Old Fang truly couldn’t bear the thought of sending his own child to the grave. Looking at these young people, he didn’t know why, but he just believed—believed they could save his son. He knew it was a gamble, but he’d made peace with it: if they could save him, that’d be best. If not, he’d die with his son, too. If his boy was gone, what reason did he have to keep living?
So Old Fang led them, circling the Poplar Grove and trekking a long, long way. Even as dusk began to fall, his pace never slowed.
“You’ve really gone through a lot—walking this far for your kid,” Caleb Miles couldn’t help but say.
At that, Old Fang gave Caleb a simple, bitter smile. “Flame Valley’s pretty remote—most people would never find it. So, reaching out to outsiders is nearly impossible. But I knew, if I waited here in the Poplar Grove, I’d meet someone eventually. It’s the only huge grove for miles in the desert—any traveler would notice it. That’s why I come here every day, hoping for a miracle.”
“You’ve been waiting for days?” Liam Willow, who’d been walking beside Old Fang, couldn’t help asking.
“More than ten days. Every morning I come out, every night I go back—but…” Old Fang sighed deeply, then suddenly looked up and smiled. “Lucky I ran into you! You can save my son, right?” He stopped, face full of hope. Three days. Yes—just three days left before his boy was to be sacrificed.
“We will. Trust us!” Adrian Night said firmly.
“Mm.” Old Fang nodded hard, then motioned for everyone to keep heading toward that mysterious place.
After a while—
A mountain suddenly appeared before them. Everyone frowned—how could there be a mountain in the desert? How had they not noticed it before?
“A mountain? In the desert?” Butterfly Rogue gasped. How could there be such a tall mountain here—no way they missed it from afar.
“This is the entrance to Flame Valley. Don’t be so shocked—this is what makes Flame Valley so mysterious. No matter where you are, you’ll never see this mountain. Look over there,” Old Fang pointed to the vast, flat desert behind them.
“What about it? Isn’t it just more desert?” Everyone was confused. The only difference was that this spot was flat, while everywhere else was rolling sand dunes.
“It’s always been like this for centuries. Because of this place, you can’t see the mountain. Hard to explain, but basically, during the day, sandstorms float here—towering up thousands of feet, getting thicker and thicker. So from far away, all you see is endless yellow sand. There’s no way you’d spot a mountain behind it,” Old Fang explained.
Hearing this, Ivy Shen couldn’t help but admire nature’s handiwork. Who’d have thought this place would look like this? No wonder regular people can’t get into Flame Valley. Even if lost travelers came here, they’d never see the mountain—they’d probably die without ever knowing it was there!
“That’s amazing,” Liam Willow exclaimed. The desert’s mysteries just kept piling up, and each one made him even more desperate for answers.
Old Fang checked the sky and said, “It’s late—everyone’s probably asleep. I’ll take you through the back door.” With that, he led them toward the mountain.
Soon, they crossed the desert mountain—and everyone froze, even though it was nighttime.
The sight before them was jaw-dropping. At the mountain’s base lay a massive village—so huge, it stretched out of sight. The scattered pinpricks of light showed where the villagers had lit their lamps.
Old Fang expertly led them down the mountain. Before long, they reached the enormous village.
“Go easy, okay?” Old Fang led them through twist after turn until they stopped in front of a dirt mound.
“Wait, there’s actual dirt here?” Lucian Vane bent down and touched the ground, surprised. Just over a mountain and suddenly there was soil?
“Yeah, this is my homeland.” With that, Old Fang lifted a pile of brush off the mound, revealing a hole.
Everyone frowned at the sight. “Wait, you want us to go in there?” Ethan Chu, who’d been eyeing their surroundings, sounded annoyed. This thing looked like a dog hole!
Hearing that, Old Fang scratched his head awkwardly. “I just didn’t want to lose my son. When my kid was born, I secretly dug this tunnel so I could sneak out and look for someone to save him…” Suddenly, Old Fang choked up. Realizing he’d lost his composure, he quickly added, “Sorry, everyone, but this is the only way in. There are guards at the main gate—you’d never get past them.”
“It’s fine,” Ivy Shen nodded at him, understanding exactly how he felt.
“No way am I crawling through a dog hole! I’m the young miss of Ice Palace!” Clara Night protested, glaring at the hole. She usually made her maids crawl through things like this as punishment—now she was supposed to squeeze in herself? If word got out, how was she supposed to show her face ever again?
“Uh, sorry, but at the gate there are…”
“Guards, right? Just kill them, problem solved,” Clara interrupted, totally unfazed.
Ivy Shen shot Old Fang an apologetic look. “Just ignore her. Let’s go.” She patted Old Fang on the shoulder. He nodded and crawled in first. Ivy didn’t hesitate—she followed right after. If you want to do something big, a little embarrassment like this is nothing.
After Ivy Shen went through, Lucian Vane was next, and Butterfly Rogue followed right after, refusing to be outdone. One by one, everyone crawled through. Seeing their determined faces, Ethan Chu couldn’t help but laugh, “A real man knows when to bend and when to stretch.” With that bit of self-comfort, even a king started crawling through a ‘dog hole.’
In just a few minutes, everyone was through—except for Aiden and Clara Night.
“Miss, let’s hurry and go too! If they leave us behind, we won’t know our way around…”
“But, but…” Clara was getting anxious too, but staring at that dog hole, she just couldn’t bring herself to crawl in.
Seeing this, Aiden urged, “Miss, come on! Even the Palace Master went in!”
At that, Clara snapped, “Fine—just know I’m only doing this for my brother! If you dare tell anyone what happened today, I’ll cut out your tongue!” She hurried into the hole, and Aiden went last, carefully covering the entrance with brush before slipping through himself.
Half an hour later—
Inside a very simple mud house, Ivy Shen looked around at the humble structure: a main room, a tiny kitchen, three spaces in all. It was a plain villager’s home, built from wood and mud, and had a unique charm.
“Everyone, come eat something!” Old Fang’s wife, Cora Fang, came out carrying a tray of steaming buns. She was only forty, but looked more like sixty—worn down by hardship.
“Hee hee hee!” The baby laughing in Liam Willow’s arms caught Ivy Shen’s attention, so she walked over for a look.
To Ivy Shen’s surprise, the baby in Liam Willow’s arms suddenly widened his eyes, then burst out laughing and reached for her, wanting a hug. In an instant, a desert-colored serpent tail popped out, wiggling happily.
Cora Fang came over and picked up the child from Liam Willow, smiling at Ivy Shen. “Lele really likes you—look, he’s so happy his tail popped out!” She stroked the little tail with tender affection.
The baby kept reaching for Ivy Shen, giggling, his tail wagging cutely.
Seeing this, Ivy Shen picked him up. As soon as he was in her arms, the baby curiously turned his big eyes, laughing with delight.
Cora Fang sighed deeply. “Look how happy he is… but he doesn’t know he only has three days left…” With that, she couldn’t hold back her tears.
The baby, oblivious to his fate, grabbed a lock of Ivy Shen’s hair and babbled curiously, lost in his own world.
“Don’t cry. These living Bodhisattvas are here to save us,” Old Fang comforted his wife, holding her close. Four years ago, the last sacrifice aged her overnight. If it happened again, she wouldn’t survive it.
The baby played with Ivy Shen’s hair, then suddenly fell asleep, his tiny tail curled tightly around her wrist. Seeing this, Ivy felt a soft, gentle, and—yes—happy feeling she’d never known before.
From the moment Ivy Shen picked up the baby, all seven husbands couldn’t look away. Watching her natural, motherly tenderness, each of them had the same thought: maybe it was time for her to have an egg—a child of their own.