Chapter 12: Breaking Through the Heavenly Chasm

  Su You woke up to find everything around her pitch black.

  Moved his hands, had a feeling; moved his feet, also had a feeling; tried to get up again - his head bumped into something hard and wooden...

  "What's going on here?"

  He felt like his throat was on fire, but Su You finally remembered what had happened before he fainted. Jiang Siqi plucked the strings of the Jiuxiao qin, and then the legendary third layer of clouds appeared, after which Paiyun Mountain collapsed. The speed was too fast, so much so that he didn't even have time to react, and he flew out from the door-less wooden platform without a railing...and then? Then he had no idea what happened next.

  Although it's said that he survived the landslide purely by luck, who can tell him where he is now? And where are the others?

  Su You began to try and extricate himself from the predicament. He knew that if he didn't get out, he would be buried alive under the rubble. It seemed like he was pinned in a corner, as everywhere else he touched was sticky mud. In reality, his hands, legs, and back were all injured, and every movement made him feel like he was on fire. But if he didn't struggle to get out, he really would die here!

  Fortunately, Su You had always been in good physical condition and was also an industrial designer, so he was very familiar with structures and mechanics. After feeling along the top for several times, he accurately judged the position to apply force and pushed outward with a burst of strength.

  "Rumble!"

  The broken wood on top of the pile emitted a huge sound, and smoke and dust scattered everywhere. A faint light came in, barely illuminating the outlines of things.

  Fortunately, it was open land outside; if it were still a mountain, he would have been dead for sure... Su You thought to himself as he supported the earthen wall and stood up, pushing aside the remaining wooden planks that blocked his way. Only then did he lower his head to examine his entire body. Then he discovered that he was indeed very lucky - there were many wounds on his body, crisscrossing each other, looking quite frightening; but they were all superficial injuries, some of which had already begun to scab over.

  It seems that he didn't faint for long... Su let out a sigh of relief and began to look around. He couldn't see anything in the distance, and it slowly occurred to him that he had tied his flashlight to his waist when climbing the mountain. He hastily reached out to touch it, finding that its shell was cracked but still barely usable.

  Nearby, a jumble of trees lay scattered on the ground. To the left was a layer of earth, to the right was a layer of earth, and ahead, it was pitch black, so dark that nothing could be seen.

  Su Yu only thought of looking up and was suddenly stunned. Those faint rays of light were actually coming from a distant hole...

  He actually fell into a very big hole!

  He won't be so unlucky as to fall into the belly of the mountain, will he? How can he get out then?

  Su You felt that the egg was about to shatter. But he immediately thought that if his guess was true, then the hollow in the mountain might not be a natural formation either. Think of what Du Ying said - there must be even bigger secrets inside this mountain!

  Thinking of this, Su You endured the stinging pain in his thigh and hobbled over from the pile of wooden planks. Without a doubt, these woods were used to build that hanging temple. Judging by the extraordinary thickness and density of the wood, it was a miracle he wasn't crushed to death...

  Wait?

  Su Yu suddenly realized that something was off. Even if he couldn't see anything earlier, he could tell from the sound that he had just pushed open at least ten horizontal wooden beams. Although he hadn't lifted them up, it definitely wasn't easy to push them open like that either?

  Su You walked down from the pile of wooden boards, looked at his hands with his head lowered, then bent down and grabbed the longest piece of wood closest to him. This one was relatively thinner, almost encircled by one hand. Judging from common sense, it weighed about 40 or 50 kilograms. But as soon as he exerted force —

  What? Why does it feel like grabbing a balloon when I pick you up?

  Su Yu was suspicious, and his hand unconsciously applied some force. As a result, he stared blankly as he left five fingerprints on the so-called thousand-year-old hardwood...

  Damn it, he didn't die completely not because of good luck, but because he himself suddenly mutated or something?!

  Su Yu didn't want to admit that he himself had a problem, but reality was cruel. He stood still for a moment, thinking that the matter had completely spiraled out of control like a grass mud horse, when he suddenly noticed that under the messy wood he had moved away, a deep purple corner was exposed...

  Jiuxiao Qin?

  Is Jiang Sizhi also being suppressed?

  Su Yu was greatly shocked and hastily put the flashlight on his waist, working left and right. It has to be said that the sudden divine power in his hands made this task much easier. With a rustling sound, all the wood and stones were moved away. Jiang Siqi was indeed at the bottom, but there was also an unexpected person, Du Ying.

  Two people lay on their backs, eyes closed, motionless. Su You examined Jiang Siqi and quickly confirmed that the other person was luckier than him, not even a corner of his clothes was dirty, let alone injured; as for Du Ying, he was fine too, if you couldn't feel his pulse and breathing, it was normal...

  Su You was confused. He didn't know if Du Ying was a human or a ghost, and he couldn't make a correct judgment at this time! But to leave someone whose life or death is unknown here, or an unknown person who had once hidden from them...

  Let's just treat a dead horse as if it were alive!

  Su Yu clenched his fist and went to pinch Du Ying's shoulder. His strength was not what it used to be, and a normal person would have had a bruise from the pinch, but Du Ying's body seemed to have no blood, so there was no possibility of bruising. Fortunately, it still had some effect——

  "......Huh!" Du Ying shook his head and woke up, apparently wanting to shake off Su You's hand.

  "Nothing's wrong? If nothing's wrong, then hurry up and get up." Su You said irritably.

  "I..." Du Ying blinked a few times before slowly focusing. "We've fallen into the mountain!" Apparently, his eyes didn't need to rely on flashlights.

  "I don't know what's going on inside the mountain," Su You replied stiffly, "but you do, can you get us out of here, right? And," he pointed at Jiang Siqi who was still motionless, "what's up with Little Qi?"

  "You don't dare to pinch him, so you come to pinch me?" Du Ying immediately reacted and was somewhat at a loss for words. But under Su You's glare, he rubbed his nose and said: "I actually fainted because of temporary spiritual power deficiency. As for Jiang Siqi," he lowered his head and glanced at him, "I really don't know. Think about it, if I knew the secret of Shi Qin, would I still need to rely on others?"

  Su You continued to stare at Du Ying. "Then how are we going up?"

  "Go up?" Du Ying looked up and shook his head decisively, "No way, it's too high. I might be able to make it myself, but with you two..."

  "What should we do?"

  Du Ying pointed forward. "Keep going forward. Qin Temple should have an exit, and it's better than going up there."

  "Qin Temple? Hasn't it already collapsed?" Su You asked doubtfully.

  "It's not Guqin, it's Qin," Du Ying explained, "It's the one that Jing Sheng said was impossible."