The moment before the body was almost collapsed and lost consciousness, Zong Gu thought he might never wake up again.
But he still woke up.
Not only that, he seems to be "moving".
His body was extremely heavy, and there was a feeling of pain everywhere. After a while, Zong Gu barely opened his eyes.
“…”
He was really moving - being carried on his body, moving forward slowly like a snail.
It's Hongzi.
“…”
Listening to her heavy breathing, Zong Gu opened his mouth, and there was no sound in his throat.
She never had much strength, but now she carried him completely, instead of dragging him, taking every step was extremely difficult, and the pace was slow and heavy;
In order to prevent him from falling off, her waist was bent very low, making it even more difficult to walk.
Zong Gu remembered that before he fell into a coma, he was chasing the gods who were thunder, but Hongzi appeared aside.
Why does Hongzi appear in the underworld?
And now, where is she going to take him?
"ah……"
With a short scream, his body fell with her.
Hongzi fell down.
"Um!"
Even though she was placing it underneath, the severe pain from his body almost fainted.
The impact of pain made Zong Gu close his eyes again, and towards the boundless darkness, his consciousness began to slowly fall again.
After a while, he felt Hongzi crawling out from under his body.
She was already weak and had a heavy burden on her back, so she would only be more impacted.
"pain……"
After moaning in pain, her hands fell on his face again, and her voice was hoarse.
"It's okay, Soya..."
The consciousness became more and more drowsy, and he didn't even have the strength to open his eyelids and could not respond to her.
In the darkness, a few drops of coldness suddenly fell on my face.
What rang out then was her uncontrollable sob.
“Woo…”
Don't cry, I'm still alive...
Zong Gu wanted to open his eyes and tell her that he had woken up. He wanted to raise his hand to wipe away her tears, but suddenly lost the last little support and fell into deeper darkness.
Fall, fall.
“…”
I don't know how long it took, but he opened his eyes again. She carried him on her back and was still moving forward slowly and firmly. There was still a desolate underworld around him, and nothing had changed.
I woke up briefly and fell asleep again.
Wake up and sleep repeat countless times, just like a heavy dream that cannot be broken away when you are about to wake up in the early morning.
After a few times, his consciousness finally lasted for a while, until he could speak.
“…Hongzi.”
“…”
His body shook suddenly, his steps paused, and he suddenly relaxed. It was too late for Hongzi to support him again, so he lay on the ground with him.
"Um!"
Although she had fallen like this many times and was mentally prepared for the pain, she still couldn't help but scream and then immediately got up.
"Zonggu!"
His body was still unable to move, and it was still possible to turn it over with her help.
With his eyes facing each other, he squeezed out a smile, "It hurts so much."
"I'm sorry...I...I...Woo--"
Hongzi couldn't continue after saying a little, so she whimpered and tears flowed more and more.
Zong Gu moved his fingers and could only comfort her with his eyes.
After crying for a while, she finally stopped crying.
"What the hell is going on..."
She wiped her tears herself, "Where is this place? Is it really a fountain?"
"Um."
Zong Gu's heart sank a little, looking at her with his eyes, "I want to know more, why Hongzi appears here."
Putting his hand under his head, Hongzi said:
"When I was still in Liuliguangyuan, I saw Zonggu disappearing suddenly as he walked. I quickly ran over and looked, and then suddenly it became dark in front of me, and it was spinning... I woke up again and appeared here.
”
“…”
She is just an ordinary person, unable to see the daughter of the Yellow Spring, nor can she see the passage between the two realms.
As soon as he closed his eyes, Zong Gu took a deep breath, and after a while he opened: "I'm dragging you down."
He was in pain in his chest and could not raise the volume. Hongzi bent over and listened with his ears.
"Are we unable to get out..."
"If there are still others who see Hongzi and I fall into the underworld, there will be hope."
"Many people probably saw it... right?" Hongzi couldn't be sure.
"Well, so now, all we can do is wait..."
