The move came without warning.
The others only reacted when it was too late, trying to grab hold.
"Sister!" Si Qing, without a second thought, jumped into the opening after her.
An Nuo, Shao Feng, and Yan Hua followed closely.
The rest turned to instruct their clansmen to wait in place, and once everything was arranged, they too jumped down.
The bottom of this crevice seemed to be another space. Qi Yu and Chen Xi, their ankles grabbed and dragged down, continued to fall.
"Hold on tight!" Chen Xi, while falling, gripped Qi Yu's wrist and transformed her back into her smallest form, bundling her up and tucking her into his embrace.
His fingers morphed into claws, digging into the surrounding earth.
They slid down for more than ten meters, Chen Xi's grip still firmly lodged in the earth, until their descent finally stopped.
Qi Yu, protected within Chen Xi's robes, poked her head out once the falling ceased. "How strange. Where's the monster that dragged us down? Why did it run off after pulling us here? And where is this place? It doesn't look like the Demon Realm."
Yet, it held an ominous aura more terrifying than the Demon Realm.
It smelled of malevolent energy, more so than evil.
"I'm not sure where we are either," Chen Xi said, blinking and channeling all his spiritual energy through his eyes, emitting a spiritual light that illuminated every corner.
Qi Yu followed the light.
The sight was terrifying. Their surroundings were not ordinary earth, but skulls piled high.
Unprepared, Qi Yu met the gaze of a nearby skull and yelped in fright.
Chen Xi, his left foot on a skull and his left hand clinging to the rock face, held himself suspended. He patted Qi Yu's head with his other hand, quickly pressing her back into his embrace. "Hey, hey, don't be scared. They're just skulls. What's there to be afraid of? You startled me with your sudden shout."
Qi Yu shivered. "Is this hell? But it doesn't look like it."
"Rather than hell, this place is more like the lair of some malevolent spirits," Chen Xi said, looking around with his spiritual eyes. Everywhere the spiritual light touched, a layer of dark, malevolent energy arose.
That energy, like steam from boiling water, continuously drifted upwards. Looking down, they saw only dark, malevolent energy, as if one couldn't even open their eyes if they fell into it.
Qi Yu frowned deeply.
Chen Xi's expression was grim.
As they debated whether to take this opportunity to fall to the bottom and see what lay there, or to try and get out first, shouts came from above from Si Qing, Yan Hua, An Nuo, and Shao Feng.
"Qi Yu, Qi Yu, can you hear me?" An Nuo's voice trembled with anxiety, fearing Qi Yu might be hurt.
Shao Feng held An Nuo tightly, also calling out Qi Yu and Chen Xi's names, urging Si Qing to move slower.
"Sister! Sister, can you hear me?" Si Qing plummeted downwards, his hand, like Chen Xi's, gripping the rock face made of stacked skulls, sliding down. His dragon claws were still tender, and his fingertips were already bleeding.
Yan Hua, beside him, slid down in the same manner. After reaching a certain depth, he coiled his dragon tail around Chen Xi's waist.
"Are you alright?" Yan Hua looked down at Chen Xi. "Are you hurt? Where's Qi Yu?"
"Master, Master," Qi Yu poked her head out from Chen Xi's embrace. "I'm here. Fortunately, Lord Chen Xi protected me, so I'm not hurt."
Hearing Qi Yu's words, everyone above breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen Xi, hanging from Yan Hua's tail, retracted his left claws and looked up. "This place seems like a lair for malevolent spirits, full of evil energy and malevolence. Isn't this supposed to be a village where mortals live?"
Why would such filth lie beneath a place inhabited by mortals?
"I don't know, but this might be a remnant of an ancient battlefield. Can you still use your spiritual energy?" Yan Hua asked Chen Xi.
Chen Xi nodded. "My spiritual energy is not obstructed. I was actually planning to continue falling to see what was at the bottom."
But then he was caught by Yan Hua's dragon tail.
"Don't be reckless. Without any preparation, if you fall and the place suppresses your spiritual energy, how will you two get back up?" Yan Hua chided softly.
"Oh, I was wrong," Chen Xi said obediently, allowing himself to be coiled. "Then just pull both of us up."
Chen Xi relaxed his hands, resembling a limp fish, no longer willing to struggle.
Seeing that they were all safe, Si Qing finally let out a sigh of relief. But just in case, he shrunk himself down, like a small lizard, and crawled into Chen Xi's embrace, hugging Qi Yu tightly.
He had been so scared.
One moment his sister was there, the next she was gone.
Chen Xi didn't mind an extra small one in his arms, lazily looking up and urging Yan Hua to move faster.
Yan Hua rolled his eyes, flicked his tail, and pulled them up, then lifted Chen Xi by his collar.
Yue Zhiyin and the others flew upwards, leaving the crevice.
It took nearly three sticks of incense before they all returned to the surface.
As Chen Xi's feet touched the ground, Qi Yu and Si Qing eagerly scrambled out of his embrace.
They were met with a warm embrace from An Nuo and Shao Feng.
"Thank goodness you two are alright," An Nuo sighed in relief, tightening her grip on them.
Shao Feng walked over to the crevice and looked at the grim-faced Yan Hua, lowering his voice. "Lord Yan Hua, we didn't see the monster that dragged Lord Chen Xi and Qi Yu down. Do you think it hid in a deeper place? How could such a monster appear beneath a village for no reason? Could someone have summoned it?"
"It doesn't seem like it. I think it was attracted by the curse above," Yan Hua said calmly, his dragon tail still wrapped around Chen Xi's waist. "This curse must be resolved quickly, otherwise, it might attract many malevolent spirits."
Shao Feng fell silent.
Everyone wanted to resolve the curse quickly, but the problem was that it didn't seem easily solvable, especially since it was set by supreme immortal techniques, the work of laws or the heavenly dao.
Though they didn't understand why these two would do such a thing, many people in the mortal realm would likely die unjustly this time.
Everyone wore a look of despair.
Chen Xi glanced at Yan Hua, then looked away, only to glance again a moment later.
He kept glancing until Yan Hua couldn't help but turn to look at him.
Chen Xi then tapped Yan Hua's dragon tail wrapped around his waist and said leisurely, "Hey, Yan, how long are you planning to keep me coiled up?"