At the third quarter of the you hour, Meng Rui, Wen Nansheng, and Kua Lao—the three of them—rushed to Sanfen Village. Wen Nansheng’s injuries hadn’t healed, and Kua Lao was a cripple, so Meng Rui hired a carriage. After driving into Sanfen Village, Meng Rui hid the carriage in a goldenrain tree grove at the mountain’s foot. To avoid detection, the three traveled on foot into the Sanfen Village area.

The three climbed up the eastern slope of Sanfen Village. On the slope, aside from knee-high wild grass, there were only three lonely old graves. The gray, mottled inscriptions on the old graves had long since blurred beyond recognition. The edges of the tombs sank inward toward the ground. Meng Rui glanced at the old graves and followed Kua and Wen.

Two quarters of an hour later, Wen Nansheng brought Meng Rui to the death gorge that Sanfen Village regarded as forbidden. The gorge entrance was barren of all vegetation, a stretch of deep yellow. On both sides of the gorge were several dead animal carcasses. A faint foul odor blew over with gusts of cold wind from within the valley. Meng Rui couldn’t help but wrinkle his brow. Wen Nansheng took out a red sachet and patted the fragrant powder inside onto his body, especially around his nose, then handed the sachet to Meng Rui.

“Apply some—you’ll need it.” Wen Nansheng urged. Meng Rui took it and only applied a small amount around his nose. Immediately a thick fragrance drilled into his nostrils. Meng Rui sneezed before feeling better. Kua Lao glanced at the sachet Wen Nansheng offered and shook his head: “I’m accustomed to dealing with corpses. I’m not afraid of corpse stench.”

The three entered the gorge with Wen Nansheng leading the way. After walking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the gorge suddenly opened up. The north-south running gorge had widened to six or seven zhang. Walking further forward, Wen Nansheng’s tone became somewhat hurried. He pointed toward the pitch-black area ahead and said, “The giant flowers are right there!”

Before Meng Rui had even seen the giant flowers, the putrid smell rushing into his brain made his throat go dry. His stomach churned as well. He forcibly suppressed the overwhelming nausea in his stomach and looked up to see the giant flowers Wen Nansheng had described.

These giant flowers had not bloomed. The enormous buds were like furled oil-paper umbrellas, yet they stood as tall as a person. The giant flowers grew on flower stem blocks protruding from the ground, surrounded by several emerald green petals. The buds showed a deep red color. Waves of rotting corpse smell drifted out from inside the buds.

The giant flowers were not solitary blooms but connected and leaning against each other in patches, like a densely woven flower net that easily occupied the gorge space. Under the sparse moonlight, the upright flower buds resembled thin, tall human shadows. Bud after bud, shadow after shadow filled this legendary gorge full of mortal danger with extraordinary eeriness.

Wen Nansheng walked toward the flower grove with Kua Lao following behind and Meng Rui last. The three explored into the giant flower thicket. After walking less than fifty steps, Meng Rui felt a wave of dizziness. He forcibly summoned a breath of true qi to suppress the foul air in his abdomen, barely managing not to faint. Wen Nansheng was slightly better. Kua Lao’s reaction was the weakest, as if the putrid rotting smell had no effect on him.

After walking another hundred steps, Wen Nansheng slowed down and looked around in all directions. These giant flowers all looked the same, and there was no true path between flowers. Clear identification was absolutely necessary to avoid taking the wrong road. Otherwise, each flower was a fork in the path. The slightest carelessness would plunge one into an inescapable giant flower maze with no way out.

Wen Nansheng’s body had weakened to its limit. He signaled Kua Lao and Meng Rui to turn back. The three slowly retreated along the path they’d come. Five zhang away from the giant flowers, Meng Rui greedily breathed the air. Wen Nansheng’s complexion was somewhat pale. He waved his hand and said, “It won’t work. Without the map for reference, even I can easily get lost.”

Bone-chilling cold wind blew through the gorge. In the giant flower grove, several smaller flowers opened part of their petals, revealing the mysterious flower faces inside. Meng Rui stared fixedly—the flower faces were extraordinarily strange, like human faces one after another. And these giant flowers also closely resembled the strange flower shape his sister Wan Xiang had carved fifteen years ago. Did this mean Wan Xiang had also come to this gorge? If so, why would Wan Xiang appear in this forbidden land? How could she endure the waves of foul stench in the valley, or had she simply been unable to control herself…

Meng Rui’s heart was in chaos. Countless giant flower buds gradually became a solid flower wall, blocking all of Meng Rui’s thoughts from reaching their destination. Beside him, Kua Lao exhaled a turbid breath. Looking at these unknown giant buds deep in the gorge, he sighed deeply: “Tianmoluo, it’s truly Tianmoluo!”

