"That... what kind of sea is that?" Han Dong asked in a hoarse voice. He pressed his hand against the glass wall of the cauldron, trying to see the end of the ocean surrounding their tunnel.
"I don't know," Chu Xinghe answered honestly. His eyes swept across the expanse of the dark, churning sea outside the corridor. "The material looks incredibly dense yet constantly shifts its form. This place has no coordinate points whatsoever."
The nine giant dragons and phoenixes continued to pull the bronze cauldron through the energy tunnel. Inside this corridor, there were no markers of time. The warmth from the summer disc kept the room temperature stable and comfortable. The sound of the dark ocean waves outside the tunnel could not pierce the energy walls protecting their path. Han Dong dropped himself onto the crystal floor in a cross-legged position. He had exhausted his emotional capacity to feel shocked or afraid.
"We just passed through a black hole and now we are flying inside a giant glass pipe beneath a sea of ink," Han Dong rubbed his face roughly. He looked at Xinghe with a weary smile. "You know, Xinghe, if your grandfather truly sought this path, he was a very crazy old man."
Chu Xinghe did not answer. He continued to stand frozen, staring at the dark sea rolling outside. He recalled a page from a worn leather book in his grandfather's library.
"The Sea of Primordial Chaos," Chu Xinghe exclaimed suddenly. "In one of my grandfather's books, there is a quote about something that separates the heavens and the infinite mortal universes. The Sea of Primordial Chaos is so vast that the texts say crossing it would be impossible even for light itself."
"Huh?" Han Dong gaped slightly, furrowing his brow as he chose to move away from the glass, dropping down to sit cross-legged. "Sea of Primordial Chaos? What is that now?"
"It means this is a border," Chu Xinghe replied without turning. His eyes were still fixed on the grey turbulence behind the energy walls. "Grandpa once showed me notes about Hun Dun. The initial chaos. Something that existed before matter was formed. Only this cauldron, with the protection around it, can pass through without being crushed into fundamental particles."
Chu Xinghe turned for a moment, suddenly lowering his body to sit cross-legged in front of Han Dong. "Dong, do you remember the history and astronomy lessons from Teacher Zhuo? That fierce woman who often punished Zhao Lin for sleeping in class, and who lectured about the nine heavens and nine hells until our ears felt like they would explode?"
"Teacher Zhuo?" Han Dong snorted, trying to recall memories from a world that now felt millions of light-years away. "How could I forget? She once threw an eraser at Zhao Lin because he said the nine heavens were just a term for people who ate too many wild mushrooms. Why are you suddenly asking about her?"
"Heaven and Hell—Teacher Zhuo always said that ancient Chinese history wasn't just about dates and wars, but about lost spirituality!" Chu Xinghe exclaimed, his face very serious. "The Nine Heavens and Nine Hells, maybe those are actual places in this universe that look exactly like what is depicted in some internet photos?"
"Teacher Zhuo always said that because she was obsessed with Tang Dynasty manuscripts," Han Dong replied while leaning his head against the warm crystal floor. "But Xinghe, think logically. Nine Heavens? Nine Hells? If those places existed, the Hubble or James Webb telescopes would have captured images of them. Space is empty, cold, and boring. Unless you consider this cauldron to be a school bus to the afterlife."
Chu Xinghe shook his head. He took the bronze watch from his pocket. The hands of the watch had now stopped completely at the twelve o'clock position. "The problem is, human science only measures what can be reflected by light. If those places are behind this Sea of Chaos, not a single photon can cross back to Earth to be captured by a telescope camera. We are moving outside the human map, Dong."
Han Dong fell silent. He looked toward his friends who were still asleep. "So you think these dragons are pulling us to one of those heavens?" Han Dong suddenly felt as if a bright light had turned on in his head; he shifted his gaze to Chu Xinghe. "Hey, you made me remember something!"
"Something what?" Chu Xinghe asked quickly. He leaned forward. It was rare to see Han Dong with an expression that looked like he had just found a missing puzzle piece.
Han Dong scratched his neck, which had recovered from the bruises. "Teacher Zhuo mentioned something during my history remedial test in the remedial room. She drew something like heaven on the left side of the blackboard because she wrote the character 'Tian,' and on the right side was 'You,' or hell. At that time, I didn't know why she drew it, but she said that heaven is to our left, and hell is to our right!"
"I mean, who puts heaven and hell on the left and right sides?" Han Dong continued, pointing to his right and left. "She also said that heaven and hell are layered. Like we are below the ground, and heaven is above. We can't see it because the ground has a sort of seal or key. At the time, I just shrugged my shoulders and my head started to hurt because Teacher Zhuo kept getting angry because I denied that they were like two gate pillars intended to be entered and chosen."
Chu Xinghe was jolted. His back, which had been leaning casually against the dense air, stiffened. He stared at Han Dong with a gaze that seemed to want to dissect his athletic friend's brain.
"Wait, Dong. Repeat that last part slowly," Xinghe said, his voice suddenly heavy. "Teacher Zhuo said heaven is on the left and hell is on the right? Like two gate pillars?"
Han Dong nodded, slightly confused by Xinghe's intense reaction. "Yes. She said that when I was getting a headache memorizing the dynasties. She scribbled on the board, saying that humans actually stand on a middle path. She said Heaven and Hell aren't top-and-bottom like in comic books or Western movies, but parallel beside us. It's just that she said there's a 'veil' or 'seal' that makes us unable to look to the side."
