She watched as Long Di retrieved the beast skin when, to their surprise, it flew out of his hand before pasting itself onto the shield.

Shing!

A red glow enveloped the entire group in an instant.

****

The beast-skin shone red, releasing an intense glow that cast its radiance on everyone present.

Before long, the runes swimming on the shield started moving erratically. Soon enough, they rearranged into the shape of an arch below the beast-skin.

The lines or veins that were upon the beast-skin shuddered when, before the astonished gazes of the group. They then snaked their way off the beast-skin onto the shield it was plastered on.

They crept in between the runes that formed the arch before the entire archway was covered in pulsating veins. After this, they sank into the shield, becoming cracks that swept across the surface.

Pli-Pling!

The sound of glass cracking resounded, matching the rhythm of the veins’ pulsation. After a period, light peeked through the cracks and it only grew brighter as the sound reverberated until…

Pssshh!

The section of the shield, encompassed by the arch, shattered, revealing a clear path to the area where the Earth Flame occupied.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a powerful heatwave surged forth that threatened to incinerate even Long Di’s qi shield as it glowed a scorching red.

“This is interesting,” Long Di commented. “The heatwave alone is nearly comparable to the flames from before.”

“So… you said you have a plan, right?” Yaomu Shou cast an inquisitive look all over.

“More like plan… ish,” Long Di corrected.

“Gonna be truthful here,” Yaomu Shou shot him a look. “Plan… ish sounds pretty off the cuff and unreliable.”

Long Di stared at her, confused but still indifferent. “How do you know what a cuff is?”

She shrugged in response, “You used the phrase once in passing and, I dunno, it sounds pretty apt.”

Long Di didn’t think too much about it after that and turned his attention to Shen Ling and Xiannu Liang. “Okay, so here’s the thing…”

Yaomu Shou, who was standing to the side, slowly widened her eyes in understanding, “Nooo…”

Long Di looked all over but avoided Yaomu Shou’s and Xiannu Liang’s eyes, “Yyeeeaaahh… so hear me out…”

It wasn’t long before Xiannu Liang’s eyes widened in realisation, “Y-Y-You can’t be serious. J-Joking… y-you’re joking, right?”

“Ha ha haaa?”

Yaomu Shou raised a trembling finger in fear, “You couldn’t be thinking about asking us to-”

“Just a few minutes more.”

Xiannu Liang exploded, “Not on your life!”

Long Di raised a finger, “How about yours then?”

“Screw you!” Yaomu Shou ran away at breakneck speed.

Shu!

Long Di rushed after her at full speed and caught up to her, grabbing her by the hem of her robe.

“Nooooo!! Let me go! Waaaaa!!” Yaomu Shou ugly-cried as she fell to the ground with her nails digging into the ground.

“Ssshhhh,” Long Di tried to quietly shush her. “It’ll be over soon.”

As he said this, Long Di grabbed her by the foot, dragging her towards Shen Ling and Xiannu Liang, the latter of which took a step back in trepidation.

“Please don’t run away.”

Shu!

“Aaand you ran away,” said Long Di as he stared at her retreating figure.

This didn’t make much sense for either of them, considering that the heat outside the qi shield (that none of them got out of) was enough to burn them to cinders.

Then again, considering that they would rather choose a smelly friction-filled fate, this may define their conviction and resolve.

Whoosh

A gentle gust of spiritual force wrapped around her body and brought her back even as her legs continued to run in the opposite direction.

“Nooooooo!!!!”

As she came closer, Long Di tried his best to comfort her, whispering, “Don’t fight it. Just let it happen.”

Obviously, this didn’t work. The increased crying and the random flailing of limbs proved this. All in all, the entire scene was very comical to anyone that saw this.

Shen Ling saw all this as it happened and remained speechless. Long Di was doing this for their good, sure, but it sounded… dangerous without context. She didn’t know how to feel about it.

“This is against our consent!”

That about sums it up.

