"We still can't go up?" Wei Zhao asked.

"No. The only way out of here is the sky ladder. If you go up through it, the patrol bees are sure to notice you. I'll have to take you through the water route myself," the kappa said. Unwittingly, it and Wei Zhao had become grasshoppers bound to the same rope—it had turned into their inside man and accomplice.

Wei Zhao raised no objection. He had nothing to fear, after all; even if their trail was exposed, he had more than enough power to protect himself. As for what would become of the unconscious Fei Yangnian, that would be left to the heavens.

The kappa moved through the water at astonishing speed. Carrying Wei Zhao and Fei Yangnian along with its Formless Water Entry, it swept downstream, and in mere moments they had reached the end of the river. Ahead stood a massive sluice gate, though it was not fully sealed. As the kappa drew near, a small opening suddenly appeared in the center, just wide enough for one person to pass through.

"The sky ladder is behind this gate. Climb straight up along it and you'll be out," the kappa explained. It then took the lead and slipped through. Wei Zhao shoved Fei Yangnian through after it and followed close behind.

The moment the two of them passed through the gate, the kappa scooped them out of the water. Before them lay a vast, empty hollow within a tree—so tall that its top was lost to sight. They could only tell that this hollowed-out tree was immensely, immensely tall, and that its inner walls bore ring upon ring of spiral stairs. To call it a sky ladder was no exaggeration at all.

"Move quickly—once you reach the top of the sky ladder, you're outside," the kappa urged. It headed off toward a water-curtain cave directly ahead.

"Hey, what's behind that water-curtain cave? Why is it so noisy?" Wei Zhao asked curiously. He vaguely heard a great clamor ahead, as though a huge crowd were gathered for a celebration.

"The inner garden is behind it. Today is our master's grand wedding—many guests have been invited, so of course it's lively. What business is it of yours? Hurry up and go, or if someone spots you, you won't be able to leave at all!" the kappa said urgently.

"A wedding? You lot go in for that sort of thing too?" Wei Zhao laughed at that, but he had no intention of poking around inside. He at once dragged the unconscious Fei Yangnian onto the sky ladder. Whatever else, he truly could not afford to waste any more time in this place.

The kappa finally breathed a sigh of relief. Two human plagues well and truly seen off, it thought—but before it could even step out of the water-curtain cave, Wei Zhao came dragging Fei Yangnian back again, hurried and flustered, a flicker of alarm on his face.

"You're not going back on your word again, are you?" The kappa nearly jumped out of its skin and hastily begged: "I really don't have any more water pearls on me! The sacred water pearl is in my master's hands—don't even think about getting that, unless you want to die. I'm begging you, just go!"

"I can't. I'm not going anywhere," Wei Zhao said with a bitter smile, shaking his head.

"What do you mean, you can't go? The sky ladder is right here—just climb up and you're out. Don't tell me you can't even climb?" The kappa grew frantic. It assumed Wei Zhao had set his heart on extorting it further. Humans had always borne a poor reputation—despicable, shameless, forever pushing their luck—those were adjectives tailor-made for the human race.

"Climbing is no problem. But I've run into an old rival, and I need to lie low for a while," Wei Zhao said with a wry smile.

"What old rival?" The kappa was full of disbelief.

"The brain-devouring worm," Wei Zhao said gravely. To be safe, he had just shifted into his primordial-spirit state and drifted up to scout the way—and what he found made him suck in a breath of cold air. His old rival, the brain-devouring worm, was diving down from above. It had given him a genuine fright. Thank goodness he was cautious by nature; otherwise this time he would truly be in serious trouble.

Without question, to the Wei Zhao of today the brain-devouring worm was a foe so powerful as to be all but unsolvable. With his current means he could do nothing against it; crossing blades with it would only bring him loss.

True, last time he had escaped the brain-devouring worm's pursuit by means of his primordial-spirit state—but the precondition had been that they were far enough apart. Once they drew close, the brain-devouring worm's perception would very likely detect his primordial spirit, and then the joke would be well and truly on him. Wei Zhao dared not take such a risk. For now, the only course was to hide first, and put as much distance between himself and the brain-devouring worm as possible.

"The brain-devouring worm? You mean the Envoy? That's an existence on equal footing with our master!" The kappa was startled too. It had clearly heard of the brain-devouring worm's fearsome name. Though it had not believed it at first, on reflection it made perfect sense: the brain-devouring worm and its master had never gotten along, but after all they were both the right and left hands of that same great personage. Since this was its master's grand wedding, it was hardly strange that the brain-devouring worm would do them the courtesy of showing up.

"So hurry up and take us back to hide," Wei Zhao said, now the one pressing. He had just found that the brain-devouring worm was still fairly high up, but given its speed—even if it drifted down slowly and leisurely—there was precious little time to dawdle.

"Go back how? Coming in from outside, all you have to do is open the small sluice and no one pays it any mind. But to get out of here, the big sluice has to be opened—the commotion would alert everyone in the inner garden for certain, and we wouldn't even know how we died!" the kappa said frantically.

"Then..." Wei Zhao thought for a moment and decided on the spot: "How about this—we go into the inner garden. Find some way to hide this thing of mine, anywhere at all, some nook or cranny, so long as no one discovers it. Don't worry about me—I have my own way."

"You're insane!" The kappa was aghast. Inside were not only its master but all the spirit herbs of this place, gathered together, along with honored guests from every direction. How could it possibly hide a living, breathing man like Fei Yangnian?

But Wei Zhao had no time to dawdle with it, for the brain-devouring worm had already entered the range of his divine sense. If they did not leave now, they would be discovered. He said at once: "Whatever you do, figure something out. That's that!"

The words had scarcely fallen when Wei Zhao vanished into thin air, leaving behind one panic-stricken kappa and one unconscious Fei Yangnian.

"Shameless human!" In the end the kappa had no choice but to grit its teeth and take Fei Yangnian along. In the instant it passed through the water-curtain cave, it relied on its innate gift of Formless Water Entry to conceal them from notice. Fortunately, at this moment every guest in the hall had their attention fixed on its master, and no one paid it any heed. It slipped in, and the danger passed without mishap.

After that, the kappa did as Wei Zhao had said. When no one was looking, it found the most secluded nook it could, casually stuffed the unconscious Fei Yangnian into a puddle in the corner, and covered him with a thick layer of dead branches and fallen leaves. Only after making sure no one had noticed did it let out a long, foul breath and tiptoe cautiously toward its master.