Yaleriga hesitated for a few seconds, stood up and walked towards the burning black rainbow. She knew that was not An's direction, but she had to determine the whereabouts of Mrs. Ku Ye, Ji Zangyu and Wu Tou Weng.
"Where are you going?" the pregnant woman asked, holding her hand.
Yaleriga noticed that her palms were hot and her grip was firm and heavy, not like an ordinary woman who had just given birth to a child.
She told the woman her destination bluntly: "I want to go back there and see."
"That's the devil's place. You shouldn't go back."
The woman persuaded, her tone friendly and sincere. Yaleriga guessed that this was because he helped her give birth to that strange baby. Perhaps the woman regarded herself as an ally. But she had no similar experience. She only felt upset and wanted to know the life and death of other people in the prison as soon as possible.
"I must go," she said to the woman. "I will find out what happened to your child."
When she said this, she was not pessimistic. On the contrary, she felt that the possibility of the baby surviving was very high. After all, he was held in Ji Zangyu's arms, and the burning iron skull rainbow in front of her eyes was obviously related to Ji Zangyu. Unless the young man's plan was to die together with the aconite, he would not burn himself to death as well.
Despite the theory, Yaleriga still wanted to confirm the facts with her own eyes. She expressed her intention firmly and suggested that the woman leave with the three monks. But now the woman stopped doing it. She wiped the sweat and stains on her face and said, "I'll go take a look with you."
Yaleriga thought this was unnecessary. She can take care of herself, but that doesn't mean she can also take care of a frail mother who just gave birth to a child. She promised the woman that she would try her best to find the baby for her, but the woman sighed disapprovingly.
"I don't need that little monster," she said. "He's the devil's son. Did you hear that laugh? It made me tremble. He's not my child. He was planted in me by the devil." Poison, I don't want to see him again. I came with you to look for the guy with the horns. I have to find out whether what he said about my husband is true or false. Now those freaks have no intention of caring about us. Maybe his legs will be broken."
Her voice was smooth, clear, and even a little confident in her roughness, almost making Yaleriga think that there was a different person in front of her. Not long ago, this woman was dying, but now she was full of energy, and she stood up without any help from Yalerga. She grabbed a handful of grass blades on the ground and roughly wiped the stain on her lower body like a normal person.
Yaleriga guessed that it was caused by the liquid in the jade bottle, but the woman herself firmly believed that it was because the devil's seeds left her body, and she immediately regained her former health and energy. Yaleriga did not intend to argue with her, but simply explained their situation to the three monks, suggested that they hide for the time being, and then helped the woman towards the cracked peak.
Emerald light filled the sky, and scattered bright spots shone in the clouds, like stars flying freely. Fiery winds and fire clouds covered the entire mountainous area, just like the arrival of the legendary star-burning sun.
The black rainbow was looming on the rolling green clouds. The window lattice and grille on its surface were illuminated by the firelight, shining coldly like scales. When the scorching wind blurred Yaleriga's vision, she felt that what crossed the two peaks was not a dead object made of iron, but some kind of huge and narrow strange insect, poisonous python, or flying dragon.
It took them a long time to get close. The sinister atmosphere in the sky did not ease at all, and the foehn wind became more dangerous and violent. Yaleriga smelled a burning stench like a burning corpse, so strong that she couldn't breathe. She was covered in sweat and on the verge of collapse, as if she had just been fished out of a well.
The woman's condition was almost as bad. "We can't go any further." She panted and said to Yaleriga, "This place is cursed, and those devils will be punished by heaven. Look at the bright spots in the sky, they must be the angels sent to destroy them. I said let’s not go there, good girl, so as not to get involved by those devils. Angels are fair, but even the best people sometimes make mistakes, and we must not be in league with the devils."
Yaleriga didn't say anything. She roughly guessed the other party's beliefs from the woman's words. Fortunately, the other party at least didn't say anything to her, which was enough for the two victims who met by chance.
She continued to move forward until her skin ached slightly from the burn and she had to hide behind a concave rock to take a rest. At this time, they were close to the cracked peak where the black rainbow hung, about a thousand meters below. Yaleriga finally figured out that the green clouds rolling high in the sky were not water mist, but white ash with countless light spots.
Behind the heavy gray clouds is a skull rainbow wrapped in a thin layer of flame. Its outline is distorted by the heat, but it still cuts across the center of the rift valley. The dead tree roots above have turned into sporadic white ash, and the iron thorns are slowly deforming and bending in the fire, dripping towards the abyss below.
Yaleriga found a shadow as small as a pea sitting on the top of the Hongqiao, looking down at the sparse and sporadic iron rain below. That hazy red color made her feel a sudden and light weight in her chest. She jumped out of the alcove and tried her best to wave in that direction.
