Episode 4: The trials of the heavenly mountain

It's so dark. I can't see anything. Am I back in that cave again?

Ning Ru Fei slowly tried to get up on her feet, but she instantly slumped down. For some reason, her body felt limp and couldn't breathe properly.

What is going on? Why do I feel so weak? And my throat feels parched too.

She crawled slowly, at least she was moving from one place. She kept crawling until she felt wetness beneath soaking through her. She must have stumbled across water.

Ning Ru Fei lowered her head and greedily started drinking the water. She filled her entire stomach with water, her hunger also somewhat calmed down.

She finally felt some strength in limbs. Ning Ru Fei slowly got up. She used the wall as support. In the process of it, she felt wood touching her hand.

After feeling through the object, she figured it was a torch. She flashed the torch against the rocks and the torch lit up, lighting the cave.

Thankfully, I had learned survival skills in my free time as well.

She walked through the cave for a few hours. Glancing ahead, she could see light. She figured it might be the exit, so she hastily made her way there.

But after reaching the place, she found out that she couldn't have been more wrong. The light piercing her eyes and the heat crawling up her feet.

In front of her was nothing but a large expanse of lava, as far as the eyes could see. The sight was as magnificent as it was dangerous.

Ning Ru Fei stood there for a moment, completely dumbfounded. She slowly collected her consciousness and thought carefully.

It is a mountain, not a volcano. Why is there lava here? But, I suppose, this is the heaven realm. Some human logic might not apply here.

She ran her eyes across and found small platforms of rocks spread across the lava. She could easily jump on them and cross the lava. As long as, she was not afraid of getting roasted midway.

What a mess... How am I supposed to cross this thing? I am not a god. If I try jumping across, I'd get roasted from the lava heat. Just standing up here is making my blood boil, not to mention down there.

Ning Ru Fei was in a mess. Her ankle was sprained, her clothes were a filthy mess, and she was injured all over. On top of that, the heat from the lava was making her blood boil.

She thought of many ways to cross the lava, but the heat from the lava was always in the way of her plans. In the end, the only thing she could do was jump across the river of lava.

Ning Ru Fei made up her mind and took the path leading below. The closer she got, the hotter it became. Her mind was also getting messy because of the heat. She couldn't think straight.

She reached below. Ning Ru Fei had practiced martial arts for self defense. With her usual abilities, it would not have been a problem for her to jump across.

But, currently, her foot was sprained and her body was weak. There was no point in waiting around and thinking anymore, so she jumped on the first rock.

She landed on the rock, but her balance was disrupted. Ning Ru Fei fell heavily on the rock. But the pain somewhat reduced the heat she was feeling.

Without delay, she jumped on the second one. This time, she landed safely. But the heat beneath her feet seemed to have decreased.

Opposite to what she had expected, the further near the center she got, the lesser hotter it was. Ning Ru Fei was really confused.

Why is it getting colder the closer I get.

As expected, there came a moment when the rocks became so cold that it was freezing her feet. This feeling was bizarre with the scenery of the lava all round her.

What a weird place. I need to get out of here and quickly.

Ning Ru Fei felt something wrong. She increased her pace. The cold around was starting to seep into her bones. She was starting to feel sleepy, even.

What the hell is this creepy place. There is no end to this path.

Indeed, there wasn't. Ning Ru Fei glanced forward but it doesn't seem like the end of this path was coming anytime soon.

I can't...hang on any longer.

Ning Ru Fei's eyes closed shut. Her consciousness faded. She could not recall how long she had been walking. She had lost all sense of time in this place.

...****************...

The hot breeze flew on her face. The body which was previously frozen, slowly returned to warmth. Ning Ru Fei opened her eyes.

"Are you awake?"

The voice was rough and old. Ning Ru Fei glanced at the source of the voice. She instantly felt her blood run cold. The creature talking to her was actually a beast.

It looked like a lion, but also like a yak. She couldn't figure it out. It wasn't ugly, on the other hand, it looked rather majestic.

"Who, or, what are you?"

Her voice was weak, barely audible. But, in the expanse of this cave, it rang loud all around. The lion and yak-like beast got to his four feet.

"You should go back, this is no place for mortals."

"..."

"...I am the guardian beast of the heavenly mountain. You can call me Shang Yue."

"Shang Yue...Guardian beast... Does that mean, your job is to keep people away from this place?"

"Not exactly, if people want to come here and seek death, it's none of my business. My only mission is to keep the Heavenly mountain safe. Until, it has a master."

