Chapter 64: Danger Amidst Dangers, Laughing at the Beauty of Death

Love is the most unpredictable of all—sometimes painful, sometimes sweet, sometimes joyful, and sometimes sorrowful. (Gu Long)
……
“How’s it? Is it tasty?” Liu Yi asked, while chewing on the snake meat in his hand, testing his own cooking skills.
July replied while eating, “If someone is extremely hungry and has no food, I guess eating raw human flesh must taste great too.”
Liu Yi, who was still eating, suddenly felt nauseous. He glanced at July and thought to himself, “A witch is still a witch—better to stay quiet.” Deciding so, Liu Yi stopped talking and slowly savored the snake meat while admiring the rain outside the cave.
Suddenly, July asked, “Can you tell me what love is?”
Caught off guard by this sudden question, Liu Yi stopped chewing and stared at her…
July also looked at Liu Yi, her cold eyes showing no emotion at all. She continued, “You don’t know either?”
Liu Yi shook his head. “The sacred texts don’t mention it. Perhaps it requires personal understanding.”
July took out a handkerchief, wiped her mouth, and said, “I’m done eating. Now tell me your understanding.”
Liu Yi took another bite and said, “Well, it’s vague and unclear. Once love arises, I think no force can stop it. It might bring happiness or sorrow. When love comes, you may not know anything, but when it fades, you’ll definitely realize it.”
July shook her head. “I don’t quite understand. Why would happiness bring sorrow? If you don’t know when it comes, why do you definitely know when it’s gone?”
Liu Yi wiped his mouth with his sleeve and looked at the rain outside. “I’m not sure either. When two people are together, they’re very happy. A single word from her, or even a slight gesture, can make the world seem wonderful. But when you can’t see each other, endless longing and painful torment follow… Hehe, actually, I don’t know much either.”
July asked further, “Tell me how you met Jillier.”
Looking at July’s serious expression, Liu Yi said, “Well… I guess I should thank fate. I was just an ordinary scholar from the south. Later, because the emperor’s ninth princess lost my painting, I got involved in this world of martial arts… That’s how it happened.” Liu Yi recounted how he met Jillier, but by the time he finished, July had already fallen asleep against the wall.
Seeing July’s pale face, he realized she must be very tired.
Liu Yi kept the fire going and lay down as well. But when he closed his eyes, Jillier’s face appeared before him again…
He didn’t know how long he had slept or what time it was. In this underground world without sunlight, the only light came from some dim glow reflecting from somewhere. Liu Yi opened his eyes and sat up.
But he didn’t see July. He didn’t know where she had gone again. He didn’t bother to look for her—after all, the island was small, so she couldn’t have gone far.

At that moment, a breeze stirred Liu Yi’s hair. This gentle wind caught Liu Yi’s attention because it wasn’t coming from outside the cave but from inside—what did that mean? There might be a secret room or a hidden passage inside the cave. Liu Yi slowly stood up and followed the direction from which the wind was blowing…

Liu Yi picked up the torch on the ground and explored further. As the soft wind continued to blow, he finally found a tiny hole about the thickness of a finger in a corner of the cave. Looking through the hole, there was only white light—nothing else was visible.

Liu Yi pushed hard, but the stone wall remained unyielding. He quickly ran out of the cave and searched everywhere for Qi Yue…

Under the dim sky, a faint light reflected off the yellow-clad girl. She wore a long sword at her waist and gazed at the endless underground ocean, her eyes filled with endless disappointment and sorrow.

Liu Yi shouted loudly, “Miss Qi Yue, come and see! I found something behind this cave—maybe it’s an exit. We might be able to get out.”

Hearing this, Qi Yue rushed over and asked anxiously, “Where?”

Liu Yi quickly pointed in the direction inside the cave and led the way.

Qi Yue knocked on the stone wall and suddenly said, “It’s empty inside. I think it’s either a secret room or a hidden passage.”

Liu Yi added, “I tried earlier, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t break through this stone wall. Maybe my cultivation level isn’t enough.”

Qi Yue glanced at Liu Yi, then took out a barrel-like object from a small yellow bag hanging at her waist. It was about the thickness of a fist and two inches long, with the heads of ancient magical beasts carved on both the front and back—looking extremely terrifying.

Liu Yi asked, “What is this?”

Qi Yue placed the barrel under the stone wall and said, “This is something unique to our demonic sect. It’s called ‘God-Eating Thunder.’ Although it’s only this big, its power is astonishing. I believe it can easily blow open such a stone door.”

Qi Yue said, “Let’s go out.”

Liu Yi hurriedly followed her out, afraid that if they moved too slowly, they might be blown up by the ‘God-Eating Thunder.’

After walking about ten feet away from the cave entrance, Qi Yue drew her purple sword and said, “I hope it can blow it open. Otherwise, we really won’t have any way out.”

Liu Yi asked, “Did you bring just one thunder bomb?”

Qi Yue looked at Liu Yi and replied, “I have quite a few ‘God-Eating Thunders,’ but to trigger an explosion, I need to gather strong vital energy to concentrate the force elements. My vital energy is limited, so even if I were to detonate one, I’d be extremely weak.”

Liu Yi didn’t say anything, just nodded…

Qi Yue casually formed a series of sword movements. As strange sequences of sword techniques appeared, her sword gradually emitted purple light. Liu Yi was stunned—how beautiful! The movements were like a dance. Combined with Qi Yue’s attire, it wasn’t so much about gathering vital energy as it was a truly beautiful dance!

