1553 An Agreement with the Demonic Ants
“They have gone to the Realm of the Dead,” the Demonic Ant seated on the table said in a somber voice.

He took a small black ant from his body and gently pinched it to death. He tossed it on the ground, and a soft breeze blew its carcass to the leg of the table.

The Demonic Ant lifted his head up and said, “This is the state that most biological lifeforms exist in upon death. Their physical bodies have passed, while their spirits will disappear like dust.

“However, there are some lives that have sufficiently powerful spirits, where even if they experience physical death, their spirits will not follow suit. Such spirits would be brother to another realm, a place known as the Realm of the Dead, also known as Hell.”

Xia Fan furrowed his brow. “Isn’t Hell one of the three realms of legend?”

“Legend?” The Demonic Ant let out a mirthless laugh that gave people goosebumps. “Perhaps you’ve already found out, but in every universe, there exist legends about the three realms. So how is that strange?

“Let me give you another example. “There exist legends about dragons in every universe, and guess what? There really are dragons, and you Skywings have even befriended them. Soon, you will also discover that things like legends are often much closer to fact than fiction.”

There was no denying what the Demonic Ant had said. Dragons did indeed exist, and were right by the Skywings’ side even now!

Logically speaking, there were barriers between the three realms, and while spirits could pass through them, humans could not. However, in the recent years, there had been some changes to the three realms. The rise of the Demonic Ants in the mortal realm, as well as the sapient beasts and the forces of Darkness, were all because of the powers from the Realm of the Dead leaking through!

The Demonic Ant said in a low voice, “I never believe in the notion of coincidence. Xia Fei and his people turned the Great Chiliocosm upside down, and have inadvertently been sent to the Realm of the Dead?

“If that is true, then the Skywings have truly been far too careless.”

“The way I see it, it is more likely that this was a ploy. Someone must have intentionally opened the way to the Realm of the Dead and lured the Skywings in!”

Xia Fan never would have thought that there would come a day where he could sit down and have a conversation with a Demonic Ant. This meeting had been fairly fruitful given the current state of things.

The Demonic Ants were also from the Realm of the Dead, which was also called Hell. It was a place that was fraught with danger and fear. There were no descriptive words that could do it justice. Not a single soul sent to Hell had not once been a vicious existence.

For the Demonic Ants to survive in such an environment, they would naturally not be kind. Nevertheless, the reason he was willing to sit down and talk to the Skywings was all due to their keen sense of danger!

“I dare not deny that I bore a deep hatred toward you, the Skywings Clan, from the moment we met. Still, what happened to Xia Fei could very well be a sign that the Realm of the Dead is about to be set into turmoil. The beings found there are ten thousand times more savage than me. If they have truly found a way to make it to the mortal realm, even I would have quite the headache. That is the reason why I am willing to exchange information with you,” the Demonic Ant said bluntly.

Through this meeting, the Demonic Ant relayed all the information that the Skywings wished to know. Though it was not everything, it was at least of some help to the currently desperate Xia Fan and everyone else.

“All of you head on back and wait. I’ll inform you if I have any new information.” The Demonic Ant said. “On top of that, control that little rascal of your clan.”

Xia Geng and Xia Fan were both confused. At first Xia Fan had thought that the ‘little rascal’ that the Demonic Ant had mentioned was toward himself, but several minutes later, Xia Di carrying a huge black head came trotting over to find his father.

While Xia Fan and everyone were busy having a talk with the Demonic Ant, Xia Di had overheard Xia Fan mention the ambush force of Demonic Ants underground, and so he had quietly made his way down there and killed them all…

“He’s only seven…” Xia Fan could not help but suck in a mouth of cold air. Because he had not been born with a seventh brain region, Xia Fan was nowhere near as vicious as Xia Di when he was younger.

———–

After that day, Xia Fan began to take note of Xia Di’s every move. Xia Di was not fond of talking. Whether he was happy or unhappy, he would always be playing his piccolo, and yet Xia Fan had never seen him practice with it. He would always be quiet, like a little ghost hiding in the corner. If no one were to call on him, he would just be hidden in the shadows of the adults.

