The Three Relics

Du Chen was still reeling, utterly disoriented, completely unaware of Old Foye's perilous plight. Deboning, too, was struggling, barely able to support himself with the Blade, his heart aching to intervene but his strength failing him!

Who else could save Old Foye?

From an unknown origin, a fiery red lotus-like emanation shot forth like a bolt of lightning, hurtling towards the gaping maw of the tunnel. It was Dus. He understood Old Foye's invaluable place in Du Chen's heart and acted without hesitation. The immense explosive power unleashed by the Fire Lotus Lantern propelled him forward, and the moment he breached the entrance, he saw Duhong and Old Foye plummeting into the bottomless abyss!

Duhong, clutched tightly around the waist by Old Foye, plummeted rapidly. His face, identical to Constantine's, now revealed a flicker of terror. "Damn it," he cursed inwardly, "is there anyone under heaven who understands the horrors of the Labyrinth of Life better than we Violet-Bloods?"

When the Violet-Bloods retreated in defeat all those years ago, their population numbered three million. Yet, by the time they traversed the Tunnel of Life and sought refuge in that hidden place, only nine hundred and eighty thousand remained. A staggering two million had perished within the Labyrinth of Life! All because they took a wrong turn!

Now, he was being dragged by this man into a Dead End himself!

Enraged and horrified, Duhong ignored the pain in his chest, lashing out with a punch at Old Foye, who still held him fast around the waist. "Let go! If you want to die, don't drag me with you!"

Old Foye looked up and smiled, spewing a mouthful of blood foam, yet gripping Duhong with an iron resolve. "Heh! If you don't die, my child will! Come with me!" He strained, pulling with all his might, and their descent accelerated even further...

Duhong felt his limbs turn icy cold. He swept a glance at the bottomless chasm below, and his heart, too, turned to ice!

"You son of a bitch, let go!" he roared defiantly towards the heavens. His waist was locked in Old Foye's death grip, preventing him from fully transforming into his dragon form. Duhong abruptly held his breath, discarding his usual meticulous habit of tidying his clothes before transforming. Two draconic wings burst violently from his spine, tearing through his garments, and began to beat furiously.

Just then, Dus arrived.

Old Foye saw the fiery red lotus-like emanation, and he saw Duhong's dragon wings. He bellowed, "Are you Dus? Never mind me, burn his wings!"

Dus, unable to communicate with anyone other than Du Chen, hesitated.

Old Foye took two more blows from Duhong, then raged, "What are you staring at?! He's severely injured, take his life! Otherwise, we're all doomed!" He spat out blood. "We absolutely cannot let him fly out alive!"

Duhong's wings beat, and their descent slowed.

Old Foye shouted, "Do you want to get Francis killed? He's a dragon, he can fly! Hurry! I'm holding him down here, you burn his wings!"

Duhong raised his hands, his fingers transforming into sharp dragon claws. "Old man, you want to drag me down with you? Hmph!" He made to tear Old Foye apart!

Dus knew he could no longer hesitate. The bright flame on the Fire Lotus Lantern flickered, and two streaks of fire shot towards Duhong!

"Aaagh!" The Nether Dragon shrieked in agony. His dragon claws, forgetting Old Foye, twisted violently to grasp his own burning wings, shaking uncontrollably from the pain! "Damn it, damn it!"

"Haha, well done!" Old Foye coughed blood, laughing. "Dus, listen to me! Get back and look after Francis immediately! Forget about us!"

Dus hovered numbly in mid-air, watching Old Foye disappear. He was faced with a brutal choice: either attempt to rescue Old Foye, which would inevitably bring the imposter Constantine back, condemning Du Chen, Deboning, and everyone else to death; or sacrifice Old Foye, allowing him to drag the imposter Constantine into the abyss. He made a wise, albeit cruel, decision.

Though Duhong's injuries were not fatal, they prevented his dragon wings from exerting any force. Old Foye, dragging the Nether Dragon, plummeted like a dim meteor, vanishing into the endless depths...

Only a single message remained.

"Tell Francis, I promised Madam Philia I would look after him. Blade of Heaven has no regrets!"

The tunnel was empty, save for Dus, hovering numbly. He shifted into Francis's likeness, sitting upon the Fire Lotus Lantern, and shook his head. "Sigh..." A sigh no one could hear.

Suddenly, a few glints of light appeared from the dark abyss. Looking closer, it was Duhong's clothes, torn apart when his wings burst forth, and several items had fallen from him. They too were plummeting, but not as fast as Old Foye dragging the imposter Constantine, so their faint silhouettes were still discernible.

Dus flew out from the Fire Lotus Lantern, catching the items. After shrinking his form, he returned to the clearing above the tunnel and clung to Du Chen.

At this moment, Deboning, gravely wounded, had collapsed to the ground. Du Chen barely managed to control the Precious Lotus Scripture. Beside him, Xue Ji had succumbed to the tremors, unconscious, while the two Green Gourd Beasts were dizzy and disoriented, losing all sense of direction.

After hearing the account, Du Chen snatched Old Five, his blanched fingertips twisting Fifth Brother's form. "Dus! You damned well said there was no mistake in finding you if something happened! Where's my adoptive father? Why wasn't he saved?!" He flung Dus to the ground with a "thump," glaring at him.

Dus remained silent.

His cheeks felt cold, and the confluence of emotions, both Francis's and his own, brought two streams of clear tears down Du Chen's face. With a dull thud, he collapsed onto the Lotus Pedestal.

...

A long silence stretched.

Dus slowly spoke, "I am not human; I do not comprehend your human emotions... But I know this, Francis: you still have much to do. At the very least, you must exact revenge!"

