Xie Lian said, "San Lang, are you really okay? Let me down."
San Lang replied, "Don't come down."
Xie Lian was taken aback, thinking, "What's going on? Is there something on the ground?"
Those hands were still holding him tightly, not loosening at all. Xie Lian wanted to gently push San Lang's chest with his hand. However, as soon as he placed his hand there, he remembered that when he fell and was caught earlier, he had accidentally touched the hard bump on the young man's throat, and quickly withdrew his hand.
For some reason, even after hundreds of years, Xie Lian never really understood the word "awkward," but now there was a voice in his head warning him not to move around too much and to stay still.
Just then, a voice filled with anger and sorrow roared from the other side of the pit, "What happened to you all?!"
The voice was in Half Moon language, and it belonged to the General Ke Mo who had been pulled down with Xie Lian. He was already dead, so naturally, he couldn't die from the fall, but the impact was hard enough to create a human-shaped pit, embedding him in it. When he got up, he started shouting, "What's going on? Soldiers! My brothers, what happened to you?!"
Earlier, when he was shouting down from the high wall, hundreds of voices responded to him from below, as if the pit was filled with a horde of hungry evil spirits. But now, all Xie Lian could hear, apart from Ke Mo's furious cries, was dead silence. He couldn't even hear San Lang's breathing or heartbeat, who was right next to him.
Xie Lian held his breath, suddenly realizing something was off.
Yes, he was pressed tightly against San Lang, yet he couldn't hear the young man's breathing or heartbeat at all!
Ke Mo shouted, "Who killed you? Who killed you?!"
When A Zhao fell, he could still hear the terrifying sounds of people being devoured below. But after San Lang jumped down, there were no more sounds. Who else could have done it?
Ke Mo must have realized it too, and said, "Whoever killed my soldiers, you deserve to die, and I will make you pay!"
Although he couldn't see, Xie Lian could sense danger approaching. He moved and said, "San Lang, be careful!"
San Lang replied, "Don't worry about him." He still held onto Xie Lian, shifting his feet slightly, as if turning around.
In the darkness, Xie Lian heard a series of extremely fine "ding ding" sounds, very pleasant, crisp yet intense, and fleeting. Before he could catch it, Ke Mo lunged again, but San Lang easily dodged with a swift turn, causing Xie Lian to instinctively cling tighter to San Lang, grabbing onto his shoulder unconsciously.
However, those hands held him very steadily, maneuvering with ease, keeping him securely in place.
Yet, from time to time, Xie Lian felt something cold and hard pressing against him, making him pause. In the boundless darkness, a flash of silver light flickered, and the sound of blades cutting through the air and Ke Mo's continuous angry shouts came from all directions.
The Half Moon General seemed to be seriously injured, yet he was extremely fierce, not backing down, charging again with a gust of angry wind. Xie Lian said, "Ruoye!"
The white ribbon flew out with a "snap," seemingly sending Ke Mo tumbling in the air before crashing to the ground. The fall made Ke Mo roar, "You two! Two against one, how despicable!"
Xie Lian thought, "You're trying to kill us, who cares if it's two against one or how despicable it is? Staying alive is more important, let's defeat him first."
San Lang, however, let out a humorless chuckle and said, "You have no chance even one-on-one. You don't need to fight." The latter part was directed at Xie Lian, his voice lowering, the mockery from before disappearing. Xie Lian said, "Alright." Then he added, "San Lang, maybe you should let me down first. I'm really in your way like this."
San Lang replied, "It's not a problem. Don't come down."
Xie Lian couldn't help but ask, "Why can't I come down?" Surely this young man didn't enjoy fighting while holding someone, did he? Was it necessary to look down on the opponent like this?
The young man's answer was just one word: "Dirty."
"......"
Xie Lian never expected him to give such a reason, and he said it so seriously, making it both amusing and strangely indescribable. He felt his chest inexplicably warm and said, "You can't hold me like this forever."
San Lang said, "Why not?"
Xie Lian's question was just a joke, but San Lang's answer was completely serious, leaving him unsure of what to say next. In a few words, Ke Mo launched another relentless attack in the darkness. San Lang, despite holding Xie Lian with both hands, somehow managed to make Ke Mo retreat repeatedly, all the while shouting, "That wretch made you..."
Before he could finish, there was a loud "thud," and a massive body fell heavily to the ground, unable to get up again. Hearing this, Xie Lian said, "San Lang, don't kill him just yet. We might need to ask him some questions to get out of here."
San Lang indeed stopped, standing still, and said, "I wasn't planning to kill him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have lasted this long."
The Pit of the Damned fell into silence once more.
After a moment, Xie Lian asked, "San Lang, did you do all this down here?"
Even though he couldn't see anything in the darkness, the overwhelming scent of blood and killing intent, along with Ke Mo's earlier grief and anger, clearly painted a picture of what had happened below. After a moment of silence, Xie Lian finally heard San Lang's answer.