Nothing here was consensual, and boy did it show as Long Di grabbed two young girls against their will to drag them into a dark place where no one could hear their screams. Suffice it to say, this was not okay… without context.

Soon enough, he dropped both of them before Shen Ling and said to her, “take em away.”

“Noooo!” Both Xiannu Liang and Yaomu Shou shouted in defiance.

“You do realise once I release the shield, the heat outside it may very well kill you,” advised Long Di.

Yaomu Shou reasoned with Long Di, “What IS death really?”

“Y-Yeah!” Xiannu Liang hastily agreed. “I mean… is death all THAT bad?”

“Yaomu Shou, Xiannu Liang.” Long Di called their names out, plunging both girls into silence.

Long Di rarely did anything that was considered serious. So though Xiannu Liang and Yaomu Shou hadn’t travelled with him long enough to understand his subtle nuances like Shen Ling and the others did, they could immediately tell that he wasn’t joking this time.

“I’m sorry girls, but I would rather you stay in the world of the living. So please go with Shen Ling. She’ll keep you safe and alive. Please.”

Hearing Long Di’s plea, Xiannu Liang and Yaomu Shou looked at each other before turning their attention back to him.

“We really don’t like it there,” Xiannu Liang advised.

Long Di nodded, “I know.”

“So we’re doing this for you.” Yaomu Shou pointed a finger at him.

“And I appreciate that,” nodded Long Di once more.

Yaomu Shou’s finger fell and both girls stood up before falling by Shen Ling’s side. The latter held her hands out for both girls to take, but Xiannu Liang and Yaomu Shou looked at the extended hand and smirked.

Shen Ling felt a shudder run down her spine upon seeing their expressions, “What are you-”

Before she could react, both Xiannu Liang and Yaomu Shou pounced on Shen Ling and wrapped their arms and legs around her!

“What are you doing!?” Obviously, Shen Ling wasn’t expecting this.

“If we’re gonna be feeling uncomfortable, then you’re gonna feel uncomfortable right alongside us!” Yaomu Shou said, still indignant about having to go back to what she can only describe as hell.

Shen Ling didn’t even try to argue with Yaomu Shou, she was nowhere near qualified. Realising this, she turned her attention to the Nymph, who embraced her even tighter than Shen Ling, “Xiannu Liang, let go of me, please.”

Xiannu Liang repeatedly shook her head in resolute defiance.

“Sighs…”

Releasing a breath in defeat, the stars in Shen Lings flickered and before long, a thin mist of darkness enveloped the trio.

However, they were still visible, and Long Di decided to see how Shen Ling and the others entered the abyss.

He paid particular attention to Shen Ling. The stars that were flickering in her eyes so lively before, had slowed down and were starting to dim.

While the stars dimmed and the radiance in her eyes fell, the thin dark mist darkened, obscuring their figures.

When the stars in her eyes went out, the mist completely veiled them and Long Di rose an eyebrow at what he saw.

It was like a stain had appeared out of nowhere and disrupted the natural order. Or maybe it was just too much of the natural order.

Where before there were Shen Ling and the others, was now a section that scarred space, a type of darkness or blight upon it. As a matter of fact, it went beyond just staining space; it stained reality itself.

In addition, this was far too profound to be described as darkness. As even when Long Di closed his eyes, he could still see the ‘darkness’ of the abyss within the darkness of his closed eyes. It was a jarring thing to witness, but he understood that the level of this phenomenon was at a level far beyond the current him.

The ‘stain’ didn’t move, it was static and was glaringly obvious. This was why Shen Ling had dragged them into the shadows earlier. The cover of the shadows, though it couldn’t hide the ‘darkness’ of the abyss, it was enough to blur its presence. For two experts who had focused their attention on Long Di through and through, this was an effective method to shield them from discovery.

“Alright, I guess that’s it.”

Seeing all that he needed to see, Long Di flicked his finger and dispelled the qi shield.

Whoosh!