Chapter 353: The Pit

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“When I was a child, I held a great affection for the woman in the house next to mine. It didn’t matter that she was nearly two decades older than me. Such was nothing for a true cultivator. I told myself that I would take her as my wife once I became a respected disciple of the Xiao Sect. It was a stupid fantasy, but I believed it…I stole her undergarments once. It was low of me, but they were hanging by her window, and the jump was so easy to make. I never got the chance to admit my crime or apologize to her. She’s most likely dead along with the rest of Eastern Port City, so I never will.”

Silence takes over the Flame-Wheeled Wagon. Su Daji is staring at the window, pretending as though she hadn’t heard anything. Dog and Soaring Feather, the latter of whom can fit inside the wagon thanks to it being larger on the inside than on the outside, sleep curled next to each other in a corner.

Liu Jin stares at Big Nose Li.

“Why would you assume I needed to know even a single sentence of that?” He asks him calmly.

“I didn’t,” Big Nose Li replies with complete serenity. “To be honest, I never planned on telling anyone about this. Who would? It’s too embarrassing. However, every single one of my old shames seems like nothing now. To think I was ever so small. Ah, youth is so fleeting.”

“Big Nose, I badly want to make fun of you, but I can’t muster the will to do so. Remind me to think of something later,” Su Daji says. She sounds exhausted. “Why do we do things, Boss? I am having a hard time remembering.”

Liu Jin looks from the serene Big Nose to the exhausted Su Daji and sighs deeply.

“I believe the two of you are overly fixating on this situation,” Liu Jin says.

“That’s easy for you to say, Boss,” Su Daji counters. “Unlike you, we’re here in our own flesh and blood. If we fall, we’ll go into… That!”

The exhaustion vanishes from Su Daji as she insistently taps the window to make her point. Outside, there is nothing other than an endless void. They have ventured into the dark depths of the pit created by Xiao Nan’s battle with the Duke, an odd course of action, but Big Sister Bai claimed that she might be able to find the trail of energy left by the two as long as she can position herself perfectly in the center of the hole.

Hours have passed, and they have yet to reach it. They are so deep into the pit that they can no longer see any land, and since they are inside the wagon, even the sky is hard to make out from their position.

“You and that woman who likes being called Big Sister are both in the Heaven Realm, so even if something happens to the Flame-Wheeled Wagons, you’ll just fly away,” Su Daji says. “However, Big Nose and I are in the Earth Realm. We’ll sink like stones due to the Curse of Nuwa!”

Liu Jin frowns. “How much of what that term really means do you remember?”

“Not enough to answer any meaningful questions, but enough to regret being more human than before right now,” she replies, glaring at him.

Liu Jin considers her in silence for a moment. It is just not the never-ending darkness that has everyone so rattled. There is a reason why Soaring Feather could not stand being outside the wagon and had to be let inside. The energies left by the battle between Xiao Nan and the Duke are still swirling within the void. Such ferocious energies would naturally make anyone feel uncomfortable.

Big Sister Bai could have gone into the pit alone while they waited near the edge. However, they would have had to wait for her to reach the center of the pit and return, and only then could they have begun their trip towards Xiao Nan. It would have wasted too much time.

“One, even if you are not in the Heaven Realm, Big Sister Bai and I would have no trouble catching you if something happened. Two, even if we didn’t, it is highly unlikely a fall will kill you. At worst, you will break a few bones,” Liu Jin says, raising a finger for each of his points. “Three, your regeneration should have no issues healing damage done without any weight behind it. Four, any dangerous Spirit Beasts in this area have been killed or have been scared away. The trek out of the hole would be tedious but not dangerous. Unnerving as this all feels, there is no point in actually worrying.”

Su Daji and Big Nose look at him, then at each other.

“He no longer has any concept of danger,” Big Nose whispers to her.

“His mind was warped a long time ago,” Su Daji confirms.

Liu Jin’s eyebrow twitches. “Your whispers are nowhere near quiet enough to go unheard.”

“Boss, sometimes the best way to tell someone about their failings is by speaking behind their back,” Su Daji tells him without a shred of shame.

“Oh!” Big Nose snaps his fingers and points at her. “You said something really good just now! There are so many things I want to tell the Young Master behind his back!”

“You’re not behind me. You’re in front of me,” Liu Jin points. “And if you try to talk to Xiao Fang about his failings, I’m sure he will-”

Before he can continue, Big Sister Bai’s voice, projected by her Qi, echoes throughout the wagon.

“We have reached the center of the pit,” she announces.

The view through the window is not any different compared to every other part of the pit, but the energies swirling within the void tell a different story. On this part of the pit, the flow of energy is even more violent. That is not enough for Liu Jin to fully identify this place as the center, but Big Sister Bai must be looking at things from an even higher perspective.

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“Does that mean we can leave now?” Su Daji asks.

“You already know the answer,” Liu Jin says, grabbing the controls to stop the Flame-Wheeled Wagon in place. “Reaching the center only means Big Sister Bai can finally begin working. Until she is done, we’ll need to stay here.”

Su Daji’s cry of despair echoes throughout the pit.

~~~

It takes hours for Big Sister Bai to sift through the energies in the pit. Liu Jin has almost fallen asleep before her Qi resonates throughout the wagon, carrying a single word.

West.

The Flame-Wheeled Wagon takes off at top speed, leaving a fiery trail across the inky blackness of the pit. Even so, it takes them hours to get out. If not for having to synchronize his memories with the original Liu Jin every twelve hours, it would have felt far longer. It is hard to keep track of time when surrounded by darkness.

Upon reaching land, everyone jumps out of the wagon. Big Nose Li cries as he kisses the dirt and lies on the ground with his arms spread open as if trying to hug the earth. Soaring Feather takes off to the skies at top speed while Marrow runs around, yipping and barking with his tongue hanging out.

Su Daji does not lower herself to such displays, though she looks at all of them enviously. Pride can be such an inconvenient thing sometimes. Instead, her tails carefully brush across the harsh ground, sweeping as much dirt as possible to reveal the hard rock under it. Only then does she lie down. Liu Jin does not know whether it is acceptable for him to think so, but the way she curls herself into a ball to sleep and snuggles into her tails as though they were pillows makes him think a lot of a fox.