Xie Lian's first reaction was to raise his heart and chop down. Fortunately, he had a good habit, so he took a quick glance before attacking, and stopped himself, saying, "General Pei?"

The man stood up. It was Pei Ming. He brushed off the dust on his shoulders, looking calm and suave. He glanced at them and said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince and Your Excellency the Ghost King are very happy here."

Xie Lian said, “It’s okay, it’s okay. So, General Pei, are you okay? I seemed to hear a ‘crack’ sound just now…”

Pei Ming said, "Oh, it's okay. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. The 'crack' sound was not from my bones. It was this." He held up something, which was the unfortunate man's thigh bone, which was no longer in shape. He said, "Thanks to this gentleman's help, Pei was able to dig a way out of this mountain monster. Although it is a man's bone, it can be considered a good man with a strong character."

As soon as he finished speaking, not far away, a second figure fell from the sky and landed heavily. Everyone walked over to see that it was Pei Su this time. And there were actually two people. He was holding Ban Yue in his arms, and Ban Yue was holding two black pottery jars containing Ke Mo and Rong Guang in his arms. Both of them were covered in dust, but they didn't look seriously injured. They quickly got up. Pei Su spat out a few mouthfuls of mud and said, "General! Your Highness, the Crown Prince, please leave."

Pei Ming said: "It seems that this mountain monster thought we tasted bad and vomited after eating us."

Hua Cheng and Xie Lian looked at each other and said calmly, "Not necessarily. Maybe someone just told it to spit it out."

Pei Ming took a few steps and felt the unusual vibration. He frowned and asked, "What's going on with this mountain? Why is it shaking so violently?"

Xie Lian said, “Because it is carrying us towards the bronze furnace.”

Pei Ming walked to the hole opened by Yin Yu and looked out. He said, "How fast! Very good. It just saves us some effort."

However, there was still one person missing. Xie Lian asked, "Where's Lingwen?"

Hua Cheng seemed to look with his right eye and said, "The silver butterfly perched on his back was swallowed by the mountain monster. He disappeared."

This means that Lingwen and Jinyixian can now move freely. This is incredible. Xie Lian said, "Hurry and find him!"

So, the group started running around in the mountain monster's body again. Hua Cheng released nearly a hundred dead butterflies and searched around, and finally, he led everyone to find another cave entrance.

This hole was dug out by someone, and the edges were extremely irregular. Outside was a rapidly receding landscape, and the howling wind blew straight into the mountain, making ghostly howls like humans. I guess after Ling Wen was spit out by the mountain monster, he made a hole here and ran away. Xie Lian looked down from the edge of the hole, frowned, and said, "What should we do? The Jinyixian has too much destructive power, we can't just leave it alone like this."

Hua Cheng said: "Don't worry. He will go to Tonglu in the end anyway. It's just a different path to the same destination."

After the group had gathered, Xie Lian briefly recounted what he had just heard, omitting some details. After he finished, everyone sat on the ground in a daze. After all, there were no monsters to fight, and they didn't have to travel by themselves, so they felt a little empty and bored.

Because Yinyu said he didn't know how to communicate with Quan Yizhen, and he got a headache when he saw him. He was really scared. Xie Lian also felt that it was not a wise choice to let Quan Yizhen out now, so he temporarily let him maintain the form of a tumbler. Pei Ming was bored and played with the tumbler. Xie Lian looked at the tumbler, which was tilting from side to side, like a child being beaten. He felt a little pitiful, so he coughed lightly and said, "General Pei, stop playing."

Pei Ming responded verbally at first. However, after Xie Lian felt sleepy and took a nap against the mountain wall, he started playing again. No one cared about him. Yinyu had been guarding the cave entrance to calculate how far they had walked. He looked at this side from afar and wanted to say something several times, but in the end he didn't say anything. Who knew that joy would turn into sorrow? While Pei Ming was playing, Pei Su beside him suddenly fell down with a "bang". This was his descendant, so Pei Ming immediately lost the mood to play. He grabbed Pei Su and said, "Little Pei? What's wrong with you?!"

