Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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It was still dark when the two came out of the cave. They found that all the vegetation outside the cave had disappeared, leaving only jagged rocks. Looking around, the entire mountain range was desolate and lifeless.
Jiang Lan let out a startled scream. It was fortunate that he couldn’t speak right now, otherwise he would definitely have asked a series of questions.
Seeing his shocked expression, Ying Qiao wasn’t too surprised and asked, “What are you most afraid of?”
Of course, I’m afraid of being hungry!
Without hesitation, Jiang Lan gestured wildly and howled to express his fear.
Being hungry is terrible.
Ying Qiao squeezed his paw and pointed to the desolate land outside the cave, saying, “This is your fear.”
After Ying Qiao realized that they were actually inside the cauldron, he deduced from Jiang Lan’s various behaviors that their environment was related to Jiang Lan’s fear.
Jiang Lan was afraid of hunger, so in the illusion, apart from rocks and plants, there was not a single living creature. Moreover, in the illusion, his hunger came much faster than usual. In just half a day and one night, Jiang Lan ate many times more gems than usual, and even lost control due to hunger. Now, when he woke up, the area outside the cave had become a wasteland. As far as the eye could see, there were only jagged rocks standing there, and not even any plants that could barely satisfy his hunger.
If they stayed any longer, perhaps even these rocks would be gone, which would be a desperate situation for the Taotie, with nothing left to eat.
This was a fear stemming from instinct; no wonder Jiang Lan couldn’t get out.
Jiang Lan tilted his head and looked at him with a puzzled expression, seemingly not understanding what he was saying. Instead, he took out two more gems from his storage ring and ate them, wagging his tail happily.
“Never mind.” Ying Qiao laughed when he saw this. “Anyway, we’re going out soon, so if we don’t know, we don’t know.”
He transformed into his original form, wrapped his tail around Jiang Lan and held him protectively in the middle, pressed his forehead against Jiang Lan’s, nuzzled his head affectionately, and said gently, “Don’t move, I’ll take you out.”
Jiang Lan opened his eyes and met his gaze, feeling a comfortable warm current flowing from where their brows touched. He let out a contented hum, his eyes widening as they gradually closed…
After he completely lost consciousness, Ying Qiao swept him up, flapped his wings, and soared into the sky, tearing through the darkness…
….
Jiang Lan felt dizzy and disoriented, as if he had been having a very long dream.
The dream was bizarre and fantastical, featuring the seventh brother, Ya Zi; the ancient Wa people filled with resentment; and even a red monster with sorrowful eyes…
He was trapped in fragmented memories, struggling to wake up, but like a drowning man, he could not find a way out no matter how hard he struggled.
Just as he was exhausted, a familiar voice came from afar, calling his name repeatedly.
“Jiang Lan? Jiang Lan?”
It was Ying Qiao’s voice.
Ying Qiao came looking for him?
Jiang Lan, still groggy, headed towards the direction of the sound. Like a fish leaping out of the water or a butterfly breaking free from its chrysalis, his sluggish thoughts cleared instantly. He sat up abruptly, gasping for breath, and when he looked up at Ying Qiao, his eyes were clear and his mind was sharp: “Ying Qiao?”
After recounting those fragmented memories, he hurriedly said, “Seventh Brother is still alive, in the small world. We also encountered a powerful giant who lives on the resentment of the ancient Wa people. Once he emerges, the small world will shake, potentially causing people to lose their memories. We must find him quickly…”
He rubbed his head, which was throbbing from the overwhelming amount of information, and tried his best to tell Ying Qiao what he remembered.
After regaining his memories, he finally understood why his seventh brother, despite still being alive, did not return to the Dragon Palace and had lost his memories.
The deity worshipped by the ancient Wa people was the giant of Red Maple Valley. The “ancient Wa people” of today were not the true ancient Wa people. Perhaps long ago, some of the victims were Wa people who, under the influence and assimilation of the small world, forgot they were dead and continued their lives day after day, endlessly performing human head sacrifices.
This small world randomly overlapped with the real world. Ordinary people who accidentally entered it were beheaded as sacrifices and then offered as sacrifices to the gods by the “Ancient Wa people” in order to appease their anger.
In reality, whenever the “gods” were angry, the small world shook. After the shaking, everything returned to the beginning. Everyone in the small world lost their memory. Even the sacrifices whose heads were cut off live like living people after losing their memories.
But in fact, they were already dead.
It was only under the influence of the blood-red resentment that filled the mountains and valleys that the false appearance was maintained.
Only when the small world was in turmoil, and they recalled their tragic deaths, did they unleash a soaring aura of malevolence and revealed their true nature.
The crimson resentment in Red Maple Valley assimilated them, and the daily torment kept their resentment alive, almost merging them into the entire small world.
“Ya Zi is indeed not dead.” Ying Qiao listened to his words, took out a spiritual medicine he carried with him and fed him one, saying, “I just saw a shadow that looked like Ya Zi sneaking around nearby, but you were not awake yet, so I did not chase after it.”
The elixir calmed his mind, and Jiang Lan’s aching head finally felt better, along with his hazy memories becoming clearer.
He then recounted the most important parts of his encounters with the giant, the red monster, and the man in red.
Ying Qiao verified his guess with his words again, confirming that his guess was almost certainly correct.
