Not sure if it was the overwhelming fear or the scorching hot magma, but Xie Lian was completely submerged.

After a long time, he slowly woke up.

When he woke up, he found himself lying on the hard ground, and Mu Qing was sitting beside him, staring at him blankly.

Xie Lian’s eyes were still slightly red, and he sat up immediately, saying, “San Lang!”

Unexpectedly, as soon as he sat up, Mu Qing came back to his senses and said, "Don't move!"

Xie Lian subconsciously tried to support himself with his palms, but he found nothing. His center of gravity shifted and he almost fell over. With a slight start, he realized that he was not lying on the ground at all.

He was lying on a bridge!

This is a huge underground cave with a dome that extends deep into the vast night sky. In the cave, a broken bridge is "floating".

The bridge is incomplete and dark, looking like wood or stone, as if it has been through thousands of years of rain, wind, dust and fire. It is suspended in the air without any pillars, and extends endlessly to the front and back. No one knows where it comes from or where it goes. There is no end in sight and no direction to tell. Some places are as wide as three meters, and some places are so narrow that only one person can pass through.

A hundred feet below the broken bridge was a boiling pool of red magma, like the red soup of hell.

Tongtian Bridge?

The first three words that came to Xie Lian's mind were: 2,000 years ago, Prince Wuyong built a bridge to heaven to avoid disaster. Could this bridge be its remains?

He remembered that he was dragged down by Bai Wuxiang, so how come he was on this bridge now?

Xie Lian got up and asked, “Sanlang?”

Mu Qing was still sitting aside and said, "No need to shout, he's not here."

Xie Lian turned to him and asked, “How did we get here? Did they set up a teleportation device along the way?”

Mu Qing said, "Probably. I clearly fell towards the lava pool, but was teleported here in mid-air."

Poor Feng Xin, three people fell down, and he was the only one left up there, he would probably go crazy and curse again. However, the most important thing is to find Hua Cheng first, I wonder where he was moved to?

Xie Lian glanced at the heart and the long sword thrown aside, picked them up, and walked towards Mu Qing. Mu Qing saw him coming with a sword in hand and a sullen face, wondering what he was going to do, and his expression suddenly became nervous.

Xie Lian handed him his knife, and then extended a hand to him, saying, “Are you okay? If you are, stand up. We have to leave quickly.”

Mu Qing looked at the hand he stretched out to her, was silent for a long time, shook her head, and said: "I can't leave. My hands and feet are injured."

Xie Lian squatted down to check for a moment. Sure enough, Mu Qing's palms were all red, and his legs were also burned. He was afraid that he could only walk slowly. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Let me help you."

He pulled Mu Qing up, put his arm on his shoulder, and helped him walk. After walking a few steps, Mu Qing suddenly asked, "Why?"

Xie Lian looked around and asked, “Why?”

Mu Qing said: "I thought you would be more suspicious of me after you found out that I was fine."

Xie Lian said, “Oh, no.”

"Why?"

"Because I know."

"what do you know?"

Xie Lian said, “I know you’re not lying.”

“…”

The expression on Mu Qing's face is really hard to describe.

Xie Lian said as a matter of course: “Didn’t you ask me to believe you? I do believe you. That’s it.”

“…”

“How should I put it…” Xie Lian said, “I have known you for many years, so I can be sure of this: you are not that kind of person. Didn’t I tell you before that you might spit into other people’s cups, but you wouldn’t do something like poisoning them?”

Hearing the first sentence, Mu Qing seemed slightly moved, but after hearing the second half of his face turned black, and he said, "Forget about this metaphor, really forget it, don't mention it again. I wouldn't do something like spitting, it's too tasteless!"

Xie Lian waved his hands and said, “Don’t worry about such details. Besides, even if by some chance I’m extremely unlucky and misjudge you, you still can’t beat me and San Lang. I can kill you with a backhand palm. You’re not a threat, hahaha…”

"..." Mu Qing murmured, "You did it on purpose, you must be trying hard to piss me off to death..."

“Hey, I was just kidding, anyway.” Xie Lian stopped laughing, grabbed his arm, looked forward, and said, “If you really are put in the curse shackles by Jun Wu because you refuse to do evil, then I can’t let you pay a bad price for doing this.”

