Volume Two, Chapter Eleven: The Five-Tiered Pagoda

Before he had even finished speaking, Master Feixu suddenly reached out with his right hand and snatched at the air. Instantly, the pagoda on the ground flew into his grasp. At once, golden light burst forth from the windows on the lowest level, and six beams of light shot out, spinning around like a lantern carousel.

“Get out of the way!” Hongkun shouted anxiously, but it was too late. In a flash, everyone was swept up by those six beams, including Hanyu and Meiniang, who were lying on the ground.

A dazzling whirl, a powerful suction—when they opened their eyes again, they found themselves inside the pagoda. The interior was equally resplendent, golden light gleaming everywhere from floor to walls, as though the entire place were forged of pure gold. A hexagonal corridor, each side with a lattice window, and in the center a spiral staircase that pointed straight to the tower’s summit.

“See if you can break it open!” Hongkun glanced at Yi Bing.

“Yes!” Yi Bing immediately swung his great axe at the pagoda door. Sparks flew, a deafening clang rang out, and after more than a dozen mighty blows, the door remained completely unharmed.

“No use!” Yi Bing, gasping for breath, put down his axe.

“Use fire!” Chengyan said suddenly.

“Alright!” Hongkun quickly began to form seals and recite incantations, but nothing happened.

“What’s wrong?” Moyan stared at him with wide eyes.

“It’s no use! I can’t cast any spells!” Hongkun looked up at the staircase.

“I’ll go up and take a look!” Yi Bing said, rushing for the stairs.

“Wait!” Hanyu suddenly called out. Yi Bing stopped at once and turned back, his plump face instantly contorted in terror. There was a small glowing orb floating above Hanyu’s rabbit head.

“On your head!” “On your head!” the two cried out almost in unison. There was a small glowing orb above Yi Bing’s head as well, seemingly a bit fatter than Hanyu’s.

“Is there one on my head too?” Moyan asked in terror, staring at the small orb floating above Chengyan’s head, frantically waving her little hands above her own.

“There is!” Chengyan approached Moyan, reaching out to touch the orb, but her hand passed right through it. The orb existed as if it did not exist.

“We’re being drained of our cultivation by this pagoda,” Hongkun said calmly.

Everyone had a small glowing orb above their heads. The difference was that Hongkun and his companions’ orbs were golden, while Hanyu and Meiniang’s were pale yellow, and Meiniang’s was visibly tinged with black.

“I’ll go up first and take a look!” Yi Bing’s lips trembled. He thought to himself, “We have to find a way to escape!”

“No! I still feel it’s safer to stay here!” Hanyu said for reasons even she could not explain.

“But if we don’t go up, how will we find Fat Girl and the others?” Yi Bing glanced back at Hanyu. Hanyu said nothing.

“Fine, I’ll go first! Wait for me!” Yi Bing said, running up to the second floor.

Time passed, but Yi Bing did not return.

“I’ll go see!” Hanyu hurried up the stairs.

Time passed, but Hanyu did not return either.

“Let’s go together!” Seeing Meiniang about to rush up, Hongkun quickly took the lead. Chengyan nodded, taking Moyan by the hand and following closely behind.

As soon as they reached the second floor, they saw Yi Bing and Hanyu frantically shouting at the stairwell: “Senior brother! Hussy! Senior brother! Hussy!” Hongkun frowned deeply, while Meiniang giggled, the sound strangely incongruous. Moyan let out a snort of laughter, but seeing Chengyan’s stern little face, she quickly stifled it.

“Senior brother, once you come up, you can’t go down! Didn’t you hear us calling? We told you not to come up!” Yi Bing said in disappointment.

“We didn’t hear anything!” Hongkun replied grimly. He turned and tried to go back down, but as soon as he reached the stairs, he was blocked by an invisible wall.

“The light orbs above your heads seem to have grown larger,” Moyan suddenly exclaimed, staring at the top of Yi Bing’s head.

“More than that! Don’t you all feel exhausted?” Hanyu said urgently.

Everyone nodded in agreement—they had all felt extremely tired as soon as they had come upstairs.

“It wasn’t like this on the first floor,” Moyan’s voice trembled.

“We can’t go any higher!” Hongkun said, frowning.

“Senior brother, I’m hungry!” Yi Bing suddenly blurted out.

Hongkun’s face darkened, but only for a moment. He nodded, took out some rations from his pack, and the group sat together to eat and rest. Though there was no water, everyone ate heartily. After all, a full belly could at least stave off some of the fear. Yi Bing wanted to share some food with Hanyu and Meiniang, but seeing them both shake their heads firmly, he gave up.

