627 Return
"Get on the cube, I'll carry you all out," The Dusking Sun said.
"I'll take you up on the offer then," I replied.
Once the entire group went inside the cube, the Sun flew ahead of us, and his bird grabbed the cage as we all went flying out of the Dark Garden.
As we were moving, I noticed a gigantic ditch in the far distance, that seemed to lead even further down.
Somehow, the Sun realized that I was intrigued with that ditch.
"I wouldn't think of going there, not at your level right now, it's a death sentence," he said, the words spoken into my mind directly.
I replied back, with difficulty of course since my Divine Sense could barely reach out of the barrier protecting our limited Qi.
"How so? I thought you were sitting in the centermost area of the Dark Garden," I said.
"I was, but that's only the top level, there are multiple levels below this region, with beasts and monsters far more fearsome than what lives above. Sometimes these monsters come out to hunt and go up, and whenever that happens, many lives are lost," He added.
"I see," I replied.
"Just so you would know, the parasite that entered my body, came from there. I was roaming about and exploring the depths of the Dark Garden, and was met with a pretty annoying foe. One of those black lizards managed to scratch my skin, which by itself is close to a miracle. And his claws were doused with the parasitic agent… annoying little pests," he said.
"Wait, when you say black lizard, does it have obsidian scales, with thorns on the back, double sets of claws, and a nasty sparking looking mouth that sometimes shoot lightning?" I asked.
"Seems that you met one of its kind before… which is strange, since there shouldn't be any of them here in the upper floor of the Dark Garden…"
"We did meet one," I said.
"And you lived to tell the tale? Nothing but my Crow should be able to survive an encounter with one of those things in the upper level," he added.
"It was not… aggressive to say the least," I replied.
"Interesting, they are usually hard to subdue, in fact I have tried everything to subdue one of them, they would rather die than submit. Not to mention, they're extremely aggressive. For one of them to be here, and not cause half the population to go extinct, it is either a mutated one, or perhaps, it had found enough food for it not to bother with you," he replied.
"I couldn't tell, all we knew was, that if we tried to fight it, or anger it in any way, none of us would be here talking to you," I said.
"Good choice, I would have still been stuck in my coffin unable to get rid of that d.a.m.n creature, or perhaps forced out of my body. Things happen for a reason I suppose… Oh, we're almost out," he added.
Soon, there was another ma.s.sive gorge that had a powerful wind current going upward, the Sun went up first and the bird carrying us followed after.
"This place, you haven't seen even a fraction of it, it spreads far and wide, and even downward. There are many things that even some of the Suns refuse to go down and visit. Don't waste your life away to try and see through mysteries that were here before even the sun above the Beyond was bright. And if you ever feel courageous enough to venture down, at least come when you have the ability to survive the Sea of Demons' atmosphere by yourself, or have something capable of staving it off."
The moment his words were over, we were back in a relatively brighter atmosphere, it was still dark due to the high density of the Sea of Demon's clouds high above, but it was incredibly brighter than the Dark Garden.
Back in the desert, the Sun looked around, and said, "The closest city is a few leagues to the north, I have no need to remain here anymore, I trust you can find your way back," he said.
"We should be able to do so," I replied.
"Then keep low, don't fly too high, a sandstorm will be coming in a few hours, if you don't make it to the city walls first, you're better off burrowing in the ground, for now I shall leave, as for repaying your favor," he threw me a piece of jade.
"If you ever find yourself in a pinch, break that. A sliver of my divine sense is in there, it should ward off anyone that could harm you, or break away anything that might trap you. Not even a Sun would dare face it."
The old man then hopped on the back of his three eyed crow and they just blasted away from the desert disappearing into the horizon faster than a man can blink.
"Lord, finally I have contact back with you. Have you been well?" the automaton finally had the ability to contact me when we're away from the Dark Garden.
I replied back using Divine sense. "Good to see you back. Nothing happened though, just keep a watch on me from now on," I replied.
Not long after, you could feel the clouds high above us churning. The Dusking Sun was right, it feels like an incoming sandstorm, and from the looks of things, it's going to be ugly.
"We need to move fast buckle up," I said and pressed the pedestal on the cube, forcing it to shoot forward like a shooting star.
The soldiers sloped down on the ground, and some even began laughing.
"What's wrong with them?" I asked Old Fu as I was trying to drive this piece of junk.
"They finally managed to get away from one of the Suns. The fear in their heart was probably too great for them to control for so long." Old Fu said.
"What's wrong with being next to a Sun, he is only human," I replied.
Old Fu smiled, "Indeed, he is but a human, but he is a scary and powerful human, not to mention some of these guys joked around taking his body and selling it. Anyway, now that pressure is gone, they are feeling relaxed, although most of that pressure was mainly due to you," he said.
"How come, what did I do?" I asked looking a bit annoyed at the group that was smirking like idiots.
"You're probably the only sane? Maybe insane man who'd talk so casually to a Sun as if they were your peer. h.e.l.l you even opened a hole in his head and poked around with it. They're going back home with a lot of stories to tell, that I can a.s.sure you of," he said.
"Well, good to hear that, but looking at what's behind us, going back is not going to be as easy as we might think," I said.
Old Fu's eyes turned to see the entire horizon… upside down.
A gigantic, tidal wave of sand pushed by immensely powerful winds was rus.h.i.+ng towards us. The sand wave was big enough that it reached the rims of the skies themselves…
"Well, I hope you can increase some speed…"