The expressions of the two men blanked at the same time. Zhang Chengling looked at this one, then looked at the other one, not knowing what he had said wrong. A while later, he finally heard Wen Kexing say softly, “No one else in this world understands High Mountains and Running River, to put it that way, it’s correct...but also incorrect.”

He looked at Zhou Zishu, but Zhou Zishu avoided his gaze. Wen Kexing did not say anything else, and continued to follow close on Ye Baiyi’s heels.

All of a sudden, Ye Baiyi's footsteps faltered. He stopped walking, listening intently in silence, raised a palm to halt them in their tracks and commanded in a low voice, "Be silent."

The hand which Zhou Zishu was grabbing Zhang Chengling with suddenly tightened. Thereafter, the few of them lowered their heads at the same time, sensing that the ground beneath their feets seemed to be shaking. An unknown buzzing sounded, and Wen Kexing immediately shot Zhou Zishu a melancholic look that said "I told you that this glutton was unreliable, but you didn't believe me”. However, Zhou Zishu did not have the time to care about him, because at the next moment, a strong surge of energy burst forth from beneath the ground. As if it was going to split, the earth quaked vigorously. The few of them leapt into the air together.

Keeping his hold on Zhang Chengling, Zhou Zishu lightly pushed at a small branch split from the arm of a large tree with his foot to gain momentum, but as though it was fake, that branch immediately snapped once Zhou Zishu tapped it and fell straight down. Silently aghast, Zhou Zishu whirled in the air, hooking the tip of his shoe around the tree trunk. Yet, in the blink of an eye, that great tree also toppled with a crash.

Zhang Chengling buried his face in Zhou Zishu’s chest, suddenly recalling an idiom that his tutor had taught him when he was younger--depend on the mountain, and the mountain will collapse; depend on the tree, and the tree will shake.

So it was true...indeed, if one did not listen to the advice of his elders, the miseries he suffered were as innumerous as money spent freely[19].

The land collapsed; it was like an ominous mouth had gaped in the ground, about to swallow everyone. At the last moment, Zhou Zishu borrowed momentum from the huge tree that had collapsed, and glided out about four to five zhang away. Right as he had just gotten his feet under him, even before he had the time to exhale a breath, his brow furrowed tightly--in the blink of an eye, Wen Kexing and Ye Baiyi had disappeared!