On the other side, Dou Mu Xie leaped into the void beneath the chessboard, carrying Lian on his back.
After being kicked down, the Longevity Deer drifted aimlessly in the void, its four legs paddling frantically as if it were swimming, but it was completely unable to find its bearings.
Everything around was pitch black; nothing could be seen.
Only in the far distance did faint glimmers occasionally flash, resembling stars or perhaps something else entirely.
Scared out of its wits, the Longevity Deer's antlers flashed frantically with moonlight, illuminating a small area around it.
However, the moonlight dispersed quickly in the void, vanishing before it could reach very far.
“Wuuu, wuuu—”
The Longevity Deer let out a series of terrified cries that echoed through the void, traveling far before bouncing back from all directions in an eerie resonance.
Chen Zhou leaped down from the edge of the chessboard. Expanding his Ghost Domain, gray-white mist enveloped his body, allowing him to hover steadily in the void.
He glanced down at the pitch-black darkness below, where nothing was visible.
Looking back up, the chessboard had shrunk to a tiny speck of light, flickering dimly in the direction of the Celestial Maiden Spring.
The Golden Dragon spoke softly to remind him, “My Lord, this should be the underground space of the ruins of the Ancient Kingdom of Southern Tang.”
“I can feel the flow of the ley lines.”
Chen Zhou nodded.
He too could feel energy surging deep within the void, slow and lingering.
Lian lay flat on Dou Mu Xie's back, her hands tightly gripping his antlers, her face pale.
She did not dare to look down, but she could sense that something deep within the void was watching her.
The gaze felt familiar, as if she had known it long ago.
Yet she could not recall where she had seen it.
Dou Mu Xie stood in the void, his four hooves treading upon silver-white moonlight, as steady as if he were standing on solid ground.
He walked back to the Longevity Deer, lowered his head, and pointed toward a certain direction with the tip of his antler.
There was nothing in that direction—only endless darkness.
Chen Zhou frowned. “What's over there?”
Dou Mu Xie gave a soft cry in response to Chen Zhou, then glanced at Lian on his back.
“Does it have to do with Lian?”
Dou Mu Xie nodded. He then grabbed the Longevity Deer's ear with his mouth, pulled it up from the ground, and nudged it in that direction.
The Longevity Deer's expression changed drastically. It shook its head violently, backing away while letting out a series of rapid, panicked cries.
They wanted it to use Shrinking Earth again?
No way, it would die!
The innate talent of Shrinking Earth consumed an immense amount of energy. Under normal circumstances, using it once every seven days was already the limit.
Making it use it twice in a single day—did they think it had lived too long?
Unmoved, Dou Mu Xie continued to push it forward, the flames in his eye sockets staring at it coldly.
Trembling with fear, the Longevity Deer resigned itself to its fate with an aggrieved look, and the silver-white glow on its antlers lit up once more.
Gritting its teeth, the light on its antlers coalesced into a massive silver ring.
The ring spun faster and faster, eventually tearing open a rift in the void.
Within the rift was a patch of chaos.
It was impossible to make out what lay inside, save for countless flickering specks of light. Dou Mu Xie walked up to the rift, peered into the chaos, and then turned back to call out to Chen Zhou.
With that, Dou Mu Xie stepped into the rift first, carrying Lian on his back.
Chen Zhou followed closely behind.
The world inside the rift was very bizarre.
Those star-like specks of light seemed alternately near and far, elusive and shifting.
Dou Mu Xie led the way, his four hooves treading on silver-white moonlight as he forged a faint path through the chaos.
The path was extremely narrow, wide enough for only one person to pass at a time.
On either side lay an endless, bottomless void. Occasionally, strange things could be seen drifting past.
They looked like buildings, corpses, or twisted monsters, but they all flashed past too quickly to be seen clearly.
Walking behind Dou Mu Xie, Chen Zhou vigilantly observed their surroundings.
He could sense that many things were hidden within this chaos.
Some were ancient, some were powerful, and some were incredibly eerie.
Yet none of them drew near; they merely watched from a distance, as if wary of something.
Were they wary of Dou Mu Xie's moonlight?
Or was it something else?
Dou Mu Xie twisted and turned through the chaos, his route entirely devoid of any pattern.
One moment he went left, the next right, then up, then down.
Sometimes, even though there was clearly nothing ahead, he would make a wide detour.
Other times, when a mass of pitch-black darkness blocked the way, he would pass straight through it.
Chen Zhou could not comprehend his logic, but he chose to trust him.
After walking for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Dou Mu Xie finally came to a halt.
Standing at the edge of the chaos, he looked down.
Below was a bottomless abyss of darkness, completely devoid of sight.
Dou Mu Xie leaped forward, plunging into the darkness.
Without hesitation, Chen Zhou jumped down after him.
The sensation of falling lasted for a long time—so long that Chen Zhou began to think they would fall forever.
Then, a dull thud came from beneath his feet as he landed on solid ground.
Chen Zhou stabilized his posture and looked around.
The place was a ruin.
All around were collapsed buildings, fractured walls, rotting wooden beams, and shattered tiles.
The air was thick with a damp, decaying odor, suggesting that no one had set foot here in a very long time.
Dou Mu Xie stood not far away, waiting for him with Lian still on his back.
The Longevity Deer was the last to descend.
Its landing posture was unsightly—it practically crashed down, its four legs unable to support its weight as it collapsed flat onto the ground.
The glow on its antlers had completely died out. The entire deer lay slumped on the ground like a pile of mush, its tongue hanging out, eyes rolled back, and its breath so faint it seemed ready to expire at any moment.
Chen Zhou walked over, squatted down, and checked its condition.
The drain on its energy was indeed far too severe.
An innate talent like Shrinking Earth defied the natural order, so it was only natural that it consumed a colossal amount of energy.
To use it twice in one day—the old deer had truly risked its life.
Chen Zhou patted the old deer's head. Retrieving a handful of Flesh-Reconstitution Pills from his system storage, he squatted down, pried open the Longevity Deer's mouth, and stuffed them all inside.
The Longevity Deer instinctively chewed a couple of times before swallowing.
A few breaths later, its complexion improved slightly and its eyes stopped rolling back, but it remained sprawled on the ground, unwilling to budge even an inch.
Chen Zhou smiled. “Thank you for your hard work. Rest up first.”
The Longevity Deer let out a weak cry in response.
Chen Zhou stood up and walked toward Dou Mu Xie again.
Dou Mu Xie had already let Lian down. He stood in the center of the ruins, looking up at his surroundings.
Silver-white moonlight welled up from his body, spreading in all directions and illuminating the entire ruins.
Only then did Chen Zhou get a clear view of the area.
It appeared to be an underground city. Palaces, pavilions, streets, squares... everything still retained its original shape, though they had been eroded beyond recognition by the passage of time.
The ground was thick with dust, and the air was heavy with decay, yet the city's former grandeur was still faintly discernible.
He had seen this place during his divination of Xuan Cai. This was indeed the ruins of the Ancient Kingdom of Southern Tang.
Dou Mu Xie walked toward the deeper parts of the ruins.
Chen Zhou followed.
Lian walked beside Chen Zhou, looking around curiously as they went.
“My Lord, this place is so ancient,” she said softly.
“These structures must be over ten thousand years old, right? The style of these buildings is so similar to the Western Region from a long, long time ago, but it looks much older than the Western Region.”
“Much older,” the Golden Dragon poked its head out and said. “The Ancient Kingdom of Southern Tang is a nation from over a hundred thousand years ago.”
“Over a hundred thousand years already...” Lian clicked her tongue in awe. “Back then, I wasn't even dust.”
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