The air had a heavy feeling to it. Stiff and still, like that of a tomb. It was familiar to Liu Xie but in a way he had trouble remembering as to why. He had been beyond the Silent Mountains many times before, for many different reasons. But never could he figure out why it had felt so familiar even upon his first visit. The abandoned town by the unkempt road, the rolling lush field with its tall grass, the distant forest. Even further he knew there would be great wide plains, the massive corpses of cities and fortresses where shadows of ghosts roamed, rivers that flowed in spirals, desolate ground that burned constantly from undying flames, mountains scarred by a celestial inferno.

In the center of it all was the First Palace which sat right below the heavenly palace of the Amber Emperor himself, surrounded by the skeleton of a city long gone.

And there he would find her.

Eona.

She would be there and finally the journey would end. Eona, Idony, and him, all together at last.

"LI!"

Bo's voice interrupted his daydreaming thoughts and he had half the mind to smack the back of Bo's head, but Bo along with Idony were already racing to the familiar nervous young man. Liu Xie straightened up and felt the itch in his arm again, scratching it as he looked over at Li Ba-... Li Chunning, who was being knocked over by the combined force of one nearly grown man and one very small girl throwing themselves at him in excitement.

Beside Liu Xie, Rui Yifu had pulled out a somewhat dingy and ash-scented fan that he fiddled with, his thin lips slightly upturned. "Ah, so he doesn't think we're monsters anymore! How gracious of him!"

"You sound upset," Liu Xie felt that Rui Yifu was the sort of fish to hold a grudge through multiple lifetimes.

"Only a little. He had seemed very certain about leaving us and running home to his mother, I can't imagine what changed his mind so fast."

Liu Xie could not either and walked over to the small toppled pile of humans on the ground. He reached down to grab Idony and Li Chunning, helping them both up while Bo hopped back onto his feet by himself, "welcome back Li," he greeted as he let go.

"H-Hi," Li Chunning replied, sounding a bit breathless as he picked some grass from his hair.

"Why you here?" Ji Ying demanded loudly, stomping up towards him. Liu Xie grabbed her by the back of her clothes to keep her from getting any closer. "You threw an entire fit at dinner and ran off weeping like some little kid after calling us monsters and now you're just... you're just here!? Like nothing happened? I don't need you! We don't need you!" Her face was getting puffy and red as she yelled.

"I-I'm sorry," Li Chunning mumbled while shrinking away from the furious young woman.

"How did you get here, actually?" Liu Xie asked, glancing over at the horse. "That should have brought you right back home."

"Does it matter?" Bo asked loudly, wrapping an arm over Li Chunning's shoulders, "he's back!"

Li Chunning seemed awkward under Bo's grip but after a moment a small smile came to his face. He looked pale and tired and spoke softly, "I... I don't know. I don't know. I....." he seemed to chew on his tongue for a moment. "I told the horse that I wanted to go home, but for some reason it brought me here and then wouldn't budge!" He pointed at the horse which continued to peacefully graze. "I didn't know what to do, I had been clinging onto it and closing my eyes as it ran, I didn't even know what direction it had gone in. But... I'm here now. Oh-" Idony had decided to latch onto Li Chunning's leg, her eyes full of tears as she blubbered quietly. "Ah! Don't cry! Don't cry!" He said desperately, patting her.

"Liu Xie! Liu Xie!! Xie!! He's making her cry!" Ji Ying yelled, jabbing her finger at Li Chunning, "he can't stay if he's going to do that!"

"She's crying because she's happy," Rui Yifu sighed heavily, fanning himself.

Liu Xie rubbed his temples. It was not really possible for him to get a headache and yet somehow he still felt like one was coming on anyway. "Li Chunning, do you actually want to come with us?" He finally asked.

Li Chunning was silent for a very long moment, then slowly and stiffly nodded his head. "........ Yes."

"ALRIGHT! Lets go!" Bo said, pumping his fist in the air and apparently reinvigorated by the return of his friend. Idony also cheered but still refused to let go of Li Chunning's leg.

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"Hm, Liu?" Rui Yifu walked over to stand close to him, "how did the horse get here?"

Liu Xie bit his finger. How did the horse get there? As divine as it was, it was still just an animal. Maybe it was the will of someone else? After all, his relatives were quite happy to annoyingly meddle in his life. He glanced over at Ji Ying.

The horse snorted and stamped its feet, throwing its head back before it suddenly broke into a gallop towards the canyon they had left. "Ah," he sighed. Perhaps with its job now done it had no reason to stay in the area. "Maybe it was only able to come through the mountain path because Li Chunning wished to come back to us," Liu Xie suggested.

"Do you actually believe that?"

