Even in the daytime, there were still gusts of fierce wind. When it blew through the valley, it made a whistling sound.
"This used to be a river," said Gongjia Heng. This river was called Xia River but it dried up and turned into a valley. That was why it was called 'Xia Valley'.
"Xia Valley is a sad place. It was fine when it was a river but when the river dried up and turned into a valley, it changed drastically. I heard that people never came out after entering Xia Valley."
Gongjia Heng had heard stories from his elders. Now that he saw it with his own eyes, it was different.
"It's Xia Valley after all. Shao Xuan, do you smell something special?" asked Heng.
"Stone?"
"It's the smell of death."
Gongjia Heng sighed meaningfully, then walked forward.
Gongjia Mountain was in Xia Valley but even so, there was an indescribable pressure as they walked through the valley.
There were no animals, only bare rocks on both sides. There was barely any vegetation. Previously in the forest, although there were no wild beasts, at least there were lush plants. But here, it was like a dead land with few people.
Did the Xia people used to live here?
Gongjia Heng said a long time ago, this place used to be a river so it must have been a good place to live. He just didn't know how it became like this.
"We'll leave after noon," said Gongjia Heng.
"Why?" asked Shao Xuan.
"We'll only find the door to Gongjia Mountain after noon."
Since Heng said so, Shao Xuan agreed. The Xia people knew more than he did. It was better than moving forward blindly.
The two of them left after noon.
The further they walked, the more familiar Shao Xuan felt. He thought back and remembered something. Shao Xuan had to admit that Heng was right. There was the smell of death here but at the same time, it was an opportunity for some people.
Shao Xuan could feel the presence of the core seed. It wasn't here, it was quite far away. However, Shao Xuan could feel the death aura of the core seed. Perhaps this barren and desolate valley with almost no other living creatures was caused by the core seed.
It was rumored that only the people of the Six Tribes possessed the Core Seed. Only a small number of the other tribes possessed it. Did the Xia people who had been scattered all over the world also possess the Core Seed?
No matter what, finding Gongjia Mountain might be the answer.
Just like the forest in front of them, this place was like an enhanced version of a maze. There were many forks in the road, and as they walked, they were blocked by the mountain walls. Shao Xuan couldn't just climb over them. He could still remember the original path, but if he climbed over, who knew what the road would be like?
Heng climbed up the wall but he didn't jump over it. He decided to walk. He didn't believe he couldn't get out of here.
Shao Xuan was unable to perform a successful divination. Just like the forest he had walked through earlier, he did not have enough ability to perform a divination. Therefore, he had to make up for it with other methods. Perhaps he would be able to obtain more information and perform a successful divination.
On their third trip to a sealed road, Heng sighed. "I've heard the elders of the tribe say that the Xia River is a very special river. Now I've finally seen it for myself."
The Xia River was naturally formed, not man-made. That was why it was so special. Now, there was no more water. The Xia River had become the Xia Valley, a natural maze.
Looking up, they saw the blue sky. It was so monotonous that they couldn't see any clouds. Around them was a lonely valley filled with the smell of death.
Shao Xuan and Heng would leave markings on the mountain walls along the way. After sunset, Heng stopped moving. They would only set off after noon the next day.
"If we don't find it soon, we'll starve to death," said Heng.
When they were in the forest, they would return to their original path. Even if they were hungry, they could temporarily leave to look for food. But here, if they got lost and couldn't return to their original path, it was easy to be trapped in this valley. Even if they jumped up the mountain and felt that they would definitely be able to walk along a line from a high place, they would unconsciously deviate from their direction. This was a very strange feeling. It was even easy to misjudge the direction because the sun in the sky was constantly changing. Sometimes it was one, sometimes it would suddenly become two, and sometimes there would be more. Even if there was only one sun, what the eyes saw might not necessarily be correct.
In a place like this, it would be difficult to survive if one's mental fortitude was not strong enough.
For three days, Shao Xuan and Heng walked in the Xia Valley but found nothing. They only had half a day to search every day. According to Heng, they could walk slowly as long as they used the right method. Unfortunately, there was nothing useful.
To save energy, they would find a place to rest after searching. Saving energy meant saving food. They only brought a limited amount of dried meat so it wouldn't last long.
When they came to a sealed road again, they saw a human skeleton. They didn't know how long this skeleton had been here. It must have belonged to a powerful person, at least a mid-level totemic warrior or a regular person would have broken it with a light tap.
