Zhang Hai Xing didn’t specify.
But the meaning was clear—he was entrusting the future to Qilin.
If Wang Cang Hai hadn’t warned him earlier that the Zhang family intended to use him, Qilin might have been overcome with righteous passion and volunteered to take Zhang Hai Xing’s place.
But now, with doubts lingering in his mind, Qilin remained silent.
Zhang Hai Xing fastened his black-gold blade to his back, bowed to Qilin and Wang Cang Hai, then, without another word, climbed out of the cave just as swiftly as he had entered.
Qilin moved to the cave entrance and watched as Zhang Hai Xing pressed close to the cavern walls, swiftly making his way toward the formation’s core.
As he moved, he wielded his black-gold blade with practiced ease, slashing apart any flying rats that scurried into his path.
Qilin was already stepping onto the edge of the cave entrance, his body instinctively leaning forward.
Wang Cang Hai saw that he was about to expose himself and quickly reached out, pulling Qilin back inside. Then he asked, “Why did the Ren Mian Niao suddenly disappear?”
Qilin let out a sigh and replied, “The Ren Mian Niao is actually very fond of these iron chains made from meteoric metal. It has a… rather peculiar sense of aesthetics. It likes to hang corpses from the chains. One Zhang Hai Wang wasn’t enough for it, so it probably flew off to find more prey.”
Wang Cang Hai thought of something else. “Earlier, you taught me to use echoes to gauge depth. Based on that, we concluded that the passage below was shallow. But both the flying rats and the Ren Mian Niao came from that direction, meaning the space must be vast enough to accommodate a creature of its size.”
Qilin took a deep breath, as if he had made a major decision. His gaze locked onto Wang Cang Hai’s dark, abyss-like eyes, his voice solemn.
“Wanbao, can you swear an oath?”
Wang Cang Hai asked, “What kind of oath?”
Qilin said, “Swear that you will never reveal anything you’ve seen today at the bottom of Qingze Lake to anyone.”
Wang Cang Hai fell silent for a moment.
Qilin continued, “These are secrets the Zhang family has sworn to protect with their lives. If you refuse to swear, I will have no choice but to kill you right now. And if you do swear but later break your oath, I will still kill you.”
A strange feeling washed over Wang Cang Hai.
This scene… I’ve seen it before.
Or perhaps, I once dreamed of it.
In the dream, a little immortal looked at me with the same fierce expression and said:
"Zhi Nu, swear that you will never tell anyone about meeting me today."
How did I answer back then?
I told the little immortal, “I don’t want to swear. Would you really kill me?”
The little immortal sighed, just like now, and answered, “You know I would never harm you. I am your fated savior. But if you reveal our meeting to anyone else, you might bring death upon yourself.”
I asked, “Would someone come to kill me?”
He replied, “Someone would come to kill you. Or… someone would come to kill me.”
Now, Wang Cang Hai’s gaze darkened as he stared at Qilin’s masked face.
After a long silence, he finally said, “Alright, I swear.”
He raised a hand to the sky and solemnly declared, “If Wanbao ever reveals what he has seen and heard today at the bottom of Qingze Lake to anyone who was not present, may he be cursed by the heavens, die without a complete corpse, and have his soul scattered to the winds.”
However, the person he swore upon was “Wanbao.”
And the real Wanbao wasn’t even in Qingze Lake today.
He hadn’t seen anything, so he couldn’t possibly break the oath.
Yet, Qilin seemed satisfied with the vow and continued speaking.
“The Ren Mian Niao isn’t a creature of the mortal world. It’s a guardian beast that escaped from the depths of the underworld.”
“A guardian?” Wang Cang Hai asked. “Guarding what?”
Qilin’s voice suddenly grew heavy.
“The Bronze Gate.”
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