The distance between them was too far, and the heavy fly ash seriously obstructed the view. For several minutes, the shadow didn't give her any response. Maybe he didn't notice her, or maybe he deliberately ignored her. But Yaleriga still insisted on waving in the scorching wind. There was an inexplicable confidence in her heart that told her that this matter would always have a result.
The shadow on the bridge stood up, and then jumped down from the bridge, falling as light as a feather. Finally, Ji Zangyu stepped on the hazy red smoke and landed in front of her with an unhappy face. His right hand was still holding the baby on his back.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
Yaleriga studied his appearance. There were no bloody wounds or gray spots on Ji Zangyu's body, and even the sleeves that were cut by the guards miraculously recovered. Apart from his empty left arm, he looked virtually unscathed. She didn't know how this was done yet, but that didn't stop her from feeling happy.
"Your hair is messy again," she said, wagging her tail slightly.
Ji Zangyu handed the baby to her, then reached out and scratched his head. A lock of hair on the top of his head stood up unruly. Yaleriga also pressed it twice for him, but the result was just the opposite.
She had to give up temporarily and said to Ji Zangyu: "You need hair fixative."
Ji Zangyu stared at her in confusion. It seemed that he had never used such items before, and Yaleriga couldn't help but feel a little eager to try it. Unfortunately, now was not the time to discuss hairstyles. She lowered her head to look at the weird baby, and found that he was still awake at the moment, observing the surroundings with dark pupils without whites, but he did not make any more scary smiles.
"Where is the aconite?" Yaleriga asked.
"Escaped." Ji Zangyu said, "Look for him later."
Yaleriga had never thought that Wutouweng was a person willing to die easily, but Ji Zangyu's answer was also beyond her expectation. The young man's tone showed that he was not that interested in Wutouweng's life and death, so she followed up and asked: "Where is Mrs. Dead Leaf? And the jailers? Are they still inside?"
Ji Zangyu was silent for a while, then shook his head. He stamped his feet, and a bright red cloud grew from the soles of his feet. Before Yaleriga could react, she and the woman were already carried into the sky by the invisible layer of clouds.
The foehn and ashes dispersed as the red cloud approached. They headed straight up towards the burning black rainbow, and finally landed on the cracked peak on the left. Under a standing rock sheltered from the wind somewhere, Yaleriga saw dozens of large and small shadows lying there. They were covered with bruises and rags, and they were prisoners locked up in the lower level of the Iron Skull Rainbow. On the other side of the volley of the standing rock hung guards who were very familiar with Yaleriga.
They were tied together by the white rope and hung upside down above the abyss, swaying like a bunch of thin grapes. Yaleriga lay on the red cloud and counted carefully, and found that everyone except Sati was here. These cell accessories are now Ji Zangyu's prisoners. Most of them are roaring angrily, while a few are scolding coldly, trying to get everyone to cooperate and stop the stomach-churning shaking.
All this commotion ended with the approaching red cloud. When Ji Zangyu sat expressionlessly on the top of the standing rock, the jailers all calmed down and tried their best to turn their heads upward, trying to see clearly how the owner of the rope would treat them.
"Hi, beauty." One of the jailers greeted Yaleriga with a dry smile, "You look good now."
Yaleriga lay on the rock mass and stretched out her upper body to look at them. She smiled at the half-dog demon who once tried to eat her toes, hooked her tail on the rope that hung them, and pushed slowly and maliciously.
The string of jailers at the bottom of the rope began to swing and spin violently, and some unlucky ones who were not used to high altitudes screamed. The half-dog demon screamed: "We have no grudges! I never touched you! I also stopped Naboo. When that idiot drags you out!”
What he said was indeed true, but those actions had nothing to do with his goodwill toward Yaleriga, and they could not restore her feelings at all. She turned to look at Ji Zangyu.
"We should throw them down," she said. "This is what they do to the people they capture. Now they should try it too."
In her opinion, this was the most just decision, not only for her, but also for the prisoners on the other side of the rock mass. But what surprised her was that Ji Zangyu didn't respond at all, just frowned a little hesitantly. His expression made Yaleriga's heart sink.
"Do you sympathize with them?" she asked.
Ji Zangyu shook his head directly.
"Then you should kill them," she advised. "They deserve it. If you don't, they will go out and kill others, people who are weaker than them, people who have done nothing."
Ji Zangyu obviously listened to her words, but he still frowned, as if he was fighting some kind of thought.
"Can't kill." He said a little embarrassed. Before Yaleriga opened his mouth to ask, he pointed at the white rope and said, "This thing is not for killing."
