Stranger Danger

"So this is where the demonic fire comes from?" Old Man Profound Firmament muttered while rubbing his chin.

They had theorized about the origin of the demonic fire, of course. In their imagination, the demonic fire probably gushed out from some sort of gap at the bottom of the sea.

Reality begged to differ, albeit just slightly.

It was because the gigantic, oval-shaped pit in front of them was extraordinarily smooth and evenly-shaped. It did not look like a natural pit or gap.

Most importantly, they had never found such a pit during their post-crisis underwater investigations.

Not even a single one.

It was as if the pits appeared only when the demonic fire appeared, and disappeared after the demonic fire receded.

Actually, scratch the "as if", it had to be the truth.

Therefore, this oval-shaped pit could not possibly be a natural formation.

"These pits aren't formed naturally." Danxia Zi voiced the doubt in his mind.

"They are not." Old Man Profound Firmament nodded. "They probably appear and disappear in tandem with the demonic fire."

"What do you think, Joyless, Miss Feng?"

He asks as if I can give him a concrete answer,Ye Qing grumbled inside his head. If even they, Sages and long-time victims of the Sea Burning Demonic Fire, could not arrive at a conclusion, then why the heck did they think he could? This was his first time seeing these pits as well!

That said, the pit felt strangely familiar and attractive to him. His instincts were telling him to go inside.

Of course, he did not tell anyone about this.

"No. This is the first time we've seen such a thing."

Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou shook their heads at the same time.

"I guess the only way to find out is to head inside and check it ourselves!" Old Man Profound Firmament pondered. "What do you say?"

"Sure." Everyone agreed. So, Ye Qing commanded the Ghost Dragon Boat to sail into the pit.

Right now, the pit was gushing demonic fire like crazy, and the Ghost Dragon Boat was sailing against its currents. However, Ye Qing never felt any sort of resistance or push from the Ghost Dragon Boat. On the contrary, the Ghost Dragon Boat was moving faster.

"It looks like the Ghost Dragon Boat is deeply connected to the demonic fire!"

Danxia Zi and Old Man Profound Firmament both noticed this oddity and looked thoughtful.

"We may receive an answer very soon," Ye Qing responded. To be honest, he was no less curious than they were.

......

Danxia Zi asked, "We've traveled about thirty thousand meters, right?"

"More or less," Ye Qing replied.

The deeper they traveled, the tucker the color of the demonic fire became. It mingled and merged with itself until it looked pitch black and as thick as mud. No other color could be seen.

What really shocked the group was just how deep the pit was. The pit went down in a straight line, and they did not encounter any obstacles or enemies along the way. Despite this, the Ghost Dragon Boat failed to reach the bottom of the pit despite sailing for an entire teatime and diving at least thirty thousand meters below the entrance.

Suffice to say, this had completely exceeded their expectations. It was as if the pit was truly bottomless.

There was a silver lining though. The demonic fire and its taint were still growing stronger and thicker by the minute, but at least they hadn't encountered any danger so far.

The Ghost Dragon Boat would travel for another incense stick before finally, they arrived at an area where the demonic fire was no longer shooting upward. Instead, it was spreading everywhere without aim.

"Are we reaching the bottom?" Feng Qingyou whispered. Then, she realized that Ye Qing was looking a little distracted. She asked, "Joyless?"

Ye Qing recovered, "Oh. What were you saying again?"

"Did you allow your mind to wander again?" Feng Qingyou asked. "You've been doing that a lot since a while ago. Did something happen?"

A moment of silence later, Ye Qing asked her in a voice that only they could hear, "Did you hear some sort of voice just now?"

"Voice? No, I did not!" Feng Qingyou's expression grew serious. "Did you hear something?"

Ye Qing nodded. "Come."

"Hmm?" Feng Qingyou looked confused for a second before realizing his meaning. "You mean, you heard the word, 'Come'?"

When Ye Qing nodded, Feng Qingyou asked, "Is there a chance you misheard it? Could it be a hallucination?"

"I don't think so." Ye Qing explained, "I haven't heard it just one time. I've heard it three times so far."

It was possible that he hallucinated it or misheard it if it only happened one time. But three? It could no longer be a mistake.

He first heard the voice about half an incense stick ago. The voice was pretty vague and erratic at the time, not to mention that it was only one word. That was why he thought he had misheard it.

However, he heard it again about seven or eight minutes ago. It was much clearer than the first time, though still pretty erratic.

The third time he heard the voice—which was just now—was the clearest. He could even sense the hopefulness, weakness, and sorrow contained within the voice.

The voice was coming from far, far,faraway though. It was also transient and ephemeral. Right now, his demonic thought was unable to confirm what was calling out to him or where the voice was coming from. He couldn't even identify the direction the voice was coming from.

It was because his demonic thought was dampened by the severe distortion in this place, of course.

Although he was immune to the demonic fire thanks to the god demon's heart, it was hardly the only element present in this place. It was overflowing with all sorts of terrible power such as taint, rot, death, and more. They all combined to form absolutely devastating corruptions and distortions.

Compared to this place, the distortion and taint of the demonic fire on the surface level was practically miniscule.

If he was a little weaker, his mind might have been corrupted and twisted already. He might even be suffering mental confusions or mental breakdowns.

His demonic thought could not resist these distortions and corruptions completely either. That was why his perception range was somewhat limited right now.

That said, Ye Qing knew where he should go to find his answer even though he did not know what was calling out to him or where the voice was coming from.

It was because he could feel his heart being drawn toward the voice, and the desire and impulse were growing stronger with every occurrence. Thanks to this, he could clearly tell where he should go.

Whatever this thing was, it must share a connection with the voice. They might even be one and the same at the beginning.

Therefore, he simply needed to follow his impulse and desire to find the answer.

Of course, there was no way to tell if this answer would be good or bad; blessing or misfortune as of now.

Although he hadn't heard any malice or danger from the voice, anything could happen in such a place.

That was why Ye Qing set aside the desire to find the answer for the moment. Right now, finding a way to resolve the demonic fire took precedence above everything else.

"It probably has something to do with your refinement of the Ghost Dragon Boat and your earlier deed," Feng Qingyou mused. "Be careful."

"I will." Ye Qing hadn't found an opportunity to inform Feng Qingyou about the god demon heart, but knowing how intelligent she was, she probably figured out something already.