Chapter Text
While ‘Please castrate’ had been the rallying cry of many of Luo Binghe’s fans, there had been fans who hated Shen Qingqiu but didn’t take the time to actively bash his character. After all, he had been just another hateful character in a series of equally hateful characters who were all there to be crushed by Luo Binghe. As the chapters grew longer, Shen Qingqiu’s intelligence seemed to drop more and more, to the point he was really no different from the other villains.
So it seemed strange that Luo Binghe still fixated on him for revenge.
For example, the young master who’d mocked his washerwoman mother and kept her from getting a last warm meal had been lowered into a steaming cauldron, boiled alive, and then fed to his dogs.
Meanwhile, the rich cultivator who tried to kill Luo Binghe multiple times received a pardon after having his golden core crushed because his exceedingly pure and beautiful daughter asked for mercy. (Of course, that daughter later joined the harem.)
Luo Binghe dealt with almost all his enemies quickly and decisively, but he kept Shen Qingqiu. Long after Shen Qingqiu no longer put up any resistance, long after Shen Qingqiu had started ignoring him completely, Luo Binghe would visit the dungeon, stare at him and gloat like a peacock with all his tail feathers out.
It was surprisingly childish, and also heartbreaking.
Shen Yuan had been prone to ranting about it whenever those scenes came out. ‘Who are you feeding this extra large serving of drama to? Isn’t this enough?’ Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky just kept gleefully adding scenes and subtracting one more limb, until at last, Shen Qingqiu was down to one eye, and there were no more limbs to tear off anymore, unless you counted his pillar.
We would have been happy with castration, wasn’t this so much worse?!
The 'Shen Qingqiu' waking up now had all his limbs intact. His body had been dead and preserved for years, but there didn’t seem to be any large problems. He was only a little wobbly when standing up, and the focus of his gaze quickly moved from Luo Binghe who had been holding him to Shen Qingqiu in his plant body.
The original goods looked at him without any sort of surprise. A familiar sort of gaze, as if they’d known each other for years. He even let out a tiny derisive snort. “Stop gawking, we still have work to do.” He unhooked the fan from his belt, spread it open, and looked at Shen Qingqiu a bit more from behind the fan, like he was assessing goods. “You better call me ge.”
Shen Qingqiu felt his eye twitch. “Why?”
“Because I’m older.”
Shen Qingqiu almost rolled his eyes. “You don’t know that.” Did this old man’s more than twenty years of living in the modern world mean nothing, plus the years he spent here? Though, technically speaking, this plant body of his was only five years old… Shen Qingqiu stopped before his thoughts could wander to where he’d have a losing argument. “No, to begin with, what exactly is going on…”
“You want me to explain?”
It would have been helpful, but Shen Qingqiu found himself narrowing his eyes in suspicion. In this situation, shouldn’t he be the one explaining things, since he had been controlling that body for the past few years? Yet the System hadn’t explained anything to Shen Qingqiu, and even assigned him the original goods as a partner… Maybe the original goods did have information from his end of the deal.
‘Shen Qingqiu’ scoffed at his hesitation, and turned suddenly towards Luo Binghe, who was hovering quietly beside them. Luo Binghe had a smiling expression. The original goods wasn’t affected though, and only flicked his fan impatiently. “Go away!”
“Ah,” Luo Binghe said, and didn’t seem inclined to move. Shen Qingqiu hurriedly threw himself in front of Luo Binghe, blocking him from the original goods. “Where do you want him to go? Binghe, stay!”
With the sluice gate down, the only way now should be forward. But this was an unknown room, they shouldn’t be wandering away wherever!
‘Shen Qingqiu’ rolled his eyes at him. “Shouldn’t we talk?”
Shen Qingqiu flipped himself around and mimed covering his ears at Luo Binghe. Obediently, Luo Binghe raised his hands and covered his ears, looking amused. As far as Shen Qingqiu could tell from his own childhood, this was a normal part of raising a kid— make them cover their ears when the adults had some serious business to talk about— but surprisingly, this time, it succeeded in disturbing the real Shen Qingqiu. When Shen Qingqiu faced forward again, he caught the original goods shuddering.
“You…”
Oh, he’d be horrified to know how he’s been running Qing Jing Peak. This wasn’t even the first time a disciple was made to cover their ears.