Du Chen's eyes snapped open, a grim smile curling on his lips. "Yes... No matter who it is!"

The Fire Lotus Lantern gently floated before Du Chen. "These are a few items I obtained from that imposter Constantine. Quite interesting. Take a look. I'll go tend to Deboning!"

Upon the Fire Lotus Lantern lay three small items: a letter, a seal, and a small crystal vial.

Du Chen first picked up the seal. It was a dark, obsidian dragon seal, about the size of a fist, bearing a certain resemblance to the Beast Emperor’s Seal. However, its upper portion was a black giant dragon, while its base held perfectly square engraved patterns. The text upon it was exceedingly strange, unrecognized by Du Chen.

He then picked up the letter. A black envelope, white paper, with text written in red ink. But sniffing it, a faint scent of blood permeated the air. "This letter... is written in blood?" Du Chen unfolded it, and the characters within were equally peculiar, much like the pictographs of his previous life. Comparing it to the giant dragon seal, the script on the seal and the letter appeared to share a common origin, belonging to an ancient script.

Carefully pondering the text on the letter, a sudden flash of insight struck him!

He recalled that not long ago, when he paid respects to the gods at the Divine Tomb in Amulang, the inscriptions on some of the ancient steles bore a striking similarity to this writing style!

Could this be a script from the era of the Fallen Gods?

The first thing he would do after leaving was to seek out Old Warma, the Tomb Guardian, for answers!

Du Chen put away the letter and the seal, then picked up the crystal vial. "This is... an alchemical blood storage vessel, and specially treated at that. There should be a drop of blood inside!"

Illuminating it with the Fire Lotus Lantern, Du Chen carefully examined the fresh blood within the vial. Relying on the alchemical knowledge Philip had imparted to him, Du Chen quickly recognized that this drop of blood did not belong to a human, but to an extremely rare Aberrant Beast!

What was the imposter Constantine planning to do with a single drop of blood?

"Young Master!" Deboning, partially recovered under Dus's ministrations, laboriously dragged himself onto the Lotus Pedestal, his face pallid with exhaustion, his eyes dull and lifeless. He slammed his fist onto the Lotus Pedestal. "Agh! This battle was truly frustrating! Ben..."

Du Chen wagged a finger, slowly stating, "Enough. Some things are kept in the heart, not spoken aloud!"

The words were cold and understated, seemingly unwilling to dwell on Old Foye. Yet, Deboning felt a chill in his heart; the calmer the Young Master appeared, the more brutal his subsequent actions were bound to be!

Du Chen coldly eyed Xue Ji. "This Old Hags is too simple-minded, easily deceived. Keep her around to deal with Water's Embrace Lake! How is your body now?"

"I've recovered three to four tenths of my strength. With Young Master's Holy Light, I'll be fully healed within a day!"

"That's good!" Staring at the two Green Gourd Beasts, Du Chen grabbed one and tossed it off the Lotus Pedestal, leaving the other. "You two are brothers, aren't you? Oh, the one in my hand is the elder brother! Remember this!" He spoke coldly to the younger brother below the Lotus Pedestal, "Your brother is in my hands. If you want him to live, gather all the Green Gourd Beasts and diligently monitor the movements of Philip's The Undead legion. For the time being, I will come to the entrance of Blade of Heaven Peak every seven days to receive intelligence. Understand?!"

"Understood, hee-ga-ga, understood!" The two Green Gourd Beasts listlessly nodded their small heads.

Pressing the Green Gourd Beast, Du Chen flew out of the Labyrinth of Life along the route they had described. He took a deep breath of the fresh air atop Blade of Heaven Peak, then looked back at the slowly closing mountain, sighing suddenly.

"Labyrinth of Life... I remember you!"

With determined eyes, he turned and flew towards the Divine Tomb in Amulang!

It was still deep into the night. Since entering the Labyrinth of Life, he had brought out his Eldest Brother, who was suffering from mental derangement, but... Flaying and Old Foye would never emerge.

At the Divine Tomb in Amulang, Old Warma, reluctantly and with a heavy heart, opened his small wooden door. Upon seeing Du Chen and Deboning, who had just left, standing outside, his sleepy, dejected expression transformed into a smile. "Oh, have the two distinguished sirs returned? Did you forget something just now?"

Du Chen smiled. "Old Man, I hadn't gone far before a thought struck me: the inscriptions on those gravestones are quite fascinating. Oh, I have a particular fondness for ancient scripts, so I've returned to pick your esteemed brain!"

Old Warma quickly demurred, saying it was "too great an honor." "Please, just tell me what you need. This old man has nothing much to do here all day, apart from tending to flowers and plants, and reading the inscriptions on the tombstones, haha. I do recognize a few of these Alliance scripts."

Du Chen entered the small wooden hut with a chuckle, producing a piece of paper – he had just pressed the seal onto paper and torn it into three parts; this was one of them. "This is truly excellent, Old Man. I recently came across a few characters, but I simply cannot decipher them. Would you mind taking a look?"

Old Warma took it, glanced at it, and immediately said, "The Three Grand Speakers?"

Du Chen's eyes lit up. He quickly handed over the other two pieces of paper. Old Warma read them aloud: "Kuban's Nine Tails, Supreme Council..."

Old Warma scratched his head. "These characters, combined, read: 'Grand Speaker Kuban's Nine Tails of the Supreme Council,' hey!" He patted his head. "This 'Nine Tails' I haven't heard of, but this 'Supreme Council'... that was something belonging to the Fiendkind a thousand years ago!"