Chapter One: Heaven's First Floor

  Shen Shi remained silent in the darkness for a moment, then said, "I don't know either." However, after pausing for a moment, he continued in a low voice, "But it's still too early to say that now. We have to try and see if we can find a way out."

  Qing nodded lightly and said "uh-huh".

  In the darkness, he couldn't see her face clearly. Shen Shi hesitated for a moment and said, "Are you tired? Why don't we sit down and rest for a while before continuing?"

  Zhong Qingzhu seemed to be really tired too, and upon hearing this, he didn't insist either. The two of them felt their way in the darkness and found a slightly higher spot at the edge of the cave that wasn't flooded, where they sat down. As for why their feet were still not in the water, it was because they couldn't close their eyes.

  Shen Shi leaned his back against the stone wall, and suddenly felt a wave of relaxation wash over him, but as soon as he did, all the aches and pains that had been lurking in his body flared up at once, and he couldn't help but let out a low groan. Zhong Qingzhu, who was sitting beside him, seemed startled, and asked: "What's wrong?"

  Shen Shi gritted his teeth and said, "Nothing serious, just that several parts of my body are aching."

  Zhong Qing Zhu fell silent for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was tinged with concern and apology. His tone was gentle as he said, "I'm sorry, I've only been thinking of myself all this time, but it didn't occur to me that you were also swept down here like me, and must have gotten hurt too... Are you okay? Is there anywhere that hurts badly?"

  A gentle breeze stirred, but it was a soft small hand that lightly reached out, bringing with it some inexplicable trembling as it touched his shoulder, seemingly wanting to continue exploring, yet not daring to go further, and instead froze there.

  Shen Shi smiled and said, "It's nothing, I've taken a look myself. They're just superficial wounds, no big deal."

  Zhong Qing let out an obvious sigh of relief and said, "That's good then."

  Shen Shi nodded slightly in the darkness, saying nothing. Zhong Qingzhu also didn't speak again, and the two people just sat there in the darkness, silently resting.

  After a moment, Shen Shi suddenly realized that the girl sitting next to him, Zhong Qing, seemed to be trembling slightly. In the darkness, there was an almost imperceptible sound of suppressed sobbing. The girl beside him appeared to be secretly crying, yet she seemed afraid of being discovered and was desperately suppressing herself.

  "What's wrong?" Shen Shi hesitated for a while before finally speaking up.

  Zhong Qing's voice trembled as he spoke, his words becoming slightly indistinct as he struggled to control himself:

  "I, I think of my mother."

  Shen Shi sighed and didn't say much, but actually earlier when he was frightened in the darkness, as a young man, hadn't he thought of his short and stout father?

  Listening to the stifled sobs beside him, with a hint of helplessness and grievance, Shen Shi hesitated for a moment before deciding to speak up and comfort her, saying: "Your mother must have been a very good person, looking at how much you miss her?"

  Zhong Qingzhu seemed to wipe his eyes in the dark, and said in a low voice: "Yes, my mother was very good to me. From childhood, she remembered everything for me, never scolded me, never hit me, treated me as her heart's treasure."

  Shen Shi was silent for a moment before saying, "No wonder you think of her like that."

  Qingzhong bamboo said two sentences, looking like his mood had indeed calmed down a bit. In the darkness, he lightly sighed and murmured: "Where is your mother now? Where is she?"

  Shen Shi paused for a moment and said, "She died when I was just born."

  Qingzhong's voice suddenly fell silent, and after a while, he spoke with a few more careful words: "Sorry..."

  Shen Shi waved his hand in the darkness and laughed, "Alright, what's there to apologize for? You didn't know before. And another thing, why do you always say sorry to others, it feels like you owe them a huge debt?"

  Zhong Qing's face turned blue and green, and he couldn't help but be stunned. After a while, he said, "Is that so?"

  "Yes."

  "It seems like it's really true..."

  Shen Shi burst out laughing and said: "Exactly, that's why I say you can talk to others however you want, but when talking to me, don't be so cautious, it sounds weird."

  "Oh."

  After a few rounds of conversation, both of their moods had calmed down significantly. The remaining sense of unfamiliarity between them had dissipated, replaced by a growing sense of closeness. Sitting in the darkness, they chatted sentence by sentence, and Shen Shi learned from Zhong Qingtu that she was indeed a member of a distant branch of the Zhong family with thin blood ties, and her family situation was also extremely poor. Her father, aside from sharing the same surname, was useless, having been a complete scoundrel in his youth who had ruined the family through his own devices. He would often beat and scold Zhong Qingtu and her mother, and because Zhong Qingtu was a girl and couldn't carry on the family line, he had even entertained the vile idea of selling them off.

  As for later, it's unknown whether it was heaven's blessing or not, but this old father mysteriously fell into the water and died. From then on, the mother and daughter relied on each other for survival, and their livelihood was also in shambles. Under great distress, Zhong Qing and her daughter had no choice but to go to the main branch of the Zhong family to seek help. They didn't have much hope, but fortunately, they encountered the 80th birthday celebration of the old master of the Zhong family. On this joyful day, the Zhong family did not want any inauspiciousness, and after some back-and-forth, they ended up taking them in.

