Ch.235: The Heaven-Crossing Bridge; Three Idiots Return to Olden Times

Who knows if it was the fear of obliteration or the scorching-hot lava, but Xie Lian's entire person was submerged.

It was a long while before Xie Lian slowly came to.

The moment he woke, he found he was lying on cold, solid ground. Mu Qing was slumped down next to him, staring at him in a daze.

Xie Lian's vision was still faintly red, and he instantly sat up. "SAN LANG!"

Yet unexpectedly, the moment he sat up, Mu Qing snapped out of it and yelled, "DON'T MOVE AROUND!"

Xie Lian subconsciously extended a hand to support himself off the ground, but the support fell empty; Xie Lian lost his balance, his entire person almost toppling down. Surprised, Xie Lian finally discovered he wasn't lying on the ground at all.

He was lying atop a bridge!

This place was an underground rock cave with immense space, its dome penetrating into the vast night sky, and within the cave "floated" a desecrated bridge.

The body of the bridge was crippled, terrifyingly pitch- black, seeming like wood but also stone, looking as if it had experienced thousands of years of rain and storms, sealed away in its burning. Without any pillars to support it, it hung in mid-air, endlessly stretching from both ends into infinity; its beginning unknown, its end unforeseeable, and its direction a mystery. Some places were as wide as thirty feet, some places were so narrow only one person could cross through.

Thousands of feet beneath this broken bridge was the burning and rolling red-hot lava pool, like the red basin of hell.

The Heaven-Crossing Bridge?

Those three words were the first to pop into Xie Lian's mind. Two thousand years ago, in order to overcome disaster, the Crown Prince of Wuyong built a bridge to cross to the heavens. Could this bridge be its remains?

He remembered he was forcibly pulled down by White No-Face, so how had he ended up on this bridge?

Xie Lian crawled to his feet. "San Lang?"

Mu Qing still sat on the side. "Don't bother calling, he's not here."

Xie Lian turned to him. "How did we end up here? Was a Distance-Shortening array activated halfway?"

"Probably," Mu Qing said. "I was falling straight for the lava pool, but halfway in the air, I was sent here."

Poor Feng Xin; all three of them had fallen and he was the only one who stayed up there. He would probably curse the streets again. But, finding Hua Cheng was priority; where had he been moved to?

Xie Lian spotted the Fangxin and the long sabre that had been tossed to the side and picked them up, then walked to Mu Qing. Mu Qing saw him dangling the sword, approaching with a dark expression, and without knowing what Xie Lian was thinking of doing, his expression suddenly turned nervous.

However, Xie Lian handed him his sabre then extended a hand to him. "Are you alright? If you're fine then get up, we have to get going."

Mu Qing looked at the hand that was extended to him, and after a long silence, he shook his head. "I can't go. My hands and feet are all injured."

Xie Lian crouched down and checked him over for a moment. Sure enough, both of Mu Qing's hands were red, and there were burns on his legs too, so he could probably only walk slowly.

After a moment of contemplation, Xie Lian said, "Let me assist you then."

He pulled Mu Qing up, resting an arm over his shoulders, then walked while supporting him thus.

After a few steps, Mu Qing suddenly blurted, "Why?"

Xie Lian was scanning their surroundings calculatively as he replied, "Why what?"

"I thought after you found out that I was fine too, you'd be more suspicious of me," Mu Qing said.

"Oh, no?" Xie Lian replied.

"Why?"

"Because I know."

"Know what?"

"That you weren't lying," Xie Lian replied.

"…"

Just what was Mu Qing's expression was truly hard to describe.

Xie Lian said, quite matter-of-factly, "Didn't you ask me to believe you? I believe you. That's it."

"…"

"How do I say this…" Xie Lian started. "I suppose I can say I've known you for many years now, so I'm still fairly certain on this. You're not someone like that. Haven't I said this before? You might spit in people's cups, but you would never do something like poisoning said cups."

After hearing the first part, it almost seemed like Mu Qing was touched, but after hearing the latter half, half of his face was turning dark.

