Gu River is the Eight Ancient Continent's greatest wonder.
The river is a thousand zhang wide, flowing down from the Celestial God Mountain, the highest peak in the center of the continent, towards the southeast for tens of thousands of li, cutting across half of the continent.
The Gu River's danger means certain death. The river flows rapidly, rushing for a thousand li. Above the river, there are strong winds and raging tides, black winds and giant waves. Standing on the bank of the Gu River is like standing before the gates of Hell, with the sounds of ghosts wailing and wolves howling filling one's ears, making one's hair stand on end!
Not only that, both sides of the Gu River are sheer cliffs, with the lowest points still over a hundred zhang high, and the higher points resembling perilous mountain peaks, standing tall and steep. Looking down from the Gu River's edge is like gazing into an endless abyss!
And it is true; from ancient times until now, the Gu River has swallowed countless bodies. Whether humble slaves or peerless powerhouses, all have been engulfed by its ferocious waters. No one dares to offend the might of the Gu River in the slightest. And no one who has fallen into the Gu River has ever been heard to survive.
Eight Ancient Era, 13,624th year.
Tonight, the Gu River was unusually terrifying. For some reason, the river waters became exceptionally fierce. Strong winds rose, and gigantic waves surged!
Above the Gu River, dark clouds gathered, and lightning flashed with thunder! Rain poured down, striking the shattered rocks with a terrifying sound. Streaks of black lightning shot down from the sky directly into the Gu River, turning the world dark, as if it were the end of the world!
On a cliff beside the Gu River, a woman riding a giant beast, covered in burning red flames, was rushing along, and in the woman's arms, there was a newborn baby!
The woman was young and beautiful, worthy of the name of a beauty that could topple kingdoms. However, her beautiful face was devoid of color, as pale as paper. Her face was covered in droplets, making it impossible to distinguish between rainwater and the sweat of exhaustion. The baby in her arms cried loudly in the downpour, and she could only try her best to shield the baby from the heavy rain with her body, but the more she did so, the more rain she endured, and the weaker her body became.
Suddenly, the woman's mind went blank, and her body swayed, almost falling off the giant beast! The giant beast immediately sensed this and quickly shook its back, stabilizing the woman.
After a brief blankness, the woman forcibly regained a little consciousness. Her head was very dizzy, so dizzy that she could no longer control it.
The giant beast looked back at the weak woman on its back, its eyes splitting with rage, and let out an unwilling roar from its mouth, its four legs pushing even harder, desperately charging forward! Its fierce claws dug into the ground, instantly pulverizing the iron-like stones on the ground!
No one knew better than this giant beast what the woman had gone through. The woman, having just given birth, was pulled from her bed and fled with her child, running frantically in the heavy rain for a full three hours until now. For any woman, this was life-threatening!
Now, the giant beast only regretted that it couldn't fly in the sky like the Vermilion Bird or the Dragon Clan. Although its speed on the Land was the fastest, appearing to the naked eye like a rapidly spreading flame, leaving behind fireballs on the ground that even the heavy rain couldn't extinguish wherever it passed. But surrounded and intercepted by enemies from all directions, it was forced to rush in this one direction. And the end of the road was the Gu River, where there was no chance of survival, a fact the giant beast was also well aware of.
Pfft...
The giant beast suddenly felt the woman on its back about to fall, and this time the movement was so great that it was impossible to steady her by merely shaking its back. In a panic, the giant beast, while galloping, turned in mid-air, directly embracing the woman in its arms, and then its back slammed hard onto the ground!
Rumble!
The huge impact carved a deep gully into the ground, and it finally stopped after a long while! Once it had stabilized, the giant beast quickly spread its forelegs, anxiously looking at the woman in its arms.
The woman's face was even paler, like a piece of paper soaked in rain. The woman weakly struggled out of the giant beast's embrace, not caring about herself, but immediately lowered her head to look at the child in her arms.