Zong Gu murmured, he didn't want her to despair, but he didn't have much confidence.
"What's wrong with Zong Gu's injury?" Hongzi asked.
He reorganized his emotions before saying, "I met a few enemies."
"Enemy..."
"Eight Thunder Gods."
"Ah..." Hongzi was stunned for a while.
"Don't worry. Except for the big thunder, the other seven have been killed by me." Zong Gu looked at the void above his head, and his mind was filled with the scene of the last blow of a knife. "The one who escaped will never dare to come over again.
revenge."
"Yeah……"
Hongzi looked down at the blood on his chest, and tears fell down again.
"Suddenly I came to such a place and couldn't see anything. Finally, I met Zong Gu, but I saw you spitting blood and falling down... I... Woo... I thought you were going to die."
Zong Gu pursed his lips, "Sorry..."
She took a breath, wiped away her tears, and continued, "Zong Gu has been unconscious all the time, and I don't know what to do. After I got the mirror, I suddenly saw the spirit body, and then it was in it.
One person told me..."
"What mirror?" Zong Gu frowned.
"That's it." Hongzi took out a bronze mirror the size of a palm from her pocket, "and picked it up from where Zonggu appeared."
“…”
After staring at the bronze mirror in her hand for a while, Zong Gu suddenly remembered that when he was about to crack the thunder in half with a knife, he encountered a barrier at his waist. The knife even broke. It seemed that he had cut it.
This bronze mirror;
So hard that even divine power cannot be destroyed, and it is still in such a shape, he quickly thought of a possibility.
"The Mirror of the True Sutra..."
Hongzi was stunned for a moment, "Three magical tools?"
"Um."
After Yin Xie Namei killed Yue Du, she threw the Tiancongyun sword deep in the yellow spring and gave the Eight-foot Qiong Geyu to Chaowuling, while the mirror of the True Jingjin was missing.
Now it seems that this artifact was obtained by Dalei using some unknown means.
He thought of Da Lei again and felt his pursuit from afar, perhaps the effect of the mirror of the True Sutra. Hongzi could see the spirit body with the bronze mirror, which should be one of its effects.
"Hongzi just said that he encountered a spirit body, and what about?"
"ah……"
She came back to her senses, put down the bronze mirror, and continued, "That person came over to remind me that if Zong Gu and I continue to stay here, we may be eaten by the passing spirits... Will the spirits really eat people?"
"Well. In a place like this, anything can happen."
He and the ordinary man Hongzi are like two pieces of fat to spirits with the intention of devouring.
After hearing him say yes, Hongzi came out of the spirit for a while, and then said, "Fortunately, I kept walking to places with fewer people since then."
“…”
At the speed when she was moving forward with her back, Zong Gu could only sigh that they were very lucky.
"So, Hongzi has been walking on me with her back to the present?"
"Do you want me to leave you?" Her eyes turned red again. "I don't know where to go, but even if I die, I will die with Zonggu."
Zong Gu remained silent for a long time until his head became drowsy again, and then he held his spirits and said, "I won't let Hongzi die here."
She smiled in tears and then focused, "Yeah!"
"It's just that this is too physically exhausting." Zong Gu continued, "Hongzi just finds a corner like a broken wall and puts me down. When I recover, I can move on my own."
"I see."
"We will..."
Zong Gu wanted to say something, but his eyes turned dark and he lost consciousness.
"Songya?"
Hongzi looked at him, shouted a few more times, but still couldn't respond, so she tried his breathing and heartbeat.
“…is still alive.”
Looking at his face, she was suppressed in a strange and desperate environment until now, and she wanted to cry again.
"Very good……"
She didn't dare to press on him, but just gently pressed against his chest and let tears flow.
"Songgu finally woke up... It's great."
After his emotions calmed down, Hongzi looked around and squatted down again, used all his strength to carry the unconscious Zong Gu behind a broken wall closest to him, and he collapsed beside him.