He said calmly: "Because what you did was right."

Mu Qing glared at him for a long time, and finally, gnashed his teeth and said, "Xie Lian, you are really..."

Xie Lian immediately said, “Forget it. Don’t I know how you want to judge me? You still need my support right now, so don’t say anything that would make me want to throw you into the lava pool.”

Mu Qing snorted, "You know what I want to say about you, but you still saved me."

Xie Lian said, “It’s mutual. I saved you only to follow my usual principles. Besides, although you are a very subtle person in every aspect, there was a time when I really wanted to beat you to death, but I didn’t succeed at that time, and after so long, I no longer have the interest. But no matter how subtle I am, no matter how much I want to beat you, your crime is not worthy of death, so of course I will save you if I can.”

Mu Qing snorted and laughed a few times as if he was disappointed. After a moment of silence, he said, "Your Highness, actually I..."

At this moment, the two men's feet sank at the same time, and both of them changed color.

Mu Qing was injured and couldn't react in time, but Xie Lian was still very fast. He stepped forward and landed lightly three meters ahead. Looking back, the bridge they were standing on suddenly broke and fell straight down!

boom!

A section of the dark bridge fell into the scarlet hell pool. The vengeful spirits that had been waiting in the pool for a long time quickly stretched out hundreds of hands and scrambled to climb up, as if they wanted to use it to escape from the sea of ​​suffering. But there were too many of them, and the broken bridge could not support them at all, and it soon sank. The two people above were terrified and looked at each other. Xie Lian said, "It seems that this bridge is not very solid!"

Mu Qing opened his mouth, probably thinking about retreating. The bridge where they were lying was wide and shouldn't collapse. But once that part collapsed, there was no way back. The two could only move forward. The bridge ahead was wide and narrow, as if it was full of traps and dangers. They didn't know where to step and they would fall!

Without saying anything, Xie Lian threw Mu Qing onto his back and said, “We can’t stay in the same place for too long, or else it might collapse. Hold on tight, I want to get through quickly!”

As fast as he said, Xie Lian really leaped out. The further he went, the narrower the bridge became. The widest part was only slightly wider than a door, and the narrowest part was only as wide as a person's waist!

But in this dangerous situation, Xie Lian did not move at all wherever he passed. Every time he touched the bridge, it was like a swallow skimming the water, and he would stop immediately. If there were other martial gods here, they would probably be shocked by this terrifyingly exquisite control of their steps. Because no other martial god could do this. This is a skill that can only be forged by someone who cannot rely on magic power and practices martial arts day after day!

Suddenly, a pillar of fire shot up into the sky, blocking Xie Lian. If he hadn't reacted quickly and stopped in time, he would have rushed into the fire and burned. The two looked down. At some point, thousands of vengeful spirits the same color as the lava gathered below, screaming and laughing wildly, stretching their hands towards them. The pillar of fire was created by their combined efforts. Both of them felt a dull pain in their ears, and Mu Qing asked, "What are they shouting?"

Xie Lian murmured, “…'Come down, rot here with us!'”

Mu Qing looked at him in horror: "Do you understand? They should be speaking Wuyong language."

Xie Lian nodded. “Yes, these… are the people of Wuyong who fell into the lava and were burned to death after the Tongtian Bridge collapsed. Be careful not to get entangled by them, as they will drag everything they see into the lava. This is indeed the remains of the Tongtian Bridge!”

Mu Qing asked: "Can they be freed by dragging people down?"

Xie Lian said, “No. Dragging others down won’t free them. These vengeful spirits can never be freed. It’s just that they like to see others become like them.”

Because of this, they can never be freed and will forever be tormented in this pool of hell. Mu Qing asked in confusion, "How do you know so much?"

Xie Lian said, “I don’t know either, but I think… he told me.”

It was like implanting him with the memory of the screams of the ghoul rats.

The lava ghosts seemed very unhappy that they hadn't fallen down yet. They gathered together stealthily, rustled, and held hands, ready to launch a new attack upwards. Xie Lian ran away, and the pillar of fire arrived in an instant, making the already bumpy bridge surface even more incomplete.