"That example is unnecessary, seriously, don't bring it up anymore. I won't do anything like spitting either, it's too classless!"

Xie Lian waved his hand. "Don't mind those little details. Besides, even if in one-in-a-million chance that I was unlucky enough to have misjudged you, you can't beat me and San Lang, we'll smack you dead in one blow, so you're not a threat at all, hahahaha…"

"…" Mu Qing mumbled, "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? You're trying very hard to piss me off to death…"

"Ahem, I'm joking. In any case…" Xie Lian stopped laughing, clutching Mu Qing's arm as he looked forward. "If you really did turn down doing a malicious deed and Jun Wu trapped you with a cursed shackle, then I can't have you pay a bad price for it."

He stated calmly, "Because what you did was the right thing."

Mu Qing stared at him for a good while, then finally, he gritted his teeth. "Xie Lian, you're really someone…"

Xie Lian instantly butted in. "Drop it. Don't think I don't know what you think of me? You're still depending on me to support you here, don't say anything that'll make me want to throw you down into the lava pool."

Mu Qing humphed. "And here you are saving me, even though you know what I think of you?"

"Likewise. Me saving you is just me following my own principles, that's all," Xie Lian replied. "Besides, while you're someone who's curiously odd in all aspects, and there really was a time in the past when I really wanted to punch you to death, I didn't succeed back then, and after so long, I've lost interest too. But no matter how weird you are, and how much I want to punch you, your sins don't warrant death? If I can save you, of course I'll save you."

Mu Qing deflated and humphed a few snorts. After a moment of quiet, he added, "Your Highness, I actually…"

Right then, both their feet dipped and both their faces abruptly changed colour.

Mu Qing was wounded and couldn't react in time, but fortunately Xie Lian still moved with godly speed. His toes tipped, pushing off forward, and they lightly landed thirty feet ahead. When they looked back, the body of the bridge where they were just walking had cracked and broken off, plunging straight down!

RUMBLE!

A stretch of that pitch-black bridge body had crashed into the scarlet hell basin, and the resentful spirits that had been waiting for a long time, rolling in the pool, rapidly reached out. Hundreds of pairs of hands fought to grab, as if they wanted to use it as a vehicle to break away from this sea of suffering. However, their numbers were too great. That stretch of crippled bridge couldn't support them at all, and it soon sank. The two above watched shakily, and exchanged a look.

Xie Lian commented, "It appears this bridge isn't too stable!"

Mu Qing opened and closed his mouth, probably meaning to say they might as well turn back, that the surface of the bridge where they were lying before was considerably spacious and shouldn't cave in. But with that stretch collapsing, there was no more path, and they could no longer retreat. The only way for the two was forward, but the surface of the bridge ahead was alternatingly wide and narrow, like it was filled with traps, danger hiding in every corner. Who knows where the next step would have them fall!

Without another word, Xie Lian threw Mu Qing onto his back. "We can't stay in the same place for too long, otherwise who knows if it'll collapse too. Hold on tight, I'm going to quickly dash through this!"

As promised, Xie Lian indeed dashed out in flying steps. The further they went, the more suffocatingly narrow the bridge became; even the widest area was not that much bigger than a door, the narrowest area no wider than a person's waist!

However, even in such a perilous situation, wherever Xie Lian had passed, nothing moved in the slightest. The bottom of his feet only tipped lightly every time, and each time it was like a swallow lightly skimming the surface of water, withdrawing the moment there was contact. If there were other martial gods present, they would all be stunned by these steps that were so brilliantly controlled to the point it was horrifying, since there was no second martial god who could do the same. This was the masterful skill that could only come from one who didn't depend on spiritual powers, and had trained vigorously day in and day out!

Suddenly, a pillar of fire rushed to the skies, blocking in front of Xie Lian. If it wasn't for his incredible reflexes allowing him to brake in time, they would've charged right into the fire and burnt to a crisp. The two looked down. Since who knows when, millions of resentful spirits the same colour as molten rocks had gathered down below, screeching and cackling, reaching their hands out towards the two, and that pillar of fire was the blow sent forth by them.