“We still haven’t seen Fat Girl and the others, they…” Hanyu said suddenly. Yi Bing, his mouth full, glanced up at the tower’s top.

“This pagoda has five floors. That little priest said three days—one day is twelve hours, so three days is thirty-six hours. At most, eight hours remain before Fat Girl and the others are turned into golden elixirs,” Meiniang said worriedly.

“They must be the same as us—once up, there’s no going down. They should still be upstairs!” Hanyu continued.

“We should keep going up!” Yi Bing said quickly, his mouth finally free.

Hongkun said nothing.

Having just finished eating, the group prepared to continue upward. But halfway into their movement, they were all suddenly immobilized by something. Unawares, they found themselves an inch above the ground, floating in midair.

“Should we go up or not?” Hanyu looked at Hongkun.

“I want to go up,” Yi Bing muttered.

“Let’s go up one more floor,” Hongkun said, glancing at Chengyan, who nodded.

Carefully, they stood up and found they could walk as usual, as if treading solid ground. Climbing to the third floor, they still saw no sign of Fat Girl and her group, but their feet touched the ground again.

“Senior sister, I’m so tired!” Moyan suddenly leaned on Chengyan.

“The light orb above her head has grown again! So has yours!” Hanyu said, glancing at Yi Bing, who instinctively rubbed his own head.

“This demon tower is draining our cultivation even faster now!” Meiniang said anxiously. Her fur seemed noticeably thinner.

“She has the weakest cultivation, so her reaction is most evident,” Hongkun nodded. “Me too! I can feel my power fading!”

“Same!” Chengyan said, holding Moyan.

“The higher we go in this demon tower, the faster our strength is drained. On the first floor, perhaps we could last three days. Higher up…” Meiniang trailed off.

“We have to keep going! At least to find Fat Girl and the others!” Hanyu looked at the rabbit fur scattered on the ground.

Without a word, Yi Bing suddenly rushed to the stairwell and hacked furiously at the invisible wall with his axe. Although he’d tried on the second floor, he still wouldn’t give up—what if it worked this time? But there was no response.

“Don’t waste your strength! Let’s go!” Hongkun said, and before he finished speaking, he led the way up to the fourth floor. But the fourth floor too was empty.

“Senior sister, I really can’t go any farther!” said Moyan, the light orb above her head now grown even larger, as she collapsed to the ground.

“Should we keep going?” Hanyu hesitated.

“No, leave Moyan here!” Meiniang hurried to check on Moyan.

“I’ll carry her!” Chengyan swung Moyan onto her back.

Hongkun looked at Chengyan but said nothing. The others stayed silent as well.

“Up!” Chengyan said, brooking no refusal.

“But if we go any farther, Moyan may…” Hanyu said, unable to bear the thought.

“Live and die together,” Chengyan replied, her words few but weighty.

“Right!” Moyan echoed weakly from Chengyan’s back.

Sure enough, as soon as they reached the fifth floor, they saw more than a dozen people sitting cross-legged—not on the floor, but suspended in midair. They were gathered around a woman in white, whose elegant brows and bright eyes radiated an ethereal aura, as though untouched by the mortal world.

“Fat Girl!” Yi Bing, overcome with excitement, forgot he should call her “Miss Zhao.” Ever since they parted, he had worried she’d faded into oblivion; now, seeing her alive, he was truly relieved. Heavens, she was still so fat!

“Brother Mu! Brother Hong! Miss Yu! Miss Mei!” Fat Girl trembled with excitement, but still could not rise. Her voice was extremely weak, and the orb above her head was nearly as large as her head itself.

“Brother Hong, how did you…” Jin Guishan’s voice was full of joy and regret.

“Brother Jin, we failed to help, and ended up…” Hongkun forced a bitter smile.

“Shan’er, these are…?” The woman in white turned her gaze on Hanyu and Meiniang, and both involuntarily shuddered.

“Master, this is Daoist Hongmeng’s disciple, Brother Hongkun!” Jin Guishan introduced Hongkun first.

“Greetings, Master!” Hongkun bowed deeply. The True Master Tai Miao nodded.

“This is also Daoist Hongmeng’s disciple, uh… Brother Mu! He was the one who helped us at Peach Lake!” Jin Guishan quickly pointed to Yi Bing.

“Greetings, Master!” Yi Bing imitated the gesture, bowing deeply as well.

“Heh heh…” To everyone’s surprise, True Master Tai Miao actually laughed aloud. The group stared at her in confusion.

“This little chubby fellow is every bit as good as our own little fatty!” Tai Miao glanced at Fat Girl, whose round face instantly flushed red.

