Chapter 1: Crossing the Mountain of No Return

Creak!

A pair of immense bronze gates, their height stretching thousands of fathoms into the heavens, boomed as they swung open. When a blazing ray of the sun god’s radiance fell upon the boy’s face, Di Cang opened his eyes—his complexion was ashen, yet his frame, though lean, bore no trace of frailty.

“Where am I?”

Stunned, Di Cang gazed ahead, only to be confronted by two massive gates, appearing as doors yet so colossal as to defy all reason.

At a glance, he could not discern their true height. Then, abruptly, his eyes—large and dark as bronze bells—contracted sharply.

For through the yawning gates strode a pair of feet so enormous as to beggar belief. Feet, and only feet—Di Cang could see nothing more, only two ancient bronze soles descending upon him, each one as mighty as a hill, obscuring the rest of the figure from view.

His astonishment was so great that, for a moment, he forgot the fear of arriving in this otherworldly place.

“Hmm!”

The gigantic being, keenly perceptive, immediately noticed Di Cang and let out a jubilant shout.

Then, Di Cang watched as a colossal head, vast beyond measure, dipped down from the clouds. With a look of curiosity, the giant scrutinized Di Cang from head to toe.

How enormous was this head? To give an idea: the hairs in the giant’s nostrils appeared to Di Cang as towering ancient trees.

With a single exhalation, the giant’s breath swept over Di Cang, whistling past him with such force that he felt himself begin to float.

“What on earth!” Di Cang thought, dumbfounded, as he realized he truly was rising into the air.

Next, a vast bronze hand descended from above, scooping him up and cradling him in its enormous palm.

A dusky yellow light enveloped Di Cang, holding him safely within the giant’s grasp.

“Hello!” the giant called out, his voice booming in a strange, archaic tongue that Di Cang somehow understood. “My name is Kuafu.”

Though the giant’s voice might not have been loud to him, in Di Cang’s ears it was as if thunder had cracked across a clear sky.

“Kuafu?!”

Di Cang was stunned. Was this the very Kuafu who chased the sun?

He tried to take in the giant’s endless expanse of a body, then hastily bowed with clasped fists. “Kuafu, greetings. My name is Di Cang.”

Kuafu pondered for a long moment, then asked in puzzlement, “Why are you so frail?”

Di Cang blinked, glancing down at himself.

At a meter seventy-five tall and seventy kilograms, he was fair and plump—fat among the thin, slender among the fat. Was this frail? Was there nothing good about him?

Seeing Di Cang’s confusion, Kuafu continued, “Hou Yi and Xing Tian, who took shape before us, aren’t as burly as I am, but they’re not far behind. Even Jiufeng is sturdier than you.”

“Oh, really?” Di Cang nodded thoughtfully, then snapped back to attention. “Wait—Xing Tian, Jiufeng… Hold on, where is this place?” His eyes widened in shock. “Could this be the Great Desolation?”

Kuafu lifted Di Cang in his palm, turning him to look behind.

There, Di Cang beheld a boundless sea of blood, black-red in hue. Upon its surface, massive clots of crimson roiled, as if the essence of the Dao itself was congealing. Each bloody mass seemed alive, writhing and swelling, at times radiating divine light, as though striving to take form and rise from the blood sea.

To Di Cang, it looked like… well, like a basin of clear water left standing so long that it teemed with countless bacteria.

“One, two, three…” Kuafu counted the blood clots one by one, finally frowning. “One hundred and four. Yes, that’s right. When I left, one hundred and four brothers remained; now, there are still one hundred and four. Di Cang, you’re not one of those born from the blood with spirit!”

He paused, then said with complete seriousness, “You must be so tiny that I missed you while counting.”

“Wait!” Di Cang exclaimed, “Kuafu, are you saying I came from this enormous sea of blood?”

Kuafu nodded solemnly. “Of course. The Hall of Pangu is guarded by Father’s prohibition. Since the Twelve Ancestral Witches left to journey, only I, Hou Yi, Xing Tian, and Jiufeng have been able to enter. You’re so weak—if you weren’t born of the Pangu Pool, what other possibility is there?”

“Hall of Pangu, Pangu Pool!”

Di Cang was dumbstruck for a long moment. “If I’m not mistaken, you must be the Witch Tribe. But Kuafu, look closely at me—I am, without a doubt, of the Human Race!”

Kuafu paused, scrutinizing Di Cang once more before answering slowly, “What is the Human Race? Of all the myriad tribes in the Great Desolation, I’ve never heard of such a people. And you are most certainly like us—my nose is keen; I can smell your scent, and there’s no mistake.”

Di Cang was utterly bewildered.

There are no humans in the Great Desolation?

No humans?

Heavens above! Without humans, if I go to Kunlun Mountain to find Mother Nuwa, will she even recognize me?

The thought sent a chill down Di Cang’s spine. He gave himself a mental slap.

What am I thinking? Why not just admit I’m Witch Tribe?

He glanced Kuafu up and down, taking in that awe-inspiring, titanic physique.

A bodyguard so mighty—how could I not want one like that?

Survival comes first; everything else is secondary.

As these thoughts flickered through his mind, a man and a woman, both equally gigantic and imposing, strode into the Hall of the Ancestral Witches.

“Kuafu, who are you talking to?” asked the man, who must have been Hou Yi or Xing Tian by Kuafu’s account—the ones a bit smaller than him.

Yet Di Cang still could only see the other’s broad chest.

And the woman beside him could only be the legendary Jiufeng. Her celestial robe, crafted from clouds and as thin as cicada’s wings, left not the slightest gap, yet Di Cang could still discern the awe-inspiring curves beneath.

“So large!” Di Cang was overwhelmed. If all the women in this world were like this, what was he to do?

This bodes ill—would the Human Race die out here?

“Xing Tian, Jiufeng, come look—Di Cang has taken form!” Kuafu hoisted Di Cang high, so that the scrawny little man could finally glimpse the upper halves of their bodies.