Shen Qingqiu glanced briefly at the sluice gate. There was no sound beyond to tell them someone was trying to force it open. They should still have a little bit of time. “First,” Shen Qingqiu said, “naturally you’ll get your name and standing back, but I need you to promise that the disciples—”
‘Shen Qingqiu’ bristled. “Who said I’m returning to Qing Jing Peak? I don’t care about the peak!”
This time, it was Shen Qingqiu who rolled his eyes. “Throwing a tantrum! If not the sect, where else would you go? You’re Shen Qingqiu now, and that’s obviously your body! This one’s going back to being Shen Yuan.”
He was in a new body, and with the original goods back, he didn’t need to assume Shen Qingqiu’s identity either. Although he would miss going back to the sect, in the end, he didn’t have a claim to those martial siblings or his disciples, who were all grown now anyway. Ming Fan, that kid, had grown so big he’d even say something like his master should choose death over being a demon’s plaything! It really made someone want to spank his butt!
“Well, this one is going back to being Shen Jiu.”
Shen Yuan had the feeling the original goods was only being contrary. Just look, if he’d gone out and said he didn’t want to give Qing Jing Peak to him, this overly generous Shen Jiu would have overthrown the heavens trying to get it back. The original goods must have sensed his doubt, because he added, “This scrap of name was everything I initially had anyway. That, and a broken promise. But it doesn’t matter anymore. If not for this scenario, I wouldn’t have returned here.”
The word ‘scenario’ actually came from Shen Jiu’s lips. Shen Yuan asked suspiciously, “Where were you then?”
Shen Jiu let out a short, bleak laugh. “Just a normal, boring world.”
Seeing him trying to act tough, Shen Yuan could only guess he’d totally gotten attached. Of course, the details weren’t as important as clearing the instance, and they both didn’t question each other anymore. Shen Jiu tilted his head, likely checking the mission banner. Shen Yuan also took the time to ask the System, “Do we both need to be alive when we reach the Mausoleum gate?”
Just in case.
[Customer shouldn’t worry! Even if you are killed by Shen Qingqiu, it would result in mission failure, so while the mission is in progress, you should be completely safe!]
That was… actually reassuring. Shen Yuan quietly praised the System for its foresight.
The problem was how Luo Binghe and Shen Jiu could get along. Just from their earlier interaction, Shen Jiu wasn’t planning to soften his behavior towards Luo Binghe. As for Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan could only hope that putting them together like this wasn’t making him relive all the traumatic parts of his childhood. He could only guess how the protagonist saw this. Did he think Shen Qingqiu had a split personality? Would he realize that the original goods was the real one and Shen Yuan was fake?
They looked seven or eight parts the same. But seen side by side, Shen Yuan felt that there was no mistaking that he was an imposter. Shen Yuan’s mannerisms were different enough that him acting as Shen Qingqiu was like drawing a tiger with a cat as a model.
But when Shen Yuan motioned towards him, Luo Binghe only put down his hands and moved closer.
“Should we go, Shizun?”
Luo Binghe was so conscientious it was worrying Shen Yuan a bit. Show a bit more reaction, Luo Binghe! Wasn’t this the time where he should inevitably be asking about what was happening with a betrayed look? Luo Binghe only looked thoughtful for a moment, eyeing Xiu Ya at his belt, and the next he was already falling into step beside him, crowding out Shen Jiu, who rather than settle at Luo Binghe’s side went to Shen Yuan’s other side.
After no more than ten steps, Shen Yuan stopped, so the other two were forced to stop alongside him.
The thing was… he didn’t recognize where they were.
When fleeing from Tianlang-Jun, he’d had the panicked thought it might help if he chose a random path when he saw a fork in the hallway. This random choice had delivered them to this nondescript room. Four coffins that were intact, and a door that had a simple metal lock you could slide open. The feeling of stopping in front of that door was like being in a horror game.
“Are you two ready?”
Shen Jiu asked, “What’s beyond that door?”
Shen Yuan gave a wry smile. “This is also the first time for me to be here. How would I know?”
Shen Jiu rolled his eyes at him. Luo Binghe offered, “Shizun, let me open the door.”
Shen Yuan nodded, and readily stepped back to let Luo Binghe take charge. Luo Binghe opened the door with one hand on Xin Mo. He was probably affected by Shen Yuan’s heightened vigilance, because he was more careful than he had been when checking the other areas of the Mausoleum before.
