“I don’t know either. I woke up here. I don’t know where this is, or who I am. I have no idea why I am here.”
The mermaid held her head in frustration, revealing a tempting sight. It made Ding Ning’s mouth go dry.
With a yawn, Luoxue slowly woke up, blinking her dazed eyes. After she saw the mermaid, not only was she not afraid, she tried to tame her as an intelligent pet.
Ding Ning quickly held her in his arms in a panic to stop her movements. He was terrified that she would do something inappropriate and anger this unfathomable mermaid. Who knew what strange powers she had. If she devoured Luoxue’s soul, he wouldn’t even have time to cry.
“Brother, what a beautiful mermaid but why is her tail black?”
Luoxue tilted her head and looked curiously at the mermaid, a hungry expression on her face.
Ding Ning patted her butt without good humor. “Don’t move so much; I’m asking her about the situation.”
Using his spiritual strength, he asked, “Beautiful mermaid, have you not investigated this place? Also, why do you eat souls?”
“Souls? What are souls?”
The mermaid blinked her large and innocent eyes, a confused expression on her face.
“The shadows you ate earlier.”
Ding Ning gestured with his hands, trying to make her understand. Secretly, he tensed his muscles and gathered his strength. Once things turned sour, it would be best to make the first move.
“Oh!” the mermaid suddenly understood. She rubbed her flat stomach and said pitifully, with a small pout, “Because I’m hungry. I’ve been here who knows how long, with nothing to eat. I can only use this method to get food, otherwise, I would have starved to death long ago.”
“Er!”
Ding Ning had nothing to say about this explanation. She was hungry and had to eat, there was nothing wrong with that, right? Although he felt that devouring souls was very evil, faced with the mermaid’s innocent gaze, he could not express any of the reasoning in his mind.
“Sister Mermaid, will you eat us when you get hungry?”
Alright, Ding Luoxue was very… innocent and naive to be able to so straightforwardly ask such a taboo question. Ding Ning felt a cold sweat break out, terrified that the mermaid will turn on them and just eat them.
He was even regretful that he had taught Luoxue Sutra of Cultivating Spirit. If he had not, she would not be able to communicate using spiritual strength and be able to destroy the peaceful situation at hand.
The atmosphere immediately became oppressive. Ding Ning felt cold sweat break out on his back from nervousness. It was as if he was staring at a man-eating leopard that could attack at any time.
“Eat you?”
The mermaid blinked with confusion. “You are not food, why would I eat you?”
Ding Ning’s entire body relaxed. It was fine; it was fine. If this mermaid did not lie, it meant that she could only eat the souls of recently dead creatures and could not eat the souls of living creatures. This assured him greatly.
“Besides, I’ve been here for who knows how long. I’m overjoyed that you are here to keep me company.”
The mermaid smiled sweetly, like a blossoming flower, indescribably beautiful. Ding Ning stared as if in a daze.
But he soon recognized their situation from the mermaid’s words. They had no idea how far they had fallen, and with this gravity, how could they fly back up later?
Ding Luoxue seemed to also realize this and frowned. “Is there another exit here?”
“Exit? I don’t know. I can only move around here.”
The mermaid said sorrowfully. She opened her mouth and blew a breath at the dark lake beneath her. Magically, the water of the lake split in two and revealed the black bottom of the lake.
Ding Ning’s gaze grew heavy and pity appeared on his face. The mermaid’s large tail was pierced and held in place by eight chains that came from the two sides of the lake. Her freedom was restricted. Just the wounds made by the eight chains made his heart hurt.
Luoxue seemed to recall her tragic past and was almost crying with pity. “Sister Mermaid, does it not hurt? Who could be so cruel to do this to you?”
The mermaid blinked her large eyes. “It’s alright, it doesn’t hurt as much now that I’ve eaten. I don’t know who locked me where. I was here once I woke up.”
“How long has it been?” Ding Ning’s heart was trembling. Compared to the punishments Luoxue had experienced, the mermaid’s was not inferior at all. This strangely made his heart hurt.
“I don’t know, it should be a long time.”
The mermaid seemed to have no concept of time. Holding out her hand, she cutely and dumbly began to count on her fingers. Finding out that ten fingers were not enough, she shook her head with frustration and gave up counting time.
Ding Ning’s heart trembled. “What a pitiful mermaid. Who knows how long she’s been in this sun-less space, relying entirely on singing to hunt for creatures to replenish her strength?”
Thinking like this, it seemed that her eating of souls was understandable. After all, she could not eat flesh even if she wanted to. Her range of movement was limited to the dark lake.
“Brother, we have to help her. She’s so pitiful!”
Luoxue tearfully shook Ding Ning’s arm and begged.
Even without her saying so, Ding Ning also had the same thought. He immediately nodded. “Mermaid, do you want to leave here? Would you like me to take you away?”
“Leave here? Of course, I want to but…”
Darkness flashed across her pear-like eyes. “I can’t leave. The metal chains are very strong, and they’re impossible to break!”
“Let me try!”
Ding Ning did not believe her. After all, mermaids were weak. He was confident he could break the chains with brute force.
“Can you, really?”
Anticipating appeared on the mermaid’s face.
“It shouldn’t be a problem.”
