Chapter 96 – When the Heavens Weep (I)

Chapter 96

When the Heavens Weep (I)

I was just about to tell the kids to get back inside while I went down the mountain and to the Elder Hall to investigate when the space itself seemed to warp in front of me and a figure stepped in.

Shockingly, it was Spirit Sage.

I froze up a bit, uncertain as to what the hell he was doing here, but he seldom paid me any attention. Instead, he merely glanced at the house for a moment, nodded, and… disappeared.

Eh?

What was that?

It sort of felt like a farmer checking up on the chicks or something. Creepy.

Alright, fine, keep thinking they’ll be yours, you old bastard. I still have to descend the mountain–

Oh, for the love of God!

Elder Qin appeared at the top of a flying sword as he quickly descended from the skies and kicked up a small whirlwind of dust. I just barely avoided inhaling a lungful of it, though I did get a nice, brilliant covering of brown all over my robes. So, yeah, thanks for that, old jackass.

Yet, I couldn’t even put up a voice of indignation–the old man’s expression stopped me. It was heavy and dark and so somber that it pressed down on me.

“Here,” he stopped by my side and handed me yet another ring. This one was even smoother and more adorned, and before I could even offer a refusal, he closed my hand for me. “Hide it. Take the kids with you and go back around the mountain. You will find a strange illusionary barrier–the key to breaking it is in the ring. Once you’re past it, continue through the thickets of the woods and up the mountain, descending only when you reach the plateau with the statue on it.

“Keep straight during the descent. Once you emerge on the other end, travel north. After about six days of travel, you’ll come across a mortal town. There, you can rest for a little while. After that… find a way, any way, to get over the Heaven-Piercing Peaks and go as far east as your legs will take you. Do you understand?”

Uh, yes, I very much understand that you’re giving me direct instructions on how not to die, but it’s all happening too abruptly!

“Yes, I–“

The bright flash of light was the first. Well, just ‘bright’ is vastly underselling it–it was the brightest thing that I’d ever seen in my entire life, and I accidentally opened a light-themed website on my phone at 3 A.M.

It seemed to erupt from nowhere and consume everything in its path, like a maw awoken to devour the world.

After the light came a slight treble, and after it came the sound.

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I immediately felt my ears pop and burst, and pain the likes of which I hadn’t experienced in a long, long time shot through my entire body. Like an invisible sword being repeatedly jammed in every inch of me.

After the sound came the shockwave.

It was so brutally overwhelming that I saw rooftops being ripped from the frames and tossed any which way like they were made of sponge. The trees were dug out of their roots, the stalls dismantled down to the tiny pieces of fabric, and the entire mountain was seemingly being lacerated from inside out.

Just as I thought the invisible wind would split me in half, I saw Elder Qin move in front of me and rapidly erect a barrier of light that repelled the surging energy with seeming ease.

“How dare they…!!” He grunted at the same time as I felt my knees give out… yet I forced myself to stand.

It hurt.