Yinyu took the opportunity to quietly walk over and pick up the tumbler, and put it next to Xie Lian. Huacheng said, "What are you arguing about? You won't die. Your Highness is sleeping, can't you see?"

Xie Lian was woken up as expected. He found himself leaning on someone’s shoulder in a daze. Hua Cheng’s voice was beside his ear: “Brother, are you awake?”

Xie Lian rubbed his eyes. Quan Yizhen’s tumbler beside him was swaying back and forth. He put it away and said, “I fell asleep leaning on you? Sorry… What’s wrong?”

Hua Cheng said calmly, "It's okay. If you feel tired, you can take a nap. We'll be there soon."

Xie Lian saw Pei Ming grabbing Pei Su's collar and shaking him wildly. He was startled and half awake. He thought something had happened again, so he hurried forward to help. After checking, he said, "Oh, General Pei, don't worry. General Pei is just hungry and exhausted."

Pei Su was a human after all, and after not eating or drinking for a long time, he didn't have Xie Lian's rich experience in enduring hunger and fighting, so he finally collapsed. Pei Ming felt that his understatement was problematic: "What do you mean by 'starvation and exhaustion, unable to support for a while'?"

That can't be helped. I'm not exaggerating, Xie Lian can eat one meal for three days, and he can get up immediately after ten beatings and go to collect scraps as if nothing happened. Which priest is as experienced as him in this area? Xie Lian said, "Hey, cough. Does anyone have any food?"

No one answered. Only Ban Yue took out something and said, "I'm sorry, I only have this..." Pei Ming saw that it was the jar containing the sex toys and immediately said, "Why are you still holding this thing? Who are you trying to kill? Throw it away!"

There was a lot of noise over there, so Hua Cheng said to Xie Lian, "Look, I told you it's okay. Why don't you get some more sleep?"

The mountain monster carried them for most of the day. Xie Lian saw that it was getting dark outside and asked, “How far have we walked? How long do we have to wait until we get to the bronze furnace?”

Yinyu replied, "I have already traveled nearly eight hundred miles."

This was much faster than walking, so Xie Lian stood up and walked to the cave entrance. He was just looking around, but when he glanced at it, he suddenly saw something, and the hair on his back stood up immediately. He asked, "What is that?"

In the dark night, looking down from the top of this mountain monster, there was a huge human face on the ground below!

The human face had curved eyes and a raised mouth, as if it was giving him a strange smile. Xie Lian couldn't help but take a step back, and Hua Cheng caught him from behind. He calmed down a little and took a closer look. It turned out that the "human face" was a pattern made up of mountains, rivers, gullies, etc. It was just a visual illusion. However, this illusion was so lifelike that it was surprising at first glance.

Xie Lian asked, “What are those grooves that look like eyes and a mouth?”

Hua Cheng said behind him: "That is the Wuyong River, which the Wuyong people call the 'Mother River'. It originates from the mountains and is formed by the melting of snow. Of course, it is now completely dry. If we are here, it means we are very close to the Tonglu."

Xie Lian asked again, “What about that ‘bridge of the nose’?”

Hua Chengdao: "That is a prosperous city on the bank of Wuyong River. Do you want to go down and take a look?"

Xie Lian tilted his head and asked, “Is there anything interesting down there?”

Hua Cheng said: "There is also a Wuyong Temple in that city. I think maybe my brother would like to go and see it."

If there is a temple, then there is a possibility of murals. Xie Lian immediately said, “Go down.”

He couldn't wait to know more about Prince Wuyong. Pei Ming also said, "Let's go down. We need to find some food and water for Xiao Pei. But how do we go down? The sword is broken again."