You can’t just take the beating without fighting back, Xie Lian also tried to blast downwards, but he didn’t have much mana left, so he couldn’t blast far. Mu Qing had more mana than him, and could blast farther, but it was still a little short. Several times the fire pillars below almost burned their heels. The group of resentful spirits came in groups, with great energy, laughing and pointing, extremely excited, as if they were watching some kind of escape show, but they couldn’t do anything about it, and they were extremely frustrated, and their bones were crackling with hatred!

After a while, Mu Qing took a few breaths while gnashing his teeth on Xie Lian’s back, as if he had made a difficult decision, and said in a hoarse voice: “Forget it, Your Highness the Crown Prince…Xie Lian, please put me down!”

Xie Lian ran away while saying, “What are you talking about! You are so afraid of death, you are not the kind of person who would say such things!”

Mu Qing's forehead was bulging with veins, and he said, "I'm really embarrassed that I'm afraid of death. I'm going to die anyway... Let me go before I change my mind and regret it."

Xie Lian said, “Stop making a fuss. Stop talking, it’ll distract me. The most important thing now is to find the end of this bridge as quickly as possible.”

Mu Qing said, "Who is messing with you? If this bridge is really a bridge to heaven, who knows how long you will run for? Sooner or later, you will be knocked down by them. Let me down, I will kill these sinister bastards, and you can go on your own!"

As he spoke, he patted Xie Lian's shoulder lightly, flew up, and landed behind him. Xie Lian turned around and took a step towards him. Mu Qing said, "Don't come over here. The bridge is narrow here. If you come over here, both of you will fall off!"

Xie Lian had no choice but to stop. Mu Qing snorted and said, "You're right. We are both the same. You look at me in a subtle way, and I look at you in a subtle way, too."

He looked directly at Xie Lian and said, "Now is the time, I will speak frankly. I have many thoughts about you."

Xie Lian said, “Uh… this… I actually knew this a long time ago.”

Mu Qing said coldly: "Really? Then you know, I always feel that you are just relying on your birth, because you are the Crown Prince, and you are lucky, but your ability is not much better than mine."

“…”

"I also think that maybe you like to do good things for others to see, and then enjoy the praise and flattery. Even you help me for this reason, because I am a perfect object for you to show your compassion and kindness. To be honest, some of these thoughts I still can't change. Probably never change. Suppress it for a while, and it will come up again after a while."

Xie Lian didn’t know whether to feel ashamed or what to do: “You don’t need to say such detailed things in front of me!”

Unexpectedly, in the next sentence, Mu Qing said: "But most of the time, I still... admire you."

Xie Lian was stunned.

Mu Qing gritted his teeth, as if someone was pinching his neck and forcing him to speak, and said stiffly: "It's normal. You... are indeed... quite capable. You... are also... better... than... me. Generally speaking, I... really want to... be friends, friends, friends with you."

“…”

Xie Lian never thought that one day he would hear such words from Mu Qing. Although they were stuttering, reluctant, and stiff, they were actually so straightforward and honest, and so human!

His eyes widened: "You..."

Mu Qing finally managed to squeeze out those few words from between his teeth, exhaled, and said: "Regarding what happened when Xianle destroyed the country, no matter if it was right or wrong, no matter how difficult it was for me, I still owe you an apology."

Xie Lian paused for a moment and said, “…It’s an old story, forget it. Rather than this, let’s just go ahead!”

Mu Qing raised his voice and said, "He told me that if I was suspected, even if you knew in your heart that I didn't do it, you would just go with the flow and not save me. Because you hate me, you won't believe me."

"He"? Xie Lian understood who this "he" was. Mu Qing said, "Although I didn't agree to help him, I also thought about what he said. I always thought that you would hate me and despise me in your heart, so I always... Anyway, you didn't really think so, which is good."

Another pillar of fire shot up into the sky. Xie Lian took a few steps back to avoid it, getting further away from Mu Qing. Mu Qing was furious, and leaned over and slapped the bridge with his palm. Xie Lian's pupils shrank: "What are you doing?!"

Not surprisingly, the bridge section collapsed, taking Mu Qing with it. Mu Qing shouted at him in mid-air, "I'll help you clear these debris!"