After he woke up, she suddenly received the most solid support in her heart, but the strength on her body could no longer be condensed like before. She only carried him on this short path and had reached the limit.
He looked down at the various bruises and scars that fell on his arms and legs, and touched his face again. Hongzi was stunned for a while, then turned his head and looked at the wall behind him.
"At least there are no insects in the underworld..."
Extreme fatigue and the sense of peace brought by his brief awakening impacted her mind. She sat against the broken wall for a while. Sleeping came. She held his hand and fell asleep quickly.
I don’t know how long it took, Hongzi woke up slowly in hunger again.
There was no sun rise and the moon set in the underworld, and no matter day and night, she looked at the phone with little power left, and then she knew how long she had slept.
"Have you actually slept for so long..."
Looking at Zong Gu who was lying beside him, she still looked like she had before she fell asleep.
Touching his face and gazing for a moment, Hongzi leaned down and listened to his heartbeat.
According to real-world time, it should be morning now.
"Good morning, Soya."
After leaning on his chest for a while, the strong sense of hunger coming from his abdomen brought her back to her senses.
“So hungry…”
Hongzi stood up, looked around, and saw the gray steamed buns on the broken wall at a glance.
"Did it appear again?"
She picked up the steamed bun and pinched it in her hand, which felt neither soft nor hard.
She had seen this kind of thing appear out of thin air, and it was everywhere all the way, just like the wild vegetables growing everywhere in the countryside.
"No matter how fast the wild vegetables grow, they don't grow faster than they "grow"..."
After pinching the steamed bun, Hongzi stared at it for a while, hesitating.
"Can this kind of thing really be eaten?"
Gu—
My stomach was screaming again.
“…”
She had no other choice.
Hongzi sat down, tore off a small piece from the steamed bun, and slowly put it into her mouth.
A little noise came from the side, and then a hand suddenly reached over and strangled her neck.
"Spray it out."
“…Um!”
"Don't be nervous." As soon as I woke up, Zong Gu's eyes were so angry that they were much nervous than her. "Don't swallow it, spit it out soon."
“…”
Hongzi widened her eyes, but did as she did immediately.
After spitting out the small piece of steamed bun, Zong Gu asked her to open her mouth again, stared at her mouth for a while, and then she fell down after she found that there was no residue.
"Zonggu!"
Hongzi quickly helped him up and let him sit against the wall.
After closing his eyes and slowing down for a while, Zong Gu said: "This is Huangquan's food. As long as you eat a bite, you will become a citizen of Huangquan Kingdom and will never be able to leave here."
“…”
"Or like me, even if I escape by chance, I will still be constantly hunted down by the daughter of the Yellow Spring, and eventually be captured back to the Yellow Spring, which is invisible."
After waiting for a while, he didn't hear any response from Hongzi. Zong Gu opened his eyes and saw her looking down at the steamed bun in her hand, with a complicated expression.
“…”
He was stunned for a moment, and a sudden premonition of his heart arose, and his spirit immediately became tense.
"Hongzi... didn't eat it?"
She raised her head and squeezed a forced smile on her face.
"Sorry... I don't remember how many steamed buns I ate."
Zong Gu suddenly felt dizzy, and his heart fell to the bottom of the valley and could not speak.
"Sorry, I'm too hungry." She leaned on his shoulder. "I can't find any other food here. When I saw such steamed buns on the roadside, I picked them up and ate them... Sorry."
“…”
Zong Gu closed his eyes and was speechless.
Once upon a time, he ate the food from Huangquan in this way, which led to his current ending.
"It would be great if I could eat more when I was shopping in the festival..."
Hongzi raised her head and said, "Sacrificial Festival?"
"Um."
She was silent for a while and said, "Zonggu felt that he had been in a coma for a long time."
Zong Gu opened his eyes and Hongzi continued: "It has been five days since I met Zong Gu."
“…”
He opened his mouth and his eyes were straight.