No poisonous snakes made an unwelcome appearance though, and no trap was activated. Shen Yuan stood on his toes and looked over Luo Binghe’s shoulder.
Immediately visible was a double row of life-size humanoid dolls, and more dolls in disarray on either side. Only, the ‘life-size’ here was a range of one to three meters; it was hard to judge what was the average in demon height. Some enchanting women wore light and airy outfits, the small ones looked to be servants with simpler robes, while the hulking giants looked like they were wearing scholar garb, truly a strange bunch. Their features were incredibly lifelike, to the level you couldn’t expect from demon artisans. Shen Yuan felt a shiver run up his spine.
Wasn’t this that doll collector’s tomb?
This doll collector wasn’t the type who bought dolls from the human realm, but the type who used a special poison to turn living things into dolls. The dolls in the room seemed to be of demons. Shen Yuan didn’t know if they were all funerary goods of the doll collector, or if some of them were from later ‘expeditions’ inside the tomb. Regardless, these dolls were all home to the gu the doll collector cultivated.
This special gu was like a silkworm that spat out poisoned string at its prey. In great numbers and in a narrow room, they were hard to dodge. Their prey was caught like this, and the uninformed would try to remove the strings barehanded. In no time at all, the poisoned prey would stop moving, and the gu would start settling on them and diving in to convert them into containers.
Just like this, the doll collector would have realistic dolls that didn’t have any visible wounds. The poison wore off on its own after a few hours, but in a setup like this, the prey wouldn’t have that much time. With more of the gu’s poison applied layer by layer, the skin would change to something plasticky, even the blood froze and turned solid, and was later sifted out like sand. It was, all in all, a strange way for anyone to die.
But this had an easy solution: spiritual energy.
This gu fed on demonic energy, but spiritual energy made it shrivel up and explode. Given that it was a specialized weapon against demons, it was ineffective for Shen Yuan or Shen Jiu, or Luo Binghe who could use both demonic and spiritual energy!
That was all based on the premise that they didn’t run out of spiritual energy before they got here of course. If they were unlucky, even human cultivators were bound to suffer.
Shen Yuan thought explaining all this to the other two was troublesome, so without saying anything, he stretched out his hand and sent out a pulse of spiritual energy. The dolls started convulsing. Strange growths seemed to move about on the dolls’ skins, resulting in heavily distorted faces, and the gu finally spilled out in a panicked stream, making strange clicking sounds. Shen Yuan sent another pulse of energy, and the small bodies exploded like popped balloons. Another wave of energy, and then another… When no more gu were flushed out, Shen Yuan put down his hand, satisfied.
Then he started to be depressed.
The whole thing was done in ten seconds at most.
Without any fighting or show of intelligence, doing something like this felt like the equivalent of cleaning the toilet by flushing it several times. Shen Jiu didn’t praise him either, only looking at him with a contemplative frown.
“Is that body grown from a spiritual mushroom?”
“That’s right.” The immense reserves of spiritual energy would be hard to miss, so Shen Yuan didn’t bother withholding the information.
“Be careful not to fall into the hands of rogue cultivators then. Even righteous sects would want their hands on you, seeing as you’re a prized ingredient.”
Was Shen Jiu worried about him, or jinxing him? Was he warning him that even that warm-hearted Zhangmen-shixiong or that medicine addict Mu Qingfang would think of gains and losses if he tried to go back? It was really hard to tell with this guy!
Shen Jiu followed up by pointing at Luo Binghe: “Maybe this disciple is with you now because he wants to use you to improve his cultivation base.”
Shen Yuan didn’t rise to the bait, and only pushed his companions forward so they could keep moving, looking around casually to see if there was loot to be had before they moved to the next room. Without thinking much about it, Shen Yuan said: “Binghe has been the perfect disciple even before I got this body. Perhaps if someone had given him a fair chance, he would have also seen his worth.”
“I’ve seen his worth from the first day.” Shen Jiu sneered, giving Luo Binghe a glare over Shen Yuan’s momentarily bowed head. “Talent that doesn’t need ideal conditions to grow, strength that grows without cultivation techniques… Anyone but you would be suspicious.”
“All right, all right, ge, let’s drop it.” The original goods wasn’t even thinking of Luo Binghe right beside them, and the way he talked wasn’t hiding much. Was this the legendary drop in IQ?
