Buried Beneath

"It's a dead end." Luo You'er whistled.

Needless to say, everyone could see that the wooden track ended abruptly at the edge of the cliff, and it was definitely too far away from the opposite side of the valley to construct any type of bridge.

"Can we go back now?"

She turned to see a silent Luo Qinqing, and the others appeared trapped in their own thoughts.

"The people who built the track didn't want to go to the opposite side. This is their destination."

"To abandon something?"

"That's the only reasonable explanation."

"I agree. And the fact that they needed to build a special wooden track to do this means that they were trying to discard a lot of things."

"So… is it at the bottom of the cliff?"

The discussion went on.

"Erm, what are you discussing?" Luo You'er scratched her head.

Luo Qinqing looked at her and sighed helplessly. "Wooden tracks are hard to make and laborious to lay. If it wasn't for something important, they wouldn't have forked here! This means that there can be something down there which is the key to solving the mystery."

"I see." Luo You'er finally understood. But a moment later, she tilted her head and asked again, "But, what's the mystery?"

"Erm… nevermind." Luo Qinqin face-palmed and decided to ignore her. She peered down the cliff. The valley below seemed to stretch from the suspension bridge to form a crescent around Qing Mountain. The distance to the other side was only five meters at Qing Shan Town. But here, it was ten folds longer and much deeper. Mist filled the giant crack, preventing anyone from peeking into its depth.

"I think it's time to cast some spells." Luo Qinqing nodded at the others standing behind her. "Luo Tang, Luo Changtian."

"Alright!"

"Leave it to us! we'll handle it!"

The two pulled out the materials from their fanny packs. One was a crane origami folded with red paper and the other was two feathers.

Luo Tang fixed a talisman on the crane origami, then reached out and raised her hand. "Heaven Technique, Rooster Form, Empower with Life!"

Luo Changtian followed, pointing the feather at the origami paper that seemed to come to life. "Wind Technique, Dragon Form, Wind Storm!"

The feather turned into a churning storm ball and wrapped around the paper crane, which fluttered its wings before flying straight towards the bottom of the cliff!

The moment it plunged into the mist, Luo Changtian clenched his right fist and shouted, "Break!"

The paper crane exploded into a gale of wind, shredding the mist like candy floss. The huge amount of air pressure had nowhere to go, so it surged up along the cliff, tearing out all the vines that had clung on the rocks, and all the mess erupted out of the valley into the air.

When the wind dissipated, there was a huge "opening" in the mist.

"This is a… delayed technique?" Luo You'er said in amazement, "Changtian! You're so good!"

Depositing a spell on an object and not triggering it until the right moment was a series of advanced controlling techniques, requiring a high level of proficiency and understanding of spells. It was very rare for novices who were yet to pass the exam to be able to perform it.

"I'm still very far behind Qingqing." Luo Changtian smiled, gazing at Luo Qingqing.

"Not bad. It's more powerful than before." Luo Qingqing gave a simple compliment and immediately turned her attention to the bottom of the cliff.

Luo Changtian looked slightly disappointed.

"Well? Did you find anything?" The others crowded beside Luo Qingqing.

"It's a bit too far away to see clearly."

"Who has the best eyesight?"

"Don't worry, we should be able to see clearly when the fog clears up."

"That… seems to be a lot of white stones?"

At first, everyone was a bit rowdy, but after a moment, they couldn't help but hold their breath.

A chill that could almost freeze her blood seeped up from the bottom of Luo Qingqing's soles and instantly spread across her entire body through her spine.

The summer sun was still blazing, but she felt cold.

"Are you kidding me…" Luo You'er gulped.

"Yeah…"

"Is that…"

"Skeletons," Luo Qingqing said slowly.

Not one or two, but thousands of them. All stacked together, piling into a hill. There were so many that one would first think that it was a hill made of white stones. No one knew how long they had been there, and many no longer had the human form. It was definitely enough for everyone to imagine what had happened on the Qing Mountain in the past.

"What exactly… is this place?" Luo You'er murmured.

No one answered her question.

Luo Qingqing was sure that this exam wouldn't end without turmoil.

…

Early morning of the fifth day…

Hurried knocks on his door woke Xia Fan up.

He got up from the floor, looked at the fox demon still in a coma, and walked to the door in high alert. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Brother Xia!" Wei Wushuang's anxious voice sounded. "Get up, something's wrong! Very wrong!"

"Gimme a second."

He turned around and put away the straw mat spread on the floor, restored the room to its original state, and finally slid out of the door. "What happened?"

"The town, the people in the town are gone!" Wei Wushuang was extremely uneasy.

"… Who's missing?" Xia Fan gave him a puzzled look, "Aren't you still here?"

