Chapter 1802: [Escape] (Part 1)

The blast's shockwave not only blew open the altar above, but also blasted a large hole in the bottom of the underground chamber; Qin Yutong had already fainted from the shockwave's tremendous impact.

Hu Xiaotian shielded Qin Yutong with his body; his protective gang qi formed the first layer of defense, while the external armor was the second layer. His body kept colliding with the surrounding wall stones as he continuously fell downward. After the situation improved slightly, Hu Xiaotian pressed the button on his left arm, and the alloy double wings hidden behind him unfolded, controlling his body to spin and descend, slowing their fall.

Not long after, his feet touched solid ground. Looking up, he saw something descending like Mount Tai pressing down on his head; he hastily flapped his wings and flew toward the front‑right. Just as he broke free, a loud boom came from behind—it was the square cauldron from the altar crashing heavily onto the ground. Because the impact was too great, the entire cauldron sank deep into the rock stratum.

Hu Xiaotian was still shaken; he took a breath. If he hadn't reacted in time, he might have survived the first blow but not the fifteenth—without being killed by the explosion, he would have been smashed to death by the cauldron.

The collapse triggered by the explosion subsided after a long while. Hu Xiaotian first glanced at Qin Yutong, who had just come to. She had only been dazed by the shockwave; fortunately her injuries were light, and she was now fully awake. Almost simultaneously they asked, 'Are you alright?' Seeing that neither was hurt, they exchanged a knowing smile.

Qin Yutong couldn't help laughing at Hu Xiaotian's disheveled, ash‑covered face; Hu Xiaotian also burst out laughing. Qin Yutong then realized she was no better off—just as grimy and disheveled as he.

Qin Yutong rose from Hu Xiaotian's embrace. Dust filled the surroundings; even with their keen eyesight they could not make out the situation. She coughed twice and asked, 'Where are we?'

Hu Xiaotian shook his head, focusing all his attention on the surroundings. The aftershocks of the explosion had not fully subsided; stones and dust kept falling. He was concerned about Meizhuang's condition, wondering whether she had likewise managed to escape the blast by luck. However, he heard no other voices nearby, and preliminarily judged that Meizhuang was not in their vicinity.

After Qin Yutong regained consciousness, she realized they were now beneath the underground cavern. The shockwave from Hu Xiaotian's detonated light sword not only blew open the stone chamber with the altar above, but also pierced straight through the bottom of the cavern. The project at Long Ling Shengjing was far more massive than what they had seen before.

Hu Xiaotian clambered onto a large boulder, then reached out and pulled Qin Yutong up. He felt inside his bosom; the Ten Thousand Phenomena Diagram was still there, but the skull that had originally been tied to his body had been blown away by the blast's impact.

Hu Xiaotian took a night pearl from his waist and illuminated the dark underground cavern. The cavern they were in was extremely vast and spacious. They walked out of the rubble field created by the explosion, saw the ground ahead gradually leveling, and after walking over a hundred steps they spotted a silvery‑white oval structure—a small spacecraft, though severely damaged, leaving only a husk. Inside, they found it roughly the same as the one Hu Xiaotian had found in the Wuxian Sect's main altar. It was likely shot down by the Dakang Court long ago, its two alien occupants captured and killed, after which the damaged craft was hidden here.

However, the spacecraft was so severely damaged that nothing remained inside. This confirmed Hu Xiaotian's speculation: not far from the craft, two crystal coffins were placed side by side, their tops sealed with talisman paper. Through the crystal one could see two headless skeletons inside. Judging by their bone structure, these individuals had been much taller than ordinary people in life.

Hu Xiaotian wanted to open the coffins, and Qin Yutong asked, 'What are you doing?'

Hu Xiaotian smiled, 'Just to see if there's anything special inside.'

Qin Yutong said, half‑blaming, 'They're already dead—why disturb them? Let them rest in peace.'

Hu Xiaotian then recalled that Qin Yutong also bore the blood of those extraterrestrials; seeing her kin in such a state, feeling a rabbit‑dies‑fox‑mourns sorrow was quite natural.

Hu Xiaotian said, 'It seems we've gone from one predicament into another; perhaps the key to escaping lies within these coffins.'

Qin Yutong replied, 'Probably not; those talisman papers are meant to suppress souls, and the Dakang Court regarded them as demons—why would they leave an escape route in the coffins?' She linked her arm with Hu Xiaotian's and added, 'Actually we're much better off than before—at least this place is far more spacious than earlier.'

Hu Xiaotian smiled, 'I'd rather stay with you in that narrow secret chamber.'

Qin Yutong blushed and spat, 'How annoying—I'm speaking seriously with you.'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'I'm being serious too.' He gazed at the two skeletons in the crystal coffins and asked, 'Do you think they might have been a married couple?'

