Though the sound of him relieving himself was definitely unpleasant, it would have been inconsiderate not to let him do so.

  Soon, I heard Pang Er let out a rexed sigh, followed by the sound of a zipper, and then a sharp, shrill scream from him.

  We immediately turned around—right where Pang Er had been standing, a massive hand, covered in furry brown hair at the joints, suddenly emerged from the ground and tightly grabbed his right foot.

  "Stay on the boat and don't move!" I shouted to the girls, leaping off the boat. At the same time, I drew a slender white sword from my waist, about two fingers wide, and with all my strength, I thrust it toward the monstrous hand.

  Though my sword hadn′t been drawn for many years, it had once accompanied me in sying countless evil creatures. This strike made the monstrous hand recoil in pain, and it immediately loosened its grip. From below the ground, a muffled roar echoed.

  The struggling chubby boy fell out with a thud, and I grabbed his arm, lifting him up, then spped him on the back and pushed him back onto the boat.

  But before I could turn around, I felt my feet leave the ground, and my body involuntarily started to fall.

  The pce where I stood instantly became a giant pit, with the surrounding earth, rocks, and water-like debris pouring downward. The worst part was that I realized I couldn't use my cloud-riding technique—meaning, I couldn't fly anymore. I thought it must be because I was no longer under the protection of my true form, and the powers of this world were repelling my spiritual energy.

  In a moment of desperation, I used all my strength to drive the sword in my hand deep into the mountain wall, gripping the hilt tightly. I was suspended over this bck hole, with no way up or down. The soil around me was shifting, loose, and unstable, and my sword wouldn′t hold for long.

  Thud! Thud!

  I heard strange, heavy footsteps, much like the sounds of the T. rex walking in the movie Jurassic Park.

  Two greenish, car-headlight-like beams of light fell from above me.

  I looked up and was stunned to see a head rger than my dining table—a bull's head, with two curved blue horns, like two backlit scimitars. Below the head, the body was human with a perfectly sculpted six-pack.

  A monstrous creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man was half emerging from the earth, gazing down at me as I struggled on the edge of life and death. It made a few strange ughs before retracting its body and walking away, its heavy footsteps echoing in the distance.

  This was clearly not the mythical "ox-headed horse-faced" creature; I was sure of that. But as I looked at its form, I suddenly realized this was the world of tarot cards. The "Tower" card was the sixteenth, and the fifteenth card was "The Devil," a creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man. Each "card" was an independent image, yet each was interconnected. Having stayed too long in the "Tower," its neighbor, "The Devil," sensed the disturbance and naturally came to join the chaos. The longer we stayed, the more "neighbors" would show up.

  At that moment, I heard a loud crash followed by the shrill screams of the children.

  The bull yaokai must be dealing with my boat. But this doesn′t worry me too much—given the strength of my true form, even if it takes him ten days or half a month, he probably won′t be able to make a single crack. As long as the kids stay on the boat, they should be safe. The problem now is how I′m going to get out of this!

  I′ve lost most of my strength, and my sword is starting to loosen.

  I remembered the "Death" card from the Tarot. Could it be that today I′m really going to die here in this disgusting, dirty pit?

  Please, someone, give me a hand! Even just a kick to get me back to the surface would be fine!

  Sweat dripped down my forehead, and I heard a crack. My sword finally slipped out of the loose earth...

  The feeling of not being able to fly... really stinks.

  My body fell into the abyss of the unseen bck hole.

  In a split second, a rush of searing energy surged through my left wrist. The red-gold dragon-patterned peace amulet suddenly began to vibrate violently, the crisp sound of "ding-ding" echoing continuously. The dragon carved into this small, round ornament actually began to move. It raised its head, bared its cws, and in the blink of an eye, it burst out of the amulet, transforming into a massive, powerful golden dragon, its feet treading on clouds.

  Before I could even react, this dragon descended from the sky, grabbed my arm in its mouth, and with a powerful toss, sent me flying onto its back. It let out a long, mighty roar and quickly soared upward.

  As I had expected, the bull yaokai was repeatedly ramming my boat with its horns, terrifying the kids inside.

  The dragon dove from the sky, threw me back into the boat, and then swung its tail, striking the bull yaokai's head with tremendous force, sending the yaokai flying several yards away.

  I had no intention of lingering around with the bull yaokai, so I seized the opportunity and swiftly slipped back into my peace amulet with a whoosh.

  The kids were stunned, stammering as they pointed at me. "You... you must be a god! That was a dragon... was that a dragon?"

  Honestly, I was just as confused as they were. The red-gold dragon-patterned peace amulet was a small gift from Ao Chi. I couldn′t even remember when he had given it to me, only that at the time, I had mocked him for being stingy, telling him if he was going to give me a gift, he should have at least given me something bigger since I liked gold. That had made him so mad he almost wanted to hit me, saying I had no taste.

  Ao Chi... that guy...

  I grasped my left wrist, feeling the familiar warmth still lingering on the peace amalgam.

  Suddenly, an unexpected pain shot through my chest.

  He... he was always thinking of me, wasn′t he?

  But Ao Chi... where did you go?

  I shook my head forcefully, pushing aside the momentary confusion. The immediate priority was to get out of this dreadful pce.

  Suddenly, the sound of a river reached my ears, slowly and distantly pressing against my eardrums.

  My boat stopped before the quietly flowing river. The stars in the sky seemed to have multiplied, their reflections shimmering on the winding river ahead. It looked as though pairs of gentle eyes were blinking.

  The boat slowly moved forward, settling onto the surface of the water without even causing the slightest ripple.

  However, it didn′t follow the river′s current. Instead, it began to sink beneath the water.

  Could it be that beneath this river, full of starlight, y the exit to the underworld?

  The few who thought the boat was leaking couldn′t help but shout and fuss again.

  Bubbles rose around us with a soft gurgling sound, but not a single drop of water touched us or the boat.

  Our boat kept sinking, seemingly without end. I wasn′t sure how long had passed, but soon, rays of light began to emerge from the depths, growing brighter with each passing moment. Each beam of light felt as though it was trying to penetrate every cell in my body.

  Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion hit me, as if I hadn′t slept in three days and nights, too tired to keep going.

  Looking at the children, I noticed they had all drifted off to sleep, leaning in odd angles.

  I wanted to stay awake, but this time, my body couldn′t resist—it was too tired, too heavy. My eyelids closed, and I drifted off to sleep...