The Pathway

Leyang Wen broke Hope Aware’s Buddhist magic spell and the crowd of rogue cultivators had regained their vision. Wen Leyang had taken a look off the edge of a cliff and saw nothing. The rock that he threw also dropped downwards without any resistance. Yet when he closed his eyes, he could sense that there was an invisible pathway hugging the cliff wall. He then took a leap of faith and jumped, but of course, Wen Leyang was no fool and he had reasoned that with his current level of skill, he would be able to slide down the mountain wall and use his hands to control the momentum of his free fall.

Sure enough, upon jumping down he discovered that there really was an invisible pathway. Only then did he jump back up to bring the two girls onto the pathway.

By this time, Wen Leyang had gained some insight on the Buddhist cultivator’s abilities and he gasped with a face full of admiration, "This must be some spell which had been cast by the masters of the predecessors, it conceals the entire pathway and what is even more baffling is that this pathway can hold the weight of humans but not of other objects! Even if someone was intentionally probing around, they could never be able to find it…" As he was saying that he felt that he was incorrect so he shook his head and laughed, "This is essentially not a normal pathway at all, I am afraid this is actually created by a celestial being."

Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu could not see the pathway underneath their feet at all and they did not even know where they should put their next step. They could only follow behind Wen Leyang’s footsteps cautiously.

Wen Leyang was a young teenager who has not turned twenty yet. Though he had a pure and kind temperament he could not help but show off proudly, his two eyes intentionally avoided staring at his feet as he looked everywhere around him and clicked his tongue in admiration. The two young girls were so terrified that they were turning ashen white as they persistently urged him to look where he was walking. As a matter of fact, he was essentially not looking at the pathway with his eyes, because there were no pores in his eyes.

The invisible pathway twisted upwards, leading towards the direction of the mountain peak. It was covered with countless traps so even if someone were to mistakenly drop onto the pathway and grope his way forward along the mountain wall, he would definitely lose his footing and slip at certain points. Even though this place was not considered too high up, the drop was high enough to turn a person into mush.

It was still a muddled mess on the mountain, with various types of magic weapons swinging around and reflecting dazzling lights as the sound of Buddhist chanting and obscene swearing from the rogue cultivators overlapped with one another. It was both dignified and sacred at the same time.

Wen Leyang led the two girls forward as he walked along the invisible path with a completely relaxed look on his face. He figured it was best to let the monks and the rogue cultivators settle their fight on their own.

Gradually, the sound of brawling started to fade and finally disappeared into the bitter cold mountain breeze. Wen Xiaoyi lay on Wen Leyang’s back and relaxed, she did not need to be like Mumu who was trembling with terror at every step. As the path took the higher and higher, she laughed in good spirits as she asked, "Will this pathway lead us straight to the top of the peak?"

Wen Leyang could only ‘see’ in front of himself for about tens of meters away and he does not know where this pathway will lead ultimately, though it was still winding up towards the peak. So he only shook his head as he said, "I don’t think so, even if it leads straight to the top of the peak, it is essentially not worthwhile for them to pay so much attention into fixing up this stretch of the pathway."

Wen Xiaoyi’s knowledge was far superior to Wen Leyang’s, yet her thinking was an entirely different story. She squinted her huge eyes in puzzlement, "What do you mean?"

"This stretch of pathway is essentially a secret trail, it is not made for normal beings to walk. The place it is leading to is of course not for the knowledge of outsiders. If it does lead straight to the top of the mountain, it would make more sense to just ascend the mountain directly instead." As Wen Leyang was saying that, he turned around and twisted his mouth at Wen Xiaoyi.

Wen Xiaoyi caught his meaning as she reached into the string bag and grabbed a stick of carrot, stuffing it into Wen Leyang’s mouth. She then glanced at Mumu who was trembling with terror and asked, "Would you like one?"

Mumu’s gaze was almost frozen, she obviously knew that she could not see the pathway yet she still stared stubbornly with her eyes wide open. She didn’t even dare to shake her head.

Wen Leyang bit a huge chunk off the pointy tip of the carrot and the little girl finished off the rest of the carrot as she asked, "Then where does this pathway really lead to?"

Wen Leyang laughed confidently as if he had a foolproof plan all thought out beforehand, "There is no other place on Zhanyan Peak anymore, so this must be a shortcut!"

"You are saying…that this will lead us straight to the ancient cave?"

"Smart little girl! This pathway should be leading to the other end of the ancient cave, perhaps it leads directly to the central region. Don’t forget, the ancient cave on the peak was revealed because of a landslide…pass me another one."

They walked all the way and the sky was beginning to turn dark when Wen Leyang suddenly cheered out loud and held firmly onto Mumu, "There’s no more pathway ahead! Stand there and don’t move."

Mumu hastily planted her feet firmly down as she looked towards Wen Leyang eagerly without any of her usual red-hot peppery gaze. A black stone wall protruded from the black stone wall and was about four to five meters away from their faces.

