On the twenty-eighth day, the weather changed from clear to overcast. Niugu Mountain was located twenty-five li east of Jinxi City. Li Si, Constable Feng, and the two guides Tang Dayuan and Qiao Zi set out at the Mao hour and reached the foot of Niugu Mountain at three quarters past the Chen hour.

Throughout the journey, Tang Dayuan chattered incessantly, trying to ingratiate himself with Constable Feng. First, he attempted to establish distant family connections with Constable Feng, but the talk of seventh aunts and eighth great-aunts became increasingly far-fetched. Changing the subject, Tang Dayuan began talking about how extremely familiar he was with Niugu Mountain, speaking as if he had grown up bare-bottomed in those mountains.

Constable Feng let him prattle on endlessly, only occasionally responding with a word or two.

The only ones who didn’t speak a single word for over an hour were Li Si and Qiao Zi, both heavily preoccupied with their own thoughts, paying no attention to anything else.

The path at the mountain’s foot was easy to walk, but the higher they climbed, the more difficult it became. By the time they reached the mountainside, there were protruding rocks and crevices everywhere—one careless step could result in injury. All four men stopped talking much, each focusing intently on the path ahead. From halfway up the mountain, the terrain suddenly rose steeply, and the mountain face gradually narrowed, resembling a cone standing upright on the earth. The surrounding scenery, however, was exceptionally beautiful.

On the left side of the mountain were vast expanses of crimson-red flower trees, also called Scorpion Red, their rich fragrance intoxicating. On the right side were steep mountain cliffs, with two or three white springs cascading down the cliff face like small dragons chasing each other playfully. The spring water tinkled crisply, refreshing and pleasing to the ear. Li Si thought to himself: If not for investigating the case, this would be an excellent place for relaxation and recreation.

The four men didn’t stop to rest. Seeing the outline of the perilous cliff plank road threading through the white clouds gradually emerge, they all breathed a small sigh of relief. Qiao Zi suddenly stopped and observed the white springs and flower trees below for a moment. Tang Dayuan noticed something unusual about Qiao Zi and also pricked up his ears to listen. Before long, his expression changed, and he said to Li Si, “Someone is following us.”

Li Si was startled. Constable Feng, being straightforward by nature, was about to turn back down the mountain to capture the trailing culprit. Li Si stopped him, saying, “Wouldn’t suddenly charging down the mountain alert the enemy? How could we catch anyone then!”

“Then what should we do?” Constable Feng asked anxiously.

Li Si pondered briefly, then glanced at Qiao Zi and Tang Dayuan before saying, “You two continue climbing up. Constable Feng will come with me to find a concealed location to ambush this sneaky person.”

The three had no objections. Qiao Zi and Tang Dayuan climbed upward shoulder to shoulder, while Li Si and Constable Feng hid behind a centuries-old tree that would take five or six people to embrace, remaining constantly vigilant. In the blink of an eye, half a quarter-hour passed, and a white-clothed, slender figure crept up like a deer and moved like a crane. The white-clothed person wore a misty white gauze veil over their face, first listening alertly to the faint footsteps above, then continuing upward with relief.

Li Si suddenly felt the white-clothed person looked familiar. Without waiting for them to approach, he pounced like an eagle striking a rabbit! In a flash of lightning-quick movement, he yanked off the white-clothed person’s veil, revealing a tender, rosy face.

Li Si sighed and shook his head. “It really is you, girl.”

The person beneath the veil was indeed Bai Zhenzhu. It turned out that Miss Bai had learned Li Si was going to Niugu Mountain. Unable to rest easy and annoyed that she wasn’t allowed to accompany him, she had secretly followed in hiding.

“Oh, Big Brother Li clearly promised my older cousin brother to take care of me and not let me worry or be frightened, yet you left me all alone in the cold, desolate Jinxi City where everything is strange to me—lonely and solitary, with no one to confide in… What if I encounter that serial killer who disembowels people? Even if my belly isn’t ripped open, I’ll be scared to death. Big Brother Li, what exactly did Zhenzhu do wrong, or what did she do poorly, that you would heartlessly abandon me and not care about me? Wuwuwu, wuwuwuwu!” Bai Zhenzhu rubbed her tearful eyes with her delicate little hands, occasionally stealing glances at Li Si.

