Shen Gun cleared his throat, coughing twice with great solemnity.

Having successfully attracted the attention of the other two, he began speaking deliberately: “This matter, Miss Meng didn’t explain in detail. To know the specific circumstances, you must ask me.”

Meng Qianzi was somewhat surprised: “You know about this too?”

Shen Gun proudly puffed out his chest. No matter who it was, regardless of their first impression of him, after spending some time with him, they would inevitably be impressed by his knowledge—this had happened so many times that he was almost used to it, approaching fatigue.

He said, “This incident has been called the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas Stone Chamber Murder Case.’ Many versions have been passed down—some say the ground collapsed, revealing a cave; others say it happened during mountain quarrying. Now, I’ll tell you about the version closest to what Miss Meng mentioned.”

At this point, he paused briefly.

This was his storytelling habit. He always liked to pause at crucial moments, harvesting some urgent prompting, attentive expressions, or admiring glances, which gave him a sense of accomplishment.

However, Meng Qianzi was impatient: “Just tell the story. Why are you catching your breath?”

Shen Gun felt deflated.

But as the Three-Petaled Lotus now, it wasn’t appropriate to talk back to Meng Qianzi, so he continued.

“It specifically happened during the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han. People were sent to Upper Commandery to ‘fa pan shi.’ ‘Fa’ means to excavate, and ‘pan shi’ refers to large stone slabs. In plain language, they were quarrying large stones there. As they were quarrying, suddenly, a stone chamber appeared.”

“Please note, this was a stone chamber, not a cave, but it was completely sealed. In other words, there was originally a hollow space like a bubble inside the mountain. Someone inside had chiseled and hammered, roughly shaping it into a stone chamber—this is the first questionable point: how did a person pass through the mountain wall, enter the mountain, and carve the natural hollow into a chamber?”

“Let’s set this question aside for now and continue with the story.”

“When someone brave went in to look, the stone chamber wasn’t empty. There was a person inside—a dead person who had been dead for who knows how many years, almost petrified. Even more bizarre was that this person had shackles on his right foot, very long hair, and his hands were tied behind his back with his hair—this is the second questionable point: confined in such a sealed stone chamber, there was no way to escape anyway, so why bother putting shackles on the feet and binding the hands? Wasn’t that redundant?”

“With such a strange occurrence, of course, everyone was frightened. The news quickly reached Emperor Xuan of Han, who was also perplexed. He gathered his ministers and asked if anyone knew the origins of the dead person in the stone chamber. Among the ministers, who were all very learned, a great scholar named Liu Xiang provided an answer.”

Jiang Lian murmured: “Liu Xiang was quite famous, wasn’t he? He seems to have been… a literary scholar?”

Shen Gun looked at him approvingly: “Little Lian Lian, among my friends, you’re the most cultured! My other friends—not to speak ill of them—are good people, but they don’t like reading. It’s impossible to have intellectual interactions with them! Liu Xiang was indeed famous. He compiled ‘Biographies of Exemplary Women’ and ‘Strategies of the Warring States,’ edited ‘Songs of Chu,’ and allegedly, he and his son jointly edited ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas.'”

Jiang Lian felt embarrassed, thinking his “culture” was quite superficial—he was merely familiar with Liu Xiang’s name, but couldn’t name any of his works.

Meng Qianzi pressed on: “So what answer did Liu Xiang give?”

“Liu Xiang said the person in the stone chamber was from ancient times, named Er Fu, a murderer. Er Fu had committed murder, and the Yellow Emperor was very angry, so he ordered Er Fu to be imprisoned in Mount Shushu, with shackles on his right foot and his hands tied behind his back with his hair—the whole incident was recorded in ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas.'”

“Emperor Xuan of Han was still skeptical after hearing this, so he had someone fetch ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’ to check. Sure enough, they found this record, which was greatly admired. After that, ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’ held a high status during the Han Dynasty. During the Eastern Han, water management expert Wang Jing was sent to manage the Yellow River, and Emperor Ming specifically bestowed a copy of ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’ on him as a geographical reference.”

“In the spirit of scientific research, I also looked up ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas.’ The book states, ‘The emperor thus imprisoned him in Mount Shushu, shackled his right foot, bound both hands behind his back with his hair, and tied him to a tree on the mountain.’ So, some understand it as Er Fu being shackled on Mount Shushu, tied to a large tree, which doesn’t make sense. How would you confine a murderer by tying him to a tree outdoors? And the discovery during Emperor Xuan of Han’s time also confirmed that the person was imprisoned in a stone chamber.”