Wen Leyang released her, took the half-eaten carrot from his mouth and tossed it towards the stone wall. The half-eaten carrot bounced off the stone wall with unexpected elasticity, turned a cheerful somersault, and fell down towards the bottom of the mountain.

The sky was gradually dimming and Wen Xiaoyi stared at the mountain wall which was not too far away with great effort, "What just happened?"

Wen Leyang forced a smile as he answered, "The cave, it’s just over there." As he was saying that, he cautiously placed Wen Xiaoyi on the ground and instructed her, "Be sure to stand and don’t move, I will jump over first to test it out."

Wen Xiaoyi had released her grip initially, yet upon hearing that she grabbed onto him again as her huge eyes filled with terror, "What if this is not a cave, but a wall…" Within her tiny head, she had already sketched out the outline of a clear image, Wen Leyang’s arms and legs were spread out as he crashed brutally onto the hard mountain wall, and he then slowly slid down the side of the mountain like a millet cake…

Wen Leyang too thought of the millet cake’s undignified ending and his expression turned rather unpleasant. However, he shook his head strongly as he consoled her with a gentle voice, "Don’t be afraid, I’m sure that is the cave." The sensation coming from the skin on his body confirmed that it was the pitch black entrance of the cave, yet his eyes were telling him that all he could see was a massive rock-solid mountain wall. Wen Leyang knew that he should trust his body, yet the feelings in his heart felt unreliable. He patted lightly on the little girl’s head, "I’ll be back in a moment."

Wen Xiaoyi’s huge eyes were filled to the brim with tears, she puckered her little lips with an unyielding spirit as she tried to hide her sobs.

Mumu too spoke with a trembling voice, "You…you must return real soon!"

Wen Leyang tried to ease the tensed situation by roaring with laughter as he moved his body around in preparation for the jump. Suddenly, he stopped moving and turned around to look at Mumu with an awkward smile and asked, "Hey, what is your real name anyway?"

Mumu was shocked and her face flushed scarlet, "That is none of your business, I’ll not tell you!"

Wen Xiaoyi looked piteously towards Mumu and beseeched her with a trembling voice, "You should tell him…he…" Her tearful gaze flashed with a dedication as if asking Mumu to fulfill a person’s dying wish.

Mumu’s heart instantly softened and she hesitated for a while before suddenly stomping her foot and spat three words angrily through clenched teeth: "Luo, Wang, Fu! (Wang Fu is a Chinese saying that literally means the flourishing of one’s husband through the wife’s positive traits)"

Wen Leyang and Wen Xiaoyi were both momentarily stunned as the meaning of her real name struck them. Then the older one lost his fear while the younger one lost her tears; the both of them held on to their bellies as they laughed loudly. Mumu’s face was flushed as red as a tabasco pepper. She was mortified and wanted to turn around so she could avoid looking at them but her feet won’t obey. The worst thing was, even Ah Dan, who was cradled in her arms, also turned around and cruelly gave her a magnificent smile.

As they were busy laughing, Wen Leyang suddenly gave out a long whistle and his slender but strong body leaped off the invisible pathway and flew towards the mountain wall with great effort!

Moments before he hit the mountain wall, he suddenly disappeared like a drop of water merging into the sea. His body utterly vanished right in front of Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu’s eyes, there was only the black mountain wall that remained.

The two of them cheered in unison! Immediately after there was a blur in their vision as Wen Leyang leaped out from within the mountain wall without warning. He took Wen Xiaoyi on his back and said, "I will carry you in one by one, so wait for me here." As soon as he’d said that, he carried Wen Xiaoyi and leaped into the mountain wall once again.

The mountain wall the exact opposite of the pathway; the pathway was invisible yet it existed in reality while the mountain wall, on the other hand, could be seen yet it did not exist. However, both were created to prevent foreign objects from probing around and only allow the passage of human beings.

Mumu held onto Ah Dan and stood on the ‘air’, her heart was pounding with trepidation but she also felt a rush of desire from her innermost heart, awaiting the moment when Wen Leyang would return and hold her while they jumped over.

After a moment Wen Leyang appeared in front of Mumu and wrapped his arm around her, "Are you ready?"

Mumu kept a straight face as she nodded, suddenly a strong grip, carrying with it a strong sense of protection and security, radiated from around her waist. In a flash, the blackness in front of her eyes turned bright again and they were both standing in the middle of a spacious cave.

The cave’s walls and the ground were covered in green flagstones. Lively and vigorous flourishes of Gu Zhuan (ancient Chinese chirography) wording was carved into each stone slab. Antique bronze lamps hung from the cave’s walls and illuminated the space with their gentle light.

Wen Xiaoyi was standing not too far from them, aiming the big-muzzled weapon at the deep end of the cave with a vigilant expression.