Xinghe immediately crawled toward the transparent wall of the cauldron. He pressed his face against the glass, staring sharply at the Sea of Primordial Chaos churning outside the energy corridor. He looked left, then right. The tunnel they were passing through split that primordial grey sea into two perfectly symmetrical parts.
"Heh, but that was before I heard the ramblings of Old Man Xiao, that old guy who said he once dreamed he had three wives," Han Dong said, tapping his fingers on his thigh. "He said something completely different from Teacher Zhuo. I even had to pretend to keep walking to the canteen stand to avoid him, but I always ended up being pulled back by that old man."
"What did he say? Old Man Xiao, who was supposed to have retired?" Chu Xinghe demanded an answer impatiently. He remembered the old man; a history teacher who had probably been teaching since the school was first built and often grumbled about how rice on Earth no longer had a soul because of too many chemicals.
"Well, I was sitting casually in the canteen, and Old Man Xiao showed up, probably wanting lunch too," Han Dong began, his voice low. "He sat next to me, initially praising my running, saying it was like a dragon darting through the air. Then, he suddenly talked about how heaven and hell are shifting, or not like what Teacher Zhuo said about heaven on the left and hell on the right. Old Man Xiao said that the nine heavens and nine hells could be anywhere; they aren't like a gate or anything!"
"So Old Man Xiao said those places could be anywhere?" Chu Xinghe narrowed his eyes, his brain working to connect memories of the old teacher who was often considered equally crazy. "He didn't give more specific details? Just said the locations were random?"
Han Dong sighed, trying to recall the rest of the conversation. "He said that heaven and hell are a single entity. They can shift to the right side, the left side, or vice versa. They can be below and above or anywhere; it's very different from what Teacher Zhuo said."
"Shifting?" Chu Xinghe raised his eyebrows. "And a single entity? What does that mean?"
"Yes, Old Man Xiao said that back in the canteen," Han Dong answered while trying to stretch his legs, which felt stiff. "He said the concept of nine heavens and nine hells has no place, no form that can be seen or specifically mentioned. Then, Old Man Xiao said that all of this is like galaxies, superclusters, and everything in the world is like a candy inside a jar; well, inside the jar there are several other identical candies, and those jars have so many candies that they are uncountable!"
Han Dong raised his hand, rubbing his chin with eyes looking upward as if remembering something amusing. "And I thought for a moment that Old Man Xiao would say there would be nine jars plus nine more, totaling eighteen like the nine heavens and hells, but he instead patted my back so hard I almost tumbled forward! Do you know what he said then?"
Chu Xinghe leaned his sitting position forward. His sharp eyes stared at Han Dong without blinking. Han Dong's explanation of the candy jar analogy triggered something in his head that had previously only been filled with stiff texts from history books. He felt that Han Dong, even though he was an athlete, had captured a rawer essence from that casual chat with Teacher Xiao.
"What was Old Man Xiao's answer, Dong? Don't cut it off," Xinghe urged.
Han Dong took a breath, his face looking serious and yet amused at the memory of their history teacher's madness. "Old Man Xiao laughed until he choked on his tea. He said, 'Dong, do you think this universe is as tidy as a supermarket shelf?'. He said there aren't nine heavens plus nine hells totaling eighteen. He said the number remains nine. But what made me almost think he was crazy was when he said that those jars fill the supermarket! He said everything in that supermarket is a candy jar, the store manager is filled with candy, the jar buyer is filled with candy, and outside the supermarket, there are also countless candy jars until he said that even the Earth would drown in a candy jar!"
Chu Xinghe fell silent. He stared at Han Dong blankly for a few seconds. The analogy of candy and jars sounded like the ramblings of a drunkard, but when combined with what they saw now—the energy corridor splitting the primordial grey sea—it all began to make sense.
"So according to Old Man Xiao, there is no separation of place," Xinghe muttered. He looked back at the summer disc glowing orange. "Everything overlaps. Heaven, hell, Earth, and this sea of chaos exist in the same space."
Han Dong shook his head slowly, furrowing his brow deeper. "Old Man Xiao didn't say everything is in the same space, exactly. Maybe he wanted to say that the universe has no boundaries, but everything that exists here is within the nine heavens and nine hells. Maybe because the number nine is so prominent, Old Man Xiao used that. It's like he just wanted to mention that everything with an existence is inside these nine heavens and nine hells, and outside of those heavens and hells, there might be nothing else like space and time, or anything we can understand."
"Huh, Old Man Xiao also said that people on Earth or in a jar cannot see other people in other jars," Han Dong continued. "It's like you have to find a door to enter other jars. Maybe it's like the corridor we are passing through now? I'm also starting to think that if my father and mother were suddenly here and sitting with me, they wouldn't be able to see us because we have already become something beyond their reach. It's like we are in a different place, or I don't know what it is."
Chu Xinghe nodded slowly. He touched the crystal floor, which felt warm against his palm. "The Nine Heavens and Nine Hells as an absolute vessel. That makes sense if we look at this cauldron. I mean, we are inside a shroud of time, aren't we? If there were people out there suddenly, they would surely be confused because they wouldn't see us since we are already different even in the same place."
Chu Xinghe looked out the cauldron window, observing the grey turbulence behind the energy wall protecting them. Han Dong had truly opened his blocked mind with Teacher Xiao's chatter. However, it was immediately replaced again by the reality that they would not be able to return to Earth accurately without this furnace.
This furnace! Chu Xinghe suddenly felt he was thinking clearly; he turned back toward Han Dong and said, "If we reach another place later, we must keep this furnace, Dong. Maybe right now we could even go back to the past during the Xia Dynasty, or even further! Maybe our Earth is still fine right now?"