The Tale Never Ends Chapter 173 Wish the skull in the Labyrinthian Canyon a Happy New Year

Aunt Ulan was a stranger to the Labyrinthian Canyon. Part of it was due to Godmother not telling her before about our experiences there. But it was not without reason; knowing Aunt Ulan's temperament, Godmother understood that she would surely insist on a visit to convey her thanks for their help in saving her. More so, the two of them were friends of Father. However, Shang Pei and Zhu Mei were not only near-immortals, but they chose to live as hermits, who never enjoyed the company of others but preferring only to keep to themselves. Hence Godmother had decided not to spare her the details of the Canyon.

But Aunt Ulan's love for her surrogate son, me, was as great as Godmother's love for me; she did not ask much about my decision, only reminding me to come back early. Godmother, on the other hand, said nothing; she must have guessed my reason for visiting the Canyon.

Edelweiss and I went back to the same way we rode back to Aunt Ulan's camp from the Canyon, retracing our route until we finally reached the mouth of the gorge by the second evening. I saw the skull still hanging at the entrance, the very same one which we had seen during our first trip here. It was intentionally hung here by Zhu Mei to stop unwary wanderers from entering this dangerous place, although, the whole gorge was under his enchantments to keep him apprised of any intruders. The Windchaser magic, now enchanting the whole gorge, would bewitch any intruders and keep them running in circles no matter how far they tried to go. But despite his impish and sadistic appearance, Zhu Mei had a kind heart; intruders would be directly transported to the entrance of the gorge if they wished to withdraw, allowing them to leave the Canyon peacefully.

But Zhu Mei had reasons of his own for keeping intruders away from the Canyon. The Canyon was once a site of a bloody battle; the air in the gorge was thick with the aura of blood, gore, and death that continually lingered for centuries. No ordinary living being was able to survive in the Canyon, but it was safe for Zhu Mei himself who needed a place where the stench of death was the strongest and heaviest. It was a place where the Yin energies thrived to counterbalance the element of his own magic. This Canyon was the perfect place for Zhu Mei to continue his honing his Yang magic. Moreover, the vengeful spirits of the dead were too malignant for any ordinary humans to handle. Zhu Mei's residence here was also to keep them placated with his powers while keeping innocent people away.

On the other hand, Shang Pei's Yin magic required a place with burgeoning Yang energy. Hence the site of his own stronghold, Fort Enigma, was just outside the Canyon. With a robust supply of Yang energies, Shang Pei too whetted his skills, just like how Zhu Mei was doing the same deep within the Canyon.

Edelweiss and I stood before the entrance, looking deep into the hollowed-out eyes of the skull. Then we reminisced about the makeshift tent we erected nearby and the dreadful night we had – hearing the agonizing screams and shouts, tangled with the clashing of steel and iron and the galloping hooves of war steeds, and we looked at each other, grinning. Only this time, it was different. We were well-prepared.

In fact, I had spoken to Father about my plans to visit Shang Pei and Zhu Mei before coming here. Hence we were prepared for what might happen again in the gorge. I smiled at Edelweiss, saying, “I guess Father's right. Uncle Zhu Mei will never show himself easily. We'll have to seek him out ourselves!” Edelweiss was beaming widely as if she had barely heard a word I said.

I vaulted down off my saddle and tied the reins of the horses to a tree. Then I strode to the skull and bowed. “It's been a year, my friend. I bid you a Happy New Year!” Edelweiss found me paying New Year's respects to an empty skull funny and she giggled. I took out my Gourd and released my Forest Sprite. “We'll be spending the night out here. Please get some wood and build a small makeshift shed.” With a curt acknowledgment, it turned. But before it slipped out of sight, I called, “Remember not to wander too far. It'd be a hassle if you get lost.”

With a polite “Yes,” the Forest Sprite turned and left.

Edelweiss and I busied ourselves with the rest of the preparation: emptying our bags and starting a fire. The warmth of the fire was something we greatly welcomed in the cool, chilly night in the wilderness, and so was the picturesque view of the sun setting in the mountainous horizons. It was a romantic scene, although Edelweiss hardly felt anything, she being a former brigand of sorts.

