Chapter 775: Chapter 775: Cold Underground Cave_1
As they walked, the man in red robes was chattering in Qin Sisi’s ear, "Pretty elder sister, what’s your name?"
A sense of caution rose in Qin Sisi’s heart. Instead of answering his question, she asked in return, "What’s your name?"
Without an ounce of hesitation, the man in red replied, "I’m Kong Jiu."
Kong Jiu? Qin Sisi repeated the name several times in her mind, racking her memories, but she had no recollection of it whatsoever.
However, she hadn’t been in the Demon Sacred Realm for long. So naturally, she only knew a handful of names.
Kong Jiu didn’t mind Qin Sisi’s silence. He continued, "Hey, don’t you think my name has a deep meaning?"
"What meaning?" Qin Sisi asked instinctively, finding the conversation a bit strange and, even a little... boring.
Looking very pleased with himself, Kong Jiu explained, "See, ’Kong’ means ’Zero’, the smallest number, and ’Jiu’ is ’Nine’, the biggest single-digit number. Each character of my name represents the smallest and the largest respectively. They symbolize everything from nothing to infinity, encompassing everything in the world. Isn’t it deep?"
She couldn’t help but want to sneer, so she lowered her gaze, silently helping Kong Jiu down the mountain, not uttering a word, just thinking to get him to his destination as quickly as possible and be done with it.
About two-thirds of the way down, Kong Jiu suddenly stopped, panting, "Pretty elder sister, I’m a bit tired. Can we rest for a bit?"
Qin Sisi glanced at him disapprovingly. They had only been walking for about ten minutes, she didn’t feel tired at all.
Seemingly realizing Qin Sisi’s disapproval, Kong Jiu quickly added, "I recently suffered a severe injury, haven’t fully recovered, and got injured again today."
Once again, he was subtly suggesting that he got injured because of Qin Sisi.
All Sisi could do was swallow her frustration and said, "Alright then, let’s take a break!"
Kong Jiu looked around, pointed to a large rock not too far away and said, "Help me over to that rock!"
With great patience, Qin Sisi helped the limping Kong Jiu to the rock.
As she scanned the stone, Qin Sisi saw a few glimmers of colored light. Blinking her eyes, the light disappeared, leaving nothing but an average looking rock.
Did she just have a vision?
Qin Sisi shook her head in confusion, continued to help Kong Jiu approach, preparing to let him sit on the rock.
Kong Jiu leaned his hand on the large rock, trying to adjust his body to sit. Suddenly, his foot slipped. He fell heavily downwards, unwittingly pulling Qin Sisi down with him.
"Ayo!" a cry of pain escaped from Kong Jiu. Immediately following that was the sensation of weightlessness. Sisi could feel her body plummeting downwards so fast it sent her into a panic. In her desperation, she clung to the arm next to her.
With a dull "thud", she knew she had hit the ground. She was in pain all over as if her body was broken into pieces. She couldn’t move. Her mind went blank as her consciousness scattered...
It’s so cold.
When Qin Sisi first awakened, the overwhelming cold was all she registered. She felt as if she was in the midst of ice and snow, shivering in the cold wind.
Almost like an illusion, a wave of warmth chased away the cold. However, euphoria didn’t last long; the icy cold quickly returned, almost piercing her marrow.
Startled, Qin Sisi sat up hurriedly after opening her eyes to her strange surroundings.
As her hand pushed against the ground, she felt something soft. When she turned her head, Kong Jiu was right there beside her.
He was still unconscious, his eyes closed, laying flat on the cold ground, his complexion somewhat pale.
Her heart skipped a beat. She put her fingers under his nose to check his breath then heaved a sigh of relief. He was still alive.
Shaking Kong Jiu’s arm, she said, "Hey, wake up."
After shaking him several times, Kong Jiu finally opened his eyes slowly, asking in a bewildered voice, "What happened?"
Sisi sighed, "Get up and see for yourself. It seems we’ve fallen underground."
Kong Jiu quickly pushed himself off the ground. He looked all around for a while, his face growing pale. Panicking, he grabbed Qin Sisi’s arm, asking, "Pretty elder sister, where are we? How did we?"
"Who am I supposed to ask if you’re asking me?" replied Qin Sisi annoyedly. She was feeling quite frustrated with Kong Jiu. Had he not asked her to accompany him down the mountain and then insisted on a random break in the middle, none of this would’ve happened.
But upon further thought, none of this would’ve happened if she herself hadn’t taken it upon herself to chase the man in black and called for Kong Jiu’s help. At the core, she had been careless. She wondered if Ye You had noticed her disappearance.
Qin Sisi looked up, moving slowly, taking in their surroundings. They were in an underground cave. Judging from the place they had fallen, she took a few steps in one direction and found the hole they’d fallen through. Looking up in relief, she drew a sharp breath.
The hole was narrow, roughly a few dozen centimeters in diameter, and deep, perhaps several tens of meters. From the bottom, the hole appeared no larger than a fist.
She had the Wings of Rainbow, which could make her fly, but the hole was too small for her wings to open.
"Hey!" Qin Sisi cupped her hands to her mouth, shouting upwards. After waiting a long while, there was no response from above.
Kong Jiu came over, took a look, and grimly said, "Stop shouting. Such a small and deep hole, your voice can’t reach the top."
Qin Sisi glared at him. Kong Jiu retorted defiantly, "I’m telling the truth. If you don’t believe me, you can keep shouting."
Sisi didn’t shout again because she knew that Kong Jiu was right.
She stepped back and began to observe the cave. It was indeed very cold inside; despite the lack of wind, it felt as though icy air came from all directions. Qin Sisi hugged herself, her thin dress unable to ward off the biting chill.
The whole cave was adorned with transparent icicles that sparkled with an unusual light, making it clear enough to see their surroundings despite being underground.
Qin Sisi took a few steps into the cave, only to notice a river in the middle. Despite the freezing temperature in the cave, the river hadn’t frozen over.
Near the hole from which they’d fallen, it seemed like the river’s end formed an almost circular pool. The other end of the river, however, extended into the depths of the cave, leading into pitch blackness. It was impossible to tell where it led to.