Maybe Shen Jiu was rattled. After all, the original goods had died of a qi deviation while he was down with a fever. Then he’d spent a few years in some other place, and was called back here, only to find that he was in a tomb in the demon realm. It would be stranger if Shen Jiu was perfectly calm.
Shen Yuan decided to be more understanding. “Anyway, I also misunderstood Binghe. But he’s grown quite dependable and admirable. Don’t just judge him for his demonic heritage.”
“He’s not your ordinary demon, he’s a heavenly demon,” Shen Jiu stressed, and Shen Yuan pretended that he hadn’t brought up the distinction in the past. Didn’t that only mean Binghe was part of the elite? Though having a ruling class based on strength went against Shen Yuan’s own beliefs back in his own world, in a cultivation world, it seemed cool and even reasonable.
From his side, Luo Binghe chimed in brightly, “How are Shizun and Shizun connected? Brothers?”
“Ah, that’s…” Shen Yuan coughed into his fist. He couldn’t say ah! The System was quiet in his mind, not threatening to deduct points, but Shen Yuan still felt like he had to lie, just to keep things less confusing. “…That’s right. Some things happened, and we ended up having to share a body.”
“Even now, our fates are connected. If one were to die, the other would soon follow.” Shen Jiu added that last bit with a triumphant glint in his eyes, crossing his arms as if daring Luo Binghe to hit him.
For a moment, Luo Binghe’s face was blank. He asked lightly, “Is that so?”
“That’s the case,” Shen Yuan agreed with a wilted look. He didn’t need Luo Binghe plotting how to accidentally misplace Shen Jiu, so it was better for him to know that. At least if he killed Shen Jiu, it would be with the full knowledge that Shen Yuan would also die, so Luo Binghe wasn’t likely to be traumatized again by his Shizun’s death. That wasn’t a thing he had to consider before he found out that he’d bent the protagonist, but now Shen Yuan realized he had to be more careful.
Luo Binghe didn’t say anything more. Bending down, Shen Yuan opened a spare qiankun pouch and used a spell to suck the remnants of the gu’s poison strings into the pouch, cleaning even the corners of the room and the ceiling. He handed the pouch to Luo Binghe. “Binghe must be the quickest among us, so if Tianlang-Jun appears, throw the contents at him.”
Even a poison against demons would only be a distraction to a pure-blooded heavenly demon, but it was better than nothing. They just had to use the time they’d get to run away. Shen Yuan nodded to himself, and then turned to Shen Jiu with a warning finger. “Don’t act alone.”
The doll collector’s room opened to an impressive, high-ceilinged vault, where there was a coffin in the middle. Shen Yuan wasn't really interested in corpses, so he bypassed the coffin with the other two still hovering like unhappy aunts. They crossed quickly to a side room that had a mountain of funeral goods, but no dolls, and that's about as far as their exploration could go, because there were no other rooms. Shen Yuan inspected the solid walls and sighed.
The thing was, there should have been some sort of weak spot, some thinner wall they could blast through to get to the secret pathway here. But Shen Yuan didn't remember any more details about this. Either Airplane had breezed through it, or Shen Yuan just genuinely forgot. From the corner of his eye, he saw Shen Jiu similarly moving around. This room was relatively safe though, so Shen Yuan left him to it. He turned to look at Luo Binghe instead. Luo Binghe was the one who originally found that weak spot, so he must notice something.
Instead, he found Luo Binghe staring at him. Seeing Shen Yuan's attention was now also on him, Luo Binghe asked, “Can this disciple ask something?”
Aren't you already asking? Shen Yuan quipped in his mind, but aloud he only said, “Ask.”
Luo Binghe's reaction was really too slow, Shen Yuan thought. If this was an interrogation, he was entitled to it. After all, their story was too full of holes, it was stranger if Luo Binghe didn't doubt him.
“Does Shizun... and Shizun... share a spiritual sword?”
Shen Yuan had forgotten about Xiu Ya.
To be sure, a spiritual sword should stay with its owner, so Shen Yuan still being able to use it while in his plant body, and with the original goods here, was highly irregular. Shen Yuan could only hesitantly nod.
