Pursuit of the Truth

The sudden sight stunned Su Ming but he did not stop. Instead, he ran even faster. Su Ming’s personality was like that. Either he would stay away from something, or he would finish what he had started.

The very moment he went near the tree, Bai Ling’s eyes which had previously been void of life, focused on him. She stared at Su Ming dumb-founded. As she stared, tears escaped her eyes.

There was no hint of hesitation when Su Ming approached the tree. He lifted the horn in his right hand and stabbed the red tree. When half of the horn sank into the tree, a dark red liquid that looked like blood flowed out. A muffled scream also came out from within.

It was a scream filled with rage. It was so powerful, it shook the entire basin.

Su Ming’s face was pale but his eyes were cold. When the horn pierced the tree, he pulled it downwards abruptly. A giant crack appeared on the tree. A cold gust of air immediately gushed forth from the crack.

The crack practically appeared beside Bai Ling. Once the crack opened up, Su Ming saw Bai Ling’s body inside. He did not hesitate and pushed his hand into the tree to grab Bai Ling’s arm inside. Then with a low growl, he yanked her out.

With just a yank, he managed to bring Bai Ling’s body out of the tree.

Bai Ling was shocked. She looked at Su Ming with a dumbfounded expression and allowed Su Ming to pull her. More tears escaped her eyes. At that moment, Su Ming’s face was deeply ingrained in her mind.

With Bai Ling in his grasp, Su Ming immediately jumped backwards. His heart was pounding against his chest. Just as he was about to leave, the screams grew much stronger and filled the entire basin. From the crack on the tree, dozens of Wings of the Moon appeared. The sadness and desolation on their faces were replaced with madness and blood lust as they flew out of the crack.

Su Ming felt his skin crawl. He immediately retreated. There were just too many Wings of the Moon. They were lined up so densely. Su Ming guessed that there were about thousands of them coming right at him and Bai Ling. There were even more Wings of the Moon within the tree.

However, just as the Wings of the Moon were about to chase after them, Su Ming saw the waves of heat crashing into them. Their faces were filled with terror. Some of them even froze and fell into the magma. They broke apart and shattered into pieces like stones. There was neither blood nor flesh. Only a gust of cold air rose from where they shattered.

‘The legend of the immortal Fire Berserker Tribe who were turned into Wings of the Moon is true! They originally did not fear fire but once they changed into Wings of the Moon, they experienced a mysterious mutation and became afraid of fire…

‘By the looks of it, they’re bodies are as cold as ice…’

Su Ming narrowed his eyes. As he retreated, he threw Bai Ling towards the entrance of the nearby tunnel with his left hand.

”Why are you still daydreaming?! Run!” Su Ming growled at her. Bai Ling snapped out of her stupor as if she just woke up from a nightmare. The moment her body landed at the entrance of the tunnel, she turned around and looked at Su Ming. Just as she was about to speak…

”Run!” Su Ming ran towards the entrance of the tunnel. The magma in the basin had already covered all of the houses in the tribe. There were only a handful of roofs left.

Bai Ling’s face was pale. She hesitated no longer. She turned and ran into the tunnel. Her legs were in pain but she ignored it. The only thought in her mind right then was to escape from the place.

Su Ming jumped on the few rooftops left and headed straight for the tunnel. Behind him, a large number of Wings of the Moon screamed but they did not dare give chase. The muffled cries and roars from the tree made the Wings of the Moon even more hysterical. A few dozen of them even went straight for Su Ming with no regard of the heat.

The Qi in Su Ming’s body was boiling. The 11 blood veins spread across his body. When the Wings of the Moon came, he swung the horn in his hand and rushed towards the tunnel. All of this happened within a short period of time. Nonetheless, when Su Ming arrived at the tunnel, some of the Wings of the Moon that had chased after him fell and shattered on the magma.

Su Ming’s heart was pounding quickly but he was calm. Everything was going according to plan. If he had decided to wait a bit longer and the magma grew even thicker before he acted, things would not have been so easy. More Wings of the Moon would have in fact chased after him.

As he stepped into the tunnel, Su Ming’s feet were giving off a stench of burnt flesh. Despite that, he did not stop. He ran even quicker instead.

Behind him, all the Wings of the Moon in the basin roared but they did not pursue. Still, there were some who managed to charge into the tunnel in spite of the deaths of their many comrades. They rushed at Su Ming.

‘The Wings of the Moon are afraid of heat… that’s why they do not dare to come out from the tree. But the closer we are outside, the more the heat will also decrease…’

As Su Ming ran, the screeches behind him grew clearer.

‘I have to kill all the Wings of the Moon that come after us. They must not remain!’

Su Ming looked at the big stone he previously cut out when he came in. He immediately ran towards it. With horn in hand, he turned and saw four Wings of the Moon rushing towards him with savage looks on their faces. The sound of their flapping wings becoming louder.

Su Ming’s face was pale but his eyes were calm. Just as the four Wings of the Moon were about to reach him, Su Ming kicked the big stone.

He measured the size of the stone previously. It was approximately the same size as the tunnel. As he kicked the stone by focusing all of the power of his Qi to his leg, the stone flew up and blocked the tunnel like a door!

