Silence spread. Nan Gongyu was not in a hurry.
When the fourth watch bell chimed, Lei Tianze walked to the edge of the cliff and signaled for Nan Gongyu to follow.
Nan Gongyu stepped forward. The cliff below was pitch black, and nothing could be seen. But Lei Tianze plunged down. Nan Gongyu reached out to grab him but was a step too late.
"What madness is this!" Nan Gongyu asked angrily.
"Come down." Lei Tianze's voice echoed from below the cliff. Nan Gongyu was silent for a moment, then leaped, following him down. The cold wind from below the cliff was like a sharp blade, stinging his cheeks.
In mid-air, many iron cages hung. Some were empty, others held people. Tianze grabbed an empty cage and hung in the air. Nan Gongyu followed suit, grasping an iron chain to stabilize his falling body.
"What place is this?"
"Prison Cliff," Tianze said slowly, sitting on a cage. "This is where disciples of the Tianxuan Sect who have committed offenses are imprisoned, as well as villains captured from outside by Tianxuan Sect disciples."
"Is Yu Ju's soul also sealed here?" Nan Gongyu inquired.
"Yes." Tianze pointed downwards. "At the very bottom of Prison Cliff is the sealing place of Yu Ju's soul. However, the Tianxuan Sect's seal is the strongest of the three great sealing grounds. Even I cannot break it."
"So, I can't take Yu Ju's soul away?"
"Whether you can take it away depends on your own abilities," Tianze said slowly. "However, let me state clearly, I cannot help you. The only thing I can do is tell you the location."
"It's already very good that you can tell me the location." Nan Gongyu stood on the cage and looked down the seemingly bottomless Prison Cliff. "I'll go down now."
"Nan Gongyu, think it through before you go down. It's not as simple as you think down there," Tianze warned Nan Gongyu. "If you perish here, it would be a good thing for me."
"Dream on." Nan Gongyu glanced at Tianze. "Last time I was too foolish and fell for your trick. This time, you won't have a chance to win."
Tianze did not reply, only watched Nan Gongyu leap down, then sighed deeply.
"Kid, what grudge do you have against him for setting him up like this?" an aged voice rang out.
"This is not me setting him up, but him seeking his own doom," Tianze said quietly. "I already told him it was dangerous down there, but he wouldn't listen."
"If you didn't want him to go down, he wouldn't have had the chance," the old man imprisoned in the cage said in a low, hoarse voice. "Kid, so many years have passed, and your schemes are still as plentiful as ever."
"It's not that I have many schemes, but I know that whether I brought him here or not, he would have come. Rather than let him cause chaos in the Tianxuan Sect, it's better to show him the way. Perhaps there's a sliver of hope," Tianze's tone held uncertainty. "The people of Tianxuan Sect cannot go to the very bottom, not even me. But he is not from the Tianxuan Sect, perhaps there's a chance."
"Perhaps?"
"Yes, the cages further down are made of meteor fire stone. For people of the Sky Profound Continent, it is an enemy. But for him, it is not."
"An outsider?" The old man's narrowed eyes suddenly snapped open. "Has the Celestial Mandate begun?"
Tianze nodded slowly. "Yes, the Celestial Mandate has begun."
"Then aren't you in danger?"
"My personal safety is no longer important. What matters is the safety of the Cangxuan Continent," Tianze said softly. "If the heavenly calculations are not wrong, the Celestial Mandate has begun. The Cangxuan Continent is about to be in chaos."
"Kid, this old man regrets teaching you to peep into the Heavenly Dao," the old man said abruptly. "You shouldn't have been involved in this matter."
"Since I'm already involved, let's not say useless things." Tianze looked at the old man. "The worst scenario is just the demise of Tianxuan."
"Everything you've done is for the sake of saving Cangxuan, isn't it? If Cangxuan perishes, all your efforts will be in vain," the old man sighed. "That child, how is she now?"
"I haven't seen her in ten years. I thought she would come here this time, but Nan Gongyu convinced her to go somewhere else," Tianze said with some helplessness. "I can't predict what she'll do, but precisely because I don't know, I can't calculate the consequences."
"Her destiny was never calculable to begin with," the old man leaned against the bars. "Is there any wine?"
Tianze took out a jar of wine from his spatial ring and handed it to the old man. "Fleeting Life Drunken Dream, the wine she brewed."
"Then I must have a good taste." The old man poured a cup, sniffed it, and drank it down, smacking his lips. "Good wine, truly good wine!"
"If you want to keep drinking such good wine, then pray for her safety."
"If my prayers can be of any use, then I am willing to pray for her day and night without rest, wishing her longevity as enduring as the heavens and eternal youth."
"That doesn't sound like a blessing, it sounds like a curse," Tianze frowned slightly, displeased with the old man's words.
The old man laughed. "A curse? In my eyes, this is as it should be. After all, she was born different from ordinary people." The old man said slowly. "Tianze, do you know why you were named Tianze back then?"
"The highest good is like water, benefiting all things," Tianze said softly. "Hoping I could be a person useful to all under heaven."
The old man smiled and took another sip of wine. "Tianze, don't you feel it's unfair?"
Tianze did not answer, but remained silent for a long time, perhaps not knowing how to respond.
Seeing Tianze's silence, the light in the old man's eyes dimmed. "It's still not too late to back out now."
"Back out?" Tianze sneered. "Are you asking me to watch my wife and child die with my own eyes?"
"That's not what I mean, I mean, you can choose..."
"From the moment I took the first step, I made my choice," Tianze said faintly. "And I have never regretted it, nor do I regret knowing her."
"Getting emotionally involved is a great taboo."
"If I have no emotions, then what difference am I from a piece of wood?" Tianze looked up at the hazy sky. The thick fog obscured everything above Prison Cliff except for the heavy mist. "In this life, I have loved deeply and possessed. There are no regrets now."
"Are there truly no regrets?" The old man let out a mocking laugh. "If there were no regrets, why would you have that expression? Unwilling, aren't you? Unwilling that everything you once loved and possessed would vanish. Or perhaps, deep down, you are actually very glad that the person who went down earlier is the one who went down."