Yaleriga vaguely understood what he wanted to express. Regardless of the reason, it seems that Ji Zangyu cannot play the role of executioner, but that doesn't matter. She asked Ji Zangyu to bring the jailers up so that she could do it herself - in fact, she was considering whether she needed to do it herself, as the prisoners sitting next to her also had the right to enjoy revenge.
Ji Zangyu lowered his head and pondered. Yaleriga could see that he was wavering, and she wanted to continue persuading him, but the baby in her arms suddenly started to dance.
"Yi, 咿, 咿丽!" the baby called softly, "It's up there! It's up there!"
His voice interrupted Yaleriga's plan. She looked up at Heihong and found that the gray tree roots were squirming and falling off.
Regarding the tree roots entangled outside the bridge, Yaleriga had not had the opportunity to think deeply about their origins before. She never remembered that the peak masters had such an aesthetic of advocating nature, but now that she was thinking about this matter carefully, she vaguely felt that it might have something to do with Mrs. Dead Leaf.
Ji Zangyu also noticed the situation on the black rainbow. He stepped forward without thinking and wanted to fly up alone to check, but Yaleriga caught him in time.
"Take me with you," she said.
She felt that the plan to clear the cell fittings could be postponed for the time being. After all, they were already sure of victory, and she didn't want anything to happen to Ji Zangyu at this moment. So she climbed onto the red cloud with the baby in her arms and flew over with the boy.
They hovered at the level of the bridge peak, watching the huge arched cage melt in the fire. The windows used for ventilation and maintaining certain spells were burned and deformed. At first they looked like crying faces, but soon they collapsed and lost their shape.
In such deadly heat, those dead tree roots of unknown origin showed obviously extraordinary properties. They were almost burned to a pile of ashes, but they were still able to squirm and shrink tenaciously.
Ji Zangyu rode the red clouds and followed them in the direction of their pulsation. They came all the way to the interface between the black rainbow and the split peak on the right, and then followed the tree roots all the way down, heading straight into the shadows deep in the split valley.
The baby moved around in Yaleriga's arms, and the disgusting laughter started to come out of her mouth again. Among the noise he made, Yaleriga also heard another regular breath sound. It is slight but rapid, a bit like the gentle breathing of a living creature, and a bit like the rustling sound of forest trees being blown by the wind.
The sound came from a cave on the cliff. The edge of the cave wall was crowded with charred tree roots, and dense green light like fireflies came in and out of the gaps between the tree roots. Yaleriga recognized that they were the same thing that burned the Iron Skull Rainbow, but she was not sure why they followed the tree roots and came here.
She quickly got her answer. After following Ji Zangyu to burn the tree roots and get into the cave, they saw a bloated and pale translucent piece of meat deep in the cave. Its texture is somewhat like a jellyfish, but its body is covered with slender stems and it is convulsing in agony. Its transparent abdominal cavity is filled with fluid, and floating in the fluid is a small child's skull.
Ji Zangyu paused for a moment, as if he didn't expect to encounter such a vivid creature. But when Yaleriga saw this scene, she suddenly understood everything.
"This is the Duoling Tribe." She said to Ji Zangyu, "Their true form."
Pale tentacles poked into the undead roots nearby. They watched helplessly as the plants hidden deep in the cracks of the rocks twisted and intertwined, and finally weaved the outline of a small woman.
She was only half the length of Yaleriga's arm, lying quietly on top of the meat, hugging the belly of the meat with her hands. Then another tentacle reached into the crack in the ground and fished out a dead head that had not yet completely decomposed. The tree roots penetrated into the head from the ear canal, and the head suddenly opened its eyes.
"You've found it," it said in a hoarse, off-key voice. Yalerga had never heard that voice before, but it did not prevent her from recognizing its owner.
"Mrs. Dead Leaf," she called softly.
The little female body lying on the piece of meat moved a little, but still did not let go of her embrace. The head shook and laughed dryly.
"Dreven shouldn't have caught you," the head said.
Ji Zangyu ignored Ren Tou's words. He strode forward and walked to the side of the piece of meat. When he inserted his hand into the belly of the meat block, the tree-root female body lying on the meat block began to beat and pull him crazily. But the force was too slight, allowing Ji Zangyu to easily pull out the skull from the meat.
The head began to sob and the baby laughed loudly.
"Eili! Eili!" said the baby, "come back!"
The head shouted: "Give it back to me!"
Ji Zangyu raised the skull indifferently amid the two noises. He turned it silently, studied it for a moment, and finally nodded affirmatively.
"Elites." He said, "Follow me. Go to Baihe Youzhou."
