Lingchuan himself was blind in one eye. With his field of view narrowed, his swings were no longer as precise as before. As sweat dripped down, the sting on his face flared intensely. The ferry whelp moved faster and faster, leaving afterimages in the air. Clad in such heavy armor, it was a mystery how it managed such speed. He Lingchuan swung his blade again, parrying a claw reaching for Willow's back. Entering the dream realm this time, he had already been somewhat fatigued, lacking his usual peak energy. He guessed it was probably because the Battle of Han River had just concluded in reality, leaving his soul drained. It seemed that while battles in the dream did not affect reality, his physical and mental state from reality could carry into the dream and hinder his performance. He felt as though he had returned to that night of battle in the Yan River Valley—similarly engulfed in an enemy tide, isolated and without aid, fighting with all his might without a glimmer of dawn. Everyone gritted their teeth, struggling bitterly to hold on. No one dared utter a discouraging word, nor speak the word "death." If the people beside him hadn't been Panlong soldiers, perhaps they would have broken long ago. Yet in this round, where lay the hope of victory? Would there even be reinforcements? Behind him, Skinny suddenly panted, "Hey, pass a message to my family for me... Tell them I hid my money under..." His left arm was broken and his right leg wounded, making it difficult to turn. Just moments ago, the ferry whelp had even stabbed him in the backside with a spear. Having bled for so long, he was growing dizzy and lightheaded. It looked like they wouldn't make it past this trial. Willow cut him off impatiently. "If you've got something to say, go back and tell them yourself!" He Lingchuan glanced at them from the corner of his eye. "Why cut him off? Let him talk so we can dig it up and split the money. He's wealthier than anyone." Skinny grumbled under his breath, "I worked hard to save that!" But he said no more about leaving last words.