However, what surprised Xiang Beifei the most was this lake.
"Such a vast lake, it was actually she who sank into it?"
The boundless expanse of the lake was endless. When Xiang Beifei ran here, he could not see the end of it at a glance, and after flying for a long time, he still had not seen where the shore was. In the end, he could only travel by boat to conserve his Spiritual Power. He did not know the exact area, but it was definitely more than a thousand miles.
Could the mysterious woman actually transform such a vast land into an abyss?
By what means did she accomplish this?
Xiang Beifei grew even more curious about this woman.
Strictly speaking, slicing through an entire piece of the earth was not really that difficult. For instance, just two days ago, Xiang Beifei encountered a massive creature. That behemoth could change the sky with a flip of its hand, and the slightest movement might cause the earth to collapse.
Creating a heaven-collapsing, earth-shattering event was not a difficult task for that massive being.
However, the fact that the mysterious woman could create such a large lake was absolutely no simple feat.
"Have your remaining clanspeople always lived under this water?" Xiang Beifei asked.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yu stared at Xiang Beifei with a wary face.
Xiang Beifei waved his hand and said, "Don't worry, I'm not interested in your clanspeople. Right now, I only need one thing from you, a small piece of stone that can devour Spiritual Power on your body. I need it to guide the way, and then I will leave."
Zhang Yu frowned in thought.
Xiang Beifei studied him with interest. Zhang Yu was essentially a stone person, so logically, every part of his body should be hard and rigid, but when he frowned, his stony face actually wrinkled together too.
Zhang Yu asked in the Youmeng language, "Do you have the same goal as them?"
"A few years ago, two members of the Human Race came here. They explained their purpose to us. We normally refuse any foreign species, but seeing their friendly attitude, we accepted their request."
Xiang Beifei's eyes brightened at this. These two members of the Human Race sounded very familiar; without even thinking, he knew it had to be Xiang Tianxing and his wife. They would certainly have followed the order of Si Hou as they made their descent.
Being identified as friendly individuals meant he was practically a relative. Xiang Beifei immediately said, "Actually, those two are my..."
However, Zhang Yu's face suddenly showed a hint of anger as he said in Youmeng, filled with fury, "It's all because of those two! They made us believe that races like yours were friendly, so when that group of Ghostly Visage came here, we also mistook them for being friendly, had no defenses, let them take advantage of us, and that led to the annihilation of our clan!"
Zhang Yu was extremely enraged!
Xiang Beifei was stunned for a moment.
Could this also be blamed on Xiang Tianxing and his wife?
Since when was being too friendly a mistake?
"Do you know them?" Zhang Yu asked again in the Youmeng language.
Xiang Beifei shook his head firmly.
After all, Zhang Yu had not mentioned the names of those two people, so he might as well pretend they were unknown passersby A and B. He just wanted a small stone, so there was no point in stubbornly claiming kinship and inviting misunderstandings.
Xiaohei couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter.
"Actually, this matter normally has nothing to do with our Human Race, and of course, it's unrelated to those two people, since our Human Race has never thought about annihilating your kind. Besides, the Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage murdered our people and then disguised themselves as us to commit more crimes. We of the Human Race also loathe them deeply. It's all because the Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage is too cunning; you shouldn't blame those two individuals."
Xiang Beifei still needed to clear the name of the Human Race, even though there were all sorts of internal conflicts and messes within the race, they still needed to present a united front against their enemies.
Zhang Yu clenched his teeth and continued to speak in the low tones of the Youmeng language, "I understand this principle. We rarely interact with foreign races and never actively provoke other clans. Those two from the Human Race didn't have any malicious intent, which caused us to let our guard down. Later, when we saw the injured Ghostly Visage, thinking him to be one of the friendly Humans, we went to save them, only to invite disaster upon ourselves."
"So that's how it was..."
Xiang Beifei didn't know how to explain.
It was probably because the Stone Race lived in such an isolated place, seldom dealing with other races, which made them overly simple in character.
Or perhaps the Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage was too cunning. The people they parasitized were all in a state of death, indeed looking as if they had suffered grave injuries. The Stone People, upon encountering friendly folks, were willing to rescue them.
"Next time, learn to discern right from wrong. There are many races that are very strange; don't easily trust any outsiders," Xiang Beifei said.
"I'm doing exactly that now," Zhang Yu said, looking vigilantly at Xiang Beifei.
"Can't we unite against a common enemy!" Xiang Beifei said, feeling helpless.
Zhang Yu fell silent for a moment before blinking his purple eyes. A small purple pebble flew out of his eyes. He took it and handed it over to Xiang Beifei, saying in Youmeng, "Regardless, thank you for your help! Please leave this place as soon as you can!"
Xiang Beifei was relieved to receive the pebble, glad that he didn't have to resort to violence. He immediately turned and headed towards the Blood Altar.
The Blood Altar flickered again with golden patterns that gathered around to form the figures of the twenty-eight mansions. The small stone spun and elongated, transforming into a sharp pointer.
Xiang Beifei knew now in which direction Si Hou was.
Zhang Yu watched Xiang Beifei all the way, not revealing to Xiang Beifei where his people lived, probably wiser for the experience, still not fully trusting him.
In fact, Xiang Beifei already knew when controlling the Blood Altar that their race, now numbering just over a hundred, were all hiding in the depths of the lake, appearing very frightened.
After obtaining the compass stone, Xiang Beifei made his way to the surface of the lake, with Zhang Yu following closely. Xiang Beifei left the water and stood on the surface, but Zhang Yu did not follow. He simply floated below the surface, watching him.
Erha flew towards Xiang Beifei upon seeing him, but Xiang Beifei nonchalantly swatted it away with a slap.
"Watch your step!" Xiang Beifei said irritably.
Erha seemed very aggrieved. The urine it had just sprayed was still trailing underneath, relentlessly chasing after it.
Xiang Beifei turned to Zhang Yu and said, "The Ghost Whiskers will definitely come back, maybe in a few months, or maybe a year, it's hard to say. I suggest you rethink your defense strategy and consider setting up some defenses above the lake surface as well."
"We can't leave this area, now we can't even leave the water, we can only wait for them to come in. The Envoy used the water to protect us, but in reality, it's like we're trapped."
"What happens if you leave the water?"
Zhang Yu slowly stretched out his hand below the surface of the water, raising it above the water level.
Xiang Beifei watched Zhang Yu's hand curiously, wondering what would happen to it.