Based on the skeleton's posture, it looked like this person had raised his arms and roared at the sky before he died. Even though the flesh was long gone, Shao Xuan could still see the unwillingness in this person's eyes.
"There are fewer and fewer Xia people searching for Gongjia Mountain now because most of them have died. Very few succeed," said Heng.
This was just the first skeleton. After that, Shao Xuan saw more skeletons. Someone had carved words on the walls but due to the passage of time, the words could no longer be seen clearly. Their last words could not be read and no one knew who they were. If they were lucky, they could guess from the rusted weapons. If the weapons were so rusted that they couldn't see the inscriptions, then there was nothing they could do. No matter how powerful they were, they wouldn't know who they were when they died.
Shao Xuan looked at the rusted weapons on the ground and got up to say to the solemn Heng, "We have to hurry or we'll have to go back. We don't have much food left."
"Mm, if we can't do it this time, I'll come again next time." Although he said that, Heng felt like the target was right in front of him. He just couldn't see it clearly. He didn't want to go back just like that. It was no wonder those who died died in that position. Some people were too stubborn and forced themselves to die even when it was beyond their capabilities. Perhaps most of them died of starvation. Heng was not sure.
How sad!
"Can you read it now?" asked Heng.
Shao Xuan shook his head.
The anticipation in Heng's eyes turned to disappointment, then to self-mockery. The longer he lived, the more backward he became. Didn't the Xia people rely on themselves? How could they place their hopes on others? Especially when the other party was an outsider.
Looking at the sky, Heng said, "That's it for today. We'll continue tomorrow." He could use Yang Guang's shadow and the ground's shadow, as well as the rocks on the walls to predict the location. However, it was too slow. He might starve to death before he could use this method to find Gongjia Mountain.
Sitting on the ground, Heng carefully took out a piece of jerky and drank some water from the flask. He thought about what to do next.
Shao Xuan was thinking too. Among the skeletons he saw today, there were some scattered bones. Shao Xuan guessed that they were probably eaten by others. When people were desperate, they would do something unexpected. Shao Xuan had seen this many times. The people who came to search for Gongjia Mountain all had different personalities. It was understandable that they would do something like this.
Shao Xuan did not want to starve to death here, nor did he want to chop Heng up and eat his flesh. If he couldn't find Gongjia Mountain, he would just go back. However, since he was here, he had to try his best.
For some reason, his readings had not been successful. Shao Xuan had to find another method.
Sensing carefully, he was surrounded by the aura of death from the core seed. However, it was not easy to pinpoint the location.
Should he use the totemic flame in his mind? That wouldn't work. This used to be Xia territory, it had nothing to do with Yanjiao. The totemic flame could not help him.
Shao Xuan was about to calm the totemic power in his body when he realised a sliver of power was gathering at his chest. When he opened his eyes, Shao Xuan saw a spark.
He took out the Elder's bone ornaments. Shao Xuan realised that all four bone ornaments were burning. There was no wind but the flames were all floating in the same direction!
Heng had been thinking with his eyes closed. When he sensed movement, he opened his eyes to see a fire in Shao Xuan's hand. The fire was still floating in the same direction.
"This is …"
"Let's go that way tomorrow." Shao Xuan stuffed the bone ornaments back into his clothes and calmed the totemic power in his body. The flames on the bone ornaments were extinguished.
Heng's eyes brightened. He knew Shao Xuan would have a way!
He had planned to go back if there was no progress but now there was hope.
The next day, after noon, the two of them set off, following the direction of the fire. At the same time, Heng would do a quick calculation every once in a while to confirm if he was right.
When they passed by a spot, Heng suddenly stopped and yelled, "Wait!"
"What's wrong?" asked Shao Xuan.
The fire was indeed pointing in this direction. Shao Xuan took out the bone ornaments to try again when Heng took out a copper nail and stuck it into the ground. He looked up at the sky and asked Shao Xuan, "Is the sun in the right direction?"
Shao Xuan nodded.
After confirming, Heng looked at the shadow of the copper nail on the ground and made a few gestures. Then, he looked at the mountain wall and walked in the direction he guessed.
They were not far from the mountain wall but every step felt like it weighed a thousand kilograms. It took him more than a minute to walk ten metres. His throat was dry and his eyes were unfocused.
Finally, they reached the mountain wall. Heng looked at the wall, which seemed normal. He pressed his palms against the wall and roared, pushing with all his might.
Creak —
The stone door slid open.
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