"In conclusion, we should descend the mountain first," Wu Tianzhen retracted his chin, steadying himself. "Avalanches could happen here at any moment; it's too unsafe. We must leave."
"Xiao Ge—"
"...Xiao Ge?"
Zhang Qiling stared fixedly at the towering bronze gate, the Ghost Seal he had taken out at some point emitting a faint black glow in the white snow.
The light from Yingzhou days ago reappeared in his eyes. With a slight shift of his feet, he looked as though he was about to leap from the mountain.
But soon, he glanced up at the precarious snow accumulation on the mountaintop, and some of the urgency in his eyes diminished.
He put the Ghost Seal back into his bag and finally turned to Wu Tianzhen and Fatty.
"First, we go down the mountain."
After saying this, Zhang Qiling took the lead and walked ahead.
Wu Tianzhen watched his retreating figure, his hand, which hung by his side, clenching unconsciously.
He gritted his teeth and followed, only to hear Fatty's confused whisper beside him: "What does Xiao Ge mean by this? Is he not looking for that thing anymore?"
It felt as though something was violently stirring in his mind, his brain matter and tissue a chaotic mess, buzzing loudly. Wu Tianzhen suppressed his voice fiercely, his words squeezed out as if from a crack in his chest:
"No, he won't give up."
"He just thinks there might be an avalanche here and doesn't want to leave us behind to go first."
Fatty was momentarily speechless, and a deep silence fell between the two.
—
Without a word, the passage of time seemed to accelerate. Soon, the foot of the mountain was within sight. The familiar black figure waited there silently, the damnable Ghost Seal in his hand persistently flashing, like a harbinger of doom.
"Xiao Ge." Wu Tianzhen saw Zhang Qiling turn to look at him. His gaze remained placid, neither happy nor sad, with only that long-awaited trace of urgency, devoid of any other emotional fluctuation. For a moment, Wu Tianzhen felt something lodge itself in his chest, congealing into a thick, unyielding reluctance.
"...You want to enter, that gate?"
Zhang Qiling paused, as if hesitant, but finally nodded gently.
"It's not like that, Tianzhen, don't rush!" Fatty, sensing the situation was amiss, quickly tried to placate him. He patted Wu Tianzhen's back. "Xiao Ge isn't not coming back. It's just entering a door; he'll be out soon!"
"Is that right, Xiao Ge?"
Fatty turned to look at Zhang Qiling, his eyes filled with an indescribable hope. He wasn't as sensitive as Wu Tianzhen and thus hadn't felt such anxiety.
But Zhang Qiling, under his gaze, lowered his eyes.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?!!! If you don't know, then why are you—!"
Wu Tianzhen was about to lunge forward and grab him by the collar to demand an explanation. Fatty was also shocked, but seeing Wu Tianzhen's unstable emotions, he could only turn to restrain him.
"Wait, Tianzhen, wait!"
"Tianzhen—!!!"
After a brief struggle, Wu Tianzhen finally managed to calm down, though it wasn't true calmness. It was more like an emotional cooling after excessive anger.
He took a deep breath, feeling as though his body no longer belonged to him. His soul seemed to float beside his physical form as a detached observer, silently witnessing this silent yet hysterical farce.
"...Can you not go? Xiao Ge?" His voice softened, sounding pleading. He didn't cry, but his eyes were rimmed with red.
Zhang Qiling felt a moment of unease. He pursed his lips, wanting to offer some comfort, but found himself without words. In the end, he could only silently gaze at Wu Tianzhen, and then at Fatty, whose expression was heavy with sorrow.
"You—" Wu Tianzhen, seeing his unyielding demeanor, felt his temper flare again. Just as he was about to speak, his vision flashed, and a burst of colorful light erupted in the distance.
This colorful light came from the bronze gate far away, but he incongruously remembered the bronze tree, the colored halo, and the materialized substance (Zhang Qiling) that had rushed into it.
In that instant, panic overwhelmed his anger. He instinctively reached out to grab Zhang Qiling's sleeve, but stopped halfway.
...It wasn't just him. Fatty, Feixue, Baiyun, even the air seemed to freeze at this moment.
An invisible force descended, forcefully gripping everything that moved, leaving only the damned colorful light emanating from the distant bronze gate.
...No, that's not right. Xiao Ge.
Xiao Ge could still move!!!
Wu Tianzhen desperately wanted to speak, to shout at the top of his lungs, but he couldn't move. Damn it, he really couldn't move!
"There's no more time..."
A soft whisper. Zhang Qiling looked at everything in bewilderment, at the increasingly rapid flashing of the Ghost Seal, as if suddenly realizing something.
...The bronze gate was closing.
He turned to leave. After a few steps, he seemed to remember something and turned his head to say a word.
Wu Tianzhen's ears were ringing, unable to hear or understand anything.
He stared intently at the shape of the lips, struggling to discern—
(Thank, you)
Zhang Qiling left, his figure disappearing into the vast whiteness, into the colorful light.
...He looked like some heroic figure descending on a cloud of seven colors.
Wu Tianzhen wanted to laugh, but he couldn't move. He wanted to cry, but he also couldn't move.
...Thank you?
What the hell are you thanking me for?!!! What do you mean, Zhang Qiling, what the hell do you mean?!!!
After an unknown period, a sudden gust of wind howled in his ears, and cold snow pelted his face. Wu Tianzhen stumbled and fell into the snow.
The stillness of the world was broken.
A deafening roar echoed from the distance as the massive bronze gate slowly closed, all the colorful light concealed behind the heavy doors.
He went in?
He went in.
"Zhang Qiling—!!!" Wu Tianzhen struggled to get up, his voice hoarse and desperate. This was the first time he had shouted Zhang Qiling's full name.
"You damn it, Zhang Qiling!!!!!"
The bronze gate vanished, as if erased from mid-air with an eraser, leaving not a trace.
But the tremor it left behind as it disappeared was far greater than its appearance. The violent shaking swept over them like waves, making it almost impossible to stand.
And the snow accumulation overhead, under this violent tremor, finally cracked and cascaded down, obscuring the sky!
"Tianzhen... Tianzhen!" Fatty tried to grab the frantic Wu Tianzhen. "Run, run!"
But Wu Tianzhen was now overwhelmed by emotion, unable to hear anything.
With a "bang," his body slumped down. Fatty, with a resolute heart, had knocked Wu Tianzhen unconscious.
Picking him up, Fatty cast one last look at the place where the bronze gate had been, gritted his teeth tightly, and fled into the wind and snow.