Every time they had a meeting, Xia Di would always be listening conscientiously, but he would never express his opinions, so the people that were arguing would never notice his presence.

In any case, Xia Fan became very curious about Xia Di. He asked about who Xia Di’s mother was, but the people who knew would just raise their eyebrows and wave their hands vigorously, indicating that it was not a topic any of them wished to talk about.

When there was nothing going on, Xia Di would always disappear for no rhyme or reason, and no one knew where he was hiding. Xia Fan was able to locate him on the roof of the garden by relying on his Scent special ability.

Xia Di was drawing, but what he drew was hard to make out. It appeared to be a cloud right before a thunderstorm, gray and oppressive looking, conveying a sense of dread and oppression across the land in the painting.

The Skywings did not continue with the fighting, as per their agreement. The Sea and Flying Goose races went back to their bases, agreeing with the Skywings that when the day came when they had need of aid again, their races would not hesitate to follow in the Skywings’ footsteps.

The Skywings also had something akin to their own Waystation, which acted as their base here on the Celestial Path. It was hidden in a little known fork in the Path. The landing pad was big enough for tens of thousands of warships to park themselves on it, but the place was currently empty right now, with not a single soul to be found, even if someone were to walk along the long passageways for an entire day.

There once was a time when the Skywings would all stay here with their friends, and there would be a wild celebration here every time after they returned from a war in the Great Chiliocosm, with all sorts of mouth watering delicacies and drinks being served. The multi-talented brothers would take turns performing their talents. Those who lost would be penalized, forced to drink an entire barrel of hard liquor. Sometimes, they would also play a game that Xia Fei had brought from Earth, called Truth or Dare!

But everything had changed now. All that remained in the hearts of people who stayed in the base was pressure. Though Xia Geng and Xia Yu continue to maintain the optimism of the Skywings, everyone knew that they were the most worried about the safety of everyone.

Though the Demonic Ant had agreed to help the Skywings search for the truth, their envoy never showed. During this period of time, Traveling Buddha returned to Ashen Moon. When he next returned, he informed Xia Fan that Hidden Water had given birth to his son, called Hidden Buddha, so named from the surname of both Traveling Buddha and Hidden Water.

On that night when Traveling Buddha had brought Hidden Water to the movies, while Traveling Buddha had no recollection of what the contents of the movie were, he nevertheless remembered Hidden Water gently clutching onto his hand. Later, when Traveling Buddha returned with Hidden Water to a room that was prepared in advance, Hidden Water knew very well that given Traveling Buddha’s nonchalant personality, she could never hope for this person to take initiative to do anything, which was why everything had been arranged and set forth by her hand.

In the dark room when the lights were off, Hidden Water snuggled into Traveling Buddha’s embrace, slightly trembling. However, she managed to pluck up the courage and guided Traveling Buddha to the bed, and everything else followed naturally.

In the beginning Hidden Water felt pain, but there was soon this indescribable thrill that overwhelmed her senses. She hugged Traveling Buddha tight, her fingers feeling the well-defined muscles on Traveling Buddha’s back. She did not allow Traveling Buddha to stop, and when the deed was done, Traveling Buddha brewed them two cups of tea.

After three days of intimacy, Traveling Buddha left Hidden Water and went to find his only good friend in life, Xia Fan. Nine months after, Traveling Buddha’s son was born.

“Now, even yours truly has a son of his own,” Traveling Buddha sat beside Xia Fan, brewing himself some tea as he grinned, full of joy.

“Do you regret coming to the Great Chiliocosm?” Xia Fan asked him.

Traveling Buddha expressed that he had no idea what it meant to have regrets. The only thing he did feel slightly apologetic for was that he had not expected Hidden Water to have such profound feelings for him, or he would have properly taken her into the family.

——

Time continued to pass, and just as the Skywings were wondering if the cunning Demonic Ants had lied to them, their radar picked up a large creature.

It was an ant that had grown wings, its body covered in a black hard shell. It was even larger than a medium-sized carrier. Its mandibles were sharp enough to chew up a battleship if it wanted!

This huge ant was none other than the envoy from the Demonic Ants. It had brought the news the Skywings had sought after all this while.