"The fuck—I'm not even done saving him and now I need someone to rescue me or something?!"
Kage Ou cursed, his satisfaction from the earlier rescue already fading into distress at this half-done task. And half-done anything was never satisfying. No matter what it was.
But right now, all he could think about was how heavy this statue would be if it landed on him. They were both allowing this to happen miserably. The slaps of splashing water, the rocks—they were already there.
"Where did you go now?! Hold me already!" Kage Ou called for his sword in distress.
He couldn't see properly. His hair was falling upwards, all wet, and felt like it was going to leave his skull entirely from the speed of water and wind. His hand raised almost uselessly against the current.
But his eyes flew open when he felt his sword wasn't coming.
Another disaster only.
The statue was still stubbornly trying to grab him and also the sword—because the blade had just been cleaned, revealing its true form which he had desperately wanted to see. And now the statue was gripping the sword again too.
The sword could only chirp and yell something in its own language, a mix of clicks and owl sounds that only Kage Ou could understand.
"Then you check on him. I'm coming after managing this thing." Kage Ou said to the sword, pushing himself harder against the air to reach the bottom. "You're not that dumb to not be able to get out of its grip. His hands are binded."
"Pu puuuuu!!!!" The sword cried out, as if Kage Ou wasn't understanding it at all.
"Then at least make him follow me into the Zhèng door! He's too big to fit somewhere else without breaking at least three more mountains—and our clan is not much further!" Kage Ou screamed quickly before falling into the water.
The sword cried out in agreement.
'He's gonna break my back if he falls over me.'
Kage Ou swarmed as fast as he could to create distance before the statue crashed into the water, creating large tides that pushed him roughly. His whole world spun so hard that he was thankful for not fainting yet or freezing out of the cold.
The impact sent him tumbling through the current, past jagged rocks, until the water sucked him into the mountain's maw.
'Thanks to Lìng Lìng's sleepy kiss. Or I might have been frozen here in this cold. It feels too hot now..'
In front of him was the Zhèng door.
It was large, wide, dark, and pulling all the water into the mountain like a port. Some ice bars floated inside, and then he couldn't tell where it was going.
He moved against the flow to catch the riverbank to stop himself from moving too far. With the water—along with tiny fishes—the thin lower part of the riverbank hit the space of his above stomach and below chest, then slapped his chin lightly, making him bite his own tongue.
He groaned after catching water, facepalming. Those surface-level pains were more unbearable than any sword attack. His nasal passages felt like they were going to detach from their actual placement from eating this much poisonous water.
'I have to shower for two hours straight in my youth water, or who knows what disease I'll catch. I'm already overflowing with emotions because of it.'
'Just hoping Lìng Lìng won't be much affected.'
He blinked tightly. Once his vision cleared, he stood up again—though the place was so sloppy that he fell over his raised back twice.
"I have never had so much bad luck even when getting caught cursing in front of him. And here, I'm breaking my back, my hips, everything and..." Kage Ou felt his cheeks heating up.
His body actually felt warm.
'Oh, why do those feelings have to be raised up now by the water?'
'Is this any time for it?'
"And..still feeling too motivated and..perhaps romantic." He softly muttered to himself.
He heard his sword calling up to him and the heavy steps of the statue coming closer and closer.
"No no. Not now. Not now." He lightly slapped himself, trying to bring back his proper consciousness and remove those vivid feelings.
He focused on the task ahead instead.
"Let's get to work. Then..go home." Kage Ou reminded himself, and he swam back to the middle of the lake, attracting the gaze of the statue.
But he had no energy left to yell like he was doing before. He just moved his hands and moved slowly into the huge cave.
The statue tilted its head, looking above almost with curiosity and recognition. It followed inside without troubling him too much.
The inside of the Zhèng door was ethereal.
The ice carved like needle showpieces, faintly glowing with those illuminated insects. The whole pale was covered in soft layers of ice. So it wasn't totally dark at all.
"How..." Kage Ou looked around. But when the water went above his head, he climbed up onto a piece of ice.
The sword came and pushed the ice forward.
'This place was supposed to be sealed.'
'I thought I needed to rethink what Lìngxi said about its unsealing.'
'Well, it was really long ago. Even he never came here. Thankfully I didn't need to go back just to search through ancient scrolls to find the way of unsealing it with no guarantee that I would find one.'
There were five visible doors carved into symbolic shapes. A leaf was at the middle, which was the only one not damaged, while most of them had lost their shape.
He paused with the sword in front of the doors and looked at the statue.
Even the statue stopped, trying not to be violent, though it was unconsciously growling in impatience and desperation, touching the ice a little more gently instead of breaking it. The ices pulsed into deep violet before turning back to their original selves—related to the touch of the statue. It stared at the ices and then at Kage Ou. Its expression was less demonic but shaken.
Kage Ou's expression silently softened. 'His sad face carves just as Lìngxi's. So strange. I'm searching for him in this random statue. Damn, he isn't even dead to think this way.'
"Don't worry." Kage Ou said quietly to the statue, a little awkwardly. His voice softly echoed into the cave.
The statue looked down at him, lowering its binded hands slowly, though it was still twisting to break free.
"I said don't worry." Kage Ou hummed casually, hitting his wrist against the cover of his head to push out water from his ears before looking back at it. "Those chains will be gone soon."
The statue blinked like it didn't believe him.
Kage Ou chuckled carelessly.
Of course it wouldn't believe him, though it had come here following him like this demonic cultivator was the guide for this old heavenly thing. "Who cares? Just follow me as you were doing, pretty statue."