~~~

Patriarch Feng Zhang’s announcement spreads to every corner of the compound and submerges the Eternal Flame Clan in chaos. It takes Liu Jin four days to recover, and by then, the Eternal Flame Clan is a changed place. Information about the Dead Plains has become the most prized of commodities. Translators like Senior Brother Luo suddenly have no end of work. Enmities are put aside, and old favors are called in. Alliances are made, unmade, and remade in the span of a couple of days.

Once two weeks have passed, all the chosen disciples are gathered in the courtyard of the main house. Though Patriarch Feng Zhang could have ordered for it to be repaired, the courtyard is just as the fight between his sons left it.

Ninety-nine disciples stand on the left. Ninety-nine disciples stand on the right. The Core Disciples make up the front row. They stand tall and proud, yet even among them, one can find fidgeting hands and collars that are somehow too tight.

Senior Brother Guo is among the Core Disciples chosen to represent Lord Feng Gui, as is Mud. Mud’s presence on Lord Feng Gui’s side has caused no end of speculation. On the opposite side stands Xu Huwen. His fellow disciples give him a wide berth. A few of them are disciples Liu Jin recognizes from the feast, the ones who came back from the Crimson Cloud Tournament like Xi Mou.

Feng Hao has been placed in the front row though he does not count as a Core Disciple. For once, Feng Zhi does not ignore his brother. The grip he has on the young boy’s shoulder is unshakable. Heaven and Earth will switch places before Feng Zhi lets go of Feng Hao.

The ranks of the Inner Disciples are primarily made of the people who fought in the Sparring Hall, though people like Lu Mei and Khong Hu have also been chosen. Most of the disciples are fully healed, but a few show up with bandages. It is hard to tell whether their wounds are recently made, the result of improper care, or are just fake injuries to appear weaker than they are.

Constant glances are exchanged between the two groups as they wait for Patriarch Feng Zhang to appear.

When he does, all their expectations and carefully made plans are shattered.

Patriarch Zhang has yet to announce how they are to be sent to the Dead Plains. Some assume they will go in flying vehicles like the Flame-Wheeled Wagons. Others think racing to the Dead Plains on foot will be part of the challenge. Others still think they are about to engage in a massive fight before leaving the compound.

They are all wrong.

A single wave of Patriarch Feng’s hand activates a massive transfer circle beneath them. Liu Jin barely has the time to trade a single surprised look with Lu Mei before the transfer light engulfs them all.

Liu Jin is falling.

Outwardly, Liu Jin is calm. Far more so than the screaming and yelling disciples falling with him. There is nothing but blue skies all around them, and the ground looks unnervingly far away. Who can blame them for panicking? Sudden transfer is not the sort of thing one expects. It cannot be compared to one’s Master constantly poisoning their food, but not everyone has had training as harsh as his.

His Master’s training has prepared him for many things, it seems. Even if they are not things his Master necessarily had in mind.

Unless they were?

The idea that some of his Master’s unreasonableness may have been so Liu Jin would be better prepared to deal with the whims of Emperors and those even greater is considered but swiftly discarded. Old Jiang was Old Jiang. He did as he pleased and moderated himself for no one.

“You are smiling.”

“Am I?” He asks Fan Bingbing, bringing a hand to feel his face.

“You are,” Fan Bingbing says with a firm nod. “Most people would not be smiling right now.”

She finishes with a pointed glance at a nearby cursing disciple. In one breath, he curses the earth, the sky, and the childhood friend who convinced him he had talent cultivating. Curiously, he retains enough sense not to add Patriarch Feng to his list of targets.

Sense or cowardice. One can often pass for the other.

“You are not scared either,” Liu Jin points out.

“The Exploration Division has always pushed for more expeditions to the Dead Plains,” Fan Bingbing says. Her face twitches by a fraction, which Liu Jin guesses must be her version of a proud smile. “This is a privilege for me.”

An admirable feeling, though Liu Jin doubts her fellow members of the Exploration Division are quite as enthused. There would be far fewer screams otherwise.

“This is not all of us,” Liu Jin points out, already having located the Qi of all the disciples in their immediate area. “Not all the disciples transported. Not even all the disciples on the same faction.”

There are around twenty of them in the air and no Core Disciples among them. Some of their auras are familiar, but none Liu Jin knows well. Feng Hao and Lu Mei are not among them. Assuming the transfer kept those in physical contact together, Feng Hao should be fine. Lu Mei has no such protection.

Liu Jin is outwardly calm.

“Some of the disciples among us represent Lord Feng Shang,” Fan Bingbing points out as they all keep falling. Liu Jin looks at her with surprise.

“You can tell?”

“I memorized everyone’s aura when we were all lined up.” Fan Bingbing blinks and lightly tilts her head to the side. “Did you not?”

Most people simply aren’t capable of that level of memorization. However, Liu Jin doesn’t get the chance to point that out. The ground is starting to get too close for comfort.

“Everyone!” Liu Jin’s Qi reaches all the disciples in the immediate area. “Use movement techniques to break your fall. Now!”

Movement techniques should not be beyond anyone here. Nor should the ability to use them while in mid-air to alter one’s trajectory. An Outer Disciple may have trouble negating the acceleration from the fall through just movement techniques, but they are all Inner Disciples.

Though surprising, a fall from such a high altitude was never a serious danger to anyone here.

“A dog of Lord Feng Gui has no right to order me!” comes one yell of defiance amid a dozen thanks. Still, the disciple does like all the others and breaks his fall through repeated movement techniques.

Upon landing, he is subdued immediately.

“What shall we do with him, Brother Qing,” a disciple asks him while Fan Bingbing identifies the other disciples representing Lord Feng Shang and orders them to be subdued. Liu Jin pays little attention to the scuffle. His attention is focused on their surroundings.

Rust-colored earth stretches for miles in all directions. Only the odd rock formation breaks the monotony of the plains. There is not much in the way of greenery, just scant patches of grass here and there whose presence seems more accident than nature. The blue and empty sky allows the sun to shine down on them with full strength. Strong winds kick up dirt and blast them with hot air.

Based on the information Elder Xue procured for them, they are likely in the Rusted Plains. It is not the worst the Dead Plains have to offer, but it is still an area larger than the entirety of Night Forest Nation, full of all sorts of dangers. The only upside is that it borders the Eye of the Plains.

“Brother Jin?”

“I am thinking,” he tells the disciple, still surveying the area. The truth is he’d rather not answer the disciple’s question. Whether to take prisoners or not is not something he expected to have to deal with anytime soon, especially not when there are so many other pressing concerns.

“Hn.” Fan Bingbing has taken a compass out from her backpack and looks at it with a frown. “Compasses are useless, it seems.”

She holds it up. The needle is spinning wildly.

“A pity, but there are other ways to tell where north is,” Liu Jin says.

The other disciples may also be in the Rusted Plains or in some entirely different part of the Dead Plains. There is no way to tell for sure. Trying to search for them right now would be pointless.

The only thing they can do is head towards the Eye and trust everyone else to do the same.

“Best we find shelter for now,” Liu Jin continues. “There is no telling what we will find here.”

The ground starts trembling.

A massive presence enters their field of awareness. There is no warning. It simply appears inside it, already beneath their feet. It is not the power of someone in the Spirit Realm or even in the True Realm. This is a creature in the Earth Realm tearing its way through the rusted earth with impossible speed. The entire group barely has a second to react, immediately dashing out of the way as the ground breaks and pink flesh oozes out from the depths. A geyser of flesh pours and pours into the sky, growing so large the plains are cast in its shadow.

An immense maw opens up.

“RUN!”

It does not matter whether the disciple who says it represents Lord Feng Gui or Lord Feng Shang. Almost all the disciples heed the call, fleeing from the massive worm.

All but one.

“Wait!” Liu Jin holds out his hand. His Qi transmits his thoughts for all to hear. “Don’t run away! It’s not safe that way!”

Memories of a conversation by candlelight years ago flash through his mind.

“The maw is the safest place!”

It is a ridiculous suggestion. Most disciples are too busy fleeing to pay attention to him. Other than Fan Bingbing, those who do hear him show no inclination to heed his words. Respect and fear can only go so far when being told to jump into the belly of a beast. There is no time to present arguments.

Very well.

Dozens of Qi snakes burst out of Liu Jin as the worm comes down on them. The snakes wrap around the fleeing disciples and drag them to him. They yell and struggle, but it all happens too quickly.

He dives into the maw of the beast.

Fan Bingbing follows after him.