Shen Gun concluded: “This further strengthens my view: ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’ is a book whose structure has been disrupted, mixing truth with falsehood to confuse people, to conceal some secret. Of course, what this secret is, I don’t know yet.”

At this point, he looked at Meng Qianzi: “But Miss Meng, if it was your people who imprisoned him, then the history of the mountain ghosts must be very long, traceable back to the Yellow Emperor’s era. Do you remember you mentioned ‘mountain-moving beasts’ before? At that time, I said during the Yellow Emperor’s battle with Chi You, he used beast troops—various bears, tigers, and leopards on the battlefield, creating a grand formation that immediately scattered the enemy army, very similar to your mountain-moving beasts. The ancestors of the mountain ghosts might truly have been loyal to the Yellow Emperor.”

Is that so?

Meng Qianzi frowned. The genealogy and various records of the mountain ghosts could indeed be traced back a long time, but in her opinion, there had never been any mention of the Yellow Emperor.

Jiang Lian smiled: “The mountain ghosts have never had a break in their lineage. If the Yellow Emperor truly existed in history, it wouldn’t be surprising for the mountain ghosts’ ancestors to have interacted with him. In those days, if you weren’t helping the Yellow Emperor fight, you were fighting against him.”

He brought the topic back: “So originally, how did you put people inside?”

Meng Qianzi rolled up her sleeves, stepped onto a protruding rock, pushed off forcefully, and climbed up one body length: “Soon, I’ll put you both inside too—then you’ll know how that whatever-his-name was confined.”

Shen Gun’s mind jolted, and he retreated two steps in fear: “Huh?”

Despite his shock, he still corrected her: “His name was Er Fu.”

Meng Qianzi didn’t care what the person was called. She moved nimbly, climbing up several more body lengths in quick succession.

Shen Gun was still standing stunned in place. Jiang Lian stepped forward, looking up at Meng Qianzi’s retreating figure, then patted Shen Gun’s shoulder: “Let’s go. Didn’t you say Miss Meng isn’t a lamp? We need to stay close to her, within the range of light. Otherwise, all kinds of wolves, tigers, leopards, and flying creatures will come after us soon.”

That made sense. Shen Gun looked back at the darkness behind them and couldn’t help swallowing, but he still couldn’t move his legs. He clutched Jiang Lian’s sleeve: “But… aren’t you afraid?”

It was a bit creepy thinking about being trapped inside a mountain—people with claustrophobia might go mad…

Jiang Lian said: “A little, but don’t you find it exciting?”

He murmured: “How can a person this big pass through a mountain wall? Will they break us down into billions of molecules and atoms, pass us through the molecular gaps in the stone, then reassemble us once we’re inside the hollow?”

Damn, this Little Lian Lian was indeed too naive and young, not as mature as himself. At this critical moment, he still had the mood to engage in scientific imagination. Shen Gun anxiously stamped his foot, his voice dropping a few notches: “No, this is a big secret of the mountain ghosts. What if, to protect the secret, Miss Meng confines us inside the mountain like Er Fu and leaves by herself?”

At this, he looked toward the peak of the stone formation with near terror: “Once inside, even if we shouted until our throats were raw, no one would hear. People in prison can at least dig tunnels, but can anyone dig through mountains? Even if the country launches a major Western Hunan development project, they wouldn’t come here to quarry stones. Then… when would future generations discover me?”

Jiang Lian was startled—he hadn’t thought of this.

He hesitated: “Miss Meng… probably wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Shen Gun said: “Really? Do you know her well? I first met her when she invited us for dinner. Have you known her for a long time?”

Jiang Lian was at a loss for words. All told, he had known Meng Qianzi for… seven days. Would that be considered a long time or not?

He looked up at Meng Qianzi again, who was already more than ten meters up. Then he looked down at the bandages wrapped tightly around his hand, and his heart suddenly felt as secure as if wrapped in those bandages too: “Miss Meng is a decent person. She rarely plays mind games with people. Don’t scare yourself. Besides, we are the Three-Petaled Lotus.”

It would have been better not to mention the lotus petals. Once brought up, Shen Gun became even more agitated: “Petals that will soon be discarded. Once discarded, perfect for being confined.”

