The howling wind swept through, scattering my hair.

  I clung tightly to his arm, squeezing my eyes shut, not daring to look down.

  Riding on clouds wasn't as peaceful as I had imagined.

  The mist beneath my feet looked thick and soft, yet the moment I stepped on it, I realized it was nothing but emptiness. Soaring through the vast sky with this unsettling sense of weightlessness—how could I not be terrified?!

  “Heh, don't be afraid. You'll get used to it soon.” Sensing my tension, he patted my hand reassuringly. “Good thing Jiu Jue left early. Otherwise, if he saw you like this, he wouldn't miss the chance to tease you again.”

  His words actually reminded me of something. I opened my eyes but only dared to look up, not down. With forced confidence, I retorted, “Does he dare cim he wasn't the least bit afraid the first time he rode a cloud? He was probably even worse than me! Hmph, always mocking others but never reflecting on himself—what a boring guy.”

  He couldn't help but ugh. “Alright, alright. Looks like it's best if you two meet less often, or you'll keep disturbing my peace.”

  I huffed and fell silent, thinking to myself—who knows how many sarcastic remarks this person made after I got drunk st night?

  That little burst of anger somehow managed to drive away most of my initial fear.

  “How much longer until we reach Daizhou City?” Gathering my courage, I gnced down. The swirling mist shrouded yers of towering mountains, while a once-wide, meandering river had shrunk into a thin thread no wider than a fingertip, all rushing past beneath us at dizzying speed. A wave of vertigo hit me, and I quickly averted my gaze.

  He looked into the distance, his brows knitting slightly. “We’re almost there.”

  That fast?!

  Before my words had fully left my lips, a sudden and powerful gust of wind came roaring out of nowhere.

  The swirling sand and dust struck my face mercilessly, stinging my eyes as they were forced inside.

  With a startled cry, I instinctively let go of his hand to cover my aching eyes, completely unaware of the danger my actions would bring.

  In that brief moment, I lost my bance—my body tilting backward uncontrolbly. Had he not caught me in time, I would have been blown off the cloud, plunging into the endless abyss below, my body shattered beyond recognition.

  He held me firmly with one arm while forming a seal with the other, his eyes half-closed as he chanted under his breath.

  In an instant, the raging wind vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

  Still shaken, I finally noticed that the sky around us had darkened considerably. The clouds were a murky mix of gray and bck, heavy and dense, as if they might come crashing down at any moment.

  He opened his eyes, took in the scene before us, and said, “Below these storm clouds lies Daizhou City.”

  As soon as he finished speaking, he guided the cloud downward.

  I felt a sudden drop, and in just a few moments, we nded steadily on damp, muddy ground, surrounded by a sparse forest.

  Before I could even catch my breath, something began pelting down with a loud patter against my head. I looked up—ah, what a heavy downpour!

  But… why wasn't I getting wet?

  I watched as the raindrops, as rge as beans, spshed and scattered just above us, yet not a single one touched me.

  Was this his magic at work?!

  “Let’s go.”

  He took my hand and turned toward the city looming beyond the trees.

  It was impossible to tell how long this pce had been battered by the relentless rain.

  The once-bright red city gates had lost all traces of their original color, now so dark they looked as if they had been drenched in ink—utterly unsightly. Murky rainwater gushed down through the cracks between the bricks of the city walls, pooling at the base and forming a shallow stream that snaked toward our feet, following the natural dips in the ground.

  He remained silent, his gaze sharp and vigint as he carefully scanned the surroundings.

  Although I had plenty of questions, I thought it best not to disturb him. Instead, I quietly followed behind, ready to obey his instructions at any moment.

  After a brief moment of contemption, he calcuted something on his fingers, then murmured, “As expected, this is the work of a yaokai.”

  A yaōkai—here?!

  In all these years, apart from the occasional beast spirits or butterfly sprites passing through Fulong Mountain, I had never encountered any other “kindred.”

  What kind of yaokai lurked in Daizhou City?

  I was more than a little curious.

  "Once we enter the city, remember—don't wander off. Stay close to me." Just before stepping into Daizhou City, he tapped my forehead with his finger, his expression unusually serious.

  "Got it." I stuck out my tongue pyfully, guessing he must still remember how I had darted around the city like a wild monkey st time.

  "Let's go."

  With a slight motion of his left hand, the half-closed city gate creaked open, pushed by the wind. A deep, heavy sound echoed through the air, welcoming two uninvited guests.

  The scene inside was far worse than I had imagined.

  Water—water everywhere.

  Beyond the torrential downpour from above, the streets had become winding rivers of filthy, stagnant rainwater, pooling at varying depths. The buildings lining the road were in utter ruin—some had lost their roofs, others had colpsed halfway, and many were reduced to nothing but crumbling remnants, standing desotely in the cold rain and biting wind.

  Was all this devastation truly caused by the unrelenting rain?

  The further we walked, the deeper the water became, its current growing stronger with every step.

  Though his magic kept the filthy floodwaters at bay, never letting them come within half a step of us, I could still see that the deepest parts had already risen past my waist.

  Various broken objects and tattered clothing drifted by, and every so often, the bloated corpses of drowned livestock floated past, filling the air with a sickening stench.

  “This city… was destroyed just by heavy rain?!” I turned to ask him.

  The sight unsettled me. It reminded me of a small town I had visited one autumn—a pce so vibrant and full of life. Both were cities meant for people to live in, yet their fates couldn't have been more different.

  Daizhou City was filled with nothing but the stench of death.

  He rarely frowned for long, but ever since we entered the city, his brows had remained tightly knit, never once easing.

  “A mere stormn't enough to reduce an entire city to this state…”

  He gazed at the broken, chaotic street before us and shook his head.

  “Then why—”

  I had barely voiced my question when he cut me off.

  “Shh!” He pressed a finger to his lips, signaling me to stay silent.

  “Help… someone… please save us…”

  Amid my confusion, a faint, exhausted cry for help reached my ears.

  The voice was weak, as if drained of all strength, and beneath it, I could just make out the sound of a child wailing.

  His eyes sharpened as he followed the direction of the sound, then without hesitation, he quickened his pace toward a courtyard ahead—one that was on the verge of complete colpse.

  When we arrived at what could barely even be called a courtyard anymore, I couldn't help but gasp in shock.

  An old woman, over fifty years of age, sat paralyzed in the water for some unknown reason, with only her shoulders and head exposed above the surface. Fallen debris, broken bricks, and rubble were scattered all around. A thick, heavy beam, held in pce by the remnants of two walls, hung precariously just half a foot above her head.

  The crying continued…. Wu… wu… wu…

  A brown wooden tub floated unsteadily on the water, carrying a wailing infant. The old woman clutched the edge of the tub with all her strength, fearing it would be swept away by the current.

  But the water surged faster and faster, waves spshing onto her face, making her cough uncontrolbly. Her grip on the tub grew weaker and weaker.

  The situation was dire.

  I broke free from his grasp, ready to step forward and pull the old woman up, but he stopped me.

  "I'll do it."

  He extended a finger, pointed at the water, and commanded in a low voice, "Part!"

  Before his voice had even faded, a half-meter-wide path instantly appeared before us.

  The once-raging water, like obedient soldiers following orders, meekly flowed to either side, no longer daring to act out of line.