The broken bridge entered the pool, stirring up high waves. The group of lava ghosts had originally rushed over happily to drag him into the water, but they were unexpectedly swept away by a bombardment and were scattered in large numbers. Amidst the screams and shouts of ghosts, Mu Qing stood in the middle of the broken bridge, with the spiritual light around him shining brightly. He sneered, "You bunch of scum from the gutter, you feel great about releasing Yin Fire, don't you? I'm here, so don't run away!"

Now, he can finally blast those lava ghosts!

Mu Qing raised his red palms and swept the evil spirits wildly, killing them in a rush. The evil spirits who were watching the show below screamed and scattered, swimming in all directions. His sleeves and collars were on fire. Xie Lian lay on top of him and said, "Mu Qing?! How high can you jump?"

Mu Qing shouted, "Why are you talking so much nonsense and not leaving yet!"

Xie Lian defended himself, “This is not my problem. You finally managed to say a few human words in your life, and then you fell down. How can people leave like this?”

Mu Qing was furious: "What do you mean by finally saying a few words to people..." Before he finished speaking, the broken bridge under his feet sank a little. Both of them changed their expressions.

This time, I’m really going to be buried at the bottom of the magma pool and my bones will turn into steam!

Mu Qing was full of energy just now, but now his face turned pale. He raised his palm and closed his eyes, as if he wanted to smash his head with a palm before being burned to death, so that he could die more quickly. Xie Lian hurriedly said, “Wait, wait, don’t be impulsive! I, I, I, I, I have a way!”

Mu Qing opened his eyes again: "What method?"

Although Ruo Xie couldn't reach the bottom, he could reach halfway. Xie Lian threw it down and said, "Jump with all your strength! Pick it up and grab it! I'll pull you up."

Mu Qing’s face turned even paler: “If I can jump, do I still need to think of a way?!” He was about to muster up the courage to kill himself, but Xie Lian said: “Wait wait wait! Really wait!!! I’ll think of a way right away!”

"What's the solution?"

What's the solution? What's the solution? Come up with a solution!

There is no way!!!

Both of them were almost desperate, and Mu Qing raised his hand again. Unexpectedly, at this moment, a hand "snapped" his palm open and grabbed him.

Then, he picked up the almost dazed Mu Qing and jumped!

Xie Lian felt the end of the white silk tighten, and when he looked down, he was surprised and delighted, and asked, “Feng Xin?!”

The broken bridge that Mu Qing had originally stepped on had completely sunk to the bottom of the lava river. At the end of the white silk, Feng Xin grabbed Ruo Xie with one hand and held the livid-looking Mu Qing with the other, and shouted at him, "Your Highness, pull us up quickly!"

There were a few hollow monsters swimming below, and it seemed that Feng Xin had floated over from the upper part of the river on them. Xie Lian didn't have time to ask more questions, and quickly found a wider and more stable bridge to pull them up. As the two of them were rising steadily, a new group of lava ghosts gradually gathered below, looking up with resentment, muttering to each other and discussing together. Not long after, another column of fire was blasted upwards!

Feng Xin and Mu Qing were hanging in the air, unable to dodge. Xie Lian carried Ruo Xie and moved several steps, avoiding the attack, but the bridge decks elsewhere were not as wide and stable as this one, so after avoiding the attack, they could only go back. Feng Xin was almost burned by the fire column, and he cursed: "What kind of shit are these guys below? How can they take advantage of others' misfortune and be so insidious? I'll fuck your whole family!"

Xie Lian said, “The whole family looks like this, are you sure you want to fuck them?!”

They hadn't given up yet, and were laughing as if preparing to continue their sneak attack. Feng Xin was furious, and he lifted Mu Qing up and said, "Catch him!"

Mu Qing thought he was really going to die just now. The shock was too great, and his reaction was still a little slow. He grabbed it as he was told. Feng Xin didn't need to hold him up. He freed one hand and took out the longbow from his back, as well as a few branches he had picked up from somewhere. He used the branches as arrows, held the bow in one hand, bit the bowstring and the tail of the arrow with his teeth, put the arrow on the string, and pulled it steadily - whoosh whoosh whoosh, four arrows were fired at the same time!

The arrow hit the pool of fire and exploded, scaring the lava ghosts into turning upside down and scattering again. Feng Xin finally felt relieved and cursed, "Did you see that? Fuck me if I say so! You fucking piece of shit! I'll shoot you all with one hand!"