It wasn't that cultivators couldn't use someone else's sword in an emergency, but the sword wouldn't respond to them. Part of why Shen Yuan hadn't been overly suspicious as Shen Qingqiu was because Xiu Ya hadn't seen fit to alert anyone else that there was an impostor. It was like it didn't register that Shen Qinqiu's soul had been replaced, which was eerie in a way, if ever Shen Yuan allowed himself to think about it. After all, there was no precedent.
“But it's common knowledge,” Shen Jiu piped in, as if to bring what would be everyone's doubts out in the open. “Even twins can't share the same spritual sword.”
Luo Binghe's lips twitched, and he murmured, “Really connected?”
“This isn't the time for this,” Shen Jiu said. He wasn't addressing Luo Binghe, but Shen Yuan, as if asking why he was indulging him. Shen Yuan could only sigh and rub tiredly between his brows. Before Shen Yuan could say anything more though, Shen Jiu was able to activate some sort of mechanism, and the far wall opened up to reveal a tunnel.
Huh. Brute force wasn't needed after all.
For some reason, something slightly bitter seemed to color the back of his throat, as if Shen Jiu solving a puzzle here meant he'd beaten Luo Binge somehow.
Shen Yuan shook his head to clear it, and followed Shen Jiu and Luo Binghe in.
While the three of them were walking quietly, any sort of movement seemed loud in this enclosed space, even the wind and slightly moist air seemed to send echoes around them. Luo Binghe was quiet, probably thinking of what he'd learned so far. On the other hand, Shen Jiu would huff and mutter something from time to time, like a customer with a bad experience.
They weren't even out of the tunnel yet and Shen Yuan could already see they weren't heading anywhere good.
“It seems we didn't get that far.” Shen Yuan sighed. Not only did they not get far, the maze at the end of the tunnel was a troublesome one, with elevated platforms and poison rain. This had taken a long time for Luo Binghe to navigate with a wife in tow, and now they had to somehow do it with a demon lord after them, as well as a time limit to get out of the Mausoleum. Shen Yuan cried tears in his heart.
Luo Binghe and Shen Jiu stood at the entrance of the maze, squinting up at the platforms, some of which moved from time to time. Strangely enough, what Shen Jiu said was, “This is like the Water Prison.”
Shen Yuan was inclined to agree, until he realized what Shen Jiu had said.
The Water Prison... wasn't somewhere the original goods had even touched before he 'died' of a qi deviation. At that time, Shen Qingqiu hadn't yet done half of all the scummy things he did, and the protagonist hadn't even blackened yet!
“You... Just from where...”
Did he travel back from the future? Too unscientific!
As if he'd guessed what Shen Yuan was thinking, Shen Jiu looked at him with narrowed eyes, seemingly only waiting for him to say something aloud so he could mock him. So Shen Yuan simply shook his head, and pretended to study the maze, too.
Luo Binghe pointed to a spot a few meters away, under a ledge that had a taotie statue above it. “Shizun, the starting point.”
Shen Yuan nodded. If he said so, that must be it.
Timing their sprint for when the 'rain' briefly let up was a simple enough affair that they managed without tripping each other up. Shen Yuan even managed to keep his posture elegant, brushing off his sleeves after. They hardly had space for a breath when Luo Binghe motioned them forward again. Staying alert, Shen Yuan followed after, keeping his steps light and Luo Binghe's back always within arm's reach.
Then it came, an ungentle push on his back. Shen Jiu had actually pushed him!
Shen Yuan stumbled and almost fell on his face, swallowing back a curse. Behind him, there was a whooshing sound, like something big had passed quickly. Shen Jiu did a quick roll and flip, reaching the next outcrop with a ledge that was safe from the rain the same moment Luo Binghe pulled Shen Yuan to safety.
Zhuzhi-Lang was already here!
Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu met eyes, and Shen Jiu nodded grimly and motioned them quickly forward again. Shen Yuan sent him a grudging thumbs up in his heart. But there really was no time for pleasantries. As they scampered away like rabbits, he could hear crashing sounds behind them; probably Zhuzhi-Lang just blowing through obstacles when he could.
“Shizun,” Luo Binghe said. “If Shizun can wait, this disciple will take care of that snake demon.”
Shen Yuan hesitated. Even now, there was still the sense that Zhuzhi-Lang was holding back; none of the weight-bearing pillars around seem to have been hit by him, so while he was going after them, he didn't seem to want to kill them either. Really, it made it hard to hate him, even if he was trying to stop their escape.