Everyone burst into laughter, albeit with what little strength they had left.

“These two are my martial uncle Xi Feng’s disciples, Chengyan and Moyan!” Hongkun quickly introduced Chengyan and Moyan, whom Jin Guishan did not know.

“Master!” Chengyan, still carrying Moyan, bowed slightly.

“Greetings, Master!” Moyan, from Chengyan’s back, nodded hurriedly.

“Little girl can’t take it anymore?” Tai Miao looked at Moyan.

“Yes!” Hongkun answered quickly.

“You have a fair amount of cultivation—knowing full well that the higher you go, the faster your strength is drained, why did you bring them all here on a road to ruin?” Tai Miao reproached him.

“Yes, Master, your criticism is deserved!” Hongkun quickly lowered his head in acknowledgement.

“To live together!” Chengyan suddenly declared.

“To die together!” Moyan echoed.

“Good girls!” Tai Miao smiled faintly and finally turned to Hanyu and Meiniang.

“These two…” Jin Guishan truly didn’t know how to introduce them.

“I’m Hanyu, she’s Meiniang!” Hanyu stepped forward quickly. Realizing her bluntness, she hurriedly added, “Greetings, Master!”

“Wasn’t there also a turtle?” Tai Miao suddenly asked.

“Master, it’s a divine turtle!” Fat Girl protested at once.

“Oh, oh, a divine turtle!” Tai Miao nodded hastily.

“Brother Mu, where’s Brother Turtle?” Fat Girl looked Yi Bing up and down in curiosity.

“He’s standing guard outside! If anything happens, he’ll go alert our master…” Yi Bing explained hurriedly.

“He’s probably napping who knows where! If we count on him, we’ll all be turned into golden elixirs! Master, you’d better think of something!” Hanyu couldn’t help but shout.

Seeing her speak so bluntly to Tai Miao, everyone’s face changed. But Tai Miao was not the least bit angry. She looked at Hanyu and sighed, “There’s nothing I can do. This pagoda is a divine artifact—anyone taken inside, whether immortal or demon, will be refined into a golden elixir within thirty-six hours. In a thousand years, no one has ever escaped.”

A deathly silence fell.

“Fatty, what exactly happened?” Hanyu finally broke the silence. With Tai Miao’s powers, it should have been impossible for things to end up like this.

“The morning before last, Ye Boyang suddenly showed up, saying he’d come to apologize for the incident at Guiyuan Cave. He claimed their carelessness had allowed the demons to succeed and nearly harmed us all. We distrusted him, but lacking evidence, could only treat him as a guest. Perhaps seeing our displeasure, they paid their respects to Master, then quickly left behind some gifts and departed. We didn’t want their presents, but since it would be a waste to throw them out, we put them in the kitchen. Who would have thought…” Fat Girl suddenly gasped for breath—the orb above her head seemed to shine even brighter.

“Who would have thought that after lunch, we suddenly couldn’t move. At that moment, the Zhengjia Sect broke in and captured us all. Only then did we realize that the fruits and vegetables contained a poisonous insect, which took advantage of our carelessness to slip into the pot. Only Master, who was meditating in seclusion and didn’t eat, was spared.” He Lingchi hurriedly finished the story.

“They knew full well they weren’t a match for Master! So that old villain Feixu threatened Master, saying that if she resisted, he’d kill us all, but if she entered the pagoda willingly, he’d let us go, and even swore an oath to Heaven. For our sake, Master allowed herself to be sealed in this pagoda. But that old villain Feixu immediately threw us in after her,” Fat Girl said, her chest heaving with anger.

“How did you get to the fifth floor? If I’m not mistaken, you shouldn’t have been able to go beyond the fourth floor,” Meiniang finally asked, her voice tense—after all, she was the only true demon among them.

“That’s my fault!” Tai Miao looked at Meiniang approvingly. “When I first came in, I was so focused on escaping that I didn’t think it through and went straight to the second floor. Only then did I discover my power draining even faster, so I sat down to meditate and wait for a change. These silly children followed me up, just like you, and…”

“Oh!” Meiniang understood at once.

“You guessed right! Each floor allows seven hours—if you sit still, you can hold out for seven hours. As time passes, the orb grows larger, your body lighter, until you float to the ceiling. When the time’s up, you pass through the copper walls and arrive on the next floor. As for the extra hour, that must be the tower top. Soon, we’ll find out for ourselves.” Tai Miao smiled at Meiniang.

“Master, is there really…” Meiniang still refused to give up hope.

“What’s the point?” Tai Miao finished, closing her eyes.

Hanyu and Meiniang stood there in a daze.