"It's not the candidates, it's the residents of Qing Shan Town!" He hastily waved his hand. "This morning I went to the lobby to eat breakfast as usual, but the waiter didn't come to serve me. I felt something was wrong, so I went to the kitchen. There was no one! Not a single person!"

"Are they closed for the day?"

"Then, they should have informed us, right? We all thought so at first, but the same thing happened at the teahouse. So, we went out and looked around. Guess what! No one! No one is in town!"

"Are you sure?" The seriousness of the issue dawned on Xia Fan.

"Yes, someone even pried open the door of a resident's house and saw no one inside. It's like they…" Wei Wushuang bit his lip. "It's as if they disappeared overnight."

"Where is everyone now?"

"All gathered in the center of the town."

"The atmosphere… isn't good at all, right?" Just thinking about how hostile the candidates had been, Xia Fan couldn't help but frown.

"It's a mess. Not only are they arguing about the disappeared residents, but also all of their disputes and conflicts for the past few days."

Xian Fan thought about it and said, "Let's get over there. In any case, we will get more information there. If there are any updates, we can also be the first to know."

"Yeah, you're right." Wei Wushuang nodded.

"Wait a minute." Xia Fan paused as they started to walk. He quickly turned back and slid back into his door. When he came out again, he was holding a porcelain bottle.

Wei Wushuang froze when he saw it. "Could it be that you have…"

"That's right! A bottle of spirit fire. I was lucky!"

He decided to bring the bottle so that the Luo family wouldn't have someone sneak into his room. Stealing back their spirit fire wasn't even the main issue. If they were to find a fox demon lying in the room, that would be huge trouble.

He was going to purposely display the bottle to the Luo guys.

"Brother Xia, you really… never cease to amaze!"

Wei Wushuang was totally defeated.

"Save that for later, let's go to the town center first." Xia Fan walked out of the lobby with quick steps.

Only a few dozens of steps, the central square was already in sight. It was exactly like what Wei Wushuang had said. Everyone was yelling at the top of their voices. No one was controlling the situation. The divide between the established families and the other candidates was clearer than ever. Unlike that time at the fork halfway up the hill, when all the other candidates were in much smaller groups and couldn't imagine fighting with the established families, this time, the guys from the established families were outnumbered.

Fei Nian looked grimmer than ever.

"This is a hint from the examiners!" The "Sparrow Boy" who had been chided by Fei Nian shouted loudly. "The residents were evacuated to let us have a good fight! Now all the spirit fire is in the hands of the established families. If we don't defeat them, none of us will pass!"

"That's right, this is our last chance! Don't be afraid, they're outnumbered! As long as we unite, Fei Nian can't stop us! Grab the spirit fire, live in the compartment, become a high official, this is the best opportunity!"

The guys from the Fei Family weren't as reserved as before. One of them immediately refuted, "What a joke! Come! Come at us! You don't even dare! Guys, don't listen to him! He's just instigating hatred. He wants to take advantage of this mess for his own benefit!"

"I remember you, you're the guy who got knocked out by Fei Nian with a single blow. If we really end up fighting, I'm sure you're gonna run away faster than anyone. Hahaha. Why are you so good at pretending to be dead? Are you always practicing that? Guys guys! Those that have been convinced by him were all eliminated by now, but he's still here! Just think about it!"

Booing all around. The two sides were at a standstill, and neither side could overwhelm the other.

Of course, not everyone was preparing to "grab the spirit fire, live in the compartment, and become a high official". Some of the candidates were arguing about other issues.

For example, "food".

"You mean there's nothing left in the kitchen to eat? Could it be that the first group of people who found out took all of it?"

"How can they be so fast? As far as I know, the inn has suspended the food supply since last night."

"It's not like the residents took the food with them, right?"

"It's not only the inn! I searched all the houses in Qing Shan Town, and guess what, all the rice bags are empty! At this rate, forget about the spirit fire, we can't even last to the end of the exam."

"How could this happen…"

Similar complaints could be heard everywhere, and just as the crowd was falling into a state of panic and anxiety, a loud voice suddenly boomed overhead.

"Everyone! Be quiet! Please listen to me!"

Xia Fan raised his eyebrows in surprise. A woman leaped onto the long table next to the notice board. She still looked just like when they first met.

It was none other than the Luo Family's Luo Qingqing.

"Qingqing!" Another young man immediately tried to stop her.

But she continued when she saw that she had grabbed everyone's attention, "I suggest everyone withdraw from the exam immediately and come back in three years!"

The crowd exploded immediately.

"What did you say!?"

"Why should I listen to you!"

"You withdraw first!"

"That's right, that's right!"

Luo Qingqing fished out a talisman and shouted over everyone, "Listen up, it's no longer a matter of whether you can pass the exam. It's a matter of whether you can survive! The place we're in — it's not even Qing Shan Town!"