He continued muttering: “Miss Meng is a woman, and a woman’s heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea—you can never know what she’s thinking. Just like our A’hui, I could never imagine myself being nailed alive inside a coffin, never even thought about it…”

Jiang Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. After a pause, he offered a suggestion: “If you’re really afraid, let’s do this.”

“Soon, follow Miss Meng closely. If she shows any sign of abandoning us to escape by herself, we’ll grab her arms or legs if necessary, locking ourselves to her. In short, if we leave, we leave together; if we’re confined, we’re confined together. We are petals—even in death, we must remain attached to the flower.”

This was a good idea. Shen Gun’s eyes lit up.

That’s right, he was a petal. He should lock himself to Meng Qianzi. Even in death, he must remain attached to the flower.

The stone peak wasn’t a mountain. Although it could grow some flowers and grass, climbing up a cone-shaped, towering stone pillar was predictably difficult. Meng Qianzi and Jiang Lian could barely manage, but Shen Gun was suffering terribly. At this point, the rope Jiang Lian had brought came in handy again—pulling, dragging, and, when necessary, hoisting hard, ensuring that Shen Gun could keep pace.

Reciprocating the favor, Shen Gun called “Little Lian Lian” with increasing affection, and even began explaining the riddles of this stone peak, elaborating on what made it a “beauty’s head” with “oil-dripping pupils.” Jiang Lian listened carefully, occasionally furrowing his brow as if pondering something.

It took nearly an hour to reach the “neck” area. Meng Qianzi, who had been leading the way, climbed faster. She was now sitting on a slanted rock, fanning herself to cool down. Seeing Jiang Lian dragging Shen Gun up, she gestured toward the heights: “Let’s discuss how to climb this next section.”

Before Jiang Lian could look up, Shen Gun had already drawn in a sharp breath: “How on earth can we climb this?”

Following his gaze, Jiang Lian’s scalp tingled.

As is well known, no matter how steep a stone peak—even if it rises at a 90-degree angle from the ground—it can be climbed by specially trained, skilled people because it has uneven surfaces providing footholds and handholds. But this “neck” section had been chiseled. Not only was it thinner, better accentuating the “head” above, but it was almost a four-sided pillar with vertical, smooth walls.

How could they climb this? Even monkeys couldn’t go up. Ancient people might use those climbing aids with dense, tiny iron hooks, but even those couldn’t grip such a purely vertical, smooth surface. Perhaps only geckos could master it.

Meng Qianzi stood up, inserted both hands into her hair, and deftly tied a ponytail first, then wrapped it into a bun: “Make way, everyone make way, let me walk the wall.”

Actually, no one was blocking her path. She just wanted to make a grand gesture. Jiang Lian quipped: “You just need a gong.”

Before Meng Qianzi could respond, Shen Gun had already cried out in surprise: “Wall-walking, gecko wall-walking! Why didn’t I think of it earlier?”

Damn, gecko wall-walking!

Jiang Lian remembered it too—something his martial arts instructor had mentioned in casual conversation. This skill was also called “immortal hanging painting,” a traditional lightness technique from the Shaolin school, extremely difficult to master. Among hundreds, barely one or two could manage it. It required over twenty years of immersion just to achieve basic proficiency. Once mastered, like a gecko climbing a wall, one could move up and down at will.

Meng Qianzi glanced sideways at Shen Gun: “You know about gecko wall-walking.”

Shen Gun was so excited his throat went dry: “Of course I know. I have a friend who can do it.”

Meng Qianzi blurted out: “That’s impossible, unless Plum Blossom Ninth Lady passed it on to a successor.”

Shen Gun’s face grew hot with excitement, his voice trembling: “That’s right! She is the disciple of Plum Blossom Ninth Lady. The house I live in, in Youwu Town in Yunnan, its previously owned was Plum Blossom Ninth Lady.”

Meng Qianzi almost forgot she was still tying her hair bun, her hands clutching her hair at the back of her neck: “Plum Blossom Ninth Lady… wasn’t beaten to death?”

Shen Gun nearly jumped up: “Are you talking about when she robbed the military payroll? No, no, she only broke her legs! She didn’t die!”

Jiang Lian looked from one to the other, listening as if lost in fog. Finally, he couldn’t help interjecting: “You two can reconnect later. Could you please help me understand what’s going on?”

Meng Qianzi burst out laughing, then said after a pause: “This has nothing to do with me. It’s related to Great-grandmother Duan. I also heard it from my Grand Matriarch.”

