Heavenly Fall

“If we assume that we’re inside a mailbox, how can we get out?”

Everyone fell silent again.

Once more, [Bridge Maiden] was the one to provide an answer.

“This is the power released by the Book of Night after accumulating strength for three thousand years. Trying to force our way out from inside is definitely hopeless. Since this is a mailbox, we can send a letter outside for help and wait for someone out there to open it.”

To be honest, [Bridge Maiden]’s idea was far from ideal. Placing their hopes in someone outside—assuming there even was someone—was far too passive. Still, no one had a better option.

“Let’s write the letter first.”

As soon as they began, another problem arose.

“Even if we get the letter out, someone might simply put it back inside the mailbox, or not know that they’re supposed to open it.”

“And what if we send the letter out?”

“Are you crazy? We don’t have time to wait for someone to receive it. Besides, we don’t know where we are. We don’t even have coordinates. Where would they send a rescue team?”

A whole pile of questions erupted at once.

“Enough. Quiet down.”

[Bridge Maiden] gave a soft shout.

“Waiting for an outside rescue is already an extremely slim possibility. It’s merely something we can try while we search for another way out. Of course, to increase the chances of someone receiving the letter, we’ll attach a Five-Light stamp. Who has a Five-Light candle?”

The group soon managed to gather four candles of different colors and handed them to [Bridge Maiden].

Her next move nearly made everyone lose their balance.

She reached into her clothes and pulled out a candle of the fifth color.

Gongshu Feiliang almost jumped. He did not even bother using her codename.

“Little Yue, y-you… what is that candle in your hand?”

[Bridge Maiden] replied calmly, “Just an ordinary candle.”

Everyone turned to look at the Gongshu father and daughter. Their expressions were strange and their faces were filled with suspicion.

An ordinary candle? Who did she think she was fooling? Once lit, it clearly shone with the Light of Evermoon! This was an Evermoon candle!

An Evermoon candle was far more than just a candle. It was a candle that had never existed before—something that could only appear in the New Era.

Gongshu Feiliang had been dragged into the mess and made to share the blame. He was no less shocked than the others. Inwardly, he was cursing:

That rebellious daughter of mine! And she said she didn’t know she believed in Evermoon! She’s been hiding this so deeply—not even telling her own father!

This was not the time to ask questions, however. Everyone temporarily suppressed their shock and curiosity.

Once the letter was written, they attached the five-colored stamp.

A new problem appeared: How were they supposed to get the letter accurately through the gap?

President Shepherd slowly spoke up. “I’ll jump over and try.”

There was no running start and nowhere to gain leverage. Even he was not confident that he could make it.

“President, you can’t,” Knot immediately objected.

The others remained silent because they all knew that the height was nearly four thousand meters. Even if there really was a rescue team below, jumping out and plummeting all the way down would carry an extremely high risk of death.

The situation quickly fell into a deadlock.

Gongshu Feiliang wore a gloomy, displeased expression. He had already revealed far too much that day. But now, with the lives of himself and his daughter at stake, he had no choice but to take out something else.

He carefully pulled a small, compressed box from his clothes.

The moment it left his body, the small box doubled in size.

“Little Yue, come here. Use this to get over there and put the letter through.”

[Bridge Maiden] turned toward him. When she saw what floated out after he opened the box, her eyes widened.

“My balloon! How did you bring it with you?”

Gongshu Feiliang’s old face flushed red.

During this period, [Bridge Maiden] had been busy taking over the society’s affairs. After confirming that Chen Miemie truly would not come asking for the balloon, he had begun treating it as a family treasure. He would secretly take it out during the day to show off to his old friends, then return it to his daughter’s room at night.

Thanks to this “balloon that could hold dreams,” he had thoroughly enjoyed showing off in front of his friends.

He had simply been too busy that day and forgotten to return it, so he had kept carrying it around. He had never expected it to come in handy now.

When her father failed to answer, [Bridge Maiden] immediately understood what had happened. She glared fiercely at him.

“We’ll settle this when we get back.”

After spending so much time together, [Bridge Maiden] already understood some of the balloon’s functions.

She took hold of the string beneath it, drew several deep breaths, then closed her eyes and rose onto her tiptoes.

Something miraculous happened.

Her feet slowly lifted off the ground. The balloon carried her upward, her eyes still closed.

Its speed was incredibly slow—around five centimeters per second—but she really was rising.

Everyone watched as [Bridge Maiden], holding the letter in one hand and the balloon’s string in the other, drifted toward the gap overhead.

Du Jun secretly approached Gongshu Feiliang.