Li Si had been thinking about properly lecturing this girl a few times to make her behave obediently, but before he could even open his mouth, she started crying and talking up a storm. Although it seemed far-fetched, there was some truth to it, so he changed his tone and comforted her, saying, “Alright, alright, girl. This time I’ll admit that Big Brother Li didn’t think things through thoroughly enough. However, you…”

“Good that you know you were wrong. I forgive you. But there won’t be a next time!” Bai Zhenzhu had clearly been crying, but in an instant, her tears turned to laughter. She patted Li Si’s arm, turned around, and went to talk with Constable Feng.

Li Si suddenly felt as if he had swallowed a piece of stale pastry—the taste was strange, yet his mouth was so sticky he couldn’t speak. In the end, he could only admit defeat and said to Bai Zhenzhu, “Since you’re here, you’re here. Don’t waste time—we still need to catch up with the two people ahead.”

Li Si quickly caught up. Qiao Zi and Tang Dayuan were waiting at the entrance to the plank road. Tang Dayuan was the first to spot Li Si’s figure and jumped up, waving his arms vigorously. Qiao Zi, as usual, remained expressionless. Li Si introduced Bai Zhenzhu to the two men. Upon seeing the refined and elegant Bai Zhenzhu, Tang Dayuan talked even more incessantly, not even hearing Constable Feng calling him repeatedly.

Li Si couldn’t stand it anymore either and glared at Tang Dayuan. “Noisy.”

Tang Dayuan laughed sheepishly and finally quieted down for a while.

With Bai Zhenzhu added, five people stepped onto the ancient plank road. On the left was a thousand-fathom deep ravine, on the right were precipitous peaks—walking in between, they suddenly felt the magnificence of heaven and earth, while they themselves were as insignificant as ants. This was also Li Si’s first time setting foot on the ancient plank road from the previous dynasty. The planks showed fine cracks everywhere—one careless step would mean being smashed to pieces. Everyone couldn’t help but proceed with extreme difficulty, advancing inch by inch. Additionally, there was a dark wind rising from the ravine that scraped their faces, causing a burning pain.

From the moment they stepped onto the plank road, Bai Zhenzhu tightly grasped Li Si’s hand. By now, the little girl’s palm was completely damp with sweat. Li Si thought to himself: Niugu Mountain is a perilous place fit for ghosts and gods—no wonder the little girl is frightened. Even he himself felt his heart pounding with fear at every moment.

After finally walking through the most terrifying deep ravine section, a dense ancient forest appeared on the left side. Looking down from the plank road, they could only see umbrella-like tree canopies tightly connected, like sky-covering lotus leaves that completely obscured the scenery below—truly a breathtaking sight.

“The plank road ahead has been washed away by the mountain flood. We can’t get through,” Tang Dayuan, who was leading, suddenly stopped and said.

Li Si stepped forward to look carefully—it was just as Huang Youdao had described. The ancient plank road had been severed at its midsection. Only at over a thousand paces away were there remnants of the new plank road, with no path left or right. Just as Li Si was fretting over this, the consistently silent Qiao Zi suddenly spoke. “There’s a path inside the wall.”

Qiao Zi pointed to the stone wall adjacent to the broken plank road. The stone wall actually had an indentation large enough for one person, with protruding stones on the wall side for footholds, as well as small carved stone holes for stepping. Observing the indented space, it led directly down deep into the hundreds of thousands of acres of ancient forest below. Tang Dayuan smacked his lips and said, “Lord Li, inside the wall is the only path. From here we descend into the forest, then find our way through the forest to the other end of the plank road and figure out how to climb back up. There’s no other way.”

Bai Zhenzhu looked down, and in an instant felt dizzy and unsteady on her feet. Fortunately, Li Si was standing behind her and asked gently, “Girl, can you do it?”

Bai Zhenzhu’s face was pale, but she stubbornly clenched her pearly teeth. “Don’t look down on me. Who knows who won’t be able to do it?”

Li Si smiled approvingly and said to everyone, “Then we’ll descend through the indented wall. But just in case, let’s tie all five of us together with rope. If we live, we live together. If we die, well, we’ll all fall and become big meat pancakes together!”