Qin Yutong shook her head and spoke frankly, 'I can't tell, but one thing is certain: before their deaths they must have endured great torment.' Although separated by the crystal coffin, she could see that the skeletons bore countless fractures—evidently they had been broken, then re‑joined and pieced together into a complete framework.

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Strange!'

'What's strange?'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Earlier I saw a similar spacecraft in the main altar of the Wuxian Sect, though far more intact; I discovered this wing‑dragon armor inside it.'

Qin Yutong asked, 'You mean there's nothing here at all?'

Hu Xiaotian nodded, 'I have a feeling something else is stored here.'

Qin Yutong said, 'Let's look!'

The two searched the surroundings; although splitting up would save time, they still feared Meizhuang might appear and dared not separate. Apart from the spacecraft and the two crystal coffins, they found nothing else. What depressed Hu Xiaotian most was that, although the cavern was much larger than before, there was still no escape route—this detonation of the light sword had merely bounced them from one underground cavern to another, only making it bigger.

After half a day of tiring themselves out, they returned to the spacecraft's husk to rest briefly. They had been trapped in Long Ling Shengjing for two days and two nights, having consumed nothing; an ordinary person would likely have collapsed, but their extraordinary physiques kept them going—though thirsty and hungry, their condition was not seriously affected.

Qin Yutong leaned on Hu Xiaotian's shoulder and whispered, 'Xiaotian, there's actually something I haven't been truthful with you about.'

Hu Xiaotian asked, 'What is it?'

Qin Yutong said remorsefully, 'I could have cleared the bewildering worm inside Xi Yan's body, but I…' Remembering this, tears welled up; if they couldn't get out, Xi Yan would die in her sleep from lack of timely treatment.

Hu Xiaotian let out a soft sigh.

Qin Yutong, tears streaming, said, 'I'm sorry!'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Everyone has their own fate; even if we can't escape, perhaps she will turn misfortune into blessing.' Though he knew deep down that chance was slim, and given the circumstances he could not bring himself to blame Qin Yutong.

Qin Yutong said, 'If my grandmother hadn't been protecting her back then, she wouldn't have been harmed by Ren Tianqing and Meizhuang. It's my fault—I shouldn't have taken out my grandmother's death on her; after all, at that time she… was just a little child.'

Hu Xiaotian embraced her shoulders and whispered, 'Forget it—there's no need to dwell on the past.'

Qin Yutong, tears like pear blossoms, heart full of remorse, lifted her head and saw a string of strange characters on the spacecraft's top. She paused, took the night pearl from Hu Xiaotian's hand, stood up, and began to examine the characters one by one.

Hu Xiaotian still had some self‑awareness; knowing he couldn't decipher the alien script, he didn't join the excitement, sat cross‑legged to regulate his breath, and seized the time to recover his energy. His nature was unyielding—he would never give up until the very last step.

After Qin Yutong finished reading the characters above, she returned to Hu Xiaotian's side. He smiled and asked, 'How was it? Does it point out an exit?'

Qin Yutong shook her head and said, 'It merely records some events from back then.'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Strange—why is there no sign of Meizhuang? Could she really have been killed in the blast?'

Qin Yutong replied, 'She probably isn't that easy to kill.' As she spoke, the two looked at each other, seemingly realizing something at once; their eyes lit up and they said in unison, 'Could she have escaped?'

Both stood up at once and headed outward, overlooking one crucial matter: they only searched near the spacecraft and ignored the debris left by the explosion. Returning to the rubble field, they located where the cauldron was embedded and found that the crack extended and spread up the wall; the fissure in the wall was actually dripping water continuously. This discovery delighted them immensely—knowing that Miaomiao Mountain was originally built in the Jade Pool, water seeping from the wall ruled out groundwater, so the crack must connect to the external Jade Pool.

Hu Xiaotian drew the Lone Moon Saber; the light sword had already been detonated, and the only tool at hand was this saber. He raised the Lone Moon Saber, gathered all his strength, and brought it down hard on the wall. As the blade fell, the wall split open with a wedge‑shaped crack, and water surged in. Hu Xiaotian had expected a frenzied influx of lake water, but found that only a small part of the crack's bottom was letting water in—indeed, the bottom of the crack was almost level with the outside water surface.

Hu Xiaotian felt both astonished and delighted, yet inevitably a little puzzled. They were presumably deep in the Jade Pool, so why was there no water around them? He had been trapped in Long Ling Shengjing for two days and two nights, unaware that the outside world had undergone tremendous change—Qiqi had already begun draining the lake water of the Jade Pool, and the water level had now dropped considerably.

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