The child seemed to be startled, crying even harder, its cries seemingly merging with the continuous lightning striking from the sky. The woman looked down at the child, who was still alive, bit her lower lip, and tears streamed down her face.
Seeing that both the woman and the child were fine, the giant beast actually showed a relieved expression. Then, the giant beast stood aside, and a mist suddenly emanated from its body. After the mist dispersed, it had transformed into a tall, red-haired woman!
"Xiao Ting, how do you feel?" The red-haired woman quickly knelt down, looking at the woman with extreme anxiety as she asked.
The woman looked up at the red-haired woman, forced a pale smile, and weakly said, "I'm fine, nothing's wrong."
The woman's voice was like water and song, like a secluded orchid in an empty valley. Even in such a desperate state, her temperament remained undiminished, making all so-called noble ladies in the world feel ashamed of themselves.
The rain poured down, and the lightning and thunder grew more frequent. The crashing waves of the Gu River struck the cliffs, causing the ground to shake even more violently.
Before the red-haired woman could say anything, the woman spoke again, weakly saying, "The Gu River is ahead. I have nowhere left to go, but you are different. You are so strong; as long as you don't take me and the child, you can definitely break through the encirclement."
"What are you talking about?!" The red-haired woman heard Xiao Ting's words, her face filled with anger, and said, "Do you think I'm such a coward in your heart? Today, I will definitely keep you alive. If they want to kill you, they'll have to step over my corpse first! I don't believe they dare offend our Fire Lion Clan!"
"They don't dare offend the Fire Lion Clan, but they dare to kill you," the woman murmured softly, coughing twice, and said very weakly, "There are too many of them, and you are outnumbered. Once they decide to kill, who can testify for you if they truly kill you? If you die because of me, I won't rest easy on the Yellow Springs road."
"Xiao Ting!" The red-haired woman not only didn't listen but became even angrier, saying loudly, "I said, no one will die today! I'll transform back into my original form immediately and continue rushing!"
"Hong Yi!" Seeing that the red-haired woman was about to revert to her beast form, the woman could no longer hold back and reprimanded her, "Please be clear-headed! The Gu River is right ahead; where else can we escape?!"
The red-haired woman, called 'Hong Yi', trembled and stood rooted to the spot. A bolt of lightning struck behind her, emitting a sound of despair.
"Then what should we do? I can't just watch you die!" Hong Yi's eyes immediately reddened. She knelt beside the woman, sobbing, "We promised each other back then that I would take you to visit the Fire Lion Clan..."
"Perhaps in the next life," the woman smiled gently and said softly, "To have such a good sister in this life, I have no regrets dying."
Upon hearing this, Hong Yi couldn't help but turn her head away, tears streaming down her face.
The woman lowered her head, looking at the child in her arms who had gradually quieted down, and revealed a heartfelt smile. Before dying, she was fortunate enough to experience the feeling of being a mother, a gift from Heaven.
"Let's give the child a name," Hong Yi had already turned her head back, her eyes red, looking at the woman and the child, and choked out, "You're right, a child comes into the world, he can't be without a name."
Saying that, the woman lowered her head, looking at the sleeping child. Although lightning still flashed and thunder rumbled at this moment, the child slept exceptionally sweetly.
"I don't want him to have a fate like his mother's; I just hope he can live a peaceful life. Even if it's impossible in this life, I hope he can be well in the next life." Saying this, a tear fell from the woman's cheek, and she softly said, "Let's name him Ye An."
"No!" The red-haired woman immediately flared up in anger and said loudly, "Xiao Ting, that man harmed you so terribly, and you're still using his surname? How can this child take his family's surname?!"
The woman was startled by the words, looked up blankly at the angry Hong Yi, and then smiled faintly, saying, "You're right."
Then, she lowered her head to look at the child in her arms and softly said, "Then you will take your mother's surname, and be called Lu An."