“Pfft!” Bai Zhenzhu broke into a smile. “You’re terrible, joking at a time like this.”

Li Si arranged the order: Qiao Zi and Tang Dayuan would lead, with Constable Feng and Bai Zhenzhu in the middle, and Li Si bringing up the rear. The five people tied themselves together with hemp rope, and Qiao Zi leaped down first, slipping into the indentation and beginning to descend step by step.

Tang Dayuan smiled bitterly, muttering “If I’d known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have come,” and nimbly leaped down.

Constable Feng moved more slowly. Bai Zhenzhu waited for him to descend, then turned back to look at Li Si. “Big Brother Li, you must follow me closely.”

“Don’t worry, girl.” Li Si gave her an encouraging smile.

Bai Zhenzhu leaped down. Moments later, Li Si also leaped down, entering the indentation and slowly proceeding downward.

The five people were like five large geckos, squirming and inching along. Seeing the mushroom-like tree canopy gradually drawing nearer, facing the towering giant branches, they experienced a different kind of feeling. After wriggling for half an hour, the verdant branches and twigs around them grew increasingly thick. The ancient, dense forest came into everyone’s view—except for various shades of green—bright green, deep green, stone green, ancient green—there were no other colors.

Just as Li Si breathed a slight sigh of relief at the prospect of safely reaching the ground, a cry of distress suddenly came from below. Immediately after, “crack, crack, crack…” the sound of breaking tree branches rang incessantly.

“What happened down there!” Li Si shouted urgently.

Constable Feng was the first to respond. “The rope broke! Qiao Zi and Tang Dayuan have both disappeared.”

Bai Zhenzhu and Li Si landed one after another. Li Si picked up the severed rope and furrowed his brow tightly. “This is bad. The two are in danger.”

Throughout the ancient forest, one could constantly hear the sounds of insects and small beasts. Mixed among them seemed to be two human cries for help. Li Si listened intently, then fixed his gaze toward the southeast. “Over there. Let’s go.”

Li Si pulled Bai Zhenzhu along, with Constable Feng following close behind. The three traversed through this lush, seemingly boundless savage green sea. Li Si tensed every nerve, his eyes and ears alert in all directions. Suddenly, he yanked Bai Zhenzhu back and looked down at their feet—instantly gasping in cold shock.

Three inches ahead of their feet was a split crevice in the ground! The crevice was five feet wide and thirty to forty feet long, with no grass growing at its edges. Li Si held his breath and looked into the crevice, seeing densely packed thousands of triangular-headed venomous snakes coiled around the rocks inside. They were three feet and a few inches long, with red and black skin alternating in patterns. Their red snake tails were raised high, simultaneously flicking their forked tongues like extremely sinister red flowers.

The red and black venomous snakes occupied the ground crevice. Through the daylight, Li Si vaguely made out a person lying at the bottom of the crevice, whose build resembled Tang Dayuan’s very closely. Li Si gathered his true qi and shouted, “Tang Dayuan, are you down there?”

He could faintly hear someone groaning and speaking, but couldn’t make it out clearly. Li Si, desperate to save the person, had Constable Feng protect Bai Zhenzhu while he himself jumped into the crevice, hearing the hissing of snakes beside his ears. Li Si drew his sword, but worried that snake blood might be poisonous, he was unwilling to kill the venomous snakes and only used the tip of his sword to flick them away.

After descending one zhang deep, the red and black venomous snakes below coiled into balls, leaving no place to stand.

Li Si faintly heard human speech from within the crevice.

“Save me, save me… Qiao Zi harmed me, he harmed me…” The voice was undoubtedly Tang Dayuan’s.

Li Si was just planning to lower the hemp rope to save Tang Dayuan’s life when suddenly a man-thick snake shadow flashed past at the bottom of the crevice, and Tang Dayuan’s figure completely disappeared. Li Si sighed inwardly: The snake colony is orderly, naturally guarded by a snake king. That shadowy figure just now was most likely the snake king hiding at the bottom of the crevice. Tang Dayuan’s life could not be saved.

Li Si climbed back up the crevice and looked around. Both Bai Zhenzhu and Constable Feng had vanished…