And there was also the fact that Luo Binghe wasn't immune to the poison rain. Zhuzhi-Lang, maybe due to how his real form was that giant snake, didn't seem to have any problem, but Luo Binghe still had human blood. While that had its own strengths, he would be at a disadvantage if he fought here. Thinking to this point, Shen Yuan quickly said, “Let's keep running.”
“Shizun!” Luo Binghe sounded a little upset for some reason. “If Shizun feels soft-hearted, this disciple promises to just send that snake demon back.”
What 'soft-hearted'? Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes and repeated, “Keep running.”
Running was a valid tactic, okay? Not everything needs to be fought directly! And wasn't the protagonist supposed to be patient and cunning? How come the disciple he raised was so impulsive?
From his side, Shen Jiu quickly batted at Luo Binghe's hand, keeping him from touching Shen Yuan's shoulder. “Whether or not to go and stall the enemy, why are you still asking him? This teacher acquiesces. Now go!”
Luo Binghe gritted his teeth, but still gave a short bow. “This disciple understands!”
He stopped running, and Shen Yuan also paused, looking back over his shoulder to see Luo Binghe darting in the opposite direction. He stared for a while in disbelief. Part of him felt a little sour that Luo Binghe actually listened to Shen Jiu over him. Before he could reverse his step and go after Binghe, Shen Jiu quickly pulled him along, even chastising him to keep up.
“Shen Qingqiu!” Shen Yuan shouted, and pulled against Shen Jiu's hold on his wrist. “What are you doing!?”
“Shouldn't you be clear about your own disciple's abilities?” Shen Jiu's words were laced with venom. “That beast, even if you throw him in a vat of a hundred different poisons, he won't die, just emerge stronger. What are you so afraid of?”
It wasn't a matter of being afraid. If Luo Binghe ended up getting hurt, of course he would care. Shen Yuan pulled against his hold again, and this time, Shen Jiu let him go, throwing his hands up in an exaggeratedly exasperated gesture. They had already reached another outcrop, so Shen Jiu probably didn't care that much about continuing to run for the moment.
“Do you really not find him suspicious!?”
“Whether he's suspicious, or you and I are suspicious,” Shen Yuan said, “That has nothing to do with the situation. We should be leaving, not fighting!”
“So let the demon deal with the other demon!”
Shen Yuan just shook his head, but when he turned away, Shen Jiu yanked him back by his sleeves. “We should go before he gets back. Seeing you blundering along like this really hurts the eyes.”
“I'm going after Binghe.”
“What do you even think you're doing with that disciple? He's already beyond help. That sword at his hip, Xin Mo. You underestimate how much it can corrupt its wielder.”
“He hasn't been wielding it.” Luo Binghe really hadn't been wielding it. Maybe he still had a psychological shadow from when Shen Qingqiu blew himself up. In any case, where else can you find a demon lord who fought mostly bare-handed?
“That just shows he knows it, too.” Shen Jiu pulled him back again, and turned him around by the shoulders to frown at him. “We need to get out of the Holy Mausoleum first. That beast, he'll find his own way out.”
Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. They couldn't get out without a path opened by a heavenly demon. And the original goods wanted to leave without Luo Binghe?
As if hearing his doubts, Shen Jiu added, “The path you've opened to get here might not have closed yet.” He inclined his head. “That disciple must also know where to look. When he finishes here, he'll come after us.”
Those words seemed to have a different meaning for the both of them.
Looking behind them at where Luo Binghe had disappeared, Shen Yuan could only see the occasional view of a tail thrashing up, and sand flying up from their thrashed surroundings. There were also controlled blasts of spiritual energy. And still no sign of Tianlang-Jun, which was a bit worrying.
Shen Yuan sighed. Although Shen Jiu obviously only wanted to get away from Luo Binghe, they really couldn't stay here. Now that Luo Binghe and Zhuzhi-Lang had started to fight, getting in their way would only hurt Luo Binghe's chances of winning. And Shen Yuan... as a reader, he'd always hated those weak, indecisive characters who stayed around to help but only caused trouble.
And the air here was already lighter, so they must be near the exit. Stepping out and waiting for Luo Binghe there, it wasn't a bad idea either.
Shen Yuan decided to follow Shen Jiu out of the maze.