The child in her arms seemed to sense something. Although sound asleep, he revealed a beautiful, crescent-moon-like smile.
"The child understood! The child understood!" Hong Yi danced with joy upon seeing the smile.
The woman also smiled sweetly, then thought of something and took off the ring on her hand.
Hong Yi was startled. The woman also took off the necklace from her delicate neck, removed the extremely expensive pendant and threw it aside. She then strung the ring onto the necklace and placed it around the child's neck.
"If in the next life, you are still willing to be my child, I will definitely take good care of you," the woman leaned down and gently kissed the child's forehead, softly saying, "This ring is a piece of jewelry your mother has always worn. Even if in the next life you are unwilling to be my child, I will still find you and compensate you well."
Rumble rumble!
Chirp... Chirp...
Rumbling sounds of running and piercing bird cries began to come from the distance. The woman and Hong Yi turned their heads and saw the dazzling multicolored light in the sky, and a dense crowd of people on the ground!
Twenty li away, a multitude of Strange Beasts were galloping, of extremely diverse kinds. Each Strange Beast looked extremely powerful, and on each Strange Beast sat a master from the continent. They stretched in a line from north to south, mud splashing, and the earth trembling!
And in the sky were various flying Strange Beasts, with people standing on their backs. Some Strange Beasts even had more than a dozen people on their backs, and the densely packed flying Strange Beasts even covered the black clouds!
"What a grand display!" Hong Yi looked at the approaching enemies in the distance, gritting her teeth and coldly scoffing.
"Hong Yi, hurry and go!" The woman suddenly stood up. Although she swayed, she pushed Hong Yi with all her might, anxiously saying, "You don't need to die here with me. You still have your home, hurry and go!"
Hong Yi watched the woman continuously push her. Although she couldn't move her at all, seeing the woman's anxious expression, Hong Yi's heart was also in turmoil.
Seeing the woman's increasingly anxious expression and pleading words, Hong Yi couldn't bear it, and actually roared to the sky, then lowered her head and said loudly, "Xiao Ting, I swear by the honor of the Fire Lion Clan, I will definitely avenge you!"
With that, she leaped into the air, instantly transforming into a Fire Lion emitting red flames. She looked back at the woman with reluctance, gritted her teeth, and turned to run in one direction!
Watching Hong Yi leave, the woman finally felt relieved. A look of contentment appeared on her beautiful face as she turned to look at the approaching people.
The Strange Beasts were too fast. The distance of twenty li was covered in less than half a cup of tea's time, and they had already arrived not far from the woman.
The woman clearly saw that in the center of the multitude of beasts, the man riding a giant Dragon in mid-air was her beloved husband. And her husband was looking down at her with a cold, indifferent expression.
She, who had still held onto illusions, finally lost all hope when she saw such a cold gaze.
The woman lowered her head, holding the child in her arms even tighter. As the Strange Beasts filled the sky and ground, she suddenly turned and ran towards the Gu River!
The man on the Dragon was startled at the sight, then saw the woman leap into the air from the thousand-zhang cliff!
Seeing this scene, everyone stopped their Strange Beasts, staring dumbfounded at what was happening!
Unfortunately, a woman falling a thousand-zhang cliff with a child would likely not even produce an echo.
Just as everyone didn't know what to do, a large green bird quickly approached the black Dragon. Upon arriving, the person on it respectfully said to the man on the Dragon, "Reporting to Young Lord, your subordinate personally witnessed that woman and child fall into the Gu River!"
Hearing his subordinate's news, a trace of sorrow flashed in the man's eyes, but it quickly vanished, replaced by the excitement of victory.
"It saves me the trouble," the man smiled coldly, then looked up at the sky and said loudly, "From now on, my Jiangdong Ye family will rise again and return to the ranks of the continent's first-class families!"
Upon hearing this, everyone bowed their heads and shouted loudly, "Congratulations, Young Lord! Congratulations, Young Lord! ..."