Hua Cheng waved his hand, and several silver butterflies appeared around each person, shining with phosphorescence, perching on their shoulders, backs, heads, and cuffs. When others saw such small silver butterflies, they would inevitably wonder if they could carry them, but Xie Lian did not ask a question, and threw Ruo Xie to tie everyone together, so that they would not get separated in mid-air. Yin Yu opened the cave entrance wider, large enough for five or six people to enter and exit at the same time. After the preparations were completed, everyone came to the edge of the cave, and Xie Lian said, "Everyone, get ready--"

Pei Ming said: "Wait."

Xie Lian turned around and asked, “General Pei, is there anything else?”

Pei Ming asked: "What are these in your hands?"

Following his gaze, Xie Lian looked down and saw his own hand. Only then did he realize that the red thread between his and Hua Cheng's fingers was still connected.

“…” Xie Lian coughed lightly and said, “This, this is… a magic weapon used for communication.”

Pei Ming said: "Oh. Won't it be inconvenient to move? After all, it's just a string. If it gets tripped or tangled somewhere, something might happen."

His reminder was reasonable. Xie Lian knew that as a martial god, he should avoid being hindered by something when making a move. However, for some subtle reason, Xie Lian didn't want the line to break. Seeing that he looked slightly tense and seemed to be struggling, Hua Cheng took a look and smiled, "That makes sense. This is indeed inconvenient."

After he finished speaking, Xie Lian saw the red line between their fingers disappear. Hua Cheng said, "It's much more convenient now."

Xie Lian stared at the air where the red line disappeared, slightly stunned. The red line only lasted for a short while before it disappeared. Although it was not a big deal, no, it should be said that it was a small matter, but he still felt a little disappointed. Afraid of being noticed, Xie Lian quickly smiled and said, "Let's go! Get ready - jump!"

The mountain monster rushed forward without noticing the grasshopper-sized people falling from his body. The group of people landed on the ground surrounded by a group of dead butterflies without any harm. The place where they landed was exactly the "nose bridge" of the huge smiling human face.

After getting up, Xie Lian was very confused. He looked around and asked, “Sanlang, is the Wuyong Temple and the city right here?”

Hua Cheng said: "Yes."

Xie Lian asked doubtfully, “But…there’s nothing here?”

Really. He thought that after landing on the ground, he would see the small town scenery like the first temple before, with streets, shops, houses, ancient wells, temples, etc. However, what he saw before him was a flat open space, empty, and it didn't look like there had ever been a city. Pei Ming supported Pei Su, stepped on a big rock, and said, "Where is the 'prosperous city'?"

Hua Cheng said: "At your feet."

"What?!"

Everyone gathered around. Pei Ming was standing on that stone. Xie Lian asked, "Could this be some kind of mechanism?"

Hua Cheng placed his hand on the handle of the scimitar, walked over leisurely, and said, "Come, come, stand over here."

Everyone followed his instructions. He drew out his scimitar, pointed it downward, and chopped it into the ground next to the stone at lightning speed. The ground where the tip of the knife pierced first cracked with a sound of "click", and a spider web-like crack appeared. Then, the crack quickly spread, getting bigger and deeper, and finally, the ground collapsed, revealing a chilly black hole.

Hua Cheng jumped down first. Xie Lian didn’t expect him to be the first to jump down. He rushed to the edge of the cave and asked, “San Lang?”

After a while, Hua Cheng's voice came from below, with an empty echo, saying: "It's okay down there, you can come down now."

It turned out that he had gone down first to explore the way. Xie Lian breathed a sigh of relief and immediately jumped down as well. Hua Cheng took Xie Lian's hand and pulled him up. Xie Lian said, "It's so dark."

As soon as the voice fell, several silver butterflies lit up in the darkness, fluttering away with phosphorescent stars, and a few more balls of ghostly fire appeared, instantly illuminating the depths of the cave. In front of everyone was a long street.

A thousand years ago, this should have been a prosperous street with dense shops and tall houses. The big stone that Pei Ming stepped on just now was the roof of a house. The others also jumped down one by one. Xie Lian looked up and said, "I see. Is this city buried? An earthquake? A landslide? Or..."