Suddenly, July stopped. She stood upright, raising her long sword with her right hand, while her left hand’s middle and index fingers slowly moved forward along the sword’s blade. A purple light began to gather continuously, growing denser and brighter. But looking at July, her left hand was already trembling, and sweat beads could be seen on her forehead. This method of concentrating true energy was extremely difficult.

With a swish, a purple light similar to the sword in July’s hand was sent out, heading straight for the “God-Devouring Thunder.” At the moment of collision, a loud roar echoed as the ground began to shake, as if the entire island was about to collapse.

July had expended too much of her true energy. With the ground shaking, she could no longer stand and collapsed backward… Just as she fell, a strong arm wrapped around her slender waist, lifting her up. Yet there was no coverage between her upper and lower bodies. As the hand touched her flat waist, it trembled as it tried to support her. The ground stopped shaking, and Liu Yiru quickly pulled his hand back as if shocked.

July’s face was pale. She glanced at Liu Yiru and said, “Let’s go in and see if there really is a passage.”

Liu Yiru led the way, with July following slowly behind. There was still some dust in the cave. Liu Yiru stepped over the debris on the ground and headed inward…

At the entrance, Liu Yiru stopped. It was a square-shaped passage. It was unclear what the walls were made of, but they emitted a white light. Clearly, this passage continued underground. Liu Yiru began to wonder if the person who created this underground labyrinth intended to dig a hole through the world.

July looked around and said, “We can’t see the end. This passage is so long.”

Liu Yiru took a few steps forward and said, “Yes, and it slopes downward quite steeply. Something feels off. There should be traps where there are secret passages. Right, there must be traps—many ancient books say that.”

July also stepped forward a few steps and said, “Is that so?” Suddenly, her foot sank as if she stepped on something. At that moment, the cave behind July roared, and a stone door fell from above, closing again. As the door descended, the white ground seemed to rotate, becoming steeper and steeper. Liu Yiru hurriedly said, “This is bad.” He stretched his limbs out in all directions to support himself in the square passage. July also quickly drew her purple long sword and plunged it into the stone wall. The moment they completed these actions, the square passage had turned into a vertical shaft like a well, with no bottom in sight. If they fell in, it was uncertain whether their bones would remain intact.

July looked down at Liu Yiru and said, “You bookworm! What else do the ancient books say? What should we do now?”

Liu Yiru struggled to hold on, sweat already on his forehead. He said, “The ancient books don’t say how to disable the traps. I don’t know what to do either. But I know I won’t be able to hold on much longer before falling. Maybe I’ll be crushed to pieces.”

Seeing Liu Yiru’s strained expression, July suddenly laughed…

After speaking, Liu Yi suddenly looked up and saw July’s lips curl slightly. Her thin, pure lips were full of temptation, and her white teeth were perfectly aligned. She smiled, and Liu Yi was utterly captivated. From the moment he met July until now, he had never seen her smile before. He never expected her to smile at such a time.

Liu Yi looked at July and said, “Are you happy? We’re about to die, yet you can still smile.”

July’s face remained pale, but that paleness couldn’t hide her stunning beauty or her enchanting smile. She said, “For over a decade, I’ve never experienced what happiness is. I don’t know why I can smile now that I’m about to die. I’m running out of strength. I think I’ll die before you.”

Sweat beads began to roll down Liu Yi’s face as he looked at July above and said, “That won’t happen. I’m below you. I think I’ll die first.”

July suddenly smiled again, seemingly very happy. On the brink of death, her smile was so pure. Who would care that she was a witch? July continued, “It’s really interesting. We’re about to die, yet we’re still discussing who will die first.”

At that moment, Liu Yi’s hand slipped downward, and he plummeted. His figure quickly disappeared into the passage around them. Only Liu Yi’s voice could be heard from below, “Miss July, I still have something to say to you…” The rest of his words were unheard, probably because he had fallen very deep.

The instant Liu Yi fell, July gently released her grip on the sword hilt. Without hesitation or thought, she rushed downward and shouted, “Is this romance?” The wind blew swiftly past her ears, as if this were the true bottomless abyss.

Gradually, July saw Liu Yi’s figure. Perhaps because she was wearing less clothing, she fell faster. At the moment of contact, she grabbed Liu Yi’s hand and shouted, “Answer my question.”

Amid the strong wind, Liu Yi barely managed to hear July’s words. Looking at the walls receding rapidly above, he laughed and said loudly, “If this is also romance, then it’s the romance of death. It should be called—the last romance.”

A faint smile appeared on July’s face. She said, “You said you had something to say to me just now.”

Liu Yi shouted, “I want to say that you should smile more often. You need to know how beautiful your smile is. If you don’t smile, the world will lose something truly beautiful.”

Gradually, the passage became wider and wider, with white clouds floating around and passing by constantly.

July could take it no longer. Her weak body fainted. In that subconscious world, she felt extremely happy, flying among the endless white clouds, flying on and on, toward death. She no longer had to worry about this virtual world. Someone was by her side, flying with her toward death. Suddenly, she felt a vague sense of happiness…

Surrounded by the white clouds, Liu Yi also began to lose his way gradually, losing consciousness. In his memories, he saw Jillian’s smile, but that smile grew farther and farther away, becoming increasingly blurred…