He said, "Yes."
It was the expected answer. After a while, Xie Lian sighed and said, "What can I say..."
He thought for a moment and finally said earnestly, "San Lang, next time you see a pit like this, don't just jump in. I couldn't stop you, and I really don't know what to do."
San Lang seemed to be caught off guard by his words.
When he spoke again, his tone was a bit strange, "Aren't you going to ask more questions?"
Xie Lian said, "What else do you want me to ask?"
San Lang said, "Like, whether I'm human or not."
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead and said, "Well, I don't think it's necessary to ask."
San Lang said, "Hmm? It's not necessary?"
Xie Lian said, "Yeah. Does it matter? Whether you're human or not doesn't really matter."
San Lang said, "Oh?"
Xie Lian, still in his embrace, said, "When getting to know someone, it's about whether you get along, not about their identity. If I like you, I'll like you even if you're a beggar; if I dislike you, I'll dislike you even if you're an emperor. Isn't that how it should be? It's a simple truth, so there's no need to ask."
San Lang laughed heartily, "Hmm, what you said makes a lot of sense."
Xie Lian said, "Right?" and laughed along with him. But as he laughed, he felt something was off and suddenly realized.
He had been held by San Lang this whole time, and the scariest part was that he had gotten used to it without even realizing it!
This was really too much. Xie Lian cleared his throat and said, "Um, San Lang, let's talk about this later. Can you let me down first?"
San Lang seemed to chuckle and said, "Wait a moment."
He carried Xie Lian, walking a short distance before gently setting him down. Xie Lian landed on solid ground and said, "Thank you."
San Lang didn't respond, and after Xie Lian thanked him, he looked up.
The deep blue sky held a bright moon, beautiful, but framed within a square patch of sky, reminding one of a frog in a well.
He tried to use Ruoye again, attempting to leap upwards. As expected, Ruoye was blocked by something invisible mid-air and bounced back, unable to go up.
San Lang said, "The Pit of the Damned is surrounded by a barrier."
Xie Lian said, "I know, just trying. You never know until you try. I wonder how the others are doing up there, and whether that black-clad girl will sweep them down too."
He recounted the incident of the girl on the pole suddenly attacking and sweeping a group of soldiers off the high wall to San Lang. After saying a few words, he tried to take a few steps forward but tripped over something, seemingly an arm, almost stumbling. He quickly regained his balance, and San Lang still reached out to steady him, saying, "Careful."
He casually added, "I told you, the ground is dirty."
Xie Lian understood what "dirty" referred to and said, "It's fine. I want to light a palm flame to see what's going on down here before making any plans."
San Lang didn't say anything. At this moment, Ke Mo's voice rang out again from afar, "You're working for that wretch, our nation's countless wronged souls will curse you!"
Xie Lian turned back and said in Half Moon language, "General Ke Mo, who exactly are you talking about?"
Ke Mo said angrily, "Why pretend to ask? That demon!"
Xie Lian said, "Are you talking about the nun wandering in the city?"
Ke Mo spat harshly, clearly referring to her. Xie Lian said, "Weren't you loyal to the Half Moon national teacher?"
Ke Mo, infuriated by his words, said, "I will never be loyal to her again! I won't forgive that wretch!"
Then came a long string of curses, Ke Mo's emotions were intense, and he spoke so fast that Xie Lian was completely bewildered, unable to understand, so he quietly said, "San Lang, San Lang."
San Lang then said, "He's cursing. Saying that the national teacher betrayed their country, opened the city gates to let the Central Plains army massacre the city, and pushed his brothers into this damned pit. He wants to hang her a thousand times, ten thousand times."
Xie Lian quickly said, "Wait!"
How could this be, there were two things that were completely wrong!
First, when Xie Lian mentioned "the nun wandering in the city," he was referring to the woman in white. But now, Ke Mo was calling the Half Moon national teacher a "wretch," and said she pushed his brothers into this damned pit. Earlier, when the black-clad girl swept the soldiers off the high wall, he heard Ke Mo curse her too. Plus, the last sentence about hanging her a thousand times—Xie Lian suddenly realized they might not be talking about the same person at all.
Second, the Half Moon Kingdom was betrayed by the Half Moon national teacher?!
Xie Lian interrupted, "General, the Half Moon national teacher you're talking about, is it the black-clad girl hanging on the pole above the Pit of the Damned?"
Ke Mo said, "Who else could it be?!"
"......"
The girl hanging like a corpse on the long pole was actually the real Half Moon national teacher!
But if that's the case, then who are the white-clad nun leisurely wandering the Half Moon city, claiming to kill them all, and the black-clad woman accompanying her?
The black-clad girl had a mysterious and unpredictable technique, able to sweep dozens of fierce Half Moon soldiers off the high wall in an instant, so why was she hanging above the Pit of the Damned?