Five days...
Has it been five days since he fell into the underworld?
"After eating Huangquan's food, I will become a citizen of Huangquan Kingdom. Of course, I know such a legend, too..."
Hongzi lowered her head and pinched the steamed bun in her hand, "But, I'm so hungry... I don't want to starve to death before Zong Gu wakes up. I can't let you starve to death."
"If I don't eat, I won't have the strength to continue carrying Zong Gu on my back... I have no other way."
Hongzi said, sucking her nose suddenly and holding back her tears.
But when she raised her eyes again, she saw two lines of tears hanging on his face, silently rolling down.
"Songgu..."
Five days have passed, but the teacher still hasn't come to save me;
Even if he made his body like this, he could not completely kill the Eight Thunder Gods. The escaped great Thunder Gods were like mud cows entering the sea and disappeared forever;
More importantly, Hongzi was also implicated by him. Not only did she fall into the underworld, but she also ate the food here and would never escape...
Let tears flow, Zong Gu lowered his eyes, his eyes fixed on the bruises of her calf.
And the feeling of drowsiness came again, despair and guilt held him hostage from left to right, trying to pull him into the bottomless abyss.
"I'm sorry, it's me."
“…”
He raised his hand to wipe away the tears in his eyes, but found that he could not wipe them clean, so Hongzi was no longer in vain and hugged him and buried his head on his shoulder.
"I like Sonoya, this is my own choice."
Closed his eyes, Zong Gu raised his arms with the last bit of strength and hugged her waist.
"Zonggu...Zonggu!"
Consciousness sinks.
Soon, her shouting was gone.
As he kept falling in the darkness, when he woke up again, Hongzi sat next to him with his legs in his arms, closed his eyes tightly, as if he was asleep.
I looked around and saw that they were still in the ruins of the previous walls, but I didn't know how long it had passed.
The body still cannot move.
Lying on the ground, Zong Gu looked blankly at the dark void.
Maybe I can't get out.
Once you accept that you have been in the underworld for at least five days, and when you think of this thought, you won’t even feel too much anxiety in your heart like before.
He didn't think he had given up on leaving Huangquan, but now he wanted to "rest" for a little while.
"Are you rest..."
He quickly realized that he was still subconsciously escaping the idea that he might not be able to get out.
“——Songgu.”
Zong Gu came back to his senses and found that Hongzi had woken up.
"Are you still energetic?" She leaned down, touched his face, and then lay on her chest and listened for a while, "Have you recovered?"
He raised his wrist and felt it, "Recovered a little bit."
"That's good."
He looked over her head, "How long has it been since I woke up last time?"
"I'll look... it takes about seven or eight hours."
"Is it already evening?"
"yes."
"I want to sit up."
Hongzi helped him up and sat against the wall.
"Are you hungry?" she asked.
Zong Gu was silent for a few seconds, "A little."
"Do you want to eat?"
"Um."
She stood up and went to the broken wall next to her to "picture" a few gray steamed buns that had just grown.
He tore off a small piece and fed it to his mouth. He watched him chew slowly, and Hongzi took a bite himself.
“It’s very hard to eat.”
“Not taste at all.”
"I've eaten this kind of food for two years."
"Maybe we're good..."
Hongzi didn't say it halfway, and Zong Gu didn't mention it anymore. The two continued to eat steamed buns.
"When I was unconscious, did Hongzi feed me the same way?"
“…”
She was silent for a moment, "When Zong Gu is in a coma, it will be a little more troublesome to feed."
Zong Gu looked over and she tore off a piece of steamed bun and brought it to his mouth.
"Because Zong Gu has been in a coma and can't chew it. I'm worried that feeding you directly will choke in your throat, just..."
He understood.
"Thanks."
She looked at him, "Will Soya mind?"
Zong Gu sighed in a low voice, "I just feel sorry for Hongzi."
“…”
She lowered her head and tore off another steamed bun.