Their ears were all vaguely hurting, and Mu Qing wondered, "What are they screaming about?"

Xie Lian mumbled, "…'Come down, join us, rot to death here!'"

Mu Qing looked at him in fright. "You understand them? They should be speaking in Wuyong tongue."

Xie Lian nodded. "En, they're…the people of Wuyong who fell into the lava and burned to death after the Heaven-Crossing Bridge collapsed. Careful not to get tangled up with them; they'll pull everything they see into the lava. I knew this was the remnant body of the Heaven-Crossing Bridge!"

"Can they be absolved if they pull people down?" Mu Qing questioned.

"No," Xie Lian replied. "They can't be absolved even if they pull others down. Those resentful spirits will never be able to receive absolution. But, they enjoy seeing others suffer the same fate."

This was precisely why they shall never receive absolution, and must suffer the torment of this basin of hell.

Mu Qing was puzzled. "How do you know so much?"

"I don't know either," Xie Lian said. "But it was probably…him who told me."

Just as how he transplanted the memories of those Corpse-Eating Rats screeching.

Those molten resentful spirits seemed to be quite displeased that they still hadn't fallen, and they snuck around, gathering together whispering, hands holding hands, ready to send forth

another attack, and Xie Lian broke out into a run. A pillar of fire instantly appeared, and what was already a bridge full of potholes became even more devastated.

They couldn't just keep taking on beatings without retaliation; Xie Lian also tried blasting down below, but he didn't have much spiritual power left so he couldn't blast very far. Mu Qing's spiritual powers were more sufficient and could blast further, but he still just missed them by a bit. There were many times when the pillar of fire from below almost burnt their ankles, and that crowd of resentful spirits banded into a large group, their energy immense, and they giggled and laughed, pointing at them, exceedingly excited, as if they were watching some spectacle on escape. The two couldn't do anything to them at all; incredibly humiliating, so much so Mu Qing's knuckles cracked!

A moment later, Mu Qing, who was leaning on Xie Lian's back, gritted his teeth and panted a few breaths, like he had resolved to make a very difficult decision.

"Forget it, Your Highness…Xie Lian, let me down!"

Xie Lian was dashing as he answered, "What are you saying! You love your life and you're terrified of death! You're not someone who'd say something like that!"

Veins instantly popped violently on Mu Qing's forehead. "Well, sorry for loving my life and being terrified of death! Since I'm going to die either way…before I change my mind, hurry and put me down!"

"Stop messing around, don't talk anymore, you'll make me lose focus," Xie Lian said. "What matters right now is finding the end to this bridge as soon as possible."

"WHO'S MESSING AROUND?" Mu Qing exclaimed. "If this bridge really is the Heaven-Crossing Bridge, who the hell knows how much more you'll have to run? We'll be toppled by them sooner or later. Put me down, I'll go put away those shady trash, you go on ahead!"

Then, he lightly tapped Xie Lian's shoulder and flew off, landing behind. Xie Lian looked back, and walked a step towards him, but Mu Qing stated:

"Don't come over, the bridge here is narrow. If you come over, both of us will fall!"

Xie Lian could only pause in his step. Mu Qing humphed again.

"You're right. We're alike. You think me odd, I think you to be rather weird too." He looked Xie Lian in the eyes. "Since we've come to this point, I might as well just tell it to you straight. I've got lots of opinions on you."

"Uh…well…I knew this already. A long time ago," Xie Lian said.

Mu Qing said coldly, "Oh really? Then did you know that I often think that you only depended on your status, that even though you're His Highness the Crown Prince and you had good fortune, your skills aren't that much better than mine?"

"…"

"I also think that you only like doing all those good deeds in order to show off to others, so you can enjoy praise and flattery. In fact, you helping me was all because of this reason, because I'm the perfect subject for you to demonstrate your sympathy and kindness. To be honest, I haven't changed some of those beliefs even now. Maybe they'll never change. Even if I were to suppress them for a while, after a period of time they'll still resurface."