Wen Nansheng looked over in confusion. Meng Rui’s eyes brightened: “Kua Lao, you know the origin of this flower?”

Kua Lao nodded: “This giant flower is called ‘Tianmoluo.’ Tianmoluo has existed on this land since the primordial era—it now has a flower age of ten thousand years. Tianmoluo’s flower roots can extend several zhang underground, absorbing all the nutrients in the earth, so within several dozen zhang around Tianmoluo nothing grows. The nutrients and water it absorbs all gather in the solid flower stem protruding from the ground, nourishing the Tianmoluo flowers blooming on the stem. Tianmoluo flowers are enormously large. I had only heard of them before, but today I’ve seen them with my own eyes. Tianmoluo flowers are gorgeously enchanting, but they emit an unbearable rotting corpse smell in order to attract carrion flies and corpse insects to lay eggs. After becoming adult insects, they carry away Tianmoluo’s flower seeds to propagate descendants. Because it emits the smell of dead bodies, Tianmoluo is also called the ‘Corpse Flower.'”

“Tianmoluo, Corpse Flower.” Meng Rui muttered to himself. Wen Nansheng said, “The name Corpse Flower is accurate—the smell is as foul as a corpse. But what does Tianmoluo mean?”

Kua Lao’s expression was solemn as he said, “Corpse Flower is just a nickname given by later generations. Tianmoluo is the true name. The term Tianmoluo is ancient Sanskrit, meaning ‘Devil’s Flower’! This ancient flower tens of thousands of years old is said in legend to be the guardian of the underworld demon king, guarding the devil’s mysterious treasure. Therefore, Tianmoluo can only grow in yin-heavy places filled with malevolent energy. All along the way through this gorge, cold winds blow everywhere. Underground there must be buried countless bones and remains—this is precisely a place filled with extreme yin and malevolent energy.”

Meng Rui recalled the rumors about over a thousand starving refugees dying miserably in this death gorge. He couldn’t help but draw in a cold breath. The cold wind behind his back felt like knives cutting flesh.

“Naturally, this is merely the worldly legend of Tianmoluo. All records about Tianmoluo only exist in ancient books. I also only learned of the ‘Corpse Flower’ legend from my master’s mouth after becoming a coroner, then found its complete information in ancient books. But I’ve lived for over fifty years and never had the fortune to see it. Today is the luckiest day of my entire life.” Kua Lao’s face twitched, as if smiling. He turned to Wen Nansheng and said, “Old fellow, thank you.”

“At the Yizhuang, Kua Lao must have already guessed the giant flowers’ true identity.” Meng Rui said. Kua Lao nodded: “I guessed it, but didn’t dare believe it. Not until I saw it with my own eyes did I dare speak.”

“Although Tianmoluo is the ‘Devil’s Flower’ and ‘Corpse Flower,’ in reality, as long as people don’t excessively contact it, it won’t harm them at all. Moreover, ancient books mention that Tianmoluo has treasures that can be used as supplementary medicine.” Kua Lao paused. “It’s just that the ancient books are incomplete—we still don’t know what medicinal uses Tianmoluo has.”

“Since Kua Lao puts it this way, I recall something.” Wen Nansheng said. “When following the black-cloaked men, they didn’t enter deep into the gorge many times but just wandered among the Tianmoluo groves, holding oddly-shaped tools in their hands. Could they have been collecting some part of the Tianmoluo?”

“It’s possible.” Kua Lao said.

The wind was cold and the night dark. Just as the three prepared to leave the gorge and make further plans, suddenly from all directions came rustling sounds like countless raindrops splashing on banana leaves. Looking again, a black stream of water surged from around the steep gorge walls. Meng Rui touched the curved blade on his back, but discovered the black water was actually an illusion produced by countless beetles crowding and pushing forward. These beetles had single horns and six legs, moved extremely rapidly, and also emitted a foul stench from their bodies.

In the night sky also flew a winged type of beetle, grayish-white with a pair of huge insect eyes.