Su Ming always had impeccable timing. According to his calculations, the stone door could hold back three Wings of the Moon temporarily. As for the remaining one, he would kill it with the horn in his hands using the heat in the tunnel to his advantage.

However, the Wings of the Moon were simply too fast. The stone barricade Su Ming made only managed to stop two of them. The other two made it past the barricade and rushed towards him.

Su Ming frowned and immediately ran forward. Even if he could kill the two Wings of the Moon, he would be injured. Besides, he still had a better plan.

As he ran, the speed of the Wings of the Moon’s pursuit increased. Less than 100 feet away from him was another stone of the same size.

As he ran past the stone, Su Ming used his previous experience and kicked the stone. With a loud crash, the stone flew up and blocked the tunnel. It held back one of them while the other escaped.

Just as the other one rushed towards Su Ming, the cold glare in Su Ming’s eyes thickened. He did not retreat any longer but chose to charge forward with the horn in his hand.

The man and abomination immediately battled in the tunnel. If Su Ming did not walk in the Ways of the Berserker, he would not have been able to resist, much less fight. However, he had already manifested 11 blood veins. He was also equipped with an extremely sharp horn. He had a complete upper hand in the battle against the Wings of the Moon.

Su Ming stabbed the Wings of the Moon and he immediately jumped away. Nevertheless, the wound left on its body recovered quickly. The Wings of the Moon only looked slightly sluggish but showed no signs of being anywhere near death.

Su Ming narrowed his eyes and quickly cut a few more wounds on the creature so, it was unable to recover within a short period of time. He quickly turned and ran away. As he ran, he would kick the stones he had placed in the tunnel earlier whenever he saw them. They became obstructions in the tunnel for the Wings of the Moon.

While he did stop to kick the stones, Su Ming took pride in his speed. In the span of just a few breaths, he sped through the tunnel and reached the area of the cave surrounded by many other small holes.

”I… I’m here!” The moment he arrived, Su Ming heard Bai Ling calling out to him weakly.

He saw Bai Ling hiding in one of the small holes with a pale and terrified face. She was shaking. Bai Ling arrived a long time ago but she did not know where the exit was. She did not dare move around recklessly, afraid that she would run into the Wings of the Moon again.

The Bai Ling before Su Ming’s eyes was not the proud and witty girl in the square. She was like a frightened little animal. When he saw the anxiety in her eyes, Su Ming laughed.

”You… How can you still laugh?!” Bai Ling was very nervous. She was about to continue speaking when Su Ming approached her quickly and grabbed her arm, running towards one of the many holes nearby.

”This is the exit?” she whispered softly to him. For some reason, after Bai Ling looked at Su Ming her fears decreased.

Su Ming nodded his head. He did not speak instead, he grabbed Bai Ling’s arm and ran towards the tunnel at full speed. He could hear Bai Ling panting. The sound was very pleasant to the ears. Su Ming’s heartbeat quickened. He did not know whether it was due to the running or the soft skin he was touching in his hand.

Bai Ling did not speak again. She let Su Ming hold her hand as they ran through the dangerous tunnels. Her heart pounded against her chest and gradually, she felt the same way as Su Ming. The emotion allowed her fears and despair to dissipate.

However, the silence did not last long. Soon, Su Ming brought Bai Ling back to the place he used for the quenching of herbs. When they arrived, Su Ming released her hand and he cut through the tiny holes on the ground using the horn. They seemed to be lighting up with fire. In the middle of it, he would sometimes frown as if he was thinking about something.

There was also fire burning underneath the cauldron not far ahead.

Bai Ling watched Su Ming’s actions with increasing anxiety.

Even then, she felt like it was all a dream. She had fallen into despair when she was captured by the Wings of the Moon. Yet the things that happened when Su Ming arrived made her think she was dreaming.

At that moment, ear-splitting shrieks traveled from the deep within the cave and became stronger as time passed by. They were approaching at an extremely quick speed. Bai Ling shivered and moved closer to Su Ming instinctively. Before she could get any closer, Su Ming grabbed her hand and immediately went past the small holes as he looked back at the cave.

Not long after, the volume of the shrieks increased exponentially and three Wings of the Moon flew towards them ferociously. Bai Ling quivered. She was about to retreat when Su Ming brought his horn out. He cracked open the ground where the fire flowed towards the cauldron, connecting the crack with another ravine.

A fire curtain immediately rose from the ground. Its strength was akin to a sea of fire. The three Wings of the Moon who were rushing towards them were enveloped by the sea of fire. Mournful cries rang through the air. They crashed onto the ground and shattered. A cold gust of wind gushed out from their remains and mixed with the fire. Su Ming’s face was somber under the fire’s illumination. Bai Ling, who stood behind him became even more terrified.

”They… They’re afraid of fire?” Bai Ling asked softly after a while.

”They worshiped fire when they were still human. Fire was their glory. But when they were turned into Wings of the Moon, not only did they lose their conscience and their bodies, they also lost their glory…”

”They were not afraid of fire after they lost their glory. No, they felt guilty towards it… They lived by fire and they died by fire…” Su Ming muttered. He remembered the one line he saw when he stood in the ruins of the Fire Berserker Tribe.

‘Wherefore doth thou cry, o blue sky?’