Finally, the three of them stood on the Tongtian Bridge together. Xie Lian wiped his sweat several times, his heart still pounding, and asked, "Feng Xin, how did you get here?"

Feng Xin held his head when he spoke of this: "How did I get here? The three of you jumped down, what could I do? I almost went crazy! I had to find a way to go around the cliff, float all the way here, and only found you after hearing the rumbling sound and voices. What are you doing, jumping into the lava pool! Are you crazy!"

Mu Qing finally regained consciousness and said, "I was dragged down!"

Feng Xin had been cursing all the way, so Xie Lian said, “Okay, okay, calm down. No matter what, you’re really a savior sent from heaven, and you’ve been a great help! So, sometimes, people really just… need others to help them get through it, really!”

The three of them were scared to death, panting for a while with their faces livid. They didn't dare to stay any longer. Feng Xin carried Mu Qing on his back and continued to leap forward on the Tongtian Bridge. After leaping for a while and exchanging what they saw, Xie Lian was worried when he learned that Feng Xin hadn't seen Hua Cheng either. Where exactly was Hua Cheng? They could only look for him while walking along the bridge.

At this time, Feng Xin said to Mu Qing on his back: "By the way, I also heard a few of the words you shouted before. The people who heard it at the beginning were furious and wanted to beat you up, but I didn't expect that you actually thought this way in your heart!"

“…”

Mu Qing's face darkened. Feng Xin said to Xie Lian, "I told you a long time ago, his mind is even more complicated than that of a concubine in the deep palace. It's simply incomprehensible!"

"..." Xie Lian saw that Mu Qing's face was already too much to bear, so he waved his hand at him. Feng Xin, however, was completely unaware, and turned to Mu Qing, saying, "If you want to be friends with His Highness, just say so! If you think His Highness despises you and can't be friends, then you have to be sarcastic and disgusting all day long. I really don't understand what's going on in your head?"

Xie Lian gave up and waved his hands, “He has been like this since he was a child. Don’t talk about him anymore, his face is red.”

“………………”

Mu Qing couldn't stand it any longer and roared, "I fucked it, I really fucked it?! Can you two shut up?!"

Xie Lian reminded him, “You seem to have mixed up Feng Xin’s words. Also, swearing is not good.”

Feng Xin said, "You said it yourself, you really want to be friends with His Highness!"

He even deliberately imitated Mu Qing's gnashing of teeth. Mu Qing's face was ferocious, and his hand had already secretly reached behind his back to touch the knife. Feng Xin said again: "Okay, let's talk now. Anyway, remember: His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has never thought of you badly, except that time you did something too much and he got angry. Later, he never said a bad word about you in front of me! You, be a normal person in the future, speak normally and express yourself normally. If you act weird again, I will scold you."

Mu Qing lowered his head and kept silent when he heard the first part, and rolled his eyes when he heard the second part: "Haven't you scolded me for hundreds of years?"

Xie Lian reminded him, “Mu Qing, you are a priest, you should pay attention to your image and not roll your eyes casually, or the believers will have complaints if they see you.”

Mu Qing said, "Come on. This guy is still swearing in the heavenly palace all day long."

Feng Xin snorted, "You should be scolded then."

Mu Qing said: "Don't bring up the past with me. Didn't you also abandon the prince to give birth to a son?"

Feng Xin's forehead veins also stood up, and he rolled up his sleeves and said, "You are looking for a fight, right?"

Mu Qing sneered, "You are the one who exposed yourself. If you hadn't said bad things about me in front of the Crown Prince all day long, would I have always felt that he looked down on me and was feeling subtle?"

The topic fell into an endless loop again. Xie Lian said, “At a time like this, why don’t you guys just dig up each other’s dark history? What’s the point of hurting each other…”

Mu Qing rolled his eyes again and sneered, "Besides, look at how much I made a fuss about you back then. What's wrong with a robbery? If I were Your Highness, if it came to that, I would rob eighteen wealthy families in the middle of the night without blinking an eye. But you took it as a big deal and chased after Your Highness to ask what was going on."

Xie Lian was embarrassed and turned around and said, “Wait a minute, don’t turn my pages, okay? Anyway, let’s find San Lang. Help me find San Lang first! Hahahaha…”