Wen Nansheng saw these insects and looked toward Kua Lao. Light flashed in Kua Lao’s eyes as he said, “These are two types of carrion insects. The ones crawling on the ground are called ‘Earth Ghosts,’ and the ones flying in the sky are called ‘Fluorescent Wings.’ Both Earth Ghosts and Fluorescent Wings are attracted by the rotting corpse smell emitted by Tianmoluo. Judging from this scale, Tianmoluo may not be far from blooming.”

Wen Nansheng asked, “How long is Tianmoluo’s flowering period?”

“This ancient strange flower’s flowering period is quite long—the longer the lifespan, the longer the flowering period. Ancient books record that generally Tianmoluo’s lifespan is between one hundred and one hundred fifty years. It blooms once every twenty years. Of course, if it’s an ancestral Tianmoluo flower, that’s beyond description.” Kua Lao’s eyes filled with the insect tide as he spoke slowly.

“Let’s go.” Meng Rui said after a long while. The three left the gorge. After discussion, they still decided to first take the carriage back to the Yizhuang.

At the hai hour, Jin Residence in Sanfen Village.

Jin Chuang, his face weary, walked into the secret chamber. Only the Jin father and son knew of this chamber. Jin Chuang’s father, Jin Yaoguang, sat in a dim corner, rubbing his swollen temples. Before him was a blackwood table with several fist-sized porcelain bottles on it.

Jin Yaoguang didn’t look up. He knew it was his son, so he said, “This is the last batch of stock. Chunfeng Hall is pressing urgently for it. Tomorrow morning take A’Bao and deliver it.”

“Yes, Father. This time it’s for the concubine of the Nanxuan County Magistrate from Jinzhou. Supposedly she has quite a background.” Jin Chuang paused and said, “Also regarding Ma He’s matter, Du Yi’an hypocritically sent someone to ask Father to go to the county office. I already entrusted this year’s donation silver to a bailiff to take back—this trip is saved. It’s just that Du Yi’an’s appetite is getting bigger and bigger. This time he actually wants ten thousand taels of donation silver.”

Jin Yaoguang was nearly sixty with half-white hair and beard, but his gaze was sharp and alert. He looked at his son and said, “I’m not afraid his appetite grows bigger. The bigger his appetite, the more he can’t do without us, the more he depends on us. Hmph, consider it throwing a bone to the dog guarding the house—it’s nothing.”

“Yes, Father.” Jin Chuang obeyed Jin Yaoguang’s every word. After a moment, Jin Chuang spoke again: “There’s one more thing. A couple days ago someone came to Sanfen Village and broke Cun Tao’s hand, and supposedly without any effort.”

“Cun Tao?” Jin Yaoguang’s eyes narrowed. Both Cun Tao and A’Bao were guards he’d hired for Jin Residence. Though the two didn’t have much brains, their external martial arts skills—hard flesh and hard skin—were still presentable. Jin Yaoguang stroked his long beard and asked, “Who was it?”

“He’s from our Sanfen Village, but left the village long ago. His name is Meng Rui.” Jin Chuang had asked Cun Tao clearly and answered accordingly.

“Is this person still in the village?”

“Seems he left yesterday.” Jin Chuang said. Jin Yaoguang waved his hand: “Forget it, just a martial brute. We have no mind to worry about this now. In a few more days it will be the May deadline again.”

“Has the identity of the man who whispered secretly with Ma He in Sanfen Village been investigated?” Jin Yaoguang’s gaze suddenly became sharp and piercing. Jin Chuang quickly said, “I found out this man once went to Xinghua Residence looking for Ma He. I arranged for an artist to draw his face based on the Xinghua Residence worker’s description, then handed it to Chen Shang at the county office to search for this person throughout the entire city. As soon as there’s news, someone from the county office will come inform us.”

“Well done.” Jin Yaoguang smiled approvingly and said seriously, “The reason Ma He dared turn against us—from his words, it’s not hard to guess he must have learned the secret news of the Tianmoluo gorge and possesses a map. This map definitely didn’t come from Ma He’s own hand—it must be related to this man who secretly met with Ma He. So we must ferret him out.”

“Yes, Father.”

“And the matter I had you secretly investigate.” Jin Yaoguang lowered his voice. “Ma He’s death… Master Hua… connection…”

The dim light rose and fell. The Jin father and son’s conversation gradually disappeared into these light waves as well.