"No," he admitted. He wanted to ask more questions, but he was so close now. They had a duty to attend to but after that they would be right on their path to the First Palace and then he would see Eona again. He had promised Idony she would get to be with Eona. Any further distractions from this would no longer be tolerated. "We need to get going, I don't think Anitherin will be very patient or understanding if we 'forget' to go speak with his friend."

"An-what?" Li Chunning turned his head towards Liu Xie.

"A very proud giant lizard we had a discussion with just a few hours ago," Rui Yifu replied for Liu Xie.

Li Chunning looked confused and, leaving it up to Rui Yifu to further elaborate, Liu Xie began walking forward on the fading path.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Ji Ying called out.

"Yes."

"Liar!"

He in fact did have an idea of where he was going. He had been around the lands enough that even though they moved and shifted in slight ways that broke what mortals knew about natural laws and the consistency of time's march, he could still find his way easily. The Great Black River was the mother river of the Black River, and it all was born forth from a swirling lake of black water and tumbling white sand made of crushed bone. The sweet smell of the tall grasses around them was blown over by the gentle winds which picked at loose strands of hair. He looked behind his shoulder to see the group were already following along after him, with Ji Ying and Bo hanging in the back cursing each other out. Idony was walking hand-in-hand with Rui Yifu who seemed to have cheered up a little from his earlier suspicions. Li Chunning was walking between the two duos, his eyes focused on Idony. Something about it made Liu Xie feel uncomfortable. He remembered Li Chunning snapping at Idony at the dinner table, maybe he was remembering that moment and wondering if he should apologize. Or maybe he was already regretting his decision again and was not looking at her in particular. Liu Xie found himself trying to make a reason that made sense.

There was a rush of air coming before him, the trampling of tall grass and the cracking noise of muscle tissue being forced to contract far more than it was made. He gripped the hilt of his sword and pulled it free, swinging it around with enough force that the charging quadrupedal creature's body was sliced in two, momentum still carrying it far enough that it tumbled into two severed chunks an arm's length behind him. Its sticky old blood had splattered over him and he slowly turned around to look at the others with some of the blood sticking his left eyelids together. "Ugh."

"Where did that come from!?" Li Chunning asked in fear.

"Are there more?" Bo looked around warily, his hands shaking.

The creature had a flat almost human face, but holes had been eaten into it and two of its teeth had grown into short yellowed tusks. Its arms and legs were roughly the same length, the fingers warped into bony claws and the foot splitting to the heel to give the odd impression of chicken feet. Its organs had slid from its hairless wasted body, still pulsing with meager life that lessened with each passing second. Liu Xie wiped the gunk from his eye and saw Idony about to poke it, "don't do that."

"Okay."

"Hm, I wonder if this is one of the creatures it's said the Last Emperor made," Rui Yifu did not sound particularly scared or amazed, only curious.

"Maybe, the things he made hunted in packs right?" Ji Ying's tone had become serious as she pulled an arrow from her quiver.

"Some of them, yes."

Liu Xie looked around them. All around was tall grass, if the things were pack hunters then their surroundings were perfect for ambushes. He wondered if he could...

He raised his hand upwards, the near silent thrum of energy surrounding them being pulled into a steady drumbeat, like the beating heart of an animal. It gathered until he felt he could feel it like he were holding the heart in his hand. Then he snapped his fingers, a spiral of White Flame blazing outwards around them before lashing into the tall grass. Slavering howls of pain and confusion echoed in the near distance as the grass was devoured by the flames, fading away rather than burning. Bo, Li Chunning, and Idony watched in amazement as the ground beneath was gradually revealed. The foundations of buildings, delineated markings for roads, toppled steles. There were bones too. Human bones, animal bones. Bones chewed upon and bones with scraps of meat wrapped around them. Some of them were complete skeletons, and a few had a curious patchwork of meat on them. Further in the distance, where the flames had not erased the grass, similar creatures to the bisected one disappeared into at astonishing speed with their ungainly limbs.

"Lets keep going," Liu Xie said, wiping the blood off his sword on his sleeve. "Before that thing puts itself back together."

"What!?" Li Chunning looked at the creature, even more pale than earlier. "What do you mean before it puts itself back together?"

"Did you forget? I said this was a place without death," Rui Yifu said, gently tapping his fan in his palm. "Nothing dies, or doesn't die for long."

Liu Xie looked over at Ji Ying, who was still standing in place with a wary gaze in her eyes. She glanced over not at him, but at Li Chunning, and Liu Xie watched her scowl at him before she noticed she was being watched. She sniffed, kicking the top half of the creature hard enough that it flew several feet away, and then quickly walked up towards him. "Well, it's not going to be putting itself together any time soon."

"Eh." His arm began to itch again, so he turned around and started walking in the direction he remembered the lake being in.