As Ding Ning spoke, he walked forward. Stretching out a hand, he grabbed the chain on one side and twisted…
He was greatly embarrassed. The metal chain looked like a normal metal chain but once Ding Ning touched it, he could feel a difference.
This metal chain was made of some unknown material. Not only was it incomparably heavy, it also radiated a chilly air. He shivered involuntarily.
Ding Ning tried again in disbelief. But even though veins stood out on his head, his face turned red, and he used all of his strength, the chain did not move at all.
The hope in the mermaid’s eyes gradually faded. She forced a smile, and said, “It’s alright. I’m already used to it anyway.”
“I’m, I’m sorry that I can’t break this metal chain.”
Ding Ning said, with his head down in guilt. He had no dignity to face the mermaid’s bright eyes but he quickly raised his head and said, determinedly, “Give me some time; I will definitely think of a way to rescue you.”
Seeing Ding Ning’s resolute gaze, the mermaid smiled sweetly. “I trust you!”
“Brother, is there no way at all?”
Luoxue asked with discontent after seeing the all-powerful Ding Ning unable to do anything.
“We have to think of a way to get out. We need to bring in tools and slowly break apart these chains.”
Ding Ning said through gritted teeth.
“Alright, I’m sure you can rescue her.”
Luoxue seemed to feel a sense of family toward the mermaid based on their similar lives and was determined to rescue her.
“For sure, I will rescue her for sure.”
Ding Ning rubbed Luoxue’s head, making his promise like an oath.
The mermaid looked on in a daze at their intimacy and a glimmer of envy appeared in her eyes.
“Mermaid, we need to go out to prepare some things. Once we come back with tools, we will definitely be able to rescue you.”
Ding Ning said very confidently.
“Are you, are you going to leave?”
The light in the mermaid’s eyes faded and she said reluctantly.
“Brother, what if I stay behind to keep her company? After you find the way out, come back for us.”
Luoxue said, unwilling to go.
“That’s… not a good idea, what if there is no other exit?”
Ding Ning did not feel at ease with leaving Luoxue behind. Although he felt that the mermaid was pitiful, who knew whether she would eat Luoxue when she became ravenous?
“It’s fine. The Air Force Wings will stay with me. If there are no other exits, won’t you have to come back?”
Luoxue’s attitude was very resolute, and she was determined to stay.
“Do you have something to eat?”
Ding Ning thought to himself that with the Air Force Wings here, he could change perspectives whenever he wanted, so Luoxue’s safety should not be a problem. His only concern was that he didn’t know how big this place was, what if he got lost?
“I have food. I collected a lot of wild fruit outside earlier. I didn’t have time to eat when I came here.”
Luoxue brightly pulled out fruit after fruit from her bag. It said a lot that although she had been charmed, she remembered to grab hold of the bag Ding Ning gave her and not let go.
Seeing that Ding Ning was still not at ease, Luoxue pointed at the pile of insects and animals on the ground. “I brought fire, even if I finish the fruits, I can cook the meat.”
It was only now Ding Ning remembered that Luoxue had lived for three years underground. It would not be easy to starve her. Immediately, he stopped hesitating. “Alright, then I’ll go look for a way out now. Wait here for me; do not leave before I come back.”
“Alright, rest assured, brother. Watch out for yourself. If there’s no food, there’s still Sister Mermaid. She eats souls and I eat meat, we won’t get in each other’s way, haha!”
Luoxue was reluctant to let him go but she smiled to dissipate his worries.
Ding Ning had wanted to warn the mermaid but looking at her guileless eyes, he could not bring himself to say the threatening words. He could only give orders with spiritual strength to the 3 Air Force Wings to protect Luoxue then he walked out.
After leaving that patch of black earth, Ding Ning felt his entire body relax. His body felt like it was as light as a feather.
Once he found a way out, he had to carefully investigate that patch of black earth and see what caused such a terrifying gravity, more than several dozen times that of above ground.
As he walked further and further, Ding Ning discovered that this space seemed to be a very wide passageway. It did not seem to have an end. Gradually, he grew more and more anxious.
Most terrifying was the silence. There wasn’t even the sound of insects. There were no plants, and everywhere was barren. It was so silent that it made one feel uneasy.
Ding Ning could not remember how long he had been walking, even his spiritual mark was beginning to lose track of time. Blackness washed across his vision and he had reached the end. Fortunately, heaven bars no one’s way. At the end, there appeared a door of light.
Ding Ning stared intently at the door of light, feeling very hesitant and indecisive. The door of light was very strange. It neither reached the sky nor rested on the ground, and it simply hovered in the air. It felt like a fantasy.
But he had nowhere to retreat to, and this door of light was his only hope. Throwing caution to the wind, Ding Ning gritted his teeth and walked toward the door.
Ding Ning was startled by the sudden sense of weightlessness. Before he could react, ripples broke across the surface of the door and his feet abruptly landed on solid ground.
Ding Ning looked and saw that the space he was in was a few dozen square meters. The space was empty except for a strangely shaped statue that was over 10 meters tall and wore a ferocious expression. The walls all around were made of thick granite and there was no hope of breaking through.
This made him feel an immediate sense of disappointment. Was the only way out the way in? Never mind, he would go back and figure out if they could fly out.
As Ding Ning sighed and turned to go, his expression changed dramatically. The door of light he had come through had disappeared, there was only a blank wall behind him, all made from hard granite.