~~~

“You’ve killed us!”

The disciple who yells those words at him would be a lot more threatening if his body weren’t wrapped in snakes. He strains against them but dares not try much in their current predicament.

“On the contrary,” Fan Bingbing says. “We are quite alive.”

There is no light. All they can see is darkness. Considering where they are, it is probably for the best.

“We’re in a stomach!” the disciple yells. Yuan Yi of External Relations, Liu Jin believes. “We have literally been eaten!”

“We’d have died otherwise,” Liu Jin says. He taps the wall. It is as hard granite and far less fleshy than the creature’s outward appearance would suggest.

Just as his father told him it would be.

“We could have fled.”

“No,” Fan Bingbing says. “We couldn’t have. Did a single one of you sense the worm until it was right beneath us?”

Silence is all the answers she receives.

“Exactly. Despite its size, its acceleration far surpasses anyone here. We would not have been able to get out of its way in time. Had we the means to fly, it might have been different. Alas, we would have been flattened had we not jumped into the creature.”

She turns to Liu Jin, a motion he can only see through his Qi.

“You recognized it.”

“I know someone who went into the Dead Plains once. He told me of that creature. I am unsure if they have an official name, but he called it a Plains Worm.”

“All-Devouring Worm,” Fang Binbing says. “That is the official name according to the records of the Exploration Division. None of them said anything about jumping into one.”

“The worms spent most of their time underground, constantly swallowing minerals from the earth.” He taps the walls. “The place we are in is a collection of rocks swallowed by the worm. An artificial cave of sorts.”

“Hence why we are not covered in slime or gastric juices. Interesting.”

“No!” yells Yuan Yi. “It is not interesting. So we are inside a rock in the stomach of a giant worm rather than just in its stomach? Am I supposed to be thankful, dog of Lord Feng Gui! You have doomed me, and you have doomed your fellows!”

“How dare you talk of Brother Jin like that! Did you not hear!” shouts another disciple. If Liu Jin remembers correctly, he is from the Armory. “He just saved your worthless life!”

“The only thing I heard is that I will die as shit rather than as a bloody smear!”

“How dare you!”

“You will not die.”

The words are reassuring, but it is the menacing intent Liu Jin infuses them with that causes everyone to stop.

“Not all of us are on the same side. However, those separations do not matter right now. Whether you support the older brother or the younger one will not matter if we cannot get out of here.”

Liu Jin takes a deep breath and tries to reign in his menacing intent. Time in the Eternal Flame Clan has made him far too comfortable with threatening people.

“We all have things we wish to do. People we wish to see again. If you wish to continue this feud here, know it will not end well. If you wish to live, then follow my orders. Once you are outside, you can pick whatever grudges you want, and we will settle things there. For now, we work together. All of us.”

~~~