But she never stopped feeding pieces of meat jerky one after another into my mouth as she watched the fire, looking just like a docile and kind little wife. The sentiments of romantic, while alien to her, was something that I might have been demanding about. But she grew bored, looking into the flames and peering at the burning dry wood. Suddenly she said, “Husband, can you tell me more about Father's and Mother's plans as to their ascension? I don't understand most of it, and I dared not ask with them around.”

I chuckled and playfully pinched her big face. “You might not have read fantasy novels before. The Crucible is something of a test that humans or beasts have to endure when they have reached the highest level of their magic. It's a test Heaven ordained upon all mortal kind before they can finally achieve true immortality, a test to judge one's behavior and acts. Say a fox demon attains magical powers. But with its powers, the fox demon wrecks carnage and havoc. The Crucible shall function as a form of judgment; the fox would, at best case, lose all its powers, or be directly sentenced to death. The same goes for humans as well.” Humans intending to acquire true immortality and gain a wholly divine physique requires enduring the Crucible of Heaven too.”

“So… what will happen to Father and Mother…” Edelweiss whimpered, her face fraught with concern. “I don't know, honestly,” I shook my head. “But I am sure, from the way he has been talking, that he cares nothing about this Crucible of Heaven. He once said something about the Crucible being useless against him. Moreover, he has long qualified himself for immortality… In this way, Father and Mother are like students specially-accepted into Matriculation without going to the usual rote channels of qualifying for university, hence they do not have to sit for the exams like everyone else.”

Edelweiss stared at me, her eyes as wide as ping pong balls, although she understood most of what I said. The Forest Sprite returned not long later with enough timber, and she began helping me in building the shed. But with only the two of us, we needed only a little shed enough for us both and that saved a lot of time.

The clock ticked seven in the evening and Edelweiss was curled up with me in our sleeping bag. But she grew bored again and began bugging me for stories about the derring-dos that my companions and I had performed before we met. But that was only understandable; in her eyes, I was like a gallant and charming swashbuckling hero with never-ending tales to fascinate her. This could only be ascribed to her innocence which most city girls lacked. I chuckled. “Well, there's not much trouble. Moreover, Father has always been keeping a watchful eye over my back especially if I am in the vicinity of Wu Zhong. So there were hardly any dangers.” But Edelweiss' eyes continued being fixated upon me, her gleaming eyes indicating her hunger for more tales that would enamor her.

Her face was round but perfectly rosy and fresh. I was hardly uninterested in petite girls with a slim waist and almond-shaped face, but Edelweiss was the ideal girl for me. A girl whose look and spirit were true and honest to the core. But she was hardly a rowdy and boorish girl with a stalwart body nor was she a meek and fragile maid with a dainty frame and a slender waist. But the curvature of her figure was as enticing as I hoped her to be, as lovely as I wanted her to be.

But when I awoke from my brief stupor of admiration of her figure, I realized that she was looking deep into my eyes, still waiting for a reaction from me. I chuckled. “All right, a tale then!” And that won an exultant whoop from her. She spun herself up and laid prone, propping her head on her hands, ready to listen to my story.

“Let's see… what story should I tell…” I wondered aloud, then I said, “Let me tell you about a story which happened during my first year in university…”

As my tale began, the nostalgia of varsity life swirled in my thoughts. We were a bunch of boisterous, proud, and hot-headed young men when we just entered university then. In fact, most university freshmen were like that. The customary rite of entering into our varsity life: an arduous and agonizing military exercise that not only allowed people to earn money from military uniforms but had other benefits.

At first, the military exercise was set to be conducted at Mount Pan, which was more than 100 kilometers away and one of the only two AAAAA Tourist Attractions in Tianjin! We were so overjoyed and enthusiastic then. But we were dismayed when word finally came that the school authorities had made an urgent arrangement: the training spot was changed to our school's playground! Immediately, bleak and crestfallen looks could not have looked more common in our midst.

Some students even went personally to the school office to tender their indignant protests, but none of their complaints were duly entertained.

But somehow, the military exercise at the school ground had allowed me to experience a thrilling encounter with the supernatural!

Chapter end