When Jiang Lan heard him say that the red monster might be Jiang Chi, he felt a chill of fear. He was glad that he hadn’t eaten it. He quickly ate two gems to calm his nerves and then asked, “You mean the giant I encountered was ‘Chi You’?”
When he roamed the ancient world, Chi You had already been defeated and killed. He had heard stories about Chi You, but the rumors about Chi You varied, and his appearance was also quite different, so he didn’t recognize Chi You. But that man in red… he felt vaguely familiar with him.
“It was Gonggong,” Jiang Lan confirmed after a moment of recollection.
Gonggong was the son of Zhurong, the god of fire. He was originally a subordinate of Emperor Yan, but later joined the Yellow Emperor’s forces along with his father. He knew that the Yellow Emperor had abdicated and Emperor Zhuanxu had succeeded him. Zhuanxu then ordered Chong and Li to sever the connection between heaven and earth, which greatly displeased Gonggong. As a result, Gonggong led his subordinates in rebellion, intending to contend with Emperor Zhuanxu.
However, he ultimately failed to defeat Zhuanxu. After his defeat, he crashed into Buzhou Mountain and fled, causing the sky to collapse and the earth to cave in, making the already difficult situation of the demon race even more challenging.
Back then, Taotie would often passionately insult Gonggong in front of him.
“If Gonggong is Qianjun, then it makes sense,” Ying Qiao said.
There were truly few great demons who, despite being dissatisfied with Zhuanxu’s severing of the connection between heaven and earth, were able to win over ancient demons such as Fuyou, Tian Wu, Yuan Yin, and Suan Yu to serve under his command; and who also knew many ancient secrets and were still alive today.
“After Gonggong was defeated and fled, he made a comeback.” Ying Qiao recalled an old story as evidence: “When King Yu was controlling the floods, Wuzhiqi[1] caused trouble, and Geng Chen went to help. Later, when Geng Chen returned, he mentioned that Gonggong had escaped again.”
Gonggong was the god of water, and it was almost impossible to kill him completely wherever there was water. That’s why he was able to escape from Zhuanxu and Geng Chen one after another.
Jiang Lan asked in confusion, “But why did he capture me and Jiang Chi? Even if the two of us were together, it would be impossible to break through the barrier between heaven and earth.”
Ying Qiao reached out and helped him up, saying with a forced smile, “You’ll have to ask my good uncle about that.”
“…”
Jiang Lan glanced at his expression and felt that his smile was a little creepy.
He silently lit a candle for Geng Chen in his heart.
May my little uncle rest in peace.
After discussing it, the two decided to first find Ya Zi, who was running around outside, and then go find Geng Chen.
After Ying Qiao led Jiang Lan out of the illusion, they arrived at the real small world. He originally thought that Geng Chen and Jiu Ding must be nearby, but after searching around, he found that Geng Chen, Jiu Ding, Jiang Chi, and Gonggong were all nowhere to be found.
He had become increasingly certain that Geng Chen had planned all of this long ago.
“Once we find Ya Zi, my elder brother and the others should be coming in by now,” Ying Qiao said, calculating the time.
By this time, Ji Xian, who had received the message, should have arrived around the same time.
Hopefully, Geng Chen could still grit his teeth and be a man, just like he was now, and shoulder Ji Xian’s anger.
….
Achoo!
Geng Chen, who was explaining the plan to Jiang Chi, suddenly sneezed. He shivered for no reason and thought that it must be that little brat Ying Qiao cursing him.
Shaking his head, Geng Chen dismissed the pointless thoughts and continued to Jiang Chi: “Remember, when the heavenly lightning strikes, don’t hesitate to hide in the cauldron. If you’re too slow, I won’t be able to protect you, understand?”
Jiang Chi nodded obediently: “I know.”
Geng Chen took a deep breath and said solemnly, “Then I will release him.”
After speaking, the human figures that had been conjured dispersed and disappeared into the Nine Cauldrons.
Following his instructions, Jiang Chi put down the Nine Cauldrons, transformed into a cloud of red mist, and leaped into them. The red mist surged within the Nine Cauldrons, emitting bursts of unwilling roars.
Even the nine cauldrons that imprisoned him trembled slightly.
A moment later, a red figure was thrown out of the Nine Cauldrons. After landing, it transformed into Gonggong with red hair and red clothes. He was momentarily dazed, but when he saw the Nine Cauldrons in front of him, his eyes lit up with joy. He beckoned the Nine Cauldrons over and said happily, “I didn’t expect that you would be even better. Taotie’s weakness is still too obvious.”
The surging red mist within the cauldron emitted a deafening roar, as if it were about to break free from its confinement.
Gonggong smiled, put the Nine Cauldrons into his sleeve, and calculated the time: “Fortunately, I didn’t miss the time.”
After saying that, he took out half of the Xuanyuan Sword, slashed it in the void, and left this small world.
He was in such a hurry that he didn’t notice that Ya Zi was sneakily peeking out half its head from the forest behind him.
Ya Zi stared at the spot where Gonggong had vanished into thin air, looking at the void with a puzzled expression, then at the sword under his claws. After a moment’s hesitation, he imitated Gonggong, slashing the air with the short sword in his mouth. Unexpectedly, he actually managed to carve out a narrow passage. He let out an excited howl and darted across the passage before it disappeared.
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[1] Wuzhiqi (無支祁) is a legendary, supernatural monkey-like water demon and river spirit in Chinese mythology who is widely considered by scholars to be a major prototype for Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.