Plum Blossom Ninth Lady was a famous noble thief in the Beijing-Hebei-Shandong area before the Liberation. Her lightness skills were exceptional. Borrowing the name of Swallow Li San, she claimed to be from the Swallow School and often robbed wealthy households.

Her methods were novel. She wouldn’t break doors or forcibly rob. Instead, she would sit cross-legged properly on someone’s rooftop and tell the owner that they could send anyone up to challenge her. If they could make her move, she wouldn’t take a penny, but if they couldn’t, they had to obediently hand over one thousand silver dollars.

How many servants and guards climbed ladders to fight her, only to be kicked down! The owners could only admit defeat and reluctantly hand over the silver dollars. After taking the money, she would leave a tile with a carved swallow standing on a plum branch—the owner would place the tile on the eaves, indicating that this house had already been “taken care of” by Plum Blossom Ninth Lady, and other thieves should respect this and not come for a second robbery.

That time, by coincidence, she “took care of” a mountain ghost retreat in the Taihang Mountain area. But this wasn’t surprising—mountain ghosts were wealthy households everywhere, flowing with riches from their very roots.

The local mountain dwellers alone probably couldn’t handle Plum Blossom Ninth Lady, but fortunately, Duan Wenxi, who had returned from traveling abroad, was also staying at the mountain retreat in Taihang Mountain at that time.

As a mountain woman, how could she sit by and watch someone bully her people? After observing for a while, Duan Wenxi flew up, and within ten moves, made Plum Blossom Ninth Lady move from her spot. After twenty moves, she kicked her off the roof.

At that time, Plum Blossom Ninth Lady was just a young girl who had recently started her career. She was so angry tears nearly came to her eyes, but she knew to keep her word. She cupped her hands to Duan Wenxi in concession and turned to leave. However, Duan Wenxi appreciated talent and called her back, kept her for a meal, and even had one thousand silver dollars packaged and given to her.

…

Meng Qianzi said, “Plum Blossom Ninth Lady was unwilling to take my Great-grandmother Duan’s silver for nothing. Plus, they got along well, so she taught my Great-grandmother Duan some key methods for practicing ‘gecko wall-walking.’ According to jianghu rules, this was an exchange of skills—she couldn’t teach too much. So no matter how much my Great-grandmother studied, she could at most walk about ten meters on a wall—but those ten meters were a great help to her.”

At this point, she pointed to the “neck” section: “This section is about eight meters. When Great-grandmother Duan explored the mountain gall back then, if she hadn’t learned gecko wall-walking, she would have had to turn back defeated at this point.”

So there was this deep connection. Shen Gun listened in amazement.

Jiang Lian asked: “Then what about the later incident of robbing the military payroll and breaking her legs?”

Meng Qianzi sighed: “My Great-grandmother Duan quite admired her. When they parted, she advised Plum Blossom Ninth Lady that robbing to help the world was like filling a well with snow—not a good strategy. Moreover, regardless of motivation, robbery was not the right path and would inevitably lead to trouble. With her skills, she could achieve much more. But Plum Blossom Ninth Lady was young, proud, and wouldn’t listen. She just waved her hand and left.”

“My Great-grandmother Duan continued to follow news about her. A few years later, she heard that her kung fu was getting better and better, and her courage was growing too. She went alone to rob a warlord’s military payroll, resulting in her being shot dead by random gunfire. My Great-grandmother Duan lamented over this for quite some time.”

Shen Gun took over: “Everyone thought she was shot dead, but she didn’t die. She escaped, though both her legs were ruined. After that, she changed her name and lived a very peaceful life alone in the mansion in Youwu Town. She did take one or two disciples and only passed away a few years ago.”

Jiang Lian remained silent. Stories that encapsulated a hundred years of life in just a few words always evoked reflection.

Meng Qianzi also felt a bit emotional: “So there was this Volume Four: Mountain Gallbladder – Chapter afterward. I’ll tell my Grand Matriarch when I get back. The old woman is aged now and enjoys hearing these old stories.”

She shook her hands, then slung a coil of rope over her shoulder and neck: “Alright, I’m going up. You all stand back, don’t get in the way.”

Jiang Lian was about to step back when he suddenly remembered something and asked her: “Great-grandmother Duan’s record was about ten meters. What about yours?”

Meng Qianzi’s record was more variable. She had achieved nine or ten meters before, but when not focused, she had only reached seven or eight meters. In the training ground at Shangui Chamber, there was a full-scale replica of the “neck” based on Duan Wenxi’s description for her to practice on. Overall, it shouldn’t be a problem.