"What?"

"You needn't know too much. Child, you've wandered here, go back, else you'll die."

But...I'm already dead. How can I die again? Will my soul disappear?

"...Did you save me?"

"Yes."

I see. But, if I turn back now, I'd truly have nothing left.

"Shang Yue, thank you for saving me, and for your warning. But I must proceed. If I die, I die, but if I give up now, then I will not be myself anymore. For once in my life, I would like to follow my heart."

"...Sigh. It's up to you what you choose."

"Well...what did you mean by, 'until this place has a master'?"

"Since you want to proceed, then you should know. You are the third person to have come here after the heavenly mountain was left to be abandoned."

"The third..."

Apparently, the heavenly mountain once had a master. He was someone powerful in the heaven realm. For some reason, he left the mountain a hundred thousand years ago and never came back.

He left words to his loyal follower and spiritual beast, Shang Yue, "One day thai comes, the world holds breath,

All bow in wait, beneath thai step. I can't wait for it."

Shang Yue never understood what his former master meant. All that he told him clearly was, "Anyone who passes all the tests of the heavenly mountain shall be the new master of the heavenly mountain and Shang Yue shall serve them with loyalty.

"My former master only told me to warn anyone who comes here. The rest should be left to their own decision."

"..."

And two people have come here before me. Does that mean they...?

Ning Ru Fei felt a chill sent down her spine. If she fails this 'test', she will surely die, or rather, her soul will dissipate. It would be a lie to say that she didn't want to give up.

"I understand. Thank you for telling me."

I promised him. I would live as 'Ning Ru Fei' and prove my worth. If I die now, I'll be breaking that promise. Even if that promise was made in a dream, the sentiment behind was true.

Ning Ru Fei knew that if she died right now, she would be dying as 'Bi Dong'er'. It was something she could never accept. More than the promise, she wanted to prove to herself that she had some value and that she existed.

Ning Ru Fei had a delicate mental state when it came to relationships, but in an overall manner, her mental state could be said to be quite strong.

Ning Ru Fei was headstrong, smart and hardworking. She never let irrelevant things affect her. People had all kinds of opinions of her when she was alive, but she never cared for those who only knew how to stab people with words from behind.

Her mother, on the other hand, was someone she loved. That was why, the rejection on Bi Ai Qing's part was always painful to her.

"I...I have to go."

"...Alright. In that case, I will be your guide."

"You will?!"

"Yes, I was instructed to guide all those who come here. However, I'm not allowed to interfere with the tests."

"No. That's more than enough help. Otherwise, I might just get lost here."

Shang Yue told Ning Ru Fei about the special lava in the heavenly mountain. The cold she felt in the lava was, in originality, an illusion.

She was simply lucky when Shang Yue saved her from boiling into a crisp. If he hadn't, Ning Ru Fei's soul would long have dissipated.

How to overcome the illusion and reach the other side was the second trial in the heavenly mountain. According to Shang Yue, there would be a total of seven trials in the heavenly mountain.

That means, that I have already passed the first trial. Was that dream I had, a trial too? It probably was.

Many people would, no doubt, be unable to resist the temptation of such a perfect life and stay stuck into the illusion forever, impossible to wake up.

The only reason Ning Ru Fei was able to break free from the illusion was simply because she, herself, knew that the life she had in that dream was too good to be true.

Shang Yue has brought Ning Ru Fei back to the place where she once stood above the lava. If this was a trial, then surely just jumping across using the laid rocks was not what was expected to be done.

Ning Ru Fei knew that staying here too long was not a good idea. She needed to think of something soon to get out of here as soon as possible, but this heat was greatly affecting her thinking.

Snap.

It finally clicked.

Shang Yue said that the cold was an illusion. Then, isn't it possible that the heat was an illusion too? Ning Ru Fei had thought that it was weird to have lava in a mountain.

In reality, there was really no lava in this mountain. It was all an illusion. Ning Ru Fei made up her mind. She knew that if she was wrong, she would be fried into a crisp.

Nonetheless, she walked down the same path again and faced the same lava. Ning Ru Fei sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes.

She took a step forward. This time, not on the rock, but in the lava. As expected, her foot stayed steady on the flowing lava and the heat disappeared.

She moved forward and the lava completely disappeared from her sight. Now, what lay before her was the same dark, damp cave she had been walking in before.

Ning Ru Fei glanced back. Shang Yue was slowly following behind her. Ning Ru Fei figured she might have passed the second trial, but she still felt somewhat odd.

Something was wrong.

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