“Gongshu, you’ve been hiding your abilities well. Your family’s foundations run incredibly deep.”

“No. We haven’t. Impossible.”

Gongshu Feiliang immediately denied it three times in a row.

[Bridge Maiden] floated up to the gap. From below came a shout:

“She’s there!”

She opened her eyes and steadily pushed the letter through the gap.

The moment she opened her eyes, the balloon’s buoyancy rapidly vanished. She began to descend slowly and soon returned to the platform where everyone was standing.

Before they could say more than a few words, the vertical bridge began shaking violently.

Gongshu Feiliang let out a roar.

“The bottom of the second section is unstable! It’s about to reach its limit! Everyone, get off the bridge now!”

There was no need for further warning. Anyone capable of reaching the second section was no weakling. They followed the bridge, sliding and leaping as they used every skill at their disposal, retreating quickly and orderly to the head of the first bridge.

At that moment, the ten people there were drenched in sweat. Although their efforts had achieved very little, they were still doing everything they could to stabilize one end of the metal bridge.

After Gongshu Feiliang finished counting and confirmed that no one was missing, he said, “There’s no need to keep holding it in place, and there’s no need to stay here either. Everyone, get off the bridge.”

Once everyone had returned to the ground, both bridges collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Yet the expected clouds of dust and earth-shaking noise never came.

One end of the tilted bridge plunged into the distant darkness and was swallowed by it, as though it had been dissolved on contact. A chill ran through the hearts of all the mystics who witnessed it.

If they failed to find a way out before time ran out, they would all meet the same fate as those bridges.

Most of them did not give up. They continued searching actively for a solution.

Unfortunately, the problem was not that finding a way out was difficult. They did not even have a direction in which to search.

Time passed by, bit by bit.

The feeling of despair gradually began to spread.

In the end, President Shepherd led the members of [Hamburger Workshop], while [Bridge Maiden] led the members of [Skin-Shedding Clinic]. Everyone sat on the ground in a circle.

To everyone’s surprise, President Shepherd bowed to the people from [Skin-Shedding Clinic].

“Everyone, ever since Vice President Yu Ling left, many unpleasant things have happened between our two societies. Afterward, it was proven that some of them were caused by others deliberately stirring up trouble, but there were also matters I mishandled as a leader. For that, I apologize to all of you.

“To be honest, I still deeply miss the days when our two societies played together. If we ever get the chance, I hope we can rebuild our friendship.”

With Mortar Granny absent, [Bridge Maiden] naturally replied on behalf of the other side.

“President Shepherd, feelings between people go both ways. In truth, we feel the same. I used to look forward to attending your big-eater competitions every month more than anything else. We also made mistakes before, so please forgive us.”

“If we can get out, I believe the bond we forged through sharing this ordeal will bring us back to—no, beyond—the relationship we had before.”

The members of the two societies had mingled with one another in the past, and many of them already shared personal friendships. Now that the two presidents had set a new tone, they began gathering in groups of three or five to reminisce about old times.

Reminiscing wasn’t merely a matter of talking about the past. Many people would never give up until the very last second. Joining forces to find a way out was another form of reminiscing among mystics.

The darkness grew increasingly dense, shrinking the area in which they could move to its absolute limit.

“Looks like we really are out of luck this time. Iron Stomach, I’ve always wanted to beat you at least once.” President Shepherd still laughed heartily, as bold and carefree as ever.

Iron Stomach planted both hands on his hips. “You won’t get the chance. You’ve lost to me thirty-three times in a row.”

Bridge Maiden lowered her head toward her father. “Dad, I’m sorry. I got you involved in this. You didn’t have to come.”

Gongshu Feiliang vigorously ruffled her hair. “What nonsense are you talking about? If I’d stayed away today, that would have been a lifelong regret.”

The darkness drew closer. Everyone’s shoulders were already pressed against one another, leaving them no room even to turn around.

Just as they finished saying their farewells and quietly waited for the darkness to descend, the fissure in the sky suddenly blazed with light. One of the cracks was pulled open, expanding into the shape of a gigantic eye.

Moonlight streamed through the eye, driving away all the darkness.

Everyone looked up.

Chen Miemie descended slowly from the sky, his robes fluttering in the wind and a pair of wings formed from moonlight spreading from his back.

A smile played across his face. His eyes were as clear as a spring, and his brows curved like new moons.

Bridge Maiden leaped to her feet. “Chen Miemie? Why are you here? How did you get here?”

Chen Miemie smiled and waved the white letter in his hand.

“I received your distress letter 3,663 years ago, and crossed through time to come here.”