She downplayed it: “About eight meters.”

Damn, about eight meters—who was she trying to scare? This “neck” section was already eight meters long, and at the end, she would still need to flip upward. At such a height, if her hand slipped or her foot slid…

Jiang Lian watched her grab the stone wall. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he blurted out: “Wait.”

He quickly went over: “Like when we climbed the tree, step on my shoulders, and I’ll boost you up one body length. This way, you can climb one person’s height less—it’s safer.”

That made sense. They hadn’t thought of it before. Great-grandmother Duan had explored the mountain gall alone and had to climb all eight meters, but now she had help.

Meng Qianzi stepped back, watching Jiang Lian crouch down, and said, “Soon you’ll see my abilities.”

Jiang Lian looked up at her: “I’m a coward. Such a thrilling scene—I don’t dare watch. I’ll close my eyes the whole time. Even if you climb as lightly as a butterfly instead of a gecko, I won’t see it. I admit you have skills, please just climb normally.”

Many people get into trouble precisely because they try to show off some beautiful technique, which leads to mistakes. Meng Qianzi seemed to have this idea, so it was better to nip it in the bud.

Meng Qianzi mumbled: “If you don’t watch, it’s your loss.”

Jiang Lian thought to himself: If you fall, that would be my loss.

But he had no energy to respond, just patted his shoulders, indicating for her to step up.

Meng Qianzi held the mountain wall and stepped onto his shoulders. Shen Gun also hurried over, eager to help support her. Having just established a connection with Meng Qianzi through Plum Blossom Ninth Lady, he felt more reassured, thinking that since they now shared this old acquaintance, Meng Qianzi probably wouldn’t be so heartless as to leave him confined inside the mountain.

Jiang Lian gripped her ankles with both hands and slowly stood up. He felt the heavy weight on his shoulders. Her ankles were so slender, and the pulse at her ankle beat softly in his palm, while the golden bell chimes that brushed against the back of his hand felt cool.

Meng Qianzi was on the wall.

Jiang Lian stepped back once, then again, looking up to watch her climb.

Despite speaking lightly earlier, now that she was climbing, Meng Qianzi didn’t dare slack off at all. The “neck” section in the training ground was placed on the ground, but this was a real height. There was only a binary outcome if she slipped, and if that happened once, there would never be a chance to remedy it.

Shen Gun also looked up, watching her climb. Being a layperson, he couldn’t tell how dangerous each small movement was. After watching for a while, his neck felt sore, so he lowered his head to massage it. Suddenly, he noticed that Jiang Lian’s hands weren’t hanging at his sides.

Both his arms were unconsciously slightly raised, as if cupping the air, his body tensed as if ready to catch something at any moment.

Shen Gun approached and kindly reminded him: “Little Lian Lian, this isn’t scientific. Generally, for objects falling from heights, if you try to catch them with outstretched arms, your arms will break…”

Jiang Lian’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but he had no time to look at Shen Gun. He only said: “Shut up.”

…

Finally, after watching Meng Qianzi’s figure flip over the cliff edge and seeing a rope being shakily lowered from above, Jiang Lian let out a long breath. He sat down on the ground, feeling the muscles on both sides of his thighs jumping continuously. His back was covered in cold sweat, uncomfortably wet and itchy. He wanted to pull up his collar to air it out, before remembering that the back half of his clothes had been worn away, now replaced with bandages.

Meng Qianzi peeked over the cliff edge. Having displayed her skills, she was quite satisfied. Combined with her recent exertion, her face was especially vibrant and gorgeous.

Shen Gun quickly waved to her.

Meng Qianzi’s gaze fell on Jiang Lian sitting with his head down nearby, and she asked: “What’s wrong with Jiang Lian?”

Shen Gun looked up to answer her: “He’s too timid! He can’t handle even slightly thrilling scenes. Little Lian Lian isn’t up to it—he still needs more experience.”

Meng Qianzi smiled. As she continued smiling, she suddenly remembered how, when Jiang Lian held her ankle, his palm was wet and hot, and for a moment, it had even trembled slightly.

Just then, Jiang Lian raised his head to look at her.

Meng Qianzi came to her senses, tilted her chin toward him, looking down at him haughtily, and said: “You’re not up to it.”

Jiang Lian smiled, then nodded, and spoke very softly, only for himself to hear.

“Yes, I’m not up to it.”