  After that, the mother and daughter finally lived a stable life. Although their status in the Zhong family was still low, they were content with having food to eat, clothes to wear, and a roof over their heads. Even though some people in the Zhong household looked down on them and occasionally made things difficult or mocked them with cold words, Zhong Qing endured it all silently. Over time, she developed a cautious and careful nature.

  As for how she can come to Ling Xiao Sect now, it is because she has obtained another opportunity. The Zhong family is a well-known vassal family under the gate of Ling Xiao Sect, although in recent decades, the family's talents have been scarce and its influence has greatly declined compared to before. However, relying on the connections they had previously established within the sect, they often receive attention from high-ranking individuals, so they still barely rank among the four major vassal families.

  However, having familiar faces also has its advantages. Many seniors from the Ling Xiao Sect came to the Zhong family, and one of them was an elder who had come with the intention of selecting outstanding disciples from among the younger generation of the Zhong family. After taking a look around and finding that only Zhong Qinglu was somewhat satisfactory, it seemed that there were no other particularly talented individuals, which left everyone in the Zhong family feeling rather disappointed. Unexpectedly, just as this elder from the Ling Xiao Sect was about to leave, he caught sight of Zhong Qingzhu, who happened to be serving tea and water on the side...

  Shen Shi, who was standing aside, couldn't help but grit his teeth and think to himself: "This isn't right! This guy's luck is obviously good, not bad! From start to finish, he's been having a streak of good fortune!"

  Sun You is indeed unreliable!

  Shen Shi secretly made a judgment about his neighbor and friend in his heart.

  In the conversation, Shen Shi also casually mentioned some of his past experiences. When he heard that Shen Shi was also raised in a similar way, relying on his father for survival, Zhong Qingzhu seemed to have some sympathy for him, perhaps due to empathy.

  In short, as they chatted, the relationship between the two became much closer. After chatting for a while, Shen Shi felt that his fatigue had dissipated a lot, and he said to Zhong Qingzhu: "Have you rested well? Shall we continue on our way?"

  Zhong Qing nodded in agreement, without raising any objections.

  The two of them began to grope their way forward in the dark cave again, this time taking longer to crawl ahead because it was too dark around them and they had to move forward while feeling their way. Qingtong followed closely behind, but Shen Shi walked ahead, and in the darkness, there was always a fear that if they weren't careful, they would crash head-on into the hard stone wall, so they couldn't speed up and had to keep groping their way through the darkness.

  As they walked and walked, they didn't know how long they had been walking. The two of them were panting again, and their bodies were hit by waves of fatigue. At this time, both of them already had a few points of despair in their hearts. This road that couldn't see the light seemed to have no hope or vitality at all.

  Is it really going to die in this dark cave without a sky?

  Despair and frustration, like poisonous insects, quietly gnawed at Shen Shi's heart, making his anxiety rise again. He vaguely heard the movement of the girl behind him, but it reminded him that he was not alone now. Perhaps due to the boy's inexplicable self-esteem, he wanted to maintain some dignity in front of the girl, so he still forcibly suppressed the unease and irritation in his heart, continuing to crawl forward.

  But even Shen Shi himself can't say how long he can hold on like this.

  Just then, a faint light suddenly flashed in the dark depths ahead.

  Shen Shi's body stiffened for a moment, and he suddenly stopped. But Zhong Qingzhu behind him didn't notice anything, and continued walking forward, suddenly colliding with Shen Shi's body without warning, letting out a cry of surprise as the two simultaneously fell into the water.

  "I'm sorry..." Zhong Qingzhu said as soon as he opened his mouth.

  Shen Shi didn't have time to bother with her words, and grabbed her soft palm with a hint of excitement, pointing forward and said: "Look, look over there."

  Zhong Qingzhu let out a soft "ah" and looked forward with a hint of confusion, only to see that in the depths of the darkness, amidst the stillness, a faint light was quietly flickering in that corner.

  "Ah!" Zhong Qingzhu exclaimed again, but this time her voice was filled with excitement. Shen Shi was also extremely excited and said, "Let's go."

  Qing nodded heavily and said, "Uh-huh."

  Along the dark cave tunnel, two people quickened their pace towards the bright spot. As they got closer to the light, it seemed to shine brighter, and with it, they could gradually make out the blurry surroundings. It was indeed an underground cave as imagined, with dark-colored rocky walls everywhere, water all over the place, and extremely humid.

  The light grew brighter and brighter, at this time they had already seen clearly that the front was a bend, and the light was shining from behind the stone wall of the bend.

  When they finally turned the corner and turned around, the warm light finally fell on both of them. In front of them was a tunnel that was wider and higher than before, which could accommodate one person standing upright.

  And on the surrounding stone walls at the top of this cave, in the dark rocks, there are bright spots like stars, inlaid on the stone walls, emitting soft silver light, dripping and sparkling, illuminating this dark cave as if it were a dream or fantasy, like a fairyland.

  "It's so beautiful......" Zhong Qingzhu gazed at the scene before her, and the starry light reflected in her bright eyes, making it look even more beautiful, and she couldn't help but exclaim.

  "This is 'fluorescent stone'," Shen Shi said, looking at the beautiful glow like stars, "can emit a faint light on its own, often found in hard rocks, occasionally used for lighting, but not very practical, otherwise cannot be refined into instruments, not much use, not considered a spiritual material."

  "This stone is worthless." He added finally, saying it with a very certain tone.