Hua Cheng said: "Volcanic ash."

Xie Lian turned his head sharply. Hua Cheng said, “The volcanic ash is two feet thick and has buried the entire city underground. What you are seeing now is a part that was dug out by the demons and monsters who came to the Copper Furnace Mountain for the trial. More parts are still buried deep in the volcanic ash.”

Xie Lian immediately thought of the mural on the second temple. The bright red color seemed to reappear before his eyes. The scene of the destruction of the world in Prince Wu Yong’s dream had actually come true!

Pei Ming put Pei Su on the side of the road and said, "Let's not worry about that for now. Do you have any water? Give him a couple of sips first."

Hua Cheng said: "The surface river has dried up. However, I remember there is underground water deep inside this city. I wonder if I'll be lucky."

So Pei Ming, Ban Yue, and Yin Yu went to look for water first. Xie Lian was thinking about something when Hua Cheng came over and said, "Brother, look at your hand."

Xie Lian subconsciously did as he was told, but when he raised his hand he discovered that, although the red string between them had disappeared, the deep red knot that Hua Cheng had tied on his third finger had not yet disappeared, still bright and radiant, like a tiny red butterfly perched on the back of his hand.

Hua Cheng had clearly said that if the red thread between the two of them was broken, the knot would disappear. Xie Lian couldn’t help but say, “This is…”

Seeing his surprise, Hua Cheng smiled and said, "What happened before was just a little trick. The red line is hidden, so the distance is not limited, and there is no need to worry about being tripped, but it is not actually broken."

He raised his hand and showed Xie Lian the identical knot. He said, “As long as the knot is still there, it means the person on the other side of the red line is safe. The closer we get to the copper furnace, the more danger there is. We don’t know what’s waiting ahead. So I thought about it and decided that we shouldn’t take down this red line. What do you think, brother?”

Upon learning that the red line was still there, Xie Lian couldn’t help but raise the corners of his mouth. Once he realized it, he immediately lowered his mouth and said seriously, “Oh, that’s right. This way, we can always know if the other party is still safe. Very good, very practical spell.”

Hua Cheng also smiled, then stopped smiling and said, "However, Your Highness, there is something I must tell you, and I hope you can listen to it."

Seeing his expression suddenly become serious, Xie Lian also became serious and said, “What’s the matter? Tell me.”

Hua Cheng looked him straight in the eyes and said, "I know you won't die, and you're not afraid of death. But no matter how strong you are, don't think you can't get hurt."

Xie Lian was stunned. Hua Cheng continued, “Not dying doesn’t mean you won’t get hurt, and it certainly doesn’t mean you won’t feel pain. If you see anything strange or dangerous, don’t touch it. Come to me first and let me handle it.”

Xie Lian suddenly remembered that when he lifted up the two skulls covered with corpse poison in his hands, Hua Cheng's face suddenly turned bad. Could it be that Hua Cheng was angry because of this? Was it because he saw something dangerous but picked it up without caring?

If that was the case, he really didn’t know what to say. After a long while, Xie Lian said, “Okay… I won’t do it anymore.”

Hearing his sincere answer, Hua Cheng seemed satisfied, nodded slightly, turned around and walked forward. Xie Lian said, "Sanlang, wait a minute!"

Hua Cheng stopped and looked back. Xie Lian squeezed for a long time before whispering, "...You, you too. If I see something dangerous, I won't touch it, and you shouldn't touch it either. Let's not touch it, okay?"

Hearing this, Hua Cheng's mouth corner slowly lifted up. After Xie Lian finished speaking, he was a little nervous and smiled unconsciously. Then he saw Hua Cheng take a step closer and was about to speak when he suddenly heard Pei Ming say not far away: "What is this?"

Ban Yue said, "It looks like a person."

Pei Ming said: "That's true! But how can a person become like this?"

Hua Cheng and Xie Lian looked at each other and walked towards the direction where their voices came from. Xie Lian asked, "What's going on?"