Xie Lian didn't know whether to sweat-drop or what at this point. "There's no need to tell those things in such detail to the man himself?!"

Yet unexpectedly, Mu Qing continued with, "But more often than not, I'm still…rather in awe of you."

Xie Lian was taken aback.

Mu Qing gathered his courage, looking like someone was choking his neck, forcing him to

speak, and he said stiffly, "Isn't that normal? You…certainly…are rather amazing.

You're…also…a better person…than me. Long story short, I…very much wanted…to become

your f-f-friend."

"…"

Xie Lian had never in a million years imagined that there'd be one day he'd hear those words uttered from Mu Qing's lips. While they were stuttered, unwilling, and stiff, but those were such honest, sincere, and sensible words!

His eyes widened. "You…"

Mu Qing had finally squeezed those words out through the cracks of his teeth, and he exhaled a breath. "That incident during that time after Xianle's fall, whether right or wrong, whether or not if I was in a difficult situation, I still owe you an apology nonetheless."

Xie Lian was stumped for a moment. "…It's all bygones, so let it go. Rather than this, let's get out of here first!"

Mu Qing raised his voice. "He told me that if I was suspicious, then even if you knew I didn't do it, you would still go with the flow and not save me. Because you hate me, you wouldn't believe in me."

"He?" Xie Lian understood who this "he" was.

Mu Qing continued, "Even though I didn't agree to help him, but everything he's said, I've thought of it too. I've always thought deep down, you hated me, you despised me, so I, I've always…anyway, you don't actually think that. I'm glad."

Another pillar of fire roared to the skies, and Xie Lian backed away a few steps to dodge it, moving further away from Mu Qing. As for Mu Qing, rage swarmed up, and he sprawled down, violently slapping his palm down on the surface of the bridge.

Xie Lian's pupils shrank. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??"

As expected, that stretch of the bridge caved, taking Mu Qing along as it crashed down. Mu Qing shouted towards him in mid-air, "HELPING YOU CLEAN OUT TRASH!"

The broken bridge slammed into the pool, exciting a surge of tall waves, and those molten resentful spirits were swarming over happily, ready to drag him down. Yet unexpectedly, a rumbling blast swept over, and dissipated a large field of them. Amidst the wailing of ghosts, Mu Qing stood in the centre of that broken bridge, the spiritual light enveloping him blazing to the brightest, and he sneered.

"You band of trash from the gutters of the shadows, feeling good setting off unscrupulous fires? WELL, I'VE COME, DON'T YOU RUN AWAY NOW!!"

Now, his blasts could finally reach those molten resentful spirits!

Mu Qing raised his blood-red palms, madly sweeping at the resentful spirits, killing to his heart's content, so savage that the resentful spirits further downstream, who were just watching the show, all scattered, screaming and swimming away in all directions.

Fire had started to catch on his sleeves and hems, and Xie Lian hung over the edge above.

"MU QING? HOW HIGH CAN YOU JUMP?"

Mu Qing shouted, "WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MUCH RUBBISH TO SAY, WHY HAVEN'T YOU LEFT???"

Xie Lian argued back, "THAT'S NOT MY PROBLEM. YOU'VE FINALLY SAID SOMETHING SENSIBLE IN YOUR LIFE, AND THEN YOU FELL OFF JUST LIKE THAT, HOW CAN I LEAVE NOW!?"

Mu Qing was outraged. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'FINALLY SOMETHING SENSIBLE'…"

Before he finished, that piece of broken bridge under his feet sank a few notches. Both their faces changed. At this point, he really was going to be buried at the bottom of the lava pool, his bones dissolving into air!

Mu Qing was so full of spirit earlier, but now his face paled. He raised his palms, closing his eyes, looking as if he was going to smash through his own skull first before he got burnt to death, so he could die more straightforwardly.

Xie Lian hastily cried, "WAITWAITWAITWAIT DON'T YOU BE RASH! I-I-I-I-I'VE GOT A PLAN!"

Mu Qing opened his eyes again. "WHAT PLAN?"

Although Ruoye couldn't reach the very bottom, it could go halfway, and Xie Lian tossed it down. "JUMP WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT! JUMP AND CATCH IT! I'LL PULL YOU UP!"

Mu Qing's face was turning even paler. "IF I COULD JUMP, WOULD I NEED TO THINK OF A WAY?!"

Then he prepared to fill himself with courage again to smack himself dead.

Xie Lian exclaimed, "WAITWAITWAITWAIT! REALLY, WAIT!!! I'LL THINK OF A WAY SOON!"

"WELL, SPEAK, THEN!"

A way. A way. Quick, think of a way!

THERE'S NOTHING!!!

The two were practically at the end of their ropes and Mu Qing raised his hand again. Yet unexpectedly, right then, another hand PA!, slapped his hand away before catching him.

Then, dangling a near blank-minded Mu Qing in his hold, the man leapt! Xie Lian felt the other end of the white silk band tighten, and when he looked down, he was both surprised and overjoyed.

"FENG XIN??"

That broken piece of crippled bridge Mu Qing had been standing on had thoroughly sunken into the depths of the lava stream, bubbling. And, at the end of the white silk band, Feng Xin was gripping Ruoye with one hand while the other was holding on to a steel-faced Mu Qing, and he shouted towards him.

"Your Highness, QUICK, PULL US UP!"

There were more Empty-Shelled mutants paddling over down below, and it seemed Feng Xin had been riding them, floating over from upstream. Xie Lian had no time to ask questions, and hurriedly found an area of the bridge that was somewhat wider and sturdier before pulling them up. The two were being lifted steadily, but down below, a new band of molten resentful spirits gathered gradually, maliciously looking upwards, grumbling as they huddled. Soon, another pillar of fire was shot up!

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were hung in mid-air, unable to dodge, and Xie Lian picked Ruoye up and moved several steps away to evade this attack. But nowhere else on the bridge was as spacious or stable as this area, so after dodging that blow, he could only return.

Feng Xin was almost burnt by that pillar of fire, and he shouted in outrage. "WHAT'S WITH THIS BAND OF DOG SHITS, ATTACKING PEOPLE WHILE THEY'RE DOWN, SO VILE! FUCK YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY!"

Xie Lian responded, "IF THEIR ENTIRE FAMILIES ALL LOOK LIKE THAT, YOU SURE YOU WANT TO FUCK THEM??"

The resentful spirits hadn't given up, giggling as they appeared ready to continue their ambush.

Feng Xin was at the height of his temper, and he raised Mu Qing up, grunting.

"Hold on to this!"

Mu Qing had thought he was actually going to die earlier, the shock was too great, so even now his reaction was a little dull, and he followed the order to grab on to Ruoye. Without the need to hold him, Feng Xin freed up a hand, and pulled out the longbow carried on his back as well as several wooden sticks he picked up from who knows where. Using sticks as arrows, he held the bow with one hand and used his teeth to bite back the bowstring. Setting the arrow onto the string, he pulled back steadily—WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH, four arrows were let fly at once!

The arrows struck into the lava pool, erupting blossoms of waves, and the molten resentful spirits rolled over themselves in terror, scattering once again. Feng Xin finally felt gratified, and he cussed.

"SEE THAT! I SAID I'LL FUCK YOU UP! FUCKING DOG SHITS! THIS ANCESTOR CAN BLOW YOU ALL UP WITH JUST ONE HAND!"

At last, the three finally stood together upon the Heaven-Crossing Bridge. Xie Lian wiped at his sweat many times, and his heart was still thumping.

"Feng Xin, how have you come?"

Having had this brought up, Feng Xin immediately clutched his head. "How have I come? The three of you all jumped, what else was I to do? I almost fucking went crazy! I could only find a way to go around to the bottom of that cliff, then drifted all the way here. I only found you two after hearing all that rumbling and voices. What were you both doing, jumping into the lava pool! Madness!"

Mu Qing had finally come to his senses and exclaimed, "I was dragged down!"

Imagining that Feng Xin had cursed the entire way in distress, Xie Lian replied, "Alright alright alright, you calm down. No matter what, you were truly a godsend, a major help! You know what they say, sometimes, people really…really need someone to help pull them up in order to get by, really!"

The three were all scared half to death, and after a mess of sorting themselves out, panting with steeled faces, they didn't dare stick around. Feng Xin carried Mu Qing on his back and they continued to leap forward down the Heaven-Crossing Bridge. Having leapt for a stretch and exchanging the things they saw, Xie Lian learned that Feng Xin hadn't seen Hua Cheng either, and his heart couldn't help but tighten. Just where was Hua Cheng? They couldn't only keep going along down the bridge to keep searching.

Just then, Feng Xin said to Mu Qing who was on his back, "By the way, those words you were screaming earlier, I heard a bit. The first part was enraging, makes me want to beat you up, but I hadn't imagined that in the end, you little bastard actually thought all that in your heart!"

"…"

Mu Qing's face darkened completely. Feng Xin turned to Xie Lian.

"Didn't I already tell you? This guy, his feelings are more twisted than the resentful concubines of the deep harem, completely unfathomable!"

"…"

Xie Lian could see Mu Qing's face was now completely shrouded, and he waved his hand madly at him. Feng Xin was entirely oblivious and turned to Mu Qing.

"If you had wanted to be friends with His Highness, then just say so! Going around making people sick with all that sarcasm just because you thought His Highness despised you so you couldn't be friends anymore, I really don't know what your brain is thinking?"

Xie Lian gave up and waved dismissively. "Hasn't he been like this since we were young? Don't scold him anymore, look, his face is all red."

"…"

Mu Qing couldn't endure any longer and roared, "WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!! CAN YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP??"

Xie Lian reminded him, "You seem to have caught Feng Xin's vocabulary. And also, it's not very good to swear."

Feng Xin piped up. "You said it yourself, you very much wanted to be His Highness' f-f-friend!"

He even purposely imitated Mu Qing's teeth-gritting stutter, and Mu Qing's face had become savage, his hand already sneaking to his back to find his sabre.

Feng Xin added, "Alright, now everything's out in the open. Anyway, you just remember this: His Highness never thought you so filthy in his mind. Other than that time you crossed the line and he got mad, afterwards, he's never said a single bad word about you in front of me! You just act like a normal person from now on, talk normally, express yourself normally, if you're going to be sarcastic again I'm gonna yell at you!"

Mu Qing listened to the first part while hanging his head, his lips sealed, unspeaking, but as he listened to the latter half he rolled his eyes. "Haven't you already yelled at me for hundreds of years?"

Xie Lian reminded him, "Mu Qing, you're a heavenly official, you've gotta watch the impression you make, alright? You can't roll your eyes so easily, if your devotees catch it they'll have opinions."

"Please," Mu Qing said. "This guy curses all day in the Upper Court."

Feng Xin humphed. "That's because you deserve it."

"Stop bringing up old quarrels with me," Mu Qing said. "Didn't you also ditch His Highness to go have a son?"

Veins were also now popping on Feng Xin's forehead, and he rolled up his sleeves. "You looking for a fight?"

Mu Qing sneered. "Fight yourself. If it wasn't you talking crap about me to His Highness all day, do you think I would have thought he looked down on me, and got all weird?"

The subject was about to sink into the forbidden again, and Xie Lian spoke up.

"Will you both not air out each other's dirty laundry at a time like this? What's the point in hurting each other…"

Mu Qing rolled his eyes again. "Besides, look at you, freaking out back then. So what if he robbed? If I was His Highness, at that point, I'd rob eighteen wealthy, prominent households and would never bat an eye. And to think you're the helping hand, chasing after His Highness to demand what happened."

Sweat rolled down Xie Lian's forehead and he looked back. "Wait a sec, there's no need to air mine out